NaPhoPoMo 2013, Day 4: Stillness, 11/4/13

Tonight, I came home from my Krav Maga class to find the house dark and quiet—an unusual phenomenon at 10:00 PM.  (We are night owls.)  This is where I dropped my gear before I headed into the kitchen to find something to eat.  When I wandered back through, I noticed the flickering light of the candle (don’t worry—it’s not real—it’s battery operated. No fire danger here!) and the way my duffel was placed underneath it, almost like an offering placed at an altar. 

I don’t know who would want an offering of sweaty gym gear, but I liked the quiet stillness in the house after a busy day and an intense evening—and even more, I like the promise of getting to do it all over again tomorrow.

NaPhoPoMo: National Photo Posting Month

The brainchild of Karen Walrond, NaPhoPoMo is a month long event in which you post at least one photo a day on your blog and share with the folks you know.  It’s a reason to stop and look up, look around, and document it.  I got on board a day late, and am only now figuring out how to link up to everything (because I’m so technologically delayed. Please forgive.) At any rate, it’s been kind of fun—reminds me of a mini-version of the 365 self-portrait thing I did a couple or three years back.  Only shorter and with a LOT less pressure.

Here are my first three days of photos (which I posted on Facebook and am now posting here—just to get with the program.)

Day 1: Night at the Ballet, 11/1/13

My friend, Vanessa, and I went to the ballet.   I hadn’t been to a ballet performance in a few years (the last one being a Czech performance of The Phantom of the Opera, in Prague, in 2009.  Good times.) The ballet Vanessa and I attended was called The American Program---all the choreography was done by Americans or created IN America, for American dancers.  I don’t know much about ballet, but after reading watching the performance and reading the program, I’m very intrigued by ballet and the different styles (who knew there were different styles of ballet? That is so cool!)  Anyway, Vanessa and I enjoyed the evening very much—it was an excuse to get all gussied up and feel like we were getting some culture.

 

Day 2: Impromptu Tea Party with the Kids, 11/2/13

My nine year old has a tea set that we picked up for her at a restaurant supply store last year.  She LOVES having little tea parties.  We had just finished a discussion on why we don’t allow sleepovers and she was feeling a little bummed that I’m such a strict parent about that.  A tea party is not a sleepover, but she seemed mollified when I suggested we use Twizzlers for straws and eat Halloween candy as part of our “high tea.”  (So much for teatime etiquette and tradition!)  Her brothers were happy to oblige (because there was candy.)  We served wild berry herbal tea and the kids dunked Jolly Ranchers into the tea to sweeten it.  Can you say sugar coma?

 

 

Day 3: Singing Time in Primary, 11/3/13

I teach Sunday School, and sometimes it’s really boring.  The best part of the day is “Singing Time,” when the kids get to learn and practice worship and Sunday School songs.  Today, the kids got a little silly—we were singing songs about Thanksgiving and Christmas (in preparation for the Christmas program.)  I love this bunch of people—they are silly and serious and precious (but mostly silly.  They crack me up!)

Details….or “Cool Idea for a Blog Post, Swiped from my SIL, Hilary Hanson”

My highly creative sister in law’s most recent blog post was about some fun little décor things she has in her house.  They are just small things, but they are meaningful to her.  You can see her post here.  At the end of her post she asks her readers what favorite things they have in their house.  So—I’m stealing her post idea and you get to see some of my favorite little “details.”

First up—my fish and crab plates in my kitchen:

I stumbled upon the two fish plates at a Ross store a couple of years ago.  I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but I loved these little guys.  I knew exactly where I’d put them in my house (over the window at the kitchen sink.)  Since they aren’t that big, and aesthetically speaking , a group of three is more appealing to look at than a group of two, I needed one more fish plate.  Unfortunately, there weren’t any more.  I spent a couple weeks hitting other Ross stores (even driving 45 minutes away to check out a store in another town!)  I had no luck finding a triplet.  But—then I found the crab plate.  Loved it. Bought it.  And there you are.

 

Next—this sign; a souvenir from Boise’s 2009 Cupcake Collective (a fundraiser for the Treasure Valley Institute for Children’s Arts):

The Cupcake Collective was a one time event where people could enter their homemade, hand-decorated cupcakes in a contest for cash prizes.  Admission was charged, and all who came got to sample the cupcakes.  My three oldest kids submitted entries (didn’t win, but who cares?  Hello---cupcake feast!  We’re ALL winners!)

These signs were posted all around the room, to remind people not to go too crazy in sampling.  I had to take one home.  My family razzes me for replacing a painting of Jesus ministering to children (which was what hung in the frame originally) with a picture of a pukey cupcake guy.  I have yet to find a new place for the Jesus painting—but I’m working on the perfect spot for it, okay?

Moving on—my next favorite item is this sign:

Actually, it’s more than just the sign—it’s also the jar of paintbrushes, the color on the walls, the greenery on the shelf, and the Guatemalan blanket tied in raffia, too.  The sign and paintbrushes came from my Grandma, Ellen Genta.  She took up oil painting late in life and became quite passionate about it—entering her paintings in local and regional art shows. She hung this sign outside her front door.  The paintbrushes are ones she actually used.  When she died, my aunt gave them to me, as I was something of a painter myself at the time—and I have a daughter named Ellen.  They represent my Grandma’s creative spirit—that she passed down to me, and to my daughter.

The wall color is a favorite of mine because I love blue, and I don’t know anyone else with a blue living room. 

The greenery and the blanket were my attempts to re-create the jungle-y feeling I experienced on my trip to Guatemala in December of 2000.

There. Those are some of my favorite “home details.”  What are yours?

It is what it is

Today, I looked out my window and noticed a single white Japanese Iris amidst a mass of green weeds. I planted several iris bulbs (or corms, or whatever they're called) a few years ago, but due to neglect, they've mostly died out. I'd nearly forgotten they were there.

This flower, an inverted tripod of waxy white, with bottle brush yellow stamens, looks so exotic, so opulent, so surprising. I won't go so far as to say this flower is a symbol of hope or of defying the odds and will come back full force next year, I know enough about gardening to know that if you neglect something long enough, it will eventually die. Unless I move the thing, it'll croak, and as I have no real interest in gardening anymore, I expect that's what will happen--but, in the meantime, if it's going down, it's going down in a blaze of glory. It doesn't know it's defeated, and even if it did, it wouldn't care. It's doing what it's supposed to do. The iris is what it is. And it's beautiful to the last.

Thomas Fersen - Le Chat botté (subtitulos en español)

Thomas Fersen - Croque (subtitulos en español)

Thomas Fersen, crooner

I admit it, I have a crush on a Frenchman. I was introduced to Thomas Fersen by way of the local library--I was looking for something new to listen to and found a CD called French Playground. Geared towards kids, the CD is a compilation of songs by various French artists. Intrigued by the list of titles and the names of the artists, I checked out the CD and brought it home. All the songs were good, but when track 11--entitled "Croque"-- scraped on, I was arrested by the Gypsy-band introduction and the gravelly smoker's voice, singing about coming home from work and his wife exclaiming that he looked like death. "Well, that's no surprise," he replies, "I work in a cemetery." I suppose it's not a joke everyone would appreciate, especially since the guy goes on to say he's starving and all he can think about during funerals are the potatoes he's growing in the empty graves, but I was completely taken in by the absurdity. I'm in love.

I love the goofy, melodramatic tune, the voice (oh, the voice!), the dark humor, and the play on words. And, of course, having listened to the song so much now that my children can sing along (in French!) I set out to find more of Thomas Fersen and discovered that all his songs are fun, catchy, and a bit irreverent. In other words, just the way I like 'em. Even if you don't speak French, Thomas Fersen is worth a listen for the tune and the voice (oh, again with the voice!)