I’ve slacked a bit on this idea, but I’ve been reading, I promise!!! Have you been reading? Tell me, tell me, what have you read in the past week?!
Okay, so does it count to listen to a book on tape? If so, the latest reading/listening was of:
Pay It Forward- by Catherine Ryan Hyde. Let me just say, it doesn’t end happily ever after, but it’s sooo good!
Currently working on: The Sin Eater- by Gary D. Schmidt
I’m in one of those moods where I feel like I should just focus on the things that I love in my life. My daughter did this in one of her blog posts recently, so I’m taking her lead in this.
I love:
lazy mornings…especially when my kids come and crawl into bed with me and everything is just right in the world.
waking up to the smell of the coffee brewing from self-timer mode.
finding and trying new recipes.
opening my eyes and seeing blue sky outside my window.
playing board games with my kids…especially games that make us look and sound goofy.
going to the library and finding great books that I don’t know anything about.
impromptu dance parties in the kitchen.
our silly dog who loves to dance with us and thinks she’s a child as well.
playing football with the kids outside.
jumping rope.
running in perfect weather.
I love that I’m currently squished by my boy who has decided to come and lay right on top of my arm.
Okay…guess that means it’s time to go…..hope you all enjoy a few of your favorite things today.
Once upon a time, I was the 10 year old girl in the red bathing suit with the white polk-a-dots and ruffle around the waist. Unfortunately all the other kids in my class were 6. Disparaging to say the least, but I wanted to make my dad proud, so I didn’t complain and went to all my lessons. Unfortunately for me, there weren’t too many opportunities to swim in my life after that, so all the lessons from age 10 went out the memory window.
I took a lesson last summer, but it was a little remedial and I didn’t learn much, so now it’s time to proceed with finding a new swim instructor…Have I mentioned I’m a big baby and think that I could drown at any given moment?
So, I read this poem tonight and it made it all sound lovely, and I wanted to share with you.
First Lesson by Philip Booth
Lie back, daughter, let your head be tipped back in my hand.
Gently, and I will hold you.
Spread your arms wide, lie out on the stream and look high at the gulls.
A dead-man-float is face down. You will dive and swim soon enough where the tidewater ebbs to the sea.
Daughter, believe me, when you tire on the long thrash to your island, lie up and survive.
As you float now, where I held you and let go, remember when fear cramps your heart what I told you:
lie gently and wide to the light-year stars, lie back and the sea will hold you.
So, let me know if you have any swimming tips for me! I’m all ears.
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved to read. I’ve really gotten lazy over the past couple of years and have been reading blogs more than books, but, I’m proud to say that since the beginning of the year, I’ve resumed my reading habits! Yay Me!!!
So, since I’m also making an attempt to write more often, I’m going to launch a little weekly experiment called, “On My Nightstand.” Really this is a very thinly veiled attempt at having accountability in finishing more books and actually remembering what the stories or themes were in each book… I’ll keep you posted! But in the meantime, tell me what you are reading!
Oh and before I forget, these are the books on my nightstand tonight.
Linchpin-Seth Godin ( So far it’s making me want to write letters to all the fabulous teachers in my kids’ lives)
Born To Run-Christopher McDougall
Poem Crazy-Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge ( I love this book!)
Good Poems-Garrison Keillor (I need at least one great poem a week!)
Incendiary-Chris Cleave (Finished it 2 weeks ago. Really was sad, but very thought provoking at times as well.)
I got to play on a volleyball league this winter. I haven’t played on any leagues in a few years, so it was a lot of fun for me.
I started playing volleyball when I was about 10 years old…My big brother, Titus, would take me to the sand pits with him and I would get to chase after the balls that he would pummel into the ground. Sometimes, if I was very lucky, I’d get to try and dig his hammer-hits.
Tonight was our last game, and funny enough, we were a four-person team, playing in a six-person league, and we were undefeated all season and were the league champions.
I have to admit that we really didn’t have a ton of competition…we might have played 2 matches that demanded some effort. I’m a competitor by nature and by heart. It does me good to play and run and act silly.(I think my parents still wonder when I’ll start acting like a mature, Malayalee, mother of 2 kids.)
My body definitely feels older, but I feel like I’m probably a better athlete than I was 10 years ago…I’m still short, but it doesn’t stop me from going up to block OR hit…and I’m pretty confident that I can dig most hits(what with all that practice in the sand pits and all?!).
I loved that my friends would show up and sit in the stands to support me. Even more than that, I loved when my kids were there to cheer for me, give me a thumbs up sign or even say a, “go momma” on my serves. My kids know that I’m an intensely competitive person, 
but it’s such a clear reversal of roles for us in this sport, with them being the cheerleaders and me being the competitor. I’m always so proud of my kids, but what I’ve been able to see is their pride in me…tonight I realized, that their pride is definitely something worth competing for!
