I'm ready to hibernate and other miscellany

Which is why I decided to gain a few pounds this past month. Because nothing says it's holiday time like a little added paunch, n'est-ce pas? (The french makes it sound fancier.) Now that it's cold I'm going to have a harder time exercising it off because I don't like to go out walking in the cold. Not that I was out walking when it was warm. But this is all to point out that I am tired and would really actually like to hibernate for the Winter. Doesn't a long long nap sound good?

I decided to re-read Twilight. Because the further away I get from reading the more my eyes roll when I hear anything related to it. I recently read an analysis of the series and how it is influenced by Mormon theology and doctrine. To which I said, "Meh. Sort of. But the author skips an awful lot of Bella's personality there in making her theological points." But then I thought, maybe I'm being unfair. So I read it again.

Conclusion: The Vampire folklore and backstory really is interesting. The teenage intense, meant-to-be-forever-romance that explodes from really nowhere is annoying. "I've never felt this way before at the young age of 17 and I love you with all my soul and want to give up my whole life." "And I have been alive for over a hundred years and yet I still get to act like a contemplative but moody teen because that's all anyone expects of me and my gorgeous body." Edward is more annoying the second time around. I like Jacob. Until you get to the fourth book where I pretty much hate everybody.

I ordered my first set of gifts for Christmas shopping. I have no idea what I am going to do for anyone else, but I have one thing checked off. This could be a crazy month. Especially since I am want to hibernate and not shop.

I need to do some laundry and wash my bed sheets. Wish me luck.

Back. Sort of.

Things are here are going rather swimmingly. We had a birthday this week and friends are coming over after school to help celebrate my second child's 6th. How many are coming I'm not sure as only two have RSVP'd. But that signifies very little.

Can I confess right now that I do not enjoy throwing children's birthday parties? Well, actually, sometimes I don't mind it, but there's a little something that's been hanging around, tickling my throat and trying to take me down. It hasn't yet, and it shouldn't any time today, but I am going to take a large dose (but not too large) of vitamin C. Go away, little something.

My oldest daughter seems to be down with the drama bug. She bursts into tears over every little thing that has not gone her way. I think she needs an earlier bedtime.

Actually, we all need an earlier bedtime. So today after the party is over I'll tuck everyone soundly into bed. It will only be 4:30 pm, but they won't mind. Right?

Sick & Tired Leave

I'm taking a little break to take care of a sick little girl (getting better, but we're keeping her home from school one more day). I'm taking a break to rest a little myself. Something about the turn of the weather (cold!) that can knock me out a little bit. And I'm going to do laundry.

A lot of laundry.

Appetite

I've been thinking about appetite.

Sort of random, I guess.

And not just food appetite, but all of our appetites. And human beings have appetites.

The problem is when we become a slave to our appetites. Too much food, tv, internet, emotion, material possessions.

So then I've been thinking about appetite in relation to the commandments of God.

Ultimately commandments help us to take care of ourselves in such a way that two things are possible: we are unencumbered as much as possible in being able to choose goodness and joy, and that we do not put upon others the unhappy consequences of our own actions. In fact the Savior's admonition to be wise a serpents and harmless as doves comes to mind here.

There will always be those who decry this morality as inhibiting to true freedom. Sure. Freedom to wake up hung over after doing something stupid the night before. Freedom to feel gross and be unhealthy because one has consistently chosen a fast food diet. Freedom to impinge upon another life you are responsible for creating, even though that was the last thing on your mind at the time. Freedom to send the entire world market into prolonged panic and disaster because you wanted more than was reasonable and prudent at the time.

We all have our own appetites we struggle with. But the point is to keep trying to overcome, because eventually we can.

Beware the person so consumed by their appetites they can do little else but eventually succumb to their own desires. They may be really nice people, but ultimately they live for their desires and nothing else. They can't help it.

To Sum Things Up A Bit...

Michelle at Scribbit has posted an interview with me today. Mostly it's about art in various forms. So to celebrate, here are some of my more artistic, writerly posts that I like.

Vignettes from Late August ~ on the passing of my Grandmother

Mr. Smith: jr. high band teacher ~ about, yes, jr. high band

ahoy, there! mateys! ~ a light hearted reflection on pirates and motherhood

Awe ~ about my experience with Michelangelo's Moses

and also, just for fun:

Allysha 101 ~ more about yours truly.

Another note: My good friend Lindsy closed up her food blog this past week. It was a wonderful collection of her beautiful photographs of the amazing things she created in the kitchen. I asked her to write about cooking as a creative endeavor for Just an Orange. Here is a link to her essay. It's worth a read.

To Snow or Not to Snow...

Today it is supposed to snow. It's trying. There are a few minuscule ice crystals floating around in the air. The wind has come to blow almost all of the leaves off my tree. It is starting to look bare and rather late-fallish. If this storm can get off the ground my kids will be excited and ecstatic. I will be content either way. This snow will not last. It will be chilly outside. But it will make things cozy inside. Mostly I plan on ignoring it.

Today:

I shall make my bed.

Do the dishes.

Clean up the kitchen.

Eat some granola.

Read a book.

Help with some homework.

Call it a good day.

Magnetic Poetry

I've been cleaning out, going through things.

I have come across my Magnetic Poetry set.

I like poetry.

In my humble opinion, the magnetic way of putting down verse actually isn't all that effective, however. Still, it's amusing.

So before I disassemble the wondrous combination of words from my notebook, I shall publish here for the first time the fantastic results of my foray into the genre where negative and positive ions bond together, please oh please note the good dose of tongue and cheek with which they were written. Otherwise I shall go and hide under a rock.

May we all have a good laugh. Eat your heart out, Atlantic Monthly.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He felt her chains rip

through the skin of his feet

as he ran

his bitter goddess stared

singing to eternity

her need

his death

her dreams

his worship

they lie behind the smooth beauty of the moon

~

raw milk

is less

as am

{full disclosure: these may just be random words and not an actual poem}

~

by & by

I am the why

always when

& never who

me

are you

and yet

it rains

~

sea cried the maiden

as the delicate girl like a weak

rose whispered for fallen skies

a symphony of mist and shadow

recall her soul about

chants tell heave of an...

{this poem has obviously been thrown into disrepair over the course of years. Like 10 years, to be exact.}

~

smooth

sky in language

is our friend

~

{I just wanted to note that the magnetic poetry people felt it utterly necessary to provide the word "goddess" for me twice. Since obviously that has been a word oft used in poetry. Oh wait, not really since the Odyssey and the Iliad. Also the necessary words love, lust, frantic, blood, luscious, raw...hey it just occurred to me...Do you think Twilight was written with magnetic poetry? Now there's something to think about...}

{Also: any surprise I picked this up long ago in my college bookstore. That's the age for it, isn't it?}

~

you were out peach

~

LA FIN

{a.k.a. The End}

~

I know. You're a little bit bummed about that. Sorry. You'll just have to wait until I pull out my early college journals.

The Lovely Overtones

One of the things I love about Fall is that the grey days, instead of being dreary, make the colors on the trees and houses seem even more vibrant. Some how the backdrop of the steel clouds is the perfect compliment to the golds and reds and remaining greens.

Our new place of residence has overtones of New York. There are elegant houses that were constructed way back when, some of which have been kept up so nicely, and then there are those whose past beauty is a shadow, but you can still see it lurking there. Tuckahoe was a town that had it's nice upperclass streets and then what I lovingly referred to as "The Getto." It wasn't really the getto. But the area was full of formerly grand houses that had been carved up into various apartments, with some landlords being more fastidious about the house and the grounds than others.

Days like today deserve a cup of hot chocolate, just a small one because it's not really that cold, a nice little project-- perhaps moving the bookshelves from one wall to another-- and some good music playing in the background. The overtones of the past few years are combining nicely with the chord progression of today. It's a nice sound.

image from here.

A Day

I am channeling my inner-nineties teenager on holiday today, dressed in exercise pants and a sweatshirt that is too big for me. I could be heading off to cheer camp. But I'm not. I am sitting on my front porch enjoying the air that is just bordering on too chilly and my kids are riding around on various transportive devices such as bikes, scooters, and the like. My oldest, afraid of the roaming neighborhood dog-- a small Chihuahua, I believe-- is in the house reading a book.

The colors on the mountain are fading to their predictable post-color brown, while the trees in the valley are just getting warmed up. It is a regret of mine that the tree in our front yard, a rather spectacular and petite maple, will simply fade to a dreary color before losing it's leaves. Someday I plan to plant a multitude of trees that send off brilliant sparks before passing quietly into Winter.

My son is still in his pajamas. Rather than a sign of simple Fall-day leisure and enjoyment I see it more emblematic of the fact that he refuses to potty train. I hate potty training. And the yucca plant I had my sister pull out over the summer has decided to make a resurgence and has grown a happy eight inches out of nowhere.

A more welcome note of determination is the plant still flowering on my porch, despite a summer of lackadaisical watering and care. It's small bright pink flowers are a testament to that fact that wanted things can be just present as some of the unwanted things.

Thank goodness for nice Fall days and bright star flowers.

At the Top of My Wish List

A Kawai Upright Piano. Black. 45" or 48" tall.