Time Goes By: Clocks and Other Reflections

I have been inspired. Inspired to do more with the time I have been given in this life. Oddly, this inspiration began with a clock. This clock to be exact.

If you are wondering what this clock inspired me to do....I must go back to a bay window.

I know, I know. It sounds like a bad joke. A clock, a window and a picture walk into a bar....
 
This beautiful yet utterly dysfunctional bay window that takes up an entire wall in my living room was a source of frustration and subsequent frantic Googling for ideas. You see, I had this window decorated for Christmas and while I had taken all of the holiday decor down, I hadn't yet washed the window. As I was washing them this afternoon I was contemplating what to do with this awkward space next. My four year old son makes pretty.....un-pretty and well placed decor items, well, they walk away.

Or maybe they run, I don't know.

 Sooooo anyway, I ended up moving a large inexpensive picture (whose glass had already been broken) into this window just for filler until I decided what to do next.

Believe me...it looks awful from the outside if it is just left empty. Just trust me when I say it's better this way. Or maybe not, I stink at decorating.

And now, I have a completely blank wall in my dining room. I'm not sure, but I think I just moved the problem from the window to the dining room. 

Sigh.......

I had this idea a few months ago that I would get one of those over sized wall clocks and make it the center of attention in the room, but I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for a good one. Then, it occurred to me I could get a vinyl wall clock with a clock kit and put it there. It would be cool....right?

I loved the idea until I found the price of one of those was about as expensive as buying a real one. And let's face it, although they are cool, they aren't as nice as a real solid clock.

Next came the idea of stenciling the numbers and just getting the clock kit. You know, like any one of these that only cost around $10. At this point, I was kind of annoyed. I began thinking that cleaning my window had evolved to redecorating my entire house. I am notorious for doing this. I rearranged my living room five stinking times to put up my Christmas tree, which is only three feet wide by six feet tall.

So you can imagine what this window has done to my brain.

Then I ran across that clock. That handmade, based on a expensive designer, only cost $15 to make, clock.

I fell in love. Oh, no, I didn't fall in love with that clock, per say. I fell in love with the idea of making one myself. I had one idea...then another and another. I know if I don't write them down I will not remember them later. I wish I had the stuff to make one right now, but unfortunately my brilliant ideas are just going to have to wait until tomorrow.

I have this bad habit of not getting around to projects because I have so many other things going on in my life. In fact, I have a whole Pinterest folder entitled "Crafts I might get to...Some day" So this may not go very far. We shall see.

I'll leave you with a piece of advice: Don't muse too long on the concept of time, it slips away into the deepest regions of your brain and before you know it, you've lost track of it.

Morning Musings

It's a cool, crisp morning in Colorado. Up early like usual, made my chai and took the dog outside to do his normal business. It was a rough night for sleep. Two children and myself in a queen size bed just.....doesn't work.

Trust me...the little one takes up most of the bed, I don't know how, but he does.

It has been awhile since I have posted, mainly because the Fall semester of college classes started up and my days of classes and work are pretty full. So here I am trying to not look like a complete blogging failure.

Just a partial one, it kind of works like an eclipse...

I have nothing in particular to write about, like usual, but I woke up this morning feeling the urge to be creative, to write whatever my soul decided to spill out. So I am going to share with you the imagery and words that came to my mind when I decided to write. Maybe one day it will become a story, but for today...just see it in your minds eye and take a mini trip around the world.


I had a vision this morning. One of open air markets, spices and teas. I have never had the chance to wander through an exotic foreign land but my mind is there. The shops with rugs and tapestries that scream look at me, with their brilliant hues of blue and pink, are lined up along a dusty street. The nondescript buildings behind them do nothing to add to the scene and are barely noticeable as you walk.  A smell hits your nose as you maneuver through the throngs of people. It is a spicy, almost acrid smell and makes your eyes water until you adjust to the smell and forget it altogether. You come across large bowls of spices; bright yellows, adobe reds, deep browns and pure whites fill the clay colored pots that are lined up in perfect rows on a makeshift table. As you linger, an old woman narrows her eyes at you, and watches your every move. The next shop has fresh tobacco and hand rolled cigarettes, and further down are baskets and woven mats. This market isn't large, but it has it's fair share of junk merchant's as well. One man calls out he will sell you two watches, one for parts because it doesn't work, but the other works. You come to the end of the block, and a new sweet smell hits your nose: tea. The last merchant on the block has bins of tea, each fragrant and fresh, some being brewed in pots and some being dried in the hot sun. The tattered sign that hangs in the back of the stall reads in faded blue lettering, East India Tea. The sign looks well over a hundred years old and adds to the nostalgia of the market.....


But like always, reality calls. Children are waking up, calling out to play and eat, so my friends, have a wonderful day, full of your own beautiful visions....

Whether they be real or otherwise.

What Dreams May Come, Both Dark and Deep

The act of sleeping did not go well last night.

I woke up three hours after going to bed and just...laid there for an hour. When I finally did get back to sleep I had nightmares. Not gruesome, scary ones, but the ones that seem so real that they would tear out the heart of any mother. Or father. Or sister or brother.

Pretty much anyone with a soul...

Now I won't go into detail, because I don't want to be emotionally attached to that again. Just know that having to save your kids from physical harm is scary...even if it is only in a dream. Why are social norms non-existent in the world of dreams? At least they would be less scary. Geesh.

At least at the end of my dream my son turned into a burrito and brought the fear and dread coursing through my sleeping body to a sudden halt. After all...people don't just turn into burritos.

Even in my sleep I know that....

It took another hour or two to fall back asleep from that one, but when I did I slept deliciously sound and woke up refreshed around 4:30 am. When I did, I had the lyrics of an Eric Whitacre song coursing through my head..."What dreams may come both dark and deep, Of flying wings and soaring leap..." 

Appropriate I suppose.

Now I know I don't tend to be very serious in my blog, but today I feel the need to be. I woke up to the realization that even though things get rough that there is always a place of perfection. I found it this morning in the peaceful face of my sleeping little boy; that just hours before had been the subject of one of the worst dreams I can remember. I found it reveling in the crisp, cool air outside as I took the garbage to the curb. I found as I washed the counter top when I finished the dishes. I found it in the book of Romans as I read my morning devotion. I found it in the hugs and kisses my daughter gave me as she went off to day camp. It is everywhere.

It isn't always easy to see. In fact, more often than not, you have to look hard for it and even then you may not realize it. I remember reading an article or blog or something about a man who lost his job and was in financial ruin not knowing where to go next. When he got home that night he was greeted by his enthusiastic, drooling dog, and for just one moment, the stress was gone because all that existed was a man and his faithful dog. The dog didn't know the stress the man was under, all he knew was that the master he loved had returned home.

It may not seem like much, but those moments are everywhere. 

Look for them. 

Find your perfect moment, find your joy.


It really is everywhere.

One Sugar Lemon Facial Away from the Loony Bin

They were there when I woke up. I don't know how they got into my house....again. They were taunting me. All of them jeered at me from their metal holding space. And if they weren't jeering, it was only because they were behind another and I just couldn't see it. I ignored it for as long as I could, but I knew I would have to address them sooner or later. I ran into the bathroom to get away, but there was certainly no denying they were out there. There were fourteen of them; five spoons, three cups, three bowls, two water bottles and a measuring cup.

That's right. They are dishes.

 My morning routine is always the same. I get up at five, do the dishes, throw laundry into the washing machine while *sometimes* folding yesterdays laundry, then I shower and get the kids up and ready to go. Well this morning when I got up I didn't want to do the dishes. After all there was only a small sink-full. So I made my weekly sugar lemon facial scrub and tried to drown out the noise in my brain that was yelling at me to go wash dishes. Then I hopped in the shower and when I was done I felt like I could take on the world. (Funny how a little pampering can make you feel so good.) So, really I could just leave those fourteen dishes until tomorrow, no harm done...right?

WRONG!!!

 There was just something so mind-numbingly wrong with trying to change my routine this morning that I just.....couldn't....take....it....anymore. So it was either off myself because I couldn't live with my routine being messed up for the rest of the day...or do those taunting dishes. I guess you know how that turned out, since I am still here.

There. I am done. And just to get even I made three of them suffer by using them for my breakfast.

Now if only my laundry would scream at me the same way, but it's lazy and just prefers to lay around in the bedroom. 

I know you are probably saying, "Really? All of this for five minutes worth of dishes?" It isn't just about the dishes, because I let them know who was boss. It was the whole of my routine being off, thrown into utter disrepair all because I didn't want to do something. It takes something like thirty days to create a routine and all of four to break it. How unfair is that.

Okay, okay. I am done now. I will be back with a very special Ted for you later today.


Happy Thursday morning readers!

Sense, It Does Not Make

When one logs onto my blog and reads the heading, they may find they are confused. After Monday's brilliant heading, "Tormatoes a la Ted", brought about a few questioning readers I figured I had better clarify.  No, I didn't mean tomatoes. Yes, I do know how to spell tornadoes...most days.

My headings usually have absolutely nothing to do with the post. Usually. However, yesterdays did have something to do with it, but you, my wonderful readers, would not know this unless you really  knew me. Which some of you do. You know that I can be utterly crazy and make no sense at all, so really it should be no surprise when my writing can be utterly crazy as well. 


I have included a few translations for those of you who don't speak toddlerese, just to further complicate clarify the matter

Tormatoes: A Daniel (my 3 year old) way of saying tornadoes. Why he says tormatoes is beyond me, but it is epically (epicly...ecpicaly? is it even a word?) cute.
Why...why is my computer trying to change the word 'cute' into 'cut'???

Glamma: I know this might seem like a particularly glamorous mother, but in fact it is a spin off Grandma and is the preferred pronunciation of my precocious child.

Hideous: Barney the dinosaur. 
Don't ask...just nod your head and move along. There is nothing to see here.

Regardless, if it sounds like something a three year old boy or a (now) nine year old girl would say...chances are they did.

There are many, many more words I could share, however, like normal, my brain does not want to recall anything else at the moment. Maybe it is because I am too busy researching the questions my 3 year old likes to ask. Seriously. He is asking things that many kids don't even know about until high school. Like brain function. And atmospheric conditions and changes. And I really wish I were totally joking here, but I'm not. 

Oh well, the biography of me trying to raise a gifted child will be left for another day. 

I know I run the risk of sounding like Yoda, but believe me, it is how I feel many days...Sense, it does not make. 

So for no apparent reason, here ya go. A weird attempt at a chameleon.

 Happy Friday!

Tormatoes a la Ted

I don't typically mind Monday mornings, they are often a welcome respite from the weekend. 

I know, right now you are probably thinking that I am insane and you will find you are probably right.

But this morning was different. I woke to a deliciously rainy morning. Clouds, rain, miniature tornadoes, the works. Well, there has been some heated debate about the tornadoes. First they are tornadoes then they aren't, at least according to the NWS. Let's clear up the matter and just call them swirling funnels of cold air and rain coming down from the sky. 

Sounds like tornadoes to me....but at least it isn't 105º anymore, right?

 Anyway, I really didn't come here to talk about the weather. After all, any local news station probably does that better than I. So what did I come here for? Well, that is a good question. I wanted to wait until closer to football season for this, but I also want to stay in chronological order with my drawings. As usual, with my excitement for bringing you all things well with my soul, I just couldn't wait. So, without any further ado, I introduce you to a new Ted! If you have followed my meager half a dozen or so blogs Ted is nothing new, but if you haven't, this is Ted. Ted, this is...well, everyone else. 

New introductions out of the way...whew.

Ted the Quarterback

 No, he is not quarterback for the Chargers, although I can see the resemblance. Tall, dark and handsome... Oh, you mean the helmet...not their looks.

Just kidding, Philip Rivers, you know you are awesome. But then...I don't know how that was anything but a compliment.

The lightening bolt was for simplicity, because Ted is all about simplicity. 

Also because my drawing skills are on par with, oh, a 3rd grader.

Just for kicks, and because this rainy, cool weather makes me long for Autumn I will also include a Halloween themed Ted. I don't remember why I even drew a Halloween themed Ted, as we don't do much in the way of Halloween, but oh well, here he is in his awesome....ness. Or something like that.

Ghostly Ted

 I added color to him with yet another iPhone app that I love called Color Effects. It isn't photo editing software, but it is better than nothing!

This is why I love you, my faithful blog reader, even when I have few cohesive thoughts in my brain you still manage to make it to the end. 

Happy Monday! 

Happy...Monday?

Well, it's Monday morning. I am at my desk staring at a computer screen wondering if my boss (well, ex-boss)  will be in this morning. He said he would be here. He retired last month and is kind of in and out, but my new boss is on vacation, so here I sit doing nothing.

But then, he knows I do nothing because since he has been on the way out he has given me nothing to do...I beg and plead for projects. Ok, I don't plead, but I do beg. And I do randomly try to come up with unhelpful things to do and pretend they are awesome.

So I had a few revelations this morning, and in typical me fashion I am going to share them. Learn from them. Let me mess up for you...

Ok, so maybe all you will learn from them is that I a) get up way too early and b) drink too much coffee, because my mind is alll over the place. Yes, alll with three Ls. If you actually make it through this, I just might be tempted to send you a prize.

1.) I haven't updated my blog in over a month. Poor Ted is going to feel abandoned.

Yeah, and today isn't about Ted either, I can't upload him at work since he is saved on my home computer.

2.) I really need to feed my kids something healthier than Froot Loops in the morning.

3.) It might be physically possible to melt in the heat that is Colorado these days. 102º?? Urghh.

4.) It is NOT a good idea to put a temporary tattoo on the inside of your wrist with the kids on Sunday afternoon when you work on Monday morning....even if it is a cute butterfly. My fellow librarians have noticed, believe me.

5.) My cat has too many names, currently he is Rhett the Ninja Minion. He lives up to Rhett and Minion, but not Ninja. In fact he is as un-ninja as a cat can be. See Exhibit A. I use this box as a temporary folder for papers that need to be filed; so I suppose he feels the need to be filed. He loved it for about two minutes, then the box fell over.

Exhibit A....Boxed Rhett.

6.) I am totally obsessed with an iPhone app called Dragonvale. Yeah...

If you look it up and become addicted like I am...tell me. I'll umm...add you and send you gems.

7.) High school kids have no idea how to act in a library. Do I need to post Quiet Zone signs? Hmmm...maybe this is another, um, helpful task I can waste spend time on.

8.) I would have made an excellent gypsy.

I rearranged my house this weekend and now all I want to do is move. But then, I want to move like every 3 months or so and talk myself out of it because I don't want to spend the money. 

9.)  I am out of coffee creamer. I should go to the store. But knowing me, I will go in and get everything BUT coffee creamer. Milk just doesn't cut it.

10.) 5 am is an excellent time to drain and clean a swimming pool.

See #3... this is why 5 am is so amazing. 6 am...not so much.


11.) I know the proper use of ellipsis marks but can't help but use them wrong all. the. time. So just....roll with it.


12.) I need more coffee...




Happy...Monday?