The New Me... Or the Old Me with New Oomph

 

This is a versatile picture.  I like it.  I actually don't like the picture itself very much, but I like that you can use it for just about anything.  Time to cook dinner?  We can do it!  I'm gonna buckle down and lose some weight?  We can do it!  The car needs to be rebuilt from the bottom up?  We can do it!  It's uplifting, really.

On to the subject of this post.  You ready?

There is not enough time in the universe to do all the things I want to do.  That's a quote from my hubby.  And here's the thing:  he's right.  I am not an ambitious person.  I swear I'm not.  I'm a very solid type B, laid-back, ignorance-is-bliss, if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it kind of gal.  But somehow, I learned all sorts of cool things.  I write.  I want to write books and series and epic adventures.  I do arts and crafts kind of things.  I am very active in Church and all that it entails.  I enjoy cooking.  I like to organize.  (I know, I'm weird.)  I ride and train horses.  I exercise.  I read.  I play games.  I want to homeschool our kids.  I want to start a Melaleuca business.  I am learning photography, because I need a hobby to fill up all those spare hours I have just lying around.

In my newfound obsession with Pinterest, my imagination has been sparked with all sorts of new ideas for making and keeping a beautiful home and happy kids.  I honestly want to do them all!  We can do it!

But, I really can't.  It may be possible, but I'm not entirely sure how at this point in my life.  And so, here's my newfound plan:  I will focus on horses, and let the other things fall in wherever they may.  Horses do require a certain amount of time and effort, and, quite frankly, I'm happy when I get out there.

I figure, really, that there are tons of other people who can do the other things.  The world is abounding in arts and crafts and the wonderful people who can do them.  My brother is a better writer than I am.  I'm never going to be an acclaimed chef and I have no real desire to start any kind of a restaurant.  Church will always be there, but it doesn't take up the entirety of my life.  You get the picture.  But horsing really is a rare kind of activity.  There aren't nearly as many people who are adept with horses as there are people who can do the other things, and in a far better way than I can.

So, I am not giving up on my other talents.  I love them.  I just also think that horses are in my life for a reason, and I need to figure out what that reason is.  I'll let all you other girls be pretty.  For now, I'm going to roll up my sleeves, put a handkerchief on my head, and go out and get dirty with the horses.

Happenings

Hello, Blog friends!  I'm sorry it's been so long.  I'm glad we're both here, though.  I have things to share.  Nothing in this post is terribly earth-shattering, but they are all the little happenings that make up a life. 

1.  Schprid has started going through that language explosion that happens around the two-year mark.  She says things, sings songs, and contributes to conversations in ways she has not been able to previously.  It's fun.  She has the best little personality.  She loves to clean up, and sings the little clean-up song as she does.  She watches entire movies, loves going to the park, and has begun to interact with her little brother by reading him stories and such.  She's a wonderful angel in our home.

2.  Wooble, while mostly a serious little tyke, is nonetheless very happy when he can see and play with people.  He has no teeth yet, but he is experimenting with sitting up on his own.  He's started in on the solid foods and so far enjoys rice, oatmeal, and mum-mum crackers.  He's a little skeptical about carrots and peas.  He's content with life, and sleeps like a rock.  It's awesome.

3.  Hubby continues to work in his job, mostly in his profession.  He's tired from the summer's festivities and abundance of yardwork, but is beginning to enjoy the relaxation that fall promises(?).  He is, of course, the best husband in the world.

4.  I am continuing to lose weight, and my current goal is to lose 29 total by Christmas.  I'm almost to 20, so keep me in your prayers. 

5.  In a recent exploit to scavenge and recycle metal on our property from previous tenants, Hubby discovered a stray hammock in our garage.  We have since cleaned it up and, as of yesterday, it has taken root in our bedroom.  There it sits, awaiting the blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals that will turn it into a swinging nest of joy.

6.  I recently finished the Hunger Games series.  I regret having read them. 

7.  Have you discovered Pinterest yet?  It is a glorious revolution of internet goodness.  I'm telling you, if you have a facebook or twitter account, go to pinterest.com and request an invite.  Then, let the pinning begin.  From there, you can discover  new ideas, pretty pictures, wise quotes, and fun gadgets.  You pin them and voila!  those glorious things become yours.  It's like shopping, but it's free.  Plus, you get ideas and quotes that you can't "shop" for in stores, but they're nicely tucked away in your pinterest account.  One of my favorite things is to go through the photography section of my boards and look at all the pretty things I've pinned and remember all the good things in this world.  It's my new happy place.

8.  With that said, I hate the new facebook.  Who's with me?

9.  Cruise and I are figuring each other out.  It turns out that for him, riding is easier than groundwork.  For me, such is not the case.  I'm devoting a little bit more time to him each week, and as such we're learning to work together a bit more.

10.  The clouds came down to hover over us in the valley today.  On our way home from Church, the fall colors ushered us home.  The light in our house was muted and soft.  We put the kids down for their naps, and in the deepening afternoon the smell of baking bread began to waft through the house.  Hearts opened and our family was knit together a little tighter as we enjoyed the delights of the cooler season together.  We smiled, and laughed, and shared, and life was very good.

Hashed

Recently, I sent my brother an email.  In that email, I mentioned that I was a little bit hashed.  He emailed me back, and asked what "hashed" meant.  This was my response:

Have you ever made hash browns? It's really easy, from my perspective, but let me tell you what it's like from the potato's perspective.

I opened my eyes blearily in the morning light. This was an interesting place I'd come to. I was used to the dark underground of my youth. I was happy there. Then, somebody had pulled me up out of the ground, brushed me off, and stuck me in a pile with a few of my friends and a lot of others I'd never met before. It was very bright, and I did my best to shield myself from the sunlight. Of course, without arms, or even any muscles, that was quite impossible. Eventually, I was buried under other potatoes. It was almost like being back underground. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

I woke to the sound of a rumbling that sounded much like the thunderstorms that had brought life-giving water. I eagerly awaited the rain, but soon realized that I was moving. I was being bounced and jiggled and felt the weight of many other potatoes on top of me. It was uncomfortable. I didn't know what was happening, and I went back to sleep in self-defense.

How much time had passed, I didn't know, but I woke to find myself in some sort of a box with other potatoes. It was open to the sky, but it was the strangest sky I'd ever seen. It was flat, and grey, and had ten suns that I could count. Occasionally, the creatures that had pulled me up from the ground would come and poke at my companions. One by one, the other potatoes in the box got picked up and taken away. Eventually, it was my turn. The fingers around my midsection felt strange. They picked me up and placed me in another container with a few of my companions. They were all asleep. I decided to join them.

When I woke up, it was morning. I could see the sky, the blue sky, out of a little square next to me. I saw the people that had picked me up earlier wandering around, making clashing noises with various instruments. It was a very interesting place. I decided to stay awake. Suddenly, I was picked up again. I was carried over something that was very very hot. Fortunately, the heat only lasted a moment. Then I was put under water. I'd never been completely underwater before... for the first couple of moments, it felt wonderful. Then, I started to feel as though I would drown. I was taken out of the water just in the nick of time and set on a hard surface. I caught my breath. This was too hard. I needed to go to sleep again. Just as I was closing my eyes, I was picked up again. This time, I was pushed hard against a surface. The pressure grew and grew until it was was too much to take. Just as I thought I was going to die, I began to slide. As I slid, I felt pain searing along my body in three different places. The pain was excruciating. Then the pressure let up, I was slid back to my original position, and the pressure began again. I tried desperately to go to sleep, but the sliding began again. This time, I realized that there was pain in the original places, plus a line of pain on either side of the first three. The fingers holding me started to pick up a rhythm. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Pressure, pain, pressure, pain, pressure, pain. I soon realized that I was getting smaller and smaller as pieces of me were shorn off by each new swipe of pain. There was nothing I could do. Finally, when I was too small to be held anymore, I was tossed into yet another container, atop the small pieces of myself and my previous companions. The container was moved, and I realized that we were going closer to the heat I had felt earlier. Suddenly we were dumped out and I landed in heat like I'd never felt before in my life. I heard a dreadful sizzling and popping sound around me, and I smelled the stench of burning flesh. As I closed my eyes for the last time, I heard a sound that I did not comprehend but that somehow was profoundly important, saying, "Mmmm... Nothin' like hash browns in the morning."

That's exaggerated, of course, but that's what the word "hashed" refers to.

I should probably be more careful how I use it. I don't actually feel like I'm being shredded and then drowned in hot oil.

I'll also never look at hash browns in quite the same way.