I’ve been focusing on preparing food, really good food, to serve my family. It’s gone almost this quickly, so I keep cooking nearly every day, every day, every day. It’s a big part of my life. Good job, me.
Category: Home
8 years ago today
Eight years ago today I walked into this house for the first time. This is how it looks this afternoon.
Over the course of eight years, we have painted almost every surface, ceilings, walls, doors, and trim. Only two weeks ago, Daniel and I finished painting the last two interior doors. Every plumbing fixture has been replaced, and we have added a water softener, radon fan, and humidifier. We’ve planted seven trees. We’ve lived, studied, practiced piano and violin, graduated from high school and college, moved away from home, gotten married, served a mission, hosted meetings and gatherings, and knelt most nights in prayer from this home base. It doesn’t look like a HGTV home and I love it.
Odds and Ends
This was the week we were to be in Washington DC with our boys. I can’t say I wish we were there, based on current events, but we will make it back someday. If I were there in happier circumstances, I would sit on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a long time and seek some wisdom. I would give quiet pause to those represented by monuments and memorials. I would savor this view of the Potomac from Mount Vernon, and express gratitude for the founders’ sacrifices which we should honor, and for their vision we are still working to realize. Since I am home, I am doing other work to understand the issues of this time.
Last week, the power went out for an hour in the evening, just as I was about to cook something. I was so bothered by this inconsequential, silly inconvenience, and I can’t explain why this little thing toppled me when I have been adapting and adapting just like everyone else to changes of plan.
I realized I needed to make a list of joyful things I could do when plans fall through, as they continue to do. Most ideas didn’t require electricity or money. I have discovered that I have many projects waiting in boxes and shelves, sown with great intention, but without a harvest. I try to do a few joyful things each day, but really, being able to stand and make dinner, or clean a bathroom is a blessing after being out for so many weeks. I do miss conversations with women, yet I can’t make myself do anything about it, and when I am with people, I wilt. I am out of practice and out of so many people’s lives. I am doing the best I can, just like you, although our lives might look different. Here are two small things from my joy list:
Lights in the windows
I have kept the twinkle lights in our windows since Christmas time, one of the best purchases I ever made. Slowly, I pick up projects again, and watch some movies in the long afternoons. Embroidery, simple coloring projects, and reading are also ways I pass the time, and it’s better when someone plays the piano in the background. The pianist in the video is Timothy. This scene is one of my versions of heaven.
I awake to morning light dancing through the leaves of trees. I end the day with small lights against dark sky, all good things.
April 2020 Snapshots
I didn’t post much about family life in April. Days are smudged in my memory, all about the same. Sundays we gathered for dinner and to watch old home movies. Richard worked an unconscionable demand of hours, mostly from home, thankful to be employed. I have watched the clock for entertainment since my surgery, content to do almost nothing. We watched a movie almost every evening. Daniel has been a primary care giver to me, and we have had some good talks. Tim has worked outdoors, mowing and aerating, and has been faithful in completing school work. I learned quickly that I should not ask him about school. He manages his life like a boss. Mark was most content to be home, with days uncluttered by middle school nonsense. He talks through each assignment aloud, frustrations and triumphs sounding in my ears. We have eaten more takeout than usual, hoping to keep our favorite restaurants alive. Also, friends have provided a lot of meals since my surgery. I finished reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy and watched the movies. That was a good choice. April was the best and the worst. I know you can relate.
Pandemic Entertainment
Our cute neighbors, the Zeigler family organized some entertainment for our culdesac last week: fire dancers! I watched from indoors, and could see my neighbors, gathered as families in their yards to enjoy the Isolation Burn Angels perform. It was so weird and fun.
Some Things I Love
This week, as I ran errands and shopped, I was asked a few times if I was planning to do something fun. Yes! We celebrated Richard’s birthday with food, food, presents, food, and desserts. At Costco, someone asked if the next big birthday was the big 4-0, and since the scales have tipped toward 50 for me, this miscalculation has embedded itself in my heart and grown into many private smiles. I love celebrations with family, the preparation, anticipation, and the memories.
And, if you want to see Paige’s 8 beautiful paintings inspired by The Secret Garden, her show is coming up soon. I love seeing Paige’s illustrations.
As for the Daniel, he had the opportunity to meet Elder Uchtdorf and shake his hand last week, and he was invited to share his testimony in Stake conference. He is moving to a new apartment that has hot water. He has been busy assembling emergency kits for each companionship in the mission. With summer holidays coming to an end, they expect more protests and violence in his area, but the kits are more in preparation for earthquakes. He is teaching Rosa and others with his companion who is from Canada. I had my first bad dream about his safety, and I can’t hear The Prayer (Bring Him Home from Les Miserables) or Danny Boy without tears. Still, I love being part of a missionary family.
One thing I do for my calling at church is teach Primary children during ward conferences. I made this visual aid for last Sunday to teach about Isaiah’s “Mountain of the Lord’s House” and it was a lot of work, but the kids really loved the doors and windows. They also loved talking about how temples are like mountains, places to feel peace, quiet, and see beauty and light. I also loved the comment about mountains being places of adventure. I think learning of God’s ways is one of the great adventures of life. I love what I learn as I serve in Primary.
Not much to say but hello
Hello, friend! I have been so cooped up this week, hiding from the snow and working on the nest. I needed to make a path through the craft room so I could reach my sewing table. I *think* I am ready to put together a quilt. I am reading a long biography of George Washington and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I can see the floor of every room in the house but one. I am writing a lot. The Valentines Day decorations are up, and the pops of red on my shelves make me happier than any other color. See, not much to report. But I think of you and this makes me smile.
Thoughts on a Snow Day
The snow day, and its limitations and opportunities, has brought out different things in each of us. I pull into my familiar routines of comfort, warmth, and words. Richard makes gallant efforts every few hours to push the next 8-12″ off the driveway since the last pass. Tim has been gone since 5:45, earning money shoveling snow. Mark, feeling caged and frustrated, made toffee, then a gourmet lunch, and settled in for an afternoon of television. Whenever he surfaces, it is to complain how snow days seem like they will be great until they happen. Tim is driving our best snow vehicle, but we have no plans to go anywhere in this weather. I just watched the mail carrier’s truck fishtail out of the circle, despite chains on his wheels. No mail today. When storms like this come, it is often 24 hours before the plows can reach our home. 18″ of snow fell today. I will feel better when Tim makes it safely back to the driveway. I will make warm, starchy comfort food and keep alternating between two delicious books.
We had a video call with Daniel today, in a new area with a friend assigned as his new companion. Challenges include crime, no hot water, very high temperatures and no wind, and an empty area book. He smiles and smiles while telling me this, and I know he’s having the best time.
The hills in joyful noise
Autumn has felt compressed this year because of late colors, vibrant, short-lived, and arriving in unison. There was no gradual unveiling, with colors neatly taking turns on the mountains. This year was a carnival, chalk color run, and confetti parade with all the players on stage at once. Life is like that sometimes.