Pieces of peace

1. Every Sunday, around 2:30.  Sunday nap. Weekly dose of peace and contented breathing, right there. *Sigh.* I feel peace just thinking about it. 

. . .

2. In August we took a short hike in the Adirondacks.  After a bit, we came to a clearing and the happy sound of water.  There had been some bickering as we climbed but now the kids scrambled out across the shallow falls, exploring and delighting in our find.  G and I sat at the edge, in the sun, quiet.  It's the spot I first think of when I think of a moment of peace from the year.  For that moment, we were together, the water was cool on my feet, and there was peace there in the pause between climbing up and hiking out. (And the entire upstate NY trip was a pause before the chaos of the fall schedule began, too.) 

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Best of .09: Day 8: Moment of Peace. An hour or a day or a week of solitude. What was the quality of your breath? The state of your mind? How did you get there?  Join in the Best of 09 challenge here.

High {in}fidelity

I must admit: I've been cheating on you, blog.

I've been tweeting.
I know, I know. I'm sorry!
It's not you, it's me. (And now the not-following-the-crowd-silly-snob in me insists on noting that I've been on Twitter for over a year, long before all of these recent press flurries about it. There, n-f-t-c-s-s Annie, are you happy?)

It's been difficult to write blog entries lately, for a variety of reasons, but somehow the little twitter tweets with their 140 character limit have been a welcome recipient of my spare thoughts (and much less time consuming!).

We just keep getting shorter and pithier, don't we? First letters, then phone calls, then emails, then blogs, then facebook, then twitter. With some texting thrown in there somewhere. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this progression (regression?) but I do know I've become a convert to this newest thing. I like knowing what others are up to. It satisfies the curious-about-life-and-others me. Plus you get information lightning fast.

Anyway, here are some pretty mundane descriptions of what I've been up to lately:

2. On the bright side=my migraine last night made me go to bed at 7:30 and now I feel pretty great.about 4 hours ago from TwitterGadget
3. listening to Sam practice the piano. It takes much longer to convince him to practice than it does for him to actually do it.about 21 hours ago from TwitterGadget
4. I'm so glad I didn't buy an iphone on Saturday...I want the new one on June 19! http://www.apple.com/iphone/5:36 PM Jun 8th from TwitterGadget
5. Just made all of the phone calls on my list (dr., dentist, plumber, eye dr., you name it I called them). Now I deserve a reward, right?3:44 PM Jun 8th from TwitterGadget
6. gym-->working at home-->listening to Little Joy-->walk dog-->lunch at neighborhood shop.11:33 AM Jun 8th from TwitterGadget
7. Dessert for dinner: what's not to like about angel food cake, lemon curd, strawberries and whipped cream?5:39 PM Jun 7th from TwitterGadget
8. already looking forward to my Sunday nap.7:16 AM Jun 7th from TwitterGadget
9. I'm pretty sure the lecture I just gave my daughter about not procrastinating was really aimed at myself.5:46 PM Jun 6th from TwitterGadget
10. this might be iphone day...3:16 PM Jun 6th from TwitterGadget
11. fresh mozzarella and tomato salad = lunch bliss1:53 PM Jun 5th from TwitterGadget
12. @bridgetrawlins congrats to him! that's huge.5:19 PM Jun 4th from TwitterGadget in reply to bridgetrawlins
13. Reading parts of Obama's speech to my kids and chatting about it. I love that we can have these conversations (@ ages 10, 13, 15).5:19 PM Jun 4th from TwitterGadget
14. Now there's a bad day at work for someone:http://bit.ly/J48MQ9:19 PM Jun 2nd from web
15. Stooping to McDonalds for dinner tonight. My apologies, Supersize Me book.6:43 PM Jun 1st from web
16. Off to meet my friend Jess at the lovely Nashoba Brooks Bakery. Nice way to welcome the weekend, even if it *is* raining.9:51 AM May 29th from web
17. taking Louie to the vet this morning. I'm not a fan of the "bringing a sample" part.7:44 AM May 29th from web
18. watching the national spelling bee with my kids. Cause we're cool like that.8:03 PM May 28th from web
19. Up way too early this morning. If you can't sleep at 4:30 a.m. does it still count as insomnia?7:32 AM May 27th from web
20. You know what's a good sound? Listening to your kids doing the dishes in the next room, dancing/singing to the TingTings & Paul Oakenfold7:56 PM May 26th from web
    
    

So do you twitter? 

If yes--> I'd love to follow you...just leave your [twitter]name in the comments. 

If you don't but are intrigued---> give it a shot!

If you don't and are repelled by the idea-->Just forget I said anything at all.  And sorry!--I'm sure my boring list of tweets did nothing to entice you.)

Witness to serendipity

Today I was meeting with a guy about a potential project.  We had never met but only spoken on the phone and via email.  After discussing lots of options for locations (suburbs? office? city? cafe?), we settled on a cafe near a subway stop in Somerville (right outside of Boston). Convenient and both of us knew where it was.

I got there first and scoped out all the tables.  I hate this part: trying to determine who is your meeting guy.  I know that (a) everyone in the cafe thinks this is like a meet-up from Match.com and (b) they are all watching to see if I get stood up. (C) I feel like I'm re-enacting Are You My Mother? in a post-modern, grown up version (Are you my meeting?  No?  Are you my meeting? No...okay, bye.)

After determining that every single man was NOT my meeting (so embarrassing),  I settled down to a table by the window and eventually let him find ME.  We had a great meeting, very productive, and all of the sudden he jumped up and knocked on the window at a passing pedestrian.  The guy outside did a double take and beamed with recognition.  Meeting guy jumped up, excused himself and said "that's my college roommate!" then dashed outside, where they hugged and talked for a few minutes and grinned at each other.

What are the chances?

~Meeting guy was in town from Chile, where he lives and works.  He's only in Boston once or twice a year.

~He hadn't seen his roommate for over 5 years and they had lost contact--no email, no Christmas cards, didn't know where the other was.

~Of all the places we discussed meeting, we chose this one place at this time where I chose a place by the window and his friend walked down the street into the "perfect storm" for crossing paths.

I think I was excited as meeting guy was (or almost) although  refrained from running out and hugging the guy myself.

I love serendipity!

(Also the movie Serendipity was cute.  Sometimes I think G looks a little like John Cusack.)

Hygge time

The kids in Tivoli Garden, Copenhagen, 2004

G and I are both Danish by heritage (let's not look too closely to see if we're related, ok?). G's Danish ancestry is a little more (air quotes) important (air quotes) since his g-g-g grandfather wrote the Danish national anthem (I know, can you believe I live with such a celebrity on a daily basis?). We celebrate the whole St. Lucia thing and are firm believers in the power of a good batch of aebleskivers (& I've got a killer recipe if you'd like to try them--thanks Jen J).  Greg speaks Danish, thanks to a couple of years living there.  That came in handy when we returned with the kids a few years ago to see the motherland (which is another post for another day).  

Basically, we're Danish wannabees. 

The Danes have a word--hygge (HOO-ga + also the adjective hygglig HOOG-lee)--to capture that whole concept of a warm, cozy time with friends and family and the feelings you get being together. It seems to guide their decorating, their priorities, and, really, their approach to life. I love it...I like to think there's a bit of natural hygge in my blood.   I think it's what I mean by Basic Joy: the calm, cozy, relaxed, simple, homey comfort of finding the goodness in moments.  (And now I'm humming the celebrate the moments of your life coffee jingle.) 

This time of year makes me feel particularly hygglig.  I was on the way home from school today and had a sudden rush of it.  Oh, yeah...it's autumn all right. I don't need to wait for the autumnal equinox to tell me it's time to cozy up and get comfortable--I had to come right home and get hygglig.  For me, that meant making taco soup, baking chocolate chip cookies*, lighting some candles, and putting on some good cozy music. The Danes are seriously on to something.

What makes you feel hygglig?  How do you create it?

_____________

Link love:

~ Hygge House blog by Danish expat wonder girl Alex Beauchamp

~ *the BEST chocolate cookie recipe.  Just try it.  They're divine...the best tasting cc cookie (and dough) with a great chewy texture inside and nice thin shell of shiny crispiness. I didn't believe it either but decided to try it--via Annie's eats, no relation :).

~ Camilla at home is an inspiring scandinavian home decor blog.  I love to see the images she chooses.  Very hygge.  She gives little English translations for her posts and she's got lots of links to other great scandinavian blogs.

Oh dear

This week we've spent our days on the beach of Bear Lake with Greg's family.  We bring food and drinks and chairs and a shade-giving fold-up gazebo thing, taking turns going skiing/riding/tubing on the boats.  The only thing missing is a bathroom.

Which is not strictly true, since there are three portapotties up next to the road.  But everyone does their darndest to avoid having to use them. Some people even take strategic wades out to waist deep water.  I'm not judging, just stating facts.

This morning Maddy had occasion to use the plastic green structures.  She trudged the 200 yards with her younger cousin, did what she needed to, then raced back to the beach just in time to catch the next boat for tubing.

 

Later, on the boat, she commented "Wow.  Those portapotties were really dirty and gross.  And the soap was all dried up."

It took me two seconds to realize what she was talking about.

"Maddy, that wasn't soap!"  {All of the adults try not to meet gazes and not burst out laughing.}

"What was it then?"

"Honey, it was the cake of sanitizer they put in the urinals.  Um, did you touch it?"

"yes."

She was mortified. {Do you think the fact that it's sanitizer cancels out the grossness of where it was or what has been sprayed on it?  I didn't think so.}

There's so much to teach your child to get ready to live in the world!  Telling time and wearing seatbelts and eating a balanced diet and building campfires and flossing. So, turns out I guess I forgot to tell my 12-year-old daughter about the urinal cakes.  I share this so you can spread the word and Maddy's mortification will not have been in vain.

But the uncles thought it was hilarious.

cousin Isaac and Lauren on the tubes