Breath by Breath

House Rules 2014

2014 HOUSE RULES

1) Give thanks.

2) Be kind.

3) Say you’re sorry when someone hurts—no fault, no blame.

4) Help others.

5) Use manners.

6) Give lots of hugs.

7) Pay attention (i.e., be present)

8) Have fun.

9) Clean up after yourself.

10) Put stuff in its place.

11) Eat veggies.

12) Drink water.

13) Move….Every 15 minutes.

14) Make your bed.

15) Get rid of stuff.

 

Holiday Haiku ::: 11

Celebrate the Solstice

Let go of what's not needed

Welcome light and love.

Holiday Haiku ::: 7

Little bits of sweetness

Baked across generations

Treasured traditions.

Holiday Haiku ::: 6

This is the eighth year

Gathering for the Solstice

Tamales...love...light.

Another kind of interlude

This time the interlude has a name -- Influenza A.  Silas was hit hard January 10th but his resilient little self, aided by quick dosing with 5 days of Tamiflu, meant he was ready to return to school a mere 7 days after his first symptoms.  I, on the other hand, did not get the Tamiflu and am still symptomatic about 10 days later.  Today I recognize myself a bit for the first time, despite the fact that cleaning toothpaste splatter off the bathroom mirror winds me.  But, I showered (!!!), made kale egg salad, cleaned that mirror (!), and walked the dog for a few minute.  I think I'm back among the living.

So, today I am cataloging the benefits of an enforced interlude of mostly homebound bed rest--an interlude marked by broken routines (limited dog walking, piano practice, meal preparing, school and activity shuttling, cancelled lessons and yoga clases) and added stuff (novel reading, Lego sticker book "reading", interminable games of Sorry and Battleship, lots of Hulu and Netflix watching, more football than I care to think about...).

But the broken allows for a clean sweep and the benefits of the influenza interlude are many.....lots of practice in letting go of control, inviting people to help me, sitting down whenever necessary, two good novels read (Elizabeth Street and Caleb's Crossing), detoxing from sugar and wine, inspiration to more courageously practice my art, parenting and yoga, renewed appreciation for beauty and order in my environment, saying "No", slowing down, rebooting my priorities, getting the calendar organized for the spring, etc.

So, I am slowing regaining strength in cycles of 15 minutes on and 45 minutes down.  Slow and steady wins the race, someone once said.

 

Vintage sunglasses courtesy of my mother-in-law.

 

 

Advent ::: Days 13 through 21

 

Scenes from the Season

Dinner with a dear old friend and Mr. Darcy.

The funny pancake maker!

Gingerbread men & such.

Making tamales.

Silas takes a portrait of his family.

Traditional Christmas miniatures.

 

Silas finds a home at the North Pole.

Some making at Silas' school Christmas party.

Note card making.

Singing in public (!!!) at the Solstice Tamale Fiesta.

Not pictured...reading "Cops & Robbers", watching "Rudolf" & "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", wrapping presents, giving presents, the beautiful Solstice Tamale Fiesta ceremony (fire & candlelighting outside this year), making snowflakes for Newtown, and on and on....

 

 

Advent ::: Days 9 & 10

Day 9 ::: The cookie party

My first experience making and using Royal Icing.  Suffice it to say, I learned A LOT!

Quite a few salt dough ornaments were painted and decorated, but I only have this picture (mine), since I got a little distracted and separated from my camera.  Can you imagine?

December 10 ::: A day of rest.  Decorating a little, making a little.  Testing out the hot cocoa mix recipe for inserting in the mugs.

I liked the cocoa.  Not too sweet, even better with a tiny bit of milk mixed in....

Advent ::: Days 7 & 8 and Elving

December 7 ::: Watch Frosty the Snowman, Make Cookie Dough for Party (& for mommy, elving)

The king-sized bed doubles as a work surface.  It's the best I can do, since my sewing machine is in a cabinet in our capacious master BR.

Various sets of these note cards, each unique from 100% post-consumer recycled paper and the fabric scrap bag, are underway for certain friends who write notes...

December 8 ::: Bake cookies for party and attend the Bayou Village Waldorf-Inspired School Winter Faire (& later, dinner with adults at home while Silas attends an evening out with his friends).

A puppet play about the four seasons and the ability of all the contribute, no matter how small.

My favorite thing was the "Crystal Cave" with beautiful treasures and sweets for the children inside.

Below, Silas loves his ribbon ring.

Preparing a warm atmosphere for conversation and sharing.

 

Holiday Crafting Begins

(Spoiler alert for kid friends!) 

I'm using this tutorial to make initial mugs for holiday gift giving along with home made hot cocoa powder!  This is a new project to me and my first efforts are drying in prep for baking tomorrow.  I have scoured resale stores for two sets of white mugs--22 in all so far.  I tried a few using color, but they just didn't look as cool and retro as the black and white.  They remind me of worn wooden alphabet blocks...What do you think?

Spring scenes

Sometimes life is just so very full. I've written before about the notebook I keep of my "accomplishments", big and small. As I review my notes from time since I've last posted, these are some things that jump out at me.

::: Teaching yoga two, sometimes three times a week and growing in intimacy, caring and engagement with my friends/students.

::: Managing tons and tons of financial and personal matters (insurance, retirement, education savings, taxes, mortgage, wills). I take all this on so that I am completely in the know about our situation and have educated opinions, suggestions and advice to offer.

::: Decided to buy a used car and then decided to get energy efficient windows instead. They still aren't installed.

::: Knitted a kindle cover, a scarf for a gift, one sock, and finished knitting a shawl my mother started but couldn't finish due to her arthritis. Spool knit another rainbow garland for the party supply box.

::: Finished stripping and staining our old 15-drawer dresser and another piece of furniture.

::: Silas spontaneously switched from a "join us in bed every night" kind of kid, to a "sleep in his own bed most of the time" kind of kid. We are all sleeping better and I feel great about how we've evolved.

::: Read several books for pleasure (all on Kindle) -- The Paris Wife, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, The Sense of an Ending. I've now tackled The Brothers Karamozov.

::: Read The Science of Yoga, (also for pleasure, but of a different kind).

::: Cooked and cooked and cooked some more. Our CSA is abundantly supplying us with vegetables and we are trying our best to eat them.

::: Sewed some jammies for Silas. Repaired three skirts, hemmed pants. Finished and mailed the last of the Picnic Rolls I made for gifts. Cleaned out the closets and donated all the discards.

::: Started voice lessons and love my teacher. Hard to practice with discipline.

::: Play groups, play dates, volunteering at school for every party and event, hosting egg hunts, checking out and booking after school and summer activities, field trips, strawberry picking.

::: Rose tending, palm pruning, tree trimming supervising, front entry way courtyard tearing down, vegetable garden pot planting and maintenance, kishu orange tree learning.

::: Spring deep cleaning, rearranging furniture, aquired a lego table off craigslist, finally chose a kitchen paint color.

::: Coordinated a fantastic mini-reunion with 3 college friends in the D.C. area.

::: Lots of visits with local and semi local family and friends.

::: Got up close and personal with Alice Waters and Sir Ken Robinson.

::: Said goodbye to the Byzantine Fresco Chapel.

::: First visit to Galveston of this year. Trekked at Brazos Bend State Park, visited Shangri-La in Orange, TX, spent a weekend in New Orleans.

::: Booked our whole summer vacation.

::: Riding bicycles everywhere -- school, library, grocery store, for fun.

::: Flying kites out on the green space behind our house.

::: Lego, lego, lego.

::: Star wars, star wars, star wars (and he hasn't seen one movie yet!).

::: Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter (we are halfway through book 1).

All is well.