I can choose!

Things have been so hard for such a long time...

Becoming aware that I am the one that allows it all to seem so very hard ... I am the one who

CHOOSES :

... chooses to let things (situations, people, etc) "decide" how I respond to things (situations, people, etc)

... chooses to be defeatist when things are hard and the solution isn't easy

... chooses to be unhappy

... chooses to "dwell" on all that "hasn't worked out/gone wrong/" instead of acknowledging that something/someone was the wrong choice and move on with a lesson learned hopefully

... chooses to live in the dark and not the light

... and on and on and on

contemplating on this today...

hopefully taking a bit of action to ...

CHOOSE otherwise

no cobbler but a weekend night walk

The mulberry cobbler did not get made over the weekend but we did take a wonderful nighttime walk around the beautiful campus grounds of Central College here in our little town. This is a favorite walk of mine as the campus is so pretty in all seasons and so peaceful ... even when in full session. The last picture is of Jordan Hall and every time I pass it I long to go back to school and sit in one of it's classrooms.

Wildflowers

Wildflowers from our neighborhood :)

We also picked some mulberries which I'll use to make a cobbler this weekend.

black and white and grey and success and failure

"... yet i've realized i view my days as either "succcess" or "failure". black or white. there's kindness in grey."

sarah over at habit posted this quote along with her beautiful picture.

There is a lifetime of wisdom in those words.

Wisdom that I would do well to "think on" today and each and every day.

the dark of night

I hate nighttime...

the darkness seeps into everything....

The summer of ... and better late than never

Every summer we seem to have a marathon watching of a tv show. In the past we have had the Summer of:

Northern Exposure
Gilmore Girls
Monk

This summer it is the Summer of Mad Men.

Yes we are late to the party but as my mom always said, "Better late than never!"

Happy Birthday Mom!

Even after all these years the hurt of missing you is sometimes more than I can bear.

Hope you're having a big blowout up there in heaven and smiling and looking down and watching over all of us.

moms, teenage boys and Zits comic

Raising a teenage boy can be hard on a mom sometimes.

At least in comic form I can laugh about it all.

And pretend to have just a bit of sanity left.

Thank you Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman!

the perfect title header

it's been almost two years.... wow...

what happened in between...

a move from Vegas to small town Pella, Ia ... two very different worlds... after 9 months of being here I am still trying to adjust...

adjust to ... nothing being close by and I do mean nothing... no Starbucks, no Barnes & Noble, no Target, no Michael's, no Joann's, no Trader Joe's, no Wholefoods, no Manhattan Pizza, etc etc etc ... what constituted my world in Vegas now takes an hour drive to Des Moines for most of it and some of it has been left behind entirely

adjust to ... having only one of my children with me ... I miss the other three so so much and don't think this is something I will ever adjust to

adjust to ... the weather ... this is a very happy adjustment that really there was no adjusting to ... I had so missed the seasons while living in Vegas that I am reveling in all the differentness each season brings

adjust to ... my youngest being back in school part time at least as he is duel enrolled at the public high school and homeschooling too ... a very good adjustment as he loved his year at school and is looking forward to his senior year there next year .. but a hard adjustment too as homeschooling is just not the same anymore ... it is not something he really wants to be doing so it has been a hard go for both of us

adjust to ... living in an apartment instead of a house ... my first time ever of this experience and I have to admit there is so much about it that is hard for me and so many things I miss about being in a house

adjust to ... having a bit of family nearby ... a good adjustment

and the list could go on and on.

I don't imagine anyone reads here anymore but that's ok. I found myself needing somewhere to talk and this just seemed the right place again for now.