Items of Use in My Daily Life

Specimen #1

Useful: I present to you the amazing, faithful, hard-working yellow tupperware colander(circa 1970's). It was given to me by one of Rob's college roommates after I expressed enthusiastic nostalgia for it. We must have had one like it growing up. I don't remember it exactly, but I remembered this when I saw it again and it was like meeting an old friend. "Oh, the yellow colander! I've missed you!" I've used this thing for all the years of our marriage for MANY purposes--food, crafts, and household projects. It might be the very most useful thing I own. Rob thinks he washes it in every sink of dirty dishes and has been known to ask, "Isn't the yellow colander in here somewhere?" We share a macabre joke that if I die an untimely death, this will be the thing that brings him to tears of remembrance each time he sees it. I will certainly stop to grab it if there's a fire.

Specimen #2

NOT Useful: I now present you with the vintage Snoopy alarm clock (also circa 1970's) we purchased at DI this summer. We thought it was so cute and retro and who doesn't need an alarm clock? Well once we put batteries in it, we discovered why it had been sent to DI. This clock has a heart-attack inducing alarm--one loud shrill ring (think Fire Station 5-alarm fire ring). Bea was playing with the clock in my bathroom yesterday and apparently set it to conveniently go off at 4:30 this morning. Scared me half to death! And sad to say this isn't the first time that has happened. In fact, my heart was beating so hard I couldn't fall back asleep and I lay there thinking what a worthless clock it is, since I've been truly "alarmed" by it at least half a dozen times and have NEVER purposely set it for its intended use. Back to Goodwill with you, little Snoopy. Run along now.

Specimen #3

Undecided: What do you think, friends? Are pull-ups a good thing or do they just prolong the agony? We have entered this swampy middle ground of potty-training and I'm not sure if these are useful or not. We're definitely out of the diapers. (There are 6 left in the house and I'm refusing to buy more--will I regret that?) But Bea is not completely (or even mostly) reliable in underwear. I clean up at least 2 accidents a day, but we are making progress. Just not enough to go out in public or to friends' houses without padded protection. Give me advice please. It seems like my last potty-training episode was a long time ago and SJ practically did it herself, overnight.

Anyway, these are three things I've used today. Two of these things will be used again and one no longer belongs in the family. Anyone need an alarm clock?

It's a beautiful day in the Neighborhood

One neighbor(Shan) just called to say she took our other neighbor (Kathryn) to the ER with a migraine. Shan picked up Kathryn's son from preschool and called me to see if the two of us could pull together dinner for Kathryn's family. I'm supplying a few ingredients and making cornbread for 3 families and Shan is making Jambalaya for the rest of us. Nice. This is how our neighbors roll and we love it.

Our retired neighbor, Bill, has been teaching Rob jazz piano for the last several months and shares his bumper crop of tomatoes with us. MaryAnne next door gives us yard advice and her son helps us with mechanical repairs. Kim gets me out running in the early mornings and trades babysitting with me. Kathryn is comic relief at the bus stop in the mornings and Shan always knows what to do in a crisis. I keep tabs on everyone and try to get us together once in a while. We know everyone in 8 of the 10 houses we can see from ours (and a few neighbor/friends we can't see from our house).

Bill (piano neighbor) and his wife Gwen came for dinner last weekend and told us they are moving soon to be closer to family. Still in Charlotte, but not in our cozy little neighborhood. Rob doesn't get sentimental about much, but he was very sad about this news. It feels good to have neighbors you know and trust and it stinks when you have to break it up. Viva Cheshunt!

Thinking about this reminds me of all the neighbors we've loved before--the Tongan family, the sweet Jewish lady, and the eldery childless couple who raised turtles and chihuahuas (neighbors from my childhood). A fun neighbor named Megan who traded recipes with me while our girls played on the steps in front of our student apartments. The Wenglers, Bradshaws, Waltons, Hansons--dear friends in our Indiana Mormon Ghetto apartments :) Such happy memories from all those homes and neighbors. I often tell my far away sisters and sisters-in-law that I wish we could be neighbors--to share jobs, recipes, ideas & companionship.

To all of you, I sing:

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you,
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So let's make the most of this beautiful day,
Since we're together, we might as well say,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?

Won't you please,
Won't you please,
Please won't you be my neighbor?

Praise the Lord on Wednesday

We had a super awesome Southern experience last night when we attended a Gospel Shout at the United House of Prayer for All People. We didn't make it to the Soul food dinner beforehand, but you can be sure we'll be there next year, because this is going to be an annual tradition for our family. It was everything I imagined and more--all the clapping, shouting, call and response singing, a capella choirs, and hands raised to heaven. The only thing I wasn't prepared for were the tambourines. Wow. I didn't even know the possibilities of this instrument. People in the audience even brought their own tambourines so they could bang along with the band. (Sorry for the horrible video--Bea was hanging on my arm--but you have to see this guy.)






For a better sound than I could capture, listen here. Loved the trumpets. Loved the swaying and clapping. It was loud and wild and so different from anything I've ever heard before. The girls (especially Bea) were a little weirded out at first, but soon we were all clapping and dancing too. You just can't sit still with this kind of worship going on. And it is worship, though very different from ours. It felt joyful, welcoming, and inspiring and called to mind a long heritage of beautiful song and dance in worship. Let all the people cry Amen!

Nourishment

Part I.
Saturday was a Western North Carolina regional women's conference held in the mountains near Asheville. We had a special guest speaker from Salt Lake City: Julie Beck, General Relief Society President! I left home in the early hours of the morning to attend a training meeting for RS presidencies. We grabbed some lunch, held an impromptu presidency meeting, then returned for a second session with sisters from all over the state. It was really interesting, since Sister Beck did both sessions question and answer style. After a brief introduction, she took questions from the audience and then gave an answer, usually illustrated with a personal story and scriptures. By the time Rob picked me up at 3pm, I felt full to the brim, overstuffed with goodness, hope, sisterhood and strength. I learned so much, but here are my 3 favorites.

1) Spend time in the scriptures every day.
2) Poor visiting teaching numbers often reflect a reporting problem rather than a ministering problem, because sisters do care for each other in so many ways. Practice 'ministering' rather than asking, 'Does this count?' in regards to VT.
3) The most important skill you can have is to seek, feel, and obey personal revelation.

Part II.
Rob drove the girls to Asheville and picked me up. We met his sisters Susan and Megan at our special place, SkyTop Orchard. We picked a bushel of apples to eat (about 40 lbs.) and also bought a bushel of peaches when the highway dipped down into South Carolina (SC has yummy peaches too, cousins of the more famous Georgia Peach). It was a hot afternoon and a long day for all the little children, but we still had a great time. I spent Monday canning peaches (14 quarts!) and I'm proud of my efforts. I think even my mother-in-law Cecile would be impressed. I consider her the patron saint of food preservation, so if you can impress her, that's pretty good :)

Canning (when I do it) makes me think about my mother and grandmothers and helps me feel a connection to them. I hardly remember my mom canning, but I know she did it because we ate home-canned fruit and vegetables all through the year. I can picture her in my mind, staying up late, exhausted as she must have been, to finish yet another job for her large, hungry family. (Why, oh WHY, did I not pay more attention? Why was I not a more helpful daughter? I could just slap my teenage self for being so obtuse.)

My great grandma, Effie Adams, taught me how to can peaches when I was a young, new mom with a 5 month old Maddie. I remember that day in her sunny kitchen and how surely she worked. She told me how much she enjoyed teaching me because she had never had a daughter with whom she could share those skills. I felt nourished that day. Now it is my turn to nourish others and my bushel basket is full to overflowing.

Scents and Sensibility

When you hear the words 'Polo', 'Georgio', 'Eternity', I'm sure your brain comes up with very specific images as mine does. Junior high dances, trips to the drugstore to buy illicit eyeliner and perfume knock-offs, etc. Smells of perfumes I've worn can conjure up those days like nothing else. 'Beautiful', 'Sunflowers', 'Tresor', 'Gio'. (That last one had to be given away after unfortunate associations with my first pregnancy nausea.)

Today while putting on my perfume, I decided to make note of my current fragrances. I'm not tied down to just one, but there have been a few favorites over the years and the ones I have now are definitely "me". I think perfume descriptions are funny because they sound so delicious, but it's really impossible to guess what it will actually smell like, or how it will smell on you. I've always liked Clinique's 'Happy' and love how it smells on others, but it quite literally stinks on me.

Several years ago we traveled to China with my family and found 'Les Belles Almond Amour' in the airport duty free shop. I fell in love with it and it has been my true favorite ever since. Very hard to find, but so worth it. This is my Sunday, date night, special occasion perfume. Another good one is Coco Chanel, given by Rob on an anniversary. It's a very mature and heavy scent, so it's reserved for cooler temperatures and grown-up occasions.

My everyday wear is Brown Sugar & Fig from Bath & Body Works. This is the lotion/body spray/body wash scent I use most. My Christmas present last year was Burberry Brit. I loved it in the store and tried it on several times. I still really like it and wear it frequently, but I don't think I'll buy it again. Just not the most 'me'. Funny how some scents are like that.

And funny how a specific scent comes to be tied to a person. Rob could never wear Obsession because that's what my dad wore all during my teenage years. And there are certain colognes worn by ex-boyfriends that are off limits. I like to smell the perfume bottles in my mother and mother in laws bathrooms. I loved to smell the bottle of 'White Shoulders' in my great grandmother's room, even though I think she rarely wore it. I love it when my girls sniff my perfume and tell me which one I should wear.

What scent are you wearing now? Do you agree with its description? What scents turn you off? I myself don't like Gardenia AT ALL (another pregnancy casualty). Word to the wise: put your (and your husband's) favorite scents in hiding during the first few weeks of sickness to avoid collateral damage. As you can see, smells were a 'scentsitive' issue. haha.

Charlotte's Web

We've got a new pet spider. We've identified it as a black and yellow argiope (garden orb spider) and she has proved to be a fascinating friend in these last lazy days of summer. We know she's a lady spider because of her size (2 inches long!).

The web is situated between two shrubs, a mere 3 feet from the front window, so we've been able to watch the spider close-up from the comfort and safety of air-conditioning behind glass. Orb spiders frequently tear down and rebuild their webs, so yesterday we watched with great interest off and on for an hour while she spun her web. I've never actually watched a spider make a web and it was the most interesting thing ever. Rob says he's seen it lots of times--something about growing up as a boy and that's just part of it, I guess. It was a first for our girls too and we were all inspired by the work and talent of our spider. Maddie has even seen her trap and wrap a hornet that flew into the web. (She's harmless to humans, by the way.)

Also known as "writing spiders", this variety finishes its web with a white zig zag pattern made of thick, banded silk. We watched the spider go around and around her web, waiting for her to make the zig zag. We almost missed it during our breakfast break, but got back just in time to see it created and it was really amazing! It made me think of a quote from Elder M. Russell Ballard from this month's "Friend" magazine:

"[An] experience [with roses] led me to consider the myriad forms of plant and animal life that thrive in astounding balance upon the earth. My esteem for our little roses took on an element of wonder and reverence. I pondered the power of the creative genius who lovingly provided such marvels for his children. I thought then how important it is for every human soul to see and appreciate the glory and grandeur of God in everything about us."

We see the glory and grandeur in this creature we've been watching. Even Bea runs to check on her each morning. I don't know if I'll ever look at spiders the same way again.


P.S. I discovered this in my research today: "Charlotte gives her full name as "Charlotte A. Cavatica", revealing her as a barn spider, an orb-weaver with the scientific name Araneus cavaticus."

**photo from http://frank.itlab.us/zoo/

I'm the best at everything

My cousin James Paul taught me the word "megalomaniac"--someone obsessed with wealth, power, genius, or omnipotence. I wouldn't say I'm obsessed exactly, but in light of recent self-esteem issues, I do find myself looking for reasons to pat myself on the back. James also taught me a catchy song he made up that became a family favorite: "My name is __________. I'm the best at everything. I just can't explain this feeling of superiority that I feel whenever I look at you...."

Okay, so I'm not the best at everything, but I've had this song stuck in my head all week and I would like to congratulate myself on sticking with my writing goal for one whole year!! This week marks a full year of Wednesday letters. Last year I opened this blog, but then decided to do it by email instead. I figure that after a year, those who have been reading will want to continue, and those who don't read might want me to stay out of their inbox!

I haven't been back to this blog since I wrote the first entry last summer and it surprised me to remember how strongly I felt that I needed to begin writing. I don't know why I felt so prompted, but I do know I have really enjoyed writing over this past year. The journaling, remembering, noticing, the response from others, even having a deadline--these things have all made me love and look forward to writing these letters each week.

I'm not published and I may never be, but I finally feel like I can say I'm a writer. I write. Every week.

Flori