I can breathe!!!

OK, so God is so powerful, He healed my asthma at a conference this last weekend! I never knew how the other half lived until recently! You can walk up the stairs with a laundry basket and not be out of breath- you can go upstairs and back down a few times and be OK! I even had a mini race today with my 12 year old. OK, so I cut the corner to get ahead of him but I did put on a burst of speed and he had a hard time passing me for a few seconds there! He did eventually beat me- I would have been long gone if it was any further to the school than it was! LOL- my body has been out of shape for a long time and it is time to work on it now that I can breathe and push myself more!
Wow! I have not been able to breathe like this since I was in Junior High- before they said I had asthmatic tendencies- that was over 20 years ago folks! So today I am reveling in my newfound breath and enjoying every minute of it! :o)

been gone for a while

Ok, so I haven't been feeling like posting lately...it's because I have been feeling ill. I have asthma and this was the worst ever. I'm getting better every day, though...on a new med and a new Dr. So things are fine.
We went apple picking in my in-law's back yard! They have 3 acres of land and don't use pesticides and we make apple juice and apple sauce and she cans the sauce and apple pie filling and drys some. It is lots of fun! We made and canned16 quarts of apple sauce over Columbus Day weekend alone! That's a lot for basically 2 days.
It was fun and now we are back to everyday life.

Dayenu

I read this about a year ago and it resonated so strongly in me that I felt I needed to share it with you. It is from another blog, www.aholyexperience.com/2008/10/how-to-find-joy.html . Dayenu is a reading and a song sung during the Passover service that recounts all that God did when He brought the Jews out of Egypt- and it goes into specifics!
I hope this helps you find peace like it is helping me every day.

Ok, what my kids say...

When we were moving from our last apartment to our new house we moved some small items in before we actually moved. Michael was 3 and 1/2 almost and one night he came in to the kitchen after letting out a particularly heartwrenching wail..."Mommy- I left my dresser at the big house!" (I had taken 2 weeks worth of clothes out for him) I showed him where the new clothes were and all was right in his little world again.

When Alex was 2 his favorite thing to say was,"Oh, cool! Mom, thanks!" Usually this was for the middle of the night glass of water and I would go back to my room chuckling.

What funny things did your kids say as little ones, I'd love to hear them!

Deadlines

Ok, so I have been crocheting this blanket and am very close to my deadline and I remember why I dislike making blankets to order. There is no life very close to a deadline. Not just spiritually- I have no life when I am close to a deadline! My whole life becomes the blanket, and then laundry and dishes and maybe we will scrounge something to eat! It is the pits.

Why am I up at the unGodly hour of 5am? Because I have a sick kid and have woken up 4 times in the last 3 hours to him getting sick. I'm just waiting him out now. Can't crochet when I'm the only one taking care of the poor dear.
Thanks for listening to my middle of the night rant!

Time to crochet again! Yippee!

Hi all! Well, after a restful week at the in-laws and the fair, I had 2 crazed back to school weeks and now it is time to crochet. You see, I do not crochet in the summer if I can help it at all. but it is recently my favorite past time. I love the feel of yarn between my fingers, and to watch the blanket or scarf growing as I watch it. I love picking out the colors and changing things in the middle. My new favorite yarn is TLC Baby Amor`e for the baby blankets, and TLC amore for the adult blankets! Soft to the touch and vibrant colors! I also have a soft spot for homespun yarns. They stir the creative side of my heart. Last year I started making "scrap yarn blankets" which are made with left over yarn- which crafters call scrap yarn because they do not have enough to make a full project out of it. My wonderful, ordered, faithful and supportive husband did not like this as much as the old way. He liked the colors, and was very encouraging about that, but not the lack of symmetry. It cracked me up! In some ways we are so opposite. His love of symmetry clashes with my love of the random look. And I am still making my regular blankets, so never fear symmetry and order will still exist, but I love scrap yarn blankets more.

Sometimes I feel like my life is a scrap yarn blanket. A little bit of this person, time spent in that town, a summer with this group of friends at camp, a brief friendship with this one and a lasting friendship with the other. A childhood fling with these, but a lifetime love of one. All of these events have come together to help create my perceptions of life, the universe and everything. I am greatful for each and everyone who has been on this journey with me- even if you were the college roommate who made life not the funnest, or the kid who picked on me as a child- you have helped me to become who I am.

Summertime things of the past...

OK, so a friend mentioned things from her youth and it got me to thinking....these are things from childhood so under the age of 12 I would say.



I think of playing frisbee in the street with my Dad after dinner in our Pajamas! You see we would be at the beach all day, and Mom would make us bathe before dinner and we'd put our PJ's on. Then after dinner, around 7:30- Dad would say,"You wanna play frisbee?" and the three of us would be out there trying to fling it to Dad! It was a strange and wonderful time being outside in our PJ's at a time when it should be getting dark, but wasn't.



Then there were the trips on the ice cream truck. Yes, you heard me right, trips. My closest friend's big brother drove the ice cream truck a couple of years and would let us hop on for half a block! That was a hoot!



Being at the beach all day long. You see, until I was 8 we shared a cabana at a beach club with very close friends. They were wonderful days filled with sand, pool, camp and the ocean. My Mom would take us down to the ocean every afternoon before we left and just let us run! The beach would be almost deserted so she could walk along the beach and know we were going to be tired out for the evening when we got home..That was when you were allowed to climb on the jetties with out the lifeguard whistling at you! Now realize I also feel I got beached out from this, and no longer love the beach, but I take the cuties to the beach whenever we see my Mom in the summer.



I also loved summer camp! The Rec Center ran a half day camp and many fond memories come from there. I was given my first nickname (Half-Pint) and was because of the nickname, I was not M's little sister or A's big sister but my own person.



I bought the only softball mitt ever with my own money one year. It was a lefty mitt and the only one sold at Wolf's Sporting Goods. I went with my Dad to purchase it and when we got there he asked me which one I wanted. I think he was surprised when I walked over to the exact spot at the counter and pointed up to it and told him it was the only one they carried. Please realise this was a major purchase and I think it was $12.99 which was a lot of money to me. I had scoped it out for weeks until I had the money to buy it.

There are many more, but these stand out in my mind as significant. What do you remember from your childhood? I'd love to hear about it!

Funny things

"Mommy, the grass outside is growing as fast as grapes are eaten!" quipped Michael.

"Oh, it's growing that fast hunh?"Mom asked, knowing that grapes are eaten very quickly in this house.

"Yeah- it is biiiig."

"Hey were you using a similie or Metaphor there?"

"Similie, Mom." sighed the 12 year old son of an english teacher wanna be.

"OK, guess we have to tell Dad to mow soon!"

"Yup!"



No, I did not make this dialog up- my son was home with me a lot this week, and I always ask things like similie or metaphor- keep him thinking. Yes, it is funny. He knows I almost became an English teacher, and he still puts up with me. He thinks it's funny to discuss things with me- that I often read his books to have something to talk to him about. And he talks to me still, about lots of stuff. I am blessed.

Slow down!

Sorry I have not been posting as often- the novelty has worn off, and kids birthday party and end of Summer activities are filling the air. I promise to write as I get stuff...but from August 31-September 6 expect nothing.

OK, so I am back from a weekend without anyone. (Hooray for Mommy time!) I am looking out my kitchen window at my neighbors. The Mrs., her daughter and granddaughter are all sitting and hanging out. The granddaughter is around a year old, maybe a few months more. And as I gaze out I notice something weird. They are all moving in jerky motions- quick jerky motions. I think,"How strange." Then I realize that the baby has learned to make quick jerky motions from her Mom and Grandma! I then think that maybe I am supposed to relax and rest. I wonder how jerky my motions are and I start to move to pour a drink of water. Jerky!

And then I think about TaiChi. It is all the jerky moves of many martial arts but they are done in a fluid motion, unhurried by the clock or other men. Many years ago, a friend told me he interrupted his Mom doing TaiChi and decided if she sped up he would have been toast!

So, somewhere in this world and the universe, there is a force, I'm thinking it's God, that is trying to slow things down into their beauty, like TaiChi, from the hectic New York hustle and bustle. And yes, I am a Long Islander from New York. I was raised very close to the real hustle bustle of the City, but I think it is partially inside us. I lived in the Albany area for 5 years, and I was still rushed, but less than before. And only NYC transplants in that area ever truly rush.

So I listened to that thought about slowing down, and drew a picture that I had always wanted to draw- but it started as a doodle. And I got only what had to be done that day completed. And i enjoyed my kiddies, and it was a good day.

Well, I hope you all have relaxing times each day for your minds- and I don't mean while you sleep! LOL!

Peace to you,
Cindy

Crunchy Grass

Hi everyone! I am not very good at upkeep on things.
I clean the house and a week later must declutter and put away for hours after.
I have the same upkeep problem with the grass. So, it gets dry. It gets brown. It gets crunchy. Yes, crunchy! I can't remember if it was my neighbor or one of her children who when I asked why do you want to play here and not on my lawn? The answer was "Your grass is crunchy!" Usually it gets crunchy mid August- maybe not at all this year with the rain we've had! And yet when we get those flash rains in August- it greens up quick. It's not dead grass, just crunchy.
I am like that sometimes....I feel like I am an artist although it is years since I have sculpted, and writer but until this blog again it has been years, and I am still waiting for what I am to do in the long run.
But I will always be me! No matter how against the grain...hope you are not bothered by it :o)

on being competent...

OK, this is a more serious day I guess. Growing up, I never felt that I could do a job competently. Someone always had to come and fix what I did to make it right.

No, I guess that is not really true- I could fix a bike chain faster and better than any kid on the block by the time I was 8 and that lasted until my bike was destroyed in a freak u-haul accident coming home from camp.

But let's say my expertise has been few and far between. For many years I have been dangerously overwhelmed by my responsibilities and a feeling of incompetence. Think about it! I have never been the most organized person- always wanted to be but never quite achieved it- and I am the Mom of 2 boys. This is a big responsibility and the toys alone are too much to look at some days. I have usually been able to get the clothing done, and dinner cooked. But for quite a long while, that was the extent of what I was able to do.

Recently, I realized that I was the one who was looking for someone else to fix what I saw and that I didn't want to own up to my responsibilities. It was too much work, or too hard for one small person like myself. It was also scary having no one to fix any mistakes I might make.

Then I got sick, I realised how much I can do in a bed going through papers and decluttering. So, after my recent bought with the flu- I have begun to clean and declutter with a purpose. I like having friends over my house and my children deserve to have rooms clear of clutter so they can play and breathe without the dust that accompanies the clutter. Boxes of anything gather dust more quickly than anything else I am aware of. I'm a cleaning lady- I should know. And my youngest son and I are asthmatic while my oldest son has tested positively for dust allergies. And it is just nice to have a house where you don't trip going from one room to the other because of the clutter on the floor.

So, I have been going through boxes of papers and hand me down clothing and washing, sorting and boxing up what is too big, giving away things that we have too much of or are too small, and breathing more freely for the last week. And I often pat myself on the back by letting other people know I have done it. I am prideful about being competent because I feel like I finally am. It took me a very long time to get to this place and I hope I will be able to stay here a while. I am able and capable of doing amazing things and I will share them with you, Readers, as they occur.

So, tonight, I bid you sweet dreams with a feeling of accomplishment.
Cindy

Angel Wars- very cool for kids

Hi Everyone! My kids have been absolutely bugging me to let them see the movie Angel Wars which they previewed on a DVD 3 weeks ago. Well, John and I had date night last night and watched it to see what it is all about. (Date night usually means 8:00-8:30 we disappear into the basement to watch the movie or show of our choice without kids bugging us!) Oh, my, it was adorable! It explains in a very simple way how angels and demons came to be and then you follow 2 angels in training. It is so cool! They just came out this year-copywright says 2009- and Fox put it out. It is well worth the time for your kids!

Have a blessed day,

Cindy

operating difficulties

Hi Folks we seem to be having operating difficulties concerning comments on these posts- so please be patient with me. Bless you,
Cindy

Well, hello there....

Hello to everyone out in cyber land. This is my first blog ever so I figured you might want to know a bit about myself. I'm Cindy Campbell. Mom of 2 boys, yes I wanted boys am I crazy?, and wife to the most wonderful man in the world. While I have lived an interesting life so far, I know there is much more to see and learn and do. My favorite question in the whole wide world is Why? followed closely by How? And I crochet blankets and am currently a cleaning lady, although I am organizationaly stunted and hate cleaning my own house. My husband and kids do make me laugh very very often and I'm sure their antics will appear on this blog more often than not. I also have a large family (2 sibs and hubby has 2 sibs it makes for a crowded table at holidays) so you will hear the holiday occurrences as well, I'm sure.