Friday night grateful moment

A little shocking to come over here and realize it's been more than a year since my last post. Shocking, and then not. Time passes so quickly, *that's* the shocking thing. I never really get used to how quickly the days, weeks, months roll by. I haven't meant to be so absent, but the fullness of life (kind of an understatement) has had my brain in other places for large chunks of time. I'm not going to make some proclamation (see this post, and this post, sigh) about the future, but it has been on my mind for some time to come back to the blog and post more regularly.

Tonight I am looking out our bedroom slider and watching a beautiful summer sunset reflect on the mountains, while close by (I could probably hear cheers if I opened up the sliding door, but it's quite warm) the local high school is graduating a fresh crop of seniors. I am nostalgic for what was just taking place for Seth just a short blip of a year ago, and so grateful for the year he's at at PLU. What a true blessing it is to know that your kid is content in their journey. I know that "content" is a fluid state, but for now, we'll take it and appreciate having him home for the summer.

I went looking for Seth grad photos, you know, to really wallow in a little nostalgia. I love this one of him and his buddy Noble. Such fine young men. So proud of them both.

And then I saw this doozy of a grad photo from (cough) 30 (cough) years ago. That is one wild blast from the past, seeing the four of us looking so youthful and sprite-like. I'm grateful for this family that launched me out into the world, and provided such a good foundation.

I do appreciate the memory jogs from the Facebook memories that pop up on occasion and remind me of what I waas doing or saying five or six years ago. (I am also very aware of how horrid those memories can be for people who have had to endure a tragic life event., however. I am sure I would feel differently if I had to see some pictures just ta-da into my feed.) Anyway, where I'm going with this: Apparently the spring of 2010 was really cold--lots of memory posts about soup and boots and rain and rugging up in the cool temps. This year we had a really early warm spell  (fruit trees blooming! everything budding!), then cooled off for many weeks. Just as I was thinking, "well, at least my friends won't have to host graduation parties in 100-degree weather," up popped the temps again. I've been grateful for the cool weather, but the fact that the rain and wind has often fallen on the weekend has brought us to a rather jungle state in the yard.

National Doughnut Day today. Who knew? I clued in last evening and thus popped by the premier doughnut joint this morning on my way in to work and got a few for the co-workers. I may have mentioned my love for apple fritters a time or ten before; there's something quite compelling about a Friday + doughnut combination.

I saw this funny dog pic just this week and really, really related. Replace the bagel with my apple fritter. 

This week I am most grateful
for laughter, even on the stressful days
for joy in the flowers and fruits in the yard
for love
for green fields, green trees, green hills, green everything!
for roadtrips
for family
for pups and chickens
for cleared off desks and answered emails
for egg salad
for the smell of summer in Walla Walla--dust and onions and alfalfa
for age, and the understanding that comes from having walked a mile or two on this earth
for another week of progress towards goals
for friendship
for my morning routines, which set up the whole day so well
for my guys. Always and always, my guys.

Glad to be back in this familiar space. I wish you the best of weekends.

Peace.

Friday night grateful moment

So perhaps my little moment of "I'm back" (see NYE post) was a little premature. You think? Sigh. My heart was in the right place, for sure. My brain and ability to follow through has been completely used up elsewhere the past few months. But, no matter. Somewhere mid-afternoon today I decided I'd post tonight, and here I am. No more or less grateful than any other Friday night, but just here. Rusty but writing.

It's spring here in Walla Walla, with all that that implies. Sun some moments, rain at others. And oh how we need the rain, so I'm not arguing with that, even though I get chilled and maybe a wee bit crabby about that. I will remain grateful for whatever moisture we can drum up before the real warmth starts and we go into official drought mode. We are greener than green right now, and that makes me very happy.

Seth approaches his last weeks of high school, and I'm so grateful for these days together. He's done pretty well at keeping "senioritis" at bay, and has been busy with many extracurricular activities, but he's here and he's happy with his college choice (Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma) and feeling ready to move on to this next phase. Yay for endings and beginnings and all the things that make these passages significant. (With Seth's graduation will come visiting family, and I'm really looking forward to that!)

This has been a rough few months (year?) locally and further afield, for family, friends and friends of friends, in all areas of health, grieving and loss. I can't really even tally the number of cancer diagnoses, deaths, divorces and other heartaches, and on some level, I feel a little numb. A bit in the arena of, don't let it all in, because it's really just a big ball of sadness. But for the living/currently undiagnosed, it's one foot in front of the other. What else can you do? I'm grateful for my health, for sure, and don't take it for granted. I'm grateful for another day to hug my husband and child and assure them of my love.

One of my favorite things from these past few months is that we have acquired a few chickens. This is especially exciting given our collective love of eggs, of course. And now we have on hand at any moment the freshest of eggs. There have been many lovely golden omelets and deviled eggs, and Seth's breakfast egg sandwich is extra delicious--so I've been told. My Saturday morning poached egg ritual has also risen a notch or two. It took me a bit to taper off my usual egg grocery purchases, so we were fairly swimming in egg options there for a bit. Now, we've got it more or less down to a steady diet.

My mom has been traveling with her sisters this week, and I've enjoyed thinking about their time together, grateful they have each other. Sisters are awesome, whether by blood or by marriage or by choice. I am grateful to have lovely sisters in the last two of those categories.

For Mother's Day the boys treated me to a day in TriCities with a couple of glorious nursery visits as well as lunch out together. It was exactly what I wanted and needed. Now, to get the plants in their appropriate spots. I have dug up my dahlia bed (it took a big hit this winter, though I'm not sure exactly why, given it wasn't a very severe winter) and am transplanting them elsewhere. The snowball bushes and lilacs both bloomed gloriously, and the irises and peonies are currently going to town!

And now for a couple of random pics I found on my phone. I am very grateful for my phone. I love having a camera with me every minute of the day. I know, how weird. But I like to document things, however mundane. Go figure.

I am ready for this weekend and all the rest and recuperation that implies, physically, mentally and spiritually. I hope that whatever your weekend holds, it's all that you wish for.

Peace.

Friday night grateful list: Spring Break edition

Ha. I typed the words "Spring Break edition" and instantly had Girls Gone Wild images flash through my mind. Ha ha. Not even.

This week, following the festival that was Grandma's 95th birthday, Seth and I put husband on a plane home and trekked off over the mountains, down I-5 and had a few days of looking around colleges, educating ourselves on a few local-ish options. We both learned a lot, about the process of applying to colleges, about the various campuses themselves, and what environments felt more "Seth" than others. We have the advantage of having friends who either are or were in the college admissions game; their advice has been invaluable. And I know we'll be back for more, friends. Prepare yourselves.

I am so grateful to have had this week with Seth. He and I have road-tripped many, many times over the years, all over the place. We have listened to many audiobooks, sung many songs together at the top of our lungs, and eaten more than our fair share of completely unhealthful food too. I am grateful for Seth every day, but getting to spend multiple days together is always special. Even when we got on each other's nerves, or one or the other of us missed the right exit and we had to backtrack, we still had a really excellent adventure.

We had really great tour guides, for the most part--extroverted, engaged young men who were pretty passionate about their college experience. It was good to see. The bottom left photo is Seth telling me to stop taking pictures and stay with the group. As if. You'd think he'd know by now...

I managed to keep on top of work emails while I was away, by borrowing a Surface from work, instead of the usual laptop. I am a complete convert. Seems odd to sit and type away on a Surface, referring to my iPad while I do that--I was working on one of my nonprofit volunteer projects while I was away, and had documents I needed to read on one device, while recording notes in a spreadsheet on the other. I thought Bill Gates and Steve Jobs would appreciate my ambidextrous approach to technology, but mostly, I was just grateful to be able to get things done. I'm not sure I will actually give the Surface back, I like it that much. I think one of the reasons it works so well for me is my love of all things touch-screen. But transferring back to my laptop, it's hilarious how many times my hand reaches up to swipe something on the screen. Creature of habit...

We came home to a yard that is bursting with springtime energy. That is to say: green! I was thinking today while pulling weeds, why can't we pull them once and then they'll never come back?! I agree, it's a little early in the season to be thinking like that! Ha. Seth and I got a couple of beds cleared of the winter leaves that blow through, and picked up potting soil and a few plants to start the flower pots. I am always so grateful for spring, but for some reason, I am ever-so-much-more-so this year. Why is that? It wasn't a hard winter, here in Washington. If I were on the East Coast, it might be more understandable. But we had it pretty mild.

Look what I found: lettuce, reseeded from last year!

Listened to (and inflicted on Seth!) some great work-related podcasts while on the road, and now that it's yard season, I'll be cranking up the audiobooks too. Nothing makes yard time go by faster than listening and learning. Happy me! I'm so grateful for technology (well, other than that dang Heartbleed thing. Blech.).

The whole of the Pacific Northwest put on a glorious sunshine show for us. It was most pleasant. I got to have breakfast with Jen on the morning we were in Portland, which was lovely; it was especially lovely to walk together to breakfast without an umbrella!

When we were at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, walking down the hall in the English department, I saw a bunch of photos of various poets, and the tour guide said something, "blah blah blah, photos all taken by William Stafford blah blah blah." What? How did I not remember that William Stafford taught at L&C, years ago? 

I was first introduced to William Stafford as a poet in 1991, while I was in college, and I even got to hear him read that year, too. I have always appreciated and enjoyed his writing. He died in 1993 and I just read that he wrote the morning he died: "You don't have to / prove anything," my mother said. "Just be ready / for what God sends." Wow. That'll stick with me for a bit.

The bottom photo has Galway Kinnell in it, another poet I have appreciated.

I'm so grateful for poetry. Can't be said enough. :)

Tonight I'm especially grateful to be home, with husband and Seth, with the sliding doors open and the spring air so fragrant. I'm grateful that the weekend is ahead, and while I'm sure there will be work of both the work-work and yard variety, there will also be sleep, joyous sleep, and relaxation, maybe another brief road trip, some good food, laughter and love. Yeah for weekends.

Hope your weekend is "yeah" too.

Peace.

Friday night grateful moment

Confession: this list, this tradition, this ritual... almost didn't happen tonight. But then I spoke my sacrilege out loud to husband and his sweet response was, "But you've worked so hard to never miss. Here, I'll help you. Do you want me to type?" So, so sweet. (And no, he's not typing.)

So here's our joint little grateful effort. A little him, a little me, a little list.

Spending the afternoon with the one you love. We took off from work early, had a lovely late lunch out, did some errands, and generally enjoyed the sunshine and running around together. Blessed.

We are both very grateful for springtime, and all the green and leafy things that are popping out. I'm a little sad that it got down to 28 degrees a couple of nights last week. I'm pretty sure that means no apricots. :(

For color, I am always grateful. I saw gobs of beautiful flowers at Lowes today and got all twitterpated about planting and gardening and blooming and such. Calm down, Sher.

We are well! All three of us! Woot. Last weekend was pretty draggy, especially for husband, so we're super grateful to be mended.

For family: for talks and reflection and the anticipation of time together. I am so looking forward to the first weekend in April. Hugs all around, family people! xo

Seth's home again for the week--we've had a lovely run of extra boy time and that makes both of our hearts very happy and grateful. (Seth's too, I am sure, but I am only typing for the two parentals at the moment. And with a teen, who really knows, right?!)

For the promise of a big, fat, lazy sleep-in tomorrow (this is all Sher as husband does not sleep in). If the phone rings or there's a text before 9 a.m., you're toast. Yes, even YOU.

Visiting girlfriends. I have TWO (count 'em, 2!) friends in town this weekend, visiting; completely unrelated visits, which is cool. That almost never happens, probably mostly because my friends who aren't in Walla Walla never come here. Ha. That's a veiled threat/dare to Jen and Corinne, mostly. Bring IT. But to the ones who are here: looking forward to seeing you!

Feeling fiesty, and sleepy, and that's a dangerous combination. (Just ask husband. He's now given up on the list, since I'm clickety-clacking over here.) Off to La-La-Land I go! Wishing you peace and joy and love. Always love.

 

Friday night grateful moment

I am very happy to have arrived at Friday night again. As I very often say--I haven't been this happy to see Friday, since last Friday!

The week held a lot--a lot of work, a little fun (lunches and even a brief coffee with girlfriends), some relaxation (evenings with House of Cards, I'm done now so you can't spoil it for me) and helping with a volunteer luncheon that's happening next week. I am so looking forward to the next 24 hours of family chill time, I can't even tell you.

But first, let's dance.



I had an interesting conversation this week with a colleague/friend about religion. I came home and was reminded of this piece with Bono, talking about grace and karma. (From the book: Bono.)

Here's a tidbit (it's hard for me to not share the whole thing... do click over to the link above):

“It’s a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the Universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma…

“You see, at the centre of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics – in physical laws – every action is met by an equal or opposite one. It's clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it...

“And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that 'As you reap, so will you sow' stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff...

“If only we could be a bit more like Him, the world would be transformed. All I do is get up on the Cross of the Ego; the bad hangover, the bad review. When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my shit and everybody else’s. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was He who He said He was, or was he just a religious nut? And there it is, and that’s the question. And no one can talk you into it or out of it.”

For all I smile to myself about Bono (as in, wow does he take himself seriously), I really appreciate those words. Anytime I seem to get myself in trouble, I can usually look at the Cross of the Ego, and sure enough, there's me. :) I am very grateful for grace.

A weekend ritual for me is listening to NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. I am very grateful for people who will consume large quantities of pop culture so I don't have to. Well, more to the point, I'm glad they make recommendations, so I don't have to waste my time! These people are funny, and I love how I feel like I know them after listening for a couple/few years.

I am so ready for springtime cooking and springtime eating. I've over Brussels sprouts and butternut squash. So over. I'm ready for green little shoots in the garden, for salads picked minutes before being gobbled up, for flowers and sunshine and asparagus and salad onions, with the hope of a long summer FULL of gorgeous, local produce. I am ready! I made arugula pesto this week and ate it three nights in a row. Yes, three. It was *that* good.

Being tucked in here at home with all my men (which sounds a little weird until you consider that both the dogs are boys too--I'm surrounded!), the fire is on and I'm feeling cozy. I feel blessed to have a husband and a son who are so communicative. As we all caught up on our weeks tonight, my gratitude for them both made me smile and appreciate, so much, all that we share together.

I hope you are feeling tucked in and cozy too, and the weekend ahead brings joy.

Peace.

Friday night grateful moment

o very much to be grateful for, as this weekend kicks off.

I am in love with our apricot tree, in full bloom! The scent is positively heady. And so far (knock on wood) no major frosts to crumple my fruit desires... I am grateful for everything that nature brings right to our door.

It was a week with a lot of rain--that made everything pop and bloom and green up nicely! I love having blooms in the yard, finally, as well as the house.

But I'll take blooms anywhere and everywhere right now. I have primroses inside...

And tulips too. Beautiful peach tulips.

I have a soft spot for holidays that give reason to hauling out the food coloring! (Tomorrow when we cut into the sweet treat, I will share what's inside.) (And no, it's not a leprechaun.) I'm grateful for frosting and flavoring, and silly ideas that somehow come to life in the course of an hour or two.

OK, I may have gotten carried away taking pictures of the shamrock cake... I will admit that much.

I have the dearest nieces and love to hear about their fun accomplishments. Maizy just finished her first sewing project, and that brings back a lot of memories for me!  In related crafty news, I spent some time painting pottery this afternoon for a local fundraiser, and thought of my nieces a lot, and how I'd love to take them there one day. For crafty stuff, it's great to have girls around!! I am grateful for Maizy and Lucy.

I finally succumbed to the pull of the Instagram, can you tell? I had quite a bit of fun playing with the different filters and settings this afternoon. I can see why people get so "into" it... my favorite filters seem to be ones that have borders, with a kind of vintage-y look. Grateful as always for technology and all it's able to assist with in our lives. I'm thankful that Seth is home safely from his tennis match, and that he and his doubles partner won solidly. They had a good time, too. (What's not to love about hours on your butt in those school buses? Ow.)

Husband is a frequenter of this grateful list, and for good reason. He's truly a gem. I could spend the whole list just on him, but he would not find that very good form, being modest and what have you. So take it from me, I am grateful and blessed.

Oh the weekend, the weekend, the joyous, restful weekend. I am grateful to be here, right here in this very spot, at the start of two lovely days with my men, and anticipating what it will bring.

What does your weekend hold? I hope only good things!

Peace.

Common Miracles: Week #43

 “Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts. Each time we drop our complaints and allow everyday good fortune to inspire us, we enter the warrior’s world.” 

–Pema Chodron 

hat a horrible thing it would be if I had a complaint today, truly. Yesterday was SO beautiful, SO lovely and sunshine-y, SO warm, that I am planning on floating through the rest of the week on blue skies, no matter what the REAL skies look like (um, stormy, gray and oddly back-to-winter-ish today, of course). The fact that the sunshine came around on a weekend when we got to enjoy it to the fullest? Bonus.

My Common Miracles for today are memories from the weekend, bliss that it was:

I think that was actually Thursday night, driving home with Seth from his tennis practice... no matter how horrible the weather on any given day, there's a window right before sundown that can be amazing.

Delicious jam from a friend. Blood orange flavor to die for, really. Thanks, Ginger.

Coffee makes my world go 'round.

I might not have quite picked them from the yard, but they brighten our days anyway!

Is that the yellowest-looking breakfast plate ever? Joyous weekend omelette!

One day soon the flowers from outside will be blooming too!

These pictures (except for the first one) were shot using my Hipstamatic app. I keep saying I'm going to switch over to Instagram, really... I will. But just in case you were wondering about the cast to the photos... 

Happy week, everyone! Any miracles in your world today? 

(Hint: If you can read this, then yes, that's one miracle right there--eyesight, not necessarily the fact that you can read, but OK, if you want to count that then there are TWO miracles and you've barely even started. You are well on your way to a full-blown Common Miracles moment!)

Wordless Wednesday: Signs of spring abound

Springtime supper

Spring has sprung, and it is well and truly asparagus season here. I just love it. For at least two months I will be eating asparagus in every form imaginable... in pasta, as soup, tempura, just roasted, steamed, you name it. Yum.

Most nights I am lazy and do it really quick style in the microwave. I wash the asparagus, snap off the bottoms, put them in a ziploc bag and microwave at 30-second intervals. Easy peasy.

OK, so if you're not a runny, or soft, egg fan, this would not be the supper for you... But I have been getting these amazing farm-fresh eggs lately and the yolks are to die for! You can see in the picture above how orange the one yolk is--just gorgeous!
Sher's asparagus and poached egg salad
2 eggs
1 cup spinach leaves
12 spears asparagus, steamed and chopped into 1-inch bites
1/4 cup parmesan, shredded
Olive oil
Poach the eggs to your desired doneness. I use these fabulous egg poaching pods that my sister in law got me a couple of years ago--you float them in boiling water and they work just great!

Place the spinach in the bottom of a bowl, put warm steamed asparagus on top. Sprinkle with parmesan and drizzle with olive oil. Gently place poached eggs on top and have at it! Truly yummy and a great celebration of spring!