Musings of a Whimsical Realist

This is certainly an apt topic for someone who calls herself a whimsical realist.  The side of me that speaks whimsically had been put on mute more and more in recent years of my life.  As a mom of 3 young children, the tyranny of the urgent absorbs almost all of my “spare” time.  And potty-training the twins (just turned 3) and teaching reading to Firstborn (almost 7) has made this semester the busiest of my parenting to date.  So when do I find a moment for whimsy? 1. Taking out the garbage.  That’s right – I am alone outside, usually at night, and I can drink in the outside air and appreciate the twinkling stars! 2. When my children say “Catch me” or “Neener-neener.”  I can’t always do it, but when I can, I put down what I’m doing, turn into the tickle monster, and chase my giggling victims. 3. The victory when all offspring are settled in bed.  This is the golden hour of the day.  The deep-sigh moment when I get to take off my Momm...

I had the best of intentions.  Truly I did.  But two things reached out and snatched away my time (and little remaining sanity) -- the dreaded "holiday rush" and cold-and-flu season.  Oh, the illnesses with which we have contended!  There is an oh-so-neat trick about twins (cough, cough) -- they share EVERY virus!  And since their little immune systems are at the same place, they also get a LOT of them.  So I am past the point of hoping for that illusive "free time" to blog.  I'm determined to carve it out of my chaos (case-in-point, I have stopped at least 7 times while writing this to help Firstborn with her bookwork).  I am also going to sacrifice most of the remaining Project 24 topics (hey, they said to tailor it to your needs!).  I have two or three more that I want to hit on, then it's onto some topics that I have been gathering in my mind.  So here we go (again) with the best of intentions!

So I am 5 days late.  Really, 6, if you consider the fact that I am writing this just after midnight and it is technically tomorrow.  My first blog post was on November 20th, 2012.  You can read it here: 1st Blog Post! Looking back, I didn't end up blogging as often as I would have wished in my first year.  Life is often like that, especially when one has to live life rather that just holing up in her office and writing about it.  I "see" life best through words -- doesn't everyone have a narrator in their head, giving a running commentary on every minute detail?  One whose words often spill over into a verbal explosion, as I stand alone washing dishes, and my 6-year-old walks by and nonchalantly asks, "Are you talking to yourself again?"  Yes, that really happens! I hope I can harvest more time out of the garden of my life, as overgrown as it is with all the duties of a wife, mom, teacher, friend, sister, daughter, etc.  In the meantime, happ...

So I am PAINFULLY behind on my Project 24 blog posts . . . mostly due to beginning homeschool for a 1st grader but also in part due to a rather strenuous undertaking that we began in September.  After almost 5 years in our own home, we finally were able to take out the hill that we planned on removing our first year here.  We blame job changes and the arrival of twins for THAT particular delay.  And as any "good" home improvement project goes, it took longer than expected and presented unanticipated issues.  Of course. Here is the hill just before we bought the house. As you can see, it consumes half the width of the yard, excluding the sidewalk.  We knew that we wanted to put in a wall to push back the yard and give us more room . . . and almost 5 years later, we got to begin that process! The first obstacle was dealing with the city and building stuff, etc . . . I won't bore you with all of THAT, but suffice it to say, it was a lesson in futility. Fin...

So do you know what isn't like homeschooling a Kindergartener?  Homeschooling a 1st grader!  Sometimes it feels like two different beasts entirely, the latter being a beast that devours my time and my energy and my willpower . . . then again, the thrill as she begins to read and understand stories, as she practices her Christmas song on the piano, as she counts out dimes and nickels and pennies, that thrill can calm the savage beast.  Nevertheless, I finally seem to be finding my footing in the school year (and it "only" took me 3 months), so it's time for some blogging!

This was an interesting topic to contemplate.  I debated writing about my current attempts to purge the excess, to clean out the junk.  We are getting ready to transition to homeschooling full-force, with a full-blown elementary student (1st grade!).  So it's been a good time to throw off that which hinders.  I may yet present a blog on organization and clearing out the clutter.  But for today, I am sharing another poem.  A poem in which each "line" is one word.  Minimal.  Yet I found it to be effective! Sunrise green blue morn's hue gone lost night's cost calm dark owls hark black grey moon's ray night's work shades lurk what? bright! morn's light sun's ray dark AWAY!

The History of Umbrellas What a marvelous invention!  Iconically, we have to nod to Disney’s use of the umbrella (talking, no less) to transport Mary Poppins into London in the movie that cemented his genius. For Valentine’s Day this year, I bought all 3 of my kidlets umbrellas (replacing Firstborn’s first rather beat-up and beyond-repair one).  Each child immediately applied his or her umbrella to a unique and personal use. Firstborn, lacking any rain to test on the umbrella, opened it, turned it upside down, and began to load it with toys.  At 6 years old, she is into packing random items from her room into any and all containers available.  I had to disappoint her by pointing out that loading her umbrella would quickly reduce it to the state of her first one.  She sadly unpacked it. Boy-Twin was thrilled with his umbrella, “oh”ing and “ah”ing over the Buzz Lightyear on the handle.  I demonstrated how to open it, which he mastered almost instantl...