First Daybook of the New Year

/

Outside My Window

It's damp and cold and getting dark. Lazy Sunday afternoon weather.

I am Listening to

Karoline. Always to Karoline. She's incredibly loud.

I am Wearing

Jeans, slippers and that same old, gray cashmere sweater (it survived being accidentally thrown in the wash--a little felted but not terrible).

I am so Grateful for

~email, Facebook, cell phones, and Skype; I do recognize how much easier it is to stay in touch than it was even a generation ago.

~safe travel

~sweet time together as one big family and sweet memories to warm my January

~a chance to rest and relax with my husband at home

~dinner with friends

~a reassuring conversation with Christian and Patrick when I started my inevitable, year-end self-doubting session

~Karoline and Sarah Anne and the perpetual good cheer and joyfulness of blond babies

~watching how those very little girls warm the twilight of Mike's parents' lives. Everyone should have little girls in the twilight.

 

I'm Pondering

My past, O Lord, to Your mercy;
my present, to Your love;
my future to Your providence.

– St. Padre Pio

 

I am Reading

One Thousand Gifts on Kindle

Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace in hardback (but there is a Kindle version of that one, too).

 

I am Thinking

Way too much. I am sad. There's no doubt about it. It was really hard to see Patrick leave today. We still don't know when we'll see him again. I've heard from other moms who understand, who empathize from the bottom of their hearts and share similar experiences. And I've heard from mothers who say it stings for a day or two and then they just move on, blithely going about whatever it is they do. They are almost unmoved by emotions that seem to nearly drown me. And then there are the mothers who tell me about the happy dances they do when their kids move out. 

I am thinking--wondering--what the difference is. Why the difference?
 

I am Creating

Virtual pages. This week will be about documenting our celebrations, so please bear with me as our family's Christmas bursts all over this space. Still--we have more to record and we're moving rathing slowly on that project. Life is happening faster than we can record. But Mary Beth is helping me and we are going to catch up this week.

On my iPod

Rich Mullins. Katie found him on an old iPod. I heard her singing along and needed a good dose for myself.

 

Towards a Real Education

We got word this weekend that Patrick's GPA ranked first among all the kids on the National Team. I distinctly remember the night he posted this status on his Facebook account:

Tomorrow is my first day of school. ever.

I didn't sleep all night. I tossed and turned and worried about whether he was at all prepared for a classroom, epsecially a prep school classroom so far away. Honestly, I'm still sort of astonished by how well he's done. Astonished. Grateful. And just a little proud.

We're doing good things here. Carry on.

 

Towards Rhythm and Beauty

Candles. I'm thinking candles. As we move towards the time to pack Christmas away, I want to keep the candles. I've loved the light of this season, the way candles can light the rhythms, warm the transitions, bring a glow to the traditions of even ordinary days. More on that thought later, I think.

 

We're having a Kind Conversation about

Our "words" for 2011

Do you have a word yet? Comments are open. Do share!

 

To Live the Liturgy

I'm looking forward to our January 6th celebration of Epiphany. It always a little disconcerting to celebrate it on a Sunday and then celebrate it again later, but I do like that day set apart, a ways away from Christmas Day. I wrap a book for each of my children in gold paper--makes for "wise men" in the new year.

 

I am Hoping and Praying

for blessings yet to be imagined in the new year. God doesn't really need my wishlist. He usually outdoes anything I can dream up.

 

Around the House

My plan is to verrrrrryyy slowly put away the Christmas decorations. This was the Christmas of the deleted Christmas card mailing list. I very carefully reconstructed that list. I keyed it all into a new template and I kept careful track of cards that came in, updating and adding as I went. I'm very pleased with the orderly list that awaits me next year. I'd like to bring that order to everything we store. Slow and thoughtful will be my friends.

 

From the Kitchen

Michael is home. I am pretty sure that officially relieves me of grocery shopping duties. I'm looking forward to creating new menus and long, detailed grocery lists.

One of My Favorite Things

When the three big boys (not all at once) come flying into my bedroom and plop themselves on the bed, usually while I'm trying to put Sarah to sleep. I've given up scolding for it. I realized in August how much I miss it when it's not there. So now, I sort of hope one of them at least will fly into our presence every night.

Sarah Annie this week

I have a hunch this little girl is going to absolutely fall apart when Mike leaves for work tomorrow. Me, too.

A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week

Back to the books. In a big way. The CM Organizer has been dusted off and updated. The book baskets are tidy and uncluttered. We're ready to rock and roll. This week will be the first meeting of the new girls' club at our mission church. Lots of basketball and some soccer.

Picture thoughts:

DSC_0155
  

 
 
comments are open. a new year; time to be a little brave...

 


{this moment}

/

{this moment} - A Friday ritual.  Photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

DSC_0275
DSC_0276
It is a well established fact that Nicholas never reacts to presents. For ten years, we have waited for that thrilled, surprised look. Never happens. 'til now.

Remember this?

/

Sweet, Sweet Virginia: The Gratitude List

/

We've had some opportunity, lately, to ponder what's important. We've had chances upon chances, tossing and turning in a late autumn bed to imagine what it would be like to live somewhere that isn't here. And when we imagined, we could only go back to thinking about all that we do hold dear here. And in our thoughts and in our hearts, the list grew long. The children sent their lists to their Daddy, the day he told them they were staying. And then, they set about singing exuberantly to a tune sent to them by a Virginia transplant who blooms with us every spring along the banks where Cub Run meets Bull Run. (We tweaked it a bit for our purposes) They sang this song for him, live, as the first Christmas present of the year. They have all been sick and their voices still sound it, but they agreed to record it because I want to keep it forever:-)

I kept my list tucked into my heart, thinking I'd never forget these things, this lesson in gratitude and noticing. But in the past few days, as the dust has settled and the chores of real life have mounted, I find my awareness fading. So, it's time to commit them here, lest I forget them altogether. In no particular order:

~Bailey (and her mom)

~Relatively light traffic, compared to Los Angeles, and the fact that I can get just about anywhere quicker if I stop at the airport and buy a pack of gum;-)

~Street signs with names I recognize and the fact that I actually know my way around

~Memories that spring to life at Accotink Park, on Donegal Lane, and just driving by the Byrd library.

~October

~Bluebells. Gosh, I can't imagine not having that week to mark spring's effusion. Bluebells, bluebells, bluebells.

~The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. And someday I won't have to look it up to get those words in the right order.

~The National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery of Art

~The Smithsonian

~RFK stadium--it's a ridiculous soccer venue, but I love it in a sort of sentimental way

~D.C. United and a place for Paddy to come home to

~the ferry to Poolesville and playing soccer at Muldoon's Farm, especially early in the morning, especially in the fall

~Speaking of soccer, McLean Premier Soccer, every well-organized, Type A, intense,  happy bit of it

~And speaking of MPS, the D-Bs, every wonderful one of them.

~Homeschool ballet, budding friendships and

~Big brothers playing football nearby

~Tea with Marisa

~Mary Kate and Bonnie

~Frozen nature walks, the new favorite kind, with Carter & Ronan & Mackenzie

~Mary Chris and the new discovery that we can escape to Starbucks for an hour and the world doesn't stop, indeed, my heart is filled and I come home better for it.

~Speaking of Mary Chris, I think she and Jen and I might just have discovered that we love hanging out with paper and scissors at my dining room table. There's more of that in the future.

~Loudoun Community Midwives

~Fr. Taylor

~Catechesis of the Good shepherd

~Youth group at St. Tim's

~Mel and Gracie. Oh my. Mel and Gracie. Can't imagine how we would have even begun to say goodbye.

~Linda

~Local godparents who really do make a difference in my children's lives.

~Megan, who is closer now and who is homeschooling now.

~The sushi restaurant where everybody knows my name. Come to think of it, they know my name at the bank and the grocery store and the coffee shop, too. And I know theirs. It's my town.

~This big house. It's full right now, beds and boys and bodies everywhere. I've spent hours and hours on real estate websites looking at Los Angeles houses. Words cannot convey how grateful I am for my house here. I have new resolve to use every square inch wisely, to be a faithful good steward of space and a willing and cheerful cooperator in God's plan for hospitality. I may be an introvert, but I know that He intends us to entertain angels here.

~Fr. Peter

~the chapel at George Mason

~Ruthie

~Knowing I can go to Charlottesville any time and that sweet city holds the memories of my heart and the essence of home: Grandpa, Barbara, and a soft place to land.

~Jan, Richmond, and meeting halfway in Fredericksburg

~Felicity Town

~Cousins, MM, and Uncle John.

~Grandma and Granddad, here for the important things and the every day things. Always.

 

 

Counting my multitudes with the gratitude community...