Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Winding Down


Summer 2017 is winding down...though I'm not sure it ever truly winded up in the first place.  I know most professions don't get summers off and it's something we truly cherish...but every few years a summer comes along that doesn't feel truly 'summerish'.  Lots of travel, lots of boys, lots of balls in the air.

It took awhile to settle in and now it's already time to re-enter real life.

Out houseful of boys has truly been a houseful of boys this summer and every square inch has evidence of a male presence.  On the down side, there is a bit of a frat house vibe going on in our little house on our little street.  They just keep different hours than the parental unit does and I hear every coming and going all day and all night long.

On the upside?  The oldest shrub bakes bread.  Like, real bakery style bread.

Heaven, I tell ya.  Heaven.

Our oldest moved home this summer and now the cat is finally out of the bag...he's taken a college teaching position in China for the next 2 years.  We've known for a few months but were asked to keep it under wraps while Mandarin contracts were negotiated and visas were secured and all sorts of crazy steps were taken.  And so he moved home at the beginning of June as those steps were being worked through and now, it's become public.

I'm breathing in and out and trusting in this whole process.  This boy of mine is going to have a grand adventure...and I can't wait to be on the other side of his facetime calls.

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So much cooking going on this summer - lots of boys home plus lots of friends in and out, in and out.  It's been so much fun in that every night, we never quite know who will be here.  I'm cooking for 10-12 every single night and there's often times (too many for my comfort) been just enough food to feed everyone.  

I've taken to making big pots full of things...chicken cacciatore, pot roasts, stews, pastas.  There's been some grilling too, but more often than not I'm just throwing things in the oven so that that guy that I like so much can be free to man the bar.  He's so good at it and it's fun to be able to watch him become a mixologist...though it's a bit disturbing as well.  I mean, I just hope he doesn't quit his day job.

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The garden is amazing.  Green and lush and happy.

I like happy.

I think the theme of this summer has been 'last minute'.  

Cook dinner and invite people last minute.
Throw a party together last minute.
Celebrate the end of the week last minute.

I like last minute.

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Our little house is never clean enough.  It's never big enough.  It's never fancy or put together or quiet enough.  

I love this quote from Van Gogh that says 'Great things are done by a series of small things brought together'.   

And so I let go of the 'perfect' and embrace the 'great'.  The noise, the food, the people.

The small of this house and garden is great.  And I love that.

Sometimes disturbing, but always great.

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And now, we slowly start winding down.  I've been working all week, but kind of still dipping my toes in one at a time.  That guy that I like so much heads back next week and that's when it becomes real that summer is ending...but for a few weeks after that we'll still have weekends in the garden.

I'm hoping there will be lots of them before the weather changes.

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Sunday, July 9, 2017

Looking Back


We're still processing this past jaunt to Europe...the sights, the tastes, the people.  It came at a time when things were feeling so heavy here...heavy with normal life stuff.  Harder than normal work lives for us both, paychecks where we were struggling to remember that we are living 'called' lives rather than profitable ones, a little house that was feeling a bit more broken down than usual, bigger than normal decisions needing to be made by a few of our boys.

In other words, life was real and we needed to get out of dodge.

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There was a group of 150 this time...much bigger than the usual 50-60 that are normally along for the ride.  It's a historic year for us Lutherans, a 500th anniversary of when a change happened in the church and so the land of Luther is being flooded with pilgrims.

And pilgrims we were.  

We walked.  And walked.  And walked some more...exporing places we had been before but not in many years, so it was like exploring something completely new.

Germany and Austria in May are so incredibly green and in the middle of all the big cities there are huge parks full of trees and walking paths.  You wander, enjoy the quiet and then turn a corner and you're right back in the middle of the big city.

Berlin was one of my favorite places this trip.  Last time I was there was shortly after the wall had fallen and so to revisit with it full of color was incredible.  But then there are the reminders that are always there...the wall itself, the towers, the new and old, the momorials to those that died.

It was moving.


And at the beginning of the journey we were greeted by our favorite turkish travel agent who came to hang with us before she left back home for our little street in our little neighborhood.

How fun is that???

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The performances were incredible...beyond incredible, if there is such a thing.  Packed houses in historic places and each one topped the prior one.

What a gift his 'job' is.















I can't escape work either, no matter how many thousands of miles I travel.

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I was giddy the moment I stepped foot on the plane this time.  Ready to go...ready for the adventure.  My role on these trips is simple...keep that guy that I like so much's life as easy as possible.  Love on his students, make sure they are all good, make sure he is all good.  But most of all, to make this adventure a positive one for them...to show them not only how we travel but why we travel.  

As with all of these trips, because there are so many personalities involved, there were moments of 'wow, this is hard.'  We embraced those few hours every day where we were able to escape, sit and have a cocktail, enjoy the quiet and regroup because there were times along the way where Satans voice seemed to be so very, very loud.  The comments, probably meant to be harmless but tossed in with tired feet and (what I now know) a weary heart...from questioning why we haven't paid off our 'little' house yet (really???) to why are we veering from the schedule (flexiblity, my friends) to the food isn't what we'd like (group of 150 in small places) to I've already been here so I can't wait to move on to the next city.

But those were balanced by the fun of watching people who had never travelled fall in love.

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And then He came in the form of rest.  In an extension to our trip...just the two of us.  To putting the group on their plane home, knowing that 99% of them had a glorious time.  


We flew on to Rome and in a move of super smartness, had already arranged for a driver to pick us up and drive us to our hotel in the historic center.  Even the Rome airport felt like home ot us and once dropped at our hotel, we immediately headed to Piazza Navona for a spritz while the sun began to set.

And after a quiet 15 minutes, we worked through all the comments that were feeling so hurtful and so heavy...the comments that to me felt like failure.  Our little house is not paid off...but we'll conitnue to work hard, and how blessed are we that we live in such a beautiful place.  Did we not only talk about flexibility...did we show it enough?  That attitude is 100% everything when traveling to faraway places?  Did we talk about exploring and discovering and also about just being...sitting and watching and talking?

In the end...peace.  And the beginning of our next adventure.  Italy has always been our place and someday, we'd love to lead friends here and show them why we love it so very much.  If you need a tour guide, let me know.

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Truffle season was in full swing.  Ah, Rome...you showed your true colors again and again.

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We wandered my Grandmother's birthplace and I expected it to be emotional...and it was, but not in the way I thought.  It was such a joyful place and the tears that flowed were happy tears...tears of all the good memories rather than the sad.





After five glorious days just wandering Rome, we headed for the hills (literally) and settled for the next 5 days in Montelpulciano.  It was not about the quiet...it was all about the wine.

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This trip was different than all the rest.  For the first time ever, we had nothing to worry about back home.  We had a few nickels to rub together.  The language felt easier and the food tasted better and the people felt even more friendly than usual.

We relaxed and settled and in each of those churches we wandered in to, we sat on cold wooden pews and talked to God, lit candles and said prayers (we even saw the Pope!) and this feeling of thankfulness pushed away all those voices I had been focusing on.

And now we're home and, boy, does home feel good.  Cooking, sitting in the garden, sharing our stories, laughing with friends.  

I still want to go back...and I know we will, but in the meantime I've been reminded of the simple that Europe brings to our lives.  The reminder to slow down, eat good food, drink good wine, turn off all the outside distractions.  To be thankful.  To live with joy.  

I still forget...but I'm easily brought back.

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