Small Wonders

It's the little things in life that make up the big happinesses, really. I think that's something that we often forget when we get bogged down in the minutiae of everyday life. We are running around so fast, so hurriedly, so  harried, that we miss all the small wonders; all the beautiful moments that make up the good life.

My girls are currently on Spring Break. Monday was a little busy, but nothing too terrible - I had doctor's appointments, but they were spread out, and the kids were able to spend most of the day relaxing. (Okay, so they weren't relaxing - they had gotten in a heap of trouble Sunday night and spent most of the day folding laundry. Potayto, potahto!) Tuesday, since it was such an insanely gorgeous day, we went down to the French Quarter with Hans' mom, walked around a bit, had a bite of lunch at a place we'd been wanting to try (Montrel's for anyone wondering. And no, I don't recommend it.) and picked up some provisions at Tabasco and Aunt Sally's. Tuesday night, the girls had sleepovers with the neighbor girls - Al at their house, the youngest daughter here at ours with Heather. Wednesday was playing all day long, first here between the two houses, then at Grammy's and with the neighbor kids there. Then they spent the night with the grandparents. Again!

Yesterday, after the kids were gone, I decided to sit on my front porch without children running around me. I got a beer and a good mini cigar my father in law brought me from St. Maarten and parked myself. The lovely thing about my front porch is that the hedges are such that, if I don't wish to be noticed, I'm not. So I sat back and observed the comings and goings of the neighborhood. The weather was divine, the peace was superb. It was just one of those little moments that makes you smile and think how good life is.

There have been so many of those moments lately, too. I love living here because of it. I love that we live in a neighborhood where all the kids play together outside, running from house to house, spending the entire day outdoors. I love that the neighbors all wave and say hello. I love that we feel safe, and like we can stay put for a while.

The small wonders. They make up the good life.

Get your motor runnin'

It's time to start writing again. I haven't done much writing at all over the past month or two, and no writing here in ages. I need it, though. I need the outlet, the release, the sense of accomplishment it gives me.

There are so many times, as I'm in the car, or out and about, that I think, "Hmm.... That would make an interesting blog post!" Then, I get back home, and I need to put away the groceries, or do the laundry, or make the dinner, and it never happens. The longer I go on like this, the less motivated I become to do, well, anything. So, I guess you could say that this is a desperate attempt at finding motivation, both for writing, and in general. Kind of the whole, "fake it till you make it" mentality - if I fake my motivation, maybe action will beget motivation will beget action?

Now, if I'm completely honest with myself, and with the rest of you, one of the big reasons I haven't posted much here is because things happened that necessitated my posting on my other blog with more frequency. This is a lighthearted, upbeat blog, and things just haven't been all that lighthearted and upbeat lately. I mean, sure, there have been all sorts of fun and interesting things that have gone on, but I've had this constant undercurrent of stress that has made writing about the good seem trivial. I know now, though, that I need to write about the good to help deal with the not-so-good.

It really has been great living here. We've experienced things that, in all the moves and all the years, we hadn't had before. We have family very close by now, so we have a support system for when the bad things crop up, and to share the happy with. We have made some friends, though I'm still throwing up my usual brick walls and roadblocks. We've experienced so many new things! The girls even have winter coats and used them!

There have been so many times over the last few months that I've looked around me and just thought - or said - "I love living here." Take right now. I am sitting in my living room, watching the rain fall in my back yard. Many storms have found me outside on either the front or back porch, taking it all in. Saturday, when we were at the French Quarter Festival, after walking miles, I looked around me and was in love. I could see the Mississippi River to my left, and a crowd of people to my right, and everyone was happy! At Christmas, when we went to the bonfires, even though we didn't know anyone there, we felt like we were surrounded by friends. Even here in the neighborhood - I go outside, and someone stops by to talk for a bit.

It's good here. Yes, there's some scary stuff going on. No, not every day is wonderful. But, it's good. It's safe. It's peaceful. And, being here, we can make it.

A (almost) Year In Pictures...

So, I have been a bad, bad blogger. However, I have had good excuses! :-)

So, to make up for it, one picture for each month we've been here:

August:

We moved into the new house, Heather ended up in the hospital, and the kids started school....

September:

We celebrated our 11th anniversary, got a little more settled, and I learned to make gumbo!

October:

Life turned upside again in October, but we took it all in stride.

November:

Aliceon was named Student of the Year for her new school, and we had a great Thanksgiving!

Then came December, along with Christmas:

So wonderful having so much family together for the holidays!!

January:

Lots of fun, lots of family time, and I got my camera back!

February:

February was great - we (the kids and I) got to experience our first Mardi Gras, and all its many wonders!

March:

Flowers blooming all over the place, Girl Scout Cookies and beautiful spring days... March was fantastic!

Now we're halfway through April:

It's been a great year so far, and we're looking forward to the rest of it!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Brrrr! Current temperature in Kenner is 38°, with a windchill of 31° and a dew point of 13°. Now, I know, to some of my Northern friends, this is a balmy spring day, but you have to remember - this family has spent the last decade in Sunny Florida, where this was practically unheard of! I mean, seriously, we've had to go out and buy winter coats, for goodness sake!

I love it, though! I've loved having actual season - leaves fell off of trees, we've had an excuse to build a fire in our fireplace - it's been wonderful! The kids are enjoying their fun new hats and mittens they got for Christmas, too! The walk to the bus stop is invigorating, not oppressing! And daffodils!  I get to plant daffodil bulbs, because they'll grow here!!

So yeah, we're kinda loving it here. We still miss all of our friends, but we're making friends here, too. Yesterday, I went to the Newcomers Club luncheon and joined. Yes, everyone there was at least 30 years older than me. However, it's a sweet group of ladies, and I think that, maybe, by having a few new, younger members, the group could perk back up...

In other news, since I got my new camera, I have been snapping pictures like a fiend!! Last weekend, Hans and I played tourist downtown, and took a few pics there:

The kids love going to the French Quarter, too. They ask to go all the time - the mules, the sights, the smells, the sounds - it's so much for kids to take in. I think we may go down on Monday; Hans has off work that day, but will probably go in for a while (it's so much easier to get things done when you have the office to yourself!!!), so it would be ideal for us to go down and meet him for lunch, then some wandering! I should be able to get some great pictures, too!

There's just so much to see and do here in New Orleans, and all of Louisiana. So much history, so many interesting things. I want to do it all, see it all and eat it all!

New Orleans, Land of Dreams...

Ella Fitzgerald sang Basin Street Blues while Louis Armstrong blew the trumpet, and man, was it ever lovely. So is living here. There have been so many wonderful things to see and do in the short time we've been here, and experiences that have been wonderful for all of us!

We've had houseguests (Hi, Ben & Jeff!!), we've experienced the Christmas Eve bonfires, and the sense of community that comes with that, we've been to the Insectarium and played in City Park. Hans and I played tourist in The Quarter among loud and rowdy football fans, and saw a spectacular New Year's firworks show from our front yard!

It's been an exciting and fun-filled few months so far, and I'm sure the coming months will be just as much so! But now that the holidays are over, it's time to buckle down and get our house really in order. To accomplish this, I'm putting myself on an "Online Diet," and creating a chore chart of sorts for the kids. It's time for them to learn more responsibility, and time for me to stop being everyone's maid!

I saw a few things on Pinterest showing popcicle sticks and cans/jars as opposed to charts, so that's kind of what I'm leaning towards. I can make them look nice so that they can stay out, but it would be small, so I could stash them in the closet when we have company coming. Hmm....

Be a Compliment to Your Parents

I blogged yesterday about the neighbor across the street, and that I was going to make Mac & Cheese for the family. Well, I did. I didn't want, expect or need anything for it. I did it because it's what I felt I should do.

Today, I went shopping (more about that in a bit). When I got home, and after the girls got off the bus, I was sitting here at my computer catching up on some emails. Not long after the girls came in, the doorbell rang. When I answered it, it was the wife of the gentleman that had passed, and their older son.

As I opened the door, I was met with, not a just a smile, but a warm hug and words of thanks and appreciation. As we introduced ourselves (because, remember, aside from waving across the street and saying "good morning" as we passed one another, we were strangers), they continued to thank me. I was awed by their strength, their acceptance of what had happened, and their grace.

Their coming over made me feel so good, not because I need or wanted recognition, but because it opened a door, a dialogue. In some ways, this has made us more neighbors than we were previously. I won't deny that it made me feel good to know that they appreciated the thought, but that wasn't the most important thing. The important thing was that, in a moment when their world is upside down, they were given comfort.

When you do something like this, too, for someone you don't really know, you aren't always sure that it will be met with the intentions you had in doing it. Some people don't want anyone to interfere into their lives, don't want to open themselves up to sharing their grief or pain. It's not always easy to accept help, of any sort, with grace. Believe me, this is something I know all too well.

And yet, the compliments I received, I don't see them as compliments to me, as much as I see them as compliments to my parents. What I did, I did because it's how I was raised. I was raised to be caring and compassionate, to provide when I can, to do everything in my power to help ease suffering. Sometimes I don't do the things I feel I should because there's too much risk to it - picking up a hitchhiker, offering shelter to a stranger - and I always feel guilty. But I do what I can, and I try to make my parents proud.

I do these things, too, to teach my daughters the lessons I was taught. I strive to instill in them a sense of goodwill and responsibility towards those that need us, for whatever reason. I hope that, when they're grown and on their own, that I get a call someday saying, "Mom, you got the nicest compliment today...."

May The Circle Be Unbroken

Our neighbor across the street died last night. Lung cancer. Very sad.

I hadn't formally met the man; we've only been here since August, and in that time I have been swamped with health issues of my own. However, anytime he was outside on his porch, he smiled and waved, and I've said "good morning" to his two grown sons every day as I walk the kids to school.

When the police, firetruck and ambulance showed up last night, I knew something had happened. I suspected that he had passed away, but hoped that he was just in need of the hospital. Being the Southern girl that I am, when I saw all the other neighbors outside, I went and joined them. That's when I found out that he had, in fact, died.

We all stood about, talking, and generally just being there. We stayed out of the family's way, in front of our own yards instead of theirs, visible, though, letting them know we were there, and they were in our thoughts.

Of course, the first thing that popped into my mind when I found out what had happened was, "I need to go make macaroni and cheese casserole." A true testament to my heritage and background, the first thing that entered my mind was feeding the family. The first food that entered my mind was baked mac & cheese.

You see, where I come from, and from what I understand, in the rest of The South, food is what we do for the grieving. It's what I've always known. I'll never forget, I was back home when my Papa died (also of lung cancer), and as soon as he had been taken to the funeral home, people started showing up with casserole dishes, baskets of biscuits and buckets of fried chicken.

It's just The Southern Way, and more than any words, it conveys our sorrow, our solidarity, and our love. It's what Southern women have been doing for generations. It's what I feel the overwhelming need to do.

So off to the grocery I go - I need to pick up a toss away pan and some elbow noodles; I have some comfort to make.