Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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Tutu for a Desert Gypsy Princess

  Once upon a time, there was a rare little girl born to a family who had been wishing and waiting for her for a long time.

   Her parents were madly in love with each other and anxious to have a sweet, pink little baby girl on which to shower their frills and kisses.  They yearned for a daughter who would need the rivers of love and attention they had to offer.

   This little girl was born into the protection and adoration of three wonderful big brothers and many far-flung grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who were over the moon excited to see her for the first time.

   She entered the world with eyes that would soon turn the color of Caribbean shallows, but she lived in the desert.  Already evincing miracles.  She was a delicate, whispery thread of loveliness spun from the heart of her unusually beautiful mother.  And she was destined for grand adventures.

   Clearly on a path to uniqueness, this little speck of a girl delighted her family by preferring edgy rock music to nursery rhymes.

  She made a point to wear her Gypsy Princess tiara in reverse
 to remind her loved ones to switch perspectives now and then.
Every story has more than one side.

   She started off life as a good eater, nursing and bonding and cooing throughout the day, every day.  All day long, even at parties.  Never stopping except to breathe.  Even at The Lazy W.  She was hungry because she had a lot of growing to do.  She knew deep inside her wordless but thriving mind that she would be needing the energy.

   

On certain days, when the breeze was just right, 
 this little Gypsy Princess would wear her tutu.

   Every strand of her gypsy tutu represented a wish bestowed on her life.  Cheetah print for speed and agility when she might need it, red lace for romance when the time is right, gingham for wholesomeness.  Graphics for sharp thinking.  Blue seersucker for extensive daydreaming beneath the clouds, paisley for growing things, denim for hard work

   Now the whole world, and not just the desert, is waiting to see what this special little girl does with her life.  Which paths she might follow, what webs she might weave.  How the blue of her eyes might change when she falls in love, and how she uses the magic in her tutu.

   Whatever happens to her, whatever surprises she finds,
she will be wrapped in love till the end of time!
We are so pleased to know Princess Riley.
xoxoxoxo

 

Joy Pockets Tres

   We’ve had a particularly busy, happy, productive week at the farm.  Even more so this week than most, probably.  I am so pleased to close up shop today with a few projects finally in the “done” compartment in my crowded mind, although I am stunned to realize that these whirlwind five days have suddenly brought us to almost dinner time on Friday.  My Joy Pockets are easy to count, as always.  For this I am so thankful.
  • We’ve been celebrating Handsome’s 36th birthday all week long, and we have had some serious fun doing so.  We are blessed with abundant freedom in our adulthood, incredible friends, and a good appetite for fun.  I hope he has had as much fun on his birthday this year as I have.  
  • Earlier this week I received an early morning phone call from my beautiful Momma, whose voice, affection, and laughter brighten my day like freshly squeezed lemon juice.  I realize that not all of my friends have their mothers still in their lives, and mine happens to be a very special woman, so I am doubly blessed in that respect.
  • We are thrilled to be sharing our home with friends for a few days, my blogging buddy The M Half and her Hubs, who happens to be an old school friend of Handsome’s, and their sweet and vivacious pup Rue.  (It may or may not surprise you to learn that she and I are writing in the same room at this moment, resisting the feathery advances of Pacino the Macaw.)  Last night we had the best time while our men and some other old friends played catch up on all the years lost.  We laughed until our faces hurt, we soaked up the vibes of friendship that has matured with adulthood rather than dissipated, and we got to see everyone in a slightly younger light.  Through the lens of teen years from back when we didn’t know each other, and that was cool as beans.
  • My transplanted tomatoes are thriving, and the pink roses are blooming again.  We’re still in a drought and heat wave here in Oklahoma, but early morning well water is doing the trick for now.  And our weather forecast has us anticipating a twenty-degree cool down in just a week.  That, friends, deserves to be on Joy Pockets ahead of time.
  • I am between book club assignments and also finished with previous reads, so this week and next I am indulging in a brand new author and a story about (big shocker) writing.

Look for a Review Next Week
 

  • I mixed and have been feasting on Roasted Olive Dip.
  • I got to hold an eight week old (human) baby for whom I am not even one bit responsible.  I got to sniff him and cuddle him and make him grin tiny baby grins.  I propped up his beautiful, wobbly head, sewed him a little shirt, kissed him good bye, and felt not even one scrap of longing for new motherhood.  It was a stand alone pleasure.  
  • A short list of sewing orders, which I had allowed to vex both my mind and my promises list, which affects my relationships, is now completed.  The relief of having these done and having happy customers cannot be overstated.
   This week sped by too quickly to savor properly in the moment, but looking back I see there is plenty (way more than I have shared here) to savor after the fact.  It was a week well spent and one that will fuel the coming weeks very nicely.  No complaints.
   

joy pockets

Roasted Olive Dip

   Company is coming!!!  We’re having a little dinner party, and I want to have this cold cheese dip ready technically as an appetizer but truly so I can snack indulgently all day leading up to the fun gathering.

   About halfway through making this exceedingly simple yet exceedingly decadent appetizer, I thought maybe someone else might want to know about this and make it.  We are, after all, fast approaching Labor Day weekend, a great time to roll out a snazzy new recipe.  This qualifies as snazzy in my book.

   You only need a handful of things from the grocery store and about half an hour in the kitchen plus a day or so to let the stuff meld its flavors in the fridge.  It makes you feel a little fancy to serve this, a  little bit gypsy or something.  Now while these ingredients are a bit pricey for one finished edible item, do try to factor in how far this goes.  One recipe will feed several people for two days or one very gluttonous girl for a week.  
What You Need:
   about two cups total of at least two flavors of olives (I use pimento-stuffed green olives and pitted ripe olives)
   a few Tablespoons of Italian dressing
   3 bricks of cream cheese (8 ounces each)
   2 small buckets of feta cheese (drained)
   dash or three of your favorite hot sauce
   a few shakes of garlic salt
What You Do:

  • First, let all of the cheeses come to room temperature.  Have you ever tried to stir cold cream cheese?  Nobody should be that strong.
  • In a 400-degree oven, roast the olives in a coating of Italian dressing, for about 20 minutes.  This smells incredible.
  • Once they are all roasty and tender and shriveled, pull them out and let them cool a bit.
  • Now coarsely chop the little gems and set them aside.
  • As thoroughly as possible, mix together all the cheeses and season with hot sauce and garlic salt, to taste.
Yeah, I use cheap seasonings sometimes.  So what?
  • Now just add the chopped, roasted olives.  It looks like edible confetti.  I swear, it makes me so happy.  And Handsome doesn’t have to worry about finding this particular confetti under the seat cushions or inside the fireplace.  Or in his hair.  Or in the buffalo’s hair.  Because we eat this confetti.  At Least I do…

   That’s about it!  Now I would place a sheet of waxed paper over the top, wrap it up in plastic like your life depends on it and abandon the fruits of your labor to the cold fridge overnight.  Serve this manna with crackers or just a spoon.  It is so good.

P.S.  This is what a pimento looks like when it’s about to explode.

Instant Gratification

   I am totally in favor of maintaining and chipping away at a list of long-term goals.  These are generally the accomplishments in life that are closest to the heart and therefore most deeply satisfying .  Keeping LTG lists, it’s just the grown up thing to do.  I personally have multiples.  I have multiples of these in every room of my house and every pocket of all my worn out jeans. 

   Which means that I also have a chronic and nasty case of dissatisfaction with how much I am accomplishing at any given time.  On days when I feel like going to bed in utter despair just one more time might be enough to push me over the edge, I try to regroup and spend some energy on short term goals.  You know, the things that when finished (quickly) give you that sublime sense of Instant Gratification.

   Here are some things I know will scratch the urgency itch for me.  What I find particularly miraculous about this stuff is that every single item here on the STG list corresponds to something on one of my LTG lists.  Even these baby steps, satisfying in and of themselves, all build toward a larger, more beautiful end product.  That is just how AWESOME life can be sometimes.

  • Stop everything and go get an incredible work out!  Sweat and burn for twice as long as you normally do, then stretch until you want to fall asleep.  You will feel better instantly, and it will be worth every minute.

  • Mow the front lawn, weed JUST the flower bed, sweep the sidewalk (for me this includes scooping horse poop), and then water everything.  It takes less time than you think, and it makes the whole front of the house look pretty incredible.

  • Paint something.  Anything.  Preferably with either red or turquoise paint.  Or chalkboard paint.  

  • Make exactly one phone call that you have been dreading.

  • Empty and scrub every single trash can in the house then cut one fresh flower bouquet for every floor of the house.  Light candles in every bathroom.

  • Skip one meal and instead make yourself a fruit-yogurt-honey smoothie and follow it with some ice cold water with lemons.  Let the inside of your body rest for a few hours.  Use the time you would have spent cooking and cleaning up doing something you’ve been really, really, really wanting to do.

  • Groom exactly one of the animals moseying around the farm.  Groom him or her from head to toe.  Pour your tender lovin’ care all over that beloved pet as if it is both the first and last day you have together. 

  • Choose exactly one project on Pinterest that is within reach today.  Do that thing.

  • Good grief, take a remodeling shower already and give yourself an at-home mani-pedi.  Lotion up.  Fix your hair.  Wear some perfume.  WHEW that’s better, and check it out…  You can still work and be productive!

  • Gloss up the house, make something wonderful to sip, and sit down to write an inventory of both your blessings and your answered prayers.  Allow your focus to shift from problems to comforts.

  • Clean the floors mercilessly.  Like a shining clean sink, clean floors are contagious.  So are dirty floors.

  • Make contact with the people who are always on your mind.  Show some love.

  • Bake something incredible for Handsome, even though he INSISTS he doesn’t want any more sweets, because when you DON’T bake he might think you don’t love him so much anymore.

  • Lay in the sun and read about fifty pages of something that loosens up your mind.

  • Repot a living plant or reframe a beautiful photograph or some artwork.

  • Choose and prepare fabrics for one sewing project.  Cut the pieces and package them together with the pattern.  If you have time to sew it, go ahead!  But if not, that’s cool.  You are half way there for next time.

  • While doing laundry in the garage or starting a meal in the kitchen, STAY PUT.  Stop multi-tasking and just stay in the room where the big action is.  See what you can accomplish there during the waiting times.  Pretend there is a force field at the doorway.  Resist every urge to wander off and layer in other activities.  Organize, clean, or decorate exactly one room at a time.  Seriously, girl, focus.  F-O-C-U-S.

  • Do a good deed that you are pretty sure cannot be found out.  Help someone in secret then walk like an Egyptian.

   One final note, I see a common thread amongst all of these actionable ideas:  NONE of them requires a list to be written or a plan to be made.  They just invite me to get really Nike about it and soak up the sense of accomplishment in a short amount of time.  That can dispell the nagging sense of “I can’t get it all done” in just a few hours.  Bueno.  Muy bueno.
What do you do for Instant Gratification?
What place does quickness have in your daily life?

XIV

   Today our youngest daughter is celebrating her FOURTEENTH birthday!  She is the sweetest, smilinest, song-singinest, hug-givinest girl you will ever meet, and I am just floored that another year has already passed. 

 Just for fun I would really groove on sharing some essential truths about this beautiful human being whom I am blessed enough to call Daughter.  Who is fourteen years old now.  Which hardly seems possible.  Because time flies.  It is slipping slipping slipping, into the future, right at this moment.

At an animal refuge in Tuttle,. OK, Februrary 2007
   Carrying her in pregnancy was easy and comfortable, and carrying her as an infant was just delicious.  She loved to cuddle then as much as she does now.
   She greatly prefers sour candy to chocolate and delights in challenging family members to see how much sour they can tolerate.

   Given a choice, she’ll always pick bowtie pasta over spaghetti noodles and marinara sauce over alfredo.

    She loves long showers and can often be heard singing in them.

   She is a talented writer and voracious reader, despite some difficulty getting started in the reading department years ago.  There is no adult in my life whose conversation about books I prefer to hers.  She is insightful and sensitive far beyond her fourteen years.

   For most of those fourteen years, orange has been her favorite color.

 

Spreading her very happy eagle wings at Martin Nature Park, OKC, eight 1/2 years old

   She laughs musically.  And regarding smiles that light up a room, there is no comparison to hers.

   She can COOK.  I mean, not just pretend to cook like some kids, which is adorable, this girl can COOK.  She is trustworthy in the kitchen and a true asset to the family meal.

       She can identify wild tomato plants just by sniffing their fruitless stems, and she understands that lemon and basil are nature’s perfume.
       She has impeccable telephone manners. 
       She is an avid rope jumper.  She used to practice jumping rope while her older sister practiced with the basketball team, and I would count for her.  One day she jumped a consecutive 694 times!  No break, no joke.  She was rightfully amazed.
       She is as tireless on the trampoline as she is with a jump rope.
    She is gentle with animals, endlessly affectionate, and has a calming nature about her. 
    Her pet rooster named Rocky knows he is her favorite and has made her his.
   
   She is loyal to a fault, defending her siblings and her close friends against all pain and all opposition.

   She knows how to pray; she knows that God heals; and she will share her faith with people, but gently.

She would swim 24 hours a day if we let her but never compains when it’s time to dry off. 
Handsome and I gave her this boat for her twelfth birthday, late at night,
and she was so excited that she filled it with pillows and blankets and slept there. 
The next morning she was on the water before breakfast.



   Once upon a time our girl was elected Chaplain of her Sunday School class, and while she held that office she took the job very seriously.  I used to love hearing the scriptures she selected each week and then her personal comments on them.  She displayed the best poise, the greatest respect for the Bible, and the strongest sense of teamwork I have ever seen in a child at church.  Noone was prouder than Handsome and me.

   She has always become deeply attached to her teachers at school.  And her teachers have always had lovely things to say about her, constantly praising her passion, discplined efforts, and sweetness-without-borders in the classroom.
   She loves to fall asleep having her back tickled and her hair stroked, listening to Raindrops on Roses or made up stories about the Pine Forest.
   She likes cranberry-orange juice in the morning and warm milk with honey at night.
   She endured brain surgery twice as a toddler and recovered miraculously both times.  The details and memories are seared into my heart, and the resulting gratefulness for her survival and healing keeps bitterness over other things sort of mild.  God has surprised us over and over again.

   It seems like nearly every friend of hers has claimed her as “BEST friend.”  Because she really is. 

   When she turned thirteen last summer, she had just moved into the upstairs “Apartment.”  We’d installed brand new carpet, very soft and exactly the color she wanted, and one of her wishes was a vacuum sweeeper all to herself.  We bought her a smallish, bright pink one, and she swept the entire floor I think every day for two weeks.  She would then empty the canister and survey the contents, evaluating whether people might have been walking in her room with dirty shoes. 
   While it is fun to receive gifts you really, really, really want, it is even more fun to give those gifts to your children.  The sillier the beter.  She isn’t here now, but every time I see this pink sweeper I giggle.

Kinda looks to me like Picachu knows exactly what’s coming.  Yikes.

   She is a MAJOR fan of pinatas.  Looking back through her birthday party pictures over the years, I found only three that did NOT include a tissue-covered, candy-filled object of pretend childhood wrath.  She is tiny but quite strong.  And every year that Handsome strung up a pinata for her and her friends to bash, she did so with ferocity and laughter that would frighten Katniss Everdeen.
   In addition to being super clean, she is a born nester.  Once, I discovered she had applied personalized wall vinyls to her bed nook without any help, and she has always enjoyed rearranging her bedroom, fluffing pillows, changing doll clothes, organizing her book shelves, etc.  I cannot wait to see her own adult home in the future!
   She values modesty, even in her new adolescent beauty.  Which is enormous, by the way.  She is one of those true ladylike beauties, needing no embellishment but knowing how to use it tastefully.

   Like any parent, I could write non stop for days and days about my child.  She and her sister are the light of my heart, the sheer amazement of life.  
   My words cannot do justice to her beauty or her spirit, so I can only close in saying, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHICKEN!!!  You are the picture of softness and sweetness and vulnerability.  You have been given treasures of femininity and love that not many women enjoy.  You have a heart for the Lord.  You are the sort of friend everyone needs in life.  You have a voice that fills empty spaces and drives out shadows.  Your tanned, skinny arms are strong enough to squeeze the breath out of a grown adult, and I miss them.  Be happy, be healthy, take it slow, and enjoy every day.  I love you forever, no matter what, no matter where we are, no matter how long!  Love, Momma.”