Favorite Friday... My Bed, Rainy Days and Blossoms in the Spring

Today I woke to the sound of raindrops on my window and I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed. I laid there for an hour letting my mind wander with the steady rhythm of the rain keeping time. I mulled over my dreams trying to make some sense of them - to no avail. I realized how much I love my bed, the 400-count sheets I splurged on so long ago, the down comforter and pillows, the memory foam from my mama. It makes it so difficult to get out of bed some mornings. :) When you factor in the rain this morning, I didn't have a prayer of getting out of bed before eight. 

Hours have passed this morning and the rain has not let up. The sky has graduated from a ominous dark purplish gray to a faded oatmeal color, but the rain has not stopped for a minute. The sky seems to open up every few minutes and burst forth in torrents of rain, the sound of which can be wonderfully deafening. After exercising this morning, I went and stood on our deck outside and just immersed myself in it - not literally, although I considered it. I imagined what this beautiful rain could do to pots and baskets overflowing with plants in my little space. I listened to the sound of the passing cars swooshing by on the soaked streets and breathed in the scent of spring rain. Tender mercies my friends, tender mercies. They are all around us, all the time, there for the having.

I got a heaping portion of them earlier this week. We have been watching for the peak bloom time of the cherry blossoms in DC and decided Wednesday was our best bet. Although chilly and gray, it was perfect. The cherry trees were stunning, breathtaking and intoxicating. Their fragrance filled the air and even tinted it a slight shade of pink. The Tidal Basin was encircled about in blooms. There was live music at the Jefferson Memorial and I couldn't help but dance.

We saw scores of Elders, took a paddle boat out in the Basin and flew kites at the W. Monument. And as beautiful as the cherry blossoms were, I think the magnolias could give them a run. They were amazing! All said, a perfectly spent day.

We haven't been to the Jefferson Memorial since moving here. The last time was almost exactly seven years ago. The words of Thomas Jefferson were so inspiring and the monument itself demands reverence. I just wish there hadn't been so many people. No matter. 

We let Et manage the camera for most of the day and he kept taking random pics of me. 

First round of kite-flying at the Washington.

Stonewall the DC Police horse and Officer "What's his name again?"He had the kindest face.

A Familiar Feeling

I spent last week in Ohio with my sister and her family. It was a wonderful visit and could only have been made better by being able to blog every day and record every blessed moment. I did want to share one experience in particular that was much needed. I think we all have moments like these, whether they be in a garden or not, and they are such a blessing. Its a bit of a story, but I'll try to keep it as brief as possible.

My sister and I decided to tackle a project in her yard while I was there. First of all, she has a great space. Her garden is on two levels and they are connected via a stone staircase, maybe 12-14 steps. The staircase has seen better days and it was needing major repairs. (At this point, they don't know how long they are going to be in Cincy, so they don't want to invest a load of money just to leave it in two years.) We started the project on Friday and moved along nicely until the weather decided it was through being nice and we got rain. With only two stairs left to go, we thought it would be easy enough to finish on Saturday. Now Saturday night was "girls night" (friends and Twilight @ 8:30)and church was at 9am Sunday, which meant we needed to wrap things up by 7:30 - 8pm at the latest. Late afternoon Saturday, we finally got around to mixing the mortar and it was slow going. The bottom of the concrete bag was full of lumps and solid cement chunks, but we managed to mix one load easily enough. The kids were needing dinner and bathes. The house needed straightening and we both needed showers but I was not going home without that staircase being complete. With one more batch to mix Lou went in to get things in order and I was left alone. For those of you who really know me and know how I lived in my garden, you know this was a gift. I was so tired physically. The mortar was too wet and I was discouraged. The inner me was determined to finish but my body was spent and I just wanted to call it quits for the night. But I didn't, I couldn't. As I stopped to listen to the sounds around me and take in the fading light I was filled. I suddenly recognized this scenario from countless other nights in my life. The light pouring through the windows making shapes on the grass; looking at my hands and not being able to see what I was doing but not yet wanting to go in; my arms and legs being so worn-out and cold but not minding a bit; knowing my kids were inside, happy and warm; listening to the nightlife awaken and begin their symphony; and clinging to whatever light I had, to just do one... more... thing... This was played out before me in my mind and I felt so grateful to have been blessed with that moment. It filled me up and made me feel more whole than I have felt in months. (As silly as it may be, I have tears spilling down my cheeks as I write. That is how much it moved me.)

I don't know exactly why I share this with you except that I know there are times in our lives when we have so much going on around us and so much to take care of, that we get lost. Not to say that we don't know what is important, or that we are not doing the "right" things, but that little pieces of us get lost along the way. Sometimes it happens slowly, over years maybe and other times it can be a matter or weeks or months. Well, that had happened to me. And although I knew it was happening, I didn't stop it. I just didn't think it would have such an effect on me, closing off that part of me, even for a time. But it did. This isn't the first time I have felt I was missing some part of me and honestly it probably won't be the last, but it made me more aware. It made me want to take better care of myself and the gifts and talents God has given me. I want to feel as whole every day as I did sitting in the perfect dusk of my sisters' garden.

100 Pushups - 200 Situps

Last night Jon and I started a new challenge. Have you heard of the 100 pushups training program?  I discovered it awhile back but never really considered doing it until I realized that we are right around the corner to summer and now it suddenly seems like a great idea. I was so excited that Jon agreed to do it with me - a first I might add. Basically, its a 6-week program designed to increase your strength through push-ups. By the end of the six weeks, the goal is to be able to crank out 100 consecutive push-ups, not the girly variety, but the tough ones. I think the thing that hooked Jon, besides me batting my eyes at him and kissing him a lot, was that its not a huge time commitment daily, weekly or long-term. Its ten minutes a day, three days a week for 6 weeks. Easy breezy! We did the initial test to see what level to train at and I was impressed with Jon's strength. He blew me away. So we are beginning tonight and will finish mid-May. I will keep you posted as we progress. 

As to the sit-ups portion of this workout, I will be going that alone. I have not given up hope that Jon will join me, but for now, I am flying solo on this one. Same idea, same time commitment, same type of goal to reach. I did better on these than the push-ups. What can I say? I have weak upper-body strength. There is a link to the situps site on the pushups site if you are interested. Also, if you have an iPhone there is an app to help track your progress or you can print out a complete program - PocketMod style. And if that isn't enough, there is a free tracker on the website to record your progress. So give it a shot. Summer is just around the corner and I think we could all use a little work on our swimsuit bods. And who doesn't have ten minutes?