the kitchen today, all day

I could not stay out of the kitchen today.

~First soaking and cooking garbanzo beans.

Making delicious hummus.

~Next I uprooted every last basil plant, plucked each leaf, washed them and proceeded to stock us with pesto for the winter, not to mention some just plain frozen basil.

~I baked the tofu I had marinated over night slowly and saved it away for sushi and sandwiches later this week.

~Then I quick cooked kidney beans to make chili for dinner.

It cooked most of the afternoon with sweet potatoes,sweet onions, garlic, and carrots. 

It will show up again in burritos later this week.

~I also made potato salad for my sweetie, although he informed me mine gives him heartburn. :(

I guess I need to make something sweet tomorrow to wash this savory smell out of the air.

Maybe lemon bread with blueberries I picked Friday.

This cool weather could ruin girlish figure. ;)

I need to go for a long walk

or even a run if I can muster it up.

curry, blankets and the four seasons

Something happens every year, a metamorphosis of my mind and soul.

Am I part bear or turtle or a snake or a ground hog?

First I notice a slowing of my body. I feel like a slug in slow motion.

I notice my head feeling heavier with pressure

( i live with daily sinus pressure), 

my throat scratches (and hurts, sometimes)

 and I feel like I am on the verge of getting sick. 

This feeling can go on for months.

It is a main contributor to my seasonal, emotional, change to serious introvert.

It feels like I am preparing to hibernate.

What does it feel like to prepare to hibernate?

I know that during this seasonal transformation I want to cook.

Soup, bread, new recipes, old recipes, sharing food, eating more food,

warming the kitchen with deliciousness.

I struggle to cook all summer, to find inspiration and once the temperature drops,

 even 5 degrees

I wake up a cook again.

This week was India and Italy.

Curry lentil soup and Focaccia bread.

Another sign that I am am a hibernating animal 

(or possibly a human suffering from seasonal allergies):

I find it most difficult to be motivated to exercise.

A simple three mile summer run becomes a battle of body

and soul.

To add to that, I want to be alone more. I find it harder to make

elaborate plans with friends. I want to live moment to moment instead of 

planning too far ahead. 

Is this normal? 

It does not seem like it

 but it is normal to me-

 every year.

August the cycle begins again and again and again.

What do I like about this introverted state?

I enjoy the intro-spection.

An inspector of myself.

I am forced to get to know myself again and 

it often stirs a creative pool that has been laying stagnant 

all summer.

It is borderline depression but with an excited soul.

Windows welcome open.

Wind blowing my hair, my soul. 

Blankets bring comfort and joy and snuggle.

Bodies snuggling happily after the stick and sweat of 

previous months.

So here I am again faced with myself

and all these thoughts.

As I sort and organize and clean 

 I will remember that this is just part of my fall.

A shedding of old creating a space for new growth.

Maybe I am just a tree and not an animal at all. 

(a few photos of what the boys have been up to)

science buddies

Max worries about animals and people.

He saves money for 

a local organization that helps

people find homes:

Homeward Bound.

So for others who embody four seasons.

I understand.

I love them all, just in different ways.

a ceremony for gigi

Max got a candle from Gigi's house yesterday after her funeral.

He carried it around, holding it and waiting.

Today he brought it to me.

"Mom, lets have a pray for Gigi"

We talked about different kinds of ways people pray.

He remembered that some people write prayers and then

burn them.

We found a beautiful candlestick.

We wrote a wish and prayer for Gigi.

We went together onto the back patio.

Lit the candle

and watched our prayers go up to heaven.

"It's like heaven mail", Rohan declared.

We sat together quietly with our thoughts.

"Can we do this again tomorrow?", wondered Max aloud.

"Yes", I said

(I sure do miss Gigi but know she is at peace and peace
is a most wonderful place to be.)

We will be sending much more heaven mail in the future.

a sign of unspeakable love

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness. But of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love. ~C.S. Lewis~

a lot can happen in ten days

This has been a week (or so) of

firsts and lasts.

Taking off where we left off:

School has begun.

Max is elated with the whole new arrangement

of backpacks, lunchboxes,and friends.

Friends are his favorite part of school.

He might say everything, when asked, but it keeps coming

back to friends.

Max is making friends faster then I had imagined and

has several girls puckering up their lips at him. 

(which I found hilarious and made me say "oh, my" )

Rohan has a fabulous teacher who plays a guitar and has them singing songs at the beginning and end of the day.

"She is a perfect fit for me"

Rohan's quote about his new teacher.

So while they were off on their own adventures, I thought I would do a home-makeover on their room.

I bought a used bunkbed 

(a twin over a double for $75 including mattresses!)

and proceeded to get rid of things, paint and rearrange.

This was a whirlwind of three days getting everything out, given away, set up, assembled and perfected.

They love their new room. A lot.

Yesterday I went with Max on his first Kindergarten field trip.

(one of the features of our school is experiential learning, so we do a lot of field trips)

We went to the Nature Center with a focus being, the butterfly exhibit.

We also saw, black bears, otters, donkeys, goats, bob cats and coyote. (we ran out of time to see it all)

It was fun to see Max interact with his friends and his class.

I felt so happy for him as his confidence has soared through

the roof.

Max and his buddy Aman

This Saturday Rohan is auditioning for a new

acting program.

It is called the Youth Acting Academy.

It will be a series of

four sequential classes leading up to a final production.

The classes will include voice and movement.

Only 10 kids will make it into the Academy this

first year.

It will be challenging and exciting for Rohan if he makes it.

The last news I have to share is about lasts.

Anne Gibson,grandmother to Jay (and me) and great grandmother to

Rohan and Max, is finding her way to a peaceful place.

She has struggled with various aliments for several years but this 

last year really challenged her.

Her two daughters have spent every hour with her for the last six months, caring for her in every way.

I will tell you what she taught me:

~to be passionate about cooking and eating

~to be a patient parent

~to cherish my family 

~to celebrate my stubborn side

~to continue to work harder to be a better wife

~to see the beauty in me

~laugh at the stuff that could make you mad

~to seek the Wonder of life

~honor, respect and look forward to family traditions

~it is worth leaving room for her desert

~to be a stronger woman

I will miss her more then I know right now. 

It is hard to process life in a moment.

I know that when Halloween comes and we can't go trick or treat 

at her house, I will shed tears,

I know that when we want to go by after school and share our

adventures with her, my heart will ache.

Christmas just won't be the same, without our

big meals, sharing of gifts and laughter, singing carols 

and the story of Christ's birth read aloud.

Her laughter and joy seeing the boys grow makes me feel proud.

I know she is ready though. 

She misses her honey of almost

69 years( Anniversary is on Monday). 

She is ready for this next journey of the spirit. We all want her to be at peace even as we clutch her hand not knowing,

 "Is this going to be the last time?" 

It makes you hug a little closer, 

love deeper and

cherish how we are meant to cherish.

I do not like lasts.

They are hard and tear filled and stomach aching.

Gigi with her boys

She will live on forever and ever in our hearts.

(She is at Solace right now, a hospice hospital, where

she is quietly and slowly making her new journey, surrounded by family.)

say it isn't so, but it might be fun

Seriously, Max is starting Kindergarten tomorrow!

Rohan is heading downstairs for the first time to enter

 3rd grade.

All I can say is WOW!

My emotions are everywhere and nowhere all at once.

I feel the pang of sadness as I realize my kids are in

the system: public school, and understand just how fast 

those K-12 years go by.

I feel like part of me is packing a trunk to take them

to college tomorrow.

I know. 

You think I am crazy.

Well, I am really.

What am I excited about?

Lunch dates with my hubby.

Runs in the morning.

Going to the Y.

Cleaning out toys that they will never miss ;o) ( i hope)

Volunteering.

Hanging out with a cool 3 month old 2 days a week.

Gardening at home and the community garden.

WORKING IN THE STUDIO:

I will say that there is a block that just befuddles me and

I plan to work that out this year on my days by myself and

my afternoons with fellow clay lovers (my boys)

I am excited and scared about me. The time I will spend with me.

It has been too long, as I have allowed it to be, and I am planning

on getting to know myself again.

The suspense of school beginning has heightened everyones emotions.

It will be good to be in a routine,

celebrating everyone's new journey

with lots of family meetings and

snuggle times to

share them.

time flies when you are in love

word of the day (might just be my new monday thing)

tran·si·tion  (trn-zshn, -ssh-)

n.

1. Passage from one form, state, style, or place to another.

2.

a. Passage from one subject to another in discourse.

b. A word, phrase, sentence, or series of sentences connecting one part of a discourse to another.

3. Music

a. A modulation, especially a brief one.

b. A passage connecting two themes or sections.

4. Genetics A point mutation in which a pyrimidine is replaced by another pyrimidine, or a purine is replaced by another purine.

5. Sports The process of changing from defense to offense or offense to defense, as in basketball or hockey.

6. A period during childbirth that precedes the expulsive phase of labor, characterized by strong uterine contractions and nearly complete cervical dilation.

intr.v. tran·si·tioned, tran·si·tion·ing, tran·si·tions

1. To make a transition.

2. Sports To change from defense to offense or offense to defense.

This has been the summer of transition.

I begin my new job, adventure tomorrow. Caring for a

10 week old little boy. We will be hanging out two days a week

while my boys are in school.

SCHOOL:

Next weeks transition.

We said goodbye today to our friend Maddy who is also starting school

this year. Georgia has Pre-K-5!

She has been coming to our house one week out of the month for

the last three years.

It is not really goodbye as she will be here during break times

but it just seems that life is

throwing me all kinds of CHANGE!

1. Passage from one form, state, style, or place to another.

This is what it feels like.

Not sure what the other place is going to feel like yet

but my stomach can tell you

what I am anticipating.

Me and Change try to understand each other but 

I generally feel fear in the excitement of it all.

I know this passage is going to bring much JOY

and I just need to sit back and embrace the ride.

Transition.

p.s. I love definitions and all the things ONE word can represent!