I'm Recovering From Christmas

I'm recovering from Christmas
And mostly can be found
Reclining on my sofa
With a cat and a hound

Watching old movies
Perusing my new book
Playing Guitar Hero
And refusing to cook

I'm enjoying my last glimpses
Of our ornaments glowing
Before the huge haul job
Of packing and stowing

I'm feeling pretty lazy
And too tired out to write or talk
I'm napping in the afternoon
And hitting bed a eight o'clock

We had a lovely season
And to all of you So Dear
I hope your Holidays were Brilliant!
And even Brighter your New Year.



I'll be back around when I don't feel like I was delivered by FedEx.


© 2011 All Rights Reserved

Extra Merry!!!!!!!!!!!

BIGGEST FOUND THE CAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Merry The Twain Shall Meet

I Wish You Joy


I Wish You Peace.

I Wish You A Merry Christmas!

and/or

Happy Hanukkah!

too. If that's what you do.

And

Much Happiness

in the

New Year

The Christmas lights on my bookcase display exploded and one of the toilet flushers is busted. I now feel relaxed and perfectly safe commencing with celebration.

For more Christmas fun please visit Really Bad Hokey Christmas Poetry on my other blog.

The Week Before Christmas


or listen to Miss Judy.
There is a commercial but it's the Holiday Season so I guess it can't be escaped.
But, Nobody does it better : )


Judy Garland - a merry little Christmas
Uploaded by Alexander_Band. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more. © 2011 All Rights Reserved

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Peace and Joy...

Tuesday 7:38 PM

Earlier this evening The SeaMonkey was visiting Biggest. He had a meeting set up with Decent Guy who has a fresh shrimp connection and had made a deal for 40 lbs.

Anyway...he had just walked in the door when Biggest called....She said....
Da Droov ahh wi maaa caaa  on hes ruuuf anwahh Sobb sobb  ...Decen guuyyy follwwahhh hiimmm buh Da whaa wasn payiinnn attteennnttiiooonn annn sheee juuummmppppeeed an III cannnn finnnn herrrr  iiii  waaas weeeowww whaaaa...

Which translated was:
Dad drove off with my cat on his roof and Decent Guy followed him but dad wasn't paying attention and she jumped off and I can't find her. It was Willow!

Decent Guy was following flashing his lights and honking and there was a cat on the roof and The SeaMonkey noticed None of This. Now he's devastated and feels horrible.

But not as horrible as me because in the middle of all this I walked in the family room and found a half eaten decomposing squirrel laying in the middle of the carpet.

A little treat the dog found in the yard and snuck past the door without us noticing.  

I'm so glad we don't allow the hustle and bustle of the holidays to distract us from the little everyday things that make life worthwhile.


© 2011 All Rights Reserved

Peace It Together

It can be hard to find.

How do we achieve it? What is it to you?

Quiet? Tranquility? Stability?A Goal for the world? 

Peace of Mind? Peace at Heart?

Peace.

On a regular Wednesday afternoon.

I suddenly have nothing important to do. My knees hurt and I'm a little tired. No one is around. How peaceful. A perfect occasion for a nap. I stretch out full length, a luxury at my house, a couch to yourself. I tuck my plush throw snugly around  my legs and set the pillows up 'just right.' I turn the TV on and flip through the channels. I can't rest in total quiet. I need some background noise to still my thoughts and keep them from running riot and disturbing my peace. I find "How To Make An American Quilt." Hmm, that was a good book. I don't go out of my way to watch movies from books I've enjoyed because of possible frustration but if I happen on one I might give it a try. Besides, I like Winona Rider and trust her judgement and interpretations of some others I enjoyed without disappointment. So I settle in and close my eyes occasionally popping them open when something piques my curiosity. This is nice.
  Then I hear footsteps approaching and inwardly groan. Crud. I peek from the corner of my eye as Middlest settles in to the easy chair and pulls up the coffee table to set down a bowl of soup. She's not supposed to be eating in here but she is going out of her way to be quiet so I let it be. Relax. She isn't going to bother me. So I rest,  listening to the dialogue of the movie and the gentle tink of Mids spoon rhythmically hitting the bowl. But after a time she breaks the silence. "What are you watching?"

"How To Make An American Quilt." It's a good story. The book's downstairs on my shelf. Fourth row."

I hear her get up and pad her dishes to the kitchen and then she is back.

"Scoot over. I should be finishing some things before work but this is good."

"Sigh". I bend my knees.  Oh well. I've lost a third of the couch but at least she doesn't want to change the channel. I hear more steps entering the room and Littlest plops on a stool beside the table with a bag of chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk. I slit my eyes open, watching as she throws the cookie in the milk then eats it with a spoon. Disgusting and also forbidden in here but I'm sleeping so I don't see it.  I drift on sound waves from the movie, in and out. "What is this?" Littlest asks.

"How to Make An American Quilt. It's a good book too. I have it downstairs in my bookcase if you want it."

"Scoot over."

"No", whines Middlest. "There isn't enough room. I'm comfortable."

"Sigh". I bend at the waist and pull myself up to a sitting position.

"Move over Mid. There is plenty of room."

So we sit. The semi silence of the room broken now by questions brought on by the parts they missed. "Who is that? Why is she doing that?" It's a good story. About stories. About women. I sit with my two young women and fill in where I can. Wonder out loud myself on the parts I can't remember. The room is no longer still and quiet but it is peaceful. When the movie is over Littlest asks, "Where did you say the book was?" Middlest follows with, "I want to read it too."

It's in my bookcase. It's been there for years. Waiting. Waiting to share. Unsuspecting I set it there waiting for this moment of Peace of Mind. They are smart and remarkable young women. Peace in my girls because,  though they aren't always peaceful, they are so truly mine and nothing in this world can change that. As I sit in my kitten pile of daughters I know these moments are fleeting and precious. My family and my love for them are My Heart.

I Wish You Peace.

Do you think it can't be found? That it is so big and huge an undertaking that it never lasts,
 at least not for long. We may not always see it. There is work and school and mess in the house and strife in the world. Where do we find it?

Peace at Heart.

Let It Be and it Will Be.



© 2011 All Rights Reserved

Just Joy With It

It's just there.

I don't know why. Bubbling up while I vacuum. Snuggling into my blanket while I relax. Swelling to a crescendo when I walk across a room. It can't be stopped.

There is no exact reason for it. When you look at the big picture there would seem to be every reason for it to not be present at all. True, though there have been the usual share of stresses, lately things have not been a train wreck for me personally.  I imagine that helps.  All the petty worries that chip away slowly are there as usual. All the huge worries than can overwhelm are present as always and conspire to make us lose hope. But the joy overtakes them like a tidal wave drowning them in delicious tingles of content and ripples of laughter.

I have habitually distrusted joy, always waiting for the event that crushes it.  Felt guilty with joy. Why should I have joy when there is such a lack of it for others? Felt foolish for joy. This world is a serious place with serious problems. Do I not see the trouble everywhere starting from right next door and spreading across the world? Yes I do.

Yet I feel Joy. Unbounded all consuming Joy.

And
maybe events might crush it.
I try to find ways to bring it to others.
I am aware and do what I can and what I think best.

So I have decided,

To Have My Joy and Be Joyful Too.

I Wish You Joy!

Will you stick it in a drawer and wait for a better time to use it?

Don't do that.


© 2011 All Rights Reserved

Listen........

There IS NOTHING going on at my house. Not a thing. Not a peep.

and Biggests' phone isn't working ; )


Turn off the news. Turn off the screen. Turn off the phone. Set that list aside.

It's a dim down. Just breathe.

Moon Music

Time Capsule

Back in October I decided to chance the deep dark depths of the closet under the stairs. I took some pictures while I was doing it and in keeping with the system by which I created my time capsule I'm just getting around to organizing this into a post. If this is the first time you are visiting my blog let me recap that my daughters are 24, 18 and 16 years old. We moved into this house when they were 2,4 and 10. At that time there was only one thing in the closet and it's still there. This was a very emotional experience. I am sentimental and so are my daughters. I have tried to do this before and they prevented me so I finally waited till they were not here and dove in. The SeaMonkey has been complaining and threatening to throw it all away for years.

Let's start with what I would find when I opened the door. Don't ask why there are blinding blue walls with big white splotches all over them. It was a family project. That's all. See that pile of stuff to the left? Middlest left these things when she moved in with Biggest-in September-and back in- last month- and has been asked to move them to the shed or back in her room.

Want to know where they are now? Just a second, let me turn around.

That's right. In my office.

So anyway. Beyond the norm like luggage and sleeping bags,

 I find more of my most recent child to reach adulthood.

Mid practices painting using old cardboard to save money so I had a whole lot of cardboard

 and also canvas in there.

More Mid. wth? Seriously.

This is a box of stuff left from when my mom lived with us in 2007

 and it's all junk but I didn't want to deal with it at the time.

Then a little further back to when Biggest moved out.

 This is a really nice pair of handmade cowboy boots that she says she has no place to wear. She admired a pair a regular customer was wearing when she was about 18 and working at a sandwich shop. The next week they brought her a pair.

 Because that kind of stuff happens to Biggest.

I put them in Mids room.

Ah, and then I hit the dress up bag. Oh boy. The mommy hormones started to hit about that time but I persevered. The doll is gone. The costumes? Ok yeah, They're still there.

Are you kidding Ms. G.?

GONE!

This is Ouchy.

Ouchy belongs to Littlest. There is not much of her stuff in there because there is yet another big closet upstairs and it is still full. But Ouchy?

Ouchy stays.

This was one of my dads hats. He died 11 years ago.

This? Oh yes! This IS a totally Awesome purse from  the 80's.

What do you mean? Where do You THINK it is? : )

Mm Hmm. Doesn't fit a single toilet in the house. But! You never know.

 Then we hit another clean the kids rooms out session. Thomas the train, cars and a naked Barbie.

I was going to dispose of these. Guess who saw them in the trash pile and asked me to put them back? The Seamonkey. Mr. "Just throw it all out." Mm hmm.

 And whales. Of course there where whales. And there still are.

Pooh and boxing gloves. The story of my children in one photo.

Yes. That is exactly what it looks like.

Feel feel to use the photo to confound the children on family trivia game night.

Alright. Sometimes being a pack rat is very cool. No these have not been under the stairs since World War II ended.

 But they had been under there so long I forgot I owned them.

Do you know what all this is?

Neither do I, so I just put it back in the box and left it under there.

Back a few more years to Pooh.

 And Grumpy

At the very back a box of Biggest. The first one. Softball trophies and Birthday Barbie.

You know those stayed too.

Last of all was our crib comforter. My parents bought it for us when I was pregnant with Biggest. Yes. It stays.

All in all I sorted thru 7 large bags of stuffed animals to be donated or disposed of.

There are two left. (One entirely filled with whales). I was troubled by the lack of apes and when questioned by Biggest realized she doesn't have them either. The monkeys have escaped!

God help us if we don't find them somewhere. You should have seen her face.

I also threw away a few boxes of junk and am proud to say you can now walk five feet into the closet. Or at least you could until The Seamonkey said, "Look at all that space"and put his stuff in it.

But while it was empty I saw something I haven't seen in many years. At the very back the closet takes a left turn and reduces to three feet high. Just the right size for a young child to sit and play Barbies in the Barbie house their mother contorted herself to create and stenciled and hand painted the walls of. There are actually six rooms but my knees didn't allow me to stay in there long.

I still refuse to concede that, as my children claim, "they are screwed up because I kept them in a closet under the stairs when they were little. "

Ingrates.

I even let all three of them paint the clouds all over that blue sky.

And no, this will never be repainted as long as I live.

Do you have trouble saying goodbye to pieces of the past? Or are you a ruthless clutter killer?

© 2011 All Rights Reserved