Memoirs of a Moorings

Music Washes Away...

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."  ~Berthold Auerbach

I'm big on music. I use it to calm me down, encourage myself, put a pep in my step or to set myself in a contemplative mood. When I bought my mp3 player, I was on a mission to put my entire CD collection on it. This is a step in the direction of living more simply. Almost there! But now what do I do with all these CDs?

There's talk that the CD is dying---though it still has a long way to go before it's dead. There was an article in Slate this week titled, "The CD Is Dead." The CD is almost dead in this household especially with my husband having an iPod

I saw a blog today that used old album covers as a design element. Hmm...good idea, but do I have enough space for hundreds of CDs? I'm sure they'd make for an interesting conversation piece as my musical taste runs the gamut from Lenny Kravitz to Marvin Gaye to Nicole Nordeman to Celine Dion to CeCe Winans to Everything But the Girl.......oh I could go on.

Anybody need some CDs?

Merely Inquisitive

“I have no particular talent. I am merely inquisitive.”  ~Albert Einstein

Growing up, one of my favorite books to read was "Harriet the Spy." I loved it because the main character was so much like me in that she was an 11-year-old aspiring writer who jotted down her observations on life in her notebook. She loved to watch people. To this day, I still love to sit and watch people, see how they live their lives, take a look at how their homes are decorated and observe what they put in their grocery carts. My husband calls it nosey. I simply call it inquisitive!

So imagine my joy when I stumbled across the Flickr group Corners of My Home. People post pics of their home for the world to see. Right up my alley! I'm always looking for new ways to decorate the house, make it more cozy, cute, quirky.

Now if I could find a site that showcases groceries and how people make those groceries into breakfast, dinner, etc for the week! Here's our groceries for the week. Delivered to our door courtesy of Albertsons. I love whoever invented the grocery delivery concept! Must have been a mother with a begging three-year-old.

My Hip Household

Apparently mudrooms (now known as "transition rooms") are all the rage. I read an article in the New York Times yesterday titled, "Oversize Mudrooms Tame Clutter At the Door." Turns out my household is hip--and we didn't even know it.

The first year we got married, my husband and I bought our first major piece of furniture together--our dining room table. I wanted glass, he wanted wood and we happened upon this beauty below at Plummer's Furniture that we both really liked.

With a move to a new house, we discovered that the table (which is conveniently located near where we enter the house) became a dumping ground, more like our own modern day mudroom. I soon decided we spent too much money on this table to cover it up with jackets, bags, mail, etc. So I began my search for a drop off space.

I finally found it. But who knew that when I created our little kindergarten cubby hole area that I would be part of a trend in housing. Wow! If you take a look at the NY Times article, you'll see that some of these rooms are huge. Boy, we Americans really know how to take it up notch.

They ended the article with a quote from mom who said, “There is status to having a mudroom,” she said, “because there is a status for a mom who works and has kids and can keep things calm. And a transition space contributes to calm.”

Now that's something I can definitely agree with!

And that space gets used. My husbands shoes usually fill up all the cubbies and when my sister comes to visit with her clutter, she knows right where to drop it. And if I need to remember something before I head out the house--I check the cubby area first!

Yeah, cubby hole calmness. There's nothing like it!

Sweet and Simple

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent.  It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction." ~E.F. Schumacker

I'm really on a quest to keep it simple--life that is. I used to be the queen of multi-tasking and that just won't do anymore. I'm burnt out on that. I want to be present in every moment. So that's been my quest for the past few months. So imagine my joy when I stumbled across Joanne Heim's book "Living Simply: Choosing Less In A World of More."  She offered simple solutions for keeping life at a manageable pace and offered some great ideas for how to live a sweet little life. If this is one of your goals, go get the book and check out her blog: The Simple Wife.

Simplifying for me has meant:
- cutting back hours at work so I can breathe a little
- leaving room in my schedule for leisure, time with friends, a day at the park with Rhyan
- saying no to things I don't really want to do
- cutting my magazine subscription list waaayyyy down!
- and using my crock pot like a mad woman so there's not the mad-rush to fix dinner after work.

And I'm enjoying the simple life. Tonight I got to "help" i.e. sit and watch Rhyan (with his skates on) put the United States puzzle together for the 127th time (he knows all the states already!), flip through the latest issue of Real Simple which just came in the mail today and I got to whip up a sweet little treat for a mid-week dessert.

Happiness Remembered

"Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember." -Oscar Levant

On Friday Rhyan announced at bedtime that he'd had a great day. The greatness can be attributed to the purchase of a new pair of skates--his first. Something so simple brought him an afternoon full of smiles. Wobbly legs making their way down the street. His warm, small hand gripping mine and soon letting go. Falling down and getting up again and again. The freedom of rolling down a small incline into mommy's arms. A great day indeed!

Earlier that day, we'd celebrated my sister's birthday. Her greatness came in a Tiffany box. Enough said. Lunch at The Stinking Rose (can't say yum enough) with a good friend. Nothing gets better than that.

No Place Like Home

"The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes."

-Harold B. Lee (1899 - 1973)

As a kid, I never understood other kids who didn’t want to go home. I loved home. Even now a perfect day for me is when the schedule is wide open and I can kick it at home. I’m working on creating a home that my husband and kids love to come to—a place where they can rest, be themselves and be wrapped up in love. It’s harder now that I’m working—but that’s still my life’s aim. To create a home that draws them in. I read somewhere that they key is to keeping kid’s out of trouble to have a home that’s warm and a family that is tight—that way they don’t go seeking a substitute in the streets. 
Yesterday, Rhyan and I stayed home and as he got dressed, he said, ‘I don’t want to go to school.”
“What do you want to do?” I asked him.
“Stay home with you Mommy.”
Perfect answer!
Now I'm not ignorant to think the answer will be the same 10 years from now. But it was the perfect answer for now. I just want this kid to know that every time he walks out the door, he's got a great home to come back to.

As I was driving this afternoon, I was listening to Fernando Ortega's sweet song, "A Prayer For Home." My sentiments exactly.

Prayer For Home
Grant them peace,
Most precious gift of all,
Keep the worried world
Far away and small.
When they return
May quiet fill their souls
Dearest Lord, keep them safe
Within its walls
May the stone
Be cool beneath their feet,

The canyon breezes
Circle soft and sweet.
When darkness falls
The stars and opal moon
Find them wrapped in each other,
Ever warm.

May it be a refuge for their love,
A harbor for their deepest prayer.
May they come to flourish in the grove,
Grow ever nearer to You there.

Many a burdened friend
In their company rises.
A heavy heart
Is soon released to fly.
May their table be blessed with laughter and with grace,
And by the comfort of kinship
Be surprised.

May the cold winds
Blow far from their front door.
May the winter rains
Never bring them harm.
May their hearth fires
Burn throughout the night.
Grant them sleep
Until morning's perfect light.

A Life Well-Lived

This morning I came across this heart-warming post called "Hello, My Father Just Died" about a son's tribute to his late father. It is theologian John Piper’s journal entry narrating his father’s death on Tuesday, March 6, 2007. When you have a few extra minutes check it out. I'm not one to blog about another blog post, but this one touched me in such a deep place. I only pray that my son will look back on my life and be able to say that I was a faithful and Godly mother.

In His Hands

I bought this book recently for Rhyan--who is a big reader already! I loved it for its illustrations and for its reminder of just how big God is. He's loving the book and has memorized every page. He especially loves singing the spiritual hymn that the book is based on. It delights me to see him singing, dancing and asking me why does God have the whole world in His hands. I tell him because God loves us and because He's a great big God who can do anything but fail. Our nightly readings are becoming a reminder for me as well. God is big and He's big in my life. All I have to do is look back and see what He's done and rest in the fact that He can deliver me again whenever I need him to.

"Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you? Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up."
- Psalm 71:19-20 (New International Version)

Through A 3 Year Old's Eyes

The life of a three-year-old is full of adventure.

"Funny" teeth provide loads of laughs.

Riding on Grandma's luggage during a weekend visit never gets old.

Ketchup makes everything taste better-even mandarin oranges!

Pier 1 can be fun-especially if there's sidetable/drum available.

Time with Daddy always gets a thumbs up!

After this weekend--this quote is going to become part of my new way of being.

"Walk in the rain, jump in mud puddles, collect rocks, rainbows and roses, smell flowers, blow bubbles, stop along the way, build sandcastles, say hello to everyone, go barefoot, go on adventures, act silly, fly kites, have a merry heart, talk with animals, sing in the shower, read childrens' books, take bubble baths, get new sneakers, hold hands and hug and kiss, dance, laugh and cry for the health of it, wonder and wander around, feel happy and precious and innocent, feel scared, feel sad, feel mad, give up worry and guilt and shame, say yes, say no, say the magic words, ask lots of questions, ride bicycles, draw and paint, see things differently, fall down and get up again, look at the sky, watch the sun rise and sun set, watch clouds and name their shapes, watch the moon and stars come out, trust the universe, stay up late, climb trees, daydream, do nothing and do it very well, learn new stuff, be excited about everything, be a clown, enjoy having a body, listen to music, find out how things work, make up new rules, tell stories, save the world, make friends with the other kids on the block, and do anything else that brings more happiness, celebration, health, love, joy, creativity, pleasure, abundance, grace, self-esteem, courage, balance, spontaneity, passion, beauty, peace, relaxation, communication and life energy to...all living beings on this planet."

Bruce Williamson, It's Never Too Late To Have A Happy Childhood, 1987