Anyone have any favorite classical pieces or favorite composers they would like to recommend? I was reminded today how much I love classical music and need some ideas on what I might want to listen to. Any ideas?
Posts in the ‘Random Thoughts’ Category
This is my emotional purge.
I need to write.
Bad.
My writing may not be coherent or of any interest to anyone but myself, but I cannot lay down to bed tonight until my mind has been cleared of clutter, and writing is the best way I know to do that.
Its been a week. Last week I felt in control. Funny, huh, because last week was the week from h.e.double hockey sticks. as far as my schedule was concerned. I had something every night to plan for, was speaking at a RS meeting (about priorities of all things!), had to plan and execute a Primary activity, promised my bishop I would be at ward temple night (I have an 8 week old, remember?) and had to plan for Sharing Time on Sunday. I wanted to scream when I thought about all I had to do, and yet somehow the Lord made me equal to the task. I even managed to feed my family, keep my house relatively clean, spend time with my kids and both mine and Clint’s family and find Jane a blessing dress. I felt like Super Woman. (Until I played limbo with my kids at our activity and pulled my c-section scar…not so Super!)
This week has been different. I have nothing planned this week other than my Primary meeting which was tonight and planning for my Sharing Time on Sunday. (Which, thanks to a kind lady in another ward, is already pretty much done for me! I so owe her a Sharing Time!) And yet, I find myself loosing my temper with Ryan quicker, more tired than I have been since before Jane was born, and just plain irritable.
Yesterday I went to the grocery store for the first time with both kids. Like, real grocery shopping. Not pick up a few things at the store grocery shopping. It took my three hours. At one point Jane was screaming her head off because she was tired and couldn’t calm down, and Ryan, not getting what he wanted, was throwing intermittent tantrums all over the store. Picture this: In one had a screaming baby. The other pushing a cart and trying to put produce in a bag (one handed, mind you). Next to you is a child screaming his lungs out, and there is nothing you can do but try and bribe him in a nice pleasant voice so someone wont think you are a horrible parent and call child protective services on you. I will never, ever do that again.
So on top of the grocery trip that was a lesson in what not to do when you have a newborn and a toddler, I spent the rest of the day exhausted, emotionally and physically, from my morning, and was not the ideal mother to my son. (Read, mom from h.e.double hockey sticks. Sorry, favorite phrase tonight.) I was lucky enough to end the day with yoga with a friend of mine – a getaway I desperately needed.
Today, was better, but I still felt very irritable, and had a hard time controlling it by the days end.
Life is just hard sometimes.
But then, there is my amazingly supportive husband. I can’t begin to tell you how much he watches the kids while I am at meetings, planning Primary stuff, or when I just need to get out of the house and do yoga with a friend one night. Or stays up late with Jane so I can go to bed (or write on a blog when I need to vent). I love that man immensely.
And there is my friend who, when I told her about my day, invited me over to just have some girl time and relax. Just what I needed.
And then there is the sweet woman in my ward who wrote me a thank you note and mailed it to me so that I got it today. My heart is full of love for her. She is a wonderful example of what I want to be, and she is thanking me for what I have done for her? Just makes me want to be even more like her. She is great.
And then there is my sweet boy who, when I got home tonight from my meeting, was in bed, with a fever, and all he wanted to do was have his mommy hold him. How can I ever be angry with that love bug?
I was just too full of emotions tonight to not write it all down. It had to come out.
I pray that tomorrow I will be better.
More loving.
More patient.
More able to love this wonderful life of mine.
And I leave you with, Jason Mraz “Life is Wonderful.” (Emphasis added.)
It takes a crane to build a crane
It takes two floors to make a story
It takes an egg to make a hen
It takes a hen to make an egg
There is no end to what I’m saying
It takes a thought to make a word
And it takes some words to make an action
It takes some work to make it work
It takes some good to make it hurt
It takes some bad for satisfaction
La la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Al la la la la
It takes a night to make it dawn
And it takes a day to make you yawn brother
And it takes some old to make you young
It takes some cold to know the sun
It takes the one to have the other
And it takes no time to fall in love
But it takes you years to know what love is
It takes some fears to make you trust
It takes those tears to make it rust
It takes the dust to have it polished
Ha la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is so full of
Ah la la la la la la life is so rough
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is our love
Ah la la la la la
It takes some silence to make sound
It takes a loss before you found it
And it takes a road to go nowhere
It takes a toll to make you care
It takes a hole to make a mountain
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ha la la la la la life is wonderful
Ha la la la la la life is meaningful
Ha la la la la la life is wonderful
Ha la la la la la life it is…so… wonderful
It is so meaningful
It is so wonderful
It is meaningful
It is wonderful
It is meaningful
It goes full circle
Wonderful
Meaningful
Full circle
Wonderful
About 5 1/2 years ago I took a great class at BYU. It was an Honors Creative Writing class and it was taught by Tom and Louise Plummer. These guys are actual authors. Like,they make a living writing and people actually read their books. I think they might have even won awards. I know. Crazy. And I got to sit in a very small, intimate class with them for an entire semester and learn about good writing. (Please don’t read this and then mock my incomplete sentences and very poor use of punctuation and at times even grammar. I don’t write on my blog like I do when I “write.” Maybe I should? I can tell you all the rules I am breaking, I just don’t care in this venue.)
Anyway…
One of the practices they had us do was to write lists. I can’t remember what I did a list of for their class – the contents of my desk drawer probably. Louise said that she would occasionally do lists just for fun, to look back at later and have a little snapshot of her life at a specific time.
I am wanting to write more again. Mostly for me and my own therapy. I enjoy writing and I need something creative and enjoyable to do every now and again so that my life isn’t completely consumed by mothering, primary-ing, housekeeping, wife-ing, and all of the other forms of “-ings” in my life. Don’t get me wrong – I love all of those things (“-ings”) but I want to recapture some of my former passions, and writing has always been one of them.
And, occassionally, if I think its worth it, I might share with you on this blog. Not that anyone really cares, but I plan on actually making our blog into a book someday (maybe one per year) to keep as a type of family history, and I think it would be fun to include.
So, for anyone who cares, here is a LIST OF THE CONTENTS OF MY FRIDGE on JULY 3rd, 2010.
- 2.5 small tubs of Country Crock Spread
- 24 oz blueberries
- cilantro
- Hormel Natural Honey Ham slices
- almonds
- whole wheat flour
- corn tortillas (a LOT of them!)
- Stoneyfield Organic Vanilla yogurt
- leftover angel hair pasta
- leftover chicken Alfredo sauce
- Naked Green Machine juice
- 2 bags of spinach
- apples
- 2 lbs strawberries
- plums
- grapes
- alfalfa sprouts
- snow peas
- basil
- tomatoes (plum and hothouse)
- baby avocados
- 1 1/2 bags baby carrots
- eggs
- radishes
- 3 1/2 red bell peppers
- green onions
- organic applesauce
- 1/2 red onion
- leftover pineapple tidbits
- cucumber
- broccoli
- leftover Hawaiian haystack sauce
- homemade salsa
- 2 lbs real, unsalted butter
- green leaf lettuce
- rainbow Swiss chard
- consecrated oil
- yeast
- 1/2 shallot
- homemade bread crumbs
- flour tortillas
- Progresso Italian breadcrumbs
- skim milk (almost gone)
- 2% milk
- homemade ranch
- mayo
- 3 ears of corn
- pepperoni
- cheddar cheese (white and orange)
- Sargento provolone cheese slices
- Kraft Nautral 2% cheese sticks
- Romano cheese
- homemade triple-berry jam
- orange marmalade
- Knotts blackberry jam
- heavy cream
- ketchup
- hot sauce
- bleu cheese dressing
- Italian dressing
- Worcestershire sauce
- caramel ice cream topping
- soy sauce
- Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ Sauce
- Sweet Baby Rays Raspberry Chipotle BBQ Sauce
- hoisin sauce
- Ken’s Ranch dressing
- strawberry ice cream topping
- gravy enhancer
- 3 cheese balsamic dressing from Fresh and Easy
- Red Wine Vinaigrette from Fresh and Easy
- cooling gel breast pad
If anyone else is interested in doing this exercise and would like to share, I am actually very curious as to what is in other people’s fridges.
These were sent to me in an email and some of them were too good (read “true”) not to share.
- Nothing stinks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
- I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.
- There is great need for a sarcasm font.
- How in the world are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
- Was learning cursive really necessary?
- Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
- I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.
- Bad decisions make good stories.
- You never know when it will strike,but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
- Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blu Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection…again.
- I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
- “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this — ever.
- I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What’d you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?
- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
I’ve been struggling lately with feelings of self-worth and capability. We all struggle with these things at one time or another, right?
Anyway, today I went out to pick a few of my roses that were blooming to help brighten up me…and my house. As I picked them I noticed that they were be-speckled with mud. You see, this particular kind of rose is heavy and tends to droop when in bloom, and because the plant is young it is small and close to the ground. Well, yesterday it rained. Rain plus mud plus roses bent close toward the ground equals mud-splattered roses. But you know what? They are still beautiful, and they still smell just as sweet. Even with the mud, these roses fulfilled the measure of their creation – so to speak – and brightened my day in the process.
And it reminded me of me – and probably all of us really. I am mud splattered in so many ways, and yet, that doesn’t mean that I can’t do what I am meant to do and be who I am meant to be – taking joy in every minute of being a mud-splattered rose.
Which I never will.
And if I did…
It would be to my sweetheart again.
BUT…
I would do it in a different dress.
Maybe.
I mean, I loved mine at the time. Classic. Simple. It was perfect.
But I ran into these online while wasting time (avoiding the more important and more boring things I need to do), and IF I were ever 21 again and marrying Clint, I MIGHT choose one of these instead:
(illustration by Lisbeth Zwerger)
Musicians:
Children’s Illustrators:
Looks too good to pass recipe:
It has been raining here in Phoenix the past week or so. Beautiful! I have been soaking in all the glorious freshness that rain brings to the desert. The sound, the crisp, clean air, the cozy atmosphere…it is all such a refreshing change of pace from the norm here. (I know. I know. Who complains about constant sunshine, right? But who can enjoy the sun when it never rains?)
Rain, I will miss you when you are gone. Please, PLEASE come again another day!
What do you do on rainy days? (Mornings? Evenings?) This is what we are doing today:
Actually, the movie-babysitter might have more to do with Ryan waking me up at the unearthly hour of 6:30AM than the rain. 
I need a good nap today.