The little things in life

Welcome friends, old and new alike to my blog. I’m glad you stopped by. I am so pleased to be a featured “inspirational” blogger on Mama Hen’s Nestwork. Grab something to drink and a snack and get comfy. I’d like to share a little story with you.

First of all, let me say that for years and years I’ve learned to appreciate the little things in life (being on an extremely tight budget will do that for you). Actually, that may have all started when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras. Living in a “room” built with mud and straw bricks and a dirt floor without indoor plumbing has a way of making one humble. As crazy as it sounds, I absolutely loved it. One of the locals really explained to me just how less is more. She told me, “The more you have; the more you have to worry about what you have.” That point has really stuck with me. Anyway, the point of all of that was to say that I consider myself a simple woman, and it doesn’t take much to please me. I think once my husband figured that out after the first few dates, he dropped to one knee on the spot and asked me to marry him! Just kidding; let me get on with the story.

Tidal Wave Silver Hedge Petunia

camera doesn't do this justice!

For the past couple of years for Mother’s Day I’ve given my kids a couple of bucks a piece and asked them to choose flowers from the local hardware store to plant in my flowerpots in the backyard. Voila-Happy Mother’s Day to me! I do not have anyone’s green thumb, but I figure even I can manage to transfer an already grown and blooming flower from the 4-inch pot it’s sold in into a larger pot with some dirt with relative success. I love the thoughtfulness that goes into my kids’ choices, and they have a good time handling the money and mixing and matching the varieties and colors of flowers. Last year, they selected an absolutely beautiful variety of petunia called a Tidal Wave Silver hedge petunia. It was the palest shade of lavender with deeper purple veins because purple is my favorite color. I planted it in a small pot all by itself. It was just that beautiful! The little plant really showed off and bloomed and bloomed through the summer.

See how much it grew?!

When the weather turned cooler and the plant quit blooming and dried up, I pulled up the brown stem and abandoned the barren looking terracotta pot on the patio in the backyard where it sat through winter’s wind, rain, sleet and snow. Yes, snow! You see, I live in North Texas so we really don’t see much snow, but this year did we ever see snow—like 12 inches in 24 hours. I know that’s not much to you northerners, but just to put things in perspective, schools and businesses close around here when there’s a threat of 2 or 3 inches of snow, so 12 inches in one day was a HUGE deal for us.

that's the little pot with a mound of snow on top!

When the kids and I went out to play in the snow, I noticed first of all that my little pot looked like a giant snow cone.  Secondly, after all of the snow had melted, I also observed that the pot was cracked in two. Oh well, I thought, I’ll deal with that in the spring. Then winter gave way to spring, and the days were filled with blue skies and warmer weather once again. From time to time I’d go past the little pot in the backyard and think I should do something with that before someone bumps it and gets hurt or makes a mess. Still, I left it.  Then one day I noticed a little green shoot sticking up. It looked similar to the leaves on the petunias my kids bought me for Mother’s Day this year, so I let it be to see what would happen. Sure enough my Wave petunias were back as beautiful as ever-cracked pot and all.

As I reflected on this phenomenon, I considered all that little seed had been through: too much water; not enough water; too much cold, not enough sunlight. Even its home had given way to the freezing temperatures; yet still it survived. Isn’t life just like that, friends? We deal with all sorts of adversities, but they are balanced with good times and sunshine. The best part is, just as God protected that tiny little seed buried in the dirt because it still had work to do and its beauty to share, He is with us on our journeys, too. Whatever you may be going through, He is with you. Psalm 62: 8 says we have but to: “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”
Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope I didn’t keep you too long. You’re welcome to come back anytime! Until next time…

This is the gift that kept on giving this summer

A day late...

...and a dollar short. That is my usual M.O. So, I'm a week late posting a picture of my mother's day cake, but as the caption reads, "Every day is mother's day in my world!" Aaron has been busy cleaning his room this weekend, so I've fielded a lot of "what do I do with this?" and "when are the Paralyzed Vets coming again?" type questions. Alisa is the one who needs to be doing some major work in her room because she is getting Grandmom's bedroom suit since Grandmom has moved in with my mom and dad. Mom is anxious to get the furntiture out of Grandmom's mobile home so a friend can paint and touch up the place to get it ready to sell. Naturally, we have to find somewhere to put the furniture that is currently in Alisa's room, and that, my friends, is more than a notion! (When are the Paralyzed vets coming again?) I want the twin bed in my office so that I have a sanctuary when Mike's snoring gets out of hand. I have no idea what to do with the huge cherrywood dresser that doesn't really go with anything in Alisa's room now anyway. It matches my bedroom furniture, but we don't have room for it. Mike wants to use it for scrapbook storage or something, but how country is that?! I might as well set it on the front porch with a plaid cloth-covered couch! In order to make room for the twin bed in my office, I need to get my "craft room" (formerly the "workout room" when there were a treadmill, and ab-something or other and a Nordic rider in there) together so I can put the craft shelf from my office out there. Are you getting the picture, here? Friends and family have offered their assistance, but I don't even know where to start or what to ask them to help me do! I wish I could blame all of this on the fact that I've been in school for the past 3 years, but alas, my house was already heading in this direction long before enrolling at TCC (sad but true). I would love to get it all "together" before joining the 40+ hours/week workforce. Everyday, though, I'm more overwhelmed with where to start...For now, I'll add this little poem that hangs on a miniature cutting board type plaque in my kitchen. When my grandmother first gave it to me with her cute little "I saw this and thought about you" chuckle, I admit my feelings were a little hurt (of course, it doesn't hold a candle to the "thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator" magnet she gave Mike). But, true is true, so here goes:
"Apology"
Although you'll find our house a mess
Come in, sit down, converse.
It doesn't always look like this;
Some days it's even worse.
Sorry, this was supposed to be all about Mother's Day stuff...now, where was I. Oh yes, Aaron has been cleaning his room (without even being asked...talk about make a mama proud!) and Alisa has been working diligently on her Invention Convention project this weekend (with much prodding and assistance). I need to run out and get a new ink cartridge tomorrow so she can print out her pages and organize her board and it will be finished just in the nick of time. Here's to mothers everywhere...Until next time.

Happy Mother's Day

Ahh, Mother's Day is here again. I can't help but wonder if this is the year my kids will surprise me with something I really want--like they've been making a list and checking it twice whenever I mention something I could use or would enjoy? Am I setting myself up for disappointment with such lofty expectations?
In my friend, Nicole's blog header she states, "In my mind, there is a world where my house is poshly decorated, my family is organized, my kids are occupied, and our meals nurture and amaze..." Well, in my mind there is a world where I'm briefly awakened in the wee hours of Mother's Day morning as Mike brushes a soft, sweet kiss on my lips just before heading off to work (he's never had Sundays off the whole time we've been married). I mumble for him to have a good day and fluff my pillow, roll over and snuggle under my covers and drift back to sleep with my feet cherishing the warmth of the spot he just left on his side of the bed. A few hours later, I awake to the smell of bacon and some yummy "lovin' from the oven" smells. My kids are working together to not only prepare breakfast but also to clean up the kitchen as they go along so as not to leave a big mess for me on Mother's Day. I tip across the living room and peer into the kitchen to see a lap tray complete with a bowl of yogurt topped with fresh fruit, a fried egg-over hard with a pinch of salt and pepper-just the way I like it, a couple of strips of chewy-crisp bacon (prepared in the microwave and drained on additional paper towels just like I've shown them on numerous occasions) and a spot for the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls that are just about ready to come out of the oven. To think they've covered all of the basic food groups! There is a mug of steaming hot cafe con leche (probably instant coffee, but I have to cut them some slack even in my mind because I was almost 40 before I learned to "brew" a decent cup of joe) and a 4-ounce glass of orange juice. A & A are joking with one another and trying to keep it down so as not to awaken me before everything is done. I thank God for my wonderful children and gush over just how blessed I am to have such loving kids before I sneak back to my bedroom to be "surprised" by breakfast in bed. In all actuality I'd settle for a pop-tart or slice of toast and a leftover sausage patty with a glass of juice or water, just so long as my kids put forth the effort to treat me to something they thought I would like for Mother's Day. I really think I'm quite easy to please. For the time being, money is always an issue. The kids don't get an allowance, so they don't really have money of their own to allocate to different things like gifts for parents. Mike usually takes A & A shopping after school the week before Mother's Day and has them pick out something like bath sets or tools for relaxation (one year they bought me an electric fountain trickling over the smooth stones--did they not realize the fish tank makes that same trickling noise when the filter needs changing?). I think it was their way of telling me "politely" to chill out.
At any rate, all of that was in my mind. Now, let me tell you about how my actual Mother's Day went. I awoke and dragged kids out of bed to get ready for 8 o'clock mass followed by Sunday school (C.C.E.) at 9 a.m. We needed to leave by 7:30 to pick up Grandmom and make it to church on time. At 7:20 I walk into the kitchen. Alisa is dressed, but her hair isn't combed, her shoes are not on her feet, and she is "fixing me breakfast" of a boiled egg, a grapefruit half, and...she's rifling through the drawer to find the tulip-shaped cookie cutter to make me "flower toast." I thank her profusely for her thoughtfulness and ask if she could please just go finish getting ready. I attempted to explain that while I appreciated the effort, we'd be late to church for sure if she continued...We were late to church, but Fr. LeDoux was later making it to mass, so all was well. Mass ran over, but I wasn't even aware of that fact because I had my watch on upside down and didn't have on my glasses to read the tiny digits in the dim lighting of the sanctuary. That's another story in and of itself. C.C.E. lasted all of 15 minutes.
We made it home, and I was craving strawberry muffins. I knew I had strawberries in the frig that needed to be used up, so I went about emptying the dishwasher and drainboard and putting together my muffins. The weather was cool and damp, so I put on a pot of coffee as well. A & A made themselves quite scarce. My timing was all off. It was around 11:30 or so when the muffins and coffee were ready and dinner at PaPa & Tia's would not be until 5 p.m. There'd have to be some lunch somewhere in between. I put on a pot of water on the stove and started chopping veggies to make a pasta-tuna salad. When that was done, I frosted and decorated the cake I was to take to PaPa & Tia's house for dessert. Mike made it in from work. I ran by Kroger for more Blue Bell (I'd been bragging so much about the new Summer Berries flavor that I thought I'd better bring some to go with the cake), dropped Grandmom, the cake and ice cream by PaPa & Tia's then returned home to scoop up the rest of my gang and head to Trish's house to visit briefly with Mike's mom, Jessie. This mother's day felt an awful lot like every other day to me-busy. Let me backtrack for just a moment. On Saturday, A & A did buy me flowers to plant in my flower pots in the backyard at my own personal request for such. I just gave them the $5 bill I had in my purse, drove them to ACE Hardware and stayed in the car while they went in and made their selections. They did a great job--Aaron chose two shades of petunias, and Alisa chose a beautiful cream colored zinnia and a sweet pea plant.
Back to today...I spent most of my day wondering where in the world did I go wrong?! Here's what I came up with: should you find yourself washing your own dishes, folding your own laundry, or decorating your own cake on what's supposed to be your "special" day, rest assured that all is not in vain! You're a wonderful and capable mother who does such a great job of "doing it all" all the time that your kids just know they couldn't hold a candle to your dishes, laundry or cooking, so why should they even try? They think you're superwoman and why would they want to take away such an honor on Mother's Day? I'm just hoping that for a year or two between the wonder years and the "all grown up with a husband/wife and kids of their own" years I'll be duly pampered with affection and appreciation on Mother's Day at the very least! Whew, that was way longer than I ever intended it to be and I'm tuckered. Until next time...