No matter the circumstance though, I believe that there is always room for joy.
For instance, this week I have been thinking about two friends. If happiness was the color blue, they have felt the deepest of oranges and the most vivid yellows that any woman can perceive in this life. In other words, they have seen a fairan unfairtheirshare of sorrow.
Recently, however, they have had a blue season and I am sincerely overjoyed for them.
These women, not unlike Eve, can genuinely say they have experienced clementine sorrow and denim joy and, although I don’t want to put words in their mouths, I’m sure they would say the sorrow has only heightened the joy.
No offense Vincent, but mother Eve said it best:
This is my season of pumpkins, carrots and lemons, but I have room in my patch for blue, especially others’ blue... despite my distaste for them, I look forward to my own blueberry season.
Until then, please share your carton with me? : )
Here's this week's clue. It says it all, look no further.
OoOoOo… what’s this? Insomnia resulting in a Monday post? La-Dee-Dah!
Caleb, although a quiet observer by nature, is beginning to speak up. Here are some of the words he has been tossing around.
Beep n.a form of transportation and entertainment.
Context: Caleb looks longingly out the window one bright Sunday afternoon and repeatedly whispers “Beep, beep, beep…” noting it has been at least 24 hours since he has played with his toy car. Any ideas what I’m going to do come winter time?
Pa-leeze inj. a word that suggests a request. variations: peas.
Context: If Caleb wants a chance to taste the mint chocolate chip ice cream Mommy is eating, then he better say “Pa-leze.”
I (insert any given phoneme here) youa phrase that when mimicked makes parents joyful.
Context: When Mommy says, “I love you,” Caleb sometimes replies, “I off you”
Also, Caleb says seemingly random things at opportune times like yesterday during Family Home Evening. We usually just teach the FHE lesson that arrives in our inbox from LDS Living. We have been having FHE on Sunday afternoons since Mike started school.
As Caleb was finishing up his lunch, Mike and I began Family Home Evening with the suggested song for the lesson… a song I didn’t know. I played the song and asked Mike, “Do you know this song?” in which Caleb replied soundly,
“I do-oo!”
We both gaped at him and then started laughing. We listened to the remainder of the song, surprised that Caleb didn’t croon along considering his proclaimed familiarity.
I’ve been meaning to post this for awhile. I have mentioned my friend Caitlin on my blog before. Words I would use to describe her are: self-reliant, compassionate, meek and joyful. I love her dearly. We attended the same singles ward, got engaged the same week, and married a week apart. We were in a creative writing class together, thank goodness (if you don’t understand this statement- lucky you). And we both longed for additions to our families.
On August 30, Caitlin and her husband Ammon received their addition, their daughter Sharon.
She was born prematurely. Prayers and thoughts are needed.
One thing I have learned from our circumstance is ...
Downloading fonts
The fonts I use for my blog are generally downloaded from dafont. Here's how to download fonts from dafont.
After you have determined a font to download, select the font. On the resultant page there will be a box that says “Download PC. Mac OS X” in the top right-hand corner. Click the box and a pop-up will ask Do you wan to open or save this file? Save the file to your desktop (or other preferred area). Right click on the newly created folder on your desktop and select “extract all.” After the file is unzipped, copy the .ttf document. Locate your computer’s font folder. Mine is under Control Panel in a folder entitled “Fonts.” Paste the .tff document in your font folder. Open up a word document and try out your new font.
Eating in bed is frowned upon- it leaves crumbs. Reading in bed also leaves crumbs in your subconscious, but you never hear spouses complaining about that. When pregnant, I develop the habit of reading in bed. I devour a book in a night or two because I just read until my eyes become too heavy and I fall asleep with the lights on.
This past week I have been reading through my old college textbooks, mainly the classical and ancient materials. Recently I read the play Alcestis by the Greek tragedian Euripides.
To make a short play even shorter, the jest of the story is about a hospitable king who is rewarded by the god Apollo the eligibility to escape death provided that he can find a replacement for his demise. Sadly, the king can find no one- not even his feeble parents- to volunteer for the task. Finally, his devoted wife, Alcestis, assists her husband by offering to sacrifice herself in his stead.
The play has left a morsel in my mind that I have gnawed on since I read it. The time has come for Alcestis to depart and her son clings to her and says,
“Mother, now without you/ Our home is over.”
…
Throughout the play Alcestis is cited as “virtuous” and a wife above all others which is fair and good but I can’t help but wonder…. was this reputation the result of this solitary action or was it preliminary to her decision to forfeit her life?
I think every woman has a bit of Alcestis in her, I think we are willing to kill ourselves over tasks because we think it’s the “virtuous” thing to do. We try to do everything while comparing ourselves to everyone. When really we should be saying…
It is easy to lose ourselves through marriage, motherhood and everyday notions and motions. Partly this is due to the concept of becoming less selfish through being selfless, but I think we can overdo it. I, personally, need to get back in touch with who I am. I have become so consumed with being there for my family and making our home that I have forgotten WHO I AM. I don’t want to kill myself over ordinary tasks. I don’t want to sacrifice my own progression for temporal attainments.
Back to the original tidbit that started this banquet of realization, the line:
“Mother, now without you/Our home is over.”
It is not “Clean dishes/swept floors/sparkling bathrooms/made beds/painted walls/delish- nutritious-under-one-dollar-per-serving-meals/ supplementary church functions/et cetera, now without you /Our home is over.”
It’s Mother. A mother is what makes and keeps a home. Just don’t let the home make and keep you.
Now, I’m not going to tell you the ending of Alcestis. You can borrow the play from me if you want or even look up the summary on Wikipedia.
Isn’t Wikipedia great? Whenever I am clueless on a subject I can always skim Wikipedia.
Here is Clue #4, my favorite clue and possibly the hardest.
Ignore the the missing 'e' in Genealogy but don't discard the post.
