My kind of world

The subject of kindness was taught to me today, and it's importance has been on my mind. I found these 2 quotes that I just love. Albert and Ettiene said with much eloquance what I feel in my heart regarding kindness. (see quotes below)

Another goal for me:

I aim to try to be kinder to others, to treat them as an equal to myself, and as my brother or my sister. I will try to not judge. I'd like to be there with open arms and open mind and open heart. I am not perfect. I can be shy and at times find it difficult to reach out, but I think the outcome could be grand! Don't you? I can imagine a world full of open arms, and listening ears, and shoulders to cry on. It has to start somewhere though, so I will try to start with me.

"The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seemed to me contemptible." - Albert Einstein

"I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." - Ettiene De Grellet

Popcorn & Pilates

This morning as I did my pilates workout, I tried to distract my 2 year old Monkey D with popcorn, water in a sippycup and Dora the Explorer.
It wasn't long before she was by my side (as I lay on the floor on my back). She lovingly fed me popcorn, piece by piece, each one followed with "kank you, momma". After about five pieces she would stick the sippycup in my mouth and quench my thirst, followed by the same, "kank you, momma". Then more popcorn.
I don't know if the popcorn cancelled out the calories I was burning, but it sure put a smile on my face and a giggle in my heart.

Have a comment for me?

Just a quick note! I have gotten many emails from you (thanks guys!) about my little blog here. I don't mind the emails one bit, I just wanted to make sure you knew you could comment to me right here on my blog.

At the bottom of each of my entries, you can click on the word "comments", and leave your thoughts there. If you'd still rather email me I truly don't mind!
Love ya'll!

me

Mt. Hood

This weekend Trev and his friend Joel climbed and summited Mt. Hood. Trev said it was one of the greatest and hardest experiences of his life. Just thought I'd share a couple pictures. It was a beautiful day!

I tried running!

"I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon." ~Ellen DeGeneres

Well, for a while I have been going over and over my daily schedule. I have to fit exercise in here somewhere. For a long time, my mom and I would meet to walk the mall every day, in front of Barnes and Noble, 9:00 am, after the kids were off to school. It was great! We both felt healthier, lost a few pounds, and got to gab. She now watches my brothers kids, and because of their ages, it is hard to continue the habit.
I let it go as we moved, and now that we are settled (for a while), I feel that need to get moving again. But as I've looked over my schedule, it seems I can't find an hour to walk like that anymore. I would love to put Monkey D, my 2 year old, in the stroller and go as soon as the kids are at school, but she has discovered that she loves to climb out of the stroller while it is in motion and it makes it VERY hard to go anywhere.

SO, Trev suggested I get up a bit earlier than my usual 6:45 am, and try running in the morning. That way I could burn a few more calories in a shorter amount of time than walking, and I could do it without the kids.

For those of you who know me, you know I don't run. I don't like to run. I hate running. As a kid in middle school, I always wondered how the others could run that mile track without their sides cramping up and their faces turning red and their lungs burning. Because mine did! In college, my sister and I had P.E. together for one semester. I'm sure she remembers the final 1 mile jog we had to take that measured our progress from the beginning of the semester. She took pity on me, and didn't laugh as I barely made it around. I think she may have even stopped timing me so I wouldn't be embarrassed with the outcome. What a good sister.

I like other sports, and am pretty good at some of them, but running would be at the bottom of my list of favorites.

ANYHOW, I decided I would try it. Three days ago I got up at 6:10 am, and started out. It felt pretty good. Maybe 2 minutes later, it seemed to be getting harder. I ran a total of 10 minutes and headed back home. Luckily Trev was there waiting for me with a smile on his face. "Good job!" he said. I think his comment and the fact that I felt a little more energy all day made me get up again the next morning. This time Trev went with me and we made it about 15 minutes, walking the rest of the way. Trev runs, so he was nice and stayed with me the whole time. As we returned home, I got a hug and more praise. I felt pretty good! A little progress from the day before. Yesterday my legs felt a bit sore, but it was that good sore where you feel all your muscles, making you more aware that you have them, and making you want to continue that awareness.
This morning, I slept in. I was tired, it was rainy. But, the good news is that as I sit here typing this, I actually have the urge to go out and run again. That is SO strange for me. Maybe I can continue to progress in this. I think I will make it a goal. As you can see I am starting out very small.
I'll let you know how it goes.

New house update

"Buy land. They've stopped making it." - Mark Twain

They finished pouring the concrete and removed the forms this weekend. I think they are planning to backfill the dirt today. It's fun to see the progress, even though it seems small. I think when building a home, the framing seems to go the fastest, doesn't it?

I will post some pictures soon and give you a new house update from time to time. I think it is fun to see the progress made while a house is being built.

Ahhh, youth!

As I awoke Easter morning, I stretched my neck backwards and at the wrong angle I guess. I felt a snap, and then the pain shot from my neck to my arm. What the heck? All the sudden I couldn't move my head, and the pain continued to shoot up and down my neck. What did I do?
I was able to get up, move around, get ready for my day, but I had to turn my whole body to see things, instead of my neck and head.

This kind of thing never happened to me until this year. This is the 2nd time. Luckily I have a sweet brother who lives close to me, who also happens to be a chiropractor. SO, after church I stopped by and told him what had happened.

He did his magic, and though it still hurt and was stiff the rest of the day, I woke up this morning feeling MUCH better, and able to move it quite a bit more. As he was adjusting my neck, I said something about stuff like this happening as my body gets older. He kindly told me that he's had this kind of thing happen with his neck since he was a teenager. One wrong stretch, and your neck or back is out for awhile.

That may be so for him, but for me, I just KNOW it's because I'm not getting any younger. I'm 33. Not old, but old enough for the 15 year old kids I teach on Sundays to notice the age gap between us. I still think I'm their age until they say something like, "wow, you look good for your age!" Ha ha. I just laugh to myself, knowing that someday SOON they will be in my place, and they will be thinking the same thing I am. How did I get here? Wasn't it only a few years ago that I was where they are now?

The good thing is, I'm still the same person inside. As we get older, I think most of us realize that, and we hope that others realize that about us too. Especially as our bodies fail us in some ways, or just aren't what we hope for them to be.
I am enjoying the ride. I am enjoying getting older because I get to learn more and more. I get to enjoy life without having to prove anything to anyone. I am enjoying all the things I CAN do with this healthy, able body. And, I am blessed to have children who are enjoying their youth right now. It is wonderful to be surrounded by that energy.

As I was walking with my 6 year old daughter the other day, I was watching her bounce along. I said, "Monkey C, What does it feel like to have such a perfect, little body?"
"Well, mom, I could just run and run all day. I have so much energy in this body!"
Ahhh, youth.

The science project that almost wasn't...

Well, it happened. Another first in the life of parenting. The dreaded words I knew would come some day..."Mom! I have a science project due tomorrow!!!" Not dreaded because of the subject matter, dreaded because we had no prior notice. This was said to me by my 11 year old daughter at 8:15 last night. Bedtime is 8:30.
Following the stern lecture regarding responsibility and school work, and many tears shed by Monkey A, my daughter was faced with 2 different reactions from her mom and dad. Dad's was one of justice, mine was one of mercy. While Trevor informed her she would have to go to class and announce to all that she hadn't done her assignment, I was frantically trying to come up with quick project ideas in my mind.

By 10:30, she had project and informative packet ready for presentation the next day. No, we did not do it for her, we came up with ideas, she picked one, and Trev helped her with the materials. She worked the experiment and finished the packet. Luckily our girl loves science, and had no trouble understanding and writing about what she was doing.

I knew as soon as his anger over her lack of responsibility faded, Trevor would want to help her as much as I did. I was right. We all worked together and got through it. She knows what she did was wrong, and is willing to participate in the punishment we laid out for her.
Before bed she hugged us both with obvious, genuine gratitude, and I couldn't help but feel we did the right thing.

It made me think of how grateful I am for mercy. That when I do something wrong, there is One who loves me enough to give me chance after chance, and help me along until I get it right.

Chocolate

I love chocolate. I know there are many of you out there that can relate. But I just wanted to share my joy with you in discovering something yummy.
I was out buying easter candy the other day for my kids, and saw that they had Cadbury milk chocolate bars with toasted almonds for sale.
SO...I couldn't resist. To me that is just the best combo, and I occasionally indulge in that combination, just with other brands.
ANYWAY, I'm hooked. Sad to say, I went back and bought 4 more bars for my "private stash". Should last me awhile, but I'm hoping my stash is not discovered by my children or husband.
OOOO, good.

Just plants, right?

We just sold our home, and have moved into a rental home for the next 6 months. We are building a new house, and they are just pouring the concrete this week. We are on our way!
Meanwhile, I have been a bit down about the move. I will miss our house, but actually, I will miss my plants even more.


It is spring. So, the final moving day, I took the time to walk the perimeter of the house and say a mental goodbye to each plant. Sounds corny to become attached to my plants. But I think it is a little like having children. You put in a lot of time and effort and enjoy the great rewards.
I had picked out all these plants, worked hard to put them in the ground, nurtured and cheered them on, and felt great joy when they showed their potential.
So, I said goodbye to the weeping cherry with it's popcorn blossoms, the gorgeous curly willow just starting to leaf out in it's bright green splendor, the healthy mounds of catmint, salvia, and lavender, the pointy green tops of the pink and orange lillies that Trevor got me for mother's day last year, the full rose bushes (especially my favorite pinky/red-flowered one that smelled heavenly and produced such perfectly shaped roses in generous amounts), and many, many more.
I will have to make a few drive-bys in the next few months to see them in their splendor, but I can see them all bright and colorful in my mind.

So, while feeling a bit sad and out of place recently, the thought occured to me that I HAD to go get some flowers. I needed them! So today I got out my pots and potting soil. I went to the store and picked out the brightest, cheeriest pinky/red geraniums I could find. I also got some blue violas and some coleus, and am ready to fill my pots. I am excited to have these bright spots of color greet me every day I come up the walk.
Doing this has already helped me. I already feel better. I feel like...well...I am home.