Solitude « A Mother’s Journal

Let’s Go Canes!!

By Lynn, on January 11th, 2012%

Oh, my, the joys of leading a busy life! Last night, dear friends, I was at another hockey game with coworkers. A girls’ night out! The Carolina Hurricanes played the Philadelphia Flyers, and it was a pretty exciting game! We got to see a fight (not unusual in hockey) that nearly turned into a pile of men on the ice. As well, Canes defenseman Spacek was hit in the chin by a deflected puck. It was painful to even watch!

Ladies, I highly recommend outings, when you can, and I am not saying you have to have ME time away from the kids all the time (although if you need it, that is fine too). What is good about it is the getting away from the house, and all there is to do there. Even a walk in nature WITH the children will change the scenery, help you clear your thoughts and come back with renewed energy! This fun girltime outing was so good for me!

Now, for SHOP news. More pins going into the shop, A Bit of Birdsong, over the course of the day and evening.

Recycled image of Cupidon by Chaplin.

Recycled — or maybe I should say UPCYCLED — image of A Beauty with Doves by Chaplin.

Doves and angel wings, anyone?

Yes, friends, these will make their way into the shop as time permits. It’s not easy some days, running around on breaks, trying to get things done, loving my REAL job working for the hospital and yet knowing I have to be wise and hustle with my time off to keep on top of the other things that make up my busy life.

And now, without another moment’s hesitation, some news on ALICE and THE ALICE TREE!

Yesterday we read chapter 6, today we will read chapter 7, or in other words PIG AND PEPPER and A MAD TEA-PARTY!!

I have some catching up to do on the ornaments, but fear not, that will come! The reading itself has been a good diversion for me. Yesterday I read a chapter right before I took my afternoon nap. Oh, and that TEA PARTY! Poor Alice, being caught in word riddles until she stormed off from the A MAD TEA-PARTY saying it was the most stupid tea party she had ever been to!!

Fortunately for me, and just in time, Michaela’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND board game came home from school. Lo and behold, this little basket of game pieces and game cards looks adorable tucked into the pink tree branches!

Then the board game itself was photographed and printed as a little MINIATURE board game, with a nice picture of CHESHIRE CAT on the back. Pictures of completed ornaments to come.

Well, dear friends, I must wrap this up. Time flies when we are having fun! There are all manner of things on my TO-DO list for today, including organizing my thoughts about a MAD TEA PARTY for Princess of the Universe and her friends. What do you think? I think they would LOVE it!

Enjoy this day!

Toes In The Sand

By Lynn, on November 8th, 2011%

This past weekend was quite busy and most exciting! On Saturday, I awoke and prepared for karate testing.

Hair up with red chopsticks. New white gi on.

Testing went well. It was a long process that included one-time attacks, line drills, and katas. It’s an honor to test and to watch our classmates progress!

At the end, we were all awarded a new rank. Joseph got his black belt, I got my blue belt, and our classmates moved on as well.

And then, sometimes a girl’s gotta leave and stick her toes in the sand.

I drove to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, without any children in tow and just enjoyed the solitude. The beaches are quieter this time of year. The weather was chilly, but the sun came out beautifully and the air felt just right.

I stayed in a beautiful place! One thing. Rates are cheaper this time of year. It was nice to look at what was offered and think about coming back in the summer and bringing my children.

I stayed pretty high up!

Which made for a wonderful view!

I am trying to embrace the ever-changing creatures in my life. Not many beetles, bees, and butterflies anymore, but new things, new sights, new thoughts.

Plants at the beach, growing in the beach sand, are so different from what was in The Little Wild Garden. I think ahead to where I might end up, what might grow, and how life will continue to change.

The plantings around the hotel were lovely. Tropical is something that never appealed to me much as far as gardening goes, but this was very inspiring. The color!

How does it feel to get away by myself and walk off and leave an unmade bed without a thought? Good.

There were lots of things here that the children would enjoy! I can see Joseph and John at the huge chess set!

The pools and water tunnels and hot tubs (right under the hotel!) were things that the children would love. I can see I need to make it a priority to bring them here when the seasons take us to hot weather again.

I walked on the beach and picked up tiny little, perfect shells. I put them in a bag as I walked. Not too many, but enough to remember…

In one of the restaurants I was in, there was an amazing glass wall in the ladies’ bathroom! (Yes, I took a picture of the wall in the bathroom.) I would love to have natural light like this in a future home. (More mental notes for things I would like to do in the future.)

Thinking. Thinking. Thinking. Doing lots of thinking these days. It is no small thing to close a chapter of your life that was a quarter of a century long! It is no small thing to quit reading at the end of a chapter when you had planned to read and love and keep forever the whole book! It is no small thing to have to give up on something that is supposed to last forever. It is no small thing.

But far out across the water — the dark water where we cannot judge depth or know what lies beneath, light dances in the sun. Likewise, I see a light at the end of the tunnel, and it is beautiful.

Enjoy this day!