Day 22: Trees

Day 21: Pretty Pattern

I started school today!

I'm going back for a BA in Art...and since I didn't have any pencils to sharpen since "first days" are more about showing up and reading the syllabus...go figure...so I had energy to just worry about what I was going to wear.

Found this shirt at Plato's Closet:

and wore its flowy wonderness today to wick off the sweat from walking from the car to the building. All of 100 yards.

Hooray for school! And geeking out!

I just want to note that in walking from the car to class, I passed a lot of students HALF MY AGE who had long bangs and didn't move their arms while walking, girls with t-shirts on that were too small, everyone talking on their cell phones, boys in button-up polos and khaki shorts coming out of buildings with signs that screamed GO GREEK, pink-haired freshman going into the art building. Also, there is no homework on the first day.

I've got a lot to learn.

Peter Piper Picked a Peck...

A few weeks ago, Henry and Svea and I were practicing tongue twisters...I had no idea it would be so funny.

Day 20: What I Read

I rely on context to let me know if it's "what I read" in the past tense, or "what I read," like, right now.

So I've read a lot of things. Past and present.

On a daily basis I read the following:

- my text messages (kinda. when I can figure them out. some get hidden.)

- my kids' minds

- my husband's calendar

- the clock

The books I'm working through are as follows:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

My sister lent me this book and I am reading it so slowly because I do not want it to end. Neda, have you read this???

Omnivore's Dilemma

Neda gave me my very own copy. I read a chapter and am paralyzed. Once that paralysis wears off, I analyze my groceries and read another chapter. Paralyzed again. It's going on 2 years of trying to finish this book. I chew on every word. Literally. I need to finish it so I can start In Defense of Food.

In the Midst of Chaos

I'm underlining the stew out of this one. Mer, you need to read and get back to me ASAP. All you other parents out there, would love some input too. Lauren R. and Lauren S. - that means YOU.

Simply In Season was a gift from Barbara and sometimes I take it to bed with me to study which veggies are coming up with which season. Thank you Barbara! That kale and potato soup is rocking my world.

Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life on recommendation from my friend Kimberly. I am loving it and have recommended it 2 times already this week (that's YOU, Meredith and Alicia.)

Seams To Me

Is it possible for me to have a post and not include Anna Maria Horner, the ultimate muse? My sister lent me her copy and I am working my way through it, learning things I wish I had known years ago...thank you Mer and AMH!

Off to read, yawl...

Day 19: Where I Slept

Yummy squishiness. I can hardly make it up without crawling back in.

Day 18: In My Bag

Nothing too incriminating...but nothing at all exciting, either:

Day 17: On The Shelf

Where she shouldn't be...

Day 16: What I Ate

You know, I really thought cashews up close would look tasty...but these just look gross.
What can I say?
I eat a lot of cashews. I love them. Raw are my faves, but I'll settle for roasted and unsalted. A big bucket from Target, thankyouverymuch.

Day 15: My Shoes

These blue shoes are the ones I wish I wore every day. I bought them for a special wedding. They are gooooood dancing shoes.

However, for Reality I wear these Reef flip flops a lot. A LOT. And I step in gum in the grocery store parking lot (you can see the threads I can't get off of the heel end. Bummer.)

Day 14: Flowers

I'm short on flowers.

Unless I purchase them.

But here is a view of my garden on a cliff. There were a few flowers before the cucumbers became cucumbers...and the squash were nothing but flowers and never fruited.

That hydrangea in the foreground rose in foliage up to my shoulder...but took the year off from producing blooms. Bummer.

The cherry tomatoes and Big Boys were dee-lish once they got going.

Next weekend, we'll rework the compost in and get ready to plant some lettuce and cauliflower.

Hooray for geeking out over vegetable gardens!

Oh - and to be more of a geek:

You see that birdhouse on the corner of the cinderblock rectangle? I put that there with sunflower seeds in it so the birds would eat them (the squirrels couldn't jump to it, you see) and then the birds would "pass" most of the seed into the compost pile at the bottom of that bird feeder. Once the seed passes through the bird (which has no sphincter and is why it poops wherever whenever - like on your arm when you are closing the car door) and lands in fertile soil, it is more ready to begin its growth into a flower. So cool, hunh?

Day 13: From a Distance

Kids of all ages hunting fiddler crabs in Savannah and few weeks ago...more on the Savannah trip to come!

Day 12: Close Up

My favorite cowlick alfalfa sprout ever.

Day 10: Something I Made

I cut out a bunch of monster softies out of felt and fleece the other night and they are coming along slowly.

Booger happened so fast...

These two have faces and stuffing so far.

They need something though...any suggestions?

And they need names...any suggestions?

Day 11: Something Fun

When Corinne does a "whammy" at her sister's birthday party!

Whenever Corinne gets excited or sees someone she loves, she opens her fingers wide and freezes her face and shakes it back and forth really quickly. We call these "whammies." Svea did them too, but she clenched her fists in the air.

The subtle differences in how we show excitement really sets the moment, don't you think?

Day9: Faceless Self Portrait

The past few years I have been very interested in knee socks. I wish one of the daily assignments was a knee-sock portrait.

The past few years I have also been interested in getting all of my clothes and Brian's to fit into the closet we share. That requires culling unnecessary items. On a regular basis.

And after he went to college, then seminary, then was a youth director at one church, then worked at one college, then another college - he acquired a LOT of t-shirts. A lot.

I wanted to practice a t-shirt quilt for him on some of the earlier shirts so I could do a better one on the t-shirts that are really important to him. And I didn't want it to be stiff. I wanted a super soft, worn-in, full-of-memory lap quilt for football watching.

Finished it today! Rock concerts, fraternity parties, summer camp, Alabama script A's - it's all there, people.

And I was totally wearing knee socks.

Day 8: Technology

You may see in the background that there is TV, a Wii, a cable box, a PS3, some remotes, various cables, and in the foreground, the MacBook.

All the toys. The technology.

At the end of the day, the message remains the same.

Day 7: Something New

I tried I new recipe today from this cookbook that my sister-in-law Amber gave me:

It's a Buttermilk Curry that I poured over Jasmine rice, but I substituted yogurt for the buttermilk. I used butter instead of ghee and left out the green pepper. It was a great lunch. But I like weird food. And had been experiencing some Vata imbalance.

Yum - MY.

Day 6: Childhood Memory

Today's assignment is a Childhood Memory...and it has been a struggle.

Just like yours, my memory works either in snapshots that recall stories, or in movie clips.

I just couldn't decide what to choose...

My dad's dad was named Henry Grady Jackson and my 7yo Henry is named for him. In some freaky ways, the Henry's are a lot alike: they are great drawers, they love sports, they are picky and quirky, they enjoy people (women) waiting on them, they have a distinct eye for style, they are particular about personal space, they have insane good luck, and they think too much.

I make all of these comparisons while I am clear that I never knew Papa J (Henry Grady) very well. While his health was good, we were allowed around him with strict boundaries. Later he had Parkinson's disease, and as it progressed, Papa J softened and told us more stories about his childhood and WWII and architecture school. Mama J filled in the gaps, but the facts came from Papa J.

I remained in awe of him, as I was dutifully taught to do as a child, and loved feeling that awe turn to respect as he grew older and let us know him better. I am so proud my first born bears some of his name.

Most of my memories of him are snapshots.

My first memory of all was right before I turned 3 years old and I got to ride in the moving truck with Papa J to the top of the hill on our new street so he could turn the big truck around at the top and have it facing the correct direction to unload our possessions to our new house.

At this point, I want to claim that this is my memory. I am not sure of its accuracy. According to my dad and family systems theory (I think), all memory is construct. Duh.

That phrase, "all memory is construct" is so annoying to me because what isn't construct? Experience of time? Interpretation of reality?

I don't want to argue the truth (or Truth) in an experience of reality. I just want to live it, learn from it, and experience grace.

So here are my graceful snapshots that I need you to visualize in lieu of actual photos:

Papa J always clapped his hands when he saw his grandkids. He clapped them into a closed-fingered clasp - as if he were catching lightning bugs.

Then he'd bend down and hug us.

Papa J always had a pocket full of change so he could give each of us grandkids a quarter on Sunday mornings. We'd take our quarter and ride the elevator downstairs to get a 6 ounce (that's small) Sprite from the old school vending machine. Then we'd ride the elevator back upstairs and check with Mama J that she had put money in the basket next to the doughnut boxes so we could get a doughnut.

I would get a cake doughnut and eat around the sides (like an apple) then peel the "skin" out of the middle, then put the whole white cake part in my mouth quickly because it was time for Big Church.

When we got to the sanctuary (a.k.a. Big Church) Papa J would already be in the balcony. He would sit on the end of the pew so he would have to stand up or turn funny so we could get past him. I remember thinking that if I were sitting on the end, I would have to move to the middle of the pew. But he gets to stay on the end. My mom said it was because he had longer legs; he needed to stretch them into the aisle. Whatever.

By that point I was focused on the fact that Mama J had mints in her purse - the white kind with the blue circle in the middle. If I doodled on my bulletin long enough, then she would pass the whole roll down the pew, and back.

Sometimes Papa J would hold my hand in church - not in a closed-finger clasp, but with threaded fingers. The way his fingers threaded mine hurt and made the tips of my fingers fall asleep, but I never pulled away or said anything because I realized this was his way of reaching out, connecting, and I didn't know how to process love languages at that age. But I recognized it was important.

Sometimes after the eternally long Big Church service, we would go to Mama J's for lunch. Here is where my memories of Papa J stop.

Many of my memories of Mama J begin here: her fretting over starting the rolls cooking on time, getting the casseroles out in the right order, who was sitting where, who would clean up, etc.

Papa J retired from these fretful deliberations to his chair and remote control. And I knew not to interrupt, somehow.

I cherish what I do know of him, especially when Henry and Svea ask questions.

I wish I had more pictures, but am satisfied tonight with my constructed memories of how he shaped my Sunday mornings.

Day 5: Someone I Love

This is hard. In that good kind of way.

I could go all cheese ball like my, ahem, sister-in-law did and talk about how much I love my husband. Which I do.

Or I could plow through all the hilarious pictures I've been taking of Corinne lately, like when she rode Patches in her Ninja onesie.

Or I could talk about how proud I am of Henry for earning a yellow belt in karate this past Monday. Os.

But since my 5 year old will be 6 in a few days, I'll let her take today's photo challenge.

I love you, Svea!

Terri and Michele and Amanda's photos are on their blogs too! (KB's link is above)

Anyone else?

First Day of School, Yawl!

First and second grade - here we come!!!

Day 4: Favorite Color

So my all-time favorite color is red.

I even wanted a red wedding dress. That got veto-ed, so now my thoughtful mother-in-law gives me a gift each Christmas that is the color red. Hat, scarf, earrings, tea pot, butter dish, etc.

I love these red things because she remembers what I wanted...even though it might not have been something she would have chosen...

That's love.

But in the past few years - really, since I had Svea 6 years ago - I have loved colors that seemingly don't match. I type "seemingly" because you don't think they should match but when you see them together, suddenly you hear choirs of angels singing, your internal organs reorganize, and you realize the day is going to be okay.

No one does this better that Anna Maria Horner.

Here are some of her scrap fabrics that my sister made into a pillow for me and a ball for Corinne. When I need a favorite color nowadays, I go to her eclectic, mismatched palette and soak it all in.

It feels so good.

Day 3: Clouds

The clouds were uneventful and uninspiring today in these parts.

So I dug deep in the iPhoto cache.

This is cheating...because Svea took this photo...but that's okay, right?

Love them clouds behind Corinne and Daddy.

All Three

Before the Rehearsal Dinner for a cousin's wedding last Thursday:

Day 2: What I Wore

This December, Brian and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage. I always thought by 10 years, I would have to buy all new dishes (which I don't need to do at all and I don't know why I thought 10 was a magic number for new dishes) and that I would unseal the preservation box that holds my wedding dress and I would put it on and Brian and I would dance in formal attire.

Three kids later...meaning expanded rib cage and extra back fat...may prevent actually zipping up the dress, but I'm still contemplating shaking it out for a try.

30 Days...

My dad sent me a link to this awesome blog with this awesome idea.

It's awesome.

I can't stop saying awesome.

So I wrote one of my sisters-in-law and told her she HAD to do this with me. Her pics will be posted on her blog here.

So now I'm thinking of so many people I want to tell you HAVE to do this with me (even if you don't have a blog , you can upload to Facebook, or just email the pics).

So...Meredith, Mom, Neda, Bess, Angela, Denise, John, Barbara, Carroll Lane, Amanda, Michele, Terri, Joyce, Theresa, Stephanie, Julie, Jennifer, Trista, Emily, Eve, Michelle, Liz, Alicia, Annette, Rachel, Rachael, Stacy, Amanda, Catherine, Jennie, Jesika, Heidi, Angela, Kristen, Sylvia, Cheryl, Katie, Kimberly, Mary, Darcey, Dianne, Amy, Maryclare, Lauren, Alex, Amy, Carole, Cathy, Christeen, Mimi - WHADDYASAY?

Let's get started!

After many attempts today at a self portrait, I resorted to hilarious time on the couch with Svea and Henry tonight as we took distorted pictures of ourselves in Photo Booth.

Here's my final self portrait, with a little twist:

Here are some of Henry and Svea's self portraits:

And Henry lost a tooth today while eating lunch! Can you tell?

Looking forward to tomorrow...for "What I Wore."