Snippets from my brain

Sometimes I wish I could have a different blog for every one of my interests--a design one, a kinda funny observations one, a more serious writing one, a photo one, a journal of our lives and happenings one, a parenting one (okay, I do sort of have that), etc. Instead I end up with this goulash of a site--everything just thrown in here. Sometimes--like today--it's all a jumble in one entry. Buckle your seat belts, folks, here we go...

Greg's Grandpa Lee sings "You are my Sunshine" to all the babies in the family, so it's become something of an anthem for us. (Although I have to stifle a grin when he gets to the line "my only sunshine" because, clearly, he has more than one sunshine in the world. He's very generous with doling out his sunshine status. Even inlaws like me are eligible!)

So when I found this handmade sign (at Yeehaw Industries, via the enchanting Snippet and Ink) I knew it must be ours. And that's all I have to say about that.

* * *

I just heard that An Inconvenient Truth will be made into an opera. REALLY, Al Gore? Are you sure you want to do that? Sounds like making a mystery novel from the tax code. Not sure how powerpoints will be translated into song. Not sure I even want to find out.

* * *

Our Memorial Day backyard party was great. Sadly, I took no pictures to document the event but trust me, it was a gorgeous day with a fun group of people. Kids played wiffle ball and on the trampoline, grownups enjoyed laughing and talking. People brought great food and we sat around and ate it until we were full and then we went ahead and ate it some more. Party #6 this year! It's my favorite new year's resolution by far. (But still not totally easy for me. This is the philosophy behind the resolution: I was an anxious hostess whenever I did a party so I decided to do a bunch of them to get over my anxiety and enjoy it. I'm getting there!)

* * *

I'm spending much of my life in the kitchen, the only room where the puppy is allowed to roam. He misses me when I go elsewhere in the house (I am his sunshine, his only sunshine, please don't take my sunshine away) so I mostly camp out here. Working. Folding laundry. Listening to NPR. Reading. Cooking. Eating. Eating again.

Note the curtain tied up off the floor so he doesn't playfully tug it down, the crate where he ostensibly sleeps, the various chew toys and towels on the floor. The chair in the foreground is next to a big long box blocking the entry to the rest of the house that we all have to climb over to get in and out of the kitchen. See the dog sleeping directly beneath the chair where I usually sit. Notice the open door to encourage house training and going uno and especially dos outside. So that's the miniature vision of our everyday life. He's cute but he's kind of taken over around here.

Meet the pup

Here's
Louie (as in Armstrong)/Theo (Thelonius)/Quincy (John Adams)/
Truman/Hank/Otis/Edmund
Simon/Charlie/Edward/Jasper/George/
Scout/Hugo/Waldo/Henry/Ralph
Pax/Dill/Huck/Ernest

If we were in a hospital with a baby,
the nurses would be giving us huge pressure to
decide already!
for birth certificate purposes.
Soon.

He is a sweetheart.
Already paper trained by the breeder (I know!)
Calm and snuggly when he's inside,
Prancy and funny when he's out playing.
So far no whining or crying,
although I think he misses his brothers.
{Keep your fingers crossed for us tonight...
we're doing the crate by the bed.}

I'm exhausted.
A little like bringing home a baby
without the post-birth aches and hormones.
{But just a little. Babies are babies, dogs are dogs.}
Truly, wish me luck for tonight.
I'm kinda dreading it.

A girl can dream (can't she?)

I grew up going to my grandparents' cabin in the canyon. We had the blue one halfway up the road, the one with the monkey bridge over the creek, the rope swings, the hammock, the tree house, the profusion of geraniums, the loft with nine beds, the woodcarved phrase over the mantle Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott (A Mighty Fortress is our God). My grandpa knew how to create a magical spot, that's for sure. In the summer all the cousins (and many second cousins in nearby cabins) would gather and play endless games of War and Kick the Can and go barefoot and tube in the creek and do what kids do when they have time and wide open space.

Every once in a while I indulge in dreams of establishing our own family getaway, somewhere where our kids can bring their kids and the magic can continue for a few more generations. I admit I teeter on the line between wishing and...oh, coveting. Envying.

For a couple of years I've been watching a farmhouse for sale in a favorite corner of Vermont. It's not a cabin but it's got space and poTENtial, my friends! Yes, there is the reality about probably not being able to afford a whole other mortgage. Pshaw. Details. And the fact that it's in pretty bad shape and would need tons of work. Perfect, I say!

So here it is:

an 1830s farmhouse with a creek on the property

5 bedrooms
many fireplaces
views of the Green Mountains
and a barn (the better to hold parties with, my dear)

the price tag (a low-for-here $245,000) tells me there's much work to do

but think of the before-and-after photos!

and can't you just see the kids tubing down the creek?

My heart sank today when I did my weekly check of the property and saw someone has made a deposit. Shoot. I hate it when my imaginary future is taken away from me. Keep your fingers crossed for somebody's cold feet...

uncurbed enthusiasm

photo by Phil Stern, 1952, Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

I have this postcard on my bulletin board
love the enthusiasm
the go-for-it-ness
the absolute
commitment
to hitting the note
& to being in the moment.
Sing it, Louis & Ella!
I don't get the sense
they're too worried
or caught up in
how they look,
what people think,
will this be silly?...
just singing.

***
I used to admire
cool (hello, high school)
that kicked back,
back-row opposite of
eager, front-row enthusiasm
but now my heroes are
interesting, engaged people
who are passionate about what they do
who open wide
and belt it out loud
(and end up cool anyway).
***
Like...
Louis Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Leonard Bernstein
Sam
GB Hinckley
Esther Petersen
Steve Carell
Matt
Madeleine Albright
Nikan, Sam's piano teacher
Anne Lamott
Anna Quindlen
Grandpa Pax
the guy who bags my groceries with gusto
my kids' 5th grade teacher...
{feel free to jump in here with more}
***
I'm a little stingy with my own enthusiasm
but I'm trying to be better
especially since it drives
my hyper-coolness-aware
daughter
crazy
and that's kind of fun
{at what age does enthusiasm
come back out of teenage hibernation?}
***
Believe me, I know it happens to the best of us
When I was young, I had enthusiasm to spare:

just give me a swing

or a hula hoop
But then, the hibernation occurs...

Family vacation? Not a bit of enthusiasm to be found.
But I will humor you with a photo.

And Grand Canyon? Please.
To show excitement would be weakness.
Don't bore me with your natural wonders
and your fantastic vistas.
Excuse me while I avert my eyes
from such enthusiastic nature.
Just give me my walkman
and my 80s wayfarer sunglasses &
I'll call you in 20 years when
I get my enthusiasm back.

Show and Tell Wednesday

It's Wednesday, my favorite day, and I feel like some show and tell. So here's a look at another corner of my world, one of my favorite rooms & where I tend to head when I have some time. We made one of the bedrooms into a project room for everyone (but when the kids are at school it's mine! all mine!).

^

We call this room the studio,
which is really kind of pretentious
but it makes me feel all creative and writerly
so that's what we call it.

^

Here's where we keep all the supplies:

paper, stickers, markers, photos, stamps, etc.
The kids do homework here or cut up paper into tiny, tiny bits.
They love it but they're not all that great at cleaning them up.
(I picked them up today so Stie wouldn't feel compelled to fly across the
country and vacuum them all up. Hey...that's a good idea!)
Pictures leaning on the walls because
I can't actually decide where to put them
but they make me happy the way they are.

^

We got a couple of round tables
so the kids could do homework cafe-style
or leave out a game of chess or scrabble.
The wall over there will hold a big bulletin board.
Once I decide which fabric to use to cover it. Sigh. Decisions.

^
Here's my desk.
(Hi neighbors!)

^

my creative sister made the photo mosaic of me and my parents
from a childhood picture taken in Peru
I love this photo of Sam and pumpkins

^

a small wooden tray
holding a jumble of photos and postcards and quotes I love

^
Stack of books I love
because I'm trying my hand at writing stories
and sometimes I just need to be reminded how the masters do it
Paper box holding paper clips, etc.
Glass of water because I'm shunning Diet Coke
from my life right now. Sadly.

Work counters, white tables, chair, lamp, rug, and desk from Ikea. Other things just picked up here and there.