Happy new year!
This is my 700th and final entry on this blog. I’m moving to lindsayecrandall.blogspot.com. It’s been good here, but I am hoping to do some repurposing in my new space. And I have new year’s resolutions!
Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to check the baby blog for updates too!
How is Christmas over already? How is it almost New Year’s? And how can it be that we have less than four months until the baby arrives?
I have moments where it occurs to me that this is really happening, that we’re going to have a baby and be parents, that Lindsay as I know her is going to change forever. And on a particularly hormonal day, this can send me into a tailspin. It did yesterday, drudging up feelings about stuff I haven’t thought about in forever, whether we’re ready to be parents, if I’ll ever get my body back or be able to drink beer again.
But then I have moments where it occurs to me that I’m getting a baby of my very own, a child to teach and take care of, who will think the world of me, at least for a while. And then I think that my life is going to change and be filled with more joy than I can possibly imagine. I’m going to be someone’s mom.
In spite of all this, life goes on. I baked cookies and we rearranged the living room (then thought, ‘This is so much better — why didn’t we have it like this before?’). I read books and worked on a quilt for the baby. Adam and I watched Scrubs and went to the movies. We went to church and got sprayed with holy water. He rubbed my back. I felt better.
I’m still fine tuning my resolutions list, one that’s longer than any other I’ve ever made. I blame it on the fact that I’m going to be someone’s mom, that it gives me some perspective and motivation to restructure things and commit to others. I’ll be sharing it soon.
I am very much looking forward to starting 2009!
Some days it’s more difficult than other to find things to be thankful for. Day by day, there are new challenges, strange difficulties, unanswered questions. I often reflect on our choice to move 1,200 miles from home, especially now that our family is growing. Though we wish we were closer to our families, this was the right thing for us. For that, I am grateful.
I am thankful for how richly we have been blessed, and how we continue to be. We always have more than enough and those times we thought we might not, God has provided in amazing ways. I try to remind myself of these things when I start thinking about (or worrying about) difficult relationships, whether we’ll ever be able to achieve our goals together or my individual goals, how quickly life passes by. It would be easier to wave a magic wand and make everything right, but I can’t — life comes with challenges, and I try to meet them in honorable and kind ways.
I am thankful for so much:
– a baby on the way (after years of preparing myself for potential infertility)
– the ability to use my skills and talents in my jobs
– the opportunity to teach, and all the joys and challenges that come with it
– that God brought me through this year in one piece, after several moments of not knowing if I could go on
– that Christ died for me and knows me and loves me
-the home where we live and our pets, who make me nuts and make me smile in equal portion
– the constant newness of life, that there is always something new to learn and to do
– not having to rush to the next thing but recognizing that each moment is meaningful, even the painful ones
– my family and Adam’s family
– Adam, who I love more than I have the capacity to express and who loves me even when I am at my (hormonally) worst
Have a blessed Christmas!
I’ve been silent in this space for a week and am considering a bit of reformatting for my blog. I think the new year will bring with it many resolutions — I’m not usually much of a resolution maker — including a repurposing of this blog and, most likely a switch away from WordPress.
I’ve been thinking a lot about community and relationship building, two things I’ve virtually shunned in the past couple of years. Before we moved, I was quite the social butterfly, often coordinating social activities and always showing up when invited. But I’ve never considered our move to Alabama permanent — building relationships means building a life here — and I get along all right on my own most of the time, so I haven’t made much of an effort. I do have a few friends, one in particular who will be lifelong, but living in Alabama, I’m pretty much a loner.
And then there’s the internet, where I’ve followed people and blogs online not really understanding that I was a lurker. Gosh, it sounds so awful. It seemed to me for a long time that people wrote blogs for others to read, not to be commented upon. Now I see that’s not really the case, that relationships can even be built on the big, bad web.
Lately, I’ve tried to think of things to write about here but often feel stumped because I’ve either been too busy teaching, working, and being exhausted all the time to have anything interesting to think or write about, or what I have to write about isn’t information I want everyone to have access to (especially as it pertains to work and our future plans). I’m hoping to remedy this blogger’s block in the new year.
In addition to working on being a part of a community and building relationships, one of my resolutions will be (actually continue to be) to slow down and live life with more attention and intention. I spent much of the weekend reading Kathleen Norris’s Acedia & me and have realized that, not that it’s necessarily acedia but, I’ve been plagued with an apathetic laziness for much of my life. Too much time in my life has been wasted watching TV, playing on the computer, or generally avoiding housework, relationships, and God. I see other people busy with life, moving forward, doing things I’d like to do and am fully capable of, yet I have felt like I’ve been drifting along. I think this has come to my attention mostly because of my pregnancy, but I figure it’s time to start living life instead of letting life pass by.
I anticipate that my blogging will be spotty for the rest of the year, with all of the Christmas to-dos, but keep an eye out for January 1.
Instead of getting Christmas presents and cards together or grading final exams, I spent the day working on this tote bag.
Not too shabby for a first try, if I do say so myself. I showed Adam and he said, “Great. Now make about seven more so we can use them to go grocery shopping.” Okay. I’ll get right on that.
Today, I had ambitions of getting so much accomplished, but ended up doing very little. After a week of being awoken by the kitten multiple times throughout the night (apparently my body is a jungle gym or she feels she needs to prepare me for motherhood — not sure which), I ended up taking multiple naps today and not doing much besides taking a trip to the thrift store and doing laundry. My trip to the thrift store landed me quite a bit for less than $10, and I was happy to bring home two pillows, multiple pillowcases (which will be made into pillow covers or purses), two mugs, two glass mason jars, and a small mirror.
I am so looking forward to the new year, to making resolutions and starting fresh. I hate to say it, but 2008 was the worst year of my life. I have hope for 2009.
I came across this list of rules to live by, something I had printed out ages ago. It’s a good reminder of intentional living:
-always try to help a friend in need
-believe in yourself
-be brave
-study hard
-always try to see the glass half full
-meet new people
-take lots of naps
-be weird whenever you have the chance
-love your friends
-don’t waste food
-take an occasional risk
-relax
-try to have a little fun each day
-work together as a team
-fall in love with someone…
-…and say “I love you” often
-express yourself creatively
-always be up for surprises
-share with friends
-watch your step
-exercise to keep fit
-live up to your name
-hold on to good friends
-indulge in the things you truly love
-pray every day
Okay, okay. I must admit that I’m borderline obsessed with reading blogs of some of my new favorite crafters. And, yes, I click back to the onset of the blog and read all the way through (I have a lot of time stuck at the computer). I like to see how these artists evolved, what kinds of information they included in their blogs, and how long it took them to establish themselves. For most, it’s years. I’m endlessly fascinated.
A roundup of the blogs I’ve been into:
Shanna Murray‘s blog. Shanna lives in my hometown of Rochester, knows my friend Rachel from college (who also runs a sewing business), and sews/prints some adorable artwork. She is also half of Hello Handmade Paperie.
Stephanie Cogdon Barnes‘s old and new blogs. She is half of the 3191 pair, and makes lovely little handsewn animals.
Maria Alexandra Vettese‘s blog. Maria takes lovely photos, is the other half of the 3191 pair, and has her hands in various other projects.
Heather Smith Jones‘s blog. She draws, paints, and makes letterpress cards that are lovely.
Other blogs I’ve been following recently:
This Young House. A young couple in Virginia gives design advice.
Paper N Stitch and IndieFixx. These blogs feature new artists and designers daily.
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In other news, we put my dad on a plane back to NY this morning. It was a great visit, but I need a break. I took yesterday off to be with him on his last day here and ended up sleeping on the couch most of the day.
My mother-in-law just emailed to say she’s sending multiple packages our way (one of which might be here when I get home!), which makes me smile. I’m not exactly sure what she’s sending, so it should make for a nice surprise.
Happy hump day!
I dreamt last night that I found a pile of sketchbooks I had forgotten I’d filled. The pictures inside were drawings of people and nature, mostly studies on color and figures. In real life, no such sketchbooks exist (save a few that might be kicking around my dad’s house from high school and college). However, I did break in my new sketchbook this weekend, spending some time doodling and planning for future projects. I wish I had planned a little better for Christmas because I’d like to make handmade calendars for our family. I’m afraid I might not have enough time, but I’ll be going to the craft store to price it out and estimate the amount of work involved.
Now that my shirt is finished, I’ll be making a fairly simple tote bag, something I hope to become quite proficient at making. Then, I want to try to make a shirt out of jersey (I need a little stretch these days) and without a pattern (which may be a bit ambitious for a newbie). We’ll see.
My dad’s visit will end on Wednesday. It’s been a good one, though perhaps we spent too much time watching football this weekend. Hopefully, I’ll be visiting NY early next year and he should be back in Mobile after the baby is here. I’m glad that he’s retired and has flexibility to travel.
It totally slipped my mind that yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent, and we skipped church to take a walk around the neighborhood instead. Then came the football and a fire to keep Adam busy. I finished my shirt, took a long bath, and read for a bit. It turned out to be a lovely day.
I finally finished sewing my maternity shirt. It has a few flaws, but looks good overall, I think. I cut it to size 16 (2-3 sizes larger than I normally am) because it’s not from a maternity pattern. But there’s plenty of room at the bottom for my belly to grow.
We are celebrating Thanksgiving today, a day late, because Adam worked all day yesterday. We are also boycotting Black Friday and not going anywhere today. It’s 70 degrees and sunny, so sitting outside will suffice for being “out.” The turkey is in the oven, I made pumpkin bread, and we have had lots and lots of coffee (mine was decaf, of course). The only things missing are parades and football games, but this will suffice.
This morning, I downloaded the new Deathcab for Cutie and Jason Mraz CDs from Amazon for $5 each, a Black Friday special they are running on their 50 bestselling CDs. Get ’em while they’re hot. So, we’re listening to our new music and also Sufjan Stevens’s Christmas album since it’s now officially the Christmas season (hooray!).
I hope your Thanksgiving was blessed! Cheers.
Musings 