thoughts from the deep recesses

We're heading out of town today and I won't have my computer so I wanted to post my list of fun ideas for August... One a day. No schedule or plan... I want to be spontaneous if I can, but also know having a list of ideas will help... So here are some of my ideas: Go antiquing on Monroe street Swim in the ocean Go to water aerobics class with some of the sweet little old ladies from my Wednesday WW meeting Cook salmon on the grill Take the kids to Donut Parade Go to Lake Coeur D'Alene for the day Pick peaches at Green Bluff Design an "Amazing Race" style scavenger hunt for the family while we're in Manzanita Go to the sand dollar beach at Ft. Stevens Have a dance party with the kids Make some really good coleslaw and eat it on the back deck Do a milkshake tasting event with the kids, similar to our Cheeseburgerpalooza Play tennis with Asia at the little city park in Manzanita Take a sunrise bike ride Go to Turnbull Wildlife Preserve at dusk or dawn Build a da...

So after my little rant last week, I have been pondering F.U.N. I was so despondent after our failed lake adventure... and it sort of freaked me - this fear that we don't know how to have fun as a family anymore. But the more I thought about it, the more I began to feel that it's more about me... I - somewhere along the way - have become a bit of a fuddy duddy when it comes to fun. I've come to value my own comfort so much that I let it get in the way of fun. Some examples: I never swim in the ocean when we go to the beach. It's gritty. And REALLY cold on the Oregon coast. I don't participate in sport-ish things because I really dislike being sweaty - and I've always felt like I look stupid when I attempt anything athletic... I hate being tickled... I'm always afraid I'm going to pee my pants. (I did, after all, push out an 11 lb 4 oz. baby...) I pretty much have a CONCRETE no tickling rule. (How's that for NOT fun?) I don't dance in front of ANY...

Today is going to be whiny. I'm just warning you. I've been in a funk. And it really helps me to type it out... put words to it. I've always been a person who processes things by writing... try to get me to talk things out before I'm ready and I get nowhere... but let me write and I'll figure something out almost every time. So I'll write. This is the second summer in a row that has been really hard for me. As my kids get older, (and need me less and less to have fun) I find myself home alone many afternoons, wondering what happened to the sidewalk chalk and the kiddie pool and the endless slathering of sunscreen. Now it looks more like kids sleeping in until 10:00 or 11:00, waking up to their phones ringing with invitations and each one riding away on a bike or a scooter to hang out with a friend... or going to the movies or the pool without me. I wrack my brain to come up with ideas for ways we can spend time together... and have fun. Ah - there's the wor...

Life just sort of tumbles along here... I occasionally think of things I want to post but then when I sit down to write, my mind goes blank and I can't think of a thing to tell you. So here's a bullet list of the short thoughts going through my mind... Summer is going WAY too quickly. I'm still pondering my list of cravings ... Fresh raspberries. Yum. Kyler is away at running camp this week. Miss him. Planning a trip to Silverdale in the fall to go talk to COTN about a family trip to Sierra Leone next summer. Yikes! Starting to plan for some sales in the fall... selling some wares to raise money for said trip to Sierra Leone... craft-y sales, bake sales, yadda yadda... what else can I sell? We need LOTS of money to go to Sierra Leone. Love that the days have been hot and the nights cool... the perfect summer combination in my opinion... I can enjoy the sun but keep the house cool. Love it. Ethan is the child who is gone the most this summer. He gets at least an invitation ...

My Grandpa Young died in 2001, just over a year after his lovely wife Inez passed away. When I was at their home after he passed away, helping to sort through 65 years of accumulated memories and possessions, I asked if maybe I could have the peony plant that had been in their front flower bed... No one else wanted it, so I dug it up, stuck it in a bucket and drove it all the way across the state. When we got home, I dug up a spot in my own flower bed, and planted it. Transplanted peony... check. The next spring, I watched eagerly as it's tender branches grew. It unfurled into a bush that was about a foot high, but no buds formed. Each year, I watched the same thing happen. Lots of foliage, no buds. I remember hearing our local lawn and garden radio show host (I listen to it while I garage sale on Saturday mornings) say once that peonies really dislike being moved - and may take as long as five years to recover from being transplanted. So I waited. Then, in the spring of 2006, the...

We might think we ‘can’t help’ gaining weight because we’re cravers. We crave food, but if we give ourselves a chance we’ll find that we crave other things too; food is just the easiest target. I found that I also craved being able to give. I craved being active, doing something I loved. I craved beautiful clothes I looked good in. … And not only that, I wanted to be a blonde." ~Jean Nidetch Founder of Weight Watchers We had this quote as part of our meeting curriculum last week at Weight Watchers. And it rocked my world. The longer I strive after this healthy lifestyle - this daily decision to choose to control my eating so I can stay at a healthy weight - the more I realize it is not something I will ever 'figure out'. As much as I'd like to say I've got it licked - that it's easy for me now, that would not be the truth. Because almost every single day, it's a struggle. But this quote has been so good for me to ponder. Because food is most definitely my ...