wandering mind

I signed up for Green Beans bookworm challenge and am in the middle of reading 'Last Child in the Woods' by Richard Louv. Couldn't really finish the book yet, but the first half has provided me with plenty of food for thoughts. The book says how the outdoors are out and indoors are in and how we might possibly be scared of nature. Scared of nature? Not me - I love nature :) Well, couple of weeks ago my daughter asked me join her on a nature hike to see her favorite spot in the whole wide world. Our house backs to a lot of land that is owned by BG&E. The back yard slopes down and there is a small creek at the bottom. It gently slopes back up into a valley that ends far away at the edge of I-95. All in all, quiet pretty. Well, my daughters and one of her friends have been disappearing into this vast expanse of land :). They usually avoid playing outdoors, but they love going to the creek. They usually take a couple of my tomato stakes, and set out on this hike. It is no...

Never really considered myself affluent until Arduous sent me to this site . In case you are wondering about the new green apple on my side bar, read this post . yes I make my own bread, yogurt and even my own dinner - well, most nights :)

Most mornings when I get up and find it raining outside visions of crawling beltway flash through my mind - " the traffic is going to be horrible again " " the puppies are going to drag all kinds of mud through the kitchen floor again " " oh maaaaaannn ".... ....but not so this morning. You see, for the past 6 days straight I have been getting up at 5am to fit in a 2-3 mile run/walk before work. I am trying to build some stamina for when the real training for the half marathon starts in two week. I try to run and walk - with each day, increasing the amount I run. Yesterday I was able to fit in several workouts during the day - I ran in the morning, had another 2 mile stroll at lunch time because my lunch buddy became overly enthusiastic about walking for some reason, and then came home and pulled weeds for an hour and a half (it is my task all summer as I won't let my husband spray any chemicals). I finally went to bed at 11 and then one of the puppi...

image source What are few of your favorite things? mine are: early morning walks late night walks walking bare foot on grass summer nights full moon lit nights fall evenings dogwood blossoms smell of tomato plant leaves smell of gardenia flowers smell of bread baking singing loudly with my kids (Doe, a deer, a female deer Ray - a drop of golden sunnnn.....) sound of the wind chimes on my mom's porch

If you didn't have to work for a living, what would you do? I posed that question to some of my coworkers at lunch today. One of them jumped right back saying that he will teach tennis full time. But the other two people said that they had never thought about it. They couldn't even come up with an answer. I know that I would probably become a professional student and take courses in art, history, literature, basket weaving, pottery - all kinds of stuff. I will also travel extensively. Do most people not think about such stuff? Do most people plan to keep on living as they are living? Well, there is nothing wrong with being content with your life - but then these people are the ones that complain most about commute, Monday mornings, bosses, annoying coworkers and life in general.

Tonight our house is very quiet - all I hear is the water in my fish tank and my puppies running around and some pages being turned. Today is the start of 10 days of no TV and internet (obviously - I only signed up for the TV part :). My kids have signed up for 10 days of no screen time. So, the house is very quiet. I came home around 5 and my kids had been playing outside on their scooters . I made sloppy joes for the kids with some ground turkey. For us two, I grilled some bell peppers and made this new recipe of pizza like thing (french baguette topped with slices of roma tomatoes, chopped basil and fontina cheese - few minutes in the toaster oven - simply great - not really my recipe, they were giving out samples of these at Trader Joes today). We had dinner at 6 and then went for a walk with the puppies. We even spotted some deer while walking on the trails behind our house. Then we went to the library. I got 'Last child in the woods' by Richard Louv and 'Unites States...

I was just reading Bobbie's blog and was reminded that todays is poem in your pocket day . Here is a poem that I read, and reread now a days as my babies are turning into preteens :) On Children Kahlil Gibran Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let...