From The Jar... #21

Better late than never? It's been a CRAZY day!

Describe your Sundays as a mother/father.

I hated Sundays when I was a kid. Actually all the way through college and into our early marriage years too. Everyone laying around after church sleeping and blah. I wanted to go jump on people and wake them up and say... let's PLAY something!

As a mother, it's a little different. I like them much better than when I was younger. The following describes our Sundays when we have 1:00 church, as we currently do. I usually get to sleep in for a while... even if I don't stay asleep, I get to lay there while Dustin takes care of the kids. I usually get out of bed when Dust says breakfast is ready. He usually makes breakfast... Hootnanny Pancakes is the usual, but lately he's been making regular pancakes cuz he made chokecherry syrup. We eat breakfast and lounge around for a while. I make a bunch of phone calls to remind people in our church about choir practice. (I am the choir director) Then I take a shower, shower the kids, if they need it, get everyone as ready as I possibly can before I have to leave at noon for choir practice. ("Hurry!" is a word often heard Sunday morning... even with 1:00 church.) Go to choir and then church, go home, change clothes and head over to my parents' house for dinner! Have an enjoyable time over at my mom and dad's and then head home and put kids to bed.

9:00 church is similar except choir practice comes after church and there is much more franticness before church. (I'm late... A LOT!) Then there is more lounging before we head over to Mom and Dad's. Dustin usually makes cookies or bread. Yes, he is the baker and I'm the chef in our household. Although, lately, I have taken a hiatus from chef duty... which leaves us to call upon our backup chefs, namely General Mills, Kellogs or Post (cereal), Campbell's (Spaghettios), Wendy's, or, in tonight's case, whoever the maker's of frozen burritos are.

There's a little play-by-play of our Sundays, but the overall feeling of them is relaxed, but not blah. Mellow but not drowsy. (although Dustin often takes naps, I don't mind so much... the kids are awake!) I feel generally peaceful on Sundays now instead of frustrated like I did as a kid.

Wasn't wild about this post. Sorry. Tried to think of some creative way to write it, but I'm not feelin' it tonight. Ah well... even creative juices suck air sometimes.

A Favor?

I have a favor to ask of someone who talks to my husband in person. Please refer him to my blog and tell him that this is an idea for me for Christmas. Or this. Or this. Or these. I would just tell him myself, but that takes the fun out of it for me... and for him too, for that matter.

He might read my blog, he might not. He does sometimes. I never know when, though. Although, working out of town, he might be reading it religiously because he misses me so much! lol! (could happen...)

So, honey, if you are reading this... don't tell me... surprise me. I'll probably forget about it by Christmas... except for the fact that I look at your bank statements about 99% more than you do... so I'll probably know. You'll have to be covert. ;)

Tue Pose a Question

Tueday I'm going to steal an idea that the adorable Merrianne had on her blog a while ago. I thought it was cute, and let's face it, I'm feeling lazy today. Soooo.... the question for today is...

If you could ask me anything, what would you ask?

So I had to put that in question form because of the nature of my Tuesday posts, but the deal is, ask me anything and I'll post the answers on Thursday. Here's my big fear.... my insecurities scream, "You've told it all, girl! There's nothing left to ask." So, if I could humbly ask you to ask ANYTHING... even if it's some silly question you make up. Just ask and be silly if you must!
:) Thanks for your cooperation or should I say, indulgence....

6th

I'm it. Got tagged by the adorable MERRIANNE! I don't know if it's because it's October 6th, but this tag says go to your picture folder on your computer, go to the 6th folder, and then find the 6th picture and post it on your blog! This is a little scary and I'm a little bit tempted to cheat, but I won't. Here goes....





Wow. That pretty much sucks. This was a picture that my mom took when we drove to Arizona in June. Dustin asked us to take pictures of the terrain on the way down as he's never been to Arizona. This was somewhere past Flagstaff. Thrilling, is it not?


Lucky for all of you, I happen to have two"My Pictures" files... one from pre-computer-hard-drive-dump and from one post-computer-hard-drive-dump. The above pic happens to be post-drive-dump. (I was going to say post-dump, but that just sounds bad!) Anyway, I thought I'd see what I came up with in the other "My Pictures" file.... and *yikes* here it is!





I shouldn't told you I have two "My Pictures" folders, huh. Should have stuck with the boring window shot. This is a pic that my older brother, Zandy, took of Lacy, Taylor and I Christmas 2004. He emailed it to us after and titled it "Scary Siblings". Someday, if you ask nicely, I might show you what I did with this picture in Photoshop. *shudder*


SO....
that was a fun easy tag. Thanks, Merrianne! I am guessing I need to tag six people? That's what I'll do. I tag Kristin, Micci, Jen, Britta, Leah, and Beth at the Burn Unit! And Kaci... even though that's seven. Ready, set, GO!

Manic Monday: Leaf

This picture is exemplary of our autumn this year in Idaho. A color-shifting leaf in the still-green grass. It has been a beautiful fall this year with crisp mornings and warm, sunny afternoons. Perfect.

My mom has a huge garden... probably a quarter of an acre... in which they have row after row of corn, among other veggie-delights. They have been out of town and asked that I go and pick some corn. I picked. And picked. And picked. I might have picked three of the fifteen or so rows that they have there and I had three garbage bags full of corn! That's a lot, in case anyone was wondering. I couldn't possibly eat all this corn (plus D's been out of town so that's one more corn-eatin' mouth I was missing) so I started giving it away. I gave some to neighbors, friends, and I had something to drop off to one of my tenants so, naturally, I brought corn with me to give to them. There is a point to all of this... be patient.

I was on my cell phone so I was distracted as I walked up to their door . I knocked, realized they weren't home and hung the corn and some smoke detectors on the doorknob. I finished my phone call, and, as I walked back to my car (sans distractions), I heard it and felt it. The perfect crunch of the leaves under my feet. Without warning I was thrown back to the autumns of my childhood. My sister, Lacy, and I looking for those leaves with just the right crunch as we walked ourselves home from school. I never knew which tree they fell from, but they were small and would curl up just so after their descent from their lofty summer perch. We would seek them out and CRUNCH! For some unknown and inexplicable reason, this brought joy to our little child-hearts. The assault of memory didn't stop there...

Sounds were important to Lacy and I. Images were brought to mind of some sort of seed that dropped from some other unknown kind of tree. They were about the size and shape of a pea and we would chase around looking for that little group of seeds. When we found our treasure, we would roll our foot over them in just the right way and grin at each other. Those little seeds had a POP that was, somehow, a little bit of heaven.

Fall came and went and the season changed to winter, bringing it's own set of special sounds. The muted world of freshly fallen snow was a quiet joy that I kept all to myself, but Lacy and I had our very own fun, winter sound too. This one we had a name for. "Fun Ice" it was called. You know where a pock in the sidewalk had a little bit of snow that would melt in the daytime and freeze in the nighttime? Just a little thin sheet of ice would form and it would be hollow underneath. Or it might be in a bigger crack of the sidewalk or perhaps something in the gutter... but the important thing was the certain type of ice that would form on these imperfections in the ground. Our ten-minute walk home from school would often stretch into two hours in pursuit of "fun ice". The noise it made... a delicate crunching and popping sound was far superior to the leaf crunching or seed popping of the fall. "Fun ice" was, by far, our favorite of seasonal sounds.

But as much as "fun ice" was my favorite, I am profoundly grateful right now for the certain crunch of small leaves that I experienced Friday. It's incredible that a simple sound could bring back memories of innocent, quiet times with my gentle sister which, in turn, could have my eyes burning with almost-tears for the simple joys of being alive.

Walking Forward

It seems random.
It appears to have no rules.
It looks like a mess without order, without laws.

Stop.
Take a breath.
Look back and see perfection.
You see rightness in all the wrongness that turns out
to be not so wrong.
Simple orchestrations of little disasters, crazy frustrations, and small bursts of sunshine creating a moment by moment symphony that you only hear when you turn around.

Are you listening Now? The song is in each moment.
There is always joy.
There is always beauty.
And there is always a choice to see it.


~CL

Friday's Fabulous Five

YAY!! It's Friday again! Isn't it fantastic!

1- My husband is home again. *still working out of town midweek*
2- My children didn't have school today or yesterday and I got to sleep in a teeny tiny bit AND they've been really nice this whole week.
3- The future is feeling rosy, sunshiny, bright, happy, glorious, joyous and generally fabulous!!!
4- I bought a really cute shirt this week for $3.00 and cute jeans for $10.00.
5- Money is coming into my life more and more. Money is stalking me and I am so darned excited about it. Isn't it wonderful!!!

FABULOUSNESS IS IN ABUNDANCE! I could write so much more, but this is Friday's Fab FIVE not fifteen, fifty or five hundred...

Medicine

The Native American people believed that we receive guidance and healing messages from the animals. Squirrels have been making a major appearance in my life and so I thought I'd look up and see what "medicine" squirrel was bringing to me. I found it interesting and fun and thought you might too. Have any animals (wild) been making frequent appearances in your life?

Squirrel Medicine : Gathering

Squirrel's Wisdom Includes:

*Ability to solve puzzles
*Resourcefulness
*Quick change of direction
*Storing for the future
*Balance in gathering and getting rid of useless things/habits/people
*Discovery
*Preperation for change
*Avoiding danger by climbing to a higher place

When you observe the squirrel in nature they are always busy. They seem to have an endless supply of energy. Seldom do you see a squirrel inactive. Focused on the task at hand, agile and quick, they are constantly preparing for the future by gathering nuts and seeds for later use. Although they are always prepared for what may come they have a tendency to forget where they store things. The forgetfulness of squirrel serves as a reminder to those with this medicine to slow down, pay attention and to stop running frantically in several directions at once.

Squirrels are sociable and communicative. They can be quite vocal both in work and play. Sometimes their continual chatter disturbs the silence, which creates an air of distraction and chaos. If you find yourself disturbed by their constant chatter the squirrel is telling you to speak clearly and effectively or to go within and be still, depending on the circumstances around your situation. Their gathering nature teaches those with this totem how to reserve energy and store things for future use. Honoring the future and readying yourself for change.

Squirrel embodies the quality of trust and is one of the few animals that will eat out of a person's hand. This symbolizes a need to let down your defenses and learn to trust more. The issue of trust can play out in all areas of a person's life from personal intimacy to trusting Great Spirit. Because the squirrel is always prepared those with this medicine must remember that they will be taken care of. Establishing trust where it is presently absent would compliment the power of this medicine.

Squirrel represents balance within the circle of gathering and giving out. If squirrel has scampered into your life pay attention to the wisdom it has to offer you. Preparedness and survival skills can be learned from this powerful totem.

You Can't Help but Love It...

can you? Or at least can't help but smile and tap your foot.


I can't get enough.

From The Jar... #20

All are invited to play. If you wonder how and why go here.

Did you go on a church mission? If so where and when? What do you most remember?


Clearly, I got my journal jar from church. I thought so, but I wasn't sure until now. For any of you who might not know, I am LDS or "Mormon" and many young people in our church go on missions for two years around age 19 or 21. I didn't go on a mission anywhere or at any time and therefore, don't remember anything most. LOL!

Sometimes these questions don't quite apply to me and so I'll answer them with something from my husband's experiences, or some family member. However, my husband didn't serve a mission either and no one in my family ever has. That's kind of funny! I have some strange sense of pride that I married a guy that didn't serve a mission. It probably stems from an experience I observed with my little brother. One where he was discriminated against because he hadn't gone on a mission. How sad! It just goes to show that there is discrimination everywhere because, let's face it folks, we're all human beings. We are all messin' up all over the place and people are jerks sometimes, even if they think they are doing the right thing.

(and since I'm all about confessing lately... ok just in the last post, but that'll do... I have another confession. I once promised that I would just grab a question out of the jar and write and not choose another if I didn't feel like writing about that one, but I broke that promise tonight. I dug through like 10 of them. I chose this one cuz it was easy. Sorry for breaking my promise.)