Downton Abbey

Just finished season one of "Downton Abbey".  Over the course of the past couple of weeks, I watched seven 45-minute episodes on Netflix.  I can stream this series which I'm thrilled about as most Masterpiece Theatre programs can't be streamed.  I'm hoping to start season 2 this evening...either before the Twins game or after.  My two favorite things to watch. 

I've blogged about "Forsythe Saga" (absolute favorite) and "Pride and Prejudice".  "Downton Abbey" is wonderful.   The relationships between the characters is compelling to watch and the sets are visually stunning.  The blending of colors and textures makes this visually rich.

The men are usually my favorite in these programs.  Lord Grantham (father) is wonderful.  There is a particularly interesting scene between Lord Grantham and Mathew.  It's one of my favorites.  Cousin Mathew will inherit Downton Abbey because Lord Grantham only has daughters.  Mathew does not approve of being waited on by the staff of Downton Abbey and comments to Mr. Molesley, the valet assigned to serve him.  Matthew comments that he does not need his help and then remarks, "seems a silly occupation for a grown man".   It is obvious that this remark is more than insulting to Mr. Molesley.  Later, Lord Grantham discusses this issue with Matthew and explains that we all have "roles" and we must be allowed to play out that role.  Following that conversation, Matthew then allows Mr. Molesley to assist him.  It is interesting to watch the satisfaction that Mr. Molesley feels as he is allowed to play his "role".  Complicated and intriguing.

The very beginning of the following trailer includes Matthew's comment to Mr. Molesley. 

Relationships... roles... rules... it's all explored.  It's dramatic, fun, and wonderful.

Geeky Fun

Funny post on MakeUseOf blog.  My favorites are #2 and #9 :)

Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun]

• June 23, 2012
• By Kaly

Check out the top picks from MakeUseOf Geeky Fun during the last couple of days.

1. Not Even Bing Likes Bing (Pic)
2. The Periodic Table Of Procrastination
3. Female Role Models: Pop Culture vs Geek Culture (Pic)
4. Laptop vs Microsoft Surface (Pic)
5. I Guess This Link Gets Clicked A Lot (Pic)
6. Microsoft Surface Presentation FAIL (Video)
7. Screwed By Chinese Hard Drive (Pic)
8. Is Social Media Ruining Your Social Skills? (Infographics)
9. Why I Check My Voicemail (Pic)
10. Upgading From Windows7 32bit to 64bit (Pic)

It's Friday

It's Friday, a g a i n!  I love Friday.  Everybody loves Friday.  It's a beginning and an end at the same time.  love it.

I'm thankful that I have extra time at home in the summer.  It's great but my expectations put a pressure on me that can be uncomfortable.  I try so hard to be realistic and not plan too many things.

Keeping up with household chores and maintenance projects are hard to do during the school year.  I feel like I'm never home.  So, in the summer, I try to "catch up".  Ugh.  As the days slip by, accomplishing all the things on my "list" seems impossible.  A couple of more weeks, and it will become officially impossible.  It's discouraging.

I printed out June, July, and August calendars and roughed out a plan of attack.  It did help.  I don't want to over-schedule my summer, but it does help to have a plan. 

These are some of the things on my list:

Must Do:
1- develop a better mail and 'hold-over' paper center -- NOT ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER
2- rethink kitchen storage -- powdered sugar (used 1 or 2 times each year) does not need to be in the cabinet next to the stove.  That is prime space and things that are needed more often will go there.  Pantry should be reorganized.  I'm rethinking the way I organize.  I ALWAYS organize by category.  All cereal goes here...all bowls go here...all baking things go here.  I'm thinking that things should be stored by USE.  One of those "ah ha" moments.  Why didn't I think of that sooner?  So, a frying pan, mixing bowl, tabasco, and pasta could go on the same shelf. 
3- go through boxes in basement --  may skip this one.
4-  find place to store or showcase all of our books -- but where?!  Right now, they are stacked in piles on our fireplace mantel.  good grief.
5- organize piles of kids' artwork, school papers, etc., etc.
6- clean out boys' bedrooms
7- clean out old garage for additional storage -- think I'm going to cry
8- go through things in loft of barn  -- think I'm going to throw up
9- have a huge rummage sale
10- put under cabinet lighting in kitchen

Must Do from my Heart but may move to Want To Do:
1- paint all end tables, shelves, and storage cabinets white (was googling "how to paint a piano" but decided that I really like the rustic look of the old thing -- phew -- that's a relief!)
2- paint laundry room cabinets white
3- recover 2 chairs in family room that I found at a rummage sale -- maybe dove gray.  I'm not a blue girl
4- paint our bedroom and closet doors
5- buy new mattress, move our old set upstairs, let Ben take his to college, and buy Sam a full size mattress
6- paint stairway and upstairs
7- paint upstairs bathroom blue (per Isaaac's request)
8- paint dressers
9- paint upstairs bathroom vanity white and add hardware
10- paint long bench in mudroom -- paint short bench to keep on porch outside
11- buy totes for under bench

Want to Do:
1- paint frames white and buy white matting
2- paint laundry room white or light yellow or baby gray
3- find storage system to put under shelf in bathroom
4- put under cabinet lighting in (moved to Must Do)
4- clean out closets in mudroom
5- shelving system in garage
6- expand garden near river
7- develop sitting area near river

Goodness.  No wonder I feel discouraged from the onset.  My "Must Do" lists are so long and I feel I "must do" these things this summer.  I need to look these lists over and move some things to my "want" list.

And the reason I don't get to even half of the things on my list is because I'm (more importantly) trying to play more badmitton with the boys, read more, enjoy my patio more, watch more movies, visit more people, rest, cook good food, exercise, maintain my existing gardens, and on and on. 

And so an organized home takes a backseat.  I am only human and I also have a summer cold.  Major set back! 

New plan.  Look over these lists and choose the most important things.   I won't be happy unless I can accomplish some of these things.  Thinking this over, I think I may start with the "Must Do from My Heart" list.  I think these are the things that will satisfy my creative side and accomplish a practical purpose.  Yes.  I like that. 

Organizing my home is really, truly important to me.  The sense of being organized is only part of it.  There is a beauty and peacefulness that I find immensely satisfying when my home feels organized. 

So how do I deal with this compulsion to constantly improve my home?  I was feeling bad one day and complained to my mom, "why am I never satisfied?  why am I always wanting to change things... rearrange things... make things better?".  And my mom said, "It's because you are creative, honey.".  oh.  Is that it?  I like that better than what I was thinking... compulsive, neurotic, obsessive:)  Thanks, mom.   

Happy Friday.  Happy home.  Happy summer.

mediocrity

Danielle LaPorte featured an interview with Adam Baker, creator of the documentary, "I'm fine, thanks.".   It focuses on mediocrity and living your dream.  Follow this link for his short interview.

This is the trailer.

Dreams.  Passion.  It is interesting to think about.  I'm sitting in my quiet home.  The morning light is dim.  It's quietly raining.  I have 2 sleeping boys upstairs.  I am living my dream.  Raising my children, creating a home, a home in the country, a job I find fulfilling... this is my dream. 

I wish I had been more aware.

But I am not done dreaming.  I can feel the pull inside me to create.  So, I will listen more closely and move where I am pulled.

What I want for my children is not to be 40-something and realize that they have their dream.  Or that they don't.  I want them to be aware, consciously pursue, ask questions, pray... l i s t e n. 

In the past, and the residue remains, I have associated 'living your dream' or 'seeking your passion' with being irresponsible or selfish (for some reason).  I was not raised that way but I became that way.  Self-talk was often negative and others "must know better".  I did not always trust my own voice and I watched for the reaction of other people. 

It is a relief to feel the residue gradually fall away.  It's a relief to feel outside pressures lose their hold and shake off a self-consiousness that can be paralzying.

I am aware of what I want. 

I want to live and move in my dream.

favorite pins

So many wonderful and creative ideas...

I haven't checked out the source yet, but this looks like chalkboard paint.  Cool idea for a calendar.

I like the creative way to use old dishes.  When many cake plates are needed for serving, what an inexpensive way to create a charming look!

 I just love the details in the ceiling and the beautiful lines.

Great office space...

What is it about photos and cards displayed on wire that I love? Maybe it's the way it looks like a collection...

A couple of cookie sheets and 3M adhesive with velcro and you've got really cute magnet boards.  I think the original metal form would look great.

Great idea for a garden screen.  we've got this propane tank on the East side of our house...this might do the trick:)

I just love it.

...all sources of pins found on my Pinterest boards.

sunlight and perennials

The other morning, I was out walking in our yard and noticed the way the light glowed in the flower beds.  I ran into the house to grab my camera.  I do this a lot.

I should read my camera manual.  The morning light was gorgeous but this photo just does not capture the way the light moved through this corner of our yard. 

A peony bloom is exquisite.  But look at the buds!  I love the way peony buds look in a vase. 

Hosta.  Enough said.

What a pretty combination of plants.  I think you can add potato vine and coleus to anything and it would be beautiful!   I only have 2 pots of annuals this year.  They add a splash of color and are so fresh looking.

My new passion is containers filled with perennials and shrubs.  The big pot is filled with an Astilbe that I dig out of the ground in the Spring and then I replant it in the Fall.  This is the 4th year that I have dug this same plant up and stuck it in a container. It think it likes this arrangement!

When I describe this system to others, it really can be summed up very simply..."you pull it out of the ground in the Spring and plop it in a pot.  In the Fall, you pull it out of the pot and plop it in the ground."  I'm finding that I use the words "pull" and "plop" a lot.  My gardening style is revealed, I think, with those simple words.  They reflect my simple gardening style and technique.  Nothing fussy survives in our yard.  I do have a hydrangea that will not grow unless I baby it and water it a lot.  It's a beauty and I have wanted for this plant for years.  Now that I can grow one, I have found out that while it is a beauty, it is no longer my favorite.  Something that fussy is tiresome.  Give me a hearty, scrappy shrub or perennial anyday!

I splurged on 3 new shrubs this Spring which will go into the ground in the Fall.  This is my grand plan...instead of spending money on annuals, I will buy shrubs each Spring which will then find new homes each Fall in our yard.  They are enjoyed all summer on our patio and then eventually become part of our landscape. 

State Tennis Tournament 2012

The State Tournament started on Tuesday.  The boys left early Monday morning and we left that afternoon. We stayed in Bloomington and the tournament was held at the Reed Sweat Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

The boys gather before their match to listen to rules and greet their opponents.

TRF vs. Duluth-Marshall

Introduction of #3 doubles and high-fives

My dad and Jo joined us at the tournament.  It was fun having them with us!

devoted fans...

Sam and Cullen played in one of the middle courts.  That did not make it easy to take photos.

Prowlers are Consolation Champs!  

My dad, Jo, and the boys...

Way to go Prowlers!

off to state

Prowler boys tennis went to State for the ninth year in a row!  Isaac got to go with the team as an exhibition player.  The boys were up early preparing to leave.

Dad always makes sure they have a hearty breakfast before they leave!

The boys are lucky that their dad not only prepares breakfast on important days but everyday before school!  wow.

We gathered at LHS to send these boys off bright and early Monday morning.  It was the beginning of a very full week.  They wouldn't come home until Friday night!

Prowler team 2012.

Steve's mom gave us a gift before we left for the cities.  She found an old truck of Steve's from when he was a kid and embellished it with our photos!

There was a special gift from her tucked in the bed of the truck.  It was a 'gift certificate' to the Outback restaurant for us to enjoy in Minneapolis.

Our front door...

The police escorted the boys out of town with parents honking wildly behind them!  

Good Luck Prowlers!  Woo-hoo!

my boy in the middle

Sam turned 17 on May 25.  That was the last day of school, graduation day, and the beginning of a holiday weekend.  It was end-of-the month for dad at the store and mom's last day of work with students.  It was a busy day.

I love birthdays.  It is one of my favorite days to celebrate...birthdays and Christmas.  Despite the business, we did our best to celebrate this amazing boy.

I went through some old pictures of Sam.  I was looking for a couple of cute baby pictures to post and ended up browsing through folder after folder.  It was hard to stop.  So many good memories, funny stories, and strong feelings were stirred.  My years with my babies are so precious to me.  Memories with them are tucked away deep but are easily recalled and their surfacing moves through me with a warmth like sunshine.

Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet boy in the middle.