{ 52 Photos Project | Right Now }

I sat in the car this afternoon, waiting for Uriah to run into a store, Finn softly snoring in the back.  I had my eyes closed, thinking about a lesson plan for my religion kids, thinking about what I want to do for 14 days of Valentines this year, thinking about all the things I still wanted to get done today.  Just sitting there, thinking busy thoughts.

And then I opened my eyes and slowly blinked into focus what was right in front of me.  The most beautiful building, stunning architecture.  A blue sky peeking around the building.  And it occurred to me that sometimes I get so caught of in the doldrums of the daily grind that I forget to open my eyes and see at what is right in front of me.

{52 Photos Project | Right Now}

I sat in the car this afternoon, waiting for Uriah to run into a store, Finn softly snoring in the back.  I had my eyes closed, thinking about a lesson plan for my religion kids, thinking about what I want to do for 14 days of Valentines this year, thinking about all the things I still wanted to get done today.  Just sitting there, thinking busy thoughts.

And then I opened my eyes and slowly blinked into focus what was right in front of me.  The most beautiful building, stunning architecture.  A blue sky peeking around the building.  And it occurred to me that sometimes I get so caught of in the doldrums of the daily grind that I forget to open my eyes and see at what is right in front of me.

{52 Photos Project | Right Now}

Fall in love with fall.

{52 Photos Project | Gallery 24: Orange}

{52 Photos Project | Gallery 24: Orange}

Introspection.

{52 Photos Project | Week 22: Season's Beginnings}

{52 Photos Project | Week 22: Season's Beginnings}

When one door closes...

{52 Photos Project | Week 20: Doorways}

{52 Photos Project | Week 20: Doorways}

Waiting.

{52 Photos Project | Week 18:  On the Street}

{52 Photos Project | Week 18:  On the Street}

Just a moment.

• I've started taking an after-dinner walk.  Partly to get in an extra 2 miles for the day (if we walk all the way to the lighthouse) and partly to wear Finn out a little bit between dinner and bedtime.
• Sometimes we stop and throw rocks into the lake.
• Every night we see a mama deer and her baby deer and some assorted deer family members (about 6 in all) having a bedtime snack in the field by the lake.
• I think it's awesome but have yet to remember to bring my big-girl camera (camera phones do not take very good distance pictures.).
• So far the walks have been working and bedtime for my Tiny Overlord has been a snap.
• I'm still dealing with spotty internets.  It's not very fast and certainly it's not conducive to getting things done in a timely manner (like Christmas shopping, because I've started that already.).
• I've also been up to my elbows in the gardens.
• Yes, plural.
• I have dirt under my nails and scratches up and down my arms and my shoulder is a little achy at night and my knees have permanent rock dents in them.
• I have never been so proud!  And so tired.
• Bedtime is a snap for me, too!
• I'm also trying to shake this weird post-move anxiety that I seem to have acquired as of late.  
• I'm back to making my bed when I get up so I'm not tempted to get back into it.
• Today is Julia Child's birthday - she would have been 100.
• Ironically, I've been reading Julie & Julia by Julie Powell (in about 2 paragraph snippets before I fall asleep in bed at night!).
• In honor of JC, I'm going to make something tres, tres French today!

{52 Photos | Gallery 17: A moment of life.}

• I've started taking an after-dinner walk.  Partly to get in an extra 2 miles for the day (if we walk all the way to the lighthouse) and partly to wear Finn out a little bit between dinner and bedtime.
• Sometimes we stop and throw rocks into the lake.
• Every night we see a mama deer and her baby deer and some assorted deer family members (about 6 in all) having a bedtime snack in the field by the lake.
• I think it's awesome but have yet to remember to bring my big-girl camera (camera phones do not take very good distance pictures.).
• So far the walks have been working and bedtime for my Tiny Overlord has been a snap.
• I'm still dealing with spotty internets.  It's not very fast and certainly it's not conducive to getting things done in a timely manner (like Christmas shopping, because I've started that already.).
• I've also been up to my elbows in the gardens.
• Yes, plural.
• I have dirt under my nails and scratches up and down my arms and my shoulder is a little achy at night and my knees have permanent rock dents in them.
• I have never been so proud!  And so tired.
• Bedtime is a snap for me, too!
• I'm also trying to shake this weird post-move anxiety that I seem to have acquired as of late.  
• I'm back to making my bed when I get up so I'm not tempted to get back into it.
• Today is Julia Child's birthday - she would have been 100.
• Ironically, I've been reading Julie & Julia by Julie Powell (in about 2 paragraph snippets before I fall asleep in bed at night!).
• In honor of JC, I'm going to make something tres, tres French today!

{52 Photos | Gallery 17: A moment of life.}

From Minnesota.

In spite of some initial renters remorse - due mostly to driving 7 hours in the car with Finn and Abby (Finn needing a toy or a book or a drink; Abby napping and thus, unable to "help.") and worrying about Uriah navigating Minnesota road construction in a huge moving van with a car being towed behind it and hitting a rainstorm that lasted most of the last part of our drive and having a raging headache by the time we got to our new house last week - we are in our house and are getting settled into our new town.  Slowly.  The house itself was built in 1918 and it has some older house quirks: namely, there is no air conditioning (not that we'll need it that much, but everyone that we've talked to has said it's been really warm here - mid 80s - which gets kind of toasty when you're schlepping boxes around.) and also, there are very, very few outlets and they are in very, very weird spots (the middle of the floor!).  But the house is entirely hardwoods, which is a welcome change from where we were before.  I'm just not sure where to store the vacuum.

The first thing Abby and Finn did (besides explore the crap out of the house and "claim rooms") was pick a little bouquet of flowers for me from our newly inherited gardens.  I immediately filled a bucket with bleach water and started scrubbing because, you know, this place needed a good going-over, and headache be damned, I was just the girl to do it.  The fistful of flowers that Finn brought to me was a welcome diversion.  We've had fresh flowers on our table every day since and I'm sure I'll be a little lost when the snow starts flying and we're suddenly without a daily reminder of cheer on our kitchen table.

Abby's been to the library and is already dominating their summer reading program.  We've found a route for our walks.  We've taken a swim in the chilly waters of Lake Superior almost every day to cool off.  Finn got to look his fill at some big boats and a tug boat and a sailboat and a deer and a caterpillar and the neighbor's little dog.  We've been pulling weeds and scrubbing floors and taking baths in the big claw-foot bathtub.  We've been playing outside and reading outside and generally being outside as much as possible (I'm trying to soak up as much vitamin D as I can before the snow starts flying.).  Uriah started his job this week, and while it's taking Finn a minute to get used to it (he asks me all day long: "Where Dad go?") we seem to be finding our rhythm here.

{52 Photos Project | Week 15: Delicate}

In spite of some initial renters remorse - due mostly to driving 7 hours in the car with Finn and Abby (Finn needing a toy or a book or a drink; Abby napping and thus, unable to "help.") and worrying about Uriah navigating Minnesota road construction in a huge moving van with a car being towed behind it and hitting a rainstorm that lasted most of the last part of our drive and having a raging headache by the time we got to our new house last week - we are in our house and are getting settled into our new town.  Slowly.  The house itself was built in 1918 and it has some older house quirks: namely, there is no air conditioning (not that we'll need it that much, but everyone that we've talked to has said it's been really warm here - mid 80s - which gets kind of toasty when you're schlepping boxes around.) and also, there are very, very few outlets and they are in very, very weird spots (the middle of the floor!).  But the house is entirely hardwoods, which is a welcome change from where we were before.  I'm just not sure where to store the vacuum.

The first thing Abby and Finn did (besides explore the crap out of the house and "claim rooms") was pick a little bouquet of flowers for me from our newly inherited gardens.  I immediately filled a bucket with bleach water and started scrubbing because, you know, this place needed a good going-over, and headache be damned, I was just the girl to do it.  The fistful of flowers that Finn brought to me was a welcome diversion.  We've had fresh flowers on our table every day since and I'm sure I'll be a little lost when the snow starts flying and we're suddenly without a daily reminder of cheer on our kitchen table.

Abby's been to the library and is already dominating their summer reading program.  We've found a route for our walks.  We've taken a swim in the chilly waters of Lake Superior almost every day to cool off.  Finn got to look his fill at some big boats and a tug boat and a sailboat and a deer and a caterpillar and the neighbor's little dog.  We've been pulling weeds and scrubbing floors and taking baths in the big claw-foot bathtub.  We've been playing outside and reading outside and generally being outside as much as possible (I'm trying to soak up as much vitamin D as I can before the snow starts flying.).  Uriah started his job this week, and while it's taking Finn a minute to get used to it (he asks me all day long: "Where Dad go?") we seem to be finding our rhythm here.

{52 Photos Project | Week 15: Delicate}

Sarah & Michael sitting in a tree...

My littlest sister is getting married.
She asked me to be her maid of honor.
I accepted.  Obviously.
I thought it was fun to plan my own wedding.
Helping someone else spend their money should prove to be even more enjoyable!

{52 Photos Project | Week 9, Summer Colors}

My littlest sister is getting married.
She asked me to be her maid of honor.
I accepted.  Obviously.
I thought it was fun to plan my own wedding.
Helping someone else spend their money should prove to be even more enjoyable!

{52 Photos Project | Week 9, Summer Colors}

What I've been up to...

The warm weather and sultry humidity levels have disappeared and have left in their place grey skies, rain, and distant thunder.  Or course, only after Abby complained for days that she was so hot in her room (I refuse to turn on the air before June.) and needed a fan at the earliest possible convenience or she might just expire from the heat (I might point out that while she was complaining about being so hot yesterday, she was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.  I suggested she try putting on something a little bit more weather-appropriate like a pair of shorts.  She looked at me like I was crazy and told me that her outfit was fine.  Where is the logic?!).  I no sooner brought home a hot pink fan for her window than the rain started.  Figures.

I went through Finn's baby clothes this week.  I sifted and sorted and smelled them.  They still smell faintly of baby and formula and softness and delight.  Teeny tiny socks and blue and yellow onesies.  Soft jammies and blankets.  Little hooded jackets and pants that look incredibly small next to his long legs.  Am I a little sad to be getting rid of some of this stuff?  Yes - I almost cried when I opened those totes and stuck my hands into their fluffy insides.  But I've saved the most special items (like the Yoda onesie and the his first plaid shorts, his coming home outfit and the corduroy pants that Uriah bought for him.) and I know that someone else's baby will look so cute in his little money suits. But it still makes me sad that my baby isn't much of a baby anymore.  His toys are bigger.  His voice is bigger.  And his hugs are bigger, too, which I would not trade for a million little onesies.

My flowers are starting to pop - slowly.  After this rain, give me one good, sunny day and they'll be bursting all over the place.  I can't wait.  It makes me want to plant more and I really was wishing for a garden this summer, but I guess I'll set my sights on a garden for next summer.  In the meantime, I have a basil plant and a rosemary plant and those two will keep my green thumb happy.

I'm very much looking forward to my garage sale this weekend.  Not only because my mom and my brother and his best girl are coming (I love company - it's an excuse to cook big and I have been planning for days - lemon ice cream, slow-roasted jerk pork, strawberry-rhubarb crisp with homemade granola, brioche french toast...) but also because it's time to slough off some of the excess that has been moved multiple times and not looked at.  I need to feel a little bit lighter in the material good aspect of our lives, and this is the best way to do that.  I only want things in my house that have a purpose, things that I use.  And I'm not bringing anything new into this house (read: new sofa, new dinnerware) until we've successfully removed all of the things we have now and don't use.  Someone else can put some of these things to good use, I'm sure.

I'm off to the garage to organize and sticker...see you later, alligators!

{52 Photos Project | Week 4: Pink}

The warm weather and sultry humidity levels have disappeared and have left in their place grey skies, rain, and distant thunder.  Or course, only after Abby complained for days that she was so hot in her room (I refuse to turn on the air before June.) and needed a fan at the earliest possible convenience or she might just expire from the heat (I might point out that while she was complaining about being so hot yesterday, she was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.  I suggested she try putting on something a little bit more weather-appropriate like a pair of shorts.  She looked at me like I was crazy and told me that her outfit was fine.  Where is the logic?!).  I no sooner brought home a hot pink fan for her window than the rain started.  Figures.

I went through Finn's baby clothes this week.  I sifted and sorted and smelled them.  They still smell faintly of baby and formula and softness and delight.  Teeny tiny socks and blue and yellow onesies.  Soft jammies and blankets.  Little hooded jackets and pants that look incredibly small next to his long legs.  Am I a little sad to be getting rid of some of this stuff?  Yes - I almost cried when I opened those totes and stuck my hands into their fluffy insides.  But I've saved the most special items (like the Yoda onesie and the his first plaid shorts, his coming home outfit and the corduroy pants that Uriah bought for him.) and I know that someone else's baby will look so cute in his little money suits. But it still makes me sad that my baby isn't much of a baby anymore.  His toys are bigger.  His voice is bigger.  And his hugs are bigger, too, which I would not trade for a million little onesies.

My flowers are starting to pop - slowly.  After this rain, give me one good, sunny day and they'll be bursting all over the place.  I can't wait.  It makes me want to plant more and I really was wishing for a garden this summer, but I guess I'll set my sights on a garden for next summer.  In the meantime, I have a basil plant and a rosemary plant and those two will keep my green thumb happy.

I'm very much looking forward to my garage sale this weekend.  Not only because my mom and my brother and his best girl are coming (I love company - it's an excuse to cook big and I have been planning for days - lemon ice cream, slow-roasted jerk pork, strawberry-rhubarb crisp with homemade granola, brioche french toast...) but also because it's time to slough off some of the excess that has been moved multiple times and not looked at.  I need to feel a little bit lighter in the material good aspect of our lives, and this is the best way to do that.  I only want things in my house that have a purpose, things that I use.  And I'm not bringing anything new into this house (read: new sofa, new dinnerware) until we've successfully removed all of the things we have now and don't use.  Someone else can put some of these things to good use, I'm sure.

I'm off to the garage to organize and sticker...see you later, alligators!

{52 Photos Project | Week 4: Pink}

Pals

I stood in the kitchen yesterday evening, half way through cleaning up after dinner, and listened to Finn laugh so hard I'm quite sure he peed a little bit as Abby ran up and down the back yard doing cartwheels for him.

Who says a ten year age gap means you can't play together?

{52 Photos Project | Week 4: Movement}

I stood in the kitchen yesterday evening, half way through cleaning up after dinner, and listened to Finn laugh so hard I'm quite sure he peed a little bit as Abby ran up and down the back yard doing cartwheels for him.

Who says a ten year age gap means you can't play together?

{52 Photos Project | Week 4: Movement}

Let that pony run.

Last summer, when I was focused mostly on getting out and shaking what my mama gave me, I knew I was going to need a new stroller, but I needed to give myself some incentive to get there first.  Over the winter, after I started Weight Watchers, I set a weight goal for myself - not my ultimate goal, but a significant goal nonetheless, promising that when I got there, I would purchase a new jogging stroller.  Of course, I amended my goal to include a loophole.  If Mother's Day came first, then I would get a new stroller for Mother's Day, but the incentive was to get to that weight goal sooner, so I could get the stroller sooner.

My stroller came yesterday.  4 full days before Mother's Day.

I had been following its progress from Chicago to St. Paul to my house with the anticipation of a kid watching Santa-Sightings on Christmas Eve.  When the email came yesterday morning that it had been delivered, I could hardly wait to get home.  I raced through changing after work, getting Finn a snack and hauling that big box out to the garage.  As I was putting it together, Finn kept calling it his race car, which made me laugh.  He tried to help me with the tools...a screwdriver in one hand and a hammer in the other, his "help" was limited to banging on the garage floor.

We took off on down the trail and it is amazing what a difference a good stroller makes during a walk.  I set a brisk walking pace to begin with and as we got deeper into the trail, as the sun heated up my back and arms, the need to run seemed to overtake me.  We started off slowly - I'm not much of a runner and I'm smart enough to know that owning a jogging stroller doesn't automatically make me one.  But as we got going, as I set the pace a little bit faster, it got a little bit easier.  We'd slow to a walk when my lungs were burning and then I picked up the pace again.  Our 4 miles consisted of a series of walks and runs and by the time we looped around to the park, my muscles were happily fatigued.

I met my match on the trail, that little voice in my head that sometimes says: "You can't do that."  I looked her dead in the eye and yesterday, I started running.

{52 Photos Project: Where We Meet}

Last summer, when I was focused mostly on getting out and shaking what my mama gave me, I knew I was going to need a new stroller, but I needed to give myself some incentive to get there first.  Over the winter, after I started Weight Watchers, I set a weight goal for myself - not my ultimate goal, but a significant goal nonetheless, promising that when I got there, I would purchase a new jogging stroller.  Of course, I amended my goal to include a loophole.  If Mother's Day came first, then I would get a new stroller for Mother's Day, but the incentive was to get to that weight goal sooner, so I could get the stroller sooner.

My stroller came yesterday.  4 full days before Mother's Day.

I had been following its progress from Chicago to St. Paul to my house with the anticipation of a kid watching Santa-Sightings on Christmas Eve.  When the email came yesterday morning that it had been delivered, I could hardly wait to get home.  I raced through changing after work, getting Finn a snack and hauling that big box out to the garage.  As I was putting it together, Finn kept calling it his race car, which made me laugh.  He tried to help me with the tools...a screwdriver in one hand and a hammer in the other, his "help" was limited to banging on the garage floor.

We took off on down the trail and it is amazing what a difference a good stroller makes during a walk.  I set a brisk walking pace to begin with and as we got deeper into the trail, as the sun heated up my back and arms, the need to run seemed to overtake me.  We started off slowly - I'm not much of a runner and I'm smart enough to know that owning a jogging stroller doesn't automatically make me one.  But as we got going, as I set the pace a little bit faster, it got a little bit easier.  We'd slow to a walk when my lungs were burning and then I picked up the pace again.  Our 4 miles consisted of a series of walks and runs and by the time we looped around to the park, my muscles were happily fatigued.

I met my match on the trail, that little voice in my head that sometimes says: "You can't do that."  I looked her dead in the eye and yesterday, I started running.

{52 Photos Project: Where We Meet}

This, too, shall pass.

I am checking my way through the above list today, in addition to my usual list of chores and laundry and grocery, in the hopes that this day will improve.

It's the smiling and the laughing I'm having trouble with today.  It was getting out of bed that challenged me this morning.  It's the accomplishing my list part that I can't seem to accomplish.

Sit down.  Breathe deeply.  Look inside.
The answers are there.

{ 52 Photos: Let the Sunshine in }

I am checking my way through the above list today, in addition to my usual list of chores and laundry and grocery, in the hopes that this day will improve.

It's the smiling and the laughing I'm having trouble with today.  It was getting out of bed that challenged me this morning.  It's the accomplishing my list part that I can't seem to accomplish.

Sit down.  Breathe deeply.  Look inside.
The answers are there.

{ 52 Photos: Let the Sunshine in }