I just sat down at my computer. It’s the first time today and I’d just spent an hour shoveling snow. As I settle in to enjoy a few minutes of “me” time I find my 9 year old son at my side saying, “Mom can we make some of those cookies?”

How do they know? I’m not just talking about pinpointing possibly the least convenient moment, I’m talking about the little boost you didn’t know you needed when you take those precious moments to do something with your child.

So the lesson for the day is that love really is spelled T-I-M-E. And if you’re up for a great recipe, that’s included too!

These are the best peanut butter kisses cookies!

1/2 C (1 stick) Butter
1 C Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 C Flour
1/2 C Peanut Butter
3 Dozen Unwrapped Hershey Kisses

Roll into 1 1/2″ balls and coat with sugar. Press thumb imprint, bake 5 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from oven, gently press hershey kiss into the impression. Return to the oven and bake 3 more minutes.

It’s 2012. Twelve years ago, many of the civilized world thought the world was going to end at the turn of the century. History books refer to the phenomenon as Y2K. This year we have a new wave of anxiety over the Mayan calendar ending on December 21, 2012. I suppose you could live your life as if you knew the end of the world were known. I just wonder if the results would be as positive as they could be if we all woke up every day and realized it was a new day. A new chance to start over. I let you in on a little secret, you don’t have to wait until the end of a year to recognize the power and energy of things made new.

Several years ago I read a book by Dr. Deepak Chopra, entitled Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. This passage took hold in me:

“In order to stay alive, your body must live on the wings of change. At this moment you are exhaling atoms of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen that just an instant before were locked up in solid matter…The skin replaces itself once a month, the stomach lining every five days, the liver every six weeks, and the skeleton every three months…By the end of this year, 98 percent of the atoms in your body will have been exchanged for new ones.”

That’s like getting a whole new body over and over again! How cool is that? If the physical body lives on change and is constantly renewing itself, what does that say for other elements of our lives? What a wonderful pattern to follow. It’s amazing what our perception of control and newness can do.

Last month I worked on my memorization skills. I’m a little ashamed to admit how rusty they were for lack of use. However, it was wonderful to realize that not only was I still most capable of memorizing, but that by committing uplifting literature to memory I felt not only enlightened I felt enfolded in the arms of motivational companions! I thank my darling husband for creating a new app to aid me in my efforts. Not only does his tool work, he’s got a great starting list of uplifting works to memoRISE! While the concept of memorizing isn’t new, reviving it in my personal life definitely qualifies as a renewing experience!

So the message for today is to think on one word: new.

My thoughts this morning are centered around the time of year. The leaves are turning colors, getting ready for a winter sleep. This process of change, of preparing for a period of dormancy is a pattern in our lives too. A new baby makes me think of spring, a walk in the autumn air with an aged loved one makes me think of fall.

There is something about this turning I can’t quite explain. I think it is because it feels like something of a paradox to me. There is sadness in the knowledge of expiration, of a season’s growth and lifespan being completed and spent. Perhaps even a hint of dread for the quiet that is waiting around the corner. Yet, at the same time there is great joy and satisfaction in the results of a productive and full lifespan; a reminder that after the sleep will come a new season of renewal and new beginnings. It is odd that there can be both conflict and peace within the concept of turning. And yet, these are the thoughts tumbling around simultaneously in my head this morning.

There’s also the concept of clean up of that happens in the fall. The time when you’ve reaped your harvest and it’s time to clear the expired corn stalks and other plants away. This past weekend, I helped work on clearing the corn patch at my parent’s, I also took on getting some of the dead branches out of an old choke cherry bush. As I looked at the results of the work, I was struck with how often I should be doing this in my own life. How, I need to be looking for habits, choices, etc. that are in need of being cleaned out. This process is painful. I came home with many scratches from branches not wanting to be disturbed, and sore muscles from roots desperately trying to hold their ground. And as I look at this picture, I am filled with satisfaction and hope of what the results will bring next spring.

So it is with me. Old habits die hard, but the promise of better ones to replace them are worth the pain and effort. I don’t want to look back on my life and regret time wasted. Perhaps a little less time spent playing games or socializing on the computer and a little more reading, reflecting and writing. Perhaps a little less time worrying about others and more worrying about myself. I’m feeling a sense that I need to follow nature’s lead this season.

I’d be lying if I said these thoughts don’t also cause a slight pang in my heart when I think of loved ones. This picture describes the very visuals and precious memories that I’m trying to describe.

This is my husband walking and talking with his grandpa in his garden. Grandpa Melvin turned 90 this year. How we love this sweet man. This picture sums up his amazing life of farming, teaching, loving and sharing. How can I help but want to keep him with us? Yet, knowing the joy that is waiting for him when he crosses this life’s veil, when he will be reunited with his sweetheart and loved ones on the other side causes me to also want for him to be able to go. I am back at my paradox. Turning is hard. Turning is necessary. Turning is progress. Turning is good.

I couldn’t think of a better title because this one words sums up so much. Since we arrived a week ago tomorrow, I’ve had heavy breathing from full days, lots of work and peaceful evenings with deep breathing as I soak up the peace and calm I’ve only ever found here at home.

As I have many friends that have no reference for the pictures and status updates I’ve been sharing on Facebook about yard work and mowing, I thought I’d share pictures of my mom’s beautiful and LARGE yard to help explain that out of breath breathing.

That makes up nearly two acres of lawn. And if that mowing and tree maintenance weren’t enough, let’s not forget the garden!

And the weeding in the awesome and plentiful flowerbeds!

In the past six days we’ve also had a family outside BBQ, hotdog and smores night at the fire pit, a trip up to the dry farm to visit the old homestead, a few soaks in the hot tub, fun with firework poppers, girl’s camp, to say nothing of the cleaning, unpacking and even some haircuts and pedicures today!

It feels wonderful to be home.

Where to start? I sat down in a race against the clock to blog a few thoughts running through my head on how today feels like an almost day to me. One of those moments when you feel like you almost reached the mark on so many things. As I was struggling to organize my thoughts, I decided maybe a definition or two might help, so I opened a new window to google the word. I started glossing over the page and then I hit the bottom link and stopped short. I think you’ll see why.

Its link is purple because I HAD to click on that to see if it was really mine. It is! I’m down to 10 minutes to post this now and my mind is spinning in the oddity of seeing my own link come up on a search. Regardless of Google’s changes and internal patterns, seeing something of your own come up on a search page is pretty fun!

Almost: to nearly but not exactly achieve something. Do you ever have an almost day? A day when you reflect on how you’re almost at a new deadline, almost ready to take another step in a process or project? Or maybe just a reflection moment on how you almost reached a goal, expectation, etc.? I was having just this experience when I sat down to start this post; thinking on how we’re almost at the point of knowing what the future weeks and schedule bring regarding our upcoming move. How it’s almost time to pick up my son from school. How it was almost warm enough to enjoy being by the pool for an afternoon reading excursion.

I’m almost there in so many ways, and SO NOT in so many others. It’s a brain bender. So I’ll end this post with a quote that struck me with incredible impact the first time I saw it years ago in a commercial. The words were being spoken by the author and the reality of his words made a mark that EXACTLY hit the mark.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
~Michael Jordan

So here’s to the almost days, the many little failures that allow us to succeed. Here’s to success!

This post comes during a “life time-out”, or as it shall be known by me from this point on. A time when the daily life routine is interrupted for an important news flash. I’d be remiss not to follow the pattern and take a time out from my daily routine to write about it.

My heart is as full as my eyes at the moment, which just happen to be overflowing with emotion. I just hung up the phone with a friend. While content is personal, the feeling is universal. This dear friend isn’t someone I can put a tally of years next to, our time together was relatively short. It’s been several months since we had interaction, I’m chagrinned to reflect on the probability that I didn’t even get a Christmas card to her (I so hope I did!!). But here’s the magic, none of that matters because frankly, none of that matters. It’s not how long you know someone - it’s how well. It’s not the things you don’t do - it’s the things you do. Some people you get to know because you work with them, others because you serve with them, others because you share similar life experiences or live next to them, and the list of reasons goes on and on. The bottom line is there is a list and its bottom line is the same: people, that’s what it it’s all about folks, people.

On a day when my mood has been a reflection of the continuous rain outside (for all those friends who endure many days of rain, I have a newfound respect for you!), I can sit here at my computer and reflect how moments of interaction with friends through the day have brought me intermittent rainbows. One doesn’t know this because she was simply sending me an email which brought on some discussion during my day, but it was a rainbow all the same. In fact, most of the people who do much for me probably don’t know it. I try to express my gratitude and love often, but I know I miss more than I catch. If my friends who read and comment on my posts here could see what they do for my heart, they might be surprised. It seems so little a thing, but it all comes back to those who take the time to make the time. The busy dad in Oregon, the friend I met in a chat room so many years ago when our daughters were babes and who bless her heart still finds ways to find me and reach out to me, the co-worker from years ago, and the list goes on and on. Or how about that sweet lady who smiled at me at the grocery store, or the nice man who offered to take my cart when I’d unloaded the bags? Yes, they added rainbow fragments to my day too. If I had but the immediate memory and time to write about each of them I could fill an entire page. If I could extend it to those who have touched my life it would turn into volumes. If I could wrap it all up I’d have a lifting power beyond imagination. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Trust in your heart. Trust in your feelings. When you find yourself thinking you should just call someone you should. It’s the someones in your life that make it worth living. It’s the calls you make that make the difference.

I’m taking a life time out to share my thoughts. To openly put out there how grateful I am for all the people that make my little world go round. You are many. You are amazing. You are what it’s all about.

Life gets stale…check for freshness.

My thoughts run amuck this morning on this simple word.

It all began when I opened a can of sugar from my food supply yesterday. To say it didn’t smell sweet would be an understatement. I can’t even describe the smell beyond some horrible combination of musty tin and something utterly undefinable. Stale is the only word that comes to mind. Efforts are underway to determine if the sugar is salvageable, I’m hopeful that aeration will be all that’s required. This is the second time that smells have gone wrong in a 10 can storage container for me. The first was a 72 hour emergency supply kit where even the hard candy tasted like the small bar of soap in the same container - regardless of how many layers of sealed plastic bags were used to separate items. Make no mistake, smells matter and they’re powerful too!

This is about the time my thoughts start pouring out in all directions.

I think about how many things in life go stale quickly, how many of them we remain ignorant to because we haven’t checked on them in a long while, and how many are salvageable. This list is endless. In fact, one could define my inbox today as stale. Ironically, as I’ve been thinking on the need to clear it out again for the past week, I’d read this headline this morning: “It’s time to deal with that overflowing inbox” Fate? Coincidence?

I think most everything is at risk of becoming stale. From dreams to food and everything in between, it seems we’d do well to rotate these things on a regular basis to check for freshness.

Admittedly, I tend to spend more than a fair share of my time and energies on preventative activities. I’m a big believer in the “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” girl. I absolutely loathe panic and stress, and I’ve found that spending an adequate time planning and thinking ahead push panic and stress into near extinction.

Here’s a good rule of thumb: If you really don’t want to do it, it’s a priority.

Procrastination is the killer of productivity, and the reverse is true. If you become productive, you kill procrastination. It’s amazing how the snowball affect works for either side; whichever one you put first grows. I’ve found that if I’m continually putting off a task two things happen: 1) I do the stink’n job in my head several times - this is like unto worrying/stressing about it, which is utterly stupid and frustrating as it only needs done once, and 2) I feel like my to do list is larger than it really is, again utterly stupid and frustrating as it adds to the feeling of burden and worry. It’s why there is an overwhelming feeling of relief when you finally get that task or project done that’s been haunting you. So here’s my personal tip on recognizing this blackhole trap: if it feels small enough to be put on the back burner, and more importantly STAY on the back burner, it’s time to move to the front.

Here’s another one: If you think the small things don’t matter, you’re wrong.

This is one of the greatest illusions of all time. There’s some logic to it, I mean after all if you can easily see or identify something action is sure to follow. However, most fail to recognize that without foundational “small things” in place there would be no hope of anything growing to a size you’d readily identify. No matter how great or big the final product is, trace it back to its origins and you’ll have the proof that small things matter… a lot.

The moral of the post: Take a few minutes to identify the things you’ve been pushing off. Throw out the mentality that only the big things matter. Just do it, no matter how small, how menial, how unpleasant. If you want to make a big directional impact to the sway of your gate, you’ve got to make some corrections at the hinge.

While walking out front the other day, I spied this tiny little nest sitting in my guava tree:

The entire thing would have fit neatly in the palm of a small child, yet the warmth and protection emanating from it would fill an entire heart. I couldn’t help but think about the representation it is of parenting. The time spent weaving a protective, safe, warm and nourishing environment for our children is a labor of love. Like these little birds, we make use of every available resource to protect our treasure inside. I don’t know if you can make it out in this photo or not, but the entire edging of this nest is a soft cotton like substance. I don’t know where it was found, or even what it is, I just know it added a layer of protective comfort that was almost tangible. How like a parent to creatively weave a little extra love and warmth into their efforts!

To pull down the branch and spy the contents was awesome. How cute are these adorable little jelly bean sized eggs? Kind of like our kids when they’re so tiny. Would that we could remember and retain this image in our heads when they try us as they grow! And try us they do and try us they will - some may even fall out of the nest. But one day they will be the parents, building their own nests of protection and love for their posterity. What will they have learned from us?

I hope I’m like these little birds. I hope I’m as diligent and dedicated to my job of protector and nurturer, that I’d give anything and everything to give my little ones every chance at reaching their potential. Some days it feels like I can only relate to squawking mouths! Then I see this visual and everything comes back into focus. No labor is too small, no element unimportant when it comes to parenting.