Six Random Thoughts

1. God Bless the Garbage Men.  Every Monday is garbage day, and it is a wonderful blessing in this house.  Not because we have very much garbage.  We usually only half fill up our small size bin.  It's because the garbage men and the garbage trucks make Bluejay and Chickadee SO HAPPY.  Nothing can pull us out of a funk like the arrival of the garbage truck. Often we run outside to see the first one.  The garbage man waves, and toots his horn for us.  And there are THREE different trucks that come throughout the day, one for garbage, one for recycling and one for clean green, so we never miss them all. Monday is a great day, thanks to the garbage men.

2. Comfort food.  I tend to cook the same "types" of meals all the time.  I am most comfortable with pasta.  If we need to eat vegetables or are fasting, I make some sort of vegetable medley over pasta.  If we need protein, I make some sort of sausage or meat sauce over pasta.  Sometimes I vary it with vegetables or meat over rice or polenta.  I almost always make a salad.  Boy am I creative.  Anyway, my husband really likes traditional American comfort food.  (I've noticed that this kind of comfort food generally has a "cream" component, whether it's cream of mushroom soup or anything that starts out as a roux or just a nice dollop of cream, especially sour cream). Last night I wanted to make something he would really like, so I did chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn, with, of course, gravy.  And not even a salad in sight.  It was a big hit.  Aaron loved it. I loved it too.  But, I was sweating after all the boiling and frying (there were three pots boiling on the stove in addition to the frying pan full of hot oil, and the oven was on to keep the finished chicken pieces warm).  Also, there was a LOT of butter and oil that went into that meal.  And this is coming from someone who loves butter so much she puts it on her croissants.  So I need to find a nice balance between comfort food and clogged arteries.

3. Restraint.  There was a Friends marathon on TV the other night.  I only watched two episodes!  That is restraint, my friends.  Especially since we're getting rid of TV again this week (we signed up for cable to watch the Olympics).  Why do I love Friends so much?

4. Bacon in the oven! There probably shouldn't be multiple food related points in each post.  But seriously, bacon cooked in the oven? Is one of the best ideas ever.

5. Time away from the kids.  My husband has been trying to give me an evening away from the kids each week.  This is a new thing, and very much needed.  To reciprocate, I told him to stay home the other evening while I took the babes over to a friend's house for dinner.  He used his time away to pick up the house.  I could not possibly be more grateful.  Thank you thank you to my most favorite person.

6. A.S. Byatt.  I mentioned that I'd started a new book, in my last post.  It is Possession.  So far, it is VERY good.  Best book I've read in a long time.  I am a slow reader these days, so bear with me, but if it's decent through to the end, I'll be sure to let you know.  Oh, and it's a "romance" in the literary sense of the term.

August Daybook

Outside my window... Quiet, pleasant evening.  I love this kind of weather.  

I am wearing... Green sweatpants and a plum colored striped shirt.  It's not pretty, but the day is over.

I am thankful for... Those moments when God grants me a little bit more patience, after I thought I was at the bottom of the patience barrel.

I am thinking about... The wisest ways to spend my very limited and precious alone time.

Learning all the time... I am learning to keep things going in a more minimal way, while I have little ones in the house.

From the kitchen... I made up a vegetarian(ish) version of stroganoff.  It wasn't entirely fasting, but everyone seemed happy with it. 

I am creating... a bag crocheted out of other plastic bags.  I got the idea from Matushka Anna.  It's fun and easy, the most time consuming part is making the plarn.

I am working on... Patience, as mentioned above, also acceptance of what I can and can't accomplish with little ones in the house. I've spent too much time already thinking that I just need to get the hang of this having toddlers thing and then I'll be able to do x, y or z on a regular basis (usually housekeeping items).   

I am going... To spend a little time working at my old office.  I think it will be good for me.

I am hoping... To have a little time by myself, and a little time with my husband to actually have a conversation.

I am reading... Nothing at the moment, but a friend just lent me a book, and I'm hopeful it will be good.  If it is, I'll post the title later.

I am praying for... The same intentions as last time: little Samuel in the NICU; my friend Alan who has brain cancer; my brother in Afghanistan. Also for my mother-in-law, and for acquiring a spirit of peace.

I am hearing... The sprinklers running in the yard, my husband putting away silverware and the children chattering away to him. 

One of my favorite things... Chats on the phone with my sister-in-law.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Heading into the office for a few hours on Thursday.  Not much else on the horizon this week.

A few picture thoughts I am sharing with you... Just for fun, here are a couple of pictures from 2005, when we were living in Michigan and were still newlyweds.

I miss these girls.  We worked hard together and managed to have fun doing it.

Awwww.  Look how young we are.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Resiliency

The subject of resiliency has been on my mind lately.  I am searching for a serious and uncompromising way to encourage this trait, to instill this virtue, even, in my children.  I want them to be able to be knocked down and get themselves back up, again and again.  This is incredibly important to me.  Whether it's on the playground, a challenging educational project, an athletic attempt, or a career setback, I want them to be able to take the hit and bounce back.  It seems to me that this type of toughness is no longer valued in our society.  It's no longer taught, it's no longer praised, it's no longer even needed in so many ways.  Got a D on that term paper?  That's ok, writing is just not your thing, or that teacher just doesn't get you.  You suck at batting? You can quit baseball, it's ok.  You got a role in the play but you're scared of performing in front of people when it really comes down to it?  No problem, you can do the set painting instead.

That is not ok with me.  We all have to do things we don't want to do in life.  We have to do them all the time!  We also get the raw end of the deal sometimes, and not always justly.  We have to recognize it for what it is and move on, let it go.  The holy fathers talk about humility, ceaselessly, it seems to me.  I think that is the kind of resiliency I am trying to get at.  To let it go, to not care if you shirt is wet and your shoes got stomped on and to keep heading toward your goal requires a real, sincere humility of soul.  I believe that kind of humility IS toughness.  

I am a huge fan of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.  I think they speak to this kind of toughness, this resiliency in the face of adversity continually.  It made an enormous impression on me, as a child, to read about someone being punished for something they did not do, and being told by their parents not to complain or say anything about it.  To see their parents losing their entire home due to circumstances beyond their control, and just calmly accepting it and moving on.  Nowadays there would be lawsuits!  My side must be heard!  Parents go to the coach, the teacher, the principal and complain on behalf of their child.  I am sure there is a time and a place for this.  But think what an example we can provide for our children if instead of that, we continually model for them understanding and at the same time the strength to let go of wrongs done us.  We preach the gospel of turn the other cheek, in a real, meaningful way and model it. We let them see us take a hit, get back up, and keep on running without spending any time complaining about the guy who hit us, or even trying to justify our original action.  Life happens.  We have to have the humility to roll with it, and that's the kind of strength I desperately want to see develop in my children.  It has never been a natural skill, virtue, strength of mine.  Whatever resiliency I have is something that I have struggled against my natural inclinations to acquire. I think it was definitely one of the values of my family of origin, although not, perhaps, with particular stress on humility.  I noticed and valued it in the historical and fictional characters in the many books I read growing up, and it is a trait I admired in other people.  Encouraging this virtue in my children, while always affirming their self-worth, is what I am learning to do, instance by instance.

What values are you trying to instill in your children?  How are you addressing those values that go against our current mainstream culture?  I am very curious to know, and learn the ways that other parents are working to help their children grow into confident, capable, internally strong adults.

New baby cousin~the wood duckling :-)