Satvinder learned how to crochet this week and got busy crocheting a chain that was ridiculously long. Turns out it came in handy...
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Yellow
The Palo Verde trees are in full bloom all around the neighborhood. With recent winds, the ground is now covered in the yellow blossoms too. This is the tree and ground in our front yard:
Yellow daisies on our table, in honor of Grandma Hart (who loved daisies and had a fondness for yellow) and the Hart family:
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
As a matter of fact
Me: Are you ready to go to school now?
Sukhjot: No. I'm playing with mucus.
Me: Oh. Well, you can do that at school.
Motherhood is full of conversations that you never would have imagined you'd have - before having kids.
Sukhjot: No. I'm playing with mucus.
Me: Oh. Well, you can do that at school.
Motherhood is full of conversations that you never would have imagined you'd have - before having kids.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Giving Thanks for Grandma Hart
"Kindness is an essential part of every female. As your kindness expands, prosperity grows." - Yogi Bhajan
Grandma Hart, who passed today, was an example of exactly that kindness. It radiated from her - expanding, expanding and touching all around her. I wrote something for her yesterday. While she did not receive it personally, I trust that all the love and appreciation that was coming to her from near and far was felt on some level as she moved into the next existence. I share it with you here as some small expression of how she touched me - though as mentioned, it doesn't adequately describe.
Dear Grandma Hart,
From the moment I met you, you welcomed me and embraced me in the family you created. I cannot tell you how much it meant to me that you took me in as one of your own. I hardly even knew my husband when we got married but you were warm, loving, and inclusive to me right away.
On the eve of our wedding, you gifted me with a carved wooden angel that has always been one of my favorite treasures because it reminds me of you and the way that you love. It is smiling and peaceful and its arms are stretched wide like a hug.You told me one time that since all of my grandparents were gone, you and Grandpa Hart would be my grandparents. And that is how I have felt. Even with not seeing you in person very often, I feel you in my heart, as a presence in my life and the lives of our children. It has been a huge blessing for me - to have gained the Hart family, the family that grew out of your love. It gives me comfort to know that our children are part of that legacy.
When I see you or read your words, I am always struck by the kindness with which you communicate. There are not many people that speak with such an open heart, honesty, compassion, and faith. So many times I have been deeply touched by your appreciation of differences in people, the way of honoring humanity and our abilities to overcome challenges. You don't back away. You embrace and you love. And that is something I cherish about you. I don't usually save many letters I receive (we don't have much storage space) but I have saved yours because they touch me every time and I come back to them and re-read them - just to feel the love and sweetness of you again.
Thank you for being a powerful inspiration - a graceful, beautiful, courageous mother and woman. I hold you in my heart forever. I wish I had better words to tell you what I want to say - words actually feel inadequate. But I hope you feel it. My prayers, love and gratitude are with you.
Love,
Kewal
Grandma Hart, who passed today, was an example of exactly that kindness. It radiated from her - expanding, expanding and touching all around her. I wrote something for her yesterday. While she did not receive it personally, I trust that all the love and appreciation that was coming to her from near and far was felt on some level as she moved into the next existence. I share it with you here as some small expression of how she touched me - though as mentioned, it doesn't adequately describe.
Dear Grandma Hart,
From the moment I met you, you welcomed me and embraced me in the family you created. I cannot tell you how much it meant to me that you took me in as one of your own. I hardly even knew my husband when we got married but you were warm, loving, and inclusive to me right away.
On the eve of our wedding, you gifted me with a carved wooden angel that has always been one of my favorite treasures because it reminds me of you and the way that you love. It is smiling and peaceful and its arms are stretched wide like a hug.You told me one time that since all of my grandparents were gone, you and Grandpa Hart would be my grandparents. And that is how I have felt. Even with not seeing you in person very often, I feel you in my heart, as a presence in my life and the lives of our children. It has been a huge blessing for me - to have gained the Hart family, the family that grew out of your love. It gives me comfort to know that our children are part of that legacy.
When I see you or read your words, I am always struck by the kindness with which you communicate. There are not many people that speak with such an open heart, honesty, compassion, and faith. So many times I have been deeply touched by your appreciation of differences in people, the way of honoring humanity and our abilities to overcome challenges. You don't back away. You embrace and you love. And that is something I cherish about you. I don't usually save many letters I receive (we don't have much storage space) but I have saved yours because they touch me every time and I come back to them and re-read them - just to feel the love and sweetness of you again.
Thank you for being a powerful inspiration - a graceful, beautiful, courageous mother and woman. I hold you in my heart forever. I wish I had better words to tell you what I want to say - words actually feel inadequate. But I hope you feel it. My prayers, love and gratitude are with you.
Love,
Kewal
Monday, April 23, 2012
A day like today
Today has been a strange day. It passed in a weird haze of mixed emotion. We got good news that Mangala has been offered an employee position at the company he's been working for the last few months. Satvinder came home sick from school and numerous people I know are going through strange, challenging things. And then the big thing that is happening that is hard and full of emotion - is that someone we love is dying.
I don't know what I want to say about it all right now. Some things it is hard to find words for. Like telling someone what their life has meant to you. Or the intricate blending of ups and downs, profound and mundane, death and rebirth that unfolds in a day like today.
I don't know what I want to say about it all right now. Some things it is hard to find words for. Like telling someone what their life has meant to you. Or the intricate blending of ups and downs, profound and mundane, death and rebirth that unfolds in a day like today.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Forts
I loved making forts as a kid. We had some fantastic giant pillows that were great for stacking up. Sometimes we overlapped lots of umbrellas and used that as a fort in a rainstorm. It seems like such a simple thing but I remember it being cozy and exciting and it felt like, for that time, there was a special place all our own.
So looking ahead to something more lasting, I'm thinking something pretty like this: Valentine Fort. Satvinder likes having something more enclosed and private, though, so we'll have to modify. That's a good starting place and visual, in any case.
In my searching I've found some other fun inspirations related to forts and hiding nooks and thought I'd share in case anyone else might make use of them:
Several DIY Indoor Fort Ideas
Secret Forts Indoors
Pretty Fort with Lights
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Phoenix is a hot place
It hit 100 degrees here today. It has brought home the reality that Phoenix summer is approaching. It already feels too hot to do anything and it is not even actually hot yet. Not by Phoenix standards anyway.
It has led me to wonder how no one has come up with a sustainable "kiddie pool" option. I really dislike the plastic and waste of the typical kiddie pools and we've never had one last past one summer. In searching for some other option the only thing I found was this: a dumpster converted into a small pool. A very creative idea - I like that people are thinking up stuff like that. But what about something more accessible? If anyone has ideas or suggestions, I'd love to hear.
Mostly, though, I just want to run away to the beach. I know, these are such first world problems: "oh whine, it is too hot for me to sit here in my air conditioned house." It sounds a little bit ridiculous. But it is part of my current reality: what to do with bored, restless children (and self) when it is too hot to go outside? It is something that in seven years of living in Phoenix, I have not quite ever figured out. The heat becomes oppressive, overwhelming, and...miserable.
Some people just adapt and keep going. I know people who hike and play outside when it is 120 degrees. On the other hand, I know several people who become very depressed and can't do much at all. I suppose it is the same in locations that have intense, house-bound winters.
Yeah, I guess that's all I've got today: just some ramblings about the heat.
It has led me to wonder how no one has come up with a sustainable "kiddie pool" option. I really dislike the plastic and waste of the typical kiddie pools and we've never had one last past one summer. In searching for some other option the only thing I found was this: a dumpster converted into a small pool. A very creative idea - I like that people are thinking up stuff like that. But what about something more accessible? If anyone has ideas or suggestions, I'd love to hear.
Mostly, though, I just want to run away to the beach. I know, these are such first world problems: "oh whine, it is too hot for me to sit here in my air conditioned house." It sounds a little bit ridiculous. But it is part of my current reality: what to do with bored, restless children (and self) when it is too hot to go outside? It is something that in seven years of living in Phoenix, I have not quite ever figured out. The heat becomes oppressive, overwhelming, and...miserable.
Some people just adapt and keep going. I know people who hike and play outside when it is 120 degrees. On the other hand, I know several people who become very depressed and can't do much at all. I suppose it is the same in locations that have intense, house-bound winters.
Yeah, I guess that's all I've got today: just some ramblings about the heat.
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