October 25, 2011

• nothing much

  It’s time to replace the Carrot Lovers with something new.  And I get lonesome for my blog when I haven’t posted in a while.  Kind of like I miss my sister Linda in Missouri when a whole week has gone by without a phonecall between us.

  But

  I don’t know how to gather my scattered thoughts together and blog properly. I’ve been rehashing this whole Facebook/blogging thing again, asking myself why I do it and what better things I could do with the time I spend here if I quit. The recent changes on  Facebook annoyed me (though how dare I complain, really)  and now there is hype about lack of privacy there, which worries me a little and sometimes a lot. Some of my good friends online have disappeared or are seldom seen. Some have gone to Google +.   I think that some of the bloggers are busy on Pinterest. Still others are just gone. And I miss them.

  And the pertinent question in it all? Will I be comfortable with my children spending as much time online as I do?  So far I tell them that I waited till I was 35 to join any kind of social networking and I expect the same from them.  But that won’t always work.  {Smile.}  (Not that it does now either.)

  And so the love/hate saga with me and my little online life winds on.  How can something seem so good and fulfilling one moment and so empty & useless the next?  Is it because I’m not using it properly?  Why can I not learn to be more scheduled and disciplined with my time?  And WHY do I have to keep circling back to this subject so often?  I’m sorry.

  I wonder at my need to share my take on life with everybody and his brother. I want to go deep, be spiritual, inspire someone. Most of all I want to lift Jesus high. But I realize more and more that I write for my own therapy & fun. It’s an outlet for all those mom-thoughts that yatter away in my brain. They used to stay there and simmer. Now I put them out where there is usually someone who relates to them or gives advice.  And I think that’s a good thing.  But sometimes it feels small and self-centered.

  And so…always there is that war for balance. There is that precious Time that I long to use in a wise way. There is LIFEhappening all around me, life that I want to embrace and enjoy.

  I could say a lot more. But it’s late. And the topic is too heavy for right now.

  So I’ll post a few pictures of happy around here:

  I just wish my bedhead looked this cute:

  

   

  　

  Tonight I went for a walk at sunset.  On the way back it was getting dark and the northern lights were shining in odd tints of green.  So beautiful.  There is no way that I would try capturing them with my camera.  But they are awesome.  GOD is awesome.

  

  My parents were here to visit last week from Lethbridge, Alberta, which is only 12 hours south of us.  Notice the emphasis on only.  My mom has the gift of gab.  She can make conversation with anyone anywhere.  I love this trait of hers.  She is also a masterful storyteller.  Here she is regaling the children with tales of her years of growing up and going to market. 

  

  Her own mom used to bake 40 cakes and 120 pies a week with her five little girls to raise.  And when you get Mom started on their pioneer days to the west, be ready for some entertainment. 

  Dad helped me clean up some flowerbeds and the trailing vine on our porch. He also dug the last of the carrots for us.  My dad is a gentle, peace-loving man who sees the good in everyone and reads incessantly.

  

  I hung jeans and towels on the line today with my winter coat on.  I could have used gloves and a toque as well.  But the sun was shining.  And it hasn’t snowed yet.  And my house plants make me glad.

  

  Below:   Bedtime.  Dan and five-sixth of the children listen to Straight No Chaser sing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

  

  Check out the song right here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41tgOaFXTWU  It is so much fun.

  Please excuse the shameless showing off on my part.  Here is Liesl singing a song for you:

  This second song is mostly for my sister Alta, whose family likes Raffi as much as we do.  Liesl sings Baby Beluga here.  And since I am feeling so full of links tonight I’ll post the lyrics and the original Raffi video as well.  Bear with me.  You don’t have to listen to it.  Of course.

  
  Baby beluga in the deep blue sea,
  Swim so wild and you swim so free.
  Heaven above and the sea below,
  And a little white whale on the go.
  
  Baby beluga, baby beluga,
  Is the water warm? Is your mama home,
  With you so happy?
  
  Way down yonder where the dolphins play,
  Where you dive and splash all day,
  Waves roll in and the waves roll out.
  See the water squirting out of your spout.

  
   

  Here’s Liesl:

   

   

  And here is Raffi!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dda1LhkVkhc&feature=related  Liesl loves Raffi.
  

  Below:  Patty the Stray has become part of the family.

  

  And the burning thoughts of my evening, kind of all intertwined with blogs I read and people I admire and my own place in the scheme of things:

  Most of the pairs of shoes in this house come from Walmart.

  I hardly know what Etsy and Anthropologie are. Except that the sweaters at Anthropologie cost $228. And a scarf I liked on Etsy was $62.

  We usually eat at McDonalds when we eat fast food.

  I have never been to Red Lobster or even Olive Garden.

  I am afraid of Pinterest.

  It makes me feel guilty to buy a $5 Starbucks coffee.

  Some weekends I spotwash my kitchen floor instead of mopping the whole thing.

  Andre sometimes wears the clothes he wore all day to bed and then wears them again the next day.

  Are we rednecks?  Or just cheap?  And why do I share senseless pieces of information like this?

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  Here is a very good post on social media:  http://thegypsymama.com/2011/10/on-resisting-the-itch-of-social-media/

  The best words here?  “He must become greater.  I must become less.”

  • 2:02 am
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