Little Bits of Random-ness

We have now officially entered swim season. This means hours spent erecting the tent over the neighborhood pool, MULTIPLE emails about how everyone needs to remember to bring food for concessions, monthly account statements in my inbox to figure out, on top of the normal daily practices and regular swim meets to attend and work. It must be great to be a kid and just go SWIM.

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After many visits to Sephora and much free-sampling, I have made an important decision: DKNY's Pure is my new favorite perfume. This is no small announcement! It takes interest and motivation to actually make the attempt to find a perfume that you like -- the choices seem infinite, and who has the time or the nose for hours of testing? And even if you find one you like, living with it is another thing altogether.

The girls have piano on Mondays from about 2-4. During these hours, Jack and I often hit the mall area since that is the closest thing of entertainment value. I give him a trip to the Disney Store if he will give me a trip to Sephora. Sephora has a computer program mounted on a flat-screen tv that helps to narrow it down a bit. Plus it's fun.

Until I have $60 to drop on a bottle, however, I will be continuing to visit Sephora at random times in order to get free samples. It's the poor woman's way to perfume herself.

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I'm currently reading a book that I would highly recommend to all parents, titled Almost Christian. It is based upon a study of teens and religion that was recently published, but trust me -- even if you have young kids, they DO turn into teens, faster than one might think. And when they do, you'll have enough on your hands without having to read a book to figure out how to "do it" well. Go ahead and read Almost Christian by Kenda Creasy Dean, and Age of Opportunity by Paul David Tripp. Read them every year until the kids leave home. That's my advice. :)

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Understanding French is still a goal of mine, but it is being accomplished in baby steps. I always take some sort of French with me whenever I have to wait on kids for this or that, and while it does make me feel slightly productive, sometimes I definitely have a sinking feeling: I'm not sure I'll ever get enough to make a difference. You know what I find interesting, though? The more I study French, the more I LOVE English. I most certainly have developed a new appreciation for the nuances of my mother tongue! Ah, fluidity of thought and speech. I love you so. It also gives me a new compassion for the "strangers among us:" It is entirely possible to be a brilliant person with a limited vocabulary in a new country. I can't imagine the grace and humility that it must require to move through life stumbling over words when you are bursting with ideas -- unable to convince your listeners that you, too, KNOW things. We tend to think of people who are not fluent in our language as children... they are "cute," and their speech is "quaint." Rarely "wise" or "penetrating." They make us smile, not think.

We have some friends who are Austrian. They lived here for a couple of years, and when we first met them he had been speaking English for SIX WEEKS! He was fairly conversant, but you could see the fear in his eyes and the tension in his body. We had lunch with them one day -- and then we didn't see them for another year. When we DID see them, it was like meeting a new person! He was relaxed, laughing, completely at ease in his second language. He had been in seminary! Living daily in a foreign land. That is when I switched language programs: forget the grammar, who has time? Teach me to listen, hear, and speak. To understand. Just enough. I may always be fearful, tense, and timid with French, because I don't expect to ever LIVE with it. But that's no reason to stop trying, I suppose...

I try to remind myself that no effort is wasted, and every little bit does build another brick.

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I have four projects waiting for me on or under my desk: a shawl to knit, some canvases to paint, some apron patterns to attempt, and a garland of felt circles to stitch and string for Christmas. I occasionally read crafty/decorative blogs, but I can't do too much of that because they leave me in their dust! WHERE do people find the time to do so many lovely projects? It's 11 am and I'm already behind (because here I sit, while waiting on the boy... when I could be accomplishing SOMETHING...). It's not the homeschooling that ties me down, either -- I can't imagine that those extra hours of empty house that I might inherit with "real school" would actually STAY empty for long.

So... my latest decision has been to let it rest and when I have the time and inclination, to hit it. Also, I keep a project by the sofa. If I once make the effort to start, I usually find a burst of energy, enough to feel productive. Evenings are hard, aren't they? No matter how little or how much has been accomplished, I'm always tired. Might as well be tired AND creative, though. :)

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And I will end on that random note, in order to get something done with my kid over here before lunch and swim. The porch feels good this morning... time to open the doors. And the bottle of Claritin...