Friday, March 20, 2015

One of Those Days/Weeks

Today was one of those days. No, wait: this week was one of those weeks.  Way too much work, a lot of frustration and overwhelm.

In other words: time for gratitude.

Today, this week, I am grateful for:

1) The girl child who feeds my soul with love and laughter

2) The boy child who wants to understand and make me feel better

3) That husband of mine who always has my back

4) Running into this quote just at the right time: "It is in the giving over to smallness that opens us to misery." (Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening, p. 57)

5) The friends who listen to me when I give over to smallness before stepping back to focus on what really matters

6) Friday Family Movie Night--not a panacea, but certainly a salve for the week's wounds

7) Remembering what can be cut back this weekend to make space not only for work, but also sanity saving walks, family time, and rest

Wishing I knew how to keep perspective all the time.  Surviving because I usually find it after a while.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Pi/e on 3/14/15

It was Pi Day yesterday--a special year (3.1415 and all).  So, we had a Pi/e party with friends.


There was a jumbo Pizza Pi/e:


And butterscotch Pi/e:




And there were several other pi/es to be had--including three different chocolate pi/es!  (And two apple, and one blueberry and one strawberry):



On the savory side, there was a vegan Shepherd's Pi/e--and also a chicken pot Pi/e that was completely eaten before I got back into the kitchen with my camera.




It was a good, relaxed time.  No one batted an eye that I didn't have alcohol out.  Everyone hung around and chatted about life, geek t-shirts, work, kids, hopes for spring, etc.  


I'm hoping that my daughter (seen here with the carnage--I mean, leftovers) noticed that the two mathematicians who came are both women.  Her favorite thing lately is division.  

Maybe I'm slightly better at this party thing than I thought I was. Or maybe I just had my tribe in the house last night.  

And you? Did you celebrate Pi Day?  It won't be this big a deal again for 100 years!

Friday, March 13, 2015

Accounting for Time


It's been Spring Break this week.

Here's what I didn't do--I didn't grade much:
(finally forced myself to do a little this morning)


I did watch the snow melt--I can even see part of the deck now! (don't look at how I never emptied herb pots last fall...) 

I did eat vegan, and lots more green food: 

I did do a lot of cooking and baking and drinking of tea:





(I bought this mini Cuisinart a few weeks ago--I thought it might be a waste, but I am loving it)

I did spend some time with the cat...including watching her attack an apron in the kitchen this afternoon: 


I did also do work...just not much grading.

Break is almost over and I feel like I don't know where the time went (again--it's like this for every break, long or short).  At least I took a few photos along the way to remind me that it did, in fact, happen.

Deep breaths.  Eight more weeks of madness to come!

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Overload!









One of the benefits of being a person who doesn't like the noise of family crowds (and every gathering in my family involves a true crowd) is that I do not experience the "over-indulgence" problem with rich foods for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We definitely celebrate with food, my little family of four, but without the noise and distraction that leads to the usual overload.  My winter break is a time when I feel light--not only because of the relief from the semester ending, but also because it is a time of quiet in which I balance meals with exercise, rest with family activities.

But this weekend the heaviness came, out of nowhere and fairly unexpectedly. Pizza and cake for Anya's birthday party yesterday. Belgian waffles and muffins and breads at first Sunday brunch today--the new waffle maker was a huge hit.  My kitchen is full of the remains of carbohydrate overload (plus a few strawberries waiting for those leftover waffles in the freezer). I feel myself weighted down, dragging in a way that many experience around New Year's day.  

But, like winter party goers, I also feel filled up with love and laughter and gratitude for the wonderful people in my life. Yesterday my daughter spent an entire afternoon celebrating her birthday with her friends, and she dined on homemade cake that was as filled with love as it was with chocolate. Today we brunched on dense foods with good friends and celebrated the miracle of surviving this snowy February.  Our children played together as we talked of work and life, and as we discussed plans made in hopes that one day we would see green grass again. 

I definitely need lots of light, green foods this week.  Not only to recover from the decadence of the weekend, but also to try to call spring into being, if only in my body.  

P.S. While Howard and I were lounging (much like beached whales) and talking about the day, Anya settled in with us, wrapped herself in a blanket, and said "There is no freedom. There is only paradox."  Ummm...yeah. She's 10.  I'm in soooo much trouble when she hits her teen years...