lent

i have never practiced lent before.

this year i decided to go for it as a spiritual practice, and see how it goes.

if that sounds a little flippant, i don't intend it to be so, but the idea of giving chocolate or ice cream for God has felt a little along the works-based-faith side of things for me.

the thoughts i have been sitting in more recently have come from a different perspective; making room for God. rather than giving up something i decided to take something on.

i am setting my alarm for the first time in over 5 years, intentionally waking up before the kids and doing 20 minutes of yoga. it is a bigger deal than it sounds, since my children just started sleeping through the night less than 3 months ago and i still don't feel like i have recovered. i've also not been taking very good care of this body God gave me. i have never had a regular exercise plan. i don't love alone time. i am not a morning person.

i am super sluggish in the morning so the idea of doing yoga to slowly wake me up while stretching and preparing for my day, while giving my mind the space to think, pray, listen, seemed like a good start for lent. something i could actually do.

i did take a day off after spending most of the night in the ER with a croupy girl which i am sure there is grace enough to cover that day.

do you practice lent?

why do you do it?

what do you choose to do/not do?

office break

the kids spent close to an hour playing office today.

they created their own "offices", including office spaces for Doggy, Baby Liz and other stuffed animals; the piano bench, a play table, the dining room table, a cardboard box.

they each had a "cup of coffee" (thermos of water and a mug) and a stack of papers.

claire was a manager and jackson was "in charge of all the managers and the entire office" (C.O.O)

they named the company, "All Around the World" because they employed people from around the globe.

what do they do?

"organize craft projects and design houses"

they tried to hire me, so took me on an office tour, introducing me to the employees. "office #2 is your office. just look above the door and see if you can spot the #2!" jackson told me.

lucky for me they gave me my real office, and not the cardboard box!

my first assignment was to design a home and show it to jackson when i finished. i received a nod and a pleasant, "that is VERY creative"

i asked about cleaning services because the office spaces seemed a little cluttered and needing of a good sweep/mop (my task for today). he told me that all the managers stay late to work together to clean up the office.

"i've owned this company for 100 years!!" he exclaimed to me.

and we just hired a chef, so i think i'm going to like working here!

i heart spring

i remember why spring is my favorite season.

we just spent 10 days in seattle. it was the last two weeks of february and spring was already there.

crocus dancing in full color, forsythia budding, rhododendrons in bloom and bud, flowering cherrys beginning to burst, new growth was everywhere.

and everything else was green.

we pruned and weeded the gardens. we dug up crunchy carrots. we took walks in the woods. while the kids rested, i read on the back porch in glorious sunshine (yes, i did have a blanket and a hot drink, but i was outside!)

and then seattle got their second snowstorm of the season. seattle doesn't get much snow. what they do get is wet and heavy and usually gone by noon.

tangent: seattle gets a lot of criticism about their reactions to snow,particularly the drivers. i was reminded how dangerous it really can be. the snow is wet, but often re-freezes overnight creating a sheet of ice on very hilly terrain. this is a bad combination even if you have four-wheel-drive. since they rarely get snow, there are only a couple plows, a few salt/sand trucks. it is very different from areas where snow is common and there is equipment to handle the road conditions. just saying, don't knock it until you try it.

we rolled the head of a snowman to uncover green grass underneath. then dug a carrot out of the garden, cleaned it off in the snow and stuck it in the snowman's face.

that's when i realized i really miss spring. this snow stuff i was playing in felt like the spring i get in Minnesota (except this kind of snow wouldn't come until the end of march and underneath is dead, brown grass and it takes another month or two AFTER the snow melts for the earth to thaw and life to grow!) essentially, we don't get spring in minnesota. last year it lasted exactly one day, then went right into summer heat. i miss spring. it was my favorite season. having this little taste of REAL spring (sans the very out of place snow storm) brought back that sweetness.

being outside in a sweater instead of a coat

working in the garden before there is anything to plant,

then starting the garden with a small crop of cold loving veggies before going gangbusters.

splashing in rain puddles

cool rain

green as the backdrop for everything

color emerging slowly

no, you can't really grow a good tomato in seattle. you look out the window on summer mornings before you put on short and flip flops. fall color often gets washed away with a good rain. seattle isn't a winter wonderland.

but spring in seattle shines!