Lists and listing

I live by lists.
I often say, in fact, "if it's not on the list, it doesn't exist."
And this is very true.

Something happens between my fingers and my brain when I write. It seems what is written on paper is also seared into my brain.
I have made lists as long as I can remember. Mostly because I wanted to.
I have a friend who accused me of writing things on my list I have already done just so I can check them off.
At this point, I make lists because I need to.
It's not so much the sense of accomplishment that motivations me, but the need for reminders.
I am trying to make the lists using an app on my phone. So far, it's not working.
For some me reason electronic calendaring doesn't work for me either.
But I am trying...
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Savoring time...

Time is passing too fast. I always heard it would.
I have often heard that the older one gets, the faster time goes.

Tomorrow it will be October and I am not sure how! Seems like last week I was packing for Italy. No, it seems like I was taking down the Christmas tree. Or making Valentines with my darlings. Seems like just a few days ago that I was waiting up to see the puppy my daughter was driving home from Parker, Kansas with.
Christmas is now less than three months away. The puppy is nine months old and has moved with her mistress to law school. My new grandnephew will be two months old next week.
Time seemed to drag its feet when I was a child.
Long car trips. Waiting on Santa...
Waiting for the day I would be tall enough
to ride the big kid rides at the amusement
park...waiting for my birthday.
Those seem to come around at warp speed
these days, too.
I need to find a way to better savor the time...

Popcorn balls and spiced cider...

My latest post was about how my cooking skills developed and then regressed. I just don't have the same interest in cooking that I once had. Except in the fall.
When Autumn blows in, I find myself wanting to make popcorn balls and spiced cider. I want to make the kind my Grandma made and always had on hand in October.  The prepackaged and kit kind won't do; just as stove top stuffing is no substitute for my Mama's.
Homemade vegetable soup. Chili...only the from scratch will do.

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The baby in law school

I mentioned in an earlier blog post that my baby daughter recently started to law school.

What I did not mention, is:

How proud I am of her independence

How much I miss her around the house now that she has taken up residence (again) in a new city.

I will start by saying I don’t know how it is she came to be 23, because it was just the day before yesterday that she was 23 days or weeks or months old. But not years.

She is my third child. I learned with the first two how fast time flies. By the time I got to her I was paying close attention. Still, time got away from me. She was always “growny” and all too soon grown.

As the third child, she never got a full nap. I always had to awaken her to go to a practice or game, or rehearsal or meeting of some kind.

I apologized recently to her for the lot she drew. She waived my words away, like she often does.

"All of that has made me who I am," she said. "And I am okay with that."

It made me realize that some of her best traits were likely born of her "lot."

She is exeedingly flexible. She has always been able to find her own way. She knows her own mind. She makes sound decisions...

and I can hardly wait to see her in front of a jury!

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On cooking...

Once upon a time I was a pretty good cook.
I didn't start out that way. The first meal I made for my husband after we married was tacos. They were awful though he was too kind to say so.
Over time, I got better. Having a child with special dietary needs forced the issue. Being a member of an organization that sponsored cooking schools and sold cookbooks helped.
My mother, who could take dirt out of the yard and make it taste wonderful tells a similar story. When she got married, she says she could only make fudge and pop popcorn. Over time, she also improved.  A stint as a restauranteer and cook helped. The family makes sure she gets lots of practice.
She often says that one grandson used to meet her on the front porch with a bag of chocolate chips whenever she came to visit.
By this time of year, we are all requesting what we want her to make for the holidays.
My husband is a cook of some renown himself. Between his mother and the women who cooked for her and his Grandmother, he learned to make some pretty amazing southern dishes. Meats and desserts are his specialty.The nephews request his scalloped corn for family gatherings.
The two of them, my Mother and my husband have taken the pressure off me over time.
I also fell out of practice.
  the children grew up and moved away.
  my favorite tv chefs sell mixes and delicious bottled recipes
   there are other things i prefer spending my time doing...
so these days I end up burning half of what I cook from inattention and sometimes end up injured.
That I am working on two cookbooks at the moment is rather ironic since I so seldom cook and when I do I burn myself, the food or both...

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Family to the full

There's been lots of excitement in my family in the past few weeks:
My baby daughter started to law school
My grandbaby started to kindergarten
My youngest niece presented us with a healthy, dandy, baby boy named Pierce.
my eldest nephew had his first baby, a precious little girl named Landry.
Exciting stuff, this.
The family growing. Our children growing up. Thriving. We are immensely blessed.
At a fish fry at the lake the other weekend I watched children running and playing and listened to them laugh. They did some cloud watching and played ball.
On the way home, Iwas  chatting with the above mentioned grandbaby about all the fun she'd had with her cousins (and aunts and uncles and grandparents) and some folks that are not her direct relatives but might as well be.
She said something to me I hope I will never forget.
"I am just full of family; aren't I?" she asked.
Indeed.

to paint or not to paint

I notice that what is not on the Hub's to do list for fall is painting. We have discussed putting a fresh coat of paint on the shutters, the front door and some benches outside for a while. It needs to be done but obviously neither of us want to do it, else it would be on one or both of our lists.
or perhaps it is because Spring is a much better time to paint. ISn't it?!

Fall yard projects

My husband is apparently doing the same thing with outside projects that I have been doing inside.
He mentioned last night that he intends to get busy in the yard clearing away the aftermath of extreme weather we've had of late. He expects to spend most of the month of September clearing away dead foliage.
We lost three big trees over the past few months and a four looks like it might not make it. His projects, like mine, will weigh less heavily on his mind if he has a plan of attack where they are concerned. There was a time when we would just start somewhere and work our way on from wherever we started. Neither of us are so inclined these days.
We must be getting old!

About those Labor Day projects:

Last weekend: I sorted. I tagged. I bagged. I organized.
I now have projects assembled and waiting to be completed.
Among them:
the makings of hair accessories are in giant ziplock bags all together: hair pins and clips, ribbons and bows, buttons and beads and the little sparklies my grandbaby calls "blink blink" just waiting to be asembled.
quilt squares have been set aside together with matching thread. Photos are separated and stacked next to scrapbook frames, borders and other embellishments already cut out. Beside them, there is cardstock for embellishments yet to be cut out.
Some of the projects I plan to complete with my craft guild, including fall wreaths and angel ornaments for our Christmas trees.
Some of the I will do with my grandbaby.
Some i plan to do with one or both of my daughters.
There are a couple of Christmas projects I don't quite know how I am going to do...
But all in all, it was a productive weekend.
Especially when you consider that both of the above mentioned daughters, the grandbaby and my granddog were with us for the weekend.  We attended  a fish fry at the lake, cleaned out a couple of closets...
I am very satisfied with what we accomplished. I also, am very tired...