1. Well, it's official. I cannot keep plants alive, even if they are beautiful, just-stick-them-in-a-pot-and-watch-them-grow plants. I bought them alive and thriving.
Now they are dead.
Thank goodness I'm better at taking care of a human child than I am two plant children.
And wouldn't you know, I'm trying gardening this year for the first time. Hopefully I'll have better luck when the plants are in long rows instead of tiny pots.
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| My little herb children before their untimely deaths. |
2. My friend Jessica and I are planting a real, live garden with an herb corner and spinach and broccoli and cucumber and even edamame! Sitting on the ground, planting tiny specks that will become our future food, Jessica and I muse about the largeness of life. I learn so much from her wisdom--and from having my hands in the dirt.
3. This week I learned that buying the more expensive dish soap is worth it. My hands smell way better (like "New Zealand Springs"!), you only have to use a teeny, tiny amount of it to make the sponge nice and sudsy, and it makes dish washing all around more enjoyable. At the end of the day, my dishes are now done. I'd say that's worth the extra dollar.
4. Chad said something brilliant the other night. He said, the reason so many ideas come to us while doing the dishes, taking a shower, taking Addie on a walk, etc., is that we've given our minds permission to drift. Once we let ourselves relax, the ideas come a flowing. Creativity cannot be forced.
5. I'm writing again. With a paper and pen. Just for me. It usually happens once Chad is home, dinner is eaten, and Addie-girl is swaddled in her bed. It's exhilarating.
6. I'm four days strong doing yoga every day. That may not seem like long at all (heck, it doesn't to me either), but it's the best I've done in...hmmm...eleven months. Holy! That's almost a year. Well, I was carrying a whole baby inside of me, you know. Excuse granted.
7. I won a contest!
8. All my recipes from over the years are being collected into one place. I've been working almost constantly on it and I'm maybe halfway finished. More than cooking, collecting recipes is my hobby. (Kind of like how I seem to like buying books more than I like reading them.)
9. My weakness is bread. You know I love Eggos, but this week I made a loaf of this bread and I can't stop eating it! The only problem is that the loaf is getting progressively crumblier. Oh how I had longed to make peanut butter toast...
10. I'm going to make my own Greek yogurt this week. Wish me luck.
...
The ideas started coming so quickly that I got overwhelmed.
So many things to post about! How can I keep up with myself?
And then I caught myself: This is a good problem to have, because it means that I'm finally doing more than I'm posting about--I'm doing more than I'm watching other people do on their own blogs.
I'm remembering what it feels like to have a life for myself! Realizing that getting out of my house and really living is way better than scrolling through endless pins and posts.
Sometimes it's hard to feel like I'm doing anything at all.
That's what the little devilish minions would have me think.
They get inside my head and tell me I'm happier just staying inside on my computer.
But they're wrong. Watch me prove it.
Watch me exercise and garden and cook and hike and photograph and mother.
Watch me.
P.S. If you're still not convinced you'd like to tag along, try reading this article. If you've already ready it and you haven't changed you're thinking, read it again.