we survived my sons 1st week of middle school. yea! it is funny how about a year ago i started getting nostalgic about middle school. this was followed by several dreams with random people from that time of my life. god started preparing me a year in advance for this transition. elijah may be the only thing keeping me from freaking out and becoming totally overprotective and weird. at least i can acknowledge it.

andrew's 1st dance is friday. apparently we are just going to dive into the teenage years headfirst, without much warning. i never liked inching my way into things anyway.

in other news, i bought strawberries to make jam with. it will get done this time! i also bought some fabric to make a quilt for a couple who is having a baby soon. it's good that i have crafting supplies, because i am pretty much landlocked for the next 2 weeks. the price you pay for being a stay at home mom! i am grateful to have the opportunity to do it, though. it is a blessing for me to be here for my children. i love it! don't let my tone confuse you, i just have an eeyore personality.

crossfit

Crossfit makes me sick. Literally.

I went for my 3rd workout yesterday. This is the most grueling work I have ever done. It takes me 3 times as long as it takes the other participants. I could only finish after a 15 minute break to feed the baby. Even then, I did 10 less burpies than the rest. That was my attempt at finishing.

Mind you, this was one of the 'shorter' workouts, but it took me an hour to complete.

Dwayne assured me that everyone hates burpies. There are shirts with explicits dedicated to burpies. Burpies work every muscle fiber in your body, which is why the military has been using them for a hundred years. Somehow, I know that I was whipped by burpies; for that, there is no consolation. Because somewhere around #6 I was tottering between fainting and vomiting.

I assure you, the latter came later!

Being an undisciplined person, as I am, my goal is just finishing. I'll worry about my time as I build up endurance.

I drove away singing, "you're not hardcore unless you live hardcore," from School of Rock. I realized at that moment, I am not hardcore. So I give it up for Dwayne, Kendall, John, Chris, Corey, Juliette, Olivia, Susie, Ryan, Stacy, Carol, Leeza, and everyone else who does crossfit.

These people are titans. I am merely a muppet.

livin' the dream

i am truly blessed to have the life that i live.

this clothesline reflects the nature of my present life. line drying, cloth diapers, open skies, ranch land, simplicity... all part of me recreating my laura ingalls fantasy.

i am so blessed to live this life, surrounded by people who love and support me, in a land of many freedoms, in a position to stay home with those i love, inspired to seek a more just, beautiful world.

today is bliss, as i consider beauty. peace. love.

*sigh*

confessions

i am a total dork. for those of you who don't know, i have just admitted it; the secret is out. even still, i think it is the ironies, imperfections, contradictions that stand out and make our lives that much more brilliant, that much more beautiful. so, i will post about loving my idealogies whilst listening to thrice and contemplating life on the reservation. maybe i will soon be able to swallow my oddities without reacting to my gag reflex.

picking peaches was followed by two parties, a husband out to russia, three amazing, albeit energetic kids, an out of town guest, a yard sale, and the regular shenanigans. i made no jam, though i very nearly had an anxiety attack. last night i stayed up late cutting peaches and preparing them for the freezer. i saw the creepiest thing: a spider crawled out of this tiny hole in a peach. it was an eerie visual; one that illustrates how evil is always there, hiding in the midst of our fruit. may we have eyes to see and wisdom to navigate through things that devour.

peach pickin'

finally had time to upload the pictures from our peach pickin' excursion in fredericksburg, texas. it was nice to be out with the family. we went to a small, family run orchard where it was like picking fruit in some body's rather large back yard.

something you may not know about peach trees is that they are crawling with these green tinted beetle, about the size of a wasp. these beetles sporadically fly towards you as you enter the shade of the tree. we were all quite startled by these little bugs. we were also relieved to find that they weren't wasps.

we weren't sure whether or not we should even head to the orchard on this particular day. the weather was so odd, with a pattern of rain for a couple of minutes then sun shining the next. the sky was rather ominous. i changed my mind three times before we finally proceeded. corey determined that, if nothing else, at least we would get a road trip out of the deal. the day was great. it sprinkled a little bit right before we reached the farm, but otherwise it was a beautiful day. by the time we left the area we were sweating terribly. the sun was victorious, in the end.

fredericksburg is so much fun. andrew found a gun/cowboy store, which was right up his alley. there were antique guns, toy guns, and semi-automatic weapons in the midst of a small western apparel shop. it was rather bizarre. there is a cool toy store around the corner from there. they have lots of nostalgic toys, as well as gags and novelties. my mom and i found the scrapbook store, which always equals trouble. i found some russian nesting doll chipboard accessories. score!

we didn't have a whole day to spend, but we had a wonderful time, none the less. now i have to get on the jam making bandwagon. it has been five days now, so the peaches are good and ripe.

John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Give Peace A Chance

this is my heart today: give peace a chance. how can we calm the rage and turmoil within that causes us to respond with violence? what balm exists to soothe the human soul? if we seek not a solution to the human condition, little hope exists for our kind. i will seek to bring peace and light to the world today, whilst examining my own errant ways. peace can exist. it is not easy. there are examples out there of others who have worked to bring peace on earth. the effort still impacts others if it is only one person strong, but a greater number impacts the world in a greater way. what can you do to give peace a chance today?