Contentment

The river trip this weekend was very relaxing and gave me a chance to think a lot about my life.  My mother took care of Miss F during the six hour trip down the river.  I kayaked down the river without flipping in Compton's rapids (a big deal considering they sent me to the ER three years ago).

A large part of the times, I was floating along side *B*'s parents or my brother and his friends.  But the other part of the time, I just got to take in the surroundings, breathe the fresh air, and just be by myself.

I enjoyed the beauty of the river and felt a pang of envy as I thought about how amazing it could be to live in the area.

But it was later that night in the campsite that I really felt contentment start to set in.  One of the girls on the trip stepped in poison ivy at our lunch stop.  Her lower leg was red and itchy.  No one had calamine lotion, and she was complaining about the pain and itching.  I popped up, spotted some plantain, and told her to chew (or rather pound due to the mud on the ground) the leaves into a paste and apply it.  I knew it worked on bug bites, but I wasn't sure about poison ivy.  Sure enough, she reported that it didn't itch anymore!

I was happy to be able to help, and I enjoyed the surprised looks I got from the "adults" of the group - 50 years old and better.  They had no idea such a ubiquitous plant did anything other than grow.  It was just a weed to them.  Rather than relying on plants for cures, we've been relying solely on pills for over fifty years.

As the trip went on, I found myself talking a lot about my knowledge of plants.  From dock to treat nettle stings to chicory as a coffee substitute, I was able to hold forth on a variety of medicinal and edible plants.  I was spotting stands of sumac trees and looking to find ripe berry clusters.  We're looking forward to making tea of those berries in the next month or so.

I realized on my way home, that I'm actually making measurable progress in my goal of being able to identify many common plants and their usefulness.  I want to be that old woman (one day, not yet) who can go out to her garden to pluck a cure for what ails you.  I want to be able to go out and forage a little snack from my surroundings.  As our garden grows into the garden of our daydreams and my knowledge base grows, I feel more and more at ease with the life I'm carving out.

2010 - An Overview

January

• I got engaged!
• My baby cat went to the vet after eating netting off of a turkey roast
• We picked a wedding venue

February

• I got the worst case of the flu of my life
• I lived through Snowpocalypse, which yielded 73 inches of snow in less than two weeks
• I found my wedding dress
• I started my very first garden seedlings (not chia pet seedlings)

March

• My brother made us a cat tree
• We built our raised bed garden
• All my mysterious plants were identified (with much help from you all)
• We got a dog
• Our basement flooded (again)
• We went to DC

April

• I had my first and only article published on another blog
• I learned to identify birds
• I dug dandelions
• Our dog ate a whole baked chicken carcass
• I took my second trip to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation headquarters

May

• Our garden really took off
• I started working our genealogy
• We went to a party at a friend's farm
• We got a hamster that was part of a senior prank
• Our dog tried to eat the hamster
• I had my first bloggerversary
• We saw Prairie Home Companion live

June

• We picked a honeymoon
• I went on a life-changing mission trip to Camden, NJ
• We kayaked on the Shenandoah River

July

• I started working two jobs at a time
• We had an earthquake for the first time that I can remember
• *B* and I had our first real disagreement
• We started marriage preparations

August

• We drove 16 hours to Indiana, while taking a detour through Michigan
• *B* married friends of mine
• I started freaking out about the wedding
• School started again

September

• I finished therapy!
• I watched a freshman administer first aid to a fellow classmate during a fire drill
• *B* and I started RCIA
• I found the most perfect white bread recipe

October

• My stress levels started to be difficult to deal with
• We had to give away our dog after she literally tried to eat our kitten
• I made and canned tons of applesauce and apple butter
• I was given a gorgeous Renn Fest dress for my birthday early
• I decided not to let stress get me down

November

• We made wedding favors over Thanksgiving break
• I turned 25

 December

• I got married!
• My husband and I took a cruise for the first time in either of our lives
• We visited four foreign countries together on our honeymoon

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure for today is being on a good path.  My dental appointment was not as horrible as I expected, though I have to go back since it'd been a while.  As of this morning, I'm on a regimen to get my mouth as healthy and teeth as white as possible before the wedding.  While I'm not going so far as to drink coffee through a straw, I am trying to minimize the time between eating and brushing as much as possible.

This week, I'm thankful for the veterans that keep our country (and others' countries) free.  I don't have a lot of relatives in the military, but my grandfather and cousin twice removed both served our country in time of war.  My grandfather was in the Pacific with the Navy during WWII.  I'm blessed to still have him with us, physically and mentally.  My cousin twice removed was deemed MIA in during the Vietnam War.  He was with the Rangers, and even though his friends saw him killed, the government refused to list him as KIA.  I've taken etchings of his name at the Vietnam wall.  Though I may not support the wars into which our country engages, I support our troops.  Two friends of ours deployed again on Monday.  I hope that they catch some slack today and make it home safely.

www.pachd.com

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure for today is being even-keeled.  My experiment went better than I can hope, and I can safely say that I am much happier for it.

I also decided that I will post what I'm thankful for on Simple Pleasure Thursday for the month of November.  This week, I'm thankful for being blessed in a down economy. We have good jobs, a house, reliable transportation, and good health care.  I always take time to thank God for these things.  Rather than focus on what we don't have this week, I'm focusing on being thankful for all the gifts we do have.  I'm working the "use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without" mantra right now.  If I can survive it a week, maybe I can work it long term, which would be ideal.

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure today is a spur of the moment surprise party!

*B* turns 25 in the beginning of November.  I hadn't thought a whole lot of it (other than picking out a present) considering my birthday is soon after, with our wedding a mere month later.  But I really want to do something nice for him.

It means I have a lot of work to do, but I'm ready.  It'll be a lot of fun.  I'll have to plan decorations, scams to get him away from the house, food to prepare on the sly.  Ooo, yes, this will be fun!

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure for today is trees in a rainstorm.  I cannot seem to find (and neglected to take) a picture of this phenomenon, but I would imagine people know what I mean.  I love when the wind is blowing, the sky is dark, and the maple trees have flipped over their leaves.  It's one of those old country wisdom tips that I just adore.  Driving home yesterday, there was a whole hillside full of them, and it was gorgeous.  The trees are also just starting to get yellow highlights.  If it's not flooding again tomorrow, I may just get out there and take some pics.

Simple Pleasure Thursday

I'm in that habit, again, of starting four or five posts and not finishing them. Today, this one will be published.

My simple pleasure for today is being entranced by a blog who reminds me of:

"A world where men were men and women were cherished and lovely.... A world of romance and beauty, of tuxedos and chiffon, a perfect world. "  -The Stepford Wives

Okay, not perfect maybe, but a satisfying world.


I've been reading the archives of Destination 1940.  While the blogger hasn't posted since May, her previous posts are fascinating.  In her experiment, she picked up a period housekeeping manual and a menu planning book.  Week by week, she's been adding more chores to her workload.  As I've been reading through, I've started on some of the suggestions.In some respects, she's got me doing more housework than I've done in a while. 

For example, I've started:

• opening windows as soon as I wake up
• pulling back the covers to air out the bed
• making the bed after my shower
• tidying up each room I leave (e.g. I took DVDs downstairs with me this morning)
• doing dishes before they pile up
• caring about how I do my laundry (I'm ashamed to say that I don't even break it down into darks and lights)

It's my hope that to some extent I can adopt some of the housekeeping strategies that she presents in her blog. Never know - maybe I'll have to stop feeling so guilty that *B* does most of the housework :o)

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure for this week is the congregation of butterflies that flutter about when I walk up my front steps.  The sedum next to our steps swarms with them.  Oh, how I love it.

http://www.growsonyou.com

A Perfectly Good Waste of a Day

Over the past week or so, I tackled my to-do list.  Yesterday, however, I wasted a perfectly good day.  Or rather, it was a perfectly good waste of a day.

I slept in very late (9:00 am).  I ate leftover Chinese food, watched a season of Stargate: Atlantis, and played computer games.  I did no work.  I had, until the very end of the night, no stress.  I just got to snuggle, space out, and recharge.  I even went to bed early.

It was lovely :o)

A Real Simple Pleasure Thursday :o)

For the first time in a few months, it feels like simple pleasure Thursday.

I finished therapy yesterday.  I'm done - no more.  It was totally accidental, too.  The last time I went in, I didn't really have much to say.  I hadn't had a panic attack in a long time, I was off my meds, things were good.  So when I went in yesterday, I again had no complaints, nothing to talk about.  The appointment somehow organically morphed into a termination session.

I feel so good - accomplished, confident, and most of all, happy.

Being sane is my simple pleasure :o)

Simple Pleasue Thursday

My simple pleasure for today is that freshman back-to-school night is over.  I'm home after a 14 hour day.  I'm going to bed.


Night, y'all.

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure for today is waking up to a drenched backyard.  Apparently, we had a thunderstorm this morning, and the ground is pleasantly soaked through.  Yay for not needing to water the garden!  We've had a number of heat waves this year.  We're not in a drought, but we have had less than average rainfall.

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure for today is being reminded of things from my childhood.  When I was about 10 years old, Chick-fil-a had a special kid's meal toy.  It was a cassette tape of Adventures in Odyssey.  AIO is produced by Focus on the Family, and features biblical themes, though they're not all Bible stories per se.  I think they came out with about 10 of them.  The stories all focus around a man named Whit, who runs an ice cream shop, and his friends and neighbors.  I loved them so, but God knows where the cassettes had gone.  I had thought about them randomly from time to time.  I finally stepped up the other day and googled them, and they're still going!  They have over 650 episodes now, and have been going since 1987.  They even have a mix of new and old episodes that you can listen to online.  For the past few days, while peeling peaches or making muffins, I've been listening to the episodes.  You can find them at www.whitsend.org.  Enjoy!

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure for today is having time to clean my house.  Because today was the last day for kids at my camp job, I will have a lot more time to take care of my home in the future as well.  Tomorrow is camp clean up and Monday is a trip to an amusement park for a counselor treat.  After that, my mornings are totally free and open.

To celebrate this new-found free time, I crossed a bunch of stuff off of my to do list.  I vacuumed my whole house (minus the basement), I took care of the animals, I visited the garden, I helped *B* clean the kitchen.  I look forward in the coming days to being able to take proper care of my home.  I've been neglecting the very things that I love so much.  Rhonda at Down--to--Earth had posted on the joys of taking care of the home.  It's absolutely true.  And I feel so much better now that I've been able to fill that role again.

Simple Pleasure Thurs- errr, Friday - err, Monday?

Oops!  I meant to post yesterday, Friday, but my simple pleasure is exactly the reason I didn't post.  My simple pleasure is reconnecting with my fiancé.

Our first and only real argument, though we never raised voices, was a few weeks ago.  Father's Day to be precise.  We had gone to Mass in a neighboring parish.  I had meant to go many times, but I never got to it.  It was right after Camden, and I had felt really connected to religion for the first time in a while.  The Mass was awful.  Really awful.  I hated it.  But I knew that it was the priest, not the Church, that I was unhappy with.  So on the ride from the church to *B*'s parent's house, we discussed religion.

*B* wasn't raised with any religious education or association.  He had only been to a Bible camp with friends once, and they told him he and his family were going to Hell.  Most recently, he had been exploring non-Christian religious ideas.  I wasn't thrilled with it, but considered it harmless.

When we decided to get married in the Catholic church, we knew we had to answer affirmatively to three questions:

• Have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?
  
• Will you love and honor each other as husband and wife for the rest of your lives?
  
• Will you accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?
  
  

When the priest had first told us these questions, he put the third one as "will you expose your children to the law of Christ and his Church?"  *B* was okay with that.  When the priest at the Father's Day mass reiterated the question as posed above, *B* started to get worried.

So anyhoo, the whole way to his parents' house, we talked about religion.  Since his awful experience with Christians (of some Protestant denomination), he was very leery.  To be fair, I was inordinately dismissive of his current beliefs.  Either way, I felt so cut off from him.

Last night, we went out to dinner.  We had been having a good conversation, so rather than going home, we went for a drive.  We got back on the subject of religion, but in a much better way.  I asked him what he actually believes (because even though you categorize yourself, no one believes all of what their religion says 100%).  The things he identified were not mutually exclusive from Christianity, and forms of it are actually present within Christian teachings.  We talked about how unlikely it was that some dude died for something he something he did wrong, even though he hasn't done anything.  We talked about taking the Bible literally versus investigating the metaphors behind the passages.  Then, we got home and picked out the readings for our wedding.  I haven't felt so connected to him in a long time, and I certainly haven't felt connected to him in that context.

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure for today is thinking the worst, but having everything turn out okay.

A story: This morning, I lumbered out of bed and dragged myself into the shower. I was sudsing up my hair, thinking deeply about something I've now forgotten, and I heard a crash. Almost immediately, I knew what it was:


Wicket likes to sit on top of the hamster cage. To keep her from doing that, we put it on a bookshelf. So far so good. She had only attempted to get up there one time up to this point, but I caught her. This time, she pulled it over on top of herself.

Awful thoughts were spinning around in my head: that Wicket had pulled over the tank, crushing/cutting herself or Sixie. If not, Sixie was a playtoy that Wicket was smacking around. So I ran out, hair full of suds, dripping from head to toe, just in time to catch the hamster running away. I managed to spirit her away into her ball before a) one of the cats got her or b) she disappeared into the secret passageways of the house that only rodents find.

In the end, it turned out alright:

The only reason she's wet and crazy looking is because I was wet and crazy looking when I picked her up :o)

Looks like we'll be going to PetSmart today...

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure for today is having time to think. For the last few days, I've been able to think through a bunch of things I've been putting off, specifically when it comes to marriage, religion, and getting my life on track. I'm still trying to figure out how to organize my thoughts in such a way that I can untangle the knots in my mind for good and not have to backtrack each time. I do fear, though, that time to think will be a bygone simple pleasure. Tomorrow, I start my second job. We'll see how it goes!

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure for this week is having a good, long day. Today, we took the campers to DC. Then, I met my best friend at a bridal store and picked out my MOH dress (as well as a contender for her wedding dress). Then we spent TWO HOURS trying on clothing. I've (apparently) never had a bra that really fits. When I was younger, my mom just dropped me off at that section of Wal-mart and told me to get something that fits. While the experience was physically and mentally frustrating, I'm glad to have finally figured out that crucial aspect of life.

As of tomorrow afternoon, I'm going on a camping trip. I will do a big old post before going to my conference Monday night.

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure for today is the first day of summer vacation!

Today was my first day off. I treasured it, because it's one of the very few I have this year. If you were around last year, I had off all summer because I took three certification classes and spent nearly all my time working on getting us a house. This year, I don't have anymore certification classes, and I have a large expense looming at the end of the year. I have three jobs this summer - a one-week service trip, a morning camp working with arts and crafts, and an evening job teaching kids one-on-one. I will be one busy chiquita!

Today, I got to spend time with my best friend from Oklahoma, who is planning my bridal shower and bachelorette party for this fall. I'm so excited! We gushed about our respective wedding plans, took her 18 month old niece to lunch and Ikea. It was really great to see them. She's been on (roughly) the same cruise I'm going on, so she was able to give great insight.

Simple Pleasure Thursday

My simple pleasure is buying my wedding dress! A friend and I went to pick out her bridesmaid dress. I picked the bottom and she picked the top. While we were there, I noticed that they were having a sale on all of their dresses. I just HAD to get it then and not wait until August like my mom wanted. We'll be married in six months and two weeks, so it seemed like the right time. It was just perfect all the way around. I tried it on again to see how it'd fit. The dress is gorgeous. I'm still just a tad nervous because the dress I had on was blue and I'm getting red, but we held up a sash in front and it didn't look bad at all. While I was wearing it, my friend "proposed" that I should be her bridesmaid when she gets married next year :o) I'm so excited!