Month: September 2010

life, music, writing

The Fun List

criscollrj

I spend so much time making to-do lists and doing budgets and work checklists and homework checklists I need a break from that!!  So here’s a new kind of list I thought would be refreshing to make!

  • Play lots of Wii with RJ and Chris too – and if Colleen will agree to play she should come right along!  Ryan and I played for 1 hour last night and had a lot of fun!
  • Try and write on here once a week or so.
  • Proofread my posts going back to 03 and get everything categorized and tagged.
  • (2020 finally proofread all posts from 03 to now, it’s taken MONTHS.  Haven’t checked categories and tags AT all.  Need to read all comments also….)
  • Scan in my old pictures bit by bit and get them on Flickr (and renew Flickr for a year to the pro version!)
  • Plan what colors I want to paint all our rooms and post them on here.  I already have three!  I’ll post soon as they’re in my purse – it’s apricot or mint green for either kitchen or living room (not sure) and a slate blue for my bedroom.
  • Play guitar twice a week and do some Youtube videos for fun!
  • Do a wild and crazy Youtube video with Rog of us playing guitar with whatever brave children want to appear with us.
  • Plan to someday do a great long walk on a hiking trail with the family and maybe even have a picnic along the way sitting on a big rock by a forest 🙂
  • (2020 – having the boys from mid March to end of November, we hiked SO MUCH!  every season!  Can’t wait to get back to it as when we’re well we have them every weekend (we have been sick, you’ll hear about that soon enough).
  • Paint a picture!
  • Decide if I’m going to ever finish my book from 1981 or if I should just start a new one (maybe copying some of the great material from that one into the new one).
  • (2020 – ugh.  Boy would still love to do that.  I still have the book, and it’s online on my www.line-bright.com site — you have to ask me for password.  It’s still in same shape it was in the 90s but IS in html format!!!)
  • Sleep for many extra hours.

Ahhh, cathartic just to write – remains to be seen if I do most of it. 

 

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children, life

Priorities —

criscollrj

39acAt first glance my priorities  seem very basic, and concrete, like:

  • Do the laundry
  • Do dishes
  • Get homework done
  • Make sure kids are safe.

I get up at 5 and make sure Colleen gets on her bus, then Ryan goes, and I know Gayle is getting Chris off to school.  Our family team is taking care of our kids and everyone is safe and secure.  Rog goes to work and I do work and school and try and build the Avon business.

I just felt this morning like I needed to sort out what our highest priorities are – I just don’t want to be in the position of the urgent ruling over the little moments of importance – of being so busy that we don’t have time to sit with a child for a moment or have a cup of tea with a loved one.  I want to take the minutes of being able to see little things the children are doing that are really unique and encouraging, and not overlooking them because I’m too busy doing homework or getting a job out.  I also want to treasure the minutes with Rog, Gayle, Chuck, my mom, and all our other relatives and our friends as well, and not only see them when I’m not busy working.

What I’m grateful for is that as a family through the years we have been good with getting our kids out to lots of different experiences and situations, both as a whole family and sometimes with just one or two of the kids.  I am happy that we can look back and remember (and look at pictures too) of all thfarm park 007e events we have attended as a family, as well as times that we just played at home.  There are moments of aggravation and stress, too, of course, trying to please everyone and having things go wrong, but I am really glad we at least try.

4I think back to trips, like when we went to North Carolina in 97 and then Port Clinton in 04 and 05.  I am really glad we did this, even though at the time it was hard.  We had a lot of fun and have good memories of these trips.  But also I am glad we do things like yesterday when Rog drove us out to his hometown and showed the boys his old house he grew up at, and other times we just drive to McDonald’s and get chicken nuggets.

So, even though at this point I think of priorities and I think of things like, get my transcription done this week before our trip out of town (business) on Monday, and study for my biology test, it will also include enjoying watch Chris eat a piece of cheese that he loves and treasuring his laugh, looking at Colleen’s beautiful artwork, and hearing Ryan sing the melody of one of our church songs yesterday and actually recognizing it (“Your Grace is Enough”), and taking the time to enjoy a good meal with Rog alone at times.  All of these things add up to a life of meaning and priority.

 

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