nuggets :: keepin' on

The thing about waiting two weeks to write a blog post is that so much has happened.  Stopping and jotting it all down in these quiet moments before bed helps to remind me of all that there is to be grateful for in this life.  My life.  Our life.

nuggets.

Nicest Friends & Neighbors Award 2012

My guys went on a road trip a few weekends ago and left me all by my lonesome at the top of Johns Street.  I had plenty to do while they were gone and so I promptly dug in and worked on various work & home projects.  I have a pretty active imagination, but usually feel really safe & secure in our home.  Notice I said usually.  

Friday night's freaky chain of events started at 1:06 am and wrapped up around 3:36 am.  For real.  My neighbors, pictured above, helped me not to lose my shit when I thought someone was in my house (call #1), then behind my house & possibly in my house through an open sliding glass window (call #2) and then trying to break down my faux front door in the boy's room (call #3).  Each and every time I called, Jill tried to calm me down and Scott got dressed and drove up here ready to investigate.  

In the end, some thing had made its way into our heater vent and was scurrying around from room to room, which sounded like some one was scurrying around from room to room. I am forever indebted to S + J and cannot for the life of me figure out what you get someone who extends this kind of friendship.  Flowers?  A thank you card?  A new flashlight?  Tequila?  Yes, probably tequila.

The reason for the guys' road trip was to celebrate this special lady's 90th birthday.  The whole family gathered and honored her well into the evening down in Newport Beach.  Here is a link to more photos from the evening (note that Grady got a hold of the camera at the end of evening and did a photo shoot with a few of his beautiful girl cousins!).  Happy Birthday, Beezer!

Trevor, Hayden, David, Steve & Grady

Steve's oldest nephew, Trevor, is joining the United States Coast Guard and this was a chance for the Hecht men to gather for a rare photo op (included in the above link).  What a handsome lot they are.  We're hoping Trevor gets transferred for training to the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Two Rock, which is just 10 minutes down Highway One from our place.

Kerrigan, Trevor, Hayden & Grady Hecht

Every year we try to gather the Hecht cousins and take a photo.  This was my one request when Steve left for the weekend.  I absolutely love it.

Watched the movie Tree of Life with Brad Pitt, Sean Penn & Jessica Chastain (she was such a great character to watch).  Have you seen it?  Beautiful cinematography and truly lovely set design.   There was a real ethereal quality to the entire film and left me pondering what it all meant, but not in that frustrating-silly-ending kind of way.  More of a thoughtful dialogue about our path or purpose while we're on this earth.  I really enjoyed it.

Anyone who knows us well also knows that we have struggled for eight years to get our kid to eat pretty much anything other than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  The last few months he's made leaps and bounds by trying all sorts of things (fish, salad, beets and more).  But he's still cautious and never overindulges.

That is until last week.

The poor thing made himself ill by scarfing down three granola bars & three apple juice boxes while I was in a PTA meeting.  He felt really terrible and had to sit out during his basketball practice.  I know this isn't funny per se, but it's a first for us.  Gluttony was never one of his personality traits and after this episode, I don't think we'll see the likes of it again anytime soon.

Yes, he's still sporting shorts in the dead of winter with morning temps below 30 degrees.  He told me he wants to feel the weather and apparently he can't do that wearing pants.

This little beauty is going with me to San Francisco this weekend.  I found a photography shop on Valencia called Photobooth through The Impossible Project's website.  The owner helped me find the right film for this camera and offered to show me how to load the film properly and give it a whirl.  This small business and this owner made me want to drive 50+ miles on a Saturday just to give him the business.  Can't wait to try out my $5 thrifted Land Camera!

Batches of waffles were made for the week with the help of an assistant moonlighting as a taste tester.  By the way, my husband makes the best waffles in town.  Seriously.

2012 resolutions for the boy:

1. Read 1,000 books this year
2. Take more photographs alongside my mom when she is taking photographs
3. Get better in math 

Spent a really relaxing day at the spa at Cavallo Point last week.  Started the morning with yoga in a warm & peaceful refurbished church on the property and then sauntered over to the spa.  Warm soaking pools, steam rooms & hot tubs were the perfect antidote to the rainy day we were having.

Lunch by the fire in our bathrobes was so relaxing it almost put me to sleep.  It's funny when you just keep going and going and going and then stop.  I needed this day more than I knew and my body was just waiting for me to figure it out.

The intent was to celebrate Jill's birthday and we quietly did, but the end result was my body saying you need a time out.  I crawled into bed when I got home and pretty much didn't leave home three days.  Oh, how I needed that.

Our rain finally came.  We had an incredible storm on Sunday evening and the requisite road closures and flooding were like old friends.  Where have you been?  What took you so long?  Everyone's talking about you.  Stay awhile?  Okay, see you in a week or so.

Iggy Pop for Dad

Hearts cut out from magazines

This one is my favorite - Love, not fight.

We started making our first batch of handmade Valentine's Day cards this week.  We usually start this process at the beginning of February, but we had a lot of perusing through magazines to do + cutting out hearts + glue + sewing + stamping + possible glitter (always a possibility for glitter, right?) and typing to do.  So, phase one is complete and I just love how they are turning out.

G:  Mom, what does rococo mean?
Me:  Um, let's look it up.
Me:  Rococo - of or relating to an artistic style esp. of the 18th century marked by fanciful curved forms and elaborate ornamentation.
G:  Cool.
Me:  Where did you read that?
G:  Moomin.
Me:  Of course.

I have total and complete satisfaction with my purging and organization around here this month, says the Virgo.  I'm still trying to do at least one task a day (and usually more) and finish it.  I went through Grady's artwork from school for the last four years and finally dated all of his drawings and paintings with an old-school library date stamp.  It felt so good to catalog all of that and I've vowed to make sure I date stamp new works coming in this year.

The boy came home today playing Stairway to Heaven on his recorder.  He was so proud and announced his class will have a spring concert at the Tomales Town Hall on April 19th.  Mark your calendars.

I stopped to take this picture on the Valley Ford-Freestone road on my way to work.  I know I keep gushing about where I live, but I really do love this place the longer we live here.  The community I'm part of and the raw beauty of the natural world that surrounds me is overwhelming.  Through the lens of a camera I hope to capture what I see and have it conveyed here in this space.  I find myself constantly looking for places to pull off the road so that I can try to capture exactly what it is I'm feeling as I'm seeing it with my own eyes.

I have inherited a wonderful Canon film camera, plus extra lenses and a tripod from a dear friend who no longer has the interest in cataloging life through film.  He gifted them to me and I'm looking forward to playing around with film (so 90's right?) and seeing how that changes my viewfinder at home and out in the world.

I tied this baker's twine around my wrist on New Year's Day.  My thought behind it was to have it serve as a reminder of the intention I made for the coming year and to wear it until it falls off.

Moderation.

Yes, the month is almost over and I'm still on course.  I'm sloughing off the old, balancing new routines, mindfully working and taking care of me, my friends, my family, my crazy chickens and my community obligations.

However, I think I will cut it free on February 1st and start anew for that month.  A sort of mini-New Year each month and a quick reminder to keep on keepin' on...moderately.