Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ 8.17.10

I think I've lost my blogging mojo.

I've got a HUGE list of prompts and ideas in my Blogger drafts file...but for whatever reason, haven't managed to turn any of them into thoughtful posts lately. I'm hoping to work on that; meanwhile, when all else fails, the Simple Woman's Daybook...

Outside my window...
dark and windy. I do like a good summer afternoon thunderstorm.

I am thinking...
about how ugly I was today--not externally, maybe, but in my thoughts and attitude. Faced with a string of minor inconveniences and annoyances, I mentally went ballistic. I guess I should be thankful for the small sign of grace that I at least can recognize that ugliness (or that I can mostly suppress it and not be outwardly rude and angry)...but to be honest, it's hard not to be discouraged when it feels like God is constantly revealing/exposing sin and not so much transforming my sinful heart.

I am thankful for...
Elijah's sudden renewed interest in being read to. I had slacked off for a while, and then it was disappointing because he started being very uncooperative about letting me read to him. He LOVES to look at books by himself, but had stopped bringing me books and often wouldn't even come sit with me if I invited him to read. Here lately he's eager to read with me again, and I'm so glad. And trying to remember gratitude when his requests interrupt me, and when the book in his hand is a LONG one I've read six times that day already :)

From the kitchen...
I am not cooking tonight. After our long, exhausting morning/afternoon of errands, I don't have the time or energy to tackle the new recipe I'd planned to try tonight (scalloped tomatoes from Smitten Kitchen). And unfortunately I can't swap it with either of the next two days' planned meals because the chicken they both are based on is still raw in the fridge. I did manage to put a good home-cooked meal on the table last night: yummy pulled pork--a little too salty, but very moist and tender. And, it yielded not only plenty of leftovers for this week's lunches, but three quart-sized bags for the freezer! Elijah also helped me make cornbread...so we felt very Southern at dinner last night :)

I am wearing...
a pink t-shirt with ruched sides that I really love, borrowed from my sister-in-law, and a long black knit skirt that's not a maternity skirt but that has been a wardrobe staple this pregnancy because of the stretchy elastic waistband. And those famous flip-flops. I told you they never leave my feet in the spring/summer/fall.

I am creating...
a journal entry for the shared journal I received (and was supposed to pass on) an embarrassing number of months ago. Maybe a poem, if inspiration strikes later tonight.

I am going...
to blog very soon about the Vanderbilt study we've been participating in this summer. I keep wanting to be thankful for it on Mondays and realizing it will make no sense to you because I haven't mentioned it at all. And now it's almost over--so I am also going to miss it a whole lot when we're done.

I am reading...
still just counseling books and birth books. I miss reading fiction! I recently finished War of Words, one of the two main textbooks for my counseling class (which is rapidly coming to a close--where did this summer go?!). To prepare for childbirth, I'm working through Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest as well as a related study guide called When I Am Afraid. I've also picked up Christ Centered Childbirth (so far I'm not impressed...it's not a good sign when it's obvious that a book was self-published, not picked up by a major publishing house) and Birthing from Within. Grantly Dick-Read's Childbirth Without Fear is on deck. (Noticing a theme here??)

I am hoping...
to carve out some time this week and next for some long-overdue, much-needed catch-up phone conversations with old, dear friends.

I am hearing...
"Jude Doxology"--an old worship song I sang and loved in college. The friend who introduced me to it sent me the music a while back, and just now I had the brainstorm to search for it and buy it on iTunes. Not quite the same as singing it in my friends' townhouse accompanied by only guitars late on a weeknight--but still fun.

Around the house...
the bathroom desperately needs to be cleaned...but do you know how hard it is to scrub a bathtub when you're seven months pregnant? That's my least favorite chore *without* an enormous belly in the way. Alas...

One of my favorite things...
fresh peach season! We've got a whole box of YUMMY, juicy local peaches on the kitchen table--two boxes, actually, but we discovered we don't prefer the texture of white peaches, even though the flavor is good. So I need to do some baking with those--probably this and/or this.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
tonight I'm headed over to my friend Lydia's house for prayer (and lots of chatting, let's be honest :) with a few moms from church--always a HUGE blessing to my soul each week. Tomorrow is Elijah's three-year well-check at the pediatrician, a playdate with a church friend while we're in the neighborhood, and then a prenatal appointment for me. On Friday we're hosting a new couple at church for dinner, and on Saturday (depending on Steve's plans) I might go to Nine Months and Beyond for a "tea" for pregnant women, to check out some doula options.

A picture thought I am sharing...
Elijah got an apron for his birthday--so now he's all set to "help" me in the kitchen. Saturday morning, we made whole wheat bread (third time was finally a charm with this new recipe--the previous two attempts both collapsed in the oven--you'd think after more than a YEAR of making my own bread I'd have it mastered by now) and Steve was around to take pictures.

1 comment:

Kelly said...

I just love you! :)