Woulda Coulda Shoulda

I don’t know when I got them, exactly; it seems to me that it was probably when I was pregnant with Chickadee or when she was very small. Something about how babies would find wind chimes soothing, I think. Back then I was all about Doing It Right and I was very busy strictly adhering to the Organic Twigs and Berries diet so that I could have the Perfect Healthy Baby. (Other things I was busy doing: Buying the Perfect Stroller, picking out the Perfect Crib Bedding, and driving myself Perfectly Batshit Insane worrying that I Would Somehow Mess Up The Perfect Baby.)

[Digression: My Perfect Baby is now an Perfectly Delightful, If Somewhat Premenstrual Tween. That Karma, she is a charming serving wench when it comes to thick wedges of humble pie, oh yes she is.]

Nevertheless: We got the set of wind chimes I deemed the most melodious*, after an hour spent poking various ones at the Nature Store. (more…)

There’s an interesting study to be made of my decorating choices in my first marriage and the different sorts of items I place importance on, now, in this home. Everyone I know goes through that phase in early adulthood where you don’t so much “decorate” as “scavenge,” of course, but even once the money was there to be more deliberate about our furnishings, oh, what a different person I was back then.

Our dining room set was… sturdy. Yes. Oak, mostly. Official-looking. We rarely used it. The price was excellent, as I recall, and I talked about reupholstering the (uncomfortable) chairs at some point, but I never did it, even though we owned that set for many years. It weighed a ton. And although I had a few pangs of guilt about selling it before I moved—it had been a housewarming purchase from my parents—mostly I was relieved to be rid of it. (more…)

You’ll have to forgive me a bit of sappiness, today, but this is what happens when I’ve just been to what was perhaps the nicest wedding I’ve ever attended (I’m not counting my own, you understand). While MY “year of living changerously” can be said to have already lapsed, on this last trip I was struck several times by the enormity of such changes for others.

Then, of course, it occurred to me that EVERY year is a year of change, for nearly everyone. But the changes wrought by love are my very favorites. I’m feeling incredibly blessed, today, to have gotten to share in some of these changes with our family and friends. This is especially true because we all know that I have chronic foot-in-mouth disease, and I remain astonished that anyone ever lets me go anywhere with them. (Hey, if I hadn’t shouted, “I THINK YOU SHOULD PULL THOSE PANTS UP A LITTLE HIGHER, OTTO!” during the pre-wedding slideshow featuring my beloved as a child in polyester bell-bottoms up to his armpits, who would’ve?) (more…)

There is snow on my deck.

There is ice on the driveway.

I ask you: Did I not leave New England so that I’d no longer have to deal with this nonsense? I think I did.

(What’s that, Otto? Oh, yes, honey. Of course. I left to be with YOU. That was my only concern. True love led me away, and nothing else mattered. You’re right, darling. Love you!)

Nevertheless, last night brought a Great Big Georgia Storm and they didn’t even have the decency to close school, today. But then the children bickered over breakfast and I realized that sure, sleeping in after checking the news would’ve been lovely, but sending them off so that I can work in peace is pretty darn nice, too. (more…)