December 27, 2007
· Filed under Just Joey Bits
Highly over rated! Take this photo for instance. If you look really closely and analyze it ad nauseum, you’ll conclude that it’s off center, has an unwanted shadow, would have been better if the cup had been more full of coffee, could have had a better background, etc, etc, etc But this year, I have been trying to cut things some slack. It’s good enough. I’ve thought a lot about what we expect out of people, especially those closest to us. This year I’ve loved the following song done by Darren Hayes. “Better than best would simply to be good enough”….sometimes those closest to us feel such terrible pressure to be perfect, we scare them away. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful gift to just love them and tell them, “you’re good enough”?
If I woke up late
Couldn’t get out of bed
If I bought you a cafe latte instead
If I lied when I said
32 inches was the size of my waist
And can I admit
Every once in a while
Even though I dig alternative style
Occasionally
I can be caught dancin’ to Brittany
And can I confess
That art house doesn’t turn me on
But I like every single thing that Speilberg’s done
Could I be good enough
Could I be good enough
If the going got worse
And the worse got rough
The days became endless
And harder than tough
I’d be good enough
Better than best
Would be simply to be good enough
If everything I give
Doesn’t seem like a lot
If it’s all that I got
Baby tell that could be good enough
Where I grew up
The rent was cheap
Though we always had enough to eat
Didn’t have fancy clothes
I never really cared
‘Coz there were shoes on my toes
And motherly love
I knew it like the back of my hand
She always had a way to make me understand
I could be good enough
I could be good enough
If the going got worse
And the worse got rough
The days became endless
And harder than tough
I’d be good enough
Better than best
Would be simply to be good enough
If everything I give
Doesn’t seem like a lot
If it’s all that I got
Baby tell me that could be good enough
Coz I don’t know which way this road is gonna turn
But I know it’s gonna be fine
But there are some days no matter how much I’ve learned
That the road gets tough
And I don’t feel good enough
But if you’re giving me some of that loving
Could you pass some over
Let me cry on your shoulder and tell me baby
I could be good enough
If I lost my job
And my hair fell out
If I made no sense
And I scream and shout
Would you laugh at me?
Never take a word I say seriously
And if I’m out in the cold
Waiting in the back of the line
Too afraid to drop my name for fear of decline
Could you tell me I’m good enough?
Could I be good enough?
If the going got worse
And the worse got rough
The days became endless
And harder than tough
I’d be good enough
Better than best
Would be simply to be good enough
If everything I give
Dosn’t seem like a lot
If it’s all that I’ve got
Baby tell me that could be good enough
December 24, 2007
· Filed under Nesting
So, I’ve been trying to really think about Christmas and what I liked about this holiday when I was a child. As an adult woman, I realized that you are almost always doing Christmas “for someone else”. You work your tail off for the kids, or your husband, or your relatives, or coworkers. But what would Christmas look like if I did it “just for me”? A “just for me” Christmas would be a nostalgic journey of sorts. I love the old red and green, so I am in the process of spreading some of that around my apartment right now. Above is a photo of one wall that is just about done!
December 20, 2007
· Filed under Green grass, flowers and such
but also remember: This too shall pass. I’m just feeling a need for a little reminder of what green looks like this morning!
December 18, 2007
· Filed under Just Joey Bits
After the nasty part of winter, we woke up to this beautiful frosty sight a few mornings ago.
And then I came back into my apartment and warmed myself with my beach poster that is taped to my door!
December 18, 2007
· Filed under Just Joey Bits
Some have asked about our weather here and if we were hit by the ice storm. I went out the day after it snowed, looked at the car and thought, “No problem, just brush the snow off and go, right?”
Noooo, think again! So, plan B: scrape “no” into the windows and sit in the car with the heater going full blast for 20 minutes, then go to HyVee, where I got so taken up with taking blog photos that I locked my keys in the car! Not sure this blogging thing is such a good idea!! However, my good friends Craig and Lani, super heroes, rescued me! Thank you C and L! XO
December 9, 2007
· Filed under Family
My mother died five years ago last Saturday..and my father, almost two years before that. What’s that saying…you can’t go home again? For me, that’s true now. I ran across these pictures the other day…I’ve labeled them “my mother’s house”. If you knew my parents, you would know that my mother never liked this house very much, built later in their lives, just the way my dad wanted it, too big for grandparents with no grandchildren near by perhaps. The birch tree, the gazebo, the special stone on the front of the house, these all speak of things my dad loved and enjoyed bringing into being. So why do I think of it as my mother’s house? Maybe it’s because she wound up living there last, or maybe it has to do with what most women know…a man may work and pay for the house, but it’s the woman who usually controls the inside. It’s a miracle marriages ever work. How do two different people raised in two different families ever come to an agreement on how to make a house their home? My husband and I could have lived with each other…it’s was the house that killed us. I thought it was his unwillingness to part with a single thing that was totally unacceptable. Looking back now though, my protestation mess was just as bad. Somehow, my mother and father compromised on their houses. Maybe it was because in their day, they were just glad to have someplace to live at all.
December 8, 2007
· Filed under Family
Alright, I am now acknowledging that it is December, although I have to say, where my son is right now, I think it was in the 70’s today, so in some places, my beach obsession is not so far off! But here in Iowa, we have snow and ice, and it’s looking a lot like Christmas. I have mixed feelings about Christmas. It was a big deal when I was a kid. When my son was growing up, we didn’t do Christmas, and in recent years I have done it and not done it. I LOVE all the decorations, the greenery, the whole nine yards, but that is part of the problem…where do I stop and how do I feel about all the commercialism that surrounds this holiday? When I worked at an elementary school, it was fun to join in the card exchanges and cookie spreads for a change and it was a chance to tell everyone there how much I appreciated them. I guess everyone has to find their own Christmas. Now that I am single again, it is really easy to just let the holiday pass by, practically unnoticed. I am glad to avoid the shopping mall and go to a good movie on Christmas day with my boyfriend….but this year I am feeling a little tug for the cultural experience of the holiday. I do believe that rituals are good for us, but I don’t really know what my own rituals around the holiday are or what I really want them to be. Above are photos from Christmas at my sister’s and there she continues our family traditions with long-saved tree decorations and mom’s assortment of Christmas goodies. But I feel the need to find my own type of Christmas. Maybe I will this year.
