tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21075726058683837992024-03-05T04:24:06.224-08:00The Joyful House"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." -George MoorePollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.comBlogger677125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-85763336802813582842024-02-24T06:10:00.000-08:002024-02-24T06:10:35.068-08:00Every Week: A Bouquet<p style="text-align: center;"> How about this? How about posting a photo of my dining table bouquet each week? That'll encourage me to keep the practice of fresh flowers going!</p><p style="text-align: center;">I have two sweet young ladies who help me around the house twice a month. I hired them, with a twinge of guilt, in January of 2017, because my homeschooling had gotten more intense (with addiing a second child to the mix) and because I was starting to teach two classes at our co-op. By the end of 2017, I felt no guilt at all: my husband had been diagnosed with cancer, and frankly, I needed all the help I could get. They've now been coming to my house every other week for <i>seven years</i>. I am endlessly grateful for them. Anyhow, sometime last year they said to me, "we love coming here because it always smells so good" (which made me laugh--it's because they come on one of my "crockpot dinner" days!) "and because we love all your fresh flowers." Well, that stopped me in my tracks, because I realized I'd not had fresh flowers consistently for quite some time. But I loved that they associated my home with flower bouquets--that's what I want to hear, because I do really, really love flowers.</p><p style="text-align: center;">There's nothing blooming here yet, but yesterday when I ran to Kroger to pick up antibiotics for Finn (pray for Finn! he just cannot kick this whatever-it-is), I bought a $5 bouquet of baby's breath and a 40-cent markdown bouquet of fern fronds. In a needs-to-be-polished silver pitcher, my inexpensive bouquet is a good start. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qc6tujJ-nErxTmLVfGl7CBvoe1IYP_ibeukxj-WrJBwlI7CpurZCyx0cKN5P83Ix818tK2ytqGVdY_aXJo-_mg2TszdOzl2FD_5y1vleTr54B53AYyiKQH5D3VmzZbqwWoi-MeZ6LNSPaOWJqyZJGtY39oICtgkifFFd6v50_BRjUa9E5-Odwp-XDAQ/s4032/February%20bouquet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qc6tujJ-nErxTmLVfGl7CBvoe1IYP_ibeukxj-WrJBwlI7CpurZCyx0cKN5P83Ix818tK2ytqGVdY_aXJo-_mg2TszdOzl2FD_5y1vleTr54B53AYyiKQH5D3VmzZbqwWoi-MeZ6LNSPaOWJqyZJGtY39oICtgkifFFd6v50_BRjUa9E5-Odwp-XDAQ/s320/February%20bouquet.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(The only drawback here is that baby's breath smells terrible, so I do have to move it away from the table when it's time to have a meal! But that's the price we pay, at least this week, for beauty.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A bouquet a week. Stay tuned for more!</div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-57186451162462773652024-02-22T08:59:00.000-08:002024-02-22T08:59:30.528-08:00Routines to Help Return to Peace<p style="text-align: center;">After two years of feeling "off," I am finally starting to re-orient myself to, well, myself! Have you ever gone through times when you're just not living like yourself? </p><p style="text-align: center;">My father was diagnosed with cancer in January 2022. For the next year (he died in September 2022), I was constantly on the road between Charleston and home, juggling my children's schedules and schooling, and just trying to spend as much time with him as I could. I knew it was unlikely that he would live even a year past diagnosis, so I worked hard to see him as much as possible. </p><p style="text-align: center;">In 2023, I was still trying to regain my equilibrium, but I felt "off." I gained about ten pounds. I wasn't reading, I wasn't putting fresh flowers on the table, and I wasn't sleeping on my normal schedule. I wasn't enjoying food, and I wasn't getting enough fresh air. I was finding myself easily distracted and unfocused. </p><p style="text-align: center;">It was time for a change!</p><p style="text-align: center;">I knew there were things I could not change. My days are <i>very </i>full, and I spend an inordinate amount of time chauffeuring my children to their various activities. Although I could force my children to drop their activities, they find a great deal of value and purpose in them, so I'm not changing that. I have decided that the problem is not my children's busy schedules.<i> The problem is me</i>.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Here's what I decided to change:</p><p style="text-align: center;">*I'm sitting down to eat in a mindful way again. I've done that for years, but had gotten out of the habit with our hectic lives in 2022. This makes a huge difference in the way I feel, in my health, and in my peace!</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5xaeH4zX8DSr4XVOYe8uh8Qz1EEMJ012fSnbNEAXwLVXRt5nAX1s4san5Klh9xykRC-cJLrFQPTXuoFhlC-TlLrsh2r9kr_aNmQBS4wngndo2UxwTX30VvE-9uEeytSNQy2jnZdb2PPX-8rCynGOtXGD7NybXB1xTM4NZt3lnMczRZLR5t5yrSQKIzmw/s2048/Pancake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5xaeH4zX8DSr4XVOYe8uh8Qz1EEMJ012fSnbNEAXwLVXRt5nAX1s4san5Klh9xykRC-cJLrFQPTXuoFhlC-TlLrsh2r9kr_aNmQBS4wngndo2UxwTX30VvE-9uEeytSNQy2jnZdb2PPX-8rCynGOtXGD7NybXB1xTM4NZt3lnMczRZLR5t5yrSQKIzmw/s320/Pancake.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;">*I'm moving slowly! Instead of procrastinating and never rushing, I'm committed to <i>never rushing</i>, which means I cannot procrastinate. ;) </p><p style="text-align: center;">*Every day I get dressed in a way that makes me happy. For a while I had slipped into the "leggings and sweatshirt" scenario on my at-home days. Frankly, if I'm wearing a leggings and sweatshirt, I'm just not that productive. I'm sure lots of people <i>are </i>productive in those clothes, but I need to be wearing real clothes, my hair fixed, my earrings in, my apron on!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81yIE5i9ljH65dKe54ZgVbEaaaV4CWNts4Ix6E2Gq-Xbvp1hHTs0MepWUeLB0zXgZLF5lYGJvA4MJ5lm11iakMyYoY2cQt_6tKQ03Y9uWO1qA1hJ6zwO_bi51k58OwL_UY_Buxh7SBTsJRQYSgmWT_IYPBg_P05XWSjy8073pPxd0dr3QSrcVMLUOAqU/s4032/unnamed%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81yIE5i9ljH65dKe54ZgVbEaaaV4CWNts4Ix6E2Gq-Xbvp1hHTs0MepWUeLB0zXgZLF5lYGJvA4MJ5lm11iakMyYoY2cQt_6tKQ03Y9uWO1qA1hJ6zwO_bi51k58OwL_UY_Buxh7SBTsJRQYSgmWT_IYPBg_P05XWSjy8073pPxd0dr3QSrcVMLUOAqU/s320/unnamed%20(2).jpg" width="240" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">*I'm going to commit to flowers around the house again. I miss this practice--I did it for years! I realized I fell out of practice (for winter) when I moved to grocery pickup, because I was no longer looking at the flowers at the grocery store each week. (In the summer? I have no excuse. My yard is full of flowers!) I haven't <i>started </i>this yet, but I shall. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXY0004PVhNLFekLgHz6EAl5jfswIkfkcW_-ujrb8Mz91Wgx5Lux15oBiToA8Zama32eEEzV76wf0iOiSsXoCtEe2p2i098stdqgs6TiNiNjduSBdP75HDm8Redqh5OseXVJpj0hwOBSi_FSOzMjt1ay3jIOaQBKy-VqJaNBfNqeh3JAcXkv4gQYx7SdY/s4032/IMG_8756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXY0004PVhNLFekLgHz6EAl5jfswIkfkcW_-ujrb8Mz91Wgx5Lux15oBiToA8Zama32eEEzV76wf0iOiSsXoCtEe2p2i098stdqgs6TiNiNjduSBdP75HDm8Redqh5OseXVJpj0hwOBSi_FSOzMjt1ay3jIOaQBKy-VqJaNBfNqeh3JAcXkv4gQYx7SdY/s320/IMG_8756.jpg" width="240" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">*I'm embracing routines again. I get up at the same time every day, do the same routine. At night I read in bed. I assign my weekly/recurring tasks to a time and do them then. I'm trying to get the children to bed earlier, and up earlier as well. This generates a lot of peace for me!</p><p style="text-align: center;">These changes are simple and, for the most part, free. And they've been very <i>freeing </i>as well. I feel like I'm becoming myself again--the person who enjoys good meals, fresh flowers, reading books, long walks, knitting, and happy, undistracted routines. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-50385659641161731262024-02-02T16:22:00.000-08:002024-02-02T16:22:27.641-08:00Shifting Seasons<p style="text-align: center;"> We had an eventful January, but it was still a lot calmer than December. I was so thankful to get a "recovery month" with no one performing in anything!</p><p style="text-align: center;">We got a bunch of snow that cancelled the local schools all week. School went on as usual at home, but we loved the view, and the children did some serious sledding--before the biting cold totally set in. I love how bright the valley looks when cloaked in snow. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK3Q-TULzCHb7SwWwOi6EwYn848hR_XrMhBX79msbkvXcsu-lNcuFDaEU6S_C9oT7R_P2_ftOYktfIP7S2YU8kLjGosRt6LlnVcbd-3Wixpkzt-ZeCYtQc8pNHwTiSqJygDHIWdu6v8I6m2W4oJSly04-GKOBKaUqBO9KOLqFLtuBvyqXN_ZNCJcxKGu4/s4032/farm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK3Q-TULzCHb7SwWwOi6EwYn848hR_XrMhBX79msbkvXcsu-lNcuFDaEU6S_C9oT7R_P2_ftOYktfIP7S2YU8kLjGosRt6LlnVcbd-3Wixpkzt-ZeCYtQc8pNHwTiSqJygDHIWdu6v8I6m2W4oJSly04-GKOBKaUqBO9KOLqFLtuBvyqXN_ZNCJcxKGu4/s320/farm.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;">Annie broke her foot (by chasing Mr. Bingley on the front porch, no less) and is in a special boot, with taped toes, for now. This is not easy for a ballet dancer! She'll be alright. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Seasons fascinate me; I'm so glad to live in a place where there are four solid, recognizable seasons. But the seasons of life are the ones that interest me the most. Things shift and change--sometimes when we're not even looking. It's like you're buried in folding laundry and suddenly you look up, the leaves are falling, and your son is almost six feet tall. It's just like that. </p><p style="text-align: center;">For years I've had intuition (I suspect it's the nudge of the Holy Spirit) related to shifts. When I turned 40 I felt a major shift and had no idea what it would entail. A few months later, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. <i>Oh, so THAT is what this will entail</i>, I thought. I've felt it at other points in life, too. </p><p style="text-align: center;">I feel that shift again now. I'm not sure what is brewing or what direction the shift will take. I just feel like I'm on a ship heading in one general direction, and that somewhere below me the current has changed, and I'm still headed in the general direction I set out to go, but I feel like we're going to get there by a different route. <i>What is it? </i> I approach this with genuine curiosity. I don't fear it, because I trust the captain. :) I wonder!</p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-3970424108377352782024-01-21T13:19:00.000-08:002024-01-21T13:19:53.595-08:00The Goodness of God<p style="text-align: center;"> Today at church during our quiet personal prayer time, the worship leader sang "The Goodness of God." I've heard this song plenty of times, but somehow today was different. Today I just shut my eyes and listened, and saw my life through the lens of these words. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><i> I love you, Lord/for your mercy never fails me/All my days, I've been held in Your hands/From the moment that I wake up/Until I lay my head/Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God</i></p><p style="text-align: center;">I thought about waking up in the morning, either in the dark or as the sun starts to break through (I face east in my bed, so the rising sun hits me!), and how thankful I am to be alive, and then at night, I'm so tired that often my only prayer is <i>thank you, thank you</i>. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>I love Your voice/You have led me through the fire/In the darkest night/You are close like no other/I've known You as a father, I've known You as a friend/And I have lived in the goodness of God</i></p><p style="text-align: center;">So many images rushed through my mind. The long night that I endured as I miscarried our third child--the brutal emotional pain of that experience. The deep, difficult nights at the end of my father's life, when I was the only one awake in the house, sitting vigil at his side to be sure he wouldn't try to get up and fall down. I never slept. When I needed to wash sheets or change linens (often) I woke my sister up, but otherwise the house was quiet. I knew I wasn't alone. God was watching with me. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Cause your goodness is running after, it's running after me...with my life laid down/I'm surrendered now/I give you everything/Cause your goodness is running after me.....</i></p><p style="text-align: center;">For years I ran in the opposite direction of God, and His goodness showed up constantly, in unexpected places, pursuing me. And the surrender that has had to occur when I've reached the end of my own abilities...I could see flashes of my husband's cancer, my father's cancer, moments with my children when I wasn't sure what to do, difficulties in my extended family...the surrender to God that is so hard, but such a relief. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>And all my life You have been faithful/And all my life You have been so, so good/With every breath that I am able/Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God</i></p><p style="text-align: center;">Life can be hard. I don't understand most of what happens, or why, but I try to turn, over and over again, in the direction of trust and surrender to the goodness of God. </p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-21625962475157121232024-01-21T12:48:00.000-08:002024-01-21T12:51:06.912-08:002023 Reader's Journal <p> My Reader's Journal from last year is woefully bare, primarily because I kept forgetting to write down what I was reading. I also started a new job, and that did cut into my reading time. I'm hopeful that this year I will remember to keep track <i>and </i>that I will make more time to read. I read more books than this for sure--but these are the only ones I remembered to write down (and I'm terrible at trying to remember this far after the fact!). I put an asterisk beside the ones I liked the best.</p><p>1. Dear Bob and Sue (Matt and Karen Smith)(this is a very funny book that I read when I went to the Bahamas last winter)</p><p>2. Middlemarch* (George Eliot)(this is a re-read, but I'm not done with it yet)</p><p>3. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe* (CS Lewis)(Audible)</p><p>4. Prince Caspian* (CS Lewis)(Audible)</p><p>5. How We Die (Sherwin Nuland)</p><p>6. Several books related to practicing law (ie, contract drafting and so on)</p><p>7. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader* (CS Lewis)(Audible)(I LOVE THIS ONE!)</p><p>8. Re-Creations* (Grace Livingston Hill)</p><p>9. Digital Minimalism (Cal Newport)(another re-read) </p><p>10. Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstory)(I'm not finished with this, so please, <b>no spoilers</b>! I'm about 3/4 of the way through....and I'm going to withhold my opinion until I see how it ends)</p><p>11. Debt Free U* (Zac Bissonnette)(super useful information for how to attain a college degree while taking on zero debt--this is really important to our family) </p><p>12. Heidi* (Johanna Spyri)(with Annie-we love this sweet story)</p><p>13. The Death of Ivan Ilych* (Tolstoy)--this one is motivated me to begin Anna Karenina. The Death of Ivan Ilych was excellent; I had read it in college, but reading it now, in midlife, after all the water that has passed under the bridge...it was completely different, and so, so good. </p><p>....see? Pitiful! </p><p>I read multiple books on college admissions and paying for college, the titles of which escape me (mostly library books). I read lots of essays. I dipped into some old favorites, such as The War of Art, to read favorite sections. I think I did a lot of that "dipping into" books this year! In fact, 2023 may have been my Worst Adult Year Ever for real, meaty reading. In reflecting upon this, I do think my job was a major factor. I read a lot for work. </p><p>So this year I hope to read a lot more books for just plain fun. :) </p><p>Find my other reader's journals, and some good quotes, <a href="https://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/search/label/Reading">here</a>. Happy reading! </p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-50972874407646152122023-12-13T07:16:00.000-08:002023-12-13T07:16:12.248-08:00An Advent Recovery Week <p style="text-align: center;"> This morning I am sitting under a blanket, sipping coffee, in pajamas, at 9:30am-which seems luxurious to the point of lazy, and it very well may be, but I'm in "recovery mode" from the Nutcracker, so I'm giving myself lots of grace. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Whew! Another year of the Nutcracker is behind us! If you've had a classical ballet dancer in your home, you know the intensity of which I speak. Two weeks prior, she had 12 hours of "appearances" to do at a cookies-and-Santa event, in addition to her usual 13ish hours of ballet lessons. The week of, she had 70 hours of Nutcracker rehearsals and performances in 9 days. I worked about 40 hours at the theatre that week. On Sunday we came home, changed into pajamas, ate pizza, and rested. (And while all that was going on, Finn had opening weekend for the community theatre play he's in this year! So in the course of 4 days, my children had 8 performances.) Finn has 4 more performances left and then we are done. I am thankful for the opportunities my children have to develop poise, self-discipline, confidence, and to be a part of these organizations (our local community theatre, in particular, is a nurturing, familial, and fun environment for my teenage boy, who isn't into sports!). </p><p style="text-align: center;">On Monday I worked on laundry, bills, and making sure I had all my ducks in a row for the week, and yesterday I did more laundry (and Annie got braces!). Today will be a day for finishing laundry, deep cleaning, and setting out more Christmas decor. Tomorrow I will get the card table out of the garage and start wrapping gifts! I'm taking my recovery week slowly. :) </p><p style="text-align: center;">Last Christmas I was quite sad, and we didn't do any of the usual Christmas things--only the bare minimum (Nutcracker, gifts, a tree, Christmas day brunch and evening party). This year I've got a list and we're going to enjoy these things:</p><p style="text-align: center;">*baking plenty of types of Christmas cookies</p><p style="text-align: center;">*going into town to see the Christmas tree displays in the village</p><p style="text-align: center;">*going into the Big City to see more trees (sense a theme?)</p><p style="text-align: center;">*the annual "get into pajamas, make cocoa, and drive around looking at Christmas lights" tradition</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Doing crazy "who hair" on each other and then watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (don't ask)</p><p style="text-align: center;">*plenty of hymns played on the piano and sung together--I LOVE Advent and Christmas music! I'd say sacred music and white lights inside my house are my favorite things of all at Christmastime.</p><p style="text-align: center;">*reading through our basket of Christmas books that I keep under the tree</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Watching a few Christmas movies ("It's a Wonderful Life" is my favorite)</p><p style="text-align: center;">*baking fruitcake. I really debated about this because I always made fruitcake for my father, who loved it. Last year I didn't do any Christmas baking <i>except that</i>, driven by uncontrollable urges, I baked fruitcakes--even though Daddy wasn't here to enjoy them. This year after I talked to my stepmom, and she mentioned how much she enjoyed the fruitcakes, I decided to continue the tradition. </p><p style="text-align: center;">And of course, a few days after Christmas we will leave for the annual New Year's trip to Charleston. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Life is full and poignant and beautiful and sometimes hard..... and I am thankful for it. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Happy Advent!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-57168687046773597602023-11-13T05:05:00.000-08:002023-11-13T05:05:55.406-08:00Homeschooling the Sixteen-Year-Old Boy <p style="text-align: center;"> Today marks the start of Week 11 of school for us, which means (I think) that we're about 1/3-ish of the way through the school year. But lo, it has been a grind so far, and I'm already plotting ways to make things easier next year. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Finn (who is in 10th grade--we had to decide what grade he was in last year, and decided to say 9th to give us plenty of leeway/room, and we're not in a mad rush to see him off to college anyhow!) is taking Geometry, Chemistry, a combined history + literature + theology class, French 4, advanced conversational Spanish (a substitute for Spanish 4, basically), while also juggling choir, two evenings of work at the local fancy nursing home, and a community theatre performance (in which he has 4-5 roles this production!). </p><p style="text-align: center;">I'm not going to lie. It's a lot. Especially for this perfectionistic, slow-paced, deep-diving, pondering learner. </p><p style="text-align: center;">I have been constantly ruminating over whether to convince him to drop his (confusing, rigorous, massively time-consuming) chemistry class for something with a gentler pace and more practical application, but so far he wants to keep it. I'm praying about it. We'll see. Next semester he's going to drop back to working only one day per week, and maybe even scale back further to not working at all for a few months until summer. That may help. But time management, distractions, and prioritization are all issues that we are facing now. His classes are generally set up like college classes: two days a week, with lots of homework in between. This is great "training" for the independence of college, but challenging for a 16-year-old male. Finn is a brainiac, but like most teenagers, when he logs onto the computer he suddenly finds himself "distracted" by all of his interests*....letting the actual schoolwork move to the back burner. This is an issue that I'm seeing unfold, and that I'm also praying about trying to solve with wisdom. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Annie, who is in 7th-ish grade, is taking two online classes (Language Arts and Physical Science/Intro to Physics and Chemistry). They're pretty good, but I'm going to shake things up next year. The online classes were a great way to "cover the gap" during my dad's illness and death, and during my recovery from it, but I am feeling a bit more like it's time to turn back to analog learning for a while. My Charlotte Mason roots are still there, still strong. :) </p><p style="text-align: center;">Boy! Every stage of parenting involves so many decisions and so many things to navigate and consider. It's a joy to raise a child into adulthood, but it also take a long view and a lot of patience and discernment. It's the biggest investment of time anyone who is a parent can make, and undoubtedly the most worthwhile, too. </p><p style="text-align: center;">I'm all about Galatians 6:9 when considering the realities of raising a teenager!</p><p style="text-align: center;">"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." </p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Yes! I'm banking on this! I remind myself of this every day!</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">(*Here are the ways Finn gets totally distracted on the internet: watching past Republican primary debates (nope, not kidding), reading everything he can about various world religions, and learning about composers. Like I said, he's a nerd. I appreciate his passion to learn...but you gotta get that chemistry done, too! He doesn't play video games...but he does like to watch funny Babylon Bee spoof YouTube videos. And I have to admit, they can be really amusing.)</p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-14622610398498778342023-11-09T13:31:00.003-08:002023-11-09T13:34:26.395-08:00Revisiting the Blue House<p style="text-align: center;"> It had been a solid four years since I had been to my Dad and stepmom's mountain house a little over an hour from here. We spent the most wonderful, gorgeous, idyllic long weekend there in September of 2019. Then covid hit, and no one really traveled; in October of 2020, my Dad and stepmom did come back to the mountains, but they stayed with us and visited us. In 2021, my Dad didn't come back because he was living in Georgia, caring for his brother-in-law with cancer, who died in December of that year. My stepmom essentially drove my father from the funeral to the emergency room. His illness, not yet diagnosed, had begun. He died last September.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO85hjGYEyBZtvf1SD_jTyFzZV6aXYbjA3RIaR-vSUIyiixnkvMZZQvcJEe_WSQMOY2ApJriEYm7xPks8B-6-r5DLRilk-1zLosBfHeJfcFXObrtot-4szlAMrHqyrwWFoLrMoLWQF-pq-XpgJeMtRN0c6xve9IaoEg70oOFAbXAbd9qAJ8plowmL1isI/s1795/C4FFC375-F691-4B6F-838E-79D3A84F3B08%20(1).JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1795" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO85hjGYEyBZtvf1SD_jTyFzZV6aXYbjA3RIaR-vSUIyiixnkvMZZQvcJEe_WSQMOY2ApJriEYm7xPks8B-6-r5DLRilk-1zLosBfHeJfcFXObrtot-4szlAMrHqyrwWFoLrMoLWQF-pq-XpgJeMtRN0c6xve9IaoEg70oOFAbXAbd9qAJ8plowmL1isI/s320/C4FFC375-F691-4B6F-838E-79D3A84F3B08%20(1).JPG" width="257" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>{my stepmom's aunt is an artist. This painting is actually huge!}</i></p><p style="text-align: center;">So my stepmom decided to come stay at the mountain house for the first time in <i>three years</i>. Our family met her there a couple of Sundays ago for a work day. But driving into the deeper mountains and into the beautiful valley where the house is located was an emotional experience for me. My Dad first began living there when I was <i>younger than Finn</i>. I have over thirty years of memories there. It's where my husband drove when he went to go ask my father for his blessing to marry me. It's where we celebrated the new millennium (usually we're in Charleston at the new year, but my father had to stay onsite at work to be sure the world didn't end, so we moved our usual family gathering to the mountains instead). I have great memories there, and painful memories there. It's where I climbed ancient apple trees and ate the fruit--nothing like an heirloom apple, untouched by human "help!" It's where I ate Concord grapes right off the vine, ran many miles down a dirt road next to a creek, and, maybe most poignantly of all, rode with my Dad all over the farm, even up to the "backside" of the farm, to the highest point around, and sat and looked at God's gorgeous creation: sweeping 360-degree views of the mountains and valley. </p><p style="text-align: center;">A few days before my father died, he asked me to bring my stepmom into the room. She came in. He looked at her and said "let's go up yonder on the hill, look down over the vale." The quaint language struck me. She and I looked at each other. We knew exactly what he was seeing. He wanted to go sit on that mountain again. </p><p style="text-align: center;">So, tears. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhOS7zH5zLbI8wQhmzYjr5YDycBrwait-o4tpINgZ170-4hGEWYk6rTm9pi1PLHrCr2lnfSzzxkNXEfjrGDP6IbSbWF03r-aGEu4s2iZk5klYbRVeXFMoExVZBrPG-J88HOAzVW2W3ldl2UhK0tWtnGHOhvMoIamUSqIXjdoLamIKgmf8ML9GWZ2O3J30/s4032/IMG_7977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhOS7zH5zLbI8wQhmzYjr5YDycBrwait-o4tpINgZ170-4hGEWYk6rTm9pi1PLHrCr2lnfSzzxkNXEfjrGDP6IbSbWF03r-aGEu4s2iZk5klYbRVeXFMoExVZBrPG-J88HOAzVW2W3ldl2UhK0tWtnGHOhvMoIamUSqIXjdoLamIKgmf8ML9GWZ2O3J30/s320/IMG_7977.jpg" width="240" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>{I love her marble-topped living room set.}</i></p><p style="text-align: center;">Once we got to the house I was ok. There was much work to be done! Mr. Polly, Finn, and Annie all worked outside all day, and my sister met us for the afternoon and she worked outside, too. I took over cleaning inside--after three years of not being lived in, there was some dirt and dust to mitigate. I did lots of sweeping, wiping down, dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing. And then we all sat down together for a meal. </p><p style="text-align: center;">The house actually belongs to my stepmom; she bought it when my father retired. His housing was provided by his employer and when he retired he was ready to move back home to Charleston, but my stepmom wanted to have a place in the mountains (she's from a nearby town). So she found this little blue house, two bedrooms, one bathroom, just over a ridge from where they'd been living. She furnished it with her family heirlooms and artwork. And so it remains. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQE4Ay5zxdNF0UgFe1Jb4DZznIbNGaqzjCFVQ10T4tIMtoUzeuIKzQ4H5XLysfBVkN1P0EhadIarh6yI9TXJIrfEcumZVuavPbrgkwdGqUtRxS2fEE89PpqrI3X5Txkpn4uv5_FvINcJpdc6y6R2noEElpLzycoSmmoTPlpqogA6EOgmbV81rzQ9PB30/s4032/IMG_7983.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQE4Ay5zxdNF0UgFe1Jb4DZznIbNGaqzjCFVQ10T4tIMtoUzeuIKzQ4H5XLysfBVkN1P0EhadIarh6yI9TXJIrfEcumZVuavPbrgkwdGqUtRxS2fEE89PpqrI3X5Txkpn4uv5_FvINcJpdc6y6R2noEElpLzycoSmmoTPlpqogA6EOgmbV81rzQ9PB30/s320/IMG_7983.jpg" width="240" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>{Victorian settee. Excellent for photo shoots of little girls in dresses!}</i></p><p style="text-align: center;">I miss my papa. And God is good. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-28172836168985731782023-11-03T06:13:00.000-07:002023-11-03T06:13:19.195-07:00On Working<p style="text-align: center;"> I have been working from home, very part-time, for about 7 months now. A typical week is between 5-10 hours for me; one week I think I worked 14, and that was Too Much. Not doing that again unless there's some sort of major urgency! My goal has been to work without impacting our family and home life, or my own ability to rest and exercise, and I'm *mostly* achieving that goal. Here's how:</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Annie has an online class from 9:30-11 Monday through Thursday. I take that window of time and sit down at the laptop and do a solid chunk of work. Many days this is all I do. But this allows me to do the work while Annie is occupied (she's 12, so she can occupy herself easily, but I prefer to work when I know I'm not needed). </p><p style="text-align: center;">*Otherwise, it's ballet. Annie has ballet three nights a week (plus Saturday morning). One night she has 3 hours of ballet, one night 2 hours, and one night she has 4 hours. Finn has choir one of those nights and he works the other night, so I have a large swath of time where no one needs me, and if there's anything leftover that I didn't get done during Annie's class, I do it during ballet. </p><p style="text-align: center;">*Every so often I do have to go into the office (maybe once a month?) for a couple of hours. Annie and Finn have checklists and they carry on without me--that's one benefit to having these older children! But in general, I am always home, and that's how I want to keep it. Even teenagers need a mother around. :)</p><p style="text-align: center;">The primary challenge for me has been trying to fit in exercise, since sometimes I exercise first thing in the morning, sometimes later in the morning, and often I walk while Annie is at ballet. So I'm having to be strategic about this, and I can't say I've gotten into a great routine yet. I used to bounce out of bed and exercise, but now that I'm in my mid-40s, I benefit from a cup of coffee first and a little bit of waking up and pondering the day. So I'm still navigating the best way to manage this....last night I was on my exercise bike at 7:45pm. Not ideal!</p><p style="text-align: center;">I like the work I'm doing and am extremely grateful for the extra financial cushion it provides us right now, but I am careful to keep hours limited (fortunately, this is mostly within my control). There's not an endless supply of time in the day, and there's also not an endless supply of mental and emotional resources for me personally. I want to stay pleasant with my family and not feel like I'm always rushing them, or giving them divided attention, and so keeping my work within very set boundaries (Annie's class time and ballet) helps me keep work in its proper place. I think if I didn't have those set times, it would be a lot harder, because work could creep into the times I am trying to spend homeschooling, keeping house, etc. So the number one tip I would have for anyone who is needing to incorporate some at-home work into domestic life is to give it as strict a boundary as possible. </p><p style="text-align: center;">I'm the type of person who will suffer emotionally if my home environment gets out of hand, or life feels too chaotic, or the laundry isn't done, or things are not clean (growing up with a full-time single working mother, these things happened more often than she or I would have liked, and those memories are still very real in my mind). Knowing that helps me stay very strict on how much outside work I'm willing to do. I am well aware that I'm privileged to be able to do this--my mother wasn't. She would have loved to stay home with us! But that's not how it unfolded for her; as a result, I don't take this privilege for granted. At the same time, we have made, and continue to make, financial sacrifices in order to keep me home and to homeschool our children, and to me they have been more than worth it. Our home is peaceful, relatively well-run, and generates a lot of nutritious foods! Most importantly to me, Annie and Finn have had a peaceful childhood that has been worlds away from my own, and I'm so, so thankful for that. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Whatever my work is, at home or elsewhere, I pray it will always be a blessing to the people for whom I work. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">"Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,</p><p style="text-align: center;">and establish the work of our hands upon us;</p><p style="text-align: center;">yes, establish the work of our hands!"</p><p style="text-align: center;">-Psalm 90:17</p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-34654033048286643542023-11-02T05:09:00.001-07:002024-01-21T15:00:12.605-08:00End-of-the-Year Plans<p style="text-align: center;">We are home now from our 5 days away in Chapel Hill. No oncology appointments this time--that's coming on November 28th! This was just the annual gathering with our best friends, and it was so pleasant and fun, although they'd literally moved into their new house *four days before we arrived.* We had a nice time catching up together and getting to know their new place, but it was wonderful to get home yesterday. Does anyone else just love and crave Normal Life? I do. There are always so many things to do at home that I enjoy: baking things, tidying up, laundry, reading books, checking out the flowerbeds (frosty now!).... I love these things. </p><p style="text-align: center;">The first night in Chapel Hill I couldn't sleep and was awake until about 4:30 (very unusual for me). I tossed, I turned, I tossed again....finally I decided to order reading glasses. I realized last year that when my vision is corrected by contact lenses or my glasses, I struggle to read up close. When I'm wearing glasses, I just take them off to read, but when I'm wearing contacts, I need reading glasses! I bought an inexpensive pair ($1ish) at the dollar store in January in preparation for the trip I took with my sister, because I planned to wear contacts all the time, but I wanted to read lots of books. I've used those off and on ever since, but decided it was time to up my game with cuter frames. Peepers are cute! They were having a buy one/get one sale and I wound up getting 4 pairs for about $11 each. Which seems excessive when I type it, but felt very logical at 3 a.m. I will have one pair at my desk, one in my handbag, one in my car.....I should not need to buy reading glasses again for a deacde.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Now that our trip is done I can turn my attention to The Rest of the Year. What needs to be done? </p><p style="text-align: center;">*Finish Christmas shopping. <i>Start wrapping</i>!</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Purge and organize in Finn's room. I started, but got sidelined. I'd like to finish this by Thanksgiving at the latest, because once Advent begins, I know I won't have time. </p><p style="text-align: center;">*Wrap up a couple of work projects--by Thanksgiving, that's my goal!</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Get the outside spaces cleaned up a bit (raking, trimming, tidying)</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Lay off of flour and sugar to give my body a rest from these substances</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Sit down with the planner and a cup of coffee and make sure I've got some intentional things plugged into December. <a href="https://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-new-year.html">Last year I didn't do anything, really</a>; I was so, so sad about my Dad and so depressed that I did the bare minimum just to get through the holidays. That's not normal for me, but it's what I needed during that hard season. This year I'm happy to get back to some of our beloved traditions. </p><p style="text-align: center;">*Maybe hosting a small group at our house next week.</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Finding a few more fall dresses/skirts to wear--Annie and I haven't started <a href="https://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-autumn-dress-challenge.html">the challenge</a> yet, but we may soon! I did buy 5 long tunic-type sweatshirts (mimicking my inimitable Aunt Mary, who wears <a href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/Time-And-Tru-Women-s-Sweatshirt/2480358806">this exact one</a> from Walmart a lot--it comes down low with good coverage!) with some very cute and comfortable leggings. Good for at-home days of cleaning and cooking, with an apron! But I want a few winter skirts and dresses for streetwear.</p><p style="text-align: center;">...and then there are all the usual things: taking my children to many, many lessons and rehearsals and classes and performances and work, paying bills, making meals, trying to exercise and sleep! </p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-34734360807633583672023-10-30T06:37:00.001-07:002023-10-30T06:37:00.148-07:00Schooling for Finn <p style="text-align: center;"> I just recently realized that Finn, who is in what we'll call 10th grade this year, lacks just 1 credit to hit the recommended or required class credit list for most colleges. For a long time I was looking at the requirements for the advanced diploma track for our public high schools which is hefty indeed (and what I followed), and just this week I realized I should <i>actually </i>look at what colleges want to see. Interestingly, we're almost already there!</p><p style="text-align: center;">This has been a liberating revelation for me. Finn is having an extra-strenuous year, weighed down with rigorous math and science classes, plus high-level language classes (his favorite thing!), and a reading-heavy literature/history/theology class as well (his other favorite thing!). On top of all that, he performs in community theatre productions and is working at a local retirement home twice a week, so Finn is working hard to keep his head above water, and it's honestly A Bit Much. </p><p style="text-align: center;">To meet the minimum recommended requirements for most colleges, Finn lacks 1 class. One!! (That's Algebra II.) This means that we can probably strike out and allow him to get more "specialized" over the next couple of years, which was, after all, one of our primary motivations for homeschooling in the first place. I think we'll scale back our math/science plans (four years really not necessary) and replace those with the courses he's most interested in taking (humanities-heavy). As a sophomore, he's already in Spanish 4 and French 4, and his heavy lifting in languages will almost certainly balance out the fact that he takes 3 years of math instead of 4! (If I could have skipped my senior math class--which was a colossal waste of time--I sure would have!) He does so much independent reading and study on his own that I'm already planning to award him a credit in World Religions. He's a curious, interested learner, and I'm so pleased that we can let him have more leeway and freedom over the next couple of years!</p><p style="text-align: center;">And if anyone has any college recommendations, please let me know. So far his ideals appear to be: east coast/not too far from the Mid-Atlantic east coast (although we could work with the midwest); a setting (whether secular or Christian) that values free speech and respects students' perspectives (in other words, Finn doesn't want to attend a school where professors are hostile to students of faith); smaller size school, preferably in a smaller-sized city or town (flexible on those points); strong study abroad possibilities, particularly for France or French-speaking countries; and--his mother's wishful addition--plenty of money to give away to good students! :) </p><p style="text-align: center;">I've already started making lists of places that may check the box on some of these, and we'll likely do some casual visits over the next 6-9 months. I'm so glad we're still a couple of years away from all of that, though. I'm <i>in no hurry</i> to send Finn off into the world. </p><p style="text-align: center;">He's still mine--for a little while longer!</p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-80918023646940374602023-10-27T06:37:00.004-07:002023-10-27T06:37:16.656-07:00Pink Things in Quebec City<p style="text-align: center;"> The first of a series of snippets from Quebec... </p><p style="text-align: center;">It's a beautiful city. I was driving when we arrived. As we snaked our way through the city and found our way (miraculously! my husband is such a great co-pilot; we didn't have GPS helping us!) to the older section, we passed Parliament, and when we took a left and passed under the Porte Saint-Louis, I literally gasped, I could not believe what I saw. It was all so quaint, so French! It was love at first sight. More photos of all that soon. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PFTPlO3Y7sHErBob4-1d-StdeJ0DS8vppFuZ5xsfiqrzhv_Eh1LsQ2ouz0oanWtxgIhoC25xEN6NLiAmmOTWy6pJ3E6AIW5Nk0uXxzlbW6m-KHM6mVFN-Cu5NFJr7nsPw0SB_NqICYA2JbChcQYeXp4czQrZdcb4PfvF_hlCpyco-nkHBNHfKFNJxSM/s4032/QC%20pink%20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PFTPlO3Y7sHErBob4-1d-StdeJ0DS8vppFuZ5xsfiqrzhv_Eh1LsQ2ouz0oanWtxgIhoC25xEN6NLiAmmOTWy6pJ3E6AIW5Nk0uXxzlbW6m-KHM6mVFN-Cu5NFJr7nsPw0SB_NqICYA2JbChcQYeXp4czQrZdcb4PfvF_hlCpyco-nkHBNHfKFNJxSM/s320/QC%20pink%20.jpg" width="240" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">These enormous pink hydrangea were everywhere in Canada, and in many places in the northeastern US as well. I love them! I need to figure out what they are, although I suspect they're a cold weather variety that may not fare well in my climate. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoHpRlRMXDVD15ILPIrFjuYBuK7sqmahhyphenhyphenYqYXMJjmNagPTkOYfhT0UL0a_LybeHBnwyGTvcf8UZ-bdnEgbV1Bj2nZ4BLGvJOKrv-VUYJKqL7_Ur3lTuCtPZYuw1bH9D8sKq8dAgqoeO5K1yZBwDNrI9f26QZIAOiNBQo1AMYQZssdmqNDrBvfbjLTk-E/s4032/QC%20pink%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoHpRlRMXDVD15ILPIrFjuYBuK7sqmahhyphenhyphenYqYXMJjmNagPTkOYfhT0UL0a_LybeHBnwyGTvcf8UZ-bdnEgbV1Bj2nZ4BLGvJOKrv-VUYJKqL7_Ur3lTuCtPZYuw1bH9D8sKq8dAgqoeO5K1yZBwDNrI9f26QZIAOiNBQo1AMYQZssdmqNDrBvfbjLTk-E/s320/QC%20pink%203.jpg" width="240" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">Loved the stone walls with colorfully painted trim. Quebec City has a fascinating history. The first thing we did the morning after we arrived was go on a two-hour walking tour, and I'm so glad I chose to do that, because it oriented us into the city and its history so well!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhk3peDP1F8fvOPYSpQQBA0QXzAvj-L6Y69xiW14MHu3Ee9C18uOtRAQgXSr2fDc9XC3areaW2FJYfWQiP9Lh1G7FkLTmDsmVJAsuv8g2N4hi6_2zZfnh_GJdvJjge2ZccfLEpyLx1d5rc5Vsdz4wv___0gauXSgZ8EHMKf8KVxfzxQm6U9REVeOdcx4/s4032/QC%20PINK%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhk3peDP1F8fvOPYSpQQBA0QXzAvj-L6Y69xiW14MHu3Ee9C18uOtRAQgXSr2fDc9XC3areaW2FJYfWQiP9Lh1G7FkLTmDsmVJAsuv8g2N4hi6_2zZfnh_GJdvJjge2ZccfLEpyLx1d5rc5Vsdz4wv___0gauXSgZ8EHMKf8KVxfzxQm6U9REVeOdcx4/s320/QC%20PINK%201.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Street artists line the Rue Sainte-Anne. I stopped to watch them work every day. The things these men could do in oil pastels, in an hour, amazed me. It was mesmerizing! </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPml8sCSEllewFRQKHHdwGXGEZ7wq4Qn4AKvsQLbYpBYQ-gnaLmloHgtASNoMsdfh4SoSai-LYoXUJInaYby71q0pmeKVQrTWyrz3HwUgBXqaQsMETAhrV_eSYF38e1BplVHnVAIR1pbI7vJQEw6tcYIr-zeJrZpNqxx-M_dz2Sb6E27unTmzy_7azzg8/s4032/qc%20PINK%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPml8sCSEllewFRQKHHdwGXGEZ7wq4Qn4AKvsQLbYpBYQ-gnaLmloHgtASNoMsdfh4SoSai-LYoXUJInaYby71q0pmeKVQrTWyrz3HwUgBXqaQsMETAhrV_eSYF38e1BplVHnVAIR1pbI7vJQEw6tcYIr-zeJrZpNqxx-M_dz2Sb6E27unTmzy_7azzg8/s320/qc%20PINK%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Not really pink, but orangey-pink: one evening we walked back into our room, shut the door, and heard a sound. We walked to the balcony and opened the door, and behold! Fireworks! Turns out, the city puts on a massive twenty-minute fireworks display twice a week during the summer. We watched the show from our balcony--and it was a gift. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">More Quebec City photos soon! </div>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-10163768968364395782023-10-18T04:56:00.004-07:002023-10-18T04:56:59.988-07:00The Autumn Dress Challenge<p style="text-align: center;"> Last spring Annie (who is 12 years old) suggested that we do a "dress challenge" and try to wear only dresses or skirts for an entire month. I mentioned that, and its parameters, <a href="https://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/2023/05/beautiful-spring.html">here</a>. </p><p style="text-align: center;">I think we're gearing up for an autumn dress challenge. Last night Annie was bemoaning the typical attire for 12-year-old girls these days. She is underwhelmed and irritated by the copious quantities of ripped jeans, crop tops (ah! so many crop tops!), and generally un-pretty fashions for girls her age. I don't blame her! I bemoan the same thing for girls my age! :) Earlier this summer, when we were at my dear friend and neighbor's house, Annie asked for a dress pattern. Naomi and her family are Beachy Amish (Mennonite), and the girls wear very long dresses that are "cape" style. Naomi sweetly traced a dress pattern that she thought would fit Annie, using newspaper!!!, and brought it to me. She explained how it would be easy to leave off the cape. We haven't tried the dress yet, but I think I will use the skirt pattern to start with making Annie a couple of long fall skirts. Annie can run the sewing machine proficiently, but this year I want to teach her to sew with a pattern. We may start with a few skirts--they're easy. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Annie is ready for a fall dress challenge, but I'm not! My cold-weather default in previous years has always been jeans. But jeans are honestly not very comfortable, and I'm genuinely tired of them. I have only a couple of skirts that could work for cold weather, and I need to strategize the "underlayer" as well (I loathe being cold!). Skirts are tricky, too, because not all shirts go with all skirts, so it takes some strategizing. Dresses are easier in that you don't have to coordinate, but dresses are hard for me. I have scoliosis, and one hip and one shoulder are higher than the other. Finding a dress that works on my frame, with the scoliosis and with my extremely high waist, is a challenge! Shirtdresses are totally out--my torso is so short! So I usually have to wear separates. I particularly like a skirt and a twinset--I know it's retro, but it suits my personality, somehow. In any case, I may be prowling around the thrift stores off and on in preparation for the challenge (I think we may start November 1st).</p><p style="text-align: center;">Annie wishes she could start a new trend among girls her age of wearing pretty things. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Maybe we will!</p><p style="text-align: center;">Last time we took a photo of ourselves every day and posted it on my private Instagram account. I don't want to post photos of Annie here, but maybe we can figure out some way to share our daily outfits. She and I love clothes, we love pretty things, and we love doing things like this together! </p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-57202410395820373802023-10-17T10:12:00.004-07:002023-10-18T04:42:22.892-07:00Autumn Anniversary, Baking, and Plans<p style="text-align: center;"> Autumn is so beautiful where we live! The maples are starting to dazzle, which means other leaves will also start to turn as well. Usually late October and early November are the prettiest weeks here for autumn colors. </p><p style="text-align: center;">My husband and I celebrated our 24th anniversary last week! We were such babies when we got married--look at those juvenile profiles! I am genuinely so thankful for our relationship. It is easy, it is happy, it is comfortable, it is safe. I am well aware that this is not always the case. For a girl from a broken nuclear family background, this marriage has been a magnificent gift. I do not take it for granted. Ever. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiISAgYDcei2herU2gd4iqqDtpB9bwwkUVzjXqWvO0pBOiWGT7V-Tp2vH6i1ZGkzc3D1g2ayRevAJZC6AORO8jITBLD2BMgWZEW0JrHqZXftk1BZ9L-oLXqaorko-BK4tLKGsumTpTQp30xOJL8hRKP1P9-BNkmaYCtc61xU5I4A44ZJCzQFjoJDvL3oqQ/s828/unnamed%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="828" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiISAgYDcei2herU2gd4iqqDtpB9bwwkUVzjXqWvO0pBOiWGT7V-Tp2vH6i1ZGkzc3D1g2ayRevAJZC6AORO8jITBLD2BMgWZEW0JrHqZXftk1BZ9L-oLXqaorko-BK4tLKGsumTpTQp30xOJL8hRKP1P9-BNkmaYCtc61xU5I4A44ZJCzQFjoJDvL3oqQ/s320/unnamed%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">I've been on a big baking kick lately. This morning I made apple-cinnamon coffee cake for my children's breakfast. Last night I made homemade naan bread to go with the vegetable masala I'd made. (How had I never made naan before? It's <b>super </b>easy, tastes great, and costs about 5% of what I'd spend to buy it in the store! I'll be making it again for sure....) I've made cheddar bread, gingerbread with whipped cream, almond cake, pumpkin cookies, baked oatmeal.....the list goes on. Cozy autumn baking is so fun, and of course, it's much healthier to eat what you bake from scratch, which is why I seem to do so much of it.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Naan isn't much to look at, and I'm no food photographer, but this was good!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2lTx975taE1rSNEYVYmekjdlKGYQaypdDMXTlVmC89TsflNDss38rq1Kq3XQRl_p-5idB6aWFx_QkzDCy3oiTzkfQQhISeO_p_B9UHVvZqL8NuGNpYgdRP_2fBoKSkJwAMSZEyP2te9zpjPUf4nv9wbvnySok705NQ7Z8BgJfJJ7YPJr2laQEJGroxU/s4032/unnamed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2lTx975taE1rSNEYVYmekjdlKGYQaypdDMXTlVmC89TsflNDss38rq1Kq3XQRl_p-5idB6aWFx_QkzDCy3oiTzkfQQhISeO_p_B9UHVvZqL8NuGNpYgdRP_2fBoKSkJwAMSZEyP2te9zpjPUf4nv9wbvnySok705NQ7Z8BgJfJJ7YPJr2laQEJGroxU/s320/unnamed.jpg" width="240" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">This fall is flying past (I feel like I always say that!). When we were in Quebec City, I had a street artist do an oil pastel of Annie. It is beautiful! When we got home I had it framed as soon as possible, and it's now hanging on our dining room wall. Don't worry; Finn isn't left out. I had a family friend do a portrait of him in acrylics years ago! So now I have artwork of both of our children. For some reason, this just makes me feel happy. I'm debating about posting the portraits--I don't post photos of my children, but a photo of a painting? Maybe? I'll think on it!</p><p style="text-align: center;">Annie is deep into Nutcracker rehearsals and hours of ballet every week; Finn just started rehearsals for a community theatre production of A Christmas Carol. Fall fun! We'll have an eventful couple of weekends in December!</p><p style="text-align: center;">Everyone in our household except me fell ill a couple of weeks ago and while my children were out of commission I had the luxury of staying home--not chauffeuring people to rehearsals and lessons! So I did a huge purge/cleanout/reorganization of our laundry room/my sewing room. It was epic. I had no idea I could remove so much from one small space! It was satisfying, and I feel like the things that are left are going to be things I actually use/make/do/need. I was surprised at how much had accumulated there over the years. Next up: Finn's room. I haven't done a good clear-out in his room in several years, and I know there's a lot we can remove. He has the smallest bedroom and he's not naturally tidy, so he needs to be able to have a manageable level of stuff so he can more easily keep things neat. I love neatening! But I respect the fact that not everyone else does. :) I start that project on Thursday!</p><p style="text-align: center;">A few plans for the next month:</p><p style="text-align: center;">*drink hot beverages on the patio</p><p style="text-align: center;">*s'mores and fire pit, also on the patio</p><p style="text-align: center;">*visit my stepmom in the Blue House in the mountains (we hope!)</p><p style="text-align: center;">*enjoy time with our best friends at their new house in Chapel Hill at the end of October</p><p style="text-align: center;">*plenty of surreptitious Christmas shopping (I've already started!)</p><p style="text-align: center;">*maybe some dress-and-skirt-and leggings shopping, as I want to wear more skirts this winter, but I don't want to be cold! I'm just so over jeans!</p><p style="text-align: center;">*and, I hope, some outside work--need to do a bit of a fall cleaning on the outside spaces before putting up the Christmas stuff!</p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-42812446799873936242023-09-28T05:27:00.005-07:002023-09-28T05:27:51.245-07:00Forty-Six<p style="text-align: center;"> Summer came and went so quickly. Now autumn is upon us: it's cooler, it's foggy in the mornings, the leaves have started to fall. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Last Friday was the one-year anniversary of my father's death. I was up very, very early, drinking coffee and remembering him. Now all those "firsts" have passed: the first Thanksgiving, the first Christmas, the first Father's Day, the first birthday.....and there's something healing about that. I miss him; we were such good friends. Sometime I will (slightly alter, for privacy) post his eulogy here. </p><p style="text-align: center;">A few days later I had a birthday! I am 46 years old, on the firm downhill slide to 50, which seems impossible. I told my children "I feel 20, but I look 46!" I am genuinely grateful for another year of life. This birthday was quiet and sweet, and felt more celebratory than last year-which I barely remember because, of course, it was only 3 days after my father had died. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Finn started 10th grade. Annie started what appears to be 7th grade. They are still homeschooled. I don't think that will change (until college!). Annie is now doing classical ballet 4 days per week, for about 13 hours total (that doesn't include driving time or rehearsal weeks). She just got her second pair of pointe shoes; we have to drive to the Big City 3 hours away for those fittings! Finn is singing in a local community choir, working 2 evenings a week at the local retirement home (he's a waiter in their fancy dining room-so cute), and speaking lots of French and Spanish--he's in year 4 for both.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAg3XZNBGCCK0YdEneBt-56Jmv2fzk-EI2Dt84BEcTsGrGUOBfWMAfeHHhy_bY_Rr91axMmeQcBggTWZzPog_adfBflWPF0I6U4L4iOPW_F9iE90hX0pNb6fCqE3KFLNg0_OPNhZ-nc8954JRvFoG7nXFT2FahuQQ7NGBGi5XC_iC3cnlMQgkJg9jsD8I/s4032/Yellow%20flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAg3XZNBGCCK0YdEneBt-56Jmv2fzk-EI2Dt84BEcTsGrGUOBfWMAfeHHhy_bY_Rr91axMmeQcBggTWZzPog_adfBflWPF0I6U4L4iOPW_F9iE90hX0pNb6fCqE3KFLNg0_OPNhZ-nc8954JRvFoG7nXFT2FahuQQ7NGBGi5XC_iC3cnlMQgkJg9jsD8I/s320/Yellow%20flowers.jpg" width="240" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">(A thrift store painting for the laundry room.)</p><p style="text-align: center;">A few things I plan to write about soon, now that I'm turning my attention back to this space:</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Our kitchen backsplash!</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Our summer trip to Quebec City</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Wardrobing for autumn and winter (I'm determined to resuscitate my wardrobe; in the winter it dips sharply in the direction of jeans--which are really not that comfortable--or, worse, <i>sweatshirts</i> at home...which have a tendency to make me look frumpy)</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Grief and how it evolves</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Work and how I have tried, and am trying, to assimilate my (admittedly minimal) work life into the most important work I do--raising children, keeping house, cooking meals, being a wife......</p><p style="text-align: center;">*What my father's death reminded me about how to live</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Knitting hopes and dreams and plans--and realities</p><p style="text-align: center;">Life is full and beautiful and busy and quiet. And I love a new season!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-37195983857734021732023-06-07T13:24:00.002-07:002023-06-07T13:24:46.072-07:00Summer Begins<p style="text-align: center;">Today is Finn's 16th birthday. Yes. My little tow-headed toddler is <i>sixteen years old</i>. Mothers of little ones, don't blink. Truly. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Finn asked for two things for his birthday: a DNA test (he's very interested in origins!) and opera tickets. He'll be getting both of those. He wanted a British theme (last year was Mexican, the year before was French), so this morning we had a full English breakfast (baked beans, toast, an egg, sausages, bubble and squeak, tea). After piano lesson, we enjoyed fish and chips at a local spot, then spent an hour walking on the path that runs through our city. This evening we plan to have a full tea. It's a pleasure to celebrate him! He finished his schoolyear with straight As, including close to perfect grades in physics, French 3, Spanish 3, and world geography. Algebra was a little lower, but still a solid A. He spent a lot of time traveling in the fall semester, and performed in three different theatrical or ballet productions this spring. And he has scored his first job, which he'll start this summer: working in dining services at a retirement facility nearby, helping the residents who live there get their drinks, silverware, and meal. Finn is an "old soul," so I feel sure he'll fit right in with the residents! I suspect they'll love him. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Finn's birthday also marks the start of summer for me--school has wound down, and we've got a few months stretched out in front of us. This summer we plan to travel<b> (anyone have neat things to do in upstate SC or in Georgia, especially in the Macon or Columbus areas? Likewise, recommendations for things to do along the I-81 corridor through Pennsylvania and New York?)</b>, but I'm trying to keep summer as calm and free as possible. We need to breathe. Last weekend we had a ballet recital, threw a big party for my husband's colleagues, and went to the Big City 3 hours away to have Annie's very first pointe shoe fitting! This week I'm trying to take a more relaxed pace. :) </p><p style="text-align: center;">One thing I am working on this summer is developing some good habits that we can implement for our children. Last year was intense. My father's illness, the extensive travel, the first year of high school for Finn, multiple performances....we got through it, but as we were navigating the waters, I realized we needed some stronger habits. So I'm taking some time over the next couple of weeks to chart out some new ways of making sure we are all engaging in the healthiest habits we can, in terms of our daily routine, exercise, study and reading habits, domestic life, and so on. Maybe I'll be able to share some tidbits of that soon. </p><p style="text-align: center;">What else is happening here?</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Our farm just acquired nearly 5 dozen sheep! Ewes and lambs (the resident ram will be staying at another premises until his services are required). They're <b>darling!!!! </b>These are the first sheep for the farm. So pastoral. </p><p style="text-align: center;">*After a spring of not reading much, I'm ambitious to hit the books again. I'm gathering up some lists and recommendations.<b> If you have any good ones to share, please do.</b> I love audiobooks as well as paper books!</p><p style="text-align: center;">*I will share a photo of my new kitchen backsplash soon. I love it--it's just right for our space. Very simple and pretty.....</p><p style="text-align: center;">*My brother-in-law and I pulled weeds and mulched the flower beds here, and it looks so great. Six tons of mulch later, we've got things under control. I had two roses die back to the root stock (Dr Huey, for those of you who know these things), and he dug those out for me, as well as a few small trees who had decided to start growing in our flower beds. I think they look a little "too" tidy now, but I'm not complaining. It's good to have things back under control, since I didn't get to work in the yard last summer, with my travels to Charleston.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Time to assemble the cucumber sandwiches and hang the Union Jack bunting.....I love Finn and his birthday themes!</p><p><br /></p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-83672809342907414202023-05-26T04:31:00.004-07:002023-05-26T04:42:55.022-07:00Beautiful Spring<p style="text-align: center;"> The spring has flown past--so many good things have happened, are happening. I barely have time to sit and have a morning cup of coffee. These days are so different than the days when my children were little! What a blessing to have such a full life--I always remind myself of that. Life is full of seasons and this is a *full* season.....</p><p style="text-align: center;">Here are a few fun details from this spring:</p><p style="text-align: center;">*In early May, Annie challenged me to wear skirts or dresses with her every day for a month. We are having so much fun!! We take a photo of ourselves every day. We are both allowed three "cheat" days just in case (I have only used one, the day last weekend when I had to take Mr. Darcy to the emergency vet--I wore jeans and a sweatshirt!). I appreciate that I genuinely look nicer most of the time than I otherwise would, and Annie appreciates that I'm going along with her ideas. The only negative is that we were hoping to wear more long skirts (aesthetically, Annie likes something in the midi-to-ankle range), but they're really hard to find. Most of mine are around knee-length, which works fine. Sewing would fix that problem, but: see the first paragraph on busy-ness. :)</p><p style="text-align: center;">One exception is workout/work clothing for gardening or exercise. I've been wearing my <a href="https://www.duluthtrading.com/s/DTC/womens-heirloom-gardening-bib-overalls-16760.html?color=ACQ">Duluth Trading Company gardening bibs </a>(in candy pink, it's true) off and on for days. These are the best! In fact, as soon as my coffee is done this morning, I'll be wearing them....and for ballet, Annie always wears her usual leotard and tights. Otherwise, we've been skirt-clad and it has been fun!</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Annie is done with school, with what we think is sixth grade! We are treating it as such, anyhow. She grew so much this year in responsibility. She and I will continue doing math through the summer, because I don't think three months off would be beneficial for her. But other than math and piano, she has three months of freedom spread out in front of her. What a great feeling. Annie is 100% ready for this: she would rather be doing cartwheels around the yard or reading books in the hammock than diagramming sentences. Wouldn't we all? She is wrapping up her 8th year of ballet, and--the biggest news of all--will be traveling to the Big City 3 hours away next weekend for her first <b>pointe shoe </b>fitting!. Every night since she was about 5 years old, she has asked me when I thought she'd get pointe shoes. We will be carpooling with her good friend Emma. While the girls play Uno and chatter in the back, Emma's mom and I can chatter in the front. It'll be so fun!</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Finn has ONE exam left (Algebra! today!) and then he'll be done with his freshman year of high school. At the start of this year I puzzled over what to call him. A 9th grader? A 10th grader? We took stock of classes, his birthday (June), what he wants to do during high school, and decided to play it safe and class him as a 9th grader this year--he can always graduate early if he likes! Algebra is his only outstanding grade, but he nailed his other classes, including Spanish 3, French 3 (for college credit!!), and Physics. And he did this while having a truly intense year: a ton of travel in the fall (Charleston multiple times, Oregon, North Carolina) as well as my Dad's death, and then three different performances in the spring (he was in two community theatre productions and one ballet--he doesn't dance, but the director needed someone who could act!). He has his very first job interview this morning, at a local retirement community. Oh Finn! My little tow-headed toddler. </p><p style="text-align: center;">*We had a coronation party!! Of course we did! No one who knows me well would be surprised that I got out of bed at 4am, decorated with flags, made a big brunch (the day before, mind you), and borrowed a huge flat-screen TV from a neighbor for this momentous occasion. Another neighbor and her husband arrived at 6am, and we sat down for brunch at 8:30. Life is so fun. The music at the coronation ceremony was beautiful!</p><p style="text-align: center;">*Right before Christmas Mr. P and I bought a new car. (I don't recommend buying a new car 3 days before Christmas, as you'll spend the precious week before the holiday dealing with insurance, bureaucracy, and banks, but lo, we were so thankful to have found a wonderful car in this terrible market!) We'd already booked a week in the mountains of North Carolina as our summer vacation this year--we needed somewhere *not too far* since our old car was, well, old. But with the new car, I realized: we can drive long distances again! The children's passports are on the way.....we are going to Quebec City!! Finn, a very serious lover of the French language, is beside himself. I've never been to Quebec City, but my father, who attended college in Boston, absolutely loved it. It's a long drive from these parts, but we'll break it into a couple of days and make some memories along the way!</p><p style="text-align: center;">*I love <a href="https://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/2023/03/notes-from-deep-south.html">my new job</a>. My heaviest week so far was 11.5 hours; a lighter week might be about 3. This is perfect for me. The company could not be nicer, and the work itself is diverse and interesting without being at all stressful. I work from home, with occasional trips into the office for necessary meetings--but that's rare (once a month?). I love, love, love it, and could not be more thankful for the small amount of extra income it provides. This has been a providential gift, as the income has come at a time when we need it, and the work itself is a great fit for me. </p><p style="text-align: center;">*We are throwing a big party for my husband's colleagues a week from tomorrow. The amount of mulching and pea graveling happening here is epic. </p><p style="text-align: center;">*My kitchen backsplash is finally done! We had the countertops replaced a year and a half ago, and I've been eager to get the backsplash finished (we had to focus on the kids' bathroom renovation first). I love it. Photos to come. </p><p style="text-align: center;">There's much more to say: about my parents' birthdays, about the passage of time--perhaps I'll find time to stay it all soon. :)</p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-14919592268215248952023-03-16T06:35:00.006-07:002023-03-16T06:37:08.968-07:00Notes from the Deep South<p style="text-align: center;"> Finn, Annie, and I are in Charleston this week, spending time with my sweet stepmother. We arrived Monday evening and are leaving tomorrow--a quick visit, squished between ballet rehearsals and play practices. Unfortunately, we missed the azalea bloom. There are a few shrubs still flowering, but most are done and have dropped their blossoms. Oh well! Maybe we'll hit it next year. (Two years ago we hit it at exactly the right time--which was the very end of March!)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJaWTED29_w-jtoGbthlT-PhhqCEXnfBo3uTYLT3VV-S6TnFNLolL6Bxv2752-C1gHn-pteBBMtEf5y0UP_hR5fdFC0sjcJHsacvlDXZX2z6tAixrqRaVtt7lbEGkvFEEEi9eiARg8hY9Z7XQco1hLgj3yTjEDlIzbBd8keo47eBpf5mJZYdVnzj1h/s4032/March%202023%20Azaleas%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJaWTED29_w-jtoGbthlT-PhhqCEXnfBo3uTYLT3VV-S6TnFNLolL6Bxv2752-C1gHn-pteBBMtEf5y0UP_hR5fdFC0sjcJHsacvlDXZX2z6tAixrqRaVtt7lbEGkvFEEEi9eiARg8hY9Z7XQco1hLgj3yTjEDlIzbBd8keo47eBpf5mJZYdVnzj1h/s320/March%202023%20Azaleas%201.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This late winter has been busy. Both children are in both a ballet (Finn doesn't dance, but got roped into being a man in a waltz scene!) as well as a local community theatre production. Schoolwork is keeping Finn extremely occupied, which gives me mixed feelings. On the one hand, I am so glad he has the opportunity to learn! He loves physics, for instance. (He loves all subjects except algebra, and even in algebra he has an A, but he doesn't love it.) But on the other hand, after many, many years of freewheeling homeschooling, being tied to classes and homework and schedules is a little bit of a bummer. At least online classes mean that school can be portable, and that he can--for better or worse--set his own study schedule.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This week I am learning to prune camellias. My father taught me to prune azaleas, and there are hundreds of enormous ones in this year. But he never taught me to work on a camellia! So I'm doing that now. There are at least two dozen in this yard--I haven't actually gotten into the camellia grove itself. So maybe there are three dozen. In any event, it's enough to keep me busy! I pruned three yesterday before smashing my fingers in the garage door. Life is always an adventure.....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The wisteria is in bloom, and<i> it is gorgeous and smells divine</i>. The guy my stepmom hired to help with pruning came yesterday and went through the yard with me so that I could give him some input and guidance. I did instruct him to poison and kill the wisteria, and it did make me feel *slightly* sad. But it's truly an invasive weed in this yard. Perhaps one day I can have a big twisty wisteria dripping over a pergola!</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I am working on my continuing legal education credits for the first time in something like 16 years. Here's a strange story: I was, completely out of the blue, offered an ultra part-time, remote-work employment situation for a local manufacturing company. A family friend walked into the room where I was talking to his wife, and asked if I wanted to work for his company reviewing documents and contracts. It's not technically in-house counsel work, but it's sort of pseudo-in-house counsel work. I will work almost completely from home as an employee, and they provided me with a laptop. I could not think of a single reason to say no. So I said yes. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTi_njgRICfUJB3xDd7aKSZW3zuiEYTdZjY1j23vj8Th-9qMtjwo7qSjKO8k4FM6ZczKVCVNw8HewmZeB4Yyjq_byl5Krgyrd2lHUBJxj6gjPAJZom4JmSfCSDDRinxEWZELHeDN9GJoOYB5zZvQCpFXYXye9QQsYMyK2wu35Xk1IvSxNgcMzznzW/s4032/March%202023%20Azaleas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTi_njgRICfUJB3xDd7aKSZW3zuiEYTdZjY1j23vj8Th-9qMtjwo7qSjKO8k4FM6ZczKVCVNw8HewmZeB4Yyjq_byl5Krgyrd2lHUBJxj6gjPAJZom4JmSfCSDDRinxEWZELHeDN9GJoOYB5zZvQCpFXYXye9QQsYMyK2wu35Xk1IvSxNgcMzznzW/s320/March%202023%20Azaleas.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I set up a little office area in our schoolroom, changing my sewing desk into my working desk. (No worries, the sewing machine has another little table now!) Last week was an intense week of training: I think I clocked a whopping 7.5 hours. This week I don't know that I'll even clock 3. I guesstimate that I'll work between 5-10 hours most weeks, which is just enough to learn and enjoy, I think, without negatively impacting my duties at home and my ability to rest and exercise. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But in the interim, I need to amass some CLEs so that I can switch back to being an active member of the state bar. When I last took CLEs, I did not know how to knit. Now I do! And I am happy to combine the two.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">More good things in life right now--</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Listening to <u>The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe</u> in its entirety on the way down here; looks like it'll be <u>Prince Caspian</u> on the way back tomorrow. The children and I decided we'll listen to all of the Narnia books this year on our road trips!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A second cup of coffee every morning in Charleston, a luxury I do not allow myself to have at home</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/2022/06/meeting-messrs.html">Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy</a> turned one last Friday; Annie made them birthday hats and they tried their first canned food. They were unimpressed by both. But goodness, I love those cats. Especially Bingley. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Gas logs in the living room during an unusually chilly snap in South Carolina--perfect for that second cup of coffee</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Spending quiet moments talking with my stepmother. She is such a sweet person. I am so thankful for the way she looked after my father in his illness. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cuddles with Annie. She may be twelve years old, but she's still a little peanut and she still likes a nice cozy snuggle.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Marveling at how my son is now officially taller than I am. Wasn't he just a tow-headed toddler walking with me down the lane, looking at Queen Anne's Lace? Time, you do move so swiftly. Slow down just a bit....just for a little while.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Finn saying the Lord's Prayer every night with us in unison...but he says it in French. So lovely. </div>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-47993806547862709582023-02-28T06:27:00.001-08:002023-02-28T06:29:21.316-08:00100 Years <p style="text-align: center;"> My great aunt turned 100 in mid-February, following in the footsteps of her mother (<a href="https://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/2022/09/lovely-lights.html">my great-grandmother</a>, otherwise known as "Nanny") and her own aunt (otherwise known as <a href="https://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/2015/07/vintage-theatrics.html">Pauline</a>, who lived to be--I believe--105), and another aunt, who lived to be very close to 100, I believe. Those are long-lasting genes. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Her birthday party was in her home city, three hours away. I took a solo road trip down for the day to celebrate at her favorite Italian restaurant, braving the traffic in that city of roughly a million people. I used the express lane once I got to the city and <i>still </i>sat in traffic for an hour (car accident!), but even though I left at 5pm--very scary!--I flew out of town with no problems at all. I got to see my Alabama second and third cousins--I hadn't seen them in years (Mobile is far away, y'all!) and meet the next generation of little cousins--adorable! My aunt Mary is just amazing for being 100 years old--and she seemed to enjoy her party very much. It is astonishing to think of all the changes she has seen occur during her lifetime. Driving back home into the mountains I listened to my Dad's favorite <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Will-Circle-Be-Unbroken-2/dp/B000002P8G/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_w=sRw9W&content-id=amzn1.sym.116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf_rd_p=116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf_rd_r=X3Y5J6FZ9GHQ4YFK4295&pd_rd_wg=1EDEb&pd_rd_r=d99be03b-55b3-4dff-bd49-54a4af8530b2&pd_rd_i=B000002P8G&psc=1">country/bluegrass album</a>, one of those collections that I heard over and over and over again when I was a child (I recommend!). It was a really, really sweet day.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Because there were too many bouquets leftover, her children sent me home with this beautiful arrangement, which we've been enjoying ever since. I have to toss it out today, but it has made me realize I miss having fresh flowers around! I used to have them all the time, but as life has gotten busier, that's one thing that has slipped through the cracks. No more!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimGIT_jx9Z5ZTOAFvcf86Iy65qZAbKa-VkiBIFoXizKKVtfrv9TSU8-P14R91r6QX6v1b7KkQWSXs_pzZo-ZYhGIOHKzp3OHaOif_catYtIXS4HQgWgQN6oL49gMSRkUpvt8yfNExrQHxH-Wj97QYC8mmkAd6XoQxWJ2oWCRDIEpdfXrSXFmSyvIeN/s3232/February%202023%20Flowers.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3232" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimGIT_jx9Z5ZTOAFvcf86Iy65qZAbKa-VkiBIFoXizKKVtfrv9TSU8-P14R91r6QX6v1b7KkQWSXs_pzZo-ZYhGIOHKzp3OHaOif_catYtIXS4HQgWgQN6oL49gMSRkUpvt8yfNExrQHxH-Wj97QYC8mmkAd6XoQxWJ2oWCRDIEpdfXrSXFmSyvIeN/s320/February%202023%20Flowers.JPG" width="299" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Happy birthday, great-aunt Mary. </p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-55669668988489682092023-02-25T06:13:00.001-08:002023-02-25T06:13:00.190-08:00Clean and White<p style="text-align: center;"> Last year around the time my dad was diagnosed with cancer, our contractor began the huge project of demolishing our children's bathroom (which also doubles as the bathroom our guests use). It desperately, desperately needed renovating!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcomeJEeeP2yMAlqiQm82Y32HVwe__p6na2YEoq_HV7xP0kySF6DJ2mOn8jqolO5sX4Sa_tVW8BfppGgHhSP3_fAEpJKS1gkIUN5sHmiGtJvSbo8Dc1NTBcm9V55Z6EnPoZR8MgGdaHzJldCnTe0SVDZvqIW70nTALo1sBwGUF3UV8Il2MbA3uHyzD/s1800/February%2023%20Bathroom%20Old.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcomeJEeeP2yMAlqiQm82Y32HVwe__p6na2YEoq_HV7xP0kySF6DJ2mOn8jqolO5sX4Sa_tVW8BfppGgHhSP3_fAEpJKS1gkIUN5sHmiGtJvSbo8Dc1NTBcm9V55Z6EnPoZR8MgGdaHzJldCnTe0SVDZvqIW70nTALo1sBwGUF3UV8Il2MbA3uHyzD/s320/February%2023%20Bathroom%20Old.JPG" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It was the only room on the main level without a window. I remember when my mom built the house, she'd hoped to put a window in, but with a standard fiberglass shower insert, they couldn't make it work. In a house this bright and open, the bathroom always felt dark and closed!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A few years ago the exhaust fan began working only spottily. With so little ventilation in such a highly-used room, I had to adopt the practice of scrubbing the shower free of the mildew that would pepper the ceiling.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQT3I9NKgeN18LjJH5rD23V4vPG-ht_XMA33LNnfJkYMSWIra6V5bj78tJ5ovyJOwnf9bC0W3ulz4ndCa8ttoh-Ok0jrhkqKAD7c1s8GEE40eu_PLGzGKYt3ayhbfajJspRvrapPBDVsJwRefQAZ1_SYSHC96K9Jtaeer_2HMKE03CFJLiwwHGrd1a/s1800/February%2023%20Bathroom%20Old%201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQT3I9NKgeN18LjJH5rD23V4vPG-ht_XMA33LNnfJkYMSWIra6V5bj78tJ5ovyJOwnf9bC0W3ulz4ndCa8ttoh-Ok0jrhkqKAD7c1s8GEE40eu_PLGzGKYt3ayhbfajJspRvrapPBDVsJwRefQAZ1_SYSHC96K9Jtaeer_2HMKE03CFJLiwwHGrd1a/s320/February%2023%20Bathroom%20Old%201.JPG" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The exposed-bulb-light-strip was original to the house, but my husband and I had replaced the original mirror, countertop (pink formica to this dappled granite) sometime when Finn was a toddler. I had painted the cabinet cream, and the walls a sage green. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1RiNx-EaoKOW01eGfPAXPJ2k202AF2bbnyRlGImBQ9xexYZSjXrfyccQS5EuqXPTKgYPp89R7vkpRtHxHFIKu75tUvOru8kRuNvWzUb_PBK5vu2QWtTaAIvdwew_yAnK8tcT1N83BnWkAY-ZMQAeekYdYvKzMEjviVnDxdQVjtmELFUjHN_EtXHp5/s1800/February%2023%20Bathroom%20Old%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1RiNx-EaoKOW01eGfPAXPJ2k202AF2bbnyRlGImBQ9xexYZSjXrfyccQS5EuqXPTKgYPp89R7vkpRtHxHFIKu75tUvOru8kRuNvWzUb_PBK5vu2QWtTaAIvdwew_yAnK8tcT1N83BnWkAY-ZMQAeekYdYvKzMEjviVnDxdQVjtmELFUjHN_EtXHp5/s320/February%2023%20Bathroom%20Old%202.JPG" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Somewhere along the line, a Person Who Shall Remain Unnamed cracked the cabinet door. The sink cabinet was low, which was great when my children were itsy bitsy, but Finn is already taller than I am at 15, and I suspect he's got more growth to accomplish. It was almost comical to see anyone brush their teeth or wash their face at this sink, crouched so far over.....it just didn't work for our family of older children!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkSw3HOY1J7zrKgNN09HtGMivkaw8EW9exlphSNpY0R0EfJQ0iGybbMG5AupiZgnaOWc9LWOgQvdT1P53z9FSKboeSCQXTM7dQ70WX4U8kizPrqDKLys1RobG4HdBJkZVHkIG53aMJNSyGXF7Vw1rA3Dpv5mBhpWcBYMWYWd1mayRzzhGlMgGycM7b/s1800/February%2023%20Bathroom%20Old%203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkSw3HOY1J7zrKgNN09HtGMivkaw8EW9exlphSNpY0R0EfJQ0iGybbMG5AupiZgnaOWc9LWOgQvdT1P53z9FSKboeSCQXTM7dQ70WX4U8kizPrqDKLys1RobG4HdBJkZVHkIG53aMJNSyGXF7Vw1rA3Dpv5mBhpWcBYMWYWd1mayRzzhGlMgGycM7b/s320/February%2023%20Bathroom%20Old%203.JPG" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We started to joke that the bathroom was demolishing itself: one day the toilet lid just fell right off. And the linoleum on the floor (also original 1993) had started to peel up and back. The bathroom never "felt" clean, even when I scrubbed it to within an inch of its life, and that annoyed me. Ew.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxGRoD9KTfQfJoCgdIud_Kr7S66TIP1xc3qg3nKMfrqdrcVA8O46BMNftz9NsPWSLoMrH1Y0Luw8T_GbKvSv9YgZ8AOx4d2Gtw1SFB9fm5-YTsJgdkZ1n02256QeNaW2IGH9WRhnQk2tlZ_pH2CvbCOojdVIN0EoG2JLpn3wTyUUZ6Qn1hDJ3HzrY/s1796/February%2023%20Bathroom%20Old%204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1796" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxGRoD9KTfQfJoCgdIud_Kr7S66TIP1xc3qg3nKMfrqdrcVA8O46BMNftz9NsPWSLoMrH1Y0Luw8T_GbKvSv9YgZ8AOx4d2Gtw1SFB9fm5-YTsJgdkZ1n02256QeNaW2IGH9WRhnQk2tlZ_pH2CvbCOojdVIN0EoG2JLpn3wTyUUZ6Qn1hDJ3HzrY/s320/February%2023%20Bathroom%20Old%204.JPG" width="257" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Over one of our 20th anniversary dinners (we had several!) in 2019, my husband casually suggested we redo the bathroom. I almost fell out of my chair. My husband is THE most frugal person. At the time, we had several other large house projects happening, so we waited until the dust settled on those, and got our contractor (who is also our across-the-lane neighbor, a Mennonite, and one of the most wonderful humans you'll ever meet--not to mention a top-notch builder who does a beautiful job with everything) to take a look and give us a quote. I got cold feet after receiving the quote, but my husband encouraged me to just go forward with it. So we did.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Paul started demolition the week my Daddy was diagnosed with lung cancer last year. He gutted the entire room down to the studs. It was epic. After that week, I came home, asked my mother-in-law to stay with my children for a day, and literally picked out every single thing for the new bathroom in one fell swoop, an unprecedented approach for me. But I knew I'd have to spend a lot of time traveling and in Charleston, and I wanted to have it all picked and off my plate! Fortunately, I had a pretty strong vision for what I liked. That helped. Also, my husband had no opinion at all, on anything, so I was given carte blanche on the whole project. I appreciate that about my husband. :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hexagonal marble tiles, a window, beveled subway tile: a beauty to behold. I'm really happy with this bathroom and so grateful my husband insisted we go ahead with this project.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jxbm5lukCM6jU4Fcw729FUbBMlYhX9MdsTL6JdLWmwoV7_f-_PYuhCa69USwvByrD3mDKRbk_i38UwUsPf5BEKTJH9xYGNKjPEP6qqsbG1dv1AGxNqPglDAVQZ8DFXfEqFCMDSCwDu1Dg09jNTrI925mV8yzAW5bPxC2P1hJAgCfiOqq6fLrm5hK/s4032/February%2023%20Bathroom%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jxbm5lukCM6jU4Fcw729FUbBMlYhX9MdsTL6JdLWmwoV7_f-_PYuhCa69USwvByrD3mDKRbk_i38UwUsPf5BEKTJH9xYGNKjPEP6qqsbG1dv1AGxNqPglDAVQZ8DFXfEqFCMDSCwDu1Dg09jNTrI925mV8yzAW5bPxC2P1hJAgCfiOqq6fLrm5hK/s320/February%2023%20Bathroom%203.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The window has just been fabulous! I wanted an awning-style so that there's no visual interruption to the view out the back of the property (it's all our family farmland, and the window is very high, so no privacy worries). We have more-than-adequate ventilation, and bright light! I don't really like normal subway tile, but I love the beveled tile because it adds dimensionality, and it's really not much more expensive than regular subway tile. We used white grout on the walls because I don't like contrast between white tiles.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq_Zlujmd_JvVJf-25deyhjbTAhZsgRDITUF0ivuJ6YVUqQOkVuVD-5ZbMAMUC74tgoXEtfXCFAcIBSSB6VocbC9LD-XmI8cQvJSp0xPXAi745XXLK6scReV2ElyvbuLlAcyWQ6dGbhAXYso3VO530QrAo4QM4P85zQho5dV-K-jKKht134I0KXtjJ/s4032/February%2023%20Bathroom%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq_Zlujmd_JvVJf-25deyhjbTAhZsgRDITUF0ivuJ6YVUqQOkVuVD-5ZbMAMUC74tgoXEtfXCFAcIBSSB6VocbC9LD-XmI8cQvJSp0xPXAi745XXLK6scReV2ElyvbuLlAcyWQ6dGbhAXYso3VO530QrAo4QM4P85zQho5dV-K-jKKht134I0KXtjJ/s320/February%2023%20Bathroom%201.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The countertop is quartz. I discovered that I don't like granite, but I do like quartz. It's simple and very easy to care for, and though it's sort of a luxury finish, on a cabinet this size it was not too expensive at all. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Z7tXrPLpUI1Q1t3pW-aHLrvo1pSWeJfLhuRIgLLJ8AmMCqcXS10zhxFd5K9QEJZp9ks14gLS4e2QJ0gIF3rdyghE5aq5kpNw_yAw5t9WwRyjx6usq88Xni28pakCoCQMAUuZ8ezJNCm2Xcf6JKR3NDj5nWUrwGpB1GNDugnDu2G-mDK4rfn0yA5F/s4032/February%2023%20Bathroom%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Z7tXrPLpUI1Q1t3pW-aHLrvo1pSWeJfLhuRIgLLJ8AmMCqcXS10zhxFd5K9QEJZp9ks14gLS4e2QJ0gIF3rdyghE5aq5kpNw_yAw5t9WwRyjx6usq88Xni28pakCoCQMAUuZ8ezJNCm2Xcf6JKR3NDj5nWUrwGpB1GNDugnDu2G-mDK4rfn0yA5F/s320/February%2023%20Bathroom%202.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I had the cabinetmaker build something very simple and a lot taller than what we had before, and kept my fingers crossed that I would like the color that I chose (ran to the paint store, picked out Benjamin Moore's "Smoke," and gave it to the cabinetmaker--he used that color for his lacquering). I was so relieved when it came in and looked exactly like I wanted it to look. I don't usually gamble so recklessly with paint colors. This is probably my favorite color in the world, a soft blue-grey. The little cabinet pulls are pretty little trinkets from Anthropologie.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4NtyQOyAIUZ2_ZTE_ftjI6KQk_SpwouiCj3z7k3BvhJm4fBDgTssErzR8m4ZKdCzi1n--aJ6lXAV7Ss_J88Rtcf6U-S4UCnSo5L9AuHEJ_9jDeF5dK1bXoDX5Cjpyv1fLwu5bKguUFd6ZWgeWV7uKxhmPy2tiopV9vCqOrvq3vfspvuD73FCXopAA/s4032/February%2023%20Bathroom%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4NtyQOyAIUZ2_ZTE_ftjI6KQk_SpwouiCj3z7k3BvhJm4fBDgTssErzR8m4ZKdCzi1n--aJ6lXAV7Ss_J88Rtcf6U-S4UCnSo5L9AuHEJ_9jDeF5dK1bXoDX5Cjpyv1fLwu5bKguUFd6ZWgeWV7uKxhmPy2tiopV9vCqOrvq3vfspvuD73FCXopAA/s320/February%2023%20Bathroom%204.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Went for a taller toilet, too. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61EG5C1BPjTAlIivSR0rFr-VjHvq1ZxjQ995yd2k6XQWJMGoW2oJJ6j5y1HXokV04Eh3B3gOh4SEKHslVGCrzrhWLlBkaGGj6G19qtxDK50GXIrNAj5Mk9nPb5T6X7fNvUwMOtDhKQFUGXeiSaHyjrsQpBXqBcZ4ooQptofGytgSS_FQOJamovS7h/s4032/February%2023%20Bathroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61EG5C1BPjTAlIivSR0rFr-VjHvq1ZxjQ995yd2k6XQWJMGoW2oJJ6j5y1HXokV04Eh3B3gOh4SEKHslVGCrzrhWLlBkaGGj6G19qtxDK50GXIrNAj5Mk9nPb5T6X7fNvUwMOtDhKQFUGXeiSaHyjrsQpBXqBcZ4ooQptofGytgSS_FQOJamovS7h/s320/February%2023%20Bathroom.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I appreciate the nod to bathing that the painting implies. I bought that painting several years ago with a whole group of others at the thrift store, and it definitely belongs right here. (<a href="https://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-best-thrifting-day-ever.html">Here's the story</a> on that amazing find!) It needed to be framed, but I didn't feel like committing to a frame, either mentally or monetarily, so I used a fun trick: black duct tape to cover the raw edges and staples and paint smudges. Viola, looks great. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now this tiny little space is so bright and pretty. And when I clean it, <i>it feels clean!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Major thanks to my husband for the encouragement and to Paul for his beautiful workmanship. </div>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-85437495297186555152023-02-24T05:56:00.002-08:002023-02-24T05:56:16.409-08:00Sneak Peek of the Bathroom Renovation<p style="text-align: center;">All the details tomorrow! I'm <i>so thankful</i> that this project is done and that it turned out so well. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvawtc0rXCpJrYw7uUpfjDgau_LFcUakxUnC6d1iDe5JXzG58dTOug1XAJsJmMvevGVI1d_Pm_0tZooOaUjI4xTFEwW0caoPSBSS2BW3b1ItdjYCjPTnhq3aPxgwfb0Hacq56histqEruhtz5W5pKGZZY37NRD3G7-Ak7ZA8_Kqp81Iwp5DbQ1-zS/s4032/February%2023%20Bathroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvawtc0rXCpJrYw7uUpfjDgau_LFcUakxUnC6d1iDe5JXzG58dTOug1XAJsJmMvevGVI1d_Pm_0tZooOaUjI4xTFEwW0caoPSBSS2BW3b1ItdjYCjPTnhq3aPxgwfb0Hacq56histqEruhtz5W5pKGZZY37NRD3G7-Ak7ZA8_Kqp81Iwp5DbQ1-zS/s320/February%2023%20Bathroom.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And that I just happened to have a painting of a bathing goose (I think it's a goose; it's a goose, right?!) sitting around, waiting for its perfect spot!</div>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-34920559944703316342023-02-09T14:20:00.003-08:002023-02-09T14:23:29.847-08:002022 Reader's Journal <p style="text-align: center;">I finally sat down to try to compile my 2022 Reader's Journal. It was definitely not a year with a lot of reading; it was a year of travel and of grieving. But there were a few books I just adored. My recommendations have asterisks in the list below, and my favorites are highlighted here.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><u>The Order of the Phoenix</u> (JK Rowling)</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUxsUFuykWBSsW4f07S-HQaYk3cgaIQdUPrcsnxNpPz1Xei1QTa9VAhnyGegkELSKSKKxeCYob-SCaw5NgmCYC1SlAjyNI0fTJ3SPsm4Oq5rFPaBJiIHLP9-PGIQdXHJJd0diX2eIEe-oLVWXQa3e3d5vfl1SsbCy7e8fuIShzL339j12liDJ-vzEX" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="142" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUxsUFuykWBSsW4f07S-HQaYk3cgaIQdUPrcsnxNpPz1Xei1QTa9VAhnyGegkELSKSKKxeCYob-SCaw5NgmCYC1SlAjyNI0fTJ3SPsm4Oq5rFPaBJiIHLP9-PGIQdXHJJd0diX2eIEe-oLVWXQa3e3d5vfl1SsbCy7e8fuIShzL339j12liDJ-vzEX" width="163" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">This year I finished reading all of the Harry Potter books, and the Order of the Phoenix was my favorite. This is the midpoint in the story, and it's the place where we really begin (I think) to see the maturation of the main characters. The stakes of the war between good and evil are raised in this book. My favorite books other than this one were The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Deathly Hallows, but I like The Order of the Phoenix the best. However, the later books--say, The Goblet of Fire on to the end--are better suited for teenagers than children. I resisted reading these books for <i>years </i>(I'd tried to read the first one ages ago, but couldn't get into it, and it's definitely the weakest of the books), but now I appreciate the intricate world and characters JK Rowling developed and the ultimate message of the story, which has to do with the lifesaving power of (surprise!) sacrificial love. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><u>All the Light We Cannot See</u> (Anthony Doerr)</p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgeVokHTuD-Hcay3f4-0nbKjC7Jv9oQdAGVrwxDu0mFWfc634RoWV0btFomCCfsAT8yV7jldwdG-IH8KTAGj1hOq_8yI4m2VNAxnrvZU4hAjgRNJILVGab2aFHU1Bx0K8EF9Yh8Wz4v-uDYJe03_cu2vE7CaPHXsKHz9Q_SAsJ9xdhJK4iVXg2uUAmE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="214" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgeVokHTuD-Hcay3f4-0nbKjC7Jv9oQdAGVrwxDu0mFWfc634RoWV0btFomCCfsAT8yV7jldwdG-IH8KTAGj1hOq_8yI4m2VNAxnrvZU4hAjgRNJILVGab2aFHU1Bx0K8EF9Yh8Wz4v-uDYJe03_cu2vE7CaPHXsKHz9Q_SAsJ9xdhJK4iVXg2uUAmE" width="157" /></a></i></p><p style="text-align: center;">I am placing this book here even though it disappointed me bitterly, because I really did enjoy the bulk of it. I loved the weaving together of the stories of the German boy and French girl, and Anthony Doerr is a talented storyteller. But I cannot forgive him for the last 50 pages. Oh Anthony! <i>Why?!</i></p><p style="text-align: center;">Even so, it's a very, very good book. (But really. <i>WHY??</i>)</p><i><br /></i><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><u>Vein of Iron</u> (Ellen Glasgow)</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMz3vchxzlXx-AWjG1WxVbeCMKnFhmWxyzxBat--hxqiLHdcj7KrYos7JcVCJJ8IkE0e_hHsNvcUkLe86gOQi_hYq9iAsSEVFWz1_U6_9-PP7Rs2MzP8x0jK5G6NSeE8tWO9ET-28LBU7qESIMW17ibOYwU6EUHP-IIjevRg7Qa4F9d473cu68Cd5g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="357" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMz3vchxzlXx-AWjG1WxVbeCMKnFhmWxyzxBat--hxqiLHdcj7KrYos7JcVCJJ8IkE0e_hHsNvcUkLe86gOQi_hYq9iAsSEVFWz1_U6_9-PP7Rs2MzP8x0jK5G6NSeE8tWO9ET-28LBU7qESIMW17ibOYwU6EUHP-IIjevRg7Qa4F9d473cu68Cd5g" width="172" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">I had read Vein of Iron years ago, but wanted to re-read the story of Ada Fincastle. I loved this book--an insight into the world of a Virginian during the years preceding the Great Depression. It's a well-executed book, and I think Ellen Glasgow is a sort of "hidden gem" writer. I was introduced to her years ago by my college roommate/best friend, who is a Glasgow scholar. I particularly appreciated Ada's father in the story during this reading; he seemed more nuanced than I'd found him the first time I read the book. </p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><u>Final Gifts</u> (Maggie Callanan & Patricia Kelley)</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-uIa0i1QfMK8tZRUDhnuB7jZtaH9W1XHj9Y-4vrDV7PutIhspGFvxkIXXZ-dFsebxk9tNO0BjQFP4-90rVKu9LW1HBrc_pqIGr7aar2fBq22Y8ZD_rTdxhnNuQCUx1Ik4CbK0KC9hUlZGvV6WCim3LfbVJkqAKHDGtR5Evnl--80lejp93q_jMCn9" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="139" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-uIa0i1QfMK8tZRUDhnuB7jZtaH9W1XHj9Y-4vrDV7PutIhspGFvxkIXXZ-dFsebxk9tNO0BjQFP4-90rVKu9LW1HBrc_pqIGr7aar2fBq22Y8ZD_rTdxhnNuQCUx1Ik4CbK0KC9hUlZGvV6WCim3LfbVJkqAKHDGtR5Evnl--80lejp93q_jMCn9" width="156" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">I recommend this to anyone who is dealing or may deal with a dying person--and spoiler alert!--that means everyone. There is so much meaning in a person's final days, which can be both brutal and strangely lovely. Too many people are keen and quick to disregard the things dying people say or do. This book confirmed what I have thought for a long time: that there's meaning and a sort of universality among these experiences. Highly recommended. </p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><u>How Green was My Valley</u> (Richard Llewellyn)</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhghjcWfdWMbCY69chVkaX_J9AM1EL3o3zR1UHNIqZj9-W1dOQCjMuRpGuqpkqzLnGkhaljm0z_bXaQoeRQLwk7uVpF0lTsYyCSnf2uAJS4alBgz7IynwevjfqzsfKQqIWgFI3jP0XTc5OFXtP3GwlO6Vbl4U6vZhQc8xve7GRxQWcYPm8T1Gqp4yZ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhghjcWfdWMbCY69chVkaX_J9AM1EL3o3zR1UHNIqZj9-W1dOQCjMuRpGuqpkqzLnGkhaljm0z_bXaQoeRQLwk7uVpF0lTsYyCSnf2uAJS4alBgz7IynwevjfqzsfKQqIWgFI3jP0XTc5OFXtP3GwlO6Vbl4U6vZhQc8xve7GRxQWcYPm8T1Gqp4yZ" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">Oh, how I loved this book! I listened to most of it on Audible, read by Ralph Cosham (he's great). Then I finished it in paper--my husband gave me a first edition copy for my birthday, three days after my Daddy died. It was such a treat to really relish the last chapters by reading it on paper. I found the characters compelling and realistic, the story poignant and beautiful, and some of the scenes absolutely riveting and--in one case--heartbreaking. I read it right around the time my father died. I cried. It was a wonderful book--my favorite of the year. My father would have loved this book, too. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (JK Rowling)*</p><p>2. Are Women Human? (Dorothy Sayers)*</p><p>3. All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr)* (loved this book until about 50 pages from the end, and then was furious and dissatisfied!)</p><p>4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (JK Rowling)</p><p>5. The War of Art (Steven Pressfield) )(this was a re-read--I basically read it every year, because I'm a fan.)</p><p>6. How to be a High School Superstar (Cal Newport)(Cal sometimes drives me crazy, but he makes good points, and the primary point of this book is that colleges aren't that interested in "well-rounded" students anymore--they have thousands of applications from well-rounded, top-tier students every year. Instead, the author encourages students to be <i>interesting</i>. I can get on board with that, because it seems like a more real and organic way to live--pursuing one's interests--than checking all the boxes of athlete, volunteer, scholar, et cetera. And--here's my addition--what makes someone interesting? <i>Being interested</i> in the world! That's an admissions philosophy I can embrace and appreciate.) </p><p>7. Piranesi (Susanna Clarke)(fascinating, weird, and strangely predictable, but ultimately too far outside the realm of believability, and yes, I realize that Harry Potter books aren't exactly within the realm of believability, but they do have their own logic and rationality, even if they don't comply with the workings of our natural world. The world of Piranesi was just tooooo far gone for me. However, it was thought-provoking.)</p><p>8. The Shallows (Nicholas Carr)*(a good book that takes a hard look at what the Internet can do to our brains; this book contained one of the most thought-provoking quotes of the year for me, which I'll share sometime. I read it by the pool and kept having to stop and make notes in my journal about it.)</p><p>9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (JK Rowling) </p><p>10. A Tale of Two Cities<i> </i>(Charles Dickens)*</p><p>11. Vein of Iron (Ellen Glasgow)*</p><p>12.<i> </i>Blue Ruin (Grace Livingston Hill)</p><p>13. The Jane Austen Diet (Brian Kozlowski) <i> </i></p><p>14. Final Gifts (Maggie Callanan and Patrician Kelley)*</p><p>15. How Green Was My Valley (Richard Llewelyn)*</p><p>16. A New Name (Grace Livingston Hill) </p><p>17. Grace Livingston Hill (Robert Munce)(an interesting glimpse into Grace's life!)</p><p style="text-align: center;">I also listened to five Harry Potter books on CD: The Sorcerer's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, and The Order of the Phoenix.</p><p style="text-align: center;">As always, there was also the Bible, smatterings of The Book of Common Prayer, my favorite devotional (Streams in the Desert), and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Uniformity-Gods-Will-Liguori/dp/0895550199">Uniformity with God's Will</a>, a personal favorite. I also read much of <u>The Screwtape Letters</u>, which I basically read every summer by the pool. It's an annual tradition for me now!</p><p style="text-align: center;">I also suspect, as I always do, that I missed a few books along the way, but I did my best to remember and list the books I've read here!</p><p style="text-align: center;">I did not read many books to my children last year. Annie and I are working our way through <u>Heidi</u>, and the kids and I are reading <u>Carry On, Mr Bowditch</u>, and as a family we're reading <u>The Hobbit</u>, but it has been very, very hit-or-miss. Some seasons are like that. I hope that 2023 will be <i>less </i>like that. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/2022/02/2021-readers-journal.html">Here</a> is a link to last year's list, and previous years' lists as well.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Happy new year, and happy reading!</p><p><br /></p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-63890827997710552912023-02-07T17:43:00.006-08:002023-02-07T17:43:49.182-08:00Paradise <p style="text-align: center;"> </p><p style="text-align: center;">Well, I have finally seen, with my own eyes, crystal clear waters and sugary white sand beaches. </p><p style="text-align: center;">I took my sister on a quick trip last week. Our father loved the lower latitudes, but neither of us had ever been much south of, say, Orlando, Florida. We went a bit farther this time.....</p><p style="text-align: center;">Do you wonder what heaven is like? I think it's entirely incomprehensible, something that our feeble brains can't understand, some dimension that is more beautiful and full of goodness than anything we could imagine on earth. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtkIViMjKfDXgOLZ-QxYpa8Auf-KgkJbhw0k2VrbR1l_kc_vkM_y9-FZHS1VvpZucsyOUqSm3ZfMe-QEWNAChegNHPsS1IacXVT6ygr3g_vyYkWsyajgVgjjF4s6rNkXSnqUFL7E2M9vk8dRyh3Nh8WN242VleMShc1H8qGgMtbGMgknLFgpOXp7X_/s1440/Bahamas%203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="1440" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtkIViMjKfDXgOLZ-QxYpa8Auf-KgkJbhw0k2VrbR1l_kc_vkM_y9-FZHS1VvpZucsyOUqSm3ZfMe-QEWNAChegNHPsS1IacXVT6ygr3g_vyYkWsyajgVgjjF4s6rNkXSnqUFL7E2M9vk8dRyh3Nh8WN242VleMShc1H8qGgMtbGMgknLFgpOXp7X_/s320/Bahamas%203.JPG" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">I have no idea if heaven looks like this, but this is truly beautiful. I believe that all of the best things on earth--our most loving relationships, the most striking natural landscapes--are pale shadows of What's To Come. So heaven probably isn't like this; it's probably much, much better.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipw073-ppgF-TtSEw5oWtgWQ1FQ6NNXt2fbW02ndb7qhV95dxS72f136HmnRGPlb6oTW2Y7fpH4pgYU0NGp4Gsk34UMzwfUjOB1kAER3Vj6tNqydqgX3EoASYq-2c5V3e0yYlYOfq3CHafJNMN8EZETZgpe4YbDeQzlDcHDvMoYL0n4dtL4OJAuQ9U/s1440/Bahamas%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="1440" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipw073-ppgF-TtSEw5oWtgWQ1FQ6NNXt2fbW02ndb7qhV95dxS72f136HmnRGPlb6oTW2Y7fpH4pgYU0NGp4Gsk34UMzwfUjOB1kAER3Vj6tNqydqgX3EoASYq-2c5V3e0yYlYOfq3CHafJNMN8EZETZgpe4YbDeQzlDcHDvMoYL0n4dtL4OJAuQ9U/s320/Bahamas%202.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The clarity of the water! It astonished me. <i>It's real! </i>I kept thinking. <i>It's really real!</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPk_nCMb2qcgmgUFj1TgZYY_pwYLqmnU1Wkk4Okv1wLs8bk6uBJ_Y2x4W2ZTGdJHFU3CjrZgwHCWqh8_CZb7YwqRLsQbChwe4zWcZFV7Lpb_4no2riSYInBLf25Q-odlJXvEU_6W56IHM-AxhLmozEahDKsG55DWvpjxfhvHqcHrKjOraw786g6IDf/s4032/Bahamas%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPk_nCMb2qcgmgUFj1TgZYY_pwYLqmnU1Wkk4Okv1wLs8bk6uBJ_Y2x4W2ZTGdJHFU3CjrZgwHCWqh8_CZb7YwqRLsQbChwe4zWcZFV7Lpb_4no2riSYInBLf25Q-odlJXvEU_6W56IHM-AxhLmozEahDKsG55DWvpjxfhvHqcHrKjOraw786g6IDf/s320/Bahamas%204.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I think maybe that's what people say when they reach heaven. <i>The rumors are true!</i> they probably think. <i>It wasn't photoshopped. It wasn't made up. It's real, and it's more beautiful in person than I could have ever expected</i>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizsC00ulmkVt5HNp6Kr_HBRhW4S_LGlX4hc2v3olpnUDyGTFCoGE13WKm5zCA78u82mRDWMh6X6c4tCZwtxqTmaubfHrEhcVsBf4cyqsFBgw9eooElQYn-_XmoWUXKsM61Ll8DDr3x0C8kHP6qCBsFiLDqK6bS_z9NbRpSGEMHVvHNfJj-t1uREAha/s1440/Bahamas%201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="1440" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizsC00ulmkVt5HNp6Kr_HBRhW4S_LGlX4hc2v3olpnUDyGTFCoGE13WKm5zCA78u82mRDWMh6X6c4tCZwtxqTmaubfHrEhcVsBf4cyqsFBgw9eooElQYn-_XmoWUXKsM61Ll8DDr3x0C8kHP6qCBsFiLDqK6bS_z9NbRpSGEMHVvHNfJj-t1uREAha/s320/Bahamas%201.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">That's what I think about when I think about this beach, where I could hardly talk all day, I was just so astonished that it was, in fact, <i>really real. </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What is my father seeing now? I have no idea. But I think he sees things clearly, as they truly are, at long last. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>For now we see through a glass darkly, and one day we will see face to face. </i>(1 Corinthians 13:12)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Yes and amen. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-34067437595303222192023-01-21T05:49:00.004-08:002023-01-21T05:49:56.179-08:00Annie Gets a Party <p style="text-align: center;">Annie turned 12 earlier this month, and one thing she asked for this year was a party. A Real Party. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Given the fact that for the past three years we've not been able to have friends over on her birthday, either because of covid, or me having covid, or generalized illness, I thought it would be a nice thing to do, to celebrate this last year of pre-teenagerhood.</p><p style="text-align: center;">So today after ballet company rehearsals my husband and I are transporting nine girls home, with four others to be dropped off at our house a bit later, for Annie's Twelfth Birthday Party. We've got cupcakes, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, vegetables and dip, fruit, party games, a craft, and a dance playlist (many thanks to our niece, who took time out of her busy first year of law school exam time to send a plethora of good "dance party" suggestions that I used when I was choosing songs). My sister gave Annie a tabletop disco ball for Christmas, along with glow-stick necklaces. Annie will be wearing her blue silk dress--you know, the one I bought at the secondhand store, tags still on, for $5 about 5 years ago? The pizza will be delivered around 5pm. People are excited. (Is it wrong to say that I'm excited that tonight I will be done hostessing? Because I'm excited about that!)</p><p style="text-align: center;">Annie is a pleasure to parent and it's a privilege to celebrate her. She's my right-hand girl: reliable, kind, intuitive, thoughtful, and generous. We understand each other on what feels like a mitochondrial level. She has made <i>countless</i> sacrifices over the past year, with my Dad's illness, and she doesn't complain about it. She's so unselfish and unspoiled that it's a delight to spoil her just a little bit now. She loves friends, and beautiful things, and cupcakes, and I'm thankful to provide those things for her today. </p><p style="text-align: center;">A dozen years with my little girl. I know you hear this all the time, but mothers will little ones: <i>don't blink</i>. It truly flies. And it's beautiful and bittersweet. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiywnbkq0Z00AZ9zJZXxD6YyqHF7IHz2XO55-QAO5Iov_EkrvT68OfXIHSpWLbtL84g-SKuDrZUnTnCijF3robWtCDNykMosQssK_a1ipApUjjh121KgNA9MrsaAt4v8SABs2zfY4wMdbDGGueXG-__Wm8mURxsUzT8a1e2fy4217VhOGTjxpTwUQF1/s3314/Jan%2023%20Annie%20at%20Piano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3314" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiywnbkq0Z00AZ9zJZXxD6YyqHF7IHz2XO55-QAO5Iov_EkrvT68OfXIHSpWLbtL84g-SKuDrZUnTnCijF3robWtCDNykMosQssK_a1ipApUjjh121KgNA9MrsaAt4v8SABs2zfY4wMdbDGGueXG-__Wm8mURxsUzT8a1e2fy4217VhOGTjxpTwUQF1/s320/Jan%2023%20Annie%20at%20Piano.jpg" width="292" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">{I make it a rule not to post pictures of my children, but this one is acceptable: Annie practicing piano recently in a straw hat. So sweet!}</p><p style="text-align: center;">Happy next year of life, Annie, and happy <i>party day!</i></p>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107572605868383799.post-20477596459762211212023-01-11T14:52:00.106-08:002023-01-11T14:52:00.207-08:00On Grief <p style="text-align: center;"> I had an interesting experience with grief last autumn. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Since January, I had been deep in anticipatory grieving. We knew my father's cancer was a terminal one. We knew that the statistics on small cell lung carcinoma are grim. Last year before he died I cried most days. Sometimes I'd be washing dishes and burst into tears. Sometimes I'd be driving somewhere and start crying. It was a constant companion: the anticipatory grief. Knowing this was the end of something. Knowing goodbye was so close. </p><p style="text-align: center;">After my father's death, my primary emotion for weeks was <i>relief</i>. The suffering near the end of his life was real. I had envisioned that as a cancer patient, he would drift off in a morphine-induced haze and die peacefully. That was absolutely not true. I was so relieved his suffering was done, so relieved that we never had to replay it again, that I did not cry. I was exhausted, I was sad, but I was <i>relieved</i>.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Somewhere about six weeks after his death something else began. It was like the time I toured the infamous underground bunker at The Greenbriar Resort when I was a teenager. We walked into the tunnel that leads down into the bunker, and the 20-something ton door shut behind us. That sound was so final.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Sometime in November I felt it. The door was irreversibly closed. The relief had faded and the reality set in: I will never talk to my father, face-to-face, in this lifetime, again. Our morning cups of coffee, where we'd talk for hours from before dawn until the rest of the household woke up, are over. Our long phone calls of laughter and teasing and nonstop talking are over. Our hugs, when I'd rest my head on his chest, are over. The door felt like it slammed shut on me every time I thought about this reality. My lifelong Gibraltar was--is--irrevocably <i>gone</i>.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiES-0N1Vy2COKeoCGSWa1UhuB-diUVSwc6Fj41VnD-x5hT-KG21JdEfmpgbye8A-trxDbEONeUqv12tg23CdCcx8IkIK1GejVbUGejDKM7K2he5F9fSSWr42VL2o22FS53hqvPkFZj8933Bh1YCJsJzxXElQ_xckP5Y-ueTlqsqPXNoCrui1E54qU8/s804/Dad%20and%20Polly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="777" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiES-0N1Vy2COKeoCGSWa1UhuB-diUVSwc6Fj41VnD-x5hT-KG21JdEfmpgbye8A-trxDbEONeUqv12tg23CdCcx8IkIK1GejVbUGejDKM7K2he5F9fSSWr42VL2o22FS53hqvPkFZj8933Bh1YCJsJzxXElQ_xckP5Y-ueTlqsqPXNoCrui1E54qU8/s320/Dad%20and%20Polly.jpg" width="309" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">And so a different, deeper grief began. It was like an underground river, flowing somewhere deep within my spirit. It was a quiet grief that felt omnipresent, that felt below that place Wordsworth described as "too deep for tears." </p><p style="text-align: center;">Yes, I have faith in God. The last solid food my father ate was the communion wafer his Anglican priest brought to the house three days before he died. Was my father reconciled with God? I believe so. Will we meet again? I have no idea how heaven works. I'd like to think so. I am confident of (and unendingly grateful for) my salvation and I'm confident that God has a much bigger plan than I can envision. That faith does not negate the reality of the pain that I will never make my Dad's morning coffee again, just the way he likes it: black, with two small cubes of ice. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Every year my Dad and stepmom threw a large Christmas party between Christmas and New Year's. Our initial thought was not to have the party this year, but sometime in the fall my stepmom said she was considering it. I am fully on board with whatever she wants, so I agreed. We kept it simple, she had it mostly catered, and it was good. All the neighbors she invited except one were able to come. There were great stories told, multiple conversations for hours, loads of food, happy conviviality. Our neighbors in Charleston are good people--it's a sweet, close-knit community. My Dad, who loved to have his house full of people enjoying themselves, would have loved it. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Getting past the party was an emotional triumph for me, one more step in the right direction of healing and recovering. So the grief has shifted, from that reverberatingly heavy closed door and that deep underground river, to something different yet again. I suppose the closest thing I can describe it as is "acceptance," although that's not quite right. But it's close. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>If you're grieving, just lean into it and know it comes and goes in phases, it ebbs and flows, and it shows up when you least expect it. The best thing to do is acknowledge that it is real, and be kind and gentle with yourself and others while you heal. </i></div>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403233175071026416noreply@blogger.com5