Choice Quote

This weekend we drove up into the Colorado mountains to view the changing aspen trees.  It was a perfect day to see the colors against the backdrop of a clear, blue sky.

This morning I had a cup of Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger tea and here was the quote on my tea bag:
"Choose well.  Your choice is brief, and yet endless."  - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A good reminder.  We often make our choices after a rather brief deliberation.  But our life is made up of all of those little choices combined to define our ultimate path.

A Gift of a Day

Today has been such a gift.  I got up early this morning and went for a walk while it was still dark and quiet.  I got to listen to the crickets sing.  I could see the stars in the eastern sky, including Orion on the horizon.  The western sky was lit up with a beautiful and bright full moon.  It was bright enough to make the silhouettes of the mountains visible in the dark.

I took the day off from work to hang with my kiddos.  My daughter is starting 7th grade and my son is starting 4th grade.  We got a special breakfast and ate together on our back deck, something that is such a treat since we so rarely get to take the time in the morning.

I walked my son to school along our creek which looks simply beautiful in the early morning with the dappled sunlight.

My daughter didn't have to go to school until close to noon as the school has only the 6th graders attend in the morning on the first day and the 7th and 8th graders attend in the afternoon.  So she and I got to spend the morning visiting (and attempting to calm down her 1st day jitters!)  It was very nice to have some time with just the two of us and no interruptions.

I'll be picking my son up soon and he I will have a couple of hours together this afternoon so he can tell me all about his first day.  Then we'll pick his sister up from the bus stop and go and get frozen yogurt as a final first-day treat.

It's rare for me to get a day like this, and I truly appreciate and treasure it.

Choosing To Be Grateful Series

I'm grateful for snow.

I was planning on posting about family again today, but we got snow in Denver and I decided that I should write about how grateful I was for the snow this morning.  It's been very dry here so the moisture was really needed.  I love the way that snow makes everything lighter.  I generally do my morning workout in the dark and this morning was no exception, except that everything glowed ethereally.  I also really enjoyed watching the snow both on the ground and falling from the sky sparkling in the lights.

A couple of weekends ago we made our annual winter pilgrimage to Estes Park.  While we were snowshoeing we got to enjoy a fluffy snowfall.  It was a bit windy and difficult to see in the open, but the trees sheltered us nicely.  We also truly enjoyed how muted all of the sounds were, it was so peaceful (when I wasn't sucking wind!)  We heard birds and we talked some, but otherwise we got to enjoy the quiet splendor of Rocky Mountain National Park blanketed in snow.

It would have been very easy to be stressed about the drive this morning, but instead I chose to focus on how much I enjoy snow.

Choosing To Be Grateful Series

The other night at dinner with friends the topic of the government wanting to study happiness came up.  I said that I’ve been reading a great deal of history books lately and while we have it so much easier and better than people in the past who very often lived short and brutal lives; I think there’s basically a human happiness set-point.  Obviously some people are happier than others, but from an overall standpoint I’m not sure that humans will ever be much happier.  I said that I’m happy but not content.  My husband and I talked later and decided that perhaps that is as it should be.  Too much contentment can stifle creativity and progress.

But even with my overall happiness, I know that I sometimes allow myself to wallow in negativity.  So I’ve decided to start a series where I talk about the things for which I’m grateful that lead to my overall happiness.

So here's the first in my series:

I'm grateful for my husband.  I wasn't always sure that I wanted to get married.  I knew that I could never marry someone like my father because I'm too much like my father.  If that was my only option I thought it would be better to be single.  Then I met my wonderful husband.  He's loving, supportive, and able to deal with me and all of my quirks.  I have a partner who's always on my side.  I have a co-parent and that is definitely helpful so Mommy can have a time-out sometimes.  Our marriage isn't always sunshine and roses, but even when it's not we're on the same team.  It's been almost 14 years now and I still think marrying my husband was one of the best decisions of my life.

Yes, that is an Opeth t-shirt and a Dream Theater hat.  I did marry a music geek!

Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas!  We have been extremely blessed with an abundance of love, laughter, family, and friends (and tech gadgets!).  Today was the perfect Christmas morning with a light dusting of snow that starting falling late on Christmas Eve.  I hope every one's Christmas is as blessed and special as ours has been!

Choosing to Laugh

I posted pictures yesterday of the spring flowers in the snow.  What I didn't post about was the crazy line at the bus station, partly because I was otherwise occupied and hardly noticed.  I read several blogs by women who are in situations similar to mine:  Trying to balance the demands of being a wife, mother, and employee at the same time.  One of those blogs was making me laugh out loud while I was standing in that line at the bus station waiting to come home to my family.  So obviously I highly recommend checking it out here at the Planting Dandelions blog.

I have been thinking some about regret.  What I really regret in my life is not appreciating and enjoying enough when things have been going well in the past.  So I truly believe it's time to put more effort into doing just that with the good things I have right now.  There are things that I wish were different in my life.  I would like to work part time.  I would like to live in a more rural area.  I would like to sleep better and feel more rested.  But none of those things preclude enjoying all of the wonderful things that I do have in my life.  I have a devoted husband and two wonderful children.  We have everything we need and much of what we want.  We live in a place and time where we know we're safe, secure, and free.  I'm allowed to post anything I want here.  Although I like to remind people that freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from the consequences of that speech.  It's a good life, and I'm choosing to enjoy it and laugh out loud as much as possible.

Springtime in Colorado

Sunday's official high temperature in Denver was 84 degrees Fahrenheit.  Today it's snowing.  I love living in a state that keeps me on my toes!