I worked a little extra hard this week to balance the work/life/home routine and said no to a few things so that we could say yes to slower afternoons and being home together during that time since our nights are currently in a season of being busy with soccer and such.

I think it paid off, but goodness – balance is a tight rope, is it not?  (And even on the weeks like this where I put in the extra effort, by Friday it seems to fall apart again.)

Life is a steady tension of push and pull, give and take.

This week I found extra time to write while sitting in the automotive shop getting my vehicle’s brakes repaired.

This week we sat in a hammock for a few hours together by the river and that restores an awful lot of order to the kingdom, in my mind.

And now here we are – Friday Friday Friday.

 

 

funny

 

My brother.

This weekend is his birthday.  Well, technically, this weekend is the birthday of two of my brothers.  They were born on the same day.  But they aren’t twins.  Two years separated their births.  So – happy birthday Dean and Danny.

But this is the “funny” category so Danny’s latest fish video makes the cut.  (Dean – make a funny video if you want the extra air time, bro.)

Please forgive my brother for using the letter “z” as if it was an actual word.  He’s an imperfect man.

 

 

fashionable

 

The Title Nine catalog appeared in this week’s email deliveries.

I heart them all – all the dresses, all the skirts, all the sweaters.  All the everything they make or produce or gather or promote.  Where’s my bazillion dollar clothing budget so I can own every thing featured on every page, from foot to head?

Will it ever get cold enough here in South Carolina to wear thick sweater dresses and leggings and warm boots?  I need to move to Colorado – don’t I?  Or – you know – just visit more on the regular.

I mean – this look is pretty much my winter uniform.  Minus the skateboard – because I know my own weaknesses.

 

 

But I’m all ready to turn off the air conditioner (it’s the end of September for the love)!  And I want to bring the big boots down from the top shelf and layer it up.

 

flavorful

 

I think I mentioned how we were able to tour a local tea farm – is that the right phrase?

Anyway, the couple was fantastic and their tea is SO good.  And – so much fun.

I love this Jacked Black tea – it has brown sugar in the tea.  (Which I shouldn’t be consuming – right?  Oops.)

 

 

faithful

 

And it keeps happening.

The kindness of people – both strangers and friends, people with nothing to prove and everything to lose – always surprises me and always always always leaves me changed.

The story isn’t really a story I can share here because the people wouldn’t even want to be praised, but I’m telling you, there’s grace when you need it.  Hope when you think it’s lost, kindness when you think the world is too broken, friendship when you feel without.  There’s generosity when your cup is empty and courage to borrow when yours is depleted.

We get to be both givers and receivers.  To bless and blessed.  To spread the love and to accept the love.

May it ever be so.

 

feels

 

I just can’t tell you how sweet it is to hear Otto’s voice declaring his love for me or for his siblings.  Of all of the kids with whom I get to reside, he is the most affectionate, the most verbal in expressing it and the most cuddly.

Last week he was getting ready to head out an adventure wth friends and he made certain, came back inside actually, to find someone to be sure to deliver a message before he left.  “Tell Mommy I love her,” he instructed.

It’s just – for real – the sweetest.  (And it goes a LONG way to balance out the entitlement issues that seem to inevitably come with the youngest in a large family.)

 

 

 

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