Mom Time in the Morning

Honestly, I am not a morning person, but on those rare mornings that I am up early, like this morning. I find a special bit of peace and tranquility. This morning, the dog had to go out and DH was already running late, so I got doggy duty (that wasn’t meant as a pun, but . . .). When I came back in it seemed silly to try to go back to bead, so I crushed some coffee beans, got my book, and spent some me time.

I never understood the idea of me time until I lost it when the kids were very young. It seemed that I was always spending my time for everyone else and never had a moment to think my own thoughts or follow my own interests. I finally started to enforced bedtimes that allowed me time to have after they went to bed. However, I often would be too tired to do anything. I often read of mothers who get their time before their kids get up, but not only don’t I usually like morning but, also in our home, mornings were almost impossible to glean as DD rises with the sun. I would have to get up at 4 in the morning or earlier. As she enters her teen years though, mornings are becoming more of a possibility. I don’t have to worry about DS, who would sleep until noon if he could.

There is something special about that time when all in the house is quiet. The outside world is asleep and the light is altered either the dim morning sunrise or the calming dark warmed by a single light. Right now the light is amplified and altered by the golden reflection of the leaves. I’m not sure why the light makes such a difference, but there is a comfortable warmth that fills me.

I’m not going to starting setting my alarm clock early, but I do appreciate special morning times when they come unexpectedly.

How do you glean me time? Do you think that me time is important?

Movie Review - The Forbidden Kingdom

Kung Fu is really not a genre that I am too crazy about, but DS wanted to rent a movie. As he has not been feeling well, I relented. He chose The Forbidden Kingdom and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. There is just the right combo of morality, fantasy, and Kung Fu. Obviously there is fighting, but no real blood and guts.

Jackie Chan and Jet Li co-star in this tale. As always Chan’s moves will engage you and the story will intrigue both young and old. The Chinese setting will be made new for another generation and you won’t even have to read sub-titles. This movie of good vs. evil, right vs wrong is bound to become a classic. There is even a female heroine who can surely hold her own against any man.

So pop some popcorn and dial up The Forbidden Kingdom on OnDemand or PayPerView. You may even want to add this one to your DVD collection.

My favorite quote from the movie,
“ How can you fill your cup, if it is already so full?
Empty your cup.”

The Breast Cancer Site - Help is just a click away

Here is another simple way to help towards a cure. It doesn't cost you a dime. Just remember to go to this site daily and click. You can also help be spreading the news and getting others to do the same.

While you are there, take time to look at the other sites that you can help with just a click.

Shopping List

My grocery shopping trip yesterday:

2 boxes fruit pops
2 cartons of orange juice
2 packages of Halls throat lozenges
And
A bottle of cold medicine

You called it. Our household is sick. Last week DD had an earache. This week DS’s throat looks like craters on the moon. As poor DH, flew out for a business meeting, I reminded him to pick up some Airborne, or he will be the next to drop.

100th Post - 100 Blessings

I was first introduced to the idea of literally counting my blessings by Sarah Ban Breathnach in her book Simple Abundance: The Day Book of Comfort and Joy.

Certainly, I had heard the saying “Count your blessings”, but I had never actually written them down. This idea of writing down five blessings every day so changed my view on life that I bought Sarah Ban Breathnach’s associated journal, Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude and kept a journal of my 5 blessings for a year.

(Right now I figure there are two distinct groups of you, One that is saying “five blessings, that’s easy” and another group saying, “five blessings, I can’t even think of one today. I challenge both of you to try it.)

Writing my blessings down changed my entire mindset. I spent all day looking for the blessings so that I could write them down. As Phillipians 4:8 says, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things,” so you shall.

So for my 100th post, I have decided to come up with 100 things for which I am blessed.

1. Knowing and learning about God’s word.
2. My faith
3. The fellowship of my church
4. The sacrifice of God’s Son
5. Singing
6. My husband
7. My husband’s faithfulness
8. His sense of humor
9. His physical strength
10. His emotional support
11. His ability to earn a dollar
12. His willingness to put his family first
13. His warmth
14. His logic and worldliness
15. His cooking skills
16. His sense of direction
17. My daughter
18. Her independent spirit
19. Her faith
20. The ritual with her – forehead kisses
21. Joint interests with my daughter
22. The gift of watching her develop her creative juices
23. Her beauty & health
24. Her inquisitive spirit
25. Her knowledge of technology & her willingness to help me with it
26. The me-ness in her & the her-ness in me
27. My son
28. My son’s sense of humor
29. My son’s cuddliness
30. My son’s unique view of the world
31. My son’s health
32. My son’s interest in cooking
33. My son’s strength
34. My son’s artistic talents
35. My son’s naturalist tendencies
36. My son’s love of a spoken story
37. My son’s fuzzy head
38. The soft fur on our dog, Max, especially his ears
39. The cuddling tendencies of our cat, Bandit
40. Being born in the USA
41. The strength of my birthmother to carry me for 9 months and then give me up
42. My parents wanting a child with all their heart
43. A home
44. Heat
45. Food in my fridge
46. Flavored coffee & herbal tea
47. Great friends
48. Good books
49. Authors willing to expose their souls and their talents to others
50. An education
51. Great teachers along the way: Mr Adams, Mr Dyer, Miss Bielitz
52. My job
53. Seasons
54. Fall ‘s colored leaves and crisp ear
55. My van’s ability to keep on trucking
56. My father and my daughter’s shared interest in sports
57. The local coffee shop
58. Medical advancements and technologies
59. My devotional reading
60. BibleGateway.com
61. Paper (I hadn’t thought of this one until Elisabeth spoke to us about Haiti and the scarcity of paper there)
62. The internet’s ability to bring me the answer to almost any question I have.
63. Hiking trails
64. Simplicity of New England Churches
65. A quilt handmade by my birth grandmother
66. A tight knit community
67. A daily warm shower
68. Great, funny, entertaining tv
69. A nap
70. Emails from my friends
71. Clean running water
72. Refrigeration
73. My health
74. A clear mammogram
75. Spending time with my children
76. Museums
77. All technology that makes my life easier (i.e. washing machines)
78. The smell of a home cooked meal
79. Our big king bed
80. The sound of ocean waves
81. Snuggling in bed as the sun cracks through the shades
82. The crackle of a fire either in our fire place or our fire pit
83. The feeling I have when an idea comes to my mind
84. Coffee with my dad
85. The wildlife in our backyard
86. Opportunity
87. Snowflakes, especially when they lay wet on the branches going down my driveway creating a snow tunnel
88. A long front driveway to always see who is coming
89. A garden to grow our own vegetables
90. A yard for the kids to play in and the dog to run in
91. The light of the moon when I walk the dog at night
92. Fresh air – living in a house where no one smokes
93. Enough disposable income to see the theater and travel at least a little
94. Reliable electricity
95. My leaded glass front window
96. My ceramic blue coffee mug especially when it is warm and I cradle it in my hands on a cold day
97. My right to vote
98. The foresight of our forefathers
99. The cracking of a glass ceiling that will be shattered for my daughter
100. Freedom

I’m sure I could go on, but 100th post, 100 items. I will continue to count them on my own to remind myself how lucky and blessed I am even in some of the most simple ways. For example, the red fox that the kids and I saw last week while traveling in Mass. It was a blessing to see it, but then it stopped and stared at us for minutes so we could take it all in.

Thank you for taking the time to come by my blog. I look forward to 100’s more posts.

My Halloween Costume

Ok, I wasn't going to post this quiz because I wasn't crazy about some of the language / ideals in the answers to choose from, but when I got my ideal costume, it was too funny not to post.

Most of you out there don't know me personally, so this won't be as funny to you. For those of you that do know me,you should get a good laugh.

Your Halloween Costume Should Be

A Girl Scout

What Should You Be For Halloween?

The inside joke is that this would be my costume, my real life costume. I have been in Girl Scouting for 30 years and have been the leader for three different troops. I've been a service unit leader, trainer, and Service Unit cookie manager. So if I walked around in this, most people would think that it was a regular day.

If you decided to take the quiz (despite my warning about some of the language), let us know what you come up with.

Going Pink for October

If you will notice, we have gone pink for October. When I saw the button on a fellow blogger’s site, I knew that we had to join in. Unfortunately, too many friends of mine have dealt with cancer, not just breast cancer, but all different types. In fact in 2001, I lost my mother to esophageal cancer. We have been blessed that most of the other women have won the battle, but our friend Mary succumbed to breast cancer leaving her five homeschooled children without a mother. And about a week ago, a dear friend of ours was diagnosed with breast cancer, so going pink could not be any more apropos.

This year was actually my first mammogram. I was very nervous about the whole idea. It was just supposed to be to gather a baseline to compare all future mammograms to, but then I got the note that what they found was questionable and I would have to go for a second mammogram. It wasn’t anything conclusive, just questionable. I wondered if I was going to be the next in a list of too many women friends that have battled for their life. Very fortunately for me, I had the follow up mammogram about a week ago and have received the all clear. But this will be the beginning of annual breath holding. Women should have their baseline mammogram taken between 35-40 years old and then annually thereafter.

For all those friends that have battle breast cancer, we need to spread the word, educate woman (and men), and raise money for research to irradiate this disease forever.

Have you had your mammogram this year?