Five Minute Friday

Longer than the Line for Snow Crab Legs at the Chinese Buffet

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I dragged myself out of bed this morning a few minutes late, so while I was still brushing my teeth my daughter came in to the bathroom, sat down on the toilet and proceed to tell me her Once Upon A Time (TV show) related dream from the night before. Every. single. detail.

sigh

My children all tend to be long-winded – it may be related to the fact that English is not their first language so the older ones struggle with being concise; however, if I’m honest with myself, I fear they get their long-windedness from me.

I was a long story teller as a child, as my brother likes to remind me. I especially liked relating every plot detail of a movie that I had recently watched to my captive family (usually in the car.)

tarzanWhenever one of my children starts in on a long story I think, this is for all those times I subjected my family to the entire storyline of an ancient Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movie or something grotesque I watched on Saturday morning’s Theater Bazaar.

Actually, I think all your bad habits from childhood get rained back down on you when you are a parent. Wet towels on the bed? I can still clearly remember getting punished for leaving wet towels on my bed around age twelve. I wasn’t allowed to watch TV for a week. This was lauraespecially painful because I was watching Little House on the Prairie and my no TV week fell right when Laura and Almanzo were falling in love. Dang it. I was sorely disappointed to miss the best part and I surely learned my lesson. No more wet towels on the bed.

As I walk through my house each day picking up towels from beds and floors and the living room couch, I think, yep, I did this to me.

To my mother and to anyone I ever subjected a long tale of a movie plot (or if I left a wet towel on your bed), you’ll be happy to know, it’s all come back to me. All. come. back. to. me.

And then some.

On the upside, at least the kids are bathing…

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This post was inspired by the word, LONG, and was written alongside of a whole bunch of other bloggers writing for Five Minute Friday. Link up here.

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Hold this.

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Standing in a crowded room trying to have a conversation with the woman in front of me about Room Moms and what must be done, I feel a little someone bump into my arm.

“Mom, can you hold this?” She says, holding up an enormous stuffed dog she bought at IKEA.

“No. You brought it, you hold it. I don’t hold your stuff.”gdog

Two minutes later I glance down at my hands and see that not only am I holding a large stuffed dog, but also a water bottle, coloring book and pencil.

Hold on a minute… how did this happen? How does this always happen?

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This post was inspired by Five Minute Friday: Hold. Link up here. 🙂

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Ready for Something New

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Out In

For the first time in almost fourteen (14!) years I have seven (7!) hours a day with no children at home.

I knew once September rolled along things would be different. I knew/know something new was/is awaiting me. I’m not sure yet what it is but I have that feeling that doors are about to fly open.

And I’m ready.

With my new found thirty-five hours a week I’ve decided I need to have some sort of daily schedule to keep myself productive and to also carve out some time for creative activities. Doing what I love – just because I love it. I wrote about it earlier in the week here.

Friday is all about Creating. Laundry can wait. Cleaning the kitchen can wait. Office work can wait. Shopping can wait. Today, I create.

And I’m ready.

Today I will write. I will pull out and “dust off” a novel I wrote ten years ago. I will format it so it is neat and pretty. I will read it (for the first time in 8 years) and I will send it to a friend for her to read.

I am ready.

Ready for something new.

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Five-Minute-Friday-4This post was written for Five Minute Friday, Link up here

Battle of the Stuff

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Inspired by Five Minute Friday today: Belong.

It would be a sweet post if I talked about belonging or not belonging or finding a place to belong, …but honestly, my thoughts can’t help but flow in this direction:

What do I do with this trashbag full of stuff that I cleaned out of the car the other week?

Finding a place for everything to belong is a constant battle. Stuff. Everywhere. Stuff!

stuff pic

Downsizing and less stuff, blah blah blah, I’ve heard it/read it a million times – but I lived in India for 12 years and we didn’t have much but we STILL had stuff everywhere. My house was swept out at least twice a day and there was ALWAYS stuff in the way, on the floor, waiting to be put away. Stuff.

It comes in with the mailman, in school bags, on feet, from art classes, the pool… It enters in bags from Walmart, Justice, RiteAid, Target, ShopRite and the Thrift store…

Whenever I do a purge (which is often, believe me) I feel like my house is lighter somehow – but just like weightloss and those pesky calories, the Stuff creeps back.

I wonder if I were single would there be less stuff?

 

This post was written for Five Minute Friday. Link up here.5minutefriday

Lost

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I got lost in scrubbing floors and shifting clothes and priming walls.

I got lost in the celebration of the end of another school year.

I got lost in the pool holding a wet five year old. I got lost in the upsidedown over and around twirl of a roller coaster. I got lost in waving to little girls in a rocking pirate ship.

I got lost crossing from state to state, pumping my own gas and riding in Amish buggies.

Being lost was lovely (except for the scrubbing floors).

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This post was written in 5 minutes for 5 Minute Friday. Check it out and link up here.

 

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Orphan, Widow, Single Mother – Still Alive

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Forty years ago in South India there was a girl who was born the second of three sisters. When she was very young her father became ill and died. The mother could not bear the thought of raising three girls alone and since she had a history of mental illness, the girl’s mother also took her life. That day the girl became an orphan.

The girl and her older sister were sent to live with an Aunt in Mumbai and there they were treated slightly better than household servants. When they were old enough, they traveled to Rajasthan to attend Bible College. The middle sister was sickly and worry-prone from childhood so she was soon married to a relative of her older sister’s husband to relieve her family of the burden of caring for her. Unbeknownst to her, her new husband was also sickly and on top of that, terribly unkind to the girl. Nevertheless, she soon became pregnant and bore a daughter of her own. Not long after, her terrible husband died. That day the girl, who was now a woman, became a widow.

While I lived in India the woman and her child came to live near her older sister who was married to a member of my staff. The woman, who was a true orphan and a true widow and a true single mother was also one of the most annoying people I have ever met. That sounds mean, doesn’t it? But it’s true. The crazy part is, I loved her. I loved her in spite of her annoying and pushy ways. I loved her through all her (many) physical ailments and doctor’s appointments when the doctor would scold her for not taking her medicine or doing what she was told to get well. For some reason, God had given me an abundance of grace and love toward her, it surely was not from myself.

Over three years ago I left India and have not returned. I have not seen or heard from the woman, my friend, since then. She has no access to computers and would not be able to type even if she did.

Last night I saw I had a Facebook message from an old staff member in India – the brother-in-law of my friend. When I opened Messenger there were five words: “Hi from Princy and Justy.”

My first thought was, Wow, she’s still alive.

justyc

5minutefridayThis post was written for Five Minute Fridays where many many lovely people link up to write for just five minutes inspired by a single word. Today’s word: Messenger. Find link here.

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When I Had Nothing

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It’s not Christmas. It’s not even July. But today’s word of inspiration, NOTHING, brought to mind White Christmas.

Blessings

Betty & Bob sitting by the fire singing, Count Your Blessings (Instead Of Sheep).

“When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings”

A few years ago my girls and I were moving into our own apartment after living with my parents for a couple months. We had nothing. Absolutely nothing. I used to tell people, we don’t even have a toilet brush.

On the day we moved in, there it was – a brand new toilet brush. But not just that, there was furniture, kitchen appliances, bedroom fixtures, curtains and so much more. We had blessing after blessing poured out on us by family and friends and loved ones from our church. Someone even had leftover paint in their garage that was the exact color I had chosen for the walls. To this day I’ve saved the color sheets from Home Depot to remind me of that blessing. I never want to forget.

This post was written a part of 5 minute friday where you are given 1 word and only 5 minutes to write. Find the link here and join in.

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Grateful – Yet Always Wanting More

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There is something a little nerve-wracking about having only five minutes to get inspired and then write. As the time draws near to open up Five Minute Friday and reveal “the word,” my heart starts to pound and my chest tightens. It feels a bit like meeting someone new and I’m excited and nervous about it all at the same time.

Today’s word is Grateful. I could write mountains on this topic.

However, as I sit here with two minutes remaining I am reminded that no matter much I have been given (and I am so very grateful) that I always seem to want more. That’s not necessarily bad, but on a cold and rainy night when I think about how grateful I am to have a roof over my head and a warm bed to snuggle down in, I am simultaneously reminded of those who have no home and have no bed. Snow, wind, rain, heat – where do they go?

But here I am, grateful for a new couch that someone recently gave me but at the same time, eager to have a new floor put down in another room so that I can move the couch out of my office. Along with the couch came a menagerie of children who have claimed it as their own. I want my office back. I want a new floor in my kitchen and while they’re at it, how about new steps out front and…

couch

This post was written for five minute fridays. Find link here.

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