Afternoon Coffee

I have a few moments to write, so I think I will.  I will pull my pencil left to right towards coffee.  My afternoon coffee.  It looks like liquid caramel and smells like heaven.  I fantasize about coffee in the night.  If awake, rocking sweet Lu I whisper to myself, "It's OK.  There will be coffee soon." 

Two cups in the morning.  One cup in the afternoon.  I make lattes too, pouring in honey as my machine whirls and twirls and foams it's coffee and milk goodness.  I dread the day, far in the future, when my wrinkled hand will cover my cup as I politely say, "None for me, thanks.  Too late in the day."  I will turn to Tony.  We're retired and frequent the coffee shop.  He reads strictly fiction now, thick glasses, grey hair.  Too many years reading medical journals sends him into retirement looking for "who done it?" books.  Me?  Well, I'm still working my way through the classics.  Maybe I've learned to appreciate Austen by now.  I stopped trying to keep all her characters straight and now we have found peace with one another.  I place my mug empty on the side table and rest my head on his shoulder.  Yes, too late in the day for coffee.  It will keep me up in the night, you know. 

Well today I will have a cup at least.  With my baby sleeping in the room next door.  Where will she be on the day I refuse afternoon coffee?  Where will she be when I no longer need coffee's drug to keep me awake because she did just that the night before?  Sweet Luisa, will you say yes to afternoon coffee while I say no?  Will you sip it far away from me, in an office somewhere, my Famed Warrior?  Or will you take large swigs at the kitchen sink as your baby pulls at your leg?  Will you take cream?  Sugar?  Or no coffee at all?  Just tea.  Or soda?  Or water with lemon?  Where will you be when I am old and retired, sitting by your father's side?  Maybe we shall take coffee together.  I will enjoy your beautiful face, my dear.  And all the stories you shall tell me....

 

 

Paralyzed is the word to describe my blog writing lately.  There are too many practical posts to write - our move, Luisa updates, Sophia's 6 year old update, and so many others.  I'm overwhelmed by the practical both here on the blog and in life.  So today, I took a break and wrote freely.  It refreshes me.  Without time for creativity we grow dry and ragged around the edges...

Monday's Musings - Books Beside my Bed....

 This is a random Monday's Musings - a  2 for 1 as it incorporates the book themes I usually reserve for "Wednesday Book Reviews."   Not that I am consistent with either one of these self-made blog categories - Monday's Musings or Wednesday Book Reviews.  But I'm not going to be too hard on myself...

For this installment of Monday's Musings I would like to share with you a few books I am currently reading or planning to read in the near future (near future being a relative term that could mean one month or one year from now).  Books on the top of my reading list are transferred from the bookshelf to the basket beside my bed as pictured above.  This "basket" resembles the Leaning Tower of Pisa and completely stresses out my Type A hubby. 

In addition to books, this tower is supported by 4 different writing journals, Writer's Digest magazines, a Christianity Today article a teacher copied for Tony and me over a year ago (hello, time to read it), Vincent's baby book for recording random milestones and memories, a precious resource from our church titled "What Does God Look Like? and Other Questions Preschoolers May Ask" by Alison Ozment, our Sunday School Curriculum with over a million dog ears and highlights, Boden and miniBoden catalogs (have you discovered this clothing company - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their children and women's lines!), a one year birthday card for a friend's little girl who will be turning 2 in six months (whoops - that one's a little late), a brown paper Whole Foods bag filled with cards the kiddos made that I need to send off to the grandparents, and let's not forget the archaic address book (at some point I will join the 21st century and go digital with my addresses).  Oh, and correspondence cards and stationary boxes - because as you can see, I am super timely with correspondence :).....

I'm aware that this post is beginning to read like tedious Facebook status updates of what's for lunch and dinner.  So on to books... 

 

 {Tony and I bought this trio of books last Sunday after we attended a parenting seminar by the three authors, Sissy Goff, Melissa Trevathan, and David Thomas.  They are from DayStar Counseling in Nashville TN and if you have the chance to hear them speak - GO :).  Looking forward to reading these over the next year.}

{Each month the ladies in our Sunday School get together for dinner and book club.  In November we read Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning.  I'm hoping to write a little book review here on the blog about it - very moving book.  Ragamuffin Gospel was written prior to Ruthless Trust and it's on my list to read and in my tower.}

{This book is compiled by Elisa Morgan and published by MOPS International.  This was a gift from our church to our family in celebration of Sophia's birth.  It has stayed in the basket since her birth as I frequently pick through the pages for encouraging words, beautiful poems, and lovely stories of motherhood.}

{I found this little jewel in a used book store in Bryson, NC.  I paid $4 and see that on Amazon you can buy it for $0.03 - quite the markdown!  Tony and I have a long history with used book stores - I could recount the stages of our marriage by describing the used book stores we've found and loved through the years.  I digress.  This book is written by Ruth Bell Graham (Billy Graham's wife) and Gigi Graham Tchividjian, her daughter.  I am savoring this book page by page, taking my time, underlining their nuggets of wisdom as I need them.  One of my favorite quotes so far is from Ruth Bell Graham in a journal entry she wrote in 1944.  Her doctor had just informed her that she and Billy would be unable to have children (the doctor was mistaken - they went on to have 5 children :)).  In reaction to the news she wrote, "Somehow it's easier to drink the bitter when it's God's hand that holds the cup."  Ruth Bell Graham is a beautiful, poetic writer.}

{I am reading this book for our neighborhood book club.  The irony that this book is stuffed into a leaning tower of chaos is not lost on me.  I have much to learn.}

 {Along with Ruthless Trust this book has remained in the inner circle of my basket because I re-read and quote them so frequently.  You can read my thoughts on Disappointment with God here.}

{Because this is exactly what I want to do someday and I know nothing about it.  Well, I shouldn't say 'nothing.'  I was raised on a dairy - surely that will help?  Looking forward to working my way through this one.}

{My "I want to be a better writer" books.  I have a few others on the bookshelf but these are the 3 chosen for the sacred basket.  I am about 1/2 way through  Anne Lamont's and Lisa Garriguas' books.  Ever read a book by Anne Lamont?  Her writing?!?!?  Wowzers, that's all I have to say.....  Writing Motherhood has provided numerous writing prompts on the subject of motherhood.  If you have any desire to record your journey through motherhood in the written word then I highly recommend this book!  And Elements of Style because I know that to be a good writer I need to read this book, then re-read it, then memorize it.  It's co-written by the same author that wrote Charlotte's Web - E.B. White.  An interesting tidbit because that's all I really know about this book .  I am avoiding it like the plague.  Grammar books remind me of diagramming sentences on the chalk board in middle school.  And that makes me want to crawl under my desk and hide.}

{My current fiction read.  I'm about 50 pages in and it's slow moving folks.  While the themes of immigration and the Indian caste system may stimulate the more sophisticated mind, this mommy of two needs a little more action in her fiction these days.  I have a hard time not finishing a fiction book so I will probably stick it out and will possibly write a review - how's that for non-committal :)}

All images via here.

So, there you have it folks - the contents of my bedside basket.  Although I forgot to mention the Kindle (captured in the first picture - about 12 layers from the top).  The Kindle - the solution to my Leaning Tower of Chaos.  Yet it works its way to the bottom of the basket, time and time again.  I enjoy the feel of pages pressed between my fingers.  I find great satisfaction in impulsively reading the ends to novels when I am only half way done.  Electronic readers rob me of these indulgences. The visual of pages still to read encourages me to persevere in finishing a book.  Skimming back through, finding my favorite quotes, re-reading whole chapters - these tasks are all done with greater ease in a printed book.

So it appears as though the basket is here to stay.  What are you reading these days? Will you give me your suggestions for books to read?  I think the tower has room to grow.  Maybe four more layers?  Maybe six?

The Days I Am Most Productive....

Are the days I never get out of my pajamas.

Is this also true for you or am I the only one still in my pjs at 2 p.m. doing laundry and organizing bookshelves? 

I returned from our Texas trip at the beginning of August with a fire in my belly to get my house organized! Maybe it was the "four years of owning this house itch" or the nasty stain on Sophia's rocker, either way I stayed in my pajamas for about a week scrubbing upholstery, treating carpet stains, and reorganizing the kiddo's books and toys.  I was a woman possessed.

Now with school back in session and fall around the bend, I find myself making schedules in my mommy notebook in an attempt to keep productivity high.  Bible Study Fellowship starts back in September and Kindermusik next week.  Thursdays are errand days and Mondays laundry day.  Fridays are for playdates and Sundays for church.  The days are filling up and the summer slipping away.  When caught in the hustle and bustle of scheduling each moment I forget that moments won't last. 

But that is a truth about life, it's fleeting and schedules only help us make the most of every moment.  So I will continue to schedule away.  Except Saturdays and Sunday afternoons.  Those are for spontaneity - don't you think?  Those are the fishing trips, the naps, the walks around the neighborhood.  The ice cream store.  The backyard reading.  The picnics.  Those are the moments of refreshment capable of fueling us for the scheduled week ahead.

{Saturday morning Farmer's Market}

As I schedule, plan, and set goals for the fall I am intentionally carving out more time to write; both here on the blog and in a few other arenas.  I will share a little secret with you.  I LOVE to write.  From the time I learned to form letters with my hands and string them together creating words in my mind, I've had a passion for the written word.  I'm an ardent reader and a clandestine writer.  Clandestine until just recently when my husband blew my cover by signing me up for a writing class for my 31st birthday.  Always my biggest supporter, he convinced me to get serious and intentional with my writing.  His encouraging words along with friend's and family's sent me timidly into my first writing class last Spring.  Convinced the class participants would throw me out after my first reading I began to develop a new identity as a writer when they shockingly validated my words.  I am prayerfully embarking on this journey while claiming this scripture, "Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)."  May my writing glorify Him and accomplish His purposes for my life...

On that note I want to introduce you to what I hope will be a regular feature here on Knit Together:  "Monday's Musings."  Each Monday I will muse aloud about God.  His Word.  His work.  His people.  I possess no special training that qualifies me to muse except that I'm His.  And I'm curious.  And I love to write.  And I hope to bless.  Encourage.  I hope you will muse right along with me in your comments, blogs, and e-mails.  Not every entry of "Monday's Musings" will be about faith.  They may be as random as random can be because sometimes my musings are just that:  random. 

"Monday's Musings."  Look for them this Monday.  Oh, and if you are in the neighborhood and knock on my door, please understand that it may take awhile for me to answer.  With all this writing, cleaning, and scheduled productivity, you may have caught me in my pjs....