Moncks Corner Moments

I tightly cropped this picture to share the detail.  Apparently we have baby mantises in our backyard.  I love macrophotography because it forces me to tightly focus on the beauty by which I am surrounded.

I am often surprised by the possibilities in my own home.  Lately I have noticed this is true of my life, as well.  When I force myself to take stock of what I have available I am more likely to be satisfied.

to my mom, Tim’s mom, and all the moms and women who have cared.

Apparently Berkeley County Water and Sewer decided what the our household needed was a new water feature.

We did not approve of the idea.

Thankfully BCWAS will be repairing the damage.   This little mess caused over two hundred homes to be without water today.

Good times folks, good times.

Oh and if you are a neighbor of mine, we’re under a boil water advisory for the next 24 hours

Setting: The Moncks Corner Bi-Lo 4:30pm

Characters: Three preschoolers ranging from infant to four years, one cashier, one bagger, one mother attempting to keep said preschoolers from touching nearby racks of candy.

(There is a lone bottle of soy sauce and a reusable grocery bag to ring up)

Cashier: Is that all?

Heather: That’s it.  (stage whispers) For the last time, no M&M’s we’re going home to make dinner.

Cashier: (Places reusable bag and soy sauce in a plastic bag)

Heather: (swiping debit) You really don’t have to bag those items, thank you.

Cashier: (blank stare)

Heather: (Somewhat embarrassed) It’s kind of the point of those bags; you know, to stop using the plastic ones.

Cashier: (blank, somewhat ruder stare, but removes the items from the plastic bag and places the soy sauce INSIDE the reusable bag)

Heather: Thank you, have a good evening. (Walks out of the store attempting to lug three kids and navigate a busy parking lot)

Ingredients

• 2 adults
• 5 kids
• 6 buckets
• 45lbs of strawberries
• 40lbs of sugar
• 10 boxes of pectin
• 2 1/2 cups lemon juice

Yields

• 3 cups strawberry salsa
• 1 strawberry shortcake
• 4 qts frozen strawberries (margaritas? Yes, please!)
• 5 1/2 GALLONS of jam
• 1 utterly destroyed kitchen
• 1 exhausted Heather

Who wants toast?

The other day, innocently peeling my navel orange, I discovered its unborn twin.

Carry on.

Driving home I heard the German proverb:

Patience is a bitter plant, but it bears sweet fruit.

I’ve struggled through my whole life believing I have no patience, praying for patience, wishing I had patience.  Never did it dawn on me that being patient did not mean feeling a sense of peace while waiting.  I was under the assumption that patience was an emotion rather than an action.

This realization is somewhat disappointing.

Yesterday morning Ivy and I were interviewed by Shaine Mata on his BlogTalkRadio Show.  You can download the file here.  I ended up having a lot of fun and hope to do more.

In a strange ironic twist, I spent the weekend of CREATE South almost completely disconnected from the net.  There was no wi-fi in my hotel and I could not connect to the makeshift network at the conference itself.  This was definitely a benefit in some regards, but not having our power point was a little frustrating.

My first true public speaking appearance is over.  I completely forgot to pick on Joan as I had planned.  I was going to ask her to lead folks in the chicken dance, as she so truly appreciates mediocre speakers who try to  improve their appeal by humiliating audience members.

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Ed Cone and hearing him speak.  He reminded me of a cross between Steve Carell and a dear friend of mine Fr. Bart.  I appreciated his comment, at dinner, about parenting becoming easier as the kids become self-sufficient.

More to come.

Get down from there right now, young lady.

A commenter on Babbledog:

damn. y’all built it up and it was so disappointing. all that coordination and potential used to…. end hunger? nope. get rich? nope. raise the awareness of some critical cause? not at all. it was all used to make a zombie flick (and from appearances a bad one). i’m not impressed.

Truly, is there such thing as a good zombie flick?  I laughed my butt off at Shaun of the Dead, but zombie movies in general are campy and fun.  Isn’t that the appeal?  :: Go ahead, insert rants from fans of Night of the Living Dead here::

No matter how “badly” the movie turns out, it cannot be any worse than My Boyfriend’s Back.

That isn’t the point.  Does every venture have to be world changing to have a net effect? No.  Each positive endeavor may only serve to make connections that facilitate future events.  I went out on a whim, met people, played a bit part, and had a fabulous time.  Playing a tiny walk on role in a short film is nothing in the grand scheme of things, but even played badly it was a huge leap of courage for me.

At this stage of my life I spend nearly every waking moment either working or molding three very needy barbarians into what I hope become acceptable and contributing members of society. Please don’t hold your breath.

Y’all, I am tired; deep down in the bones tired.  The kind of tired that a few hours of uninterrupted sleep will not fix.   It is a hungry form of exhaustion; the kind that makes you say to hell with everything.  When I should have been hurrying home I decided, “No, I’m going to sit on this porch with these people and laugh about nothing for a while.”  Those hours, no one needed me and there were no deadlines.  No, Dan didn’t save the world by coordinating a campy zombie flick, but I valued the experience.

(HT Dan Conover Photo Credit Geoff Marshall)