I Wish I Was There

Hey, there! Do you like the new look around here? I woke up silly excited about the new template on my blog. It's the little things in life, right?

I'd like to thank Kelsey at Kreated by Kelsey  I highly recommend her. I purchased this template in her Etsy store last night, and within minutes were working out the details. She was extremely helpful, uploading my blog header and 'About Me' section. I super appreciate that because coding is like Greek to me. Kelsey offers services ranging from pre-made blogger templates, to signatures, navigation bars, and custom blog design. She works quickly and is focused on making the customer happy - which I am! I still have a little tweaking to do (but am waiting for my 17year old daughter to come hold my hand). What do you think?

So here the southeast we got slammed with 17.1 inches of snow. I feel that the .1 may have pushed us all over the edge of hating snow. I was not meant to be a Canadian, or Alaskan, or even a Northern Hoosier, I think. Maybe I could learn to love the snow if I had:

• a snow plow
• a snow suit
• children who did not take my gloves ALL the time
• a mudroom

The boys want to play outside in the snow, of course, which is fun until they come in and take off their 97 layers of clothes. We don't own snow suits because 'it never snows where we live'. I just can never justify how expensive they are for just one or two days of snow and you can never find them at Goodwill. Now I'll be perpetually stuck in the should-I-shouldn't-I place when it comes to coveralls.

Anyway, the front hallway of the house is crowded with towels and boots and scarves and mittens and hats. Oh, spring, where art thou?

I'll think about it next October. For right now we are where we are. 

My eldest daughter and I were looking through my 1,981 pictures on my phone last night and found the beach ones from last summer. We looked out the back window and simultaneously said, "I wish we were at the beach."  At first I thought it would be cool if all that snow out there were sand, but then I realized that would be even worse to clean up than the snow. The pictures serve as evidence that sunny places do exist and that I have been to such places. I tend to start feeling like the snow is permanent and go into survival mode in the winter. Well, I lay in bed and think about what I would do in a post-apocolyptic world that was covered in snow. I don't actually do anything about it but I feel certain that I  would be proactive in the event of a real apocolypse. 

Or I would just lay in bed and wish I were at the beach.

We went to Dauphin Island, Alabama and I have to say I fell in love with the gulf. I wasn't so sure on the first night. We got to the house at about 9 o'clock and it was VERY dark. My darling husband insisted that we walk to the beach immediately rather than be sensible and wait till morning. So we trooped off with the four children and a flashlight that flickered at walked up a 42 foot sand dune. Once we reached the top we were rewarded with more sand. We could hear the ocean but its exact location eluded us. We continued walking in the direction of the surf sound despite the utter dark. We persevered through grass and bog and maybe a fight or two. I can only imagine what the people who were out crabbing thought of us 6 crabs who were not really speaking by the time they made it to the water's edge.

In the light of the day, though, I decided we had not made a wrong decision.

We woke early every day and rushed to the beach in fear that it would not be there. We claimed a spot on the beach as 'ours'. We found hermit crabs, shells, seaweed, and a dead shark. It was tiny, don't worry. Our first day out we were all a little timid, except of course for my husband, Lee, who is never timid. We hadn't been to the beach in 10 years and for the boys it was their first time in the ocean. I suppose I was the most reticent, waiting to get in until I was certain my children weren't going to drown or be drug away by a kraken.

By the end of the week, though, the ocean and I were good friends. I was even starting to have goofy thoughts about writing poetry equating the salt water to the amniotic fluid of my mother's womb. I stopped myself, though. You're welcome.

It truly was the Best Vacation Ever. The ocean reminded us that our little world is not all there is. The vastness of the water, the never-endingness of it, is comforting. (All beach pictures courtesy of Kiley Shepherd)


Now back to our regular scheduled programming:

My brother, Erik, refusing to let winter win. Photo courtesy of Julie Krieg. :)

 Remember, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!

Live life happy, friends.

Traditions

My visions of my future family always involved traditions. I did n't exactly know what those traditions would be, but I wanted things that we did every year to be really important.

So, we have Thanksgiving traditions like:

Roasting the turkey all night long on so that when we get out of bed we about want to clobber each other for a pinch.

Fires in the backyard (in a fire pit, thank you very much) that sometimes involve the neighbors calling 911.

Getting dressed up even though no one else is coming.

Using paper plates.  We are from Kentucky, yo.

In years past we've had other traditions that involved traveling all over creation and visiting family and eating multiple Thanksgiving meals, sometimes in one day.  That's the thing about traditions - they can cycle in and out. You make new ones, you alter them to fit your family, and sometimes you skip a tradition for a couple of years until someone says, "Hey, remember when we...".

This year I think my brother and I started a new tradition.  He and I are early risers and the rest of our people were sleeping in because they did not go to bed at 8:30 like I did.  Erik can be, shall we say talkative, and so I wanted to occupy his mouth so that he did not rouse any crankies from their beds too early.  He helped me make coffee.  We only had to recount how many scoops he had put in twice. He said he was going down to the basement and I could make him eggs.  He preceded to rock on to Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer until I flicked the lights at him, signaling that his breakfast was ready to be served.

While he ate we watched a Hallmark channel movie for the 45th time.

After eating eggs and toast we retired to my parents office where he sat in a recliner prepared to chill out with his iPad.  It's a little chilly in the room, and I noticed he had his feet covered. It looked pretty handy, honestly.  On closer inspection I realized that it was a sock hat and scarf.

"Is that what this for?"  I asked.

"Mmm hmmm. I'm pretty sure."

THIS is why I love hanging out with my brother.

I went to the laundry room to fetch him a blanket, and found an awesome dragon-print robe thingy that he said I could have.

Another reason that I love hanging out with him.  He totally gives me anything I want.

Then, because I felt that the robe deserved some martial arts action, I demonstrated my best moves for Erik.  He clapped and cheered and laughed until I told him my next move was to karate chop his hand drums in half.

"You're just kidding, Kara?"

"Yes, I'm just kidding, Erik."

Then he laughed, but the fake kind.

I laughed, the real kind.

So, this is my new Thanksgiving tradition. Erik and I will get up early and hang out and he'll watch me do martial arts and give me things that belong to my parents.

I think it's pretty perfect.

Happy Thanksgiving - go make some traditions!

Enjoy Life

 

Sometimes, when all you can think about is how messy your house looks, and how much you're messing up everything, and all that you've been procrastinating, and the pile of stuff on your dresser, and Christmas right around the corner, and ISIS, and deadly viruses on the loose... you just need to get away.

Get in your car and drive away from the house that's suffocating your family and forget what all the yelling was about, enjoy the drive, and soon you'll be enjoying each other. Get away from people, and the noise of the world telling you what you should be doing to enjoy life and just enjoy life.

  

 

 

  

They are much to pitied who 

have not been given a taste

for nature early in life.

~ Jane Austen ~ 

 

 

 

When through the woods

and forest glades I wander

and hear the birds sing

sweetly in the trees,

When I look down 

from lofty mountain 

grandeur and hear the 

brook and feel the gentle

breeze.

Then sings my soul,

my Savior, God to thee.

How great thou art!

How great thou art!

 

 Sometimes you need to remember how to smile.

Superpower

I am not, by nature, an organized person. It's been this way since I can remember it. As a child my mom would occasionally come into my room, sweep everything to the center and tell me that I had 2 hours to get it cleaned up before she came in with a snow shovel and a trash bag.

I still occasionally use this method in my own home today. In my bedroom.

Yet I try. I long to be organized, to know where everything is, for everything in our home to have a place, be it on a shelf in our playroom or at Goodwill. I don't care. I just don't want it on on the living room floor where I inevitably step on it in the dark of night.

So, I have been working on it. I have enlisted the help of super-organized friends, bloggers, and books. I have implemented systems of baskets, folders, and checklists. I am getting there.

However disorganized I may appear, though, I have a secret weapon. A tool even better than organization. I have a superpower.

I am able to give the location of miscellaneous items to children and husband in dire need during the most stressful of situations.

Child A asks where the striped pink sock is and I am able to answer "Under the far left cushion on the blue couch."

Child B asks if anyone has seen his red dragon and I quickly quip, "Behind my headboard.Right side. Under the pair of dark blue shorts also behind the headboard."

Child C laments that her piano music has forever disappeared. Mama to the rescue! "No, daughter, your piano music is under the stove."

Husband cannot find missing flip flop (he wears them year round, f.y.i.). No problemo! "In laundry room near the toolbox Lift up the yellow tablecloth. It's there"

Child D does not seem to care if things are missing. He happily uses any items as toys which is why I know to look for the mixers in his bed where he had been using them as a microphone.

My family is amazed, and frankly so am I. I can't seem to remember what day of the week it is but I know the general position of *most missing things.

Dear reader, you must be wondering, how can this woman of so little import have such a magnificent gift?

I know where the pink striped sock is because when I was walking through the living room I saw Child D playing tug-of-war with the puppy with a striped pink sock. Child D took sock and hid it under couch cushion. Boom. Instant recall.

I know where the red dragon is because as I came out of my bathroom Child B used dark blue shorts to catapult red dragon against my bedroom wall where it fell to its current location. Dark blue shorts were thrown as well to throw me off track. Child B quickly ran from room hoping I had no idea what had just happened. Boom. Instant recall.

I know where the piano music is because as Child C came in from lessons with her music half out of her bag she tripped and fell over husband's flip flop and piano music slid across floor to it's locale under the stove. Boom. Instant recall.

I know where the flip flop is because Child D was,again, playing tug-of-war with the puppy, this time with said flip flop. As I made my millionth trip to the laundry room Child D and puppy followed me. Child D was distracted by all of the shiny things peering out of the open tool box and then set flip flop down next to tool box. As I bent down, with laundry basket tucked under one arm, to pick up Child D with free hand a yellow tablecloth fell onto the tool box and flip flop. Boom. Instant recall.

This all happens Matrix-style in my head. So cool.

Who says you have to be organized?


*As long as the items don't belong to me.