Sept. 2: Monday morning inspiration: Just write

Day 2: Challenge update: Soon after I posted yesterday, dear friend Jen texted me: "Hey, let's blog challenge together." Apparently I'm not the only one feeling the need for a little blogging boost... This morning, our mutual friend Sunshine also posted that she has undertaken a challenge for the month of September. Obviously the back-to-school mentality is alive and well in the moms of my world; fresh starts, new ideas, challenges! (More on that tomorrow.)

As Jen noted in her first post, if you would like to join in, just message me and I'll send you our list of prompts. The more the merrier! One of things I'm most interested in seeing is how Jen and I (and you?) approach the same prompt. Can't wait to see how it goes.

Monday mornings usually mean inspiration for me (even if it's a holiday morning around here): what will help me make this week the best it can be, and how can I plug into the inspiration around me to accomplish that? In that vein, this morning I am looking for inspiration in writing, from writers.

This piece with writers having written advice on their hands is amusing if not necessarily new or particularly insightful. My favorite is this one, I think because it's a bit brutal, but honest:

I recently saw this beautiful passage by the lovely writer Adrienne Rich below; the last sentence fairly sings to me.

An honorable human relationship—that is, one in which two people have the right to use the word “love”—is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, a process of refining the truths they can tell each other.

It is important to do this because it breaks down human self-delusion and isolation.

It is important to do this because in doing so we do justice to our own complexity.

It is important to do this because we can count on so few people to go that hard way with us.

I've never thought about the concept of writers not writing for a full year--to give the rest of us a chance to catch up on information overload--but now that he's mentioned it, I kind of like it. (Usually I just think I need to find better filters for the information I really want to take in, and carve out more time for reading.) How's this for a horrifying stat: "...according to the New York Times, 81% of Americans feel they have a book in them." What a hoot. Imagine how many of them you'd really want to read?

How do you know if something is really worth your while--are you someone who stays with a book or even a longform article to the end, or do you bail if it's not doing it for you? I used to be the former, I am now someone who will give a book a fair shake and then let it go; too many good books in the world to waste time on ones I'm not engrossed by.

Where do you find inspiration for writing--or reading?

Sept. 1: Getting back in the saddle

It's a thing amongst bloggers, to take a break from blogging over the summer, for a month or a few weeks. While I haven't done that, exactly, I have been rather sparse around these parts, other than my gratitude moments. Between work and then the lack of energy re: sickness, it's been quite the summer.

So, how to rejuvenate? Where to begin again, dive back into the blogging deep? A blog I follow, communicatrix, recently got back into it by kicking off a "good enough" run of 21 posts. It's true, once one is out of the rhythm, it can feel like you really have to write something pretty special to get back into the groove. This phrase in Colleen's kick-off post really spoke to me: And I wonder why I wander away from writing.

Because it's true. Whether I'm posting a recipe, or something that inspires me, it really all comes down to putting "pen" to "paper" and getting the thoughts out. There are times when my creative well runs dry, so to speak, but more often than not I simply allow other things to crowd out the writing, the creating. And miss it, as time goes by and the page stays blank.

So, where to start?

Well, I went looking for an inspiring blogging challenge out there in the interwebs. There are certainly a lot of them (I'm not alone! Others have this predicament!). But none spoke to me in entirety, so I am left to create my own. Not unlike the blogging challenge I took part in last spring, I am going to set out to write daily in the month of September.

Here we go.

Today we were blessed to catch up with folks who moved from the area eight years ago. Young Sam (on the left above, first picture) was a dear friend of Seth's (and Andrew's, on the right) in first and second grade, and moved the fall of their third grade year. His dad is in the military, and they first went to Hawaii (where we visited them in the spring of '07), then Virginia, followed by Germany. They just moved back to Washington state, to the Fort Lewis area over on the east side, and were in Walla Walla checking in on the home they still have here, as a rental.

Seth and Sam gave Andrew a call and together they wandered and chatted away an hour of the afternoon, catching up. It reminded me of my own childhood, and friendships that ebbed and flowed, and the value of long-time friends. People who knew you "when."

Sam told Seth and I that he is really glad to have moved a few times in his childhood, but is happy to be back in Washington state. He also said he thought never having moved would be boring. Seth, on the other hand, loves having been in the same school district his whole school life. Goes to show that what you know, what your experience is, is just that. Yours. And making your peace with it--moving or not moving--is a part of being a kid. Both boys could probably be content having been in the others' shoes, they just aren't aware of it.

It's remarkable to think of the paths that our lives take because of decisions made around us as children. I spent a good deal of time thinking about that today, as Seth and Sam and Andrew visited. I didn't arrive at any real flashes of brilliance, but I did reflect on my own childhood with gratitude. Proving once again that what you know, you know, and it makes sense to you. ;)

Did you move many times as a child? How did that impact you, and does it still influence how you see the world today? Tell me!

Friday night grateful moment

The days are getting shorter, it is very clear. When I wake now, it is often to an alarm, not with the light of dawn as is the case in the middle of summer. Sunset is earlier too, and the evenings cool just beautifully. Midday is still quite warm, and word on the street is that there's not a fan available anywhere for purchase, as all the new college students have scooped them up to cool off the dorm rooms.

I am improving, every day, from this weird summer illness. My cough frightened a few people on my first day back to work, last Monday. Everywhere I went, I had glasses of water at the ready, and my Ricola cough drops. I maintained a half-day schedule for most of the week, with an exception for Wednesday where meetings and clients sucked away nine hours lickety-split. Afternoons I laid about and responded to emails and napped and continued to watch The Closer.

As for gratitude, I do have that in spades. For my own health, and for the continuing road to health for loved ones who have been unwell. Health is such a tricky, fickle thing, sadly. Every day I hear stories of diagnoses and prognoses that are less than ideal. One moment ago you thought yourself a healthy person, now you know otherwise. Having the courage to face a serious illness, that's something I'm also grateful I don't have to deal with, right now. I pray for those who do.

I've been grateful for pretty decent sleep this week. We're adjusting to a new world where a mobile Seth (driving) is able to socialize and twice this week came home after husband and I had fallen asleep. Wow how the times, they have changed. (I also napped very easily in the afternoons, as I mentioned above. Glorious, if brief, naps.)

I'm very grateful this week that when General and Chief saw a window of opportunity (the garage door got left up) and took off down the road, my dear SIL saw them and scooped them up and brought them home. They are not road warriors, and there were follow up conversations about the vital vital need to make sure all doors and gates are latched securely! Grateful for safe pups.

I'm grateful for understanding colleagues, for pitchers of water delivered to conference rooms and coworkers trying not to make me laugh! The laughter never fails to bring on the Black Lung cough.

Summer flavors continue. We are in the heart of perfect watermelon season, and between the three of us we can plow through a great deal of watermelon in an evening. Berries are waning, but nectarines remain, and new crop apples and pears are joining in. The kale has been stalwart, showing no sign of stopping; same goes for zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, okra... I am grateful for our garden; every season I learn something about gardening, and appreciate the produce so much.

Skyping with my mom in the middle of the day in the middle of the week has been nice (post-nap). I'm grateful for technology that allows for keeping in touch so easily.

Been reading up a storm, but all work related. I look here on my bedside and see a lot of books I keep meaning to dive into, but just don't have the mental space most evenings. I am grateful for so many options in my information intake, even as I am often daunted by those options. I could read all day every day and still feel like there's more to take in.

School starts on Tuesday, and I think we're ready? Hard to know with a high school junior. He has taken care of all his registration and fees and such on his own, got his parking permit for driving to school, mister independent! It's great, and good to see him back with his band buds, getting ready for marching band season. I'm grateful for his social group, that he has good friends who are good for him too.

And if it's the last weekend in August, it must be fair time. Even though I'm not sure I'm going to venture over to the fairgrounds much, if at all, I love knowing that it's happening, all the produce and baked goods and sewing and quilts and photography, etc., all in their places with judging and ribbons and all. And the bunnies! Maybe I will have to go over there just to see the giant bunnies. So soft and sweet. I'm grateful to live in a small town where the fair means traffic jams and school's out (for the private schools who started earlier this week) and carnival rides and elephant ears. It's a fun tradition.

I feel a little short tonight in my expressions of gratitude, and for that I apologize. Tiredness descends, and Nyquil is on the way. Wishing you oodles of rest and relaxation over this long weekend.

Peace.

Friday night grateful moment

Well, here we are again, another Friday, another week passed, and a health update from me!

Lots to be thankful for this week, definitely. Much progress on the health front, after a bit of weekend drama last weekend, with an ER visit, proper diagnosis of pneumonia (earlier doctor visit had pegged the lung thing as bronchitis, and they are definitely two different animals, apparently), and my very first CT scan (initial chest x-rays showed lung "abnormalities," always words you want to hear while wheezing away with a nebulizer!).

The week was filled with a lot of peace and quiet, many naps, lots of fluids and quart or two of cough syrup. Quite a bit of Netflix again, with the addition of Amazon Prime. I got a little into The Closer, which I described to a friend as the perfect mix of interesting, but if I fall asleep in the middle of an episode, it's not a big deal.

So grateful for husband, for his care and tending of me in my sickened state. He's the one who looked at me mid-Saturday and said, "This isn't right, you're getting worse instead of better" and dragged me off to the ER. Darn if he isn't always right. He also went out late at night for a humidifier for me, has kept the stream of Day/Nyquil flowing freely, and even brought my fave gerbera daisies to brighten my bedside--I called them my "flu flowers!" They've lasted splendidly, through the pneumonia too, but pneumonia flowers doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it?

Also very grateful for friends--for the care (tea! cough drops! chocolate!) packages (even figs!), the text messages and check ins, and flowers from my parents. One afternoon I got especially bored and the text messages were fast and furious. I even got a story told to me via text! So blessed am I.

Seth has also been a source of joy and comfort, as always. He came out and mowed the lawn for us this afternoon, on his "off" week--at his dad's--helping out and making sure we don't turn into a jungle!

I've been grateful this week for the ability to check in on work occasionally by email, but mostly have the time and energy to rest, nap and generally chill. I know there are many situations where people don't have the luxury of recovering properly, and have to return to work before they ought to, for a variety of reasons. Space and time to recover is a blessing.

The garden continues to give, at a steady rate. I am in tomato heaven, and when my appetite returned this week (I had zero interest in food during the fevered era), I ate tomatoes and basil every which way. I also indulged in my favorite seasonal stuffed squash blossoms one day--heaven! I have plans for some zucchini and summer squash this weekend--found some newish, different recipes on Pinterest that seem worth giving a whirl.

And of course, I had ample time for Pinterest this week! I haven't spent much time there the past few months, being so busy with work and such. So I can't help but share a few of the images I'm grateful for, things that inspired me and cheered my days.

polar

deep joy

kitty (this one's for Maizy!)

prayers

stained glass

royals (how cute is that?)

awake (this brings me comfort)

I hope you are well, and that the weekend ahead gives you an opportunity to do whatever it is that eludes you during the workaday week--rest, relaxation, back-to-school shopping, celebrating--whatever it is, enjoy it to the fullest!

Peace.

Total cop-out Friday night grateful moment

Remember last week's grateful list? In case you're not in the mood to scroll down, or are in a reader, or or or, here's the link.

Read down a bit about the sickness, blah blah blah, a lovely Buddha quote, some tripe about there always being something to be grateful for, a little sweetness about husband's birthday, the beautiful weather, and then there's the kicker:

I am so grateful I haven't gotten super-sick. (Knock on wood.)

Replace that with:
Even though this was probably one of the longest, sickest, most useless, frustrating and exhausting weeks I've ever had to endure, I'm glad to be eeking back toward some semblance of health. So much for knocking on wood, eh? A seven-day bout with fever, a wicked case of bronchitis, and more mediocre TV/movies than one brain really should be able to hold, and here we are, exactly one week later.

Cop out, and I'll take it. Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Peace.

Friday night grateful moment

Came down with a rather sudden flu-like illness just 24 hours ago, and am still feeling rather achy and blah. Hoping that another 24 hours puts it well behind me! A girl can dream, can't she?

Tonight I am grateful for many things which will probably go unsaid through my blur of not feeling well. Suffice it to say the old Buddha quote came to mind today: “Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.” I know, a little dramatic for having the flu, when I know so many people with much more serious illnesses and even facing their last days. So, take the quote a little lightly, coming from me.

Had the chance to take a day off for husband's birthday earlier this week, and that was grand. Nice to take a mid-week day and play and celebrate him. We'll keep the celebration going once Seth gets back over the weekend, and into next week too! I am very grateful for husband and all the many ways he makes my life sweeter.

I'm also grateful it's not been 100+ degrees lately. Nice to have cool mornings and still a great deal of sunshine--even though there's some promise of storms over the weekend--but to have it in the 80s and 90s is far preferable in terms of getting things done in the yard/garden after work.

I am so grateful I haven't gotten super-sick. (Knock on wood.)

I am grateful for sleep, and for the many little naps I took throughout the day.

I am grateful for Netflix, and being able to watch on my iPad in bed. The modern comforts, that's what it's all about.

Couldn't resist sharing that one. Made me laugh. I don't think about myself "bitching" per se (who does, probably?) but mostly just noting what's not working, what I need to work on, what others around me need to work on (of course!)... the usual.

Every day, without fail, I am struck by the beauty of where I get to live. The view, the light, the hills, the color, it all combines to make each season unique and lovely. I started to get a couple of "oh, fall is coming" pangs this week, but that will happen soon enough. I want to savor each summer day.

I hope you have a weekend to savor, ahead of you. Me, I'll be a' nappin'. Got to get back to 100%!

Peace.

Friday night grateful moment

Saw this list recently and it pretty much captures where I'm at tonight.

I hope that wherever you are tonight, you have a grateful list too.

Friday night grateful moment

Such a peaceful evening here, with the sun going down earlier and earlier, and the nights cooling off. I know it's only July, but I can already feel summer waning, even as the days are 100 degrees. So quickly, the long days shorten and before you know it, I'll be complaining about the frost on the tomatoes. Except (wait for it, you know what's coming, don't you Jen?), autumn is my favorite season. I almost forgot, I love summer so much too. And spring. Spring's not bad. Winter's really the low point on the season radar for me, but you can winnow that to January and February, really, because anything up to the first of the year is the holidays, and who doesn't love the holidays? So, 10 months to love, 2 months to be "meh" about? That's not bad.

Now that I've got my seasonal musings out of the way, I can move on to gratitude. I can't seem to pull much more together on the blog lately than gratitude. Gratitude and kale. Really, aren't those the same thing?!

The garden does continue to produce, and we continue to enjoy kale, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and this week our first little lemon cucumber. Still to come will be the avalanche of tomatoes, when all the plants are producing daily. Right now it's still mostly the Early Girls and some yellow cherry toms.

Today husband and I went to the funeral and it made me think about a lot of things to be grateful for--community, family, love, tradition, faith, health, and a host of other things that have complicated emotions tied to them. A friend, without knowing that I was headed to a funeral, sent me an essay to read about two recent funerals she and her family attended. One lovely takeaway line: "Joy and sadness often intermingle as we grieve." Too true.

Seth and I had such a great trip to Canada last weekend, road tripping together through the wilds of Washington. I am so very grateful for a teenage son who is so much fun to talk with, hang out with, listen to audiobooks and laugh with. We have done so many of these road trips together, and each one holds a special place in my memories.

I am grateful for sleep, which I know will come easily tonight.

I'm grateful for air conditioning during these hottest of summer days. I'm grateful too, that when I open the sliding doors in the morning, the cool of the morning will fill the house.

I'm grateful for husband, and his loving ways.

I'm very grateful for my faith, even as it is sometimes as short-sighted and ADHD as I am. I saw this video over on Donald Miller's blog this week, of Mark Wahlberg talking about his upbringing and decision to turn his life around and the role faith plays in that, and I was encouraged. So many people don't feel (especially in the public eye) like they can speak of their faith without a certain amount of scorn coming their way, and his matter-of-factness was refreshing.


I wish you a weekend of peace and gratefulness for wherever you are, and whatever life has brought your way this week, this month, this year.

Peace.

Friday night grateful moment

I am in the land of nostalgia (Canada, in case you didn't know) tonight, surrounded by family. Much to be grateful for, even as I miss husband and my mind and heart are with him in many ways tonight.

I was grateful for good conversation with Seth on the ride up. Lots of chit chat about college choices, areas of study, and a little Monty Hall Problem thrown in for good measure. David Sedaris read to us for a bit today--his most recent book "Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls;" it was as amusing as David's writing usually is. We threw in a little Brian Regan and Jim Gaffigan, and the miles flew by.



Seth helped with driving part of the way, too. That was wonderful and I even got to snooze a little.

I am grateful for a grandma who is still going strong at 94. I don't know if "going strong" is the best term for it, but she's still here, and other than not being able to hear a lot of the conversation, she's pretty with it. I feel lucky, especially, to have Seth know her too.

The garden is chugging along beautifully. Kale is flourishing, potatoes are ready for harvest, the okra is coming along, tomatoes too. Oh and the summer squash and zucchini? Blink and they've multiplied, by leaps and bounds. I'm grateful for the plethora of produce, and for the watering/harvesting/weeding time each evening with husband.

I'm grateful for the camraderie my mother enjoys with her sisters. It is very lovely. I have great memories from my childhood of their giggle fits, and they still have a way of getting each other going, now. So good for the soul.

Seth said something tonight about being grateful, and it made me smile and feel grateful myself. I'm a blessed mom.

There were many long days this week for dear loved ones with health issues. So grateful for healing bodies, for amazing caregivers, for love and loyalty.

I'm grateful for the sleep that is calling me, right now. I shall heed the call!

I hope your weekend is as lovely as I'm sure mine is going to be.

Friday night grateful moment

Driving home from post-work errands, I wasn't entirely sure I could muster a list of gratitude tonight. It's been a loooooooong week. Count every "o." Indeed.

But, once I pause and refresh, I am usually up for a little remembering of the gratitude, and of course this night is no exception. I'm fed, my feet are up, husband is near, and the evening outside has been just simply beautiful. Gratitude? In spades.

For family that cares, and reaches out. Thanks, family. (Group texts are the bomb. Am I right or am I right?)

For friends who care, and reach out. Thanks, friends. For responding to my voice messages/texts with sweetness, for encouragement and humor. (And music. Always for the music.)

For blueberries and nectarines and raspberries and blackberries and watermelon and tomatoes and cucumbers and corn and kale and potatoes; I'm grateful that every item I just listed is now ripe within 50 miles. Awesome.

For the weekend. For a day of rest, then a day of productivity, before we get to do it all over again.

For the power of words. I am daily reminded: Choose. Your. Words. (Someone's listening and will be influenced, I guarantee it.)

heavy

For joy.

For sadness, because it reminds me that joy exists in so many (unexpected) places.

For sweet puppies who greet me each night with hops and circles of happiness and licks and smiles.

For clouds that look an awful lot like they are lit from within. For sunsets that feel special, night after night. For wheatfields that go on and on, acre after acre of gold.

For anticipation... I do love having things to look forward to, and there are just enough summer teasers out there to keep me smiling. Nice. :)

For the amazing human body and the ability to heal. I'm especially grateful tonight for caregivers, a special breed of people, truly.

Color, color, color. Always grateful for color it its many forms; right now there are colors everywhere, from sky to earth to foliage to produce. Lovely to live somewhere with seasons.

I wouldn't have imagined in my earlier years how much I would grow to appreciate and be grateful for nature. I was talking with a friend today about our ideal kinds of trips, and I arrived at a few key points that make an area more appealing to me: fewer people (no crowds, please), more nature, and definitely good, fresh food choices; also, being able to walk and not rely so much on transportation. I know my love of NYC doesn't really fit that bill (though you can walk, and can find nature, there's no avoiding the crowds...), when I think about traveling for any length of time, having some wide open spaces to just breathe on occasion really does factor in.

For the habit of prayer, for the mindfulness to stop in the midst of stress and be calm (mostly), to look in the mirror, and breathe.

lakota

But especially, to know I am a child of God, and to rest in that knowledge, in peace.

I wish you a weekend of peace. And blueberries.