Hello Monday, So Long July

Hello friends. August is just around the bend and here we have a full and mostly fun calendar of things coming our way. 

I know many people feel like July flew right on by, but I enjoyed the pace. Ours was not too fast, not too slow, or as Goldilocks would say 'it was just right'.  We had very few big events on the calendar, and spent a lot of time at home, enjoying the lake, grilling out, and resting my foot. 

Maybe that's the upside to a stress fracture mid-summer. It forces you to consider what you'll say yes to a little more carefully than you normally would. We had company over the 4th, but other than that the house was all ours. While we're never people with nothing to do, we had lots of down time which was nice. 

So how did you spend this last weekend in July? Here's how ours looked...

Friday I was supposed to have a mani/pedi. It was going to be a bit wonky with the boot and all, but I was okay with one foot having a full pedi and the other just a polish. Hubs was golfing and I was going to drive myself for the very first time since I started in the boot. The Dr. said I could drive if needed, and I considered this a need.  

I left the house and got about a mile down the road when I was forced to turn around due to a very serious accident ahead. Turning around meant I would have had to go around the lake in the opposite direction of my appointment so I gave up, called the salon, and went back home. I wasn't meant to drive I guess. Or get my nails done. Bother. 

Friday night hubs and I went to a nearby spot we love for a glass of wine and a charcuterie board dinner. It was nice. We got home a little before eight and my son-in-law dropped our two oldest grandsons off at our house to spend the night. Saturday was the mancub's birthday and they wanted the boys out of the house while they got things set up. 

Everyone put on pjs and piled in our bed to watch Honey I Shrunk The Kids. I hadn't seen it in many many years, and I often think I remember a movie as being fine for certain ages only to watch and discover I remembered wrong. That was not the case here and they enjoyed it. 

The boys are not normally early risers, but were up early on Saturday. I think the birthday party adrenaline was amping up and when I said the party wasn't for nine more hours they sighed a little. We had a lot of time to fill in between, so they worked on a lego creation I had here, and then hubs made blueberry pancakes on the griddle. 

We went for a lake swim, came back inside for lunch, and then my son-in-law arrived to take them home. We followed soon after to help with some of the pre-party tasks. 

Planning and hosting birthday parties for my girls was one of my favorite things to do when they were small, and my girls love it too. Daughter1 has an art background and this is a fun way to be creative. The theme was Star Wars and she made a Death Star pinata out of paper mache which was awesome. 

Also I hated pinatas as a kid. All that chaos and the anxiety of chasing down the candy. Whew. These boys were all in though and they loved it. 

Her goody bags which she made herself were also super cute. There was a ginormous inflatable water slide for entertainment and it was a good thing because it was hot with a capital H. If my foot wasn't in a boot I'd have tried it myself. 

These pictures make it look like no one was there, but kids were there lol. Parents too. We stayed until the very end so we could help with some of the clean up and when we came home we flopped on the couch and agreed birthday parties are the best kind of exhausting fun. 

I always write my grandchildren letters on their birthdays...you can read the birthday boy's new letter here (2922 Days).

Sunday we went to church. The 'kids' had a meeting after so hubs and I went to our usual breakfast spot for lunch, then came home, changed, and took the boat out to meet friends. 

Someone is always organizing impromptu float parties and they'll text a map with a pin telling us which cove they're in, and we tie the boats up together...

... and then we float. 

We got home late afternoon and I called my sister to catch up, then hubs grilled salmon for dinner. I made a spinach salad to go with and we watched a couple more episodes of The Lioness. Have you seen it?  I'm not really invested, yet it's somehow still managing to make me tense. We're about eight episodes in so I guess we'll finish the season. 

Linking today with Holly and Sarah for their Hello Monday weekend recap party. Hop over if you want to share your own or read what others have to say. Have a great week! 

About That Snow Day

HopeWriters hosted a five day writing challenge this week, providing a one word prompt each day (slow-rest-renew-spark-possibility). I wasn't going to participate because I felt like these prompts all flowed in a very similar vein, and I wasn't sure I could muster up five separate entries to meet the challenge. 

And then it snowed. 

Snow in our neck of the woods is rare, and while I know its not popular to say here in the southland, I miss it sometimes. While I'm grateful we no longer spend six months of the year worrying about ice damming our gutters or dodging seven foot icicles dropping from the roof like daggers, there are some things about a snowfall that I really do miss. 

I miss the hush that falls over our too-noisy world whenever snow begins to fall. The quiet stillness that hangs in the air reminding us hurry up humans to slow down. There are rhythms in nature and also in life and rest is one of those rhythms.

I miss pulling on my favorite pair of boots for a ramble through a winter wonderland. Trekking across a snowy path energizes me, recharging batteries drained of power by too many Christmas cookies and not enough exercise. 

I miss watching sunlight turn dead brown leaves to diamonds that shine with a million points of light. 

The colors of a winter day against the bright blue canvas of a January sky. Allowing nature to spark creativity through the vastness of her beauty and her silence. 

I miss rosy cheeked children and pups running wild with delight at the freedom found in freshly fallen snow. 

I miss the unique sense of possibility born when a whole day's plans are cancelled...

...and in their place you discover enough white space to think and breathe and dream. 

Linking today with Five Minute Friday and #hopewriterlife

An Xceptional Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Also my entry for today's letter X in the A-Z Blog Challenge (see question #6). If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. 

1. What are some memories you associate with spring? 

My mom's big bed of blooming iris in the corner of our yard. Clothes on the line. Iced tea because we didn't drink iced tea year round when I was growing up. 

With my own girls it meant ballet recitals, end of year musical performances, kids in the neighborhood staying outside just a little bit longer, camping, bike rides...shaking off winter's chilly grayness, which was welcome in December but by spring has become a bit tiresome. 

2. April showers bring May flowers...was that saying proven true where you live? Snapdragons, anemones, carnations, lilacs, sweet peas, tulips, lily of the valley, orchids, roses, gardenias...which one on that list is your favorite May bloom? 

Absolutely true here. It has been a rainy winter and a rainy spring so far. 2021 people. Now, how do I pick a favorite bloom??? That's like asking me to pick a favorite child. My daughter2 had the most gorgeous anemones in her wedding bouquet so they are high on my list. 

And who doesn't love a big bunch of tulips or a whole farm-full? Lilacs have the sweetest aroma, I had orchids in my own wedding, and have roses and gardenias in my yard. If you make me choose I'll say tulips. 

3. What are your top three distractions and how do you deal with them? 

My phone, my phone, and my phone. Honestly nothing compares to the distraction of my phone. How do I deal with it? I spend too much time on it, that's how-ha!  I'm thinking cold turkey might be the way to go. 

4. Do you eat beef? In the course of a week, how often is beef on the menu? A hamburger, steak, prime rib, or a roast beef dinner...which beef entree would you choose and yes you have to choose. Unless you're a vegan, and then you may pass. 

I do eat beef and I like all of the foods listed. My choice would depend on my mood and what else had been on the menu that week. If I could only have one of those for the rest of my life it would be a hamburger. We have beef in some form about once a week. 

5. In what way were you creative during the month of April?

Well I blogged my way through the alphabet in the April A-Z Challenge. Does that count? I cooked and baked both and that feels somewhat creative. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Day 24 in the A to Z Blog Challenge...

X is for Xtra

As in these little guys are extra Xtra special.

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 417

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here to share answers with the universe. See you there! 

1. What are some memories you associate with spring? 

2. April showers bring May flowers...was that saying proven true where you live? Snapdragons, anemones, carnations, lilacs, sweet peas, tulips, lily of the valley, orchids, roses, gardenias...which one on that list is your favorite May bloom? 

3. What are your top three distractions and how do you deal with them? 

4. Do you eat beef? In the course of a week, how often is beef on the menu? A hamburger, steak, prime rib, or a roast beef dinner...which beef entree would you choose and yes you have to choose. Unless you're a vegan, and then you may pass. 

5. In what way were you creative during the month of April?

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Dots On A Map

If you're looking for this week's Hodgepodge questions, you'll find them one post down. Keep scrolling. 

I wish I had more time to write. I know that day is coming, but that day is not today. Blogging helps maintain my everyday equilibrium, and also helps maintain hubs everyday equilibrium because when I have too many words and no time to blog, well...I still have all those words that need to go somewhere. Hi hubs!

I don't think writing is ever a waste of time, but when there are beds to be made for company, boxes to unpack, and Thanksgiving dinner to plan-shop-cook for then blogging is downgraded to the middle of my to-do list and happens when it happens.

Also, I'm a little overwhelmed by all I could blog about. My daughter said I should do room by room posts, but y'all these rooms are not ready for public consumption. She pointed out that if I wait for everything to be in it's place I will likely never do a room by room tour. I'm sure that's not a commentary on my housekeeping? I know it's not. It's just a really true fact of life from someone who knows me well and knows my tendency to wait for a perfect that never comes. She's got the same DNA. Solidarity my daughters.

Of course lake living is nothing if not relaxed so I will let go of my need for perfection. Mostly. I do want to at least hang a few pictures and figure out what in the world to do with these last few boxes of 'why did we move this?' 'do I want this?' and 'what in the world is this?' before I post too many pics.

I decided to share one tiny little thing I love today and that's a start.

It's not actually tiny, and it's not something in the house, but rather something outside the house. I might as well state for the record I'm obsessed with the out of doors here so what better place to begin a home tour than out of doors?

Early in the build hubs had this idea that we should have a sign. I can't remember exactly what inspired the notion, but we've lived a lot of places in our life and times and I think maybe that was it. We've planted ourselves by choice in a quiet cozy corner of rural America, but the route that brought us here was filled with miles and years, some unexpected twists and turns, treks through big cities, surburbia, and even for a time a village across the sea. We feel great affection for the places we've lived because they built us.

So hubs had an idea and I told him I knew just the place to make it a reality. ETSY- aka the land of if you've got a clever idea somebody has the skills to make it come to life. Our somebody was Kristin at The Trashy Side, but don't let her shop name fool you...she uses all reclaimed wood, hence the 'trash'.  Apparently we were not the first people to have this idea, because she'd done a few others, each one personalized to the buyer.

Here's our sign-

It feels like the chapter headings to the story of us.

We grew into the people we are today in these place names on a map, and our lives were made richer by the people and experiences we encountered in every new city we called home. Sometimes I meet people who've spent their whole lives living in the same town, and I feel a twinge of envy. And sometimes I meet people who've moved ten times more than we have and I feel a twinge of longing to see more of this world.

There is beauty in both I think.

I sent Kristin the city names and mileage, we emailed a couple of times about how it would work, and then two short weeks later the sign was on our doorstep, ready to assemble. Easy peasy. I asked Kristin about embellishments as I'd seen them on some of her other pieces, and she recommended adding something to just a few of the cities as opposed to every location. We told her we wanted the British flag, a crab, a bear and the Big Orange T and she ran with it.

We couldn't be happier with the finished product!

You can find Kristin's ETSY shop by clicking here-The Trashy Side 

SaveSave

Sprinting Through The Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! Please only link here today if you've answered this week's questions. And don't forget to race over and leave a comment for your neighbor, after you read my answers of course! Here we go-

1. I read here four creative activities to try this month. They were-calligraphy, make your own cookbook, dance or learn a new type of dance, and letter writing. Which activity on the list appeals to you most? Will you add it to your August? 

I have a calligraphy program my girls gave me for Christmas, but honestly the house build has consumed (and continues to consume) so much of my time I haven't wanted to add anything new to the mix. I'm anxious to try calligraphy, but want to give it the attention I'm sure is required, which means I need a clear head and space to work. How 'bout you ask me again in November? 

2. Bertrand Russell is quoted as saying, 'To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.' Agree or disagree? Explain.

Who asked this question??? It's a toughie. I think I mostly agree. Is having everything we want whenever we want it true happiness? Don't we need that period of wanting to help measure happiness? I think wanting is an essential part of what makes us happy with the eventual getting.  

3. August 17th is National Thriftshop Day...are you a 'thrifter'? If so, tell us about one of your best or favorite finds.

In a word, no. I'm not a thrifter. I've tried to like it but nope, still don't. I admire people who can take something in less than stellar condition, clean-paint-redo in some way and make it fit their home and style, but that's just not me. Nor am I someone who can weed through stacks of clothes and find something I absolutely must have. I've got oodles of patience for lots of things, but this is not one of them. 

4. On a scale of 1-10 (1=almost none and 10=loads) how would you rate your sense of wanderlust? What kicks your wanderlust into high gear? 

I'm going with an 8. What kicks my wanderlust into high gear? Pretty pictures of far away places, friends living in far away places, travel websites, travel quotes, scrolling through my Passport, Pinterest, and most of all actual travel.

"I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world."

~Mary Ann Radmacher

5. Has life felt more like a marathon or sprint so far this month? How so? 

Going with a sprint this month, since we're on the last lap (so to speak) of our house build. Suddenly it feels like the finish line is within reach. Overall the process has been definitely more of a marathon, but we're sprinting through August. 

6.What do you need to get a jump on before fall officially arrives?

Y'all will be glad when we're through building because then I can quit using it as my answer for every single question asked, but...I still need a few things to make the house feel like home. Our build should be wrapping up about the time fall officially arrives. 

7. What's the last thing you did with friends or family where you lost track of time?

Swimming in the lake

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

Daughter2 and I celebrated her first day of kindergarten last night with that quintessential summertime treat-the snowball. Our local stand has 100 flavors including dill pickle. Haven't tried that one yet, but I'm definitely tempted. This one is a cantaloupe/honeydew combination. 

Have you had a snowball this summer?

Soar

I is for Be Inspired. And Inspiring

Someone asked me yesterday where I find inspiration for writing. I thought about it and came to the conclusion that the things in which I find inspiration today, are the same things that have always inspired me. The manner in which they inspire may change, but not what's at the core.

Nature. I've always found inspiration in the beauty of God's creation. My feet in the sand at the edge of a seemingly endless ocean. The world spread wide from high up on a mountain. The bright red of a cardinal against the dull gray-brown of a not yet springtime landscape. The explosion of gold in my own backyard when October rolls around.

A bright blue sky. A pale blue sky. A starry sky. A great big brilliant moon.

Fluffy white clouds. Wispy clouds. A watercolor sunrise.

Inspiration doesn't only make us want to do something, it makes us feel something. When I notice the beauty that is everywhere, from the tiny perfection in a seashell to the majesty and grandeur of a hawk high overhead, I feel something.

Awe. Gratitude. Peace.

God's word. I grew up in Sunday School, memorizing Bible verses (thanks parents!), and hearing all the wonderful stories of faith the Good Book records. The most amazing thing about the Bible is the timelessness of it's words. Written centuries ago yet as relevant to daily living as if it were penned yesterday.

The words in scripture speak to me no matter what season of life I'm walking through. No self help book, no encyclopedia of knowledge, no parenting tome, no how-to best seller can reach into the corners of my soul the way God's word can.

And what exactly does God's word inspire in me? Self examination, reflection, small course corrections and big life changes to name just a few.

The written word. As a little girl I wrote a lot. Journals, stories, letters, cards, notes about my day in the small squares of my Holly Hobbie calendar. Growing up our house was full of books and we're all readers to this day. I fell in love with words and the way they fed my dreams.

When I began blogging I had no idea what I was getting into. I've always been a thinker, an observer of life, and I enjoy writing. Boom-blog born. Words are my love language and blogging opened the door to a world of wonderful writers. Writers who aren't necessarily published in book form although some are, but others too who have a deep thought, a significant insight, a funny incident, or a me-too tale to relate.

So often I read something and think 'Wow, I wish I'd written that.' Good writers are clever. They make me want to be better at this thing I love so much.

Creative people. There are so many talented people out there in the world, doing all sorts of amazing things. The most creative of them make me think I can be creative too. They make me want to create. I love the ballet, beautiful paintings, music that speaks, and English gardens in full bloom. I'm not skilled at any of those things, but when I'm privy to the power of someone else's talent I'm inspired to keep trying.

Kindness. In all its many forms. When I see it, hear about it, or am the recipient of it myself, I'm inspired. I see good in the world around me and want to hold on to the warm feelings stirred up by that goodness. I want to pay it forward.

I don't think I conciously seek inspiration. It's more like it arrives unbidden, so long as I make time and space for the things I've listed here. Some seasons of life that's been more challenging than others, but seasons they do change.

So what inspires you? What things or places would make your list?

Spread the Love-Wedding Post 2

Getting to the wedding locale was, like most things we do, not simple. There were four of us humans plus Daughter2's long legged greyhound, along with various and assorted boxes containing the ingredients for our welcome bags, gifts for the bridesmaids, sparklers for the sendoff, luggage, a bunch of other 'stuff', as well as all the printed material-aka place cards, menus, and crossword puzzles custom designed by the bride herself.

Yes, crossword puzzles. 

We hosted a breakfast the day after and you need a crossword puzzle to go with your Sunday morning coffee, don't you? Anyway, suffice it to say we were overloaded. We rented one car instead of driving two of our own so hubs and I could make the long trek home together. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that we also had the wedding dress, which had previously traveled from D.C. to NJ. and was now making its way to South Carolina with a four day pit stop in Tennessee. 

Don't try to make sense of it...just keep reading. 

Daughter2 and I rode in our car with her very agreeable pup. We talked non-stop the entire route from NJ to Tennessee. 699.85 miles give or take a few for meals, petrol, and dog walking. At one point hubs had Daughter1 call and ask if we were bickering because he could see our hands waving. Ha! No we weren't bickering...that's just how we talk. 

Hubs and the bride were in the rental car up front, the pace car so to speak, which only made him a little bit crazy. Every so often he would have Daughter1(in his car) phone Daughter2 (in my car) with a message for me-

'Why is your mother so far back? Tell her she needs to go faster.' 

'Why is she on my bumper?! Is she going to run into me?!!'

'Tell her to turn on her fog lights so I know which car is hers." 

'It's hard to drive when I have to worry about what's in front of me, 

and also worry about your mom behind me." 

Chalk it up to the steady drizzle and all day fog, or maybe to all those giving-away-his-daughter nerves, but whatever we made it to my sister-in-law's cabin in Tennessee late Sunday night. The girls and the greyhound departed for SC the following afternoon because most of the wedding party and assorted friends were arriving in town early to ring in the new year with the soon-to-be-marrieds. 

Before they ducked out we set up an assembly line with the favors. My mother-in-law makes cranberry jelly every December, and she
was enlisted offered to make enough for us to give our guests as favors. There was a whole lotta jelly goin' on. 

Grandma spent the weeks before the wedding waiting for just the right weather conditions (not too humid), and managed to have them all ready to go by the time we arrived to load up and deliver. The bride designed adorable stickers with her 'logo' and a 'spread the love' graphic to add to the lids and they were just too cute.

I must insert here that the bride did all the wedding graphics and design herself. Everything from the invitations to the menus to the labels for the water bottles tucked inside the welcome bags, and she did an absolutely beautiful job. No small detail was too small to escape her artistic eye. Seriously it was so impressive. She kept her color scheme and font uniform, and incorporated the pinecone and evergreen in just the right proportion. She and I share a love of paper, pretty fonts, and lovely graphic design so we were really pleased with the end result.

The final touch added to the jam jars was tying gold glitter twine around the rim to complete the package. Yes gold glitter twine is so a thing. Listen, there's a little something out there called the Internet and if you can imagine it you can order it. Etsy and Amazon Fire were our friends, and the UPS delivery man might join us for Thanksgiving dinner next year. 

Also, you should know that whole tying the twine around a jar thing is a lot harder than it looks.  

But totally worth it.  Here's a peek at the favor station in the reception venue. I borrowed this shot from a friend's Facebook page, which I hope is fine. Hi Deb! The wooden jam spoons in the basket beside the jars were also hand crafted, made with love by the groom's mom and her close friend. They were absolutely fabulous, and every couple left with a spoon and jar of jam. 

When I started writing this post I intended to talk about the day and evening before the wedding. Somehow I ended up here though, and it feels like a good place to stop. I asked my daughter last night if she minded me posting about some of her special, personalized-by-her details, and she said sure. She'll be posting more about the creative side of her event, but was still working out how she wanted to order her posts. I told her my strategy was something called 'free flowing', which essentially means I start writing and see where I land. Hey, it works for me.

And you should definitely hop over and read all her thoughts and feels about her wedding and newly married life. (Click here to visit the bride's blog)

In conclusion-

My daughter is awesome.
The small touches she designed were my favorite.
Love and your grandma's jam. The world needs more of both. 

M is for Music

For someone with no discernible musical ability, I manage to have a lot of music in my life. In digging through my brown paper bag, I've been reminded of the many hours logged in my role as mother, spent driving my girls to and from music lessons, the many more hours logged at musical performances, and the many many more hours logged listening to the squeaky bow grow smooth, the plink of a piano key become a melody, and the hesitant strum of a guitar turn into recognizable song.  

I think most children enjoy music and parents can encourage and nurture that interest if they have the will (and the patience and maybe some earplugs).  Because those beginning notes on a violin string?  Yowza!  Asking a child for the 27th time if they've practiced the piano they literally begged to play can get old pretty fast, and geometry will be required in figuring out how to transport guitars from one country to another for a child heading to uni.  Especially when said child is already at the legal luggage limits.  

But it's worth it. 

 

Daughter1 began playing the violin in the 4th grade. She played in her elementary school orchestra and  she was a serious little thing, wasn't she?  

When she got to middle school there were choices to be made. Both my girls have always loved to sing, and you can't do everything you might want to do when you're 12, so she sang in the Show Choir and carried on with violin lessons privately.  

Daughter2 started hounding me for piano lessons almost as soon as she could talk. I'm not kidding. We didn't even own a piano, but this one is like her father in the sense that when she gets hold of an idea she is not going to let it go without exhausting every possible avenue toward making it happen.

A friend suggested we get a keyboard and let her take lessons on that first.  Then if she was truly serious about playing (and practicing...mustn't forget the practicing!) we could think about buying a piano.  

She was serious. As it happened the church where I was employed needed someone to take a piano off their hands and I volunteered. We paid for it, but it was a great deal. We did have to move the thing ourselves which my hubs would say made it slightly less than a great deal, but we did it and Daughter2 still tickles the ivories.  

She carried on with lessons when we moved to England.  Every week we got in our car, me on the right side driving, her on the left side talking and made our way down a single tract road, which in a nutshell means two way traffic on a one lane road.   

Or adventure driving as we liked to call it. We wound our way through the hedgerows, the end of which dumped you out in a village that felt lost in time. We did a lot of talking on the ride to and from those lessons...music is good for lots of things.  

My girls always sang in the children's choir at church, and they both sang in their school's show choir.  They also were in many a stage production, both at church and in the middle and high school years, and those shows are quite truthfully some of my most favorite memories in all of childhood.

 

When Daughter1 was a Junior in high school she started asking for a guitar.  Doesn't every 16 year old kid ask for a guitar?  We bought one for her birthday and she took lessons from an instructor at the high school.  He was very very handsome.  I mention that only because the music instructor informed me there were suddenly a lot of girls wanting guitar lessons.  Ha.  

She was every bit as serious with that guitar in her hand as she was the violin.  

Nine years later Daughter1 still plays. She leads music for Young Life, which means she plays that guitar every single week at club.  It makes her happy.  Makes me happy too.

These days Daughter2 is attempting to teach me, her un-musical mama, to play the piano.  I don't know if its possible, but as I stated earlier, she won't give up without a fight. She is almost never impatient when I hit the wrong note, have my hands in the wrong place, or ask 'what does that symbol mean again?'  She nags  reminds me to practice whenever she phones, and we sit by side on the bench when she's home.  I might whine a little and say I'm done before she thinks I should be done.  

Dear Moms of Littles-What goes around comes around.  Just sayin'.

She doesn't have the space for a piano in her teeny tiny apartment, but she has asked that we bring her the keyboard she learned on way back when.  She misses playing every day...says it relaxes her.  

She's right about that...when life feels heavy and confusing music helps it feel less so.  

Music is a gift that never stops giving...for that I'm grateful.  

C is for Create

 C is for Create

I tend to say I'm not creative, but maybe that's not quite accurate. I'm creative, but not talented.  Ha. That sounds worse doesn't it?  What I mean is I love to create, and I appreciate creativity in others, but mine is never anything remarkable. I attempt to bring creativity into my life in a myriad of ways, but the execution of my creative thought is rarely the way I imagined it in my head.

I love to sing, but can't carry a tune. I love to dance, but I'm not a natural. I love beautiful art, but am not a painter. I love to bake, but my layer cakes often sit lopsided on the stand. I admire a flourishing garden, but my thumb is only a very light shade of green.

What I have done is raise creative children. Daughter1 is restless if she has no dance in her life.  Daughter2 is a teacher which requires a level of creativity people outside the profession don't necessarily recognize. Both girls play instruments and have beautiful voices.  Both love to be center stage. Daughter1 writes, draws, designs. She makes original gifts, paints plaques, and is not afraid of mod podge, scissors, and a blank piece of paper.  Daughter2 could and should have her own cooking show.

When you look at that newborn babe in the cradle, her wide eyes asking, "So what are you going to do with me now?" your mind imagines all sorts of things.  Maybe she'll be a doctor. A prima ballerina.  Olympian-President-Mother.  

As the parent you are the first to feed their dreams and encourage their interests...you are the one who first opens the door to a world of possibilities. You provide the tools and the opportunity and the paint and markers. You let them color at the kitchen table, sign them up for soccer, listen to the plonking of piano keys and the squeaky tones of a budding violinist.  

I taught kindergarten for a few years and it always made me a little sad to hear a parent say they didn't allow their child to play with paint or markers because they, the parent, couldn't handle the mess. Creativity is rarely neat and tidy, and creativity contained is not exactly creativity.  

Kids in the digital age feel a kind of pressure I don't think I felt as a child. Compete-join-do and then share it with everyone you know and some you don't. Achieve a certain test score or your school won't get the blue ribbon. Make the team in third grade or you won't get the college scholarship. Think about 'your resume'.

Its hard to be creative on a schedule.

When my girls were young I quite often turned off the television, which was naturally met with no small amount of whining and cries of, 'But we're bo-red'. My response to that was normally to offer up a list of household chores they were welcome to do, and somehow they always came up with something better.

Kids need to be bored now and then. They need unstructured time to figure out what truly interests them, as opposed to a schedule and list of activities mom thinks would be good to try. They need to make up games, spin til they're dizzy in the front yard, lie in the grass and stare at the big blue sky.  They need to draw on the sidewalk and maybe their nose, with a big fat stick of chalk.

Kids need time to find their inner artist, to think about nothing and everything...to dream and imagine and see what they are drawn to when no one is telling them how to fill their every minute.

No matter where that newborn babe eventually lands in terms of their eventual career, I think we all need a bit of beauty in our lives.  The grown up world is harsh and unforgiving. Learning to feed your creativity at an early age helps soften the hard edges of adulthood.

I'm thankful for a mother who allowed my imagination to flourish.
I'm thankful for daughters who still inspire me to try.

A Mery Christmas Tale

Once upon a time there lived a family, a mom and dad and their two darling daughters, who grew up and lived in their own apartments in two different states far away from their parents home and hearth. I know that's sad but don't worry, the story has a happy ending.

As with most of life's small details mama was in charge of the family's Christmas card each year. In spite of her babies growing up when she had her back turned for a minute, Mama still wanted to include them in the annual family photo card. She knew it would be silly to have a family Christmas card photo without all family members present and accounted for so way, way, way back in late August she had a brilliant idea.

Her whole little family would be together for a fun filled weekend celebration of baby girls 21st birthday in early September. Mama knew this was her window of opportunity and she seized it. She also knew this Christmas picture would be taken in warm weather under sunny skies so in a fit of creativity Mama decided to add just a splash of the meaning of the season to the photo. She purchased wooden letters from the craft store and painted them a cheerful Christmas green. She even remembered to haul those painted letters through three states to the birthday celebration. Sometimes that whole 'remembering to follow through' part of a great idea is where Mama drops the ball but not this time. No sirree, she was on top of her game.

Let's recap-it was September. Christmas was still more than three months away yet Mama had her whole family together, dressed in non-clashing clothing, smiling for a photographer (okay, brother in law) under sunny blue skies, holding holiday letters she had painted herself. Mama rocks!

The seasons they go round and round and now it's early December. Mama spends hours perusing various and sundry websites to find the perfect template for her photo. She discards all those that are too busy, too wordy, and too tacky until she finally lands on one that is just right. The color scheme matches her family photo to a T and the wording is simple. The photo is the star which is how she likes it.

She ever so carefully enters her text onto the backside of the card template, checking each and every letter as she goes. She reads it back over and over again to be certain there are no errors because a spelling error in the Christmas card might just send mama right over the edge. She hits enter and she smiles.

A week or so later her cards arrive in the mail. She tears open the box, anxious to see how it all came together. She has company in the house though, so she only has a minute to glance at the package and she is happy. It looks beautiful and her carefully thought out plan has come together.

The hubs comes home. She cannot wait to show him the card and as soon as he has greeted their guests she calls him into the other room to see her handiwork. He takes one quick glance and pronounces, 'The word Merry is spelled wrong."

Wait, what?

What did he say? A spelling mistake? That can't be. No no no. Mama had checked and rechecked and triple checked her spelling before hitting enter. She looks at her pretty card again. Mery Christmas.

Mery? Really?

AAAAGGH!!!!

The only teeny tiny bright spot here is that the mistake is not hers. The mistake is on the front of the card in their template. Mama thinks she might cry but instead she sits with her company who are family, and they talk about big serious things going on with people they love and Mama regains her perspective once more.

She calls the printer the very next day and they are apologetic and kind and they give her a full refund and tell her they will give her free expedited shipping and 50% off a new order which makes Mama mostly happy. Since the error was in their template she can't just reorder the same card. She has to choose a new card. Under pressure. So she does. Actually Mama does some of her best work under pressure.

And so a new card will come and it won't be her first choice but the wishes it holds will still be the same. And Mama won't have a picture for todays photo challenge whose prompt was 'stamped and addressed cards' but she will have joy in her heart anyway. Because Christmas is coming, and when she thinks about a baby born in a manger over 2000 years ago she knows that a less than perfect card is not such a big deal.

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child." Luke 2:4-5 (NIV)