Where did that month go?

I think I may have bought enough plants for this year.  May have…but there is still time to decide for sure.  I have about 5 pots of various perennials and a couple annuals that do not yet have a home, however,  rain somewhat delayed the planting progress for a time.  There is also still a large, very large, amount of landscaping prep to undertake before some of these items go in the ground, but, I am making headway. My sons-in-law helped tremendously on a flower bed over Memorial Day weekend which took a huge chunk off my "to do" list.  

When we remodeled (starting two years ago now), it disrupted all four sides of the house, and the foundation and any grass, shrubs, flowers, gravel, mulch…any of it…was destroyed in the process.  Now, I don’t mind “re-do” on these four areas but, boy, is my back tired!  I have spent the last several days digging out, dividing and replanting.  Some of my plants and shrubs, that weren’t destroyed, are pretty well established but no longer of the right size or in the right spot. 

I have also recently discovered, and this is a big one, that there are just not enough hours in the day.  I know I don’t move as fast as I use to, and it takes me longer to make a decision than it did when all my decisions had to be made on the fly…things came up so quickly.  Now, I get to ponder but, boy, that’s a time burner.  I find myself walking around, poking at the flower beds and wondering if I should move that azalea, but, it likes it there, but its too big, and there’s a good spot for something like that right over here…time burner. Even so, it’s been a gratifying few days.  Things are taking shape.  Rain slowed me down but it sped up the plants.  Things are green and growing, have had a power burst from the rain and I also discovered I am a master ponderer.   

 

Seeing lots of friends and family post on Facebook about their kids growth and moving on to their next grade level, their awards and recognition has been a lot of fun.  My grandkids among them.  My little guys have all had good years at school and pre-school/daycare.  They are happy and healthy and I am forever blessed.  I hope you are in a place where happiness can easily be seen and felt!  June is here, and it's going to be a great summer.  Get out! 

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Days of love.

After a particularly horrific national event on October 1 of this year I began posting a “days of love” on Facebook. Pretty much without fanfare or announcement,  I wanted only to post reasons for us to love, to feel love, to give love, to just love.  I have posted pictures on my timeline of kids, dogs, nature, my kitchen, coffee cups, crab cakes.  Everything, from minor to major, of love.

 

A few years ago there was this big push, I think because of something Oprah, or one of her guests, said, to keep a gratitude journal.  Before long, there were journals, books, devotional readings all centered around gratitude.   I wonder how many of us are still keeping those journals? Those lists? Are we sufficiently grateful now, ten years or so down the road?  I occasionally see reflections of gratitude posted on social media, mostly around Thanksgiving, but are we no longer thinking of gratitude daily? Or did we train our minds to center on gratitude so well that now we don’t have to be purposeful? Those that went through that exercise and made those lists are caught up, so to speak?

I have a confession.  I didn’t do a gratitude journal or list, or a page a day calendar.  It’s not that I wasn’t grateful at the time, or that I’m not grateful now…it’s more like procrastination on my part or even (I am reluctant here, but transparent) disorganization, apathy, laziness…a possibility of any one or a number of those traits.

I have never been much of a joiner, or a trend/fad follower.  I have been isolated and independent,  a loner, an observer.  May be because of the childhood traveling thing,  but,  I am not the first to volunteer, or contribute…I am a hand sitter.  So while many were expressing their gratitude and seemingly taking pleasure and satisfaction from doing so, I sat on my hands. 

When the attitude of gratitude campaign was underway, we were not on Facebook.  There was no daily sharing of our item of gratitude that day, so it was very much a personal list.  Maybe we spoke it to each other in conversations; we were also encouraged to express our gratitude of a person to him or her, so we shared it to some extent with each other.

I started posting my “days of love” on my Facebook timeline in response to some awful stuff. I post a picture or comment daily on Facebook because I’ve set myself out there as a writer, as someone who shares. For this non-joiner, non-fad follower to share a post of love, to expose my heart and raise my hand …it is a bit of a big deal.  I appreciate, very much, those of you who have sent me messages of support, of encouragement, and even of gratitude. Thank you. 

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Speed it up just a little, though.

My postings usually contain happy musings, random, rambling, recreational thoughts.  Oh, occasionally I have dabbled in opinion, but, rarely advice.  I’ve talked about personal experiences and how they made me feel, or maybe my reaction to an event, the importance of home and family.

 

I’m struggling here, folks.  I have strong thoughts as I know many of you do, too. Please know I am struggling with pain, hurt, disappointment, confusion, even fear.  However, my blog is about the less controversial, less negative, less confrontational and way, way less political.  I do not want anyone to believe I have buried my head in the sand for I most certainly have not, my focus here is on home, lakes, families, humor.  Come to rest here, to laugh here.  Look out my window with me. Some are staying off facebook these days…I get that.  You don’t have to go to facebook to find me..save my link, cindiswindow.blogspot.com/ and become a follower of the page, check back often (I typically post once a week), relax here with me.  I play nice.

Our son is home for a few days as we prepare for a family wedding, our nephew, his childhood best friend.  I always enjoy having him around.   The girls will be coming in over the weekend and while it’s hectic, and the house will be full and there will be a line for the bathrooms, I am excited for everyone to be here for a couple days.  My daughter-in-law flies in for a quick stop but for a brief time, they will all be here. Our soon to be nine-year-old granddaughter has a part in the Nutcracker performance in Indianapolis this year.  Oh, she is excited to be a toy soldier! She and her daddy will be late arrivals to the wedding as she has rehearsal on Saturday afternoon, followed by a two-and-a-half-hour drive. I remind myself to stay in the moment, that it doesn’t happen nearly often enough, to enjoy every second.

 

So this week I am concentrating on getting a few small things around the house in order.  There are some missing switch or outlet covers, for example.  Some touch up paint, a light fixture to hang.  I don’t guess I will be seeing my cabinet hardware installed or the stone put on the fireplace quite yet.   Yes, that’s right.  The fireplace is not yet done.  I can have a fire and by golly, I am decorating for Halloween this year…cement board and all.

Except for two boards, both front and kitchen porches are done.  I have pots of mums and decorations on the doors, have swept down spiders and cobwebs, and sawdust.  The lights are hung and the result of the soft glow is exactly what I hoped.  I washed windows yesterday, and moved a couple of plants.  My son and I moved ladders and scaffolding, and carried an old piece of furniture up for the garbage (or anyone else) men to take. Slowly but surely, things are finishing up.  

Sometimes I forget what the house looked like before we started and well, that’s okay!  There is still so much to do, small things, and a few bigger things, but, we are nearing the end and who said it was a race. 

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Keep 'em coming, please, bring me all the joys.

Most of you already know family means everything to me.  I realize as I write it that it sounds a bit smug.  I mean, after all, family means everything to you, too, right? I don’t have a corner on the market when it comes to loving family, and family time.  Just want to get that out of the way – I feel you.

 

We share this.  I know.  I don’t write about my love of family to place my experiences above your own, but, rather to strike common ground.  Above all else, our love of family unites us, at least I think so, and that’s why I write, and that’s why you read.  Love you, I do!

Of course, every family’s experiences are unique, as unique as each one of us.  I have much in common with many family members and friends.  But, I also appreciate the unique characteristic of each of those groups and individuals.  I have friends raising their kids and celebrating on the beach, or in the desert, mountains and hills, frozen tundra, forests and woods, and deep, tropical oasis.  Okay, that last one is a stretch.  I don’t think I know anyone in a deep tropical oasis, or under the sea for that matter, but it could happen.  You get my point…we are all doing it different, and all doing it the same.

Probably like most of you this is the same reasoning behind liking and using Facebook.  I mean, it is an easy way to keep in touch, to experience life that is just a bit different than your own.  Maybe even imagine yourself in a new setting or town, what you would do.  A friend of mine who was visiting the east coast last week posted a picture of a buttered lobster roll.  Now this has made me want a buttered lobster roll ever since.  Hubs and I started talking about an east coast getaway in the spring or fall of 2018, I will salivate for a lobster roll until then, I suppose, but I wouldn’t have had that motivation or start making a plan without that picture.  No matter what you think of Facebook it does have its way, doesn’t it, of bringing you something new to think about, and bringing your friends and family just a bit closer.

  

So, I have been one of those who has blocked people, hid advertisements, failed to reply to a message from someone, even declined a friend request or two and, I’ll admit it, I’ll continue to do so.  It’s how you refine what Facebook delivers. On the other hand, I love seeing pictures, families together, I do get some news from Facebook and it is how I find out about sales or places to visit and what the specials are at my favorite little bar and grill.  I post my blog updates on Facebook and I know I have gained some readers this way.
 

I get lost in Facebook, too, and that’s a habit I try to keep at bay.  I also get mad and irritated at the things I see posted there.  I move on.  I don’t take bait, usually, but oh, boy, there are times I want to throw myself in the middle of something.  Try not to, people of mine, try not to.  It won’t get you where you think you want to be…at least, I haven’t seen it work that way yet. But, oh the good, the great, of Facebook. 

Last week, my sister-in-law traveled to the Pacific Northwest with the surviving 8 of her 10 siblings.  I didn’t know them as kids but, wow, what a house that must have been.   I have seen them all together only once or twice over the last 40 (OMG! Seriously? 40?) years.  There are a few pictures posted on Facebook of their “reunion”.  To see them together brought me such a joyful moment, one of those times when my heart truly felt a warmth, a glow.  Without this digital social media thing I don’t know when I would have the opportunity to see them all together again, even in pictures. Thanks for sharing that, guys. Another post this week of a friend celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary, the joy on her face in her family picture…when she, finally, had them all in one spot, all ready to smile and to gather around her table and to stop for a moment to get that great shot.  These are the joys in life, the joy of family and yes, the joy of Facebook.