love to paint

I listened to a podcast on Sunday by John Piper.  He talked about choosing what to focus on in a moment by moment basis.  One of my friends said to me yesterday that God gave me time to slow down.   It is true.  As a mom, this is an interesting season.  My kids don't need me in the way they did for so many years.  But, they still need me.   My kids have watched me be very busy for the last year and as many times as I've told them I always have time for them, I know life has felt rushed. But, now I'm stuck on the couch and my kids come talk to me.  I love their stories and hearing about their lives and their days.  That is a blessing of being forced to slow down.  

I realize I need to settle in.  Adjust.   What are the practical challenges of breaking your leg? 1. You can't carry anything.   So, my daughter swapped my purse supplies into a backpack purse.   I always wear a hoodie because I can stick my phone or glasses in the pocket. 2. Normal pants don't work.   I found some loose knit capris on Amazon.  These were a great, comfortable purchase!  I have 3 pairs and I'm very thankful for them.  Totally worth it! 3. Keeping track of medicine.   I set alarms on my phone to repeat daily.  But, I found it was easy to forget if I had taken it if I got distracted.  So, I write it down on a piece of paper.  I also set out my mid-sleep tylenol in a cup so that I don't get mixed up.  

 6 Days.  I worked on the couch today.   What Is. Covid changed a lot of things, but one of the silver linings was that it allowed workplaces to adjust to people working remotely in an ongoing basis.  So, I can work now.  My day has passed.  It's almost dinnertime. After work, I sat on the front porch and listened to my husband chat with our neighbor.  He shared stories of the bones he'd broken in his life.  Then, I opened up facebook and saw that the son of a facebook broke his leg or ankle.   I'm not the only one who has broken a bone.   I can't rush.  Anything.  Everything I do is slow right now.  Except typing.  I can still type. What Isn't.  I can't get my own food and I'm hungry at the moment.   What Is. My daughter cooked dinner and we ate.  It's not exactly on my time, but I'm grateful she's cooking. She made us bibimbap rice bowls for dinner with roasted vegetables and an egg on top.  She'...

 It was Daylight Savings Time this morning.  My phone automatically adjusted to the time change.   My oldest daughter has adjusted her sleep schedule so that she can wake at 5:30 am and let our dog Iggy outside and make me coffee before everyone else wakes up.  So, when she came down this morning, I talked her through how to change the clocks downstairs and upstairs.  Changed them on the oven and the microwave oven...   It's a little thing.   Ten years ago, I got sick and the consequence was that I have to exercise every day.  I'm grateful for that now.  Yoga has made my legs strong and strengthened my balance so I can get around on crutches and lift up my leg to elevate it.  I had to accept at the time that exercise wasn't a choice anymore, but rather a requirement.  I'm glad for that.  Exercising hasn't always been easy and even often painful, but I had to tell myself it wasn't a choice.  I've realize many times that it ...

 It's been a long time since I last wrote on this blog, but it's home to me.  When I was raising my kids, this was where I wrote thoughts, book reviews, homeschooling lessons I learned...  But, my life shifted.  My time and attention shifted.  I stopped reviewing books and volunteered with my kids activities.  And then they grew up.  I started working outside my home and my kids became independent.  They didn't need me to drive them places anymore.   And then the ice won last Wednesday before the last of it melted away. We've had snow and ice where I live for a month and a half.  I was careful not to slip.  But, it was the last of it and I had stepped through it in the backyard so I didn't worry about it anymore.  And then I slipped.   The ice won and I broke my ankle. And now I'm on the couch.  I look forward to walking again, but don't know when that will be.  I hope for 6 weeks until I can walk again, but know...

 I just finished cooking the homemade noodles that my three teenagers worked together to make.  It's a family tradition that my mom started when I was little.  Christmas Eve dinner has always been homemade noodles, meat sauce, salad with Italian dressing, and French bread.  I have a cold this year, so that kids tackled the noodles on their own with just a little instruction from me.   For the past few days, my husband has given me many hugs.  I think this time of year is making him especially aware that I might not have been here.  I joked at dinner the other night with my kids that I'm thankful not to be a vegetable.  To me, it's meant to be a funny, yet serious joke.  But, I can see in my kids' eyes that it causes more pain than laughter in their hearts.   Life can change in the blink of an eye.  I started May 26th like a normal day tackling my household chores before heading off to a Memorial Day ceremony.  My husband was in...