I love cold, rainy days.

I think cold rainy days are fantastic, because it draws everyone closer together. People stay inside and find things to do with each other, and it becomes a warm and cozy environment.

Well, unless some people just got new raincoats and they need to go outside and break them in…

Me?

I prefer to stay inside with rainbow fuzzy slippers and a nice up of coffee…

And snuggly company.

And hot dogs.

Listen, these things are *fantastic* hot comfort food for a Sunday afternoon 🙂

 

 

 

 

Autumn is by far, my favorite season.

I love the wide range of colors. I love the wide range of sounds. I love the coming of crisp mornings. I love the seasonal foods.

Autumn is just the best.

So, how happy am I that I am living in an area that actually looks like autumn??  It might be a little autumn in California, but it is very autumn up here.  Trust me, I am loving. it.

These are some pictures from my neck of the woods 🙂

 

Granted, it might be a while.

But that’s what I’m shooting for. I figure why not.

From what I see, my short story needs to be about 7,000wc, and I have 5,000wc already…which makes me super excited. Because after another day of writing I get to edit.

And I love editing. (no I don’t)

 

I just feel like writing something different these days. Fiction, it is!

 

Why, yes! I would love to accept the prestigious award for author of the millennium! Thank you!

 

 

I am doing things.

And I am finishing things (thank goodness).

But these days, I feel like I am barely keeping up. Not with my schedule, but with my expectations.

My accomplished tasks for today have been…

• Make iron skillet buttermilk biscuits from scratch for breakfast.

• Check email/news.

• Get math going for the kids downstairs.

• Take a shower.

• Check on the kids and figure out they have been messing around while I was in the shower. Move my laptop and coffee into the schoolroom and supervise math. Scores suddenly go from 70% to 90% (not a big surprise).

• Finish 2 lessons of math, while the younger kids watch Reading Rainbow.

• Take a break and do laundry/dishes.

• Make burritos for lunch

• Get back to Language Arts, make phonics cards for younger kids.

• Clean chicken coop, rake old straw out, restock water, food and fresh straw.

• Do another load of laundry.

• Find lost binder, finish literature.

• Sweep house.

• Put older kids on computers for schoolwork.

• Put chicken in the oven.

• Collect all trash and take it outside.

• Do phonics card games with younger kids.

• Make another pot of coffee.

• Find iPad, and sit down with coffee.

• Find husband in the house all of a sudden. Drink coffee on porch.

• Suddenly realize I needed to do a “Who Am I” poster for two kids for school tomorrow.

• Write list of what I remember doing today, so I don’t feel like I have done nothing and am constantly falling behind on accomplishing anything, and failing my family by letting them all down because I can’t keep my head above water.

Maybe if I was sitting in Starbucks, drinking a macchiato and listening to Bob Dylan music, I would think I was relaxing.

But, when I am sitting at my kitchen table and typing…all I can see are things I have not done.

The floor is not mopped.

The dishes are not completely finished.

The bathrooms have not been bleached.

Upstairs has not been vacuumed.

The himalayas of clean laundry have definitely not been folded.

The quilt I just sewed doesn’t have an edging yet.

I haven’t finished 2 writing projects I wanted to get to.

The list just goes on and on. And, it is a neverending list that will continue to go on, as long as there is still breath in my body.

So, for now, I will make one cup of Irish coffee, and just relax.

I still have tomorrow, and there will be time for everything.

For now, I am okay.

 

 

I am totally failing in my meal-picture-taking.

I mean, I’m on Instagram and everything. I should get on this.

Steak, special potatoes and a salad with avocado dressing.

So. I’m making some coffee.

I am not a musical person.

There are undoubtedly some songs that have helped me through times in my life, which is what good music is supposed to do.  I hate to admit that the Beach Boys got me through my Junior High years…but I guess it’s better than other options. There was one song, “In My Room,” to which I still know the words.  That song was a special place to which I could visit, and rest. Music is the salve through which we find hope for love, or healing through pain.

Many people have spent periods of their lives writing out their feelings, especially through difficult times.  King David certainly spent  a good amount of his life finding his emo spot, and sitting in dank caves crying and writing poetry; which is the natural state for all poets, whether they want to admit it or not.

Last night, a friend posted some super cute lyrics his daughter was singing, and I am completely inspired to find a melody to go with them! I am also her Sunday School teacher, and we are teaching class in a few weeks…so, thankfully, I have some time to mosey through some songs and try to find one that fits. I would love to surprise her with her lyrics in a song.

Although, her words are more of a hymn verse than a contemporary verse, so I’ve been looking through hymns this morning. You know, not all hymns are the same, and some of them I just mumble through. But there are a few that are so beautiful, it feels like they truly reflect the love of God. That is a very difficult concept to understand, especially when the world feels like it is falling apart and filled with unredeemable death.  It is a quandary, to find the words to separate the beauty of God from the torment of pain.

Yet, through some of these hymns…it is like I remember the memory of God. That is what it feels like.

I found one hymn this morning that is lovely, and peaceful. I can’t use it for the hymn I want to put together for Sunday School in a few weeks.  But while I am sitting in my sitting room, letting the morning sun rest on my lap, and feeling the knots of the week slowly unwind inside of me… it is actually what I needed to hear today.