Tuesday, August 16, 2011

from throw-down to slow-down





with all this talk of debt crises, downgrades, the fed's ominous "announcement", and even weirder straw polls, everything and everywhere seems to be in hyperactivity mode, right?  and, it feels the same here at home...just without all of that silly political drama.  work has been busy for both jeff and me (jeff is actually working right now while i write this post; i, on the other hand, should be working but just can't bring myself to do so...instead i am making jackson a big pot of swiss chard and lentil soup for the week while watching, what else?  msnbc. )  we are feeling, well...spent.

 the last couple of work weeks had us running around like madmen. so we used our weekends to escape the daily grind and get out of the city for some quiet.  this is what we've been up to.  we even had a short but sweet visit from grandma thrown in.






but, friends, come friday we are headed for a real honest-to-goodness slow-down.  we head to the beach and that lovely southern comfort.  i want to wrap myself around in it for the whole week. we plan on doing the following:

*not putting on shoes with closed-toes
*not looking at a computer screen of any sort
*wearing only bathing suits until we can stand it no more
*getting up each morning to the sound of a bustling kitchen
*getting sand everything
*eating and enjoying delicious home cooked meals and having long talks around the kitchen table
*waking to the sound of waves and smelling the saltwater by 7am
*laughing with family
*forgetting about EVERYTHING besides all of the above

i cannot wait. 

{the first set of photos was taken on our weekend trip to belmar, nj....the second set was taken in cold spring, ny...}

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

coming home










back in high school, i remember wanting to grow up quickly.  leave my hometown and discover the world. get lost in different cities and learn my way around and all of that.  the last thing i wanted to do was be at home with my parents. jeff and i do still dream of moving abroad someday, and maybe, we will do just that. but right now, with a family of my own, my feet stay planted and "home" takes on a whole new meaning. maybe this comes with age. maybe it's because i now understand how hard my parents worked to built what we all know as "home".

the smell of home-cooked meals from every corner of the house; walks around the neighborhood on a beautiful summer evening with my parents while jackson runs around my old high school baseball field; the deer, crickets, and fireflies; the chatter and noise from the kitchen (along with karaoke, sad to say...:)) as family members gather together on a lazy Sunday afternoon to celebrate my little sister's birthday. all of this warms my heart.

and, years from now, jackson will come to tell me that he is moving away...you know, just because...probably without a job, probably without his family (similar to what i did a long time ago).  i will most likely think to myself (similar to what my mom thought i'm sure)...'why would you want leave us?  this is your home.'

i can only hope that i will have built that same sense of family and comfort for jackson that my parents built for me and my sisters.  so that when that day comes for him to explore his world without me, i will remember that he will eventually come back home...just like we all do.