MISTY'S MORNINGS

As you know from my last post ~ 40 Things I Learned While 40 ~ I am now 41 and as of Monday, so is my husband.  (I love that I can say I married a younger man.) I wonder what he would list as his 40 things he learned while 40? Sounds like a good question for our next date night. Hopefully that will happen before we are both 42! Back on my birthday, while the hint of summer was still heavy in the air, we took our coffee and two chairs to the beach just down the road.  There we sat, ignoring the to-do lists and pressing demands of his work, and remembered what we are really celebrating with each passing year  ~  our personal relationships.  Without relationships our work would be meaningless, our to-do lists pointless drudgery. We held hands and watched the birds sailing high then streaking downward in search of their own breakfast.  The sun climbed before us and the still calm water gleamed in pink and silver tones. We talked about...

Today is my 41st birthday!  Forty was a fantastic year and I am taking a few minutes to record what I have learned to be true over the past year(s).  I am also making this list of aha's (some silly, some serious) so I can remind myself over and over again in the next decade! ON APPEARANCE 1.  Fit, Fabulous, and 40 became my mantra.  At least I was 40.  :) 2.  I am no longer doing my makeup to look like I am not wearing any. Who am I kidding?  3.  Being a tall woman, I used to try to shrink myself and never wore heels.  Not anymore.  Heels and wedges are my new best friends and the added height makes me feel strong. 4.  It has been decided I will have long hair until I turn 60.  My family agrees.  No more short, mushroom bobs - ever. ( Andie MacDowell is my hair and aging icon.) 5.  A girl can never have enough neutral colors in her wardrobe.  They go with everything and never look dated. I...

It's official.  Soccer season has begun - again.  And this year holds a whole new weight to it as RW and ZJ are each on an academy travel team.  When tryouts came up last Spring we wrestled and wrestled with the decision.  It seemed we were at the end of the "little leagues" of soccer and it was either go big or go home - literally.  With much trepidation we went ahead and let them try out.  They each made a team.  RW in the U12 and ZJ in the U11.  They each have three nights of practice a week and games on the weekends - most likely in different cities.  Add the fact that our five year old, KC, wanted to start soccer as well and now we have more practices and an additional game somewhere else on Saturday.   This was a huge decision for me and my husband.  He travels a lot so the idea of then going in separate directions on the weekend seemed like a ridiculous sacrifice.  Then the idea of me hauling all three boys to...

The sharp cough interrupted my late-night tidying of the family room pillows.  It came again while I was mounting the stairs and a wailing cry followed.  Croup.  I would know that sound anywhere.  Two of my sons are prone to that horrible seal-bark cough and on this night, I knew it was our youngest, KC, crying out for me.   Throat swollen, each breath is audible, a dragging in with great effort, an exhalation that often turns into a coughing fit so hard he gags with the force of it.  We have our routine down.  First the comforting hugs and kisses, wiping away tears and assuring that all will be well soon.  Then the sip of medicine to reduce the swelling and lower the flaming fever.  And finally, the rising from bed, draping ourselves in fuzzy blankets while padding to the front door to step into the fog-chilled night and seat ourselves on the stoop. It's kind of fun at that point.  We listen to the silence of our sleep-shrouded ...

Recently I began reading A Design So Vast , a writerly, reflective, unassuming blog by Lindsey Mead. I like it.  It's simultaneous simplicity and depth appeals to me.  She just  posted  her 20 questions and answers reflecting on the year now gone by, 2012.  I thought I would play along. 1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?   turning 40 2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened? turning 40   3. What was an unexpected joy this past year? Falling (unexpectedly and belatedly) in love with sports.  Watching my two older boys play soccer and basketball at a more competitive level was no longer a test of endurance each weekend. I look forward to games and have even begun following some televised sports with my all-male family. (It was either join them or get DVR on my bedroom TV!) 4. What was an unexpected obstacle? Feeling a loss of direction mid-way through the year.  I lost the ...

Having spent 23 years of my nearly 40 years of life getting ready to go back to school as a student and then as a teacher, it still seems strange to be the one staying comfortably at home in my jammies as my boys ride off to school with my husband on his way to work. There are so many things about a new school year I adore. new pens blank planners fresh, clean notebooks new backpacks  brand new shoes, clothes and that specially chosen 1st day of school outfit haircuts lunch boxes snack size treats to hide in their lunches love notes for them to find new teachers new schedules new friends big ideas, goals and dreams (I have to laugh at my tendency to buy myself new school supplies right alongside the items the boys' needed.)  As I type this note they have just departed.  There are dishes on the counter, pjs left in random piles around my kitchen, empty shoeboxes on the table and an unfamiliar sound - total quiet. I miss the...

advent bare branches bearing berries Christmas carols donning decorations early evenings friends, family, fun generous giving hosts and hostesses innocent infants joyful jinglebells kris kringle lounging lazily making memories nesting opening our homes packing presents quiet  royal radiance silence, solitude, simplicity twinkling tree lights underneath the mistletoe vacation days, vocation days wise men x-cited children yummy yule  zeal and zest Sharing here...

Joining with Ann Voskamp in counting my blessings ...

My sister's dish of glass berries with my real jam in the background. We have just spent the weekend with my sister and her husband at their most comfortable and comforting home.  Today we hit the road again to return to our home, suntanned and satisfied with the joy-filled time spent together.  Living near family is a new development in our lives and it is marvelous!  (And that is considering a six hour drive  to be living nearby.)    date (over)night with my husband built in (free) babysitters handstands in the pool colored pencil sketches on the patio nearly being lost on my morning walk funky Mass music fro yo  time alone with  my sister shopping in girly shops Unc and his nephews playing Wii leftovers thunderstorms at midnight getting my sister on Pinterest too children who adore their Auntie and Unc an Auntie and Unc who adore their nephews Counting Blessings with Ann

  I used to dislike having to take time out of our vacations to find a local church where we could attend Mass while away from home.  O ver time I have come to love this practice .   Being part of a local church community takes you from tourist to temporary town member.  As Catholics we are able to slide seamlessly into the worship.  We know those prayers, those songs, when to sit, stand and kneel.   It's comforting knowing all this and comforting knowing that our friends back home are hearing the same Bible readings too.  Yet we are treated to a different homily, from a different priest.  His style may be utterly engaging (or not) , his voice marked by his Irish brogue or southern drawl, his stories a product of his own unique life experiences.  This is a mini-vacation-education all its own.   Attending church out of town also lets you sit inside some of the most beautiful, little known churches residing all over our country. ...