my journey, destination unknown
Mostly, this Christmas Day was another day for me. Not much celebrating or enjoying, but another day to clean and take care of everyone else… Phelix and I got up around 7 and went for a leisurely stroll around downtown Decatur. When we returned, Chloe was awake and desperately trying to get Rob up. I…
Year after year. I dread Christmas. I am the world’s WORST gift giver. This inadequacy of mine stresses me to the point where I want to curl up in a ball and not come out until next year. Today I realized that this really, really should not surprise me. I hate shopping of any kind…
Yesterday, Phelix and I drove Camille down to the Boys and Girls Club for her homeschool class. While the club is about two miles away and easy walking distance, I generally end up giving her a ride one way or the other. It is close enough that it only takes me about twenty minutes round-trip,…
As with last winter here in Atlanta, I fear the only snow that we are going to see this year is the fake kind. Maybe the weather will actually turn chillier at some point, but for now the girls and I have to accept this weird fake stuff. (Though Chloe, heading to Massachusetts for a…
Back in October, tired of staring at the parking deck while I worked, I rearranged the layout of our dining room. And I’ve modified that arrangement again already. I’m very happy with the new layout! We are much more likely to eat our meals at the table these days too! And now we’ve rearranged the…
Last week, I stopped by the police station after our high school tour, and I was presented with a new raincoat, jacket, hat, vest, and badge. Now that I graduated from the ‘citizens’ police academy”“, I can start to volunteer at many of Decatur’s events. I haven’t had radio or traffic direction training yet, but…
As I wrote a week or two ago, this year, I’m not writing the letter. I’ve done it for a number of years now. I do it because I so love reading letters from other families. More interesting than a store bought card or a photo card, at least for me. But this year I’m…
Tonight, Camille and I headed to Pine Lake this evening for the annual Cookie Exchange/Lighting of the Lake. Every time I pull into Pine Lake, I get this wonderful feeling of being “home”. It’s a lovely, special feeling. And, how wonderful to be welcomed back into the community with open arms, even though we have…
While my heart’s home is Pine Lake, tonight I was reminded again why I decided to move here. Camille and I headed out a little after 6pm and first stopped at CVS across the street to get some photos made. We then continued on down the block to Dancing Goats to pick up some coffee…
Where did the time go? I often look up after what I feel has been a few minutes to find that an hour has gone by. Where does the time go? What am I doing with it? Am I spending that much time looking at my “social networking”? What am I reading? How much time…
On Gretchen Rubin’s THe Happiness Project blog, she recently posted thw question A Very Big Question. What’s Your Answer?: 2013 is almost here (how did that happen, by the way?). If, by the end of 2013, you could magically change one aspect of your life, what would you change? What single thing would add the…
Somehow, I thought I was going to get “so much done” on my projects over the week, and I got almost nothing done. I didn’t read as much as I wanted to. I didn’t relax as much as I wanted to. I didn’t go to as many historical sites as I wanted to. Did I…
Thanksgiving dinner at the cabin will be on the table any minute now!!
I’m a little disappointed in myself as I look back on my photos from the past year. While I’ve taken a photo a day as I had challenged myself (I think I missed one day so far), I’ve come to rely on my iPhone and instagram far too much. I’ve allowed myself to become very…
Such a stressful one for me. I love the decorations, the special food, the lights… But I stress. So terribly that I lose sight of what it means to me and my family. This year, I’ve decided that there will be no “annual update” from us. Despite all the snark and ugliness, I *LIKE* getting…
I’ve never been shy about it. I don’t enjoy the food part of Thanksgiving very much. I don’t like the traditional foods – I don’t eat turkey. Cranberry sauce is not a “fruit” that I care to eat. Stuffing, even if vegetarian, is something I just don’t like. I eat the mashed potatoes and not…
The days are cooler. The trees are bright and colorful. I’m ready to make soups and teas and curl up under a blanket with a good book. And to possibly take up knitting once again. But it is too late for autumn. Thanksgiving is a week away. And thus the Christmas rush will be upon…
Last year, we moved from a great big house to a tiny (for Atlanta) apartment. In the process, we got rid of half or more of our stuff. And it felt GREAT! Somehow, I had assumed that by getting rid of all that stuff, I’d no longer have to spend hours cleaning up after people,…
I work from home. Thus, I’m home day in and day out. When I do get out of the house, it is to go to appointments, run errands and be “mom’s taxi”, things that I don’t enjoy very much overall. I have come to equate leaving the comfort of home with desperately trying to get…
For better or worse, I have lived by a to-do list for the past 5+ years. My list is long and evolves very slowly. I have daily items, one time items and then longer term items all crowding my list. While I try to remember to make sure some of the one time and long…