Day 3: Song

April 3, 2020April 3, 20202 Comments

I’ve lost count of the number of emails I’ve had from my church today regarding Palm Sunday and Holy Week. When you’re stuck at home, regardless of why, the days tend to run into each other like paint, the colors bleeding and swirling together till you can’t tell one from another and it’s all a big mess. I had forgotten that Palm Sunday was this weekend till I received an email from my church about deliveries of blessed palms.

One of the things that I love most about the Easter season (and the Christmas season, of course) is the music. So as I sat here pondering today’s prompt and the flood of emails that arrived in my inbox this morning, I couldn’t help thinking about some of the hymns we sang in church growing up. Lenten music isn’t exactly upbeat, nor should it be. Lent is a time of penance and self-denial in preparation for the celebration of Easter. But Easter music is triumphant, and there is no better word to describe the songs that popped into my head today as I considered this prompt.

“I Serve a Risen Savior” has a lovely, bouncy rhythm that just makes you feel good as you listen. It’s a song of hope, and I feel like hope is something we all desperately need right now. The other song I thought of was “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” which is equally triumphant. If you’ve ever heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing this particular hymn, you’ll know what I mean. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s regal…it’s a fanfare fit for a king. In a similar vein, I also found myself humming “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” because no one tugs at emotions in quite the same way as Beethoven. Whether he wanted his listeners to feel soaring joy or abject sorrow, he was a master at using music to evoke those feelings.

And now that I’ve thumbed through half a hymnal, I think I’ll dust off my trusty flute and play a few tunes. What are some of your favorite songs and why?

Day 2: Open

April 2, 2020April 3, 2020Leave a comment

They say that love is an open door, but it’s not right now. Right now, love is a closed door. Right now, love means having to say you’re sorry, but you’ll have to cancel that birthday party, that game night, that concert. Fish fries, first communion, Easter, confirmation, prom, graduation. All the things that people so look forward to in the springtime—gone.

Right now, love is an open heart. An open mind. Right now, love means doing your best to stay healthy when so many others are ill. But right now, sometimes, health is hard to come by.

When I had Bubbles, I wanted nothing more than…

Day 1: Joke

April 1, 2020April 3, 202011 Comments

I like bad jokes and I cannot lie. But for some reason, I’m having trouble coming up with any jokes to share today, good, bad, or otherwise. Maybe it’s because I had the stomach flu yesterday and am still not quite myself yet. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent the better part of the last 36-ish hours trying to make up for all the sleep I didn’t get Monday night because I was too busy trying to talk my stomach into a better mood. Or maybe it’s because life right now feels like the worst possible kind of joke.

I think I’m gonna go with that last one.

While it is nice to be able to spend more time at home with my kids, I still miss getting out of the house. I’m fortunate to live in a rural area, so if I want to go for a walk, I have plenty of space in which to do so without having to worry about running into anyone else. I’m fortunate that no one in my family has been afflicted with COVID-19. I’m fortunate for a lot of reasons.

I am not, however, fortunate enough to be a good teacher, and that bothers me now more than ever. Trying to work from home and keep my kids up-to-date with schoolwork is a Herculean task, and schoolwork has largely fallen by the wayside. I worry that when school eventually resumes, they’ll be behind on things.

All I can really do is hope that when we all come out on the other side of this, that we won’t be much worse for wear. And in the meantime, at least I have plenty of poems to write (it’s NaPoWriMo!) and we have plenty of Star Trek to watch.

How are you staying sane during this period of isolation?

I need ALL the coffee!

March 20, 2020Leave a comment

I think this about sums things up:

I had intended to post this on Monday. It was absolutely fitting after a weekend spent building a bookshelf. I may not have done any of the heavy lifting, but I did spend Sunday cleaning, and for some reason, it wore me out more than normal. Monday morning was rough.

Then I thought I’d post it on Tuesday. That didn’t happen, either. Nor did it happen on Wednesday. Or yesterday. Tuesday we went home early. Yesterday we went home early.

Today we worked from home, but I still didn’t get to sleep in because I had to drive Seymour to work. Today, I needed ALL the coffee.

So I had some. And now I’m sharing this lovely nerdy meme because coffee is the finest organic suspension ever devised (even if I haven’t beaten the Borg with it).

And also because I’m trying a new recipe and something that was supposed to take roughly an hour and a half is proving to be much more labor-intensive than I’d originally thought and now I need more coffee, but it’s getting late and if I have more coffee, I’ll be up all night and that probably wouldn’t be good.

So.

Perhaps tomorrow morning, I’ll indulge in another cup.

How are you all doing? Are you safe? Are you sane? Are you ready for the schools to reopen again? *hugs*

New year, new challenge

January 1, 2020January 2, 20202 Comments

One of my friends posted a video today showing a brief look at her life over the past year. She made it with a video diary app called 1 Second Everyday, which allows users to capture videos one to three seconds long. I thought it was a pretty cool idea, so I downloaded the app and decided to try it myself. Of course, since it’s late, there wasn’t actually a whole lot going on at my house except for visits from my kitties:

Since it’s a video diary app, there’s also a section to record your thoughts on the day:

Days spent antiquing are so much fun, even if some of the really cool things have to be left behind. But kitties don’t care about tiny typewriters of pretty stained glass. All they care about is food. And water. And ear scritches. And getting inside the house again.

I’m really hoping I can stick with this challenge. I’d love to be able to create a video similar to my friend’s this time next year. And if nothing else, it’ll give me a brief record of my year, since I’ve been so rotten at keeping up with my actual diary the last few years.

Do you keep a diary of any sort?

First Thanksgiving

November 24, 2019November 25, 20192 Comments

We celebrated Thanksgiving with our extended family today, and I was super excited to capture this moment shortly after dinner:

See, Bubbles has decided that he doesn’t like board games. Or cards. Seymour and I love both, so getting him to join us in a game is often very difficult. And relations between Bubbles and his brothers are often strained, largely as a result of proximity (I think), so I was so excited to see Bubbles not only playing a board game with Cricket, but also seeming to enjoy it.

Of all my many blessings, I am most thankful for my wonderful family. How about you – what are you thankful for?

Mood

November 10, 201915 Comments

Apparently, I’m in a mood. That’s what I was told, anyway.

Never mind that I’m exhausted, both physically and mentally. Never mind that I’m looking ahead at our calendar and wondering how I’m going to make it through the next two months. (Never mind that I think the same thing every year. Never mind that the answer is always By the skin of our teeth.)

Because I’m in a mood, so the problem is clearly mine. No one else’s. There couldn’t possibly be any one of a number of reasons for why I’m quiet, why I’m tired, why I don’t feel like peopling.

Never mind all that. Just fix it. Suck it up, buttercup.

Hide your crazy and start acting like a lady.

This lady is going to bed. Because it’s far too peopley out there, and apparently, I’m in a mood.

Traffic jams

November 9, 2019November 10, 2019Leave a comment

Last night, I encountered a Midwestern traffic jam. I suppose the phenomenon is not particularly unique to the Midwest – I’m sure if you’re from a rural community, you’ll know what I mean. I try to be patient when I encounter farm equipment on the road because it’s not the farmer’s fault the tractor (or combine, in this case) only goes 20 miles an hour. They’re just doing their jobs, after all, and it’s a very important job. We need farmers.

Besides, it doesn’t do any good to get all worked up about it – it won’t make them go any faster.

But last night…

Tea

September 28, 2019October 6, 2019Leave a comment

Tea and kluntje isn’t the same without milk, but it’s still pretty good.

We always drank tea with milk and kluntje growing up, usually at family get-togethers. Tea is comfort. Tea is family. Tea is home.

I’m drinking my tea with kluntje this afternoon and wishing I had some milk to go with it. It’s strong tea. German tea. It has a robust flavor when brewed properly, but I let mine steep too long today. It tastes almost…bitter.

Twenty-five years ago today, my mom passed away. I miss her every day. I wish that I could call her for advice. I wish that I could call her to ask about her day. I wish that I could remember her. I wish I had some milk for my tea.

It would be easy to become like my tea – dark and bitter. And for a while, I was. But as I sit here drinking my tea, wishing things were different, I’m reminded that even in the depths of darkness, there is still sweetness to be found. The cracked and broken shards of kluntje fill my mouth with sweetness. They’re strong, those remnants – they withstood the boiling tea.

The survived – and so did I.

I still miss my mom – I always will. But, like my tea, I am strong; I am robust. Like my tea, I can still bring comfort and joy. Like my kluntje, life has changed me – it has bent me, but it has not broken me. The hot water has worn me down, smoothed my rough edges, but it hasn’t melted me completely.

And I refuse to let it.

The one where she feels totally embarrassed…

August 13, 20198 Comments

…because holy cats, has it been a while since I’ve posted! Like, a ridiculously long while! If anyone’s still hanging around, what’s new with you?

For me, I FINALLY finished my BA in May. Woooo! It was an exciting semester for me for a variety of reasons, and I’ve got pictures to prove it. In March, my bestie and I road-tripped down to St. Louis so I could present a paper at the annual Sigma Tau Delta conference. It was so much fun! I wish we could have been there for all the opening ceremonies, but I had to work that day. There were a ton of awesome panels, including mine, which was all about John Milton. Some of the other amazing panels I attended were on Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, VIrginia Woolf, and James Joyce. So! Many! Fun! Things!

I also attended a fascinating talk given by Nnedi Okorafor, and I’m now well into reading her Binti series. Sooo good.

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But after two years of hardcore writing and studying, I needed a little break. My brain hurt. My hands hurt. And then we moved, and EVERYTHING hurt. But things at Casa Kauffman seem to have settle down for now…just in time for school to start up again. :’) :’)

It’s been a long day, though, and I’m feeling a little run down, so I’m gonna spend a little time with the ones I love. After all, that’s what’s really important, right?

So here’s to new beginnings and new adventures! I’ll see you around!