Category Archive: Uncategorized
I’ve been juggling—juggling bits and pieces of life in the air and hoping to successfully catch them all, one at a time.
I’m used to juggling motherhood, friendships and church work. And every so often I’ll pretend to do some domestic chores in order to keep everyone in clean clothes. I won’t even pretend I cooked last week, but that’s a different story and I’m trying to do better this week.
Recently I’ve begun to juggle two very cool, very exciting life bits: freelance writing and photography. This past summer I began to feel it was high time to fully pursue my gifts and talents in these areas. When I’m writing or taking photos, I feel like I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing, and I delight in worshipping God through these activities. I’ve always known that “whatever you do, do it all the glory of God,” but I’m experiencing that in a very new and quite satisfying way right now. I could probably say a lot more about this line of work and how much I’m enjoying it but I won’t… at least not in this blog post.
So the juggling.
Turns out, I’m not a world class juggler. Imagine that! Or perhaps it’s just that I’m juggling too many bits and pieces at one time. That’s fine, really, because I’m in a transition stage right now and have plans for the future that will involve putting down some of the bits and settling into a less juggly-type routine. And oh, I do love routine. Consistency and comfort zones are two of my favorite things. Apparently, juggling is not.
But you must excuse me, I see that laundry in the air and I’m contemplating tossing up some freelance writing work as well. That amount of juggling I can handle.
I’m locked out of Facebook for the time being. So if you get any weird messages there from me, know they’re not from me at all! I wonder if a lot of people are receiving these security alerts. Jeremy did, and I changed my password when that happened. It’s a tad annoying if you ask me.
O Nebraska Winter, how you torment me so! One day it’s delightfully warm, your wind dying down to nothing and the sun shining in the clear blue sky. And the next, oh the next sees 4-5 inches of white snow piled upon my sidewalks. The snow is charming in its icy, cold, harsh kind of way. And I sense perhaps the last opportunity to earn a Good Mom Badge by taking my daughter sledding, but really, it’s time for you to go. It’s time for Nebraska Spring to make its blustery entrance. If I fill the basement emergency kits for impending tornadic storms, will you be tempted to leave? If I start dressing in capris and sandals, will you take a hint? If we install the screen in the front door will you understand that its time for you to move on? March comes tomorrow. Sayanora, Nebraska Winter! (Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out.)
A quick glance around the first floor of my house reveals how very much I’ve fallen behind… in about every way. That’s how things go after the entire fam has been sick, but still, it’s now driving me crazy. Couscous under Liv’s seat at the dining room table, garage sale clothes stacked a few feet away from the couscous, the old stroller returned by my sister-in-law only a few feet away from the couscous and garage sale clothes. Yikes! Can we either call Merry Maids or find something all-consuming for Livia to do for about eight hours solid?
This is life. Sickness and organization rotating in cycles, with no need to get all worked up about either. The couscous will get swept up, the clothes will make their way to the basement prior to their eventual sale, the stroller will eventually be placed in the garage.
All this to say, if the status of my dining room is any indicator, then you can imagine what my email inbox looks like. If you are waiting on a response to an email, please don’t feel ignored. Or at least consider yourself in good company. You and the couscous have something in common. And goodness knows I love couscous. ; )
It’s a snow day in Lincoln, Nebraska—not because of the snow that’s already accumulated, but because of the snow that is expected to fall today. The announcement of a snow day is STILL exciting for me even though I’ve been out of school for almost 13 years now. I think there’s a collective, community anticipation of fun when school is called off for the neighborhood kids and I’m sure we’ll see them out in force today, making snowmen and sledding down the few hills we have in this flat part of the country.
Livia and I hit the grocery store yesterday for a few staples and aside from a library run this morning, we’re prepared to enjoy a homebound Friday. I’ve already promised her adventures both outdoors and in. As long as everyone gets healthy here, we’ll be doing fine.
What are your plans for today and tomorrow? Does anyone have big Valentines plans?
A quick run around the blogosphere this morning reveals lots of plans to vote, a small amount of fear regarding America’s future, and a whole lot of campaign exhaustion.
I’m not exhausted by the campaigns of 2008. Why? We’ve had no access to any television channels… until last night. I picked up a $9.99 antenna from Target and, yippee!, now I can watch the election returns from my own living room. While I’m thrilled to access the world of Oprah, Good Morning America and Jeopardy without paying cable fees, I also realize what a blessing it’s been to have avoided all the paid campaign commercials over the past year. CNN Online and conservative talk radio have made me groan enough—CNN hearts Obama, clearly conservative talk radio hearts McCain, blah blah blah. I can’t imagine how worn out I’d feel after all the negative ads on tv.
After googling “candidates on the issues,” I feel comfortable casting my vote for John McCain.
And you know what I’ll feel comfortable doing after that? Drinking a free Starbucks in the coziness of my own living room. Thank you, cheap antenna.
How have you recently expressed yourself creatively?
What were some ways you used to be creative, perhaps during your childhood/youth, that you don’t engage in anymore?
Would you like to revisit those old creative expressions someday?How is someone close to you—a spouse, friend, child—creative in a way you are not?
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Thanks for playing along, everyone! I think sewing is so cool… There are so many possibilities for gifts, fun toys, useful items, etc, when you can sew.
Beside photography, I find myself enjoying all sorts of kid activities. Basically, if I was left to myself, I’d sit down and color all the live long day. Livia doesn’t enjoy coloring much, though, so we create art by stamping, painting, cutting and gluing. I wish I had many more hours for creative projects… I’d especially like to pour myself into writing; for now I’m in a holding pattern in that area. I write in my head all the time but rarely do my internal compositions see the light of day.
Someday I hope to get back into theater again. You couldn’t keep me from performing as a kid.
Finally, I really admire my husband’s creativity in web design. He’s amazing with color and has quite an eye for detail (kind of necessary in his line of work, it comes naturally to him which totally impresses me). I’m also floored by Livia’s imagination. She sees worlds I cannot see and lives in richness because of it.
Okay, so I’m cleaning Liv’s closet this morning and I’m coming across a ton of old items I should probably give away. Cute teeny baby shoes, brand-new-still-in-the-packaging baby blankets, old toys, you name it. Here’s what I’m wondering: How many things is it appropriate to keep for sentimental reasons? Should I hang on to Livia’s first pair of baby shoes or the pink cowgirl boots she wore for months on end? I’m in the mood to purge, people. This is a rare occasion, one to embrace fully.
Moriah at Please Pass the Salt picked me for 7 Things. I rarely do memes, because I’m silly like that, but I couldn’t shake the thought of 7 random things that you. must. know. about Rebecca Tredway. And now that I’ve said you must know this information, I’d like to delete the whole post. Ha. Here goes…
- I have a “funny” yawn, as Livia so accurately stated this morning. Some of my yawns end in a little burp.
- In general, I don’t like fruit muffins but love chocolate chips ones (which we all know are called cupcakes).
- I dream about theater on a regular basis. Most often I’m either auditioning or late for an audition, and my beloved high school theater teacher Carol Svoboda is always present.
- I have never interviewed for a job. (This says little-to-nothing about my job skills, but quite a bit about providential timing.)
- I can’t mow in a straight line to save my life. I also can’t cut in a straight line.
- I can recite “The Friendly Cow” (Robert Louis Stevenson) from memory but I don’t remember memorizing it. I can also quote 1 Corinthians 13 in its entirety and I remember staying up all night in 6th grade with Kara Zwartverwer trying to memorize it and other scripture passages in an attempt to earn $20. Turns out, our youth leaders were kidding about the $20.
- I believe I am better at almost everything at age 30 than I was at age 20. Apart from being quite skilled at studying as a 20 year old (simply because I had to be), I am now a kinder person, a wiser wife and mother, and overall slightly less of an idiot than I was at 20. By that account, 40 looks better every day.
**If your blog is listed on my righthand menu, consider yourself TAGGED. Therefore go ye peoples and have some random fun.
NARAL makes my stomach churn. I can’t help but think of my body in Fall 2006, how I got to hear my baby’s heartbeat at 8 weeks gestation, then listened fearfully only to hear silence a week later. With sadness I think of my miscarriage and I wonder how it’s considered a right to actually stop a baby’s heart from beating. How is that okay? Why do we celebrate a fetus’s first movements in the womb and in the next breath say that’s it’s okay to abort a human being of the same age? Baffles me.
NARAL has endorsed Barack Obama for president. And why not? Clearly, the candidate is pro-choice.
Boo to NARAL.
Boo to Obama for supporting abortion.
Boo to this presidential election.