Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Resettling back into a routine after a vacation is like trying to sift curdled milk with a gold mining pan.

Last week was a dream. Even the hours in a minivan with three kids and a grouchy husband were enjoyable- at least for me. Hey, I didn't have to chase anyone! Plus the sky was blue and there were plenty of snacks within reach.

If you want to feel like your “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere” (name that country singer) then visit a village in the Midwest that's surrounded by Amish farms. Call me crazy, but I'd up and move to Arthur, Illinois, tomorrow if I could. The weather was a nice break from the humidity of the Gulf Coast, though I have been up there when it's been sticky hot. The snickerdoodle cookies at the local Country Cheese and More bakery were as delicious as usual. (I only gained one pound! And no, those two dozen I picked up on the last day didn't make it home, but I had help.) The Amish crafts are gorgeous to look at and I was able to bring home a piece of oak furniture, which is the best physical keepsake of the trip.

Though I'm sure my children would disagree. They were spoiled, as usual, by grandparents and aunts. And having time with cousins, an uncle, and great-grandma was wonderful, too. Besides the daily trips on foot to the main street they had fun on the front porch with sidewalk chalk, a couple afternoons at the local school's playground, a trip to Rockome Gardens, and a festive luau party.

Memories of family time and adventures with horses, buggies and trains to last until next time. Which hopefully will be in the not too distant future. It's been about three and a half years since our last visit- much too long!

... and she flies the coop...

I'm here on time this week. Blogoriffic!

My timeliness blooms from guilt: I won't be posting next week and I wanted to make sure I get this week's post up. The next few days will be filled with packing and laundry and cleaning. Saturday the family heads north on a fourteen hour drive to reach my in-laws' home. Thankfully the trip will be split between two days, allowing for a stop in Nashville to return two of my nephews to their home and see my sister and the rest of her family.

I love to travel! I haven't been more than forty-five minutes away from home since last June when I was blessed enough to travel (flying first class no less!) to the Boston area to visit with my oldest sister. I was six months pregnant and away from my boys for the first time. Need I say I was spoiled and self-centered during that visit? Such an odd feeling to get away from it all... (See photo above.)

But this time it's interstate travel and car seats and too many pit stops. French fries on the floor and cranky kids.

It'll be so worth it, though! Seeing the world go by one mile marker at a time. And if I'm lucky, a book-on-tape to listen to... as long as the kids are quiet enough and the narrator's voice doesn't annoy the driver. I'll have my bird book next to the seat and my journal within arms reach as well. And a camera, though I probably won't remember to use it much.

The days ahead will be filled with family, fun, and a little frustration, I'm sure!
Bon Voyage!

Literary Defeat

I've lost a battle with a book. Not just any book, but a classic. A standard from this past century in the literary library of the greats. One of the most referenced works I've come across in articles and books about the craft of writing. And I quit!

My brain was having too much trouble wrapping around a text which is out-numbered by footnotes on many of the pages. In the five to ten minutes of reading time I get here and there throughout the day it was too difficult to keep track of the train of thought an hour or two later with such detailed references. Nearly impossible to grasp the details while being pulled at by one child and questioned by another.

But I need the information from this book- which has been sitting on my shelf for nearly a decade. Plot is my weakest link and I believe the knowledge in this book will help me with plotting my stories. I finally dusted off the book two weeks ago but have accepted defeat on page twenty-six.

Instead, I cheated.

I goggled “Hero's Journey” to find a tidy outline of the steps in the travels of a character rather than trying to trudge through The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. And I found a gem on an educational website which translated nicely to be printed out on two pages in document format. It now rests on my desk; encased in an archival page protector. The crisp page glaring like a white flag.

I've surrendered the fight, for now. I'll try it again when my brain functions better.


P.S. I try to stick with nonfiction reading during the day. So now I'm rereading Herself by Madeleine L'Engle (one of my favorites). The collection of quotes is just the thing to be able to read a few pages here and there. Plus it's uplifting and empowering. And at night I'm reading Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson.

P.P.S. The book that won is on the left side of the shelf, white with red swirls and a blue text box. L'Engle is the shortest book in the center of the inspiration and how-tos.

Musings

I'm getting closer to catching up on projects around here. For example I'm down to one scrapbook to catch-up on (see blog posted May 20, 2009). Though by the time I order pictures again I'll have at least 3 months worth of new pictures to attend to. But as my baby girl grows, I take fewer pictures each month. And we haven't had a major outing since March so there isn't a photo-documentary waiting to be freed. Translation= it should be easier to keep up on things from now on... or at least this next time.

One thing I have done lately is taken several videos. Those have been fun. Just thirty-ninety second snippets of my kids at play: recording their laughter and movement.

Oh, and my mother gave me a little photo album of random pictures of me from the time I was a toddler until my twentieth birthday. So those will have to be placed. Some might be duplicates from shots I already have in scrapbooks. If that's the case, I'll pass them along to unsuspecting family members so they can strategically place the oddball photos instead of me.

The photo on this page is from the batch my mother gave me. Yours truly, in my Wonderland, October 1995. It was in this room where “Wonderwegian” was born. I was always changing things around. Posters on the ceiling as well as globes and record albums hanging, too. And that's just a third of the room, with my “black and white wall” taking up the main backdrop. The other walls (and ceilings) were covered with a colorful assortment of rock posters/albums and nature prints.

My taste has always been all over the place but I like to think that now I have less clutter.

I'm Melting!

Last month we were blessed with unseasonably moderate temperatures along the Gulf Coast. So far June is making up for May's easy days. The heat index is 99 right now, the thermostat is reading 95F. One can only pray for afternoon thunderstorms to cool things off a bit but this week doesn't haven't much stacked in favor for rain.

Yes, I'm talking weather.

Out of topics or news, you might be thinking. Not really.

Exterior climate affects my interior climate.

Ask my family- they'll let you know I've been running hot lately. Easily frustrated and short tempered. Diffidently not my usual self. But 'tis the season for stress and anxiety- at least for me. Trapped inside during the summer much like northerners are trapped inside during the winter.

My oldest son has trouble regulating his body temperature, as part of his immune system issues, so he over-heats easily.

Mosquitoes are attracted to my middle child like squirrels to magnolia blossoms. (Yes, those critters eat the magnolia buds!)

The baby doesn't need to be around heat or bugs.

And I don't want to either, if I can help it!

So we spend a lot of time indoors.