Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite children's classics, and is Honey's favorite as well. So when we learned DeSales University with a fabulous theatre department was putting on a holiday production, we eagerly bought our tickets.
What a delightful morning! The set design was honestly breathtaking in it's accuracy and practicality. The actors gave a perfect portrayal , true to the books core. It appealed to the deeper message of the transformative power of love.
It also gave a perfect platform to discuss how often people take for granted a loving family, the leisure to be educated, and most of all, a place to call home. Both Honey and I have been carrying around a bit of a glow all day.
I think Anne epitomizes the sort of love we all need to remember this season!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Glorious snow...
How full of the creative genius is the air in which these are generated! I should hardly admire more if real stars fell and lodged on my coat.
~Henry David Thoreau, 1856
We had our first snow of the year yesterday. I was working at the toy store when the first flakes began to fall. I barely made it an hour before I was out front, spinning in it like a child. Snow is a great panacea for my soul.
For now, I am off to enjoy it with a walk, as it is much better when one is OUT in it!
~Henry David Thoreau, 1856
We had our first snow of the year yesterday. I was working at the toy store when the first flakes began to fall. I barely made it an hour before I was out front, spinning in it like a child. Snow is a great panacea for my soul.
For now, I am off to enjoy it with a walk, as it is much better when one is OUT in it!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
A Most Magical Season...
This has always been a magical season for us to celebrate. I'm a generous sort, and I love this season where I can focus on those around me and gift away. You see, it's only materialistic if it is obligatory! When you truly love the person you are gifting, the joy comes at the first ponderings of the "perfect gift." The gifts are not always monetary either, but can often be something homemade, or even the gift of time. (like when we gave a gift of pressure washing a house to a neighbor who wanted it done but couldn't afford it!)
Gifting is only part of my joy. I cannot wait to bedeckle my house. We managed only the lights so far, and funerals and out of town work will postpone our tree-trimming party until Dec. 12th. Still, I can hardly wait to have the living room aglow with lights, shimmering off ornaments of crystal and glass. I've already dug out the the stack of holiday music cds, to play in the background all day long.
I have the days right before Christmas off from retail this year as I undergo a procedure on the 18th. Knowing that I have this time at home, yet unsure of how I will be feeling physically afterward, I am planning some low key actitivies. The holiday cards will obviously wait until then (and my blogger friends, especially those who have moved, EMAIL me with your addys!) I have a few quick gifts to crochet, which will be the perfect project while watching stacks of DVDs together.
I am looking for some new holiday baking recipes (Honey is dying to try to make red velvet cupcakes ---any one have a tried recipe to share?) I have an early gift for her of cake decorating supplies and fondant, and I anticipate some afternoons playing with all of it. I'm excited to host Christmas Day brunch again, and would be interested in a few new recipes to try for that as well.
I am so brimming with holiday spirit that not even the grumpy mean shoppers at the toy store are going to get me down this weekend. I shall don my reindeer antlers and if necessary, beat the holiday spirit into them with candy canes! Joyful! Joyful! :)
Gifting is only part of my joy. I cannot wait to bedeckle my house. We managed only the lights so far, and funerals and out of town work will postpone our tree-trimming party until Dec. 12th. Still, I can hardly wait to have the living room aglow with lights, shimmering off ornaments of crystal and glass. I've already dug out the the stack of holiday music cds, to play in the background all day long.
I have the days right before Christmas off from retail this year as I undergo a procedure on the 18th. Knowing that I have this time at home, yet unsure of how I will be feeling physically afterward, I am planning some low key actitivies. The holiday cards will obviously wait until then (and my blogger friends, especially those who have moved, EMAIL me with your addys!) I have a few quick gifts to crochet, which will be the perfect project while watching stacks of DVDs together.
I am looking for some new holiday baking recipes (Honey is dying to try to make red velvet cupcakes ---any one have a tried recipe to share?) I have an early gift for her of cake decorating supplies and fondant, and I anticipate some afternoons playing with all of it. I'm excited to host Christmas Day brunch again, and would be interested in a few new recipes to try for that as well.
I am so brimming with holiday spirit that not even the grumpy mean shoppers at the toy store are going to get me down this weekend. I shall don my reindeer antlers and if necessary, beat the holiday spirit into them with candy canes! Joyful! Joyful! :)
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Scraping the Frost from the Window...
Scraping the Frost from the window is the perfect metaphor, especially as I return to blogging. November was a physically and emotionally draining time for us. HoneyGirl was stricken with a string of illnesses...swine flu, then strep, then a cold that turned to bronchitis. There was a solid month where our energies needed to focus on health.
This need to slow down and stop was a struggle for me. I can admit that there were days early on when I dreamed of the freedom of the younger years, when a month's illness could be filled with snuggling by the fire, reading books, and doing puzzles. I longed to just be mother without teacher, and to care for her with no lingering worry about how far behind she was getting.
Then one afternoon, I was reading by the fire while she slept on the sofa. I had a copy of the "The Tao of Pooh" that I wanted to read to help me understand Taoism before I tried to teach it to my ancient studies class. I was immediately drawn to the simplicity and wisdom of these teachings.
One particular passage, in which the author compares the minds of the different characters, stopped me in my tracks.
"An Empty sort of mind is valuable for finding pearls and tails and things because it can see what's in front of it. An Overstuffed mind is unable to. While the Clear mind listens to a bird singing, the Stuffed-Full-of-Knowledge-and-Cleverness mind wonders what kind of bird is singing. The more Stuffed Up it is, the less it can hear through its own ears and see through its own eyes. Knowledge and Cleverness tend to concern themselves with the wrong sorts of things, and a mind confused by Knowledge, Cleverness, and Abstract Ideas tends to go chasing off after things that don't matter, or that don't even exist, instead of seeing, appreciating, and making use of what is right in front of it. "
I was filled with clarity. There was nothing that mattered more than getting Honey back to health. Yet the quandry was that I am stuck with ALL these other obligations: teaching, administrating the co-op, running the home, and my job at the toy store. KingBee was again working out of state during the week, so I was also doing the single parent thing at the time. I needed to find a way.
Lao-tse wrote
"To attain knowledge, add things every day.
To attain wisdom, remove things every day.
And there, my friends, was the answer. I began by removing things from my long t-do list. So much of my life had become driven by busy habits that, while not all together harmful, ate up a LOT of my time, my freedom. I stopped blogging and reading blogs, and made myself unavailable for chatting on the phone. I stopped reading email loops and visiting favorite news websites. I loosened up my cleaning regimine, and actually let some laundry pile up and stopped dusting. I stopped worrying about creating wonderful meals EVERY night, and ate simply with more left-overs.
I let go of any guilt or worry about time-tables with every academic subject unless Honey was interested. Interestingly , she chose to keep up with history reading and research, her phsycial science. Once a bit better, she worked diligently to catch up to her public speaking class. We didn't even attempt to keep up with algebra and German, as she couldn't hold a single concept in her head between naps.
Instead, we played lots of board games. She conquered jigsaw puzzles, a previous challenge to her dyslexic mind. We watched a tons of old movies and analyzed themes. And best of all, we shared . In slowing down, I took on the role of storyteller, as she asked me all about my childhood, my mother, and life. In turn, I asked her to share her dreams and hopes, and fears.
Most of all, we discussed the things of true importance to us in all areas of our lives. I've realized that I love the co-op and teaching, but cannot do the quality job I want while working at the toy store. After the holidays, I'm quitting. We both want to commit more fully to a different lifestyle, filled with quality activities that do not necessarily cost money. I need time more than the money I earn.
Her health has returned quite a bit, but she still has a road to go. I finally succumbed to bronchitis over the last week or so, but am allowing myself permission to keep letting things go to take care of me. (and utterly new concept as well). I miss blogging , but realize that I will have to cut back on the amount of time devoted to reading blogs every day. Moderation, it seems, will be the key.
And those syllabi? I'm not quite ready to scrap them, for I see value in having a plan. I am just not worrying about how long the journey takes any more. I would rather enjoy the singing of the bird.
This need to slow down and stop was a struggle for me. I can admit that there were days early on when I dreamed of the freedom of the younger years, when a month's illness could be filled with snuggling by the fire, reading books, and doing puzzles. I longed to just be mother without teacher, and to care for her with no lingering worry about how far behind she was getting.
Then one afternoon, I was reading by the fire while she slept on the sofa. I had a copy of the "The Tao of Pooh" that I wanted to read to help me understand Taoism before I tried to teach it to my ancient studies class. I was immediately drawn to the simplicity and wisdom of these teachings.
One particular passage, in which the author compares the minds of the different characters, stopped me in my tracks.
"An Empty sort of mind is valuable for finding pearls and tails and things because it can see what's in front of it. An Overstuffed mind is unable to. While the Clear mind listens to a bird singing, the Stuffed-Full-of-Knowledge-and-Cleverness mind wonders what kind of bird is singing. The more Stuffed Up it is, the less it can hear through its own ears and see through its own eyes. Knowledge and Cleverness tend to concern themselves with the wrong sorts of things, and a mind confused by Knowledge, Cleverness, and Abstract Ideas tends to go chasing off after things that don't matter, or that don't even exist, instead of seeing, appreciating, and making use of what is right in front of it. "
I was filled with clarity. There was nothing that mattered more than getting Honey back to health. Yet the quandry was that I am stuck with ALL these other obligations: teaching, administrating the co-op, running the home, and my job at the toy store. KingBee was again working out of state during the week, so I was also doing the single parent thing at the time. I needed to find a way.
Lao-tse wrote
"To attain knowledge, add things every day.
To attain wisdom, remove things every day.
And there, my friends, was the answer. I began by removing things from my long t-do list. So much of my life had become driven by busy habits that, while not all together harmful, ate up a LOT of my time, my freedom. I stopped blogging and reading blogs, and made myself unavailable for chatting on the phone. I stopped reading email loops and visiting favorite news websites. I loosened up my cleaning regimine, and actually let some laundry pile up and stopped dusting. I stopped worrying about creating wonderful meals EVERY night, and ate simply with more left-overs.
I let go of any guilt or worry about time-tables with every academic subject unless Honey was interested. Interestingly , she chose to keep up with history reading and research, her phsycial science. Once a bit better, she worked diligently to catch up to her public speaking class. We didn't even attempt to keep up with algebra and German, as she couldn't hold a single concept in her head between naps.
Instead, we played lots of board games. She conquered jigsaw puzzles, a previous challenge to her dyslexic mind. We watched a tons of old movies and analyzed themes. And best of all, we shared . In slowing down, I took on the role of storyteller, as she asked me all about my childhood, my mother, and life. In turn, I asked her to share her dreams and hopes, and fears.
Most of all, we discussed the things of true importance to us in all areas of our lives. I've realized that I love the co-op and teaching, but cannot do the quality job I want while working at the toy store. After the holidays, I'm quitting. We both want to commit more fully to a different lifestyle, filled with quality activities that do not necessarily cost money. I need time more than the money I earn.
Her health has returned quite a bit, but she still has a road to go. I finally succumbed to bronchitis over the last week or so, but am allowing myself permission to keep letting things go to take care of me. (and utterly new concept as well). I miss blogging , but realize that I will have to cut back on the amount of time devoted to reading blogs every day. Moderation, it seems, will be the key.
And those syllabi? I'm not quite ready to scrap them, for I see value in having a plan. I am just not worrying about how long the journey takes any more. I would rather enjoy the singing of the bird.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Farm Girl Sisterhood, Complete with Merit Badges
Last year I mentioned finding a great book called MaryJane's Ideabook, Cookbook, Lifebook for the Farmgirl in All of Us. that celebrated the farmgirl in every woman. I've been getting FarmGirl Magazine here and there. The other day, I picked one up and visited the website.
Imagine my joy when I discovered the FarmGirl Sisterhood is going strong, and now offers Merit Badges. My inner farmgirl and my nostalgic Girl Scout unite! I perused the offerings, and am estatic. This is exactly what we are needing around here.
Today will be Honey's 20th day of illness. I've tried to downplay it, as it is just been such a negative. It started with swine, and then strep on top if that. She didn't respond to the antibiotics, and on one of our myriad of office visits picked up a cold on top. That moved quickly into bronchitis, and it's complications. She finally rounding the corner, but our days are filled with breathing treatments and a third round of yet stronger antibiotics. Ugh!
With all of this, she has been struggling to do anything resembling school work. Frankly, she's had days where she is struggling to stay awake for three hours at a time. Asking her to do algebra is ridiculous, as she will forget any lesson we might happen to muddle through. She's been keeping up with her history and German, surpisingly, and is still acing her Plato Science (that is still fun!). I've had to bag a lot of the dynamic literary analysis in lieu of easy grammar review that she can handle in bite size chunks. And all those added academic courses like philosophy, journalism, and sociology are now moving to multi-year status.
She is still facing at least another week of this, and who knows how long until she is mentally recovered. We've already faced the reality that we will be doing math long into the summer to ensure she's gotten it. Her evaluator is right on board with us with these changes. We know that her resisitence is very slow recovering, and are already looking for nesting type projects that keep us close to home.
Honey, however, is mentioning that she likes mini-goals. These badges will become for us a real way to add a little direction. And the variety offers not just hobbies like needle arts, but environmental concerns, horticulture, cooking and community service. How fun!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
My Organized Office Space!
Just thought I'd share my wonderful new bookcase, and how nicely it allows me to organize my office space. It doesn't even clash too badly with the toile wallpaper and stenciling...so I am thrilled!
Not bad for a Friday project!
All Kinds of Stinky Goin' On!
Poor HoneyGirl is really struggling to get better. Another trip to the doctor, a higher potency antibiotic for seconday infections. After, of course, a 20 hour battle with the pharmacy, insurance company and office staff to finally discover that the new Dr. had created her own abbreviation for Zithromax, also known as a Zpak. Her creation, however, is the actual name for another medication, used for heart patients. Grrr!
We are spending all our time at home, other than going out for some fresh air on the patio. After more than a week of doing little school, she claimed utter boredom and has started on her own. She's got a system down of waking really early, having some lemon tea, and doing some reading. She takes a nap early, then wakes again around 11am. She can usually manage about 2 hours of school work, then pops in a movie which she promptly naps through. When she wakes, she does another subject, then we play a game or watch a movie together.
Her slow recovery isn't the only stinky here, I must sadly report. Last night around 1am our dog Bear went out and came running through the dog door like a crazed banshee, rubbing his face on the carpet and wimpering. He'd finally met the skunk that has been creeping around the neighborhood. It seemed to be just a warning shot and not full blast, but it got him right in the eye. We flushed the eye, then did tomato baths . He's smelling better than the carpet! Had to throw out the dog bed and living room pillows, which he rubbed his face on in his initial frenzy. Thank goodness for leather furniture that washes so easily!
I sit now, with windows open and candles aflame, waiting for the reek to leave us. What a time to be home sick. It seems that he is now afraid to go out without someone, so I have been making the trek out with them (and loudly announcing my arrival!) Got out my old 22 to clean today, and I am planning on staying up a bit later at night. I'm goin' on a skunk hunt (insert Elmer Fudd voice here), and I am thanking my Daddy today for teaching me how to take care of varmints like this!
We are spending all our time at home, other than going out for some fresh air on the patio. After more than a week of doing little school, she claimed utter boredom and has started on her own. She's got a system down of waking really early, having some lemon tea, and doing some reading. She takes a nap early, then wakes again around 11am. She can usually manage about 2 hours of school work, then pops in a movie which she promptly naps through. When she wakes, she does another subject, then we play a game or watch a movie together.
Her slow recovery isn't the only stinky here, I must sadly report. Last night around 1am our dog Bear went out and came running through the dog door like a crazed banshee, rubbing his face on the carpet and wimpering. He'd finally met the skunk that has been creeping around the neighborhood. It seemed to be just a warning shot and not full blast, but it got him right in the eye. We flushed the eye, then did tomato baths . He's smelling better than the carpet! Had to throw out the dog bed and living room pillows, which he rubbed his face on in his initial frenzy. Thank goodness for leather furniture that washes so easily!
I sit now, with windows open and candles aflame, waiting for the reek to leave us. What a time to be home sick. It seems that he is now afraid to go out without someone, so I have been making the trek out with them (and loudly announcing my arrival!) Got out my old 22 to clean today, and I am planning on staying up a bit later at night. I'm goin' on a skunk hunt (insert Elmer Fudd voice here), and I am thanking my Daddy today for teaching me how to take care of varmints like this!
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