Date Archives → April 2008

schumann, sisters, and sous chefs

Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax, performing various works for piano and cello by Schumann. Ah. I love Schumann: clean. Linear. Not overdone. And so much magic in the middle, as Busch always says. If I must listen a Romantic composer, and sometimes I really should, well, let me have Schumann, by all means. You can have Liszt. Really. Go ahead. I’m quite happy with my listening choice.

Talking with one sister, chatting with another. Ah. You know the phrase (on every card at Hallmark), “Chance made us sisters, hearts made us friends”? Well, I’m not so sure that’s true for us. I very specifically remember my parents making us friends (right, guys?), but goodness, I’m so very glad they did. Sisters who are friends are one of the best things going. I’m sure of that.

Waking to a kitchen that is less than spotless, because I just had enough in me to stack dishes, wipe the table, and turn off the light last night. Not so Ah.

But. Learning to unwind about such matters, pat my growing belly, and realize that rest is important, too: Ah. God will help me once again today: help me to work hard, and help to rest in Him when I realize it just won’t all get done. And He’ll help me enjoy the little man who is not the least bit affected by the state of my kitchen counter. How many times has his happy, joyful attitude helped me loosen up just a bit more? Many. Many, many.

Lastly — New things I’m discovering about myself: I used to think that if, while baking or cooking, the counter didn’t stay cleaned up as I went, and the floor promptly swept every time a speck of flour fell, I would just absolutely lose it. Well, turns out, I won’t lose it. I won’t die. I won’t even cry. I can totally survive baking with a 20 month old sous chef. And amazingly enough, as ridiculously messy as it can get, it still only takes a few minutes to clean it all up at the end. Silly, maybe, but I think that’s my testimony of God’s grace for the day. :)

:: thoughts.

:: Belly photos are coming. I promise. I can’t believe how fast this belly has grown — along with the other growth that is wont to happen. (You know. Chubby face. Etc.) I also can’t believe how quickly and intensely I’m already feeling this pregnancy. Perhaps the timing was the same with Jameson, but goodness, I wasn’t prepared to already be battling sciatic flare-ups and constant trips to the bathroom. I mean, we’re only at 15 weeks. Goodness!

:: Warm weather has finally come to the Peninsula. The last three mornings I’ve opened up the windows first thing and delighted in the amazingly energizing summer morning air. I love, love, love it. Summer mornings and summer nights are the best. In my heaven, we’re going to go right from 11:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. every day. I will sit outside in the heavenly morning air, sipping coffee and admiring my flower gardens, and then go right into an evening stroll along the river as the moon rises. Perfect.

:: Last night I was laying on my bed at 9:30, getting a little one to sleep (he had a bit of trouble, but we got there.) When I glanced at the clock, my first thought was, “Oh good. It’s 9:30. I can go to bed.” Then I laughed to myself as I sort of vaguely remembered that I used to think, “Oh, good, it’s only 9:30. Time for me to make myself some dinner, start a load of laundry, and get most of my homework done!” Ah, what a difference a baby makes.

:: This is a Monday to beat all Mondays. The cupboards are bare. And I mean it. The laundry is… well, everything’s dirty, and nothing is clean. The house is as you’d imagine it would be after a long weekend of purposing to just enjoy being together and not worry too much about chores. (How on earth a little family like ours can wreck a house this badly, simply by living in it, is beyond me. Proof of entropy, I suppose.) So, where to start.

How about sitting at my table, enjoying three freshly-plucked rose buds, a cup of coffee, summer breeze, and a psalm or two? Yup. Sounds just about right.

sugar, spice, … and puppy dog tails.

Last week, I purchased 1 1/2 yards of pretty pink gingham for a project. When I pulled that pile of pink out of my dryer, I realized how terribly short on pretty little girl things my current life is. Slowly that pile of pink began to take shape, and today, at last, I ironed the finished product and smiled. How pink. How gingham-y. How sweet.

Then, it was back to real life.

This pile was begging to be tackled…

…and turned into a few pairs of these:

True to form, Jameson was thrilled to realize I’d made something for him, and gave me a cute little “look! new pants!” smile when I put them on him.

morning

I managed to slip out of bed alone this morning, a trick I can seldom pull off. I don’t mind the company of a certain someone during these fresh, new hours, but I’ll confess that alone is still my favorite way to savor them.

The temperature has been rising, and the morning air, while a bit cool, is refreshing. I cracked open the window next to the kitchen table, then stepped outside to breathe in a new day.

I wish these hours could last forever.

I was met by fuschia buds on my sweetpea — the sweetpea I’ve been drowning in water every day, hoping against hope that I could coax a flower from it before it gives in to the shriveling heat of mid-summer. Small pleasures, but pleasure, nonetheless.

A cry and the patter of feet brought me back inside, but not before I grabbed a moment to take a deep breath and offer thanks for this: the gift of a new day.

jules.

I’m not sure how to explain to you that if you haven’t heard this, you’re really, really missing out.

But I’ll try.

If you haven’t heard this, you’re really, really missing out.

Go now.

(What you need to understand is that this is all Julia. Every lick, every lyric. Every arrangement — listen all the way through to every song, folks, lest you miss the best part. Everything. All in her sweet little head. My little sister. Wow.)

(Oh. And you need to also understand that my little brother, of whom I’m extremely proud, plays the drums. And my littlest sister plays the keys and sings background. And holds her own in live concerts, oh yes she does. And James (electric) and Micah (bass) aren’t blood relatives, but by golly, I’m proud of them, too.)

(K. I’m done.)