Friday, June 11, 2010

Summer

Summer is being redefined in a major way for me this year. I'm used to Midwest summers. HOT, muggy, humid. Here we are on June 11th and it's currently 63 outside. I think it made it to 70 today. That's warm here. Funny, I never thought I'd miss the heat but once you don't have it, you miss it. If only because it's what you're used to, not necessarily because you love it. So in honor of the summer everyone else I know is having, here are a few things I'm planning to do with my "summer":

-Learn to make bread

-Have a picnic

-Learn to knit

-Take Hazel to the beach

-Eat a cupcake

-Grill out

-Take a nap in the sunshine

-Find a poet I actually like and read their work in it's entirety

-Listen to old music

-Laugh with friends

-Take a walk

-Create beautiful things

-Ride on a boat

-Learn to enjoy the small things in life more

-Eat a hamburger

-Go someplace warm

-Finish unpacking

-Find a new favorite place to eat

-Learn to love a new vegetable

-Go to the farmers market

-Make a new friend

-Smile more

For the record, I knocked out a couple of these just today alone. Louie Armstrong for starters. Why does jazz make me think of summer? I dunno. John says it makes him think of going to the bathroom at Olive Garden. Hm. Thanks Honey.

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Simplify

You hear it all the time these days. "Simplify your life with this product!" but that's the trap. Simplifying isn't about yet another product to make your life better. It's about taking stock of what you really use and really love and removing the rest. This is the story of my life these days. I've made a vow to myself and Hubby to simplify our lives. Everything from the amount of stuff we own, to how we eat, to how we spend our time. Given that I'm the stay at home planner of the family, it's kinda my job to figure this out without much help.

John, God love him, is not into the simple life. He loves all things that plug in or have batteries. His idea of the perfect home is something looking very much like a spaceship, with flashing buttons to push and multi screens of various sorts all flashing information at him 24 hours a day. He loves noise and chaos. Good Lord we are so opposite. I like quiet. Silence. I sometimes turn on some music or a movie during my precious "me" time but mostly I read, journal, look at other people's flickr pages. I like slow living, he likes fast paced panic. He's bored otherwise. That's how he's wired. I've come to accept it.

In simplifying our life together however I'm struggling to some extent with where to start and how to make those hard decisions. For example, my shoes. I have a lot of them. Most of them are a few years old, and completely impractical for my life today. I used to work in an office, dress and heels everyday. Now I'm home chasing the most beautiful girl in the world all day. Although having a closet full of beautiful heels makes me feel good, it also takes up space I need for the shoes I actually wear, my Birkenstocks, my converse, my boots. So the hard decisions begin. What to keep, what to get rid of. I guess part of me hold on to some of these things as the last thread to who I was before I was a mom, which by the way wasn't all that awesome. My life is far more fun and fulfilling now, harder but more fun. I guess in simplifying my closet I also need to simplify my thought life. Love myself for who I am today, not who I used to be. Love my body, messy hair, goofy laugh, stretch marks. Those things are the evidence of the hard work it is to be a mom and I'm proud of being a mom. Am I the best mom in the world, no. Really nobody is. She's a myth. But teaching Hazel that life isn't about stuff and looking a certain way all the time is what being a good mom should be.

Next big simplify process I'm not looking forward to, my books/magazines. If you know me, you know I'm a book and magazine hound. Anything with print on it. I love to buy them, have them, read them over and over but gosh they take up a lot of space. So that's the next hard road to walk down. Fingers crossed letting go will get easier... haha, yeah right.

Friday, June 04, 2010

Change, Again

Tomorrow we're moving. Again. This time we're staying close, very close actually. The same complex, just a better apartment. It's on the penthouse floor and has a much more homey feel than our current place. Our view here is terrible. Now, granted, I don't need to see the ocean or mountains or anything but we overlook a courtyard, which sounds nice but in reality sucks because unless you stand on the balcony and look down all you see is the opposite wall of people's houses. That makes for a lot of loud people noise, no privacy, no sunlight and general grumpiness for the girls around this place. Poor John has had to put up with us for over a month this way. We were extremely blessed to have the new apartment come available so quickly and we were even more lucky to be able to snatch it up before anyone else. I'm excited for the new place. I'm excited to finally REALLY get unpacked and set up. To really make our space home as much as possible and to really start living. Feeling suspended in time waiting for something to happen is how we've lived for some long that it's natural at this point. I'm ready for something new...

Goodbye old place, hello new place.