Life as a mom, nana and follower of Christ; hoping to share from lessons learned
Since I work from home, lunchtime often means foraging through the refrigerator in an attempt to locate and consume leftovers . On this particular day, my options were numerous. I had leftover steak and chicken from dinner out the night before, some pineapple I needed to finish, and a nice variety of organic lettuce. I topped it off with one of my favorite dressings, Newman’s Own Olive Oil and vinaigrette. My palate heartily cheered me on until I finished!
I have decided I want my life to be lived out in cursive. Yes, I am aware that this seems a rather strange thing to say. At the enlightened age of 47, I have decided that I desire the days of print to be fewer, taken over, if you will, by more days of cursive. What do I mean by this, you ask?
It’s quite simple really. I have always been a very structured, straightforward person and although there is nothing wrong with that, I sometimes find myself caught up in the predictable.
You see print is straight, plain and easy to foretell. It often has sharp edges, taut lines, without much room for improvement. There isn’t a whole lot of bending, or give and take to it.
However, cursive is pretty and it catches the eye with its beautiful gyrations, its curviness, its varied form and twisting, turning lines. Some exhibitions of cursive writing are glamorous and others are hideous, but they all add character and personality to a hand written note.
To sum it all up and conclude, I want more fun, more beauty, more unpredictability, more excitement and not so much structure and precision. I’ve been learning and living this lately and I’m happier than ever because of it!
Don’t get me wrong, I wish to remain predictable and structured in the areas where people are counting on me, where I have a job to do. I’m referring to the downtime, the days off, the vacations and the day to day moments of refreshing. I want to continue on this course of learning to abandon my rigid plan and get out there and live and do and love like there is no tomorrow. Because, you never know, there might not be. Blessings!
This picture was taken from our dock and you can see all of the barnacles on the piling; the longer they are allowed to grow, the greater their adhesion. We have to remove them from the boats because they will slow us down and cost more fuel.
I think on occasion there are things in our lives that resemble barnacles, slowing us down, causing a “drag” so to speak, that can feel like a large noose around our neck. Sometimes, these can be what the bible describes as hindrances, weights, or besetting sins. At other times, it’s just something that shouldn’t be a priority in our life, but we’ve fallen into bad habits, or we know something is bugging us, but it’s in our power to rectify it (this one is often one of my issues due to procrastination) and we haven’t.
If your goal is like mine, to live life to the fullest, to run this race with all you’ve got, then at times we have to take inventory. We have to look at our lives with eyes of faith and a sense of our purpose and recognize and accept when change is necessary. Sometimes, we even have relationships with people who are spewing forth cynicism and gloom and doom, bringing us down. In this area, of course, we must handle with love and kid gloves and always try to help and encourage first. We don’t want to hurt others, but we can’t forever be the receptacle for all things negative, either.
Spring is on it’s way and is always a good time for cleaning house (inside and out)! So, I guess it’s time to get out the gloves, pressure cleaner and the scrapers and get busy.
I love to work in my yard. I find it to be calming and restorative as well as invigorating. Today, it was a windy day, strangely chilly for South Florida this time of year. We have milkweed in the butterfly garden and the wind was picking up milkweed pods and scattering them haphazardly about the yard.
I began to think how they are picked up and slung around, bruised and sometimes broken, torn into pieces, yet they flutter about doing good, throwing seed to and fro.
It reminded me of us. We can learn from mistakes, grow from struggles, keep the faith and still yield some good fruit that is beneficial to others. Nature always teaches if we just stop to observe.
I took this in Texas and every time I look at it, I find myself looking at all the different elements and loving the way they all fit together.
something special along the way…Texas trip
So, I finally got the okay from my hubby to cut my hair quite a bit shorter. He has always loved it long but understood I just needed a change. My appointment was relaxing and I’m very happy with the results (as is he)!
After the hair was done, I had about an hour to kill waiting for my daughter’s softball game to begin so what better to do than peruse the racks for the new spring dress contributions? I picked up my normal size and headed to the dressing room to try on a couple.
I loved the first one I picked, it was red, white and black and displayed a very striking geometric pattern. I had a little trouble pulling it over my head and down over my hips, but then it fit rather well; I was pleased and adored this little dress. I probably would have purchased if the following hadn’t occurred.
I tried to pull it off over my head and I could NOT get it off. Have you ever been in a dressing room, trying not to touch much of the floor with your bare feet, attempting to wriggle and wiggle out of a dress that is stuck somewhere in the middle as you attempt to remove it? It’s like they make it really tight at the top and once you pull it down, it fits, but trying to take it off is a nightmare. I don’t know about you, but on the few occasions this has happened to me, I feel like I am suffocating or claustrophobic or something. For some reason, it felt like jumping up and down would help. It didn’t. I’m fortunate I didn’t break something or hurt myself. And of course, in the middle of my panic, someone has to bang on the door and ask if anyone is in there. Oh, for the nerve to open up and say “Help me, please!” I got to the point where I literally would have ripped it off and just paid for ruining it, if it would just go over my head. It was about this time that I noticed the little hidden zipper on the side. Well whaddya know, that sure made it simple after all. I was so annoyed that I didn’t even hang it back on the hanger straight. It didn’t deserve it!
The other dress won, of course. It’s cute too, but not as trendy and whimsical. It doesn’t have a hidden zipper or any other kind of zipper, button, belt or other hindrance. It doesn’t make a bold statement and didn’t even yell for me to take it off the rack. It’s a safe bet, will look nice whether up or down 5 lbs. It’s pull on and pull off. And the more I explain, the less enamored I am with it.
The red, white and black had lost all of my love and respect in just a few short moments but now that my anger is gone, I’d gladly take it back if I could. Maybe I will return another day and try it on again after all 🙂
Stop and smell the flowers
Yesterday I was mom, aunt, daughter
A friend, cousin and wife.
Today I became a Nana
I never could have guessed the way I would feel
You changed my life on February 28th, 2010
The day I became a Nana
Those other grandparents tried to warn me
They spoke of a new and different kind of love
About how hearts turn to mush
But I just didn’t get it
Until the day I became a Nana
Happy 3rd Birthday to my baby girl 🙂
I am enchanted by words. I always have been. Words allow us to express our innermost thoughts in written and oral form. They are bountiful and can be captivating, refreshing and motivating and without them we would feel frustrated when trying to make a point.
Words can nurture or destroy, hurt or heal, soothe or stab, wound or caress, tear down or buildup and curse or praise. They can spew forth venom or honey, love or hate, admiration or disgust, lies or truth.
We forget their magnificent power and influence. I’ve been contemplating that power this week, keeping my eyes open for illustrations and proofs of that power. We truly wield a mighty weapon or a gentle touch depending on our use of them. Words last….once spoken they aren’t easily forgotten.
Sadly, I watched stricken faces, fear, tears of hurt, heads hung low and shoulders slumped due to mere utterances.
Thankfully, I’ve also encountered smiles brimming up from deep inside a happy heart, having felt the love and encouragement behind a simple phrase.
The other thing I’ve reflected on is how our words present us to the world. We say a lot about ourselves, our personality and our beliefs by our actions, but our words have a great impact as well. As the bible says, our words come from deep inside and reveal much about us.
When my granddaughter was younger and would try to express her frustrations, wants and needs with grunts, shrieks and screams, my daughter would remind her, “Use your words”.
I’m going to steal that phrase and add one more important word to it.
Use your words WISELY. You will be remembered by them.
I am predicting pain on the horizon. No, I’m not being negative, just realistic.
It all started when I decided to wash up a few leftover dishes this morning. No, I don’t always have leftover dishes, but I think most of us do leave a few on occasion although I’m not proud of it.
I had washed a plastic bowl and was going to put it away and couldn’t get it to fit anywhere properly; it was at that moment I decided I had procrastinated long enough. The corner cabinets in my kitchen, the ones with rotating Lazy Susans in them, needed attention and there was no more delaying it.
These are located in the corners of my kitchen. One of them holds dishes and the other, food items. The cabinets are oak and the revolving shelves are white of course. After all why on earth would they be a color that actually hides dirt and gunk?
I was on a roll with the one that holds dishes; it wasn’t that dirty since it holds clean dishes. I had a bucket of hot soapy water, my purple plastic gloves on and a rag ready for business. It was no small feat because I had to get down on my hands and knees and bend into the cabinet to get to the back and I had to spin the carousel and try to get underneath it in sections, all without spilling my now amber colored bucket water.
As I was leaning in scrubbing, my husband entered the kitchen and asked, “What are you doing?” As I unfolded from my contortionist position I replied, “What does it look like I’m doing, love?” not a hint of sarcasm in my voice. He quickly made himself scarce after I explained my plan to do a little early spring cleaning today.
After a bit, I had that one done and all of the dishes loaded back up, a couple of things in the trash and had started a box for the local thrift shop.
It was time for the other one. As I began to drag out the food items, it occurred to me (mostly because of the dates on the packages) that I think I must have skipped this one the last time I did cabinets. This was not going to be fun. There was plenty to throw out and it was empty, but dirty. How does a cabinet shelf get dirty when you are putting clean containers on it? I don’t understand, but since it had been longer with this one, I had to employ a toothbrush and comet thanks to the grooves in the carousel. I understand why they’re there, but what a pain.
I was practically standing on my head trying to capture a stray tea bag and pick stray pieces of something unrecognizable out of the cracks in the back of the cabinet when the phone rang. Of course, it did. Does it EVER ring when you are lounging in your chair, wishing someone would call and talk to you? It was my daughter and I was thankful for the interruption, but soon told her I was on a roll and didn’t want to lose my motivation. She completely understood and said, “Go, get off the phone, and go clean”.
I finished with the kitchen a little later and sat down to eat some lunch. It was then I felt the elbow pain. And I began to realize that I was probably going to be in for it tomorrow. With that realization settling in, I thought I’d sit down and write a while and now that I’m sitting, I think my big cleaning binge is over for the day. However, I still feel pretty accomplished as it’s only 2 and I’ve conquered the kitchen.
Just say no! Sometimes you have to learn that life will go on, even if you cannot possibly accomplish another thing.
Sometimes, I find myself overwhelmed and visiting the chiropractor more than normal, having more headaches and indulging in excessive comfort snacking. It’s at these times I have to stop, take inventory of my schedule and make some adjustments.
Priorities can be sneaky little things and we have a tendency to get them royally mixed up at times. In our desires to please others and be as helpful as we can, we cram our schedules (and our brains) to the point of overload.
My priorities need to look something like this for my life to flourish. God first! Get up, get in the Word, pray and so begin my day and keep my face like flint toward His will for my day and my life. If I do this one thing, the rest falls into place automatically, but for the sake of getting in on paper and sharing, I will continue.
My family and their needs come next. If I can’t keep them well taken care of and be there for them when they need me, then something is out of whack. If I’m neglecting them, it’s not worth all of the meetings I could be attending, or projects I could be a part of. Sometimes my daughter needs special attention and I want to be there. My husband needs time alone with me too, not only when I have nothing better to do, but sometimes he needs to know, I choose him, in spite of other opportunities.
There are times that your life, health and schedule will permit you to go out there and embrace all kinds of projects and opportunities – There are so many worthy charities, clubs, associations and just doing good in general for others. But, there will be times that for whatever reason, you need to realign things.
When you decide to slow down and make some changes, be ready for the naysayers and the people who will make you feel bad because you can’t be everywhere you want to be and get everything done that you would like. Only you know what’s best for you, your health and your family. Until people live behind your walls and walk in your shoes, they have no right to evaluate your choices.
So, do all you can do and be all you can be! Wear yourself out for others; that’s the best kind of “tired”, but keep those priorities straight and know when to say no!
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By Lisa Smith Molinari
Living under the guidance of the Good Shepherd. All of living should be lived in light of God's Word. I enjoy taking life's litte parts and making them practical, yet have spiritual depth.
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A blog full of humorous and poignant observations.
Life as a mom, nana and follower of Christ; hoping to share from lessons learned
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