In college, my one friend Kelly in particular and I would go early to secure the spot at the bar in front of the touchscreen game. It was a big black box that usually sat at the corner and for a couple of quarters, you could play a semi long game (depending on skill level) while sipping on a long island or gin and tonic.
Her game of choice was Photo Hunt and mine was Monster Madness. I would try Photo Hunt from time to time and it was fine, but the strategy of Monster Madness was where it was at for me. All that being said, I played my fair share of the former which compared two somewhat identical pictures and you had to find the differences: tapping the screen, circling out of place mis matches and then seeing if you got them all at the end.
I am currently sitting at our dining hall table and looking across the room at the moment….
On the piano are five clear plastic boxes with a name and marvel character on each one. A cajon is where the piano bench would be if we had one and there is a pickle jar lid on the floor to the right of the bottom of the right side of the piano: nearest to the leg that has a decent chunk chipped out of the wood. Next to the piano is a party cart where three board games, a dominos case and a bingo roller are stored at the bottom, bowls and wine bottles stored in the middle and where the coffee and tea kettle sit on top. On top of the piano? Glad you asked… the tea jar, whose lid is off, next to a honey pot that looks like a beehive, in front of the cubby where the Starbucks “Been There” mugs go, a basket of household reference books and cookbooks, a few wooden bowls and serving platters…
Above that… a portrait of the St Louis sky… a photo of a morning coffee mug… mounted silver tray… and hanging basket
To the farthest right… our family plates on top of the antique record player cabinet. And just tucked behind the plates – noticeable yet irrelevant – a whisk; the mothers day gift given to me from Ellen.
What I just described is not only my true front and center – the snap shot of my reality – but it is also the quintessential Photo Hunt photo with so many things that could be different, missing or shifted.
Today? A day to reallocate, sort and organize. Weekend cleaning and set up moved a lot around, indirectly effecting every room of the house to where all rooms are directly effected. Laundry piled in the kitchen, odds and ends for filing and tucking, clean laundry for closets and happy plants. The house is not messy. It is bustling.
The main thing I am thinking about is how to collectively pool all we have – all these wonderful good, nice things we have – to make the best place to work, the best place to sit, the best places to rest, the best places to play, the best places to eat. One of the tricks to big family / small house living is resisting the urge and shaping the expectations to give everybody their own everything. Consolidating and maximizing are big words for me and today is thimble and thumb stitch pulling so that tomorrow (which coincidentally is a new moon) can be focused on threading it all through and pulling it together.
It’s a big week for me creatively and I plan to make the most of it. The kids and the dogs are good. The house is good. The rain is fine and the grey is whatever but life is good. The naps are good. Yoga Nidra is good. The sound of running water is good.
With that, I suppose I do need to shift gears to moving around again. Putting some music on and getting an hour of work into the next go round before school pick up.
My husband is a “fly on the wall” lover of coding who is being used in some leadership roles as tech oversight. I am in the room next to him, a former analyst, and totally in love with my life co worker. <swoon>
Ok. Bye for now. :)
Frozen Spaghetti 