On Making Dreams Real

Sometimes, parents must do or make happen things for their children that they themselves did not do or have in their childhood.

This, coupled with the need for new furniture in our house, was the catalyst for our weekend's activities.

We have three children, and all of them had some sort of makeshift sleeping situation. Kira was sleeping on an old frame futon on a stack of futon mattresses (at least one of which went to Pennsic with us a few times), Wren was sleeping on a short stack of futon mattresses on the floor in her room, and Noah had a crummy cheap old mattress and box spring.

With our home refinance this year, we had set aside some money to rectify this situation. I've moved far enough beyond the years of pregnancy and childbearing and infancy so that I could now turn my attention to actually decorating my house. The kids' rooms are tops on the list. So, we considered a number of options, and then found what we thought would be fantastic choices for all of the kids at IKEA. I love IKEA. Some people think their furniture and stuff is cheap and falls apart, but I have not found this to be true. The prices are great, the design is innovative and beautiful, and they just have cool stuff.

So, after 200 miles driven, many boxes hauled into the house, many MANY little pieces of hardware inserted into the correct locations on various wood surfaces, we have this:

and we have this:
and this:
aaaand this:
Ta-DA! Three new beds and two new TV-watching chairs.

Two parents: totally exhausted.

Kids: totally thrilled.

Travis, especially, is happy that he was able to buy the kids new furniture for their rooms that did not previously belong to anyone else. This is a big deal for someone who grew up as he did.

Different

It's amazing, really, the difference in my patience level after having been away for almost a week. I guess I really do need that time to recharge and refresh and hit the giant 'reset' button on my life.

Maybe I should make this an annual occurrence...?

Yep

Yep. That's me.

So much

So much to say....and so little ability to put it all adequately into words.

I'm being overrun by nostalgia, even knowing that the good ol' days were hardly as good back then as they seem to be now. How did so much time go by so quickly? How did I manage to miss the passing of so many years?

Or did I really miss them?

I wonder if it wasn't just a case of one day slipping into the next as I moved on, moved through, let my diverging path take me down a road I didn't know was taking me further from a time which I should have spent much more introspectively. I often wonder how my life would be different had I made different decisions, chosen different roads. Scanning back over the years, now I recognize certain markers, points that constituted momentous decisions in my life that, at the time, seemed nothing more than generic 'yes/no', 'here/there' choices similar to determining whether toast or eggs would be on the breakfast menu.

I don't necessarily live with regrets, although I cannot help the temptation to wonder 'what if...' at certain points now.

What if I had stayed? What if I'd left sooner?

What if I chosen this, or that, or these here?

What if I'd learned then, and not now?

End of the Harvest

The garden, which was ridiculously productive this year, is giving up its last fruits. Of course, my husband and I are terribly lazy gardeners, so I think half of the production of the garden was in spite of us, not because of us. Either way, we did get an insane amount of vegetables this year, and even now, with the 100+ degree heat over, the tomatoes and peppers are roaring abck to life for a bit.

Right now it's 49 degrees outside, so I suspect this is short-lived.

But a few days ago, this is what I gathered from our small growing area...
A basketful of green, red and yellow bell peppers, and a few green tomatoes. I was surprised by how many peppers there were, and in such great shape, but what really struck me was the colors! LOOK at those gorgeous, gorgeous reds and greens and yellows!
This deep crimson red has to be one of my most very favorite colors. It's so vibrant and feels so alive to me. My car is just about this color, and I love to wear this color.

This past Saturday, I closed out our CSA share for the year by indulging in a large bouquet of flowers from our CSA farm.
The past few days have been sunny and cooler, and with the recent rain, I am sure we will see the trees changing soon, too. Somehow, this change in seasons is always so vibrant in terms of color...as though the summer forces out one last ostentatious show before turning off the lights and closing up shop for the winter. I love the reminder of how bright everything can be, right before the bleak days of winter.

Reflections and Plans

I had such a fantastic time last weekend at the art retreat I attended! There's really nothing like being in the company of many other creative souls, and spending the day working, learning and sharing. This is what I wish I could do more of....although my best creative friends in the art jewelry world all live someplace other than here. :(

Travis just got back from being out of town overnight to a work-related meeting. I suspect he didn't enjoy the traveling and overnight hotel experience as much as I did, though. I wish he did; it's nice to get away for a while, even if it *is* for work. I'm trying not to feel guilty about enjoying it ; I'm very very lucky that I get to do these things at all, and I can do them because I have the support of my husband. I guess we're both lucky that neither of us travel for work like our friends do.

My next trip to going to be a longer (slightly) and much further excursion. My friend Kitty and I are traveling to upstate NY, to the Corning Museum of Glass. She's never been there, and we are both really excited about attending a few of the lectures in the Annual Glass Seminar, which is all about medieval glass and its influences.....no, not at ALL up our alley, is it? ;) Anyway, I'll be gone three or four days, and truthfully, I am very much looking forward to it. Not only for the lectures and the trip to NY, but also for the serious hangout time with a good friend I haven't seen much lately, and for the chance to see some of my family and old friends. I've already planned a stop in Geneseo to visit my alma mater, and a quick trip up to Rochester to see my grandmother and some other family members. I'm hoping to reconnect with an old college friend, and also to have margaritas with a new friend. It's going to be great! I really, really miss New York sometimes.