Five Minute Friday:: Encouragement

I'm joining Lisa-Jo Baker for her Five Minute Friday.  The rules:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.

The word today is Encouragement. GO.

Encouragement.  I need it.  I'm really good at it.  I can see when a friend, a child, a family member, needs some.  I have a hard time giving it to myself.  I'm always surprised when some comes my way.  I can be encouraged by small things.  The chance to wear tall boots encourages me.  Why?  I like them.  They make me feel a little trendy and cute.  I feel encouraged that I'm not just a mom wearing mom jeans.  I'm encouraged when someone tells me my story matters.  Or tells me that my musicianship is professional and good.  I suppose I worry too much about what others think.

I'm good at telling my kids when they do a good job.  I mean it when I say it, too.  I want my words to reflect truth.  I want to emphasize the encouraging truth.  It is encouraging when things go the right way.  It is encouraging when hard work pays off, even just a little.  I've been spending at least 5 minutes a day working on guitar.  I started working on "Simple Gifts" reading guitar tab and plucking out the tune.  I was getting discouraged, then the next day, I realized I had it memorized!  Just a little victory, and it encouraged me!

and STOP.

I really roamed in my writing today.  I'm working on getting my thoughts out.  Thanks for stopping by!

On being cold and grouchy

I have been grouchy since Monday.  It's been cold and snowy.  Yes.  I live in New England.  Yes.  It's December.  No.  I wasn't ready for it!

All of a sudden, this week, the weather decided to be winter.  The temperatures dropped, and the precipitation turned white.  And I got cold and sore.  Does it happen as you get older the cold just eats through you worse and worse?  Then there was the roads.  I don't prefer to drive when the roads are icky.  Plus, I had planned on Tuesday to go shopping, which didn't really happen.  My plans got all messed up.

I quickly noticed a pattern.  My grouchiness was focused on me - my plans and my comfort.  So I told myself to stop grumbling and be thankful.  For the icky weather?  Well.  At least it was just a coating of snow.  I could see out the driveway, not like the year there was so much snow I couldn't see the traffic coming.  At least it's easy to stock up on food for the week, even the month, at the grocery store.  We're not stuck in the middle of the plains in a Long Winter like Laura Ingalls Wilder was.  They barely survived that winter.  Once I started with my thankfulness, it kept coming, and my attitude changed.

I'm still cold tonight, but I have a cup of hot tea, and a blanket waiting for me.  I'll survive the winter, and spring will come again. I suppose since time seems to go faster as you get older, the spring will be here before I know it!

Five Minute Friday: Reflect

Five Minute Fridays are a challenge for me these days, but I really like linking up to Lisa-Jo's writing community.  For me, Friday is full of wrapping up the week, and getting ready for Shabbat.  Now that the time has changed, candle-lighting for Shabbat comes just a little after 4 pm.  So.  I'm doing this week's Five Minute Friday on Sunday.  Because the link-up is still open.  Because I can.

This week's writing prompt is Reflect.

And GO.

I reflect on this past week.  It was crazy, totally crazy.  Birthdays hit, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, and a nasty nasty virus.  I feel like I need to hole up in a corner like a bear and hibernate for a few days before I can move on.   There were some fantastic moments, though.  The reflections of the Hanukkiahs in the dark window was stunning.  It reminds me of how we reflect when we let our lights shine in the world.

The moon has no internal light of its own, yet it shines brightly in the night sky.  The window does not have a light, but it certainly looked like it was lit up.  The moon reflects the bright sun, and even though we can't see the sun at night, we see the effects of its light.  My house was twice as bright for the window reflecting the Hanukkah candles.

and STOP.

Crazy Week and Birthday Earth Cake

I feel like since November 24th, I've just been running!  Between Thanksgiving and an early Hanukkah, we had two birthdays, including parties.  On top of it all, we all have been sharing a nasty virus in my family.  I wanted to share Rueben's birthday cake with you. I had so much fun making it, and everyone who shared it thought it was magnificent!

Hemisphere with fondant.

Sometime in May, Rueben and I saw this post, and Rueben was entranced.  He wanted a cake like that for his birthday in November.  His birthday was last week, and HE REMEMBERED!  So I had to figure out how to make a cake like that.

First things first, the cake.  I went for quick and easy and used good 'ole Betty Crocker cake mix and icing.  Making the continents required fondant, so I grabbed a container of ready-made fondant.  Food coloring for green and blue for the earth, and I figured my shopping was done.

Painted blue!

I followed the directions, and baked the first cake in the smallest pyrex bowl.  When it was done, I baked the first cake in the medium bowl with batter I colored.  After that cake was done baking, I baked the cake in the largest bowl, with new batter colored again.  I was so excited that it worked!!  With the cake done, I iced it with chocolate icing, and set the cake aside.

Hours later, after picking up the kids from school, dinner, bedtime and normal daily craziness, I returned to working on the cake.  I have been intimated by fondant for a long time, but the project called for it, so I had to do it.  Fondant is much easier than I expected, however, very similar to rolling out pie crust.

It looks like the earth!

Once the fondant was on, color.  I found many directions via google that said to mix the gel food coloring with vodka to paint the fondant.  Seeing as I forgot to buy vodka, I found another link that directed to use clear vanilla extract.  Aha!  I had vanilla extract.  I mixed the food coloring with extract, and set to painting the ocean.


Now.  How would I get the continents on the cake?  Luckily, I found this website, and I printed off the sheets.  I cut around the continents as best as I could.  Voila! The earth!!!

But please. DON'T ask me to point out where anything more than the continents are!

Of course, the first thing Rueben wanted to know was where each state was.  I wasn't able to be THAT accurate!

 Tonight is the last day of Hanukkah, and my life is slowing down enough for me to catch my breath again.  May this season find your homes full of joy and love, even if your house is like mine and full of germs as well!

Happy Hanukkah!

Five Minute Friday :: Fly

I'm linking up again to Lisa-Jo Baker's blog where she hosts a Five Minute Friday Party where she invites other bloggers to write freely for five minutes.  This week, the prompt is fly.

GO.

Fly
Fly away.

I think some of my favorite dreams are those in which I'm flying.  I feel powerful, full of possibility, like I can do anything.  I don't fly in an airplane, or like a bird.  Generally, it's like Peter Pan and Wendy, just flying.  It feels an awful lot like swimming, but swimming in the air.  I've done somersaults in the air before.  It's quite beautiful, actually.  I get to see a different perspective of life from way up high.  I get to fly over conflict and danger to get myself where I need to go.  I can even share the power with others in my dreams.  Sometimes I can teach others to fly.  I remember once in a dream I taught my children to fly with me.  It was such a joy to fly with my little ones!



I wonder why the word fly brought out my dreams.  I could have thought about flying in airplanes and cellphone usage (that was on the news this morning).  I could have thought about flying creatures.  I could have thought about flies.  But I think about my dreams about flying.  I used to think that it would be amazing to learn how to go hang-gliding, to soar like an eagle from the Alps.  I suppose when you have the ability to fly, you no longer have to fear heights in the same way if you don't know how to fly.  Flying means you can control your descent as you jump off the cliff.

Flying means you don't fall anymore.

STOP

Five Minute Friday:: Tree

I'm linking up again to Lisa-Jo Baker's blog where she hosts a Five Minute Friday Party where she invites other bloggers to write freely for five minutes.  This week, the prompt is tree.

the last oak tree before school

I walk my children to school, rustling the leaves as we go.  My mother taught me to rustle, that it was worth going out of your way just to make noise in the leaves.  I, too, tell my kids to walk through the piles of leaves directly in front of them that I might miss.  We walk under the few trees to the last oak tree before school.  It's where we kiss and say goodbye before school, because otherwise I don't get goodbye kisses before school.  As soon as they hit the door at school, my kids go directly where they need to go.  They have a life of their own at school, and almost don't need me anymore.  They need me, I know, but they're all set for the few hours they're at school.

I'm happy to have the last oak tree before school.  It has become a line of demarcation, our place to stop and say farewell.  If I'm ever in a rush, and forget to stop, my kids remind me.  "Mom, THIS is the tree we need to stop by."  I chose it because it's far enough away from school not to be seen for a growing fifth grader, but it's close enough to school to be at school and no longer at home.

And STOP.  Wow.  Five minutes goes quickly sometimes!

I haven't written enough this month.  I'm trying to find the right rhythm for my life and my blog.

Five Minute Friday :: Grace

I'm linking up again to Lisa-Jo Baker's blog where she hosts a Five Minute Friday Party where she invites other bloggers to write freely for five minutes.  This week, the prompt is grace.  I wrote this on the train to NYC on Friday, but I was not able to format the way I wanted before posting since I left my computer at home!

Grace.  Grace to my husband because he tried his hardest, and was still late.  I had plans.  My plans needed to go just right.  But they didn't.  I tried my hardest, but I couldn't change any of the delay.  It just happened.  So what do you do when your best laid plans are foiled.  (Ha! Foiled again!)

You move on.  You have grace.  Even though things don't go as plan, you can be gracious about things rather than anxious.  I was getting anxious.  Dinner starts at 7:30, and if I'm late, I'll miss it and have to make other dinner plans.  I'd rather not change my plans.  I like going with plan A, not usually plan B.  Plan C makes me anxious.

Now.  If my husband had deliberately messed up my plans, I would have had the right to be angry.  Even still, it's best to have grace.

I love the Newsboys song that goes, "When you get what you don't deserve, it's a real good thing, When you don't get what you deserve, it's a real good thing."  Grace and mercy go hand-in-hand.  Grace is when you don't get what you deserve.  So.  My anxious self wanted to deal out anxiety to those around me in response to being excited about this trip, and making the train.  But in light of grace, I can swallow the anxiety, trust in God, and make it on the train. 

I made the train.  Not the 5:24 train I'd hoped to be on, or the 5:33, but the 5:53.  I didn't have to wait until the following train at 6:50.  There are so many things to be thankful for.  Me being anxious doesn't help the situation any at all.

So, now, New York City. People. Worship. Connections.  I don't even know what to start hoping for. 

Maybe a little grace?