Tag: #singlemom

The Water Bottle

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She drove to the store to pick up a few things. I had written ‘Hydrangeas’ on the list, but she spotted daffodils and instinctively knew which to buy.

Daffodils are displayed on the table.

I have this thing about pretty water.

When I see a pretty bottle of water, I purchase a couple. One for her room, even though she’s not normally here, and the other one rests on my bedside table.

I call it my ‘weekend’ water bottle.

weekendwater

Today, as my daughter was leaving for the store I said, “If you see any pretty water bottles at the store, grab us a couple.”

When she returned home, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the water bottles she had chosen. I think she outdid mine.

But, you know? I can’t help but feel like something really good happened here. She knows what a pretty water bottle is, and she knows what to look for.

waterbottlebay

This shade of emerald green sparkles from across the room as the light hits it.

She’s on her way to a beautiful, adult life my darling. Even with the water bottle.

Best Thing Ever

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Earlier today, my daughter and I were talking about our little book of ‘Never Agains‘. Then she flipped the conversation around and began talking about the best thing ever. Like, the ginormous bag of cotton balls we purchased, just because it’s the biggest bag we’ve ever seen. (pillow size) We can always use cotton balls.

A couple of weeks ago, we were out shopping, and came across a Valentine’s Day display. It was in the kitchen area of the store, and my daughter fell in love with a little whisk. She’s uses her favorite whisk so often, we were questioning how much longer it would last.

I scooped up the whisk from the Valentine’s display as we continued walking through the store. I didn’t look at the price.

When we arrived at the self-checkout, we scanned it and stared in disbelief at the register display. The whisk cost $1.00.

whisk

Today, we flipped the book of ‘Never Again’s’ over and began writing ‘Always Again’s’, from the back of the book. This little book now has two covers. One is ‘Never’s’ and the other side is ‘Always’.  I’m curious to see where they meet.

The bag of cotton balls, and this whisk are written in the ‘Always Again’ side. As you can see, the hearts stamped on the handle are fading from use. It’s been loved.

Tonight I believe our little book, and what we’ve written in it, is the best thing ever.

Trust Your Crazy

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I do some crazy looking stuff.

Like molding butter to fit the butter dish.

Yes, I have a Pioneer Woman Butter Dish, and it’s a little wide for one stick of butter to fill, so I buy a slab of butter. Let it get room temperature, and mold it with my hands to fit the dish. It’s crazy, I know! It takes a bit to get all of the butter off my hands, but it’s worth it.

When I left my marriage, everyone I knew gave me a look, or told me, ‘That’s crazy!” Well, we see how that turned out. I’ve had the most fulfilling years of my life to date. When people heard I moved to a tiny house on 40 acres, with my teenage daughter in tow, it sounded crazy, but there again… Best experience ever!

I have friends who own local shoppes that I love to visit when time permits. It’s a no rush type thing, where we catch up, as I look around. I saw this sign a couple of weeks ago, and it made me smile. I told myself, “Barb. Like, you really need one more sign.” So, I left the shoppe without it, but couldn’t forget about it.

I told myself I’d go back the following weekend, and if it was still there, I’d buy it. Well…

trustyourcrazy

It makes me smile every time I see it.

Sitting here on this dreary, rainy day, looking back over the last several years, it’s been crazy. It would seem some of the best paths are. That first step is always scary, and some may call it crazy, but from where I sit, it’s an extraordinary life.

I’ll continue to trust my crazy.

The Fire Pit

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To step outside and smell a fireplace going or a wood pile being burned. It’s a cozy smell this time of year.

In the post, Be at Home it was mentioned our house doesn’t have a fireplace, so I bought an electric one. That’s a wonderful option for inside, but it doesn’t have that real fire smell.

It was time to fix that.

firepit1

I had visions of sitting around a fire pit with my daughter. Her boyfriend lives in England, but he’s coming here for Christmas. I could see them sitting there in quiet moments of togetherness. Maybe a neighbor would be taking a walk and stop to get warm. The possibilities are endless.

I walked outside and took the lid off the pit.

My daughter came out and helped build the fire. We grabbed our cups of tea and part of my vision came to fruition. We sat by the fire and solved all the worlds problems. We discussed Christmas presents for her boyfriend and for one another. Some of the time we talked and some we just sat.

It’s important to be able to just sit in each other’s company. To enjoy the moment for what it is.

A neighbor walked over to say ‘hello’ and gave an inquisitive glance at the blazing fire. Maybe it’s odd to build one midday. When it was time for my daughter to get ready for her evening plans, she paused and said, “Today was so nice.”

firepit2

It was a moment.

I’m covered in ash and smell like smoke.

Stepping outside to make sure the fire was out in the pit, I smelled that familiar smell. This time my darling, I knew where it originated. The fire was out but the memories were still aflame. They began today around the fire pit.

Weekends Are Sacred

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My weekend begins at 5:01 on Friday’s. That is when my phone shuts down until Monday.

I have two jobs as a Virtual Assistant and one is on the weekends, but I’ve had that job for 7 years. It began as my way of staying home with my daughter and making a living after leaving my marriage. It’s been reliable in that sense, but I had to set boundaries.

My first thought this morning was, “Life is not hard. Life is what we make it.” I woke up tired. It’s been a busy few weeks. It was ever so pleasing to know it’s Friday.

My daughter walks by my room and tells me, “I love your bedroom.”

I catch her standing in the doorway staring at it. Since the redo beginning with Under the Bed, it has the feeling of a retreat. When you work from home, you need a room like that. When I walk into my room, I leave work behind.

table

I’m sitting in the middle of my bed and here’s what my bedside table reveals.

Two out of three Hydrangea blooms that have been with me all week. A small Voluspa candle, because I couldn’t decide what scent I liked best to buy a big one. A large Voluspa candle is a commitment. My favorite ink pen and a water bottle for the weekend.

Someone asked me what I was doing this weekend and I said, “As little as possible.”

My weekends are sacred.

Pretty is Important

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It was time to order coffee. I love Bluebottle coffee and their Hario Cold Brew Bottle.

I asked my daughter to choose what kind. She sat down in front of the computer and looked at the website. Walking into the kitchen I said, “Pick one out and put it in the cart. I’ll handle the rest.” Then she snagged me with…

“I wish everything in life was that easy.”

She’s had a rough couple of weeks.

inside

This weekend, I spent some time being mindful of what might make her life a little bit better. Earlier this week, we had started a puzzle on the coffee table thinking it would help, but it was really challenging. Puzzle is gone.

She loves my bedroom makeover I wrote about in Under the Bed. Especially the faux fur body pillow case I bought at Target. There was a white faux fur one I thought she’d like, but didn’t get.

I must really love that girl go to Target on a Saturday afternoon for a pillow case.

A couple of weeks have passed since purchasing mine and they had added more choices. Having so many choices makes deciding difficult, but follow your heart darling! I didn’t choose the white one. A pale pink, faux fur one spoke to me today.

While at Target I looked for something to put our cotton balls in. We have this ginormous bag of cotton balls and it’s a wrestling match with the bag to get one little ball out. This looks like something that can hold a lot of balls!

boxforballs

A woman was walking in Target as I was walking out. Her t-shirt said, “Tough as a Mother.” I smiled and thought, “Truth.”

My daughter loves that I cross stitch.

She saw a pattern on Etsy that made her smile, so I downloaded it. She knew I needed light avocado green thread to get the cross stitch started, but didn’t know the rest of the colors. While out running errands, she stopped at the craft store and came home with that one color.

After the week she had, I know what it took for her to walk in and find that one. I went this morning and bought the rest of the thread.

sloffee

But my most favorite find was this. I’ve never really thought about my toilet brush, or the holder. I’m sure the one we have now is a cheap plastic one we’ve probably had for years. That’s disgusting now that I think of it.

unicornbrush

It’s a Unicorn! I sent her this picture with the message, “They may not lick our windows, but they will clean our toilet!” She said, “Bahaha….Is that a toilet cleaner brush???” I’m happy at 20 years young, she knows what one is!

I’m grateful that our life is pretty all the way down to the toilet bowl brush. We live simply, but every little thing we have is pretty. Especially our hearts for one another. Pretty is important.