Archive for July, 2009

Making It Home

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

mybedAfter four nights in the new apartment, I finally got back to making the bed up properly with the skirt, mattress protector and top cover.  I love the way a freshly made bed feels as you slide beneath its smooth sheets, made better only by clean shaven legs.  But this night as I surveyed my bed making skills, I wasn’t thinking about smooth sheets and legs.  It was the first moment since moving in that I thought to myself, “this is my home.”

“Home” for someone who’s moved as frequently as I have in the last 10 years is less about the four walls, bricks and mortar.  It’s more about the people and the spirit contained within those walls.  This apartment isn’t where I want to find myself two years from now.  It isn’t where I want scratch lines in a door frame with pencil as my children grow taller.  But wherever I am, wherever my children are, I want it to be home.

It would be easy for me to leave things in boxes, stuffed in corners and closets. Decorations can stay wrapped in paper and pictures can never be hung.  But for the sake of “home” these things are put out there because it makes me feel good to have them there.  I could leave books and games and dolls packed away.  Except that it makes my kids feel more comforted and secure to have them around, even if it means I trip over them all as I walk through their shared room.  I want it to feel like home.

This goes beyond temporary versus permanent housing.  It’s about finding peace and contentment with whatever situation we are faced with in our lives.  It’s about making a choice to react positively to changes we otherwise have very little control over.  It’s about being thankful for what we have and daily seeking ways to bless those around us.

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Posted in Hopes Dreams And Unicorns, Parenting, Yes, I Took This Picture |

After

Friday, July 24th, 2009

unpackingThere was more than one moment on the day of the move where I thought to myself, “what was I thinking with all this downsizing business?”  Shoving 3 bedrooms of 1700 square feet into 2 bedrooms of just over 1100 square was, and is, nuts.  I nearly panicked as time and time again I had to instruct one of the movers to place an item on the screened in porch instead of a designated place inside. “We’ll find room for it somewhere once it’s all out of the truck.”  I lost count after saying it the 4th time.

Now at the end of day two, nearly everything has found it’s proper place.  The porch is not empty, but what’s left behind is either going back to the house for the pending yard sale or it’s broken and will go to the dumpster.  I’m sure that more than one bookcase will be moved before the weekend is over and certainly before their books ever leave the confines of the packing boxes.

There is an evolution occurring in certain pieces of furniture.  A bakers rack that used to hold cook books, mixers and choppers will be re-purposed to store baskets of markers, crayons & glitter alongside trays of colored paper.  Linens that have no closet to fill will soon be gently folded and put in sea grass storage trunks stacked one on top of another.

The Girl stayed with me today to help unpack.  The Boy, knowing that we had left all of the tv’s behind at the house wisely chose to go to summer camp for the day.  All day long, with barely a peep out of her, The Girl meticulously unpacked and rearranged the room she now shares with her little brother.  The same child who couldn’t be incentivized, even with cash money, to clean her own room, was perfectly happy to unwrap trinkets and toys for hours.

I still worry that it will be a struggle to find a place for everything.  The easiest alternative is to give away what we don’t have room to use or store.  Downsizing forces the clutter out the door and that is something we’ve needed to have happen for a long time.  Space is at a premium and I am ready for the challenge of maximizing what precious little space that we have.

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Posted in Daily Life |

Boxes, Tape & Sharpies

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

movingboxesI’m surrounded by boxes.  Small boxes filled with crystal wrapped in newsprint.  Medium boxes containing handbags, scarves, and belts.  Large boxes stuffed with linens and beach towels.  Empty boxes not yet taped up that are leaning flat against the wall waiting to hold the last few remnants of kitchen and bathroom treasures.  The utilities have been turned on at the new place and the cable gets switched over tomorrow. 

The biggest challenge comes on Thursday when the movers arrive and attempt to shove the contents of a 3 bedroom, 1700+ square foot home (with garage) into a 2 bedroom, 1100 square foot apartment (with storage closet).

Prayers for my sanity will be joyfully accepted.

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Posted in Daily Life |

Mark It Off

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

rainCross it off my list.  Because tonight, I danced in the rain.

The kids were down the street playing with friends and I had been cutting grass in the back yard when I felt the first droplets.  I was able to move the mower under cover just as the proverbial bottom fell out of the huge black cloud directly above my house.  I walked around to the front yard to greet the kids as they ran home to take cover in the garage.  We put the various assortment of skateboards and scooters away and then sought refuge inside where it was dry.

The Boy went to his room to watch some television as The Girl and I stepped back out onto the front porch to watch the rain.  There was no gradual build up of puddles and streams of water – the rain was coming down so hard and so fast, the streets were already beginning to flood.  The rain ran over the edge of the roof creating a curtain of water for The Girl to reach out and tickle with her fingertips.  She began to cup handfuls of the runoff water to fling back at me as we both shrieked in laughter. 

She mostly expected me to scold her, “stop that!”  What she didn’t expect was for me to wrap my arms around her in a bear hug and drag her out to the middle of the front lawn to play in the rain.  We ran to the front door to holler for The Boy to join us.  A brief moment of confusion crossed over him before he realized we were seriously playing in.the.rain. 

We sang and we danced.  We laughed and we splashed.  We joined hands and spun in circles.  We lifted our faces to the sky and caught raindrops on our tongues.  And we wrapped it up with a group hug.  Tonight, we created a memory.

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Posted in Parenting, The Boy, The Girl |

A Summertime MeMe

Monday, July 6th, 2009

MeMe stolen from Restaurant Refugee.

  1. You’re about to get into the Cash Cab in NYC. You can choose any two or three people (from your actual life) to be with you. Name the people with you and why?I’d bring The Golfer (my step-father) and The Weener (my work-bff). Between the two of them there is a wellspring of knowledge. Contrary to popular belief, I wouldn’t bring The BFF. Not because she wouldn’t be helpful, she would. But because we both have an insane crush on Ben Bailey (6’6″ of tall, dark & handsomeness *~*swoon*~*) and I’d hate to push her out of a moving vehicle so I could make my move on Ben!
  2. The TV gods have appeared before you in the form of a burning remote. They instruct you to select any canceled television show to be returned to the airwaves. You do, however, have to make your case to them. What show, what’s your argument in favor? Titus. It was brutally hilarious and would deal with such politically incorrect topics as mental illness and alcoholism. Plus, Stacy Keach is one of my favorite actors and could delivery the driest deadpan lines ever. If a movie is ever made of my Dad’s life, Keach would have to be the one to play him.
  3. It’s not summer in Gainesville (or your city of origin, or your favorite city if you wish) without _______________? a trip to Devil’s Millhopper. 117 feet down to the bottom and you’re enjoying at least a 15 degree drop in temperature.
  4. The best summer accessory in your repertoire is? My folding camp chairs. I keep them in the back of my car and drag them all over creation and back. To the beach, to the neighbors back yard, to the end of the driveway – they are perfect for casual impromptu gatherings.
  5. It took you a while to get on board with the _______________ trend but once you did, you don’t know how you lived without it. Minivans. I detested them for ages. Heck, it took me a few years after The Girl was born to even switch to a four-door sedan. I had a small SUV for a while before temporarily going insane back to a two-door coupe last year. Then I came to my senses and bought a minivan. It was love at first sight – and with two kids, I don’t know how I ever survived without one. I’m sure as the kids get older I’ll probably go back to an SUV or four-door something, but for now – I’m totally rockin’ the mini.
  6. The song to which you are embarrassed to admit that you know all of the words? Honkytonk Badonkadonk by Trace Adkins. No further comment.
  7. Your favorite memory of summer is? Spending time at my grandparent’s farm in Monticello, FL. There were always other cousins around to play with and we’d spend all day running in the fields, chasing cows and playing in the barns.
  8. The memory you would love to create this summer is? It’s more of a state of being than a specific memory. Happiness. I want to look back on this summer as the happiest that we’ve had in years – because the last few summers have been tumultuous at best.
  9. According to Confucius, real knowledge exists in the understanding of what one doesn’t know. What don’t you know?Reciprocal, never-ending, unconditional love with a partner who I am equally yoked in faith.
  10. What question do you wish were included in this meme? What summer travel plans do you have?Thanks for asking! I’m taking the kids to Wild Adventures for a few days in August to ride roller coasters till we puke. I’d like to take a long weekend for myself sometime in the fall but that’s still up in the air as to when and where.
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Posted in MeMe |