Leaving Home

Woah, what a roller coaster of emotions this trip home has turned out to be! I'm writing from my parents' computer room in what is soon to be their ex-house. They're moving closer to me, closer to most of my siblings, and into a much easier situation. The move is a good thing, good for everyone, and I'm relieved and excited about how it's all falling into place. Still, it's a big change.

We moved to this house when I was a young teenager, from a much bigger and older (and better) house across the street. I don't feel a lot of attachment to this house- it's too new, too ranchy, and I didn't want to move here in the first place. It wasn't designed with the kids in mind- it was built to be a place my parents could ease into their older age in. All one level, easy to heat and brand-spanking new. Unlike our old house, it is small, and outside of the custom touches my Dad has added (Scott says he has a little wooden shelf for everything!) it's pretty bland.

But now that my parents are leaving our home town, and it's kind of emotional for me. I shouldn't complain, it's been many years since I've spent any time here at all, and I haven't even visited enough to call it my home in a long time. But driving through town tonight, sitting in the car at the Dairy Queen, hearing the sounds of the fair through the trees, it's all so familiar, like knowing my way around my own house. We have lots more trips up here to come, as we start to empty the house and prepare it to be sold, but it feels as if a switch is being flipped this weekend, and there's lots of "last time" vibe in the air, for me.

You can go home again, I guess, but not forever.

Zipadee doo dah and BLAM!!!

Today was one of my favorite kinds of days. I got up at a reasonably late hour (nowadays I can't sleep very late. Is it old age, or just the fact that my cat begins to mercilessly lick me at a certain time every morning?), had some breakfast, watched an old movie that thrilled me (it was inner child perfection!!) and then headed out to the garden.
As I sat next to my garden frame, weeding it and counting cucumbers, and listening to both Radio Lab AND the second crop of baby birds in our birdhouse, with the sun shining on me, I thought: my life is WONDERFUL. I am truly fortunate and grateful.
But I have to admit that the best second of my day was... well, let me set this up.
We live in an old house. The plumbing is not modern. Our sink backs up all the time, and we've tried all the green and not green ways to clear the drain. Baking soda and vinegar, boiling water, and all the different brands of drain de-clogger. Running the dishwasher leaves a couple of inches of gray water in the sink (both sides... ewww!) for a while. We are careful, have a mesh cover over the drain and lately we've even been pouring everything through a coffee filter! Old-house living is not for the impatient.
BUT TODAY! Today we bought CLR Power Plumber. IT IS AWESOME!!! I found it on Amazon and the reviews were great, so I bought it downtown, and gleefully invited Scott to join me. His job was to hold a towel over the other drain, and I filled the main side and stuck the CLRPP into my drain, and pushed...
BLAM!!!! It shoots some kind of (supposedly gentle) chemicals and compressed air into the drain, which we were not exactly ready for. But it was SO EXCITING! And yes, the drain cleared out immediately. We have 14 more applications in our can, and if you have a slow drain, we would be happy to come and clear it out for you. It was that fun.
I also made pesto (first time! In the blender! I used this recipe, but used toasted sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts. Could not find pine nuts anywhere!!) from the basil in my garden today, and we had it on haddock for dinner. And I got my laundry done, and cleaned the kitchen, and just loved this day. Ahhhhh Summer, and there's still a whole August to go!!

Jiggety-jig

I'm home from our annual camping trip and all settled in to my happy place (read: chair in front of the tv). I had a bunch of energy when I got home and should have unloaded the car completely, but it was rainy (or, looked like rain, or had rained recently) when I got home so I just took out the essentials (cooler, suitcase, food and toiletries) and left the rest in the car. I had some energy because I stopped on the way home for a nap- I woke up ridiculously early this morning and was wiped by 11:30, helped by a sugar crash after a donut from a local shop near our campground. Oh, God, it was good. Anyway, I stopped at a scenic vista and took a snooze about a quarter of the way home. I know, a chain-saw wielding murderer could have attacked me and no one would know where I was (it was a beautiful windy road along the Quabbin reservoir) but I thought it might be equally unsafe to drive asleep. It was beautiful there, anyway:

















And you know if you're going to take a nap, it might as well be overlooking a gorgeous mountainside. I guess.
Instead of unloading or bringing the air conditioner up from the basement, which I also considered, I got dinner and sat down to watch today's leg of the Tour De France. I can't believe it's only 6:22, when's bedtime? I'm so excited to sleep in my bed tonight!! Maybe I'll take a shower before bed and do the cursory bug-bite official count, and revel in the feeling of cleanness and water pressure. Our town's fireworks are postponed, so it's only the illegal fireworks I'll be listening to tonight, just the cats and me, missing Scott while he's away at Catholic Heart Work Camp.
Happy Independence day everyone, here's to days off and homecomings and cats sleeping in suitcases on top of dirty laundry.

A Retreat of My Own

Scott's away this weekend on the yearly Sophomore retreat, and I stayed home with GOF responsibilities. It was my first time back in the saddle of Youth Ministry after a couple of years now, and I was excited and nervous to be back, even if temporarily. I pulled out all my greatest YM hits and had a couple of extra go-to goodies in my bag, just in case, and I think it went fine. It's well-timed for my annual retreat season mourning period for my Youth Ministry days. I get another shot at it tomorrow.
Meanwhile, between GOF's I've had a whole day to myself. Oddly enough (and maybe I've written about this here before?) I think that at heart I am an introvert, well, a little at least- I crave days like this, where I don't have to talk to anyone, or hear any noise, or be anyplace at anytime. Even when we travel, at some point in the day I feel a real need to head back to the hotel room, to touch home plate in some way, and once I have, I feel ready to go back out there. Today is an elongated version of that, I think.
So I slept a little late, had my usual low-carb breakfast (I have a one-egg omelet every day- usually with spinach, mushrooms and goat cheese, but when I run out of goat cheese like today, it's with cream cheese. And bacon. Two strips.) and then puttered around a little. I had considered day trips- maybe to Maine, maybe a drive to parts unknown with my camera- but as the morning went on, I was feeling pretty good where I was. I did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and took a shower and then went out into the world.
I have ordered all my school books but not all have arrived, including Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer, which I am to have read by Tuesday noon. So I went to the Barnes and Noble nearby, bought a coffee, and sat down and read the whole darn book. (Is that stealing?) It's a great book, it turns out- I can't wait to get my own copy so I can scribble in it, there are lots of great lines.
Home again, I cooked up some cheddar cheese crisps (oh my GOSH they're good! And so easy! Nothing better than a new way to eat cheese!!) and did my chores, finished all my reading for school (!) and now here I am at last in my chair, snug in a sleeping bag and dreaming of dinner.
I know Scott's weekend is going well, and I like the idea of my day being full of prayer for him and his kids and team. I simultaneously love the staying-in and lone-ness of this day and can't-flippin'-wait for him to come home.

Home Sweet Home

Just now Scott called me outside to watch the lightning that was striking over the airport that we can see from our yard. It was very cool out there- there were strikes every few minutes, but no thunder- and the wind was tossing the tops of the large trees in our neighborhood, making them wave in slow motion. The wind was a warm, delicious wind that I love to be in. But here's the thing- my first thought was "ooh I should go check my email to see if there's an accu-weather alert!"
When did my first reaction to nature become the urge to go google what I am seeing?
I do love my computer and using the web. I don't know how I ever watched a movie without scanning imdb.com- and I love the instant answers I get to all my questions. I have an old paperback dictionary with a list on the back that I started in high school, I called it "WTLU" which stood for "words to look up" because they were not in the dictionary. Now, I look up words all the time, among other important facts and figures that it is vital for me to know.
And as much as I love being outside, my happy place is indeed in my home. I love this apartment- the bedroom is cozy and romantic, the kitchen is cute and homey, the bathroom is fresh and crisp-looking and the living room is my happiest place of all. My chair suits me perfectly, I love watching tv and surfing the web, and it's just a pretty cool room overall. The loveseat across the room from my chair is so comfortable for napping that I sometimes slip out there at night if I can't get settled in bed.
I love home, not just since we've lived here but wherever home is/has been. I have a near-physical need to GO HOME after being away for a certain amount of time, and when I'm feeling ugly or sad or lost, it's at home that I need to be.
I'd like to believe that I could travel the lands like a hippie or an adventurer, but the truth is, home is my favorite place to be.

Spring updates from Lindall Hill

A bit of encouragement for my friends in Maine and Alaska. Spring is
heading your way, and it's pretty!




Looky, budding flowers!








New phlox... the rest hasn't bloomed yet. Note the black mulch, a bold new fashion statement this year!







They look just like their picture on the tag. We had these in our back yard garden growing up- I called them toothbrushes.










Pretty blues







Our tree is budding out too. Our lilac has blossoms coming in, at least 5! I didn't get a good shot of them today but you'll see them soon, I betcha...

Ahhhhlelu... almost!!!

Ahhhhh here I am! It's a quick moment of peace between Triduum events... which I'm taking advantage of by baking pie and boiling potatoes for tomorrow's feast day feast. I'm wiped out! My friend sent me an email last week checking on me, since I haven't blogged in so long. Sorry public!
Triduum is my favorite Church "season". I'm so excited to be at my parish this year, thankful to be here where I feel appreciated, welcome, valued, a part-of. It's my first Triduum here, and I'm overwhelmingly grateful to be here. The staff has been working hard, and I know that tonight's Vigil will be wonderful. I think that if you work on a parish staff, and if by Easter Sunday you're not exhausted, then you're not doing it right.
At home, I've been working hard to get everything ready for my guests of honor, which are Scott and myself. I've done all the shopping, cleaning, prepping, gifting... all so that tomorrow, our holiest of days in our little family, we will feel honored and comfortable and peaceful and joyful. At work, the same process- cleaning, decorating, preparing, making everything perfect for our guests on this holiest of holy days. The excitement is palpable. Hospitality is the Christian practice featured this week in our church. The honored guests there are those who join us for their one-time-a-year, and those who come every week. The mood is befitting the season, and even the somber nature of the Holy Thursday and Good Friday liturgies was tinged with joy... we all know what comes at the end of this process, and like cleaning the house for Easter, the hard work is fun, because we know how the story ends. We don't mind listening to the awful bad news of Good Friday because we are guaranteed a telling of the Good News of Easter. It's all good.
So, you can probably tell by my writing that I'm tired, but it's a good tired, an earned tired. I will sleep deeply and happy tonight- and maybe tomorrow I'll have a chance to catch up on some overdue blogging!

mess

A couple of times a year, and always after a big trip, my life gets away from me a bit. I notice it because my desk is a mess, with piles of paper on and around it, and vestiges of past events can be seen stowed in the corners of my office. My car is embarrassing, with (yes, fast food wrappers) trash and junk and bags and stuff in every seat and floor space. My kitchen counter is piled high with dirty dishes and my dining room table is un-see-able under the piles of stuff on it.
The thing about going away on a trip is that no matter how restful it is, I need a day off when I get back, just to catch up with the real life that has been going on as usual while I was gone.
What's worse at this point is that looking ahead, there aren't many days in my calendar that are open enough for me to do any substantial organizing/cleaning/laundry/dishes/etc. That makes me feel even farther behind. In advance.
At Bible Study we worked on the Christian Practice of Honoring the Sabbath- I need a good sabbath to honor right now. However I have to say that it's different now than it's been before, because I'm happy. When I was unhappy, the clutter overwhelmed me into more unhappiness. Now, it just makes me a little... jittery. But it doesn't mess with my joy.

Quandary

Oh geez. I grabbed my favorite dinner and came home to a Scott-less evening (he's at a meeting) in front of the tv (I've got Grey's on DVR- do NOT tell me what happened!) and lo and behold, the cable's all messed up! In the living room the tv shows a sign that says
ONE MOMENT PLEASE- This channel should be available shortly.
I tried rebooting it, twice. But still, the sign. (It's a lie. It does not become available shortly.)
In the bedroom, there's just fuzz.












But in the KITCHEN, where the tv is tiny and on the door shelves in the corner, it works fine! WEIRD!
Question is, what am I to do with my life? Am I that much of a tv drone that I can't take a night off? What would it say about me if I was willing to uproot to the kitchen to watch a 3 inch tv screen from a wooden stool?

Ohhhh, maybe I can watch something ONLINE! Better living through technology!!!

jiggety-jig

Cancel that call to the National Guard, we're home safe. It turns out that internet access was about the only thing we couldn't get from the beautiful Wyndham resort in Orlando. As Scott wonders, why is it that free wi-fi is offered at the cheap places (Panera! McFreakingDonalds!) but not at the fanciest, most expensive spots? It's a poser. So, sorry about my frequent-blogging promise. Anyway, onwards.
So, the conference was great, actually! It was smaller than the conferences I’m used to attending, like the NFCYM and NCEA. I was a little worried that there would be limited good stuff for me there because of the size, but I actually liked the intimacy of it. I went to some great workshops and the keynotes and worship were as good as I had hoped they would be. Best of all was the down-time spent with my staff and colleagues.
We met up with friends from Kansas with whom we are simpatico- we mugged through the hand-motions at prayer (we shall waaaaaalk and never tire!!!) and hit the "tiki bar" as often as possible. It's so fun to meet up with them everywhere, and we parted making promises of future conference time together. And I think we'll even finagle a trip down there for the dedication of their new church. (Hey, did you know some dioceses are building new churches?)
As I start to unpack my bags and peek at the notes I took, I'll blog some more. But for now we've changed from our summer clothes and flip flops to our winter pajamas and slippers to settle in for a snow day. We've gotten about 8 inches from what I can tell, not having ventured outside yet today. Somebody really ought to shovel that porch.

Home alone

Scott's away this weekend on retreat, and I'm home with the cats. The plan is for me to live a little (for instance, I leave the bed unmade, and the toilet lid up... fun! Wooo!) and to get a LOT done. Take the tree down, sort through the gifts and put them away, do some work that I have to get done, and some sewing. I'm running the dishwasher, I took my clothing donations to the St. VdeP box, and cleaned the back window of my car, and did some shopping. But now, I'm stalled. I'm reading about bad celebrity plastic surgery online, and watching DVR'd Pioneers of Television on tv. I might have a snack, or a nap... you know, to rev up my energy for the rest of the chores on my list. You know.

SNOW DAY!!!

a few "before" pictures- not much on the ground.













This odd mulch is sunflower seed shells, from where some jerk squirrel or mouse ate his way through our bag of birdseed in the hall entryway.




























It started to pile up right away- we've gotten an average of 1.5 inches per hour since it started.















So much for our Summer scene!















Our only Christmas decoration so far, decorated by GE and Mother Nature!

In lieu of Actual Posting

Here's some shots from around the manse:
Our brussels sprout crop. What will we do with all these???



















Our pumpkins, ready in wait for next year's growing season.










Could it be? Fairy God Bunny was here!!!

It just keeps getting better

Here are some more pretty pics of our autumnal yard and Fall harvest. Sorry Alaska!



You can see more!

Peak Week on Lindall Hill

Blogger isn't letting me upload my latest pictures, but fear not gentle reader! You can see our lovely Fall foliage and cute kitties here. Love it up!

Fall around the manse

It's looking like Fall around the Hill here and I thought I'd snap a few for your viewing pleasure:

One of our morning glories out front.














This is the fruit fly trap which I built, and was roundly mocked for by my brother. But check out the thousands of fruit flies in there!! Effective!!














Our parlor maple, blooming away!














Cosmos. They're much taller in real life than they look on the seed packet!














Our back yard morning glories got tired of climbing and decided to creep instead. Still, pretty!












And finally our pumpkin! Yes, it's still green, and may stay that way for all we know, but it's still very pumpkiny, don't you think? Note the squirrel bite marks on the front.














Happy Fall!