Dancing with Daffodils

I love going to book club. Six years ago when we moved here I was struggling to make friends and find my place and then a group of us at my church decided to organize a book club. We were an eclectic group of women in different stages of life and with varying interests but I found a home among these readers. The very first book we read was I Capture the Castle. It was a different book that I probably wouldn’t have read otherwise, which is exactly what I love about book club. I enjoy being pushed out of my tendency to read historical fiction and even if I don’t like the book, I almost always learn something or at least can appreciate good literature that is of a different style, or even non fiction. It is intellectually stimulating to discuss themes and characters and how the story relates to us. It helps me prioritize something I already love to do but that can easily get pushed to the side. The good conversation, both about books and then about whatever is on our mind, is fulfi...

I recently went on a cruise and since the weather was terrible, my husband and I went to just about every event that was happening on ship that didn’t involve putting on sneakers, drinking alcohol or gambling. The highlight was a concert by Michael Klinkenberg, a violinist who is personable, interesting and immensely talented. At one point during the concert he said he would give a free CD to anyone who came up and played a song by memory on the piano. I play the piano and immediately my husband told me I should go up. I was honestly motivated by the free CD but am not good at performing without practicing so I remained in my seat. The first girl up was young and played a one-handed song of three repeating notes but Michael joined in on his violin and made it a duet, so it sounded amazing. Then an older woman went up and played another one-handed song. My confidence began growing. I can play better than that, I thought and what an opportunity to play a duet with such a talented ...

I am in love with summer. I used to love autumn and even toyed a bit with making spring my favorite but summer has completely won me over.  Everything involved with summer is glorious; swimming in the pool, lazing on the beach, long days with peaceful evenings, having all of my kids home with no school schedule to dictate our day, playing in the ocean waves, sleeping in and staying up late, smores by a campfire, fireworks, BBQs, vacations, eating ice cream cones, going to outdoor concerts, baseball games, and did I mention the beach? Now with fall around the corner, I feel a sense of loss that the wonderfulness of summer is done. I’m usually okay moving onward and upward but there was something special about this summer and the quality of our family time that I’m not ready to give up.  My children are young enough to be innocent, sweet, and able to find pleasure in the simple joys of life. Their problems revolve around kids calling them silly names and scraped knees. They ...

The very first friends we made when we moved here six years ago are leaving our area and I feel a great loss. They helped us move in, they invited us to their son’s first birthday party and he became our daughter’s first friend.  We’ve celebrated many birthdays together, had countless game nights and picnics at the beach, done preschool co-ops and served together in church responsibilities. Earlier this week I went to help them pack up their house and my friend made these amazing cupcakes that she often makes and I love them.  As I shoved two of them in my face, I realized that I have this recipe and for the rest of my life when I make these cupcakes, I will think of Christina and her family.   Food connects us in a way that I don’t think anything else can because it combines the power to trigger memories through multiple senses with sociality, family togetherness, emotion and tradition.  My grandmother made homemade bread and my father loved coming home to the s...

I’ve had a terrible week socially.  I have said way more than I should have, made people cry, complained, was too open about my feelings, caused contention, been unkind and basically made it difficult for anyone to be around me and all unintentionally.   This is partly why I am an introvert, something I forgot this week.  The less you interact with people, the less you have to deal with conflict, drama and other people disliking you.  I am currently reading “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Won’t Be Quiet” and it has been wonderful to identify key parts of my character, most especially understanding what it means to be risk averse.  Extroverts tend to seek rewards while introverts tend to be averse to situations where there is a risk for a negative consequence.  This is a foundational characteristic of my personality and it is refreshing to know I am not the only one who does all I can to avoid trouble.  It can be good in cases of gam...

My kids recently started playing soccer for the spring season.  For my daughter, this was her first time ever playing a team sport and when her one and only practice got cancelled, I was worried.  She was anxious about her first game because she had never put on a pair of cleats or stepped on a soccer field before. Thankfully, when game time came, she listened to her coach and was out there chasing the ball like all the other kids.   My son’s start to soccer almost two years ago was not so smooth.  I signed him up when my daughter started kindergarten and he was lonely. I thought it would give him something to look forward to each week.  However, I hadn’t considered that he had never done anything without a big sister to follow and this led to one of my worst parenting experiences.  Even though his coach was our neighbor, he wouldn’t leave me and go out on the field.  After 15 minutes of trying to get him to participate I decided we weren’t go...

My four-year-old son recently finished his first t-ball season.  He had a handful of practices, seven or eight four-inning games and he really enjoyed practicing at home with his dad after using all of his money to buy a tee and a metal bat.  He had fun, enjoyed a great experience with some very kind coaches and he learned a bit about baseball and teamwork, all satisfactory results of the $60 spent and the time we dedicated as a family to having him at his practices and games.   At the end of the season his coaches provided a pizza party and said they would hand out trophies to the kids if parents were willing to purchase them.  I said yes to pizza and no thanks to the trophy, which I did for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t like clutter and my kids have a lot of stuff.  Why in the world do we need another hunk of metal to sit on a dresser?  Secondly, I didn’t want to spend $10 on said hunk of metal.  Thirdly, I didn’t feel that participating i...