Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Waves Ashore


It's funny how you can forget how strong the pull of a wave on the beach is, or how cold that first shock of water is when you dip in that first toe or foot, and heaven forbid the shock if you go in slowly and it finally reaches your warm core. I find I am slow to go in if everyone else rushes in, but rush in myself when everyone else is screaching and carrying on about how cold it is. I was standing on the beach in Destin, Florida last week (see picture) and my foot was shifting further and further down into the sand. I wondered how long it would take to bury a person, if that was possible, just standing there and not resisting the downward tug of the waves and sand. I walked along the beach and let my footprints be washed away by the waves. There's something nice in being able to leave no trace of your passing. It also makes you stop and think about how small you are, how little effect you have on the continuous processes of our planet.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Fall Colors

The leaves are changing early this year. It's already beautiful. Today we took a walk and found red leaves, yellow leaves, orange leaves, and a few still green leaves. We also found some bugs and mushrooms and a salamander. We looked for deer scrapes and other deer signs. We heard birds and crickets and toads. The dogs expored further afield and found a great big mud puddle that the humans in the group decided to avoid. Especially since it turned the dogs' feet black. When we came back I flopped in the hammock and watched the sun through the leaves.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Feeling Lazy


It's nearing the end of summer and I'm feeling lazy. I, of course, have things I should be doing, but I just don't quite feel up to it. Maybe in a few minutes, maybe next week, who knows? It seems like the rest of my time is plotted out until I start back to school, but there are free blocks where I should be getting things done (like now) when I am not getting anything much done. Oh, well. Maybe part of the problem of having a summer list is my still childish notion that summer is for vacation time. Whatever. I've enjoyed the summer with swimming, trip to great places, visiting friends and family, Mule rides and just lazing around. Z and I often take a morning Mule ride, and sometimes when my husband gets home in the evening we'll all take another ride. (My son loves his rides, especially the mower.) (The Mule, by the way, is a four wheel vehichle with a bench seat so we can all ride.) When I'm really feeling lazy I like to relax in the hammock -- the picture is a view from my hammock. Pretty soon it will be back to school and getting all kinds of work done and dealing with students and all that fun stuff that comes along with being a teacher. Can you tell, I'm not quite ready to go back yet?

Friday, August 04, 2006

Finally A New Post

You would think I'd have more time to post now that I'm on break for the summer, but the reverse seems to be true, since it's been months and months since I last posted. It's finally not scorchingly, awfully hot here. It was actually quite nice stepping out onto the porch this morning and breathing in a breath of fresh air. Last night before the heat broke I was standing by the screen door watching my son and the waves of heat coming in the door felt like blasts froma furnace. I remember thinking, if it were winter, this would feel good. But it wasn't and it didn't. You know it's hot when you lie on the hammock with the sprinkler alternately sprinkling you and the lawn and you get hot again before the sprinkler comes back to you. If you couldn't tell, I'm not a big fan of it being hot outside. I would much rather be cold than hot. Enough about that.

I was thinking the other day about a story I wanted to write. I tend to think big -- long stories, novels, series, etc... In reality I don't have time to do this, so I thought, well how about if I just write part of it -- start small -- make it a short story, then work from there. So I'm going to give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes.

My son is growing fast -- it's hard to beleive. He talks up a storm and loves to be outside exploring. Mostly this is a good thing. Not so good when he goes wandering off from the yard or chases a bird down the path into the woods. Right now he is also enamored with berries. Every time we go out in the yard he wants to go for a ride and hunt for berries. And let me tell you, he lets you know if sees some, especially if you are trying to sneak past and get back home without stopping.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Trees are in flower



It was such a beautiful day today. I count myself lucky that I live in such a beautiful area -- that I can enjoy the beauty and wonder of nature right in my own back yard, or front yard as the case may be.
The landscape picture is a view from my front porch. The other is a close up of leaves just beginning to emerge. I wish I could add the smell. It's a wonderful mix of flowers that is so fragrant and refreshing. Flowering in the picture are dogwood and hawthorn (or crab apple if you prefer.) There are many others in smelling distance though. I think the hawthorn is strongest right now, with the viburnum a close second. And that's just the flowering trees. I could wax on a much longer, but I will contain myself.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Long Day

I had a very long day today. I left the house at 7:30 a.m. and didn't get back until 8:30 p.m. Luckily my son wasn't asleep yet, so I got te see him for a few minutes when I got home. I spent all this time at work and it seems like I didn't get much done. Or rather it seems like I was trying to fix problems all day rather than doing something productive. Oh, well, such is life sometimes.

I'm feeling restless tonight. Not sure what I want to do, but not satisfied with what I am doing. There's a load of laundry calling my name, but I'm not listening. Maybe it's the need to do at least one productive thing in a day. Maybe it's sitting through one too many meetings? The day ticks on and still nothing. I guess I'll listen to the call of the laundry. What an exciting life I lead.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Typing w/1 Hand

Baby is asleep on my arm. Hard to type with one hand when used to two. Baby is finally feeling better. He's back to his normal full of vim and vinegar self. Today is our fun day -- after he wakes up. Maybe the park? It's a wonderful day. There will be no mention of to do lists or messy offices (although I did put in some laundry and straighten up when he was in his crib.)

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Job Quandry

It's been a busy few weeks. And now I have something big to think about. I have to decide whether I want to change what I'm doing or stay the same, more or less, job wise. The big quandry -- do I want to stay a teacher, or do I want to move into administration? My big worry is that it will not keep changing the way teaching does -- it seems like to has the potential to do that. The other concern -- this will be a real job, where I will have to work normal hours all year long and my son will have to go into daycare. I just can't decide yet.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Rainy Day Musings

My son is sleeping and its rainy. What better time to do nothing? Okay posting is not nothing. It is a way to free myself from some of the things floating around in my mind. Do you ever feel like there are so many things in there that you may never get to see them all? I used to release this pent up feeling of things exploding in my brain by writing, but now I don't have the time. I have so many things going on, so many things to do, and these things pile more stuff into my brain, it's a wonder I haven't cracked up. If you ever see a woman with a blank stare walking down the street it could be -- after the crack up. After everything has exploded out of my mind into the fog around us. Maybe that's why it was so foggy yesterday -- a fog of thoughts and feelings released into the atmosphere. A built up pressure of too much stuff that is finally able to see the light of day, only to dissipate once the sun shines through it. Some thoughts are like that -- once you bring them out in the light of day, once practicality and common sense chime in, they evaporate like the remnants of a dream. Then some day in the far future you read about, or hear about, or see your thought brought to the light again by some other, more persistent visionary, and you think, boy that seems familiar, didn't I ..., but no life is to busy for you to remember those half thoughts. People who lives are slower, more in tune with themselves and everything around them, can go around and spool up all those loose memories. They pull together an unknown and unwitting collaboration of the world's thought detritus and make it into something that no one could conceive.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Futility At Work


Why does it seem like I can never get anything done? I sit down at my desk and find ways to waste time. I would think with my now limited amount of time to do things that I would be a little better at getting things done when I have the chance. As you can see I am now writing here instead of a list of things a mile long I should be doing. I have good intentions, but then I get caught up in something else. At least I haven't resorted to Spider Solitare yet. I usually only get there when I'm just on the Internet and waiting forever for pages to load, or when I'm really procrastinating. I have piles of stuff I need to go through. More piles of studd I need to file. Tax stuff to do. Bills to pay. Argh! Just thinking of it is making me want to crack out the solitare game. It also happens to be nice and sunny, if a bit chilly outside. But my son is sleeping, so I should take advantage of this time to get things done that I can't do when he's around. He likes to mess up the piles I have on the floor. Sometimes he will wander off with something, and I'll find a printer cable or the stamp dispenser in the living room. If you can't tell from the picture, I also was feeling ambitious while out shopping yesterday and decided to try my hand at scrapbooking. We'll see how that goes. Okay, now I'm really going to get something done.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Musings

I had a fun weekend with my husband and son. We took a get away, just an hour away in Columbus. We went to COSI and out to dinner and did a little shopping. It was nice just to be away from everything, even if we were only gone for one day.

I was reading some other people's posts today, and mine don't seem nearly so exciting, and they tend to be much shorter. I don't really care, it's more a comment than anything. It's just nice to have a place to jot down a few thoughts and maybe hear back from a few people. It's kind of cool in a way to be able to listen in on the thoughts of someone you know nothing about and who could be anywhere in the world.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Walk in the Woods


Had alovely walk this morning with my husband and son. We took a toddler sized walk. His legs are still little so he can't go as far. We were also walking uphill part of the way, which is still difficult for him, but he was a trooper. He took a rock from the driveway, which he carried the whole way. He also found a stick, which he tried to drop, but Dad kept picking it back up. The rock was finally liberated back at the house in his favorite place. We have a stone that's been carved out by water over the years. He likes to drop rocks in it and splash his hand in the water. Right now it's iced over, so he just slides his hand over the ice and tries to pick the rocks out of it. He also likes to watch the dogs when we are walking. They are a great motivator to keep him moving forward. (Although they sometimes go off the path and lure him in the wrong direction.) So far he mostly stays on the path since it's easier to walk on. Given time and more practice, I'm sure he'll be off exporing in every direction soon.

Friday, February 17, 2006

Open Heart Verbage

Another posting has inspired me to be mushy because of Valentine's Day (even though I'm a little late.) I have much to be thankful for this year (I know, I know, it's not Thanksgiving.) There are so many people who have shown their love and support these past years, through my pregnancy, while giving birth, bringing up this little bundle of joy (who just turned one) that I want them all to know how much I appreciate them and love them. I'm a little reticent with expressing my feeling in person, so if said people are reading this then, yes it applies to you. It's hard to understand how much a parent loves their child until they have one themselves. (Hey, I almost had a sentence without parethesis at the end, but I wouldn't want to ruin a good trend like this.) Love multiplies and grows a little more with each passing day (Okay, I'm done being mushy now, boy I was really gushing there for a minute.)

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Sick, Sick, Sick

I hate being sick. It's even worse when everyone else in the house is sick. You just don't get any sympathy. No one to take care of you. You just have to fend for yourself. It's even worse with a baby in the house. He's sick, too, but doesn't seem to know it. He's been a bundle of energy, but has been very good at keeping himself entertained while I watch from my chair and occasionally smile. I'm feeeling better. I plan to go back to work tomorrow. But it has not been very satisfying being at home sick. It's hard to explain -- it's like you need this time to just hole up and do nothing but respond to your poor, tired, sick body, and even though I feel better, I didn't really get to do that. Oh, well. I'm sure my Mom would say, "Welcome to Motherhood."

Friday, January 27, 2006

First Haircut

My son had his first hair cut today. It was much more traumatic for me than I thought it would be. It was actually okay as it was happening, but later when I was driving home, I just couldn't stop thinking about all of the cute little curls that are now a thing of the past. He doesn't look like a baby anymore. He looks like a little man. Very cute of course, but still ... he's just a baby. He did quite well, was only a little fussy and fidgety toward the end. The barber was very nice about it. He even collected up some of his hair and put it in a bag for me.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Do you ever have an unquenchable desire to eat chocolate? I must go find chocolate.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Had a date night with my husband tonight and it was great. I didn't realize how much I missed spending time with just him. We really haven't had much time alone since our son was born. Of course, I missed him while he was gone, and we both talked about him. But all of our attention and focus wasn't on him for a change. We dropped him off at my sister's house then came back home and had dinner and watched a movie. Things we do with around all the time, but different without him there.He had a great time playing and having fun at my sister's. He didn't miss us when we dropped him off, and was reluctant to leave all the cool toys when we came to pick him back up.

It's a double edged sword -- wanting your child to be independent and able to fair on his own, and wanting him to miss you, or at least think of you while your gone. I think we have a pretty independent spirit.

Friday, January 13, 2006

Warm and Clean

It was such a beautiful day today. It's hard to beleive it's January. My son and I went for a wagon walk around our property and didn't have to wear jackets. The sun was even shining! He loves to ride in the wagon and watch the dogs as they run ahead and explore every nook and cranny along the way. Today he decided it would be fun to play drop the toy on the path. We made the best use of our day. Especially since there's a chance of snow tomorrow.

I shovelled out my office today. I can actually walk in without tripping over anything. Now I have to work on the desk and shelf surfaces. It seems like a never ending project. There's always something new coming in to fill my desk, the floor, etc... My husband brings anything in here that's mine when he gets tired of looking at it out in the living room. I have two boxes full of stuff, but I don't remember what's in the boxes and don't feel like moving the stuff off the top of the boxes to find out. I used to be a little more of a neat freak, but my limited extra free time has made me change my ways. Not that it doesn't bother me sometimes, but, hey, I'd much rather be fooling around online or reading a book when I have a spare moment than cleaning up around the house.

Monday, January 02, 2006

The New Year

I have resolved not to make any resolutions this year. Of course, I have a laundry list of things I'd like to do and accomplish, but when I call it a resolution it takes on a new and different meaning and just doesn't get done. I'm usually pretty good at getting things on my list done. My perpetutal, ever-growing "to do" list. One of a string of paper lists, where things not done get moved to the new, better list. Or my electronic list where things linger forever until, I either get tired of seeing them and delete them or finally cross them off. For lists, I think I prefer paper. It's right there in my hand. I have the satisfaction of crossing off the items as I accomplish them. I can have a large sheet of paper with lots of crossed off items. And then I can start all over again on a fresh sheet of paper.

It's gray and yucky outside this morning. At least we had a nice day for the first day of the new year. Sometimes, it's hard to be inspired to do much of anything when it's gray and rainy. A good time to curl up with a good book.