thursday things.

-after the laundry, the laundry!
-beautiful entralac afghan pattern
-vonnegut.
-continuum concept.
-peanut butter cup brownie bites!
-fantastic photography.
-for the sixteen year old in me.
-one of my favorite blogs.

thursday things.

-rad embroidery designs
-the scriptorium
-free knitting patterns: popknits!
-susun weed's wise woman forum (herbal medicine and spirit healing)
-fascinating
-jabberwocky!
-sweet reunited siblings story.



edited to add this much better version:

(did you get a bit teary? i did.)

blessings, pt. 2

-a new gorgeous coffee table, nearly free from a garage sale. the man said he wanted it to go to a good home, and i guess we were the folks to take it in!
-we got a package from brady's brother aaron! he sent us some wonderful gifts, there are pictures on my flickr.
-3 bags of yarn from my grandma
-got the first photo for a project i'm working on. only 49 more to go!

today, i'm going to clean and organize and purge and bless my home. what are you doing today?

bear with me, friends.

i've got some unloading to do. it's been far too long since i've posted something real, and i miss that.

things have been topsy-turvy weird the past little bit. i've written nearly thirteen thousand words for nanowrimo. 2 weeks ago, i would have laughed in your face if you told me i would even consider writing a novel. here i am, though.

i switched the lens on the camera sunday, my mama has been encouraging me to do so for a while now. and the truth is, i was scared of it. terrified of a few more inches length. but, i did it. and i think the pictures i've taken with it look different, a little bit better. i like them anyhow. it's got a lot of fancy zoom action, which i enjoy. i can get shots of the kids when they don't know i'm taking a picture and i can catch them acting naturally, instead of posed. i really don't like taking posed photos, it seems fraudulent to me. i want to catch the act, if that makes sense. and the fancy lens allows that.

i've been feeling very open and creative the past few days. incredibly full and juicy. and it's a nice feeling.

i have a new favorite band. it's everything i've always looked for in music. it's the music i want to make. it makes me tear up with joy: half-handed cloud.

spirituality has been a major theme for me the past few days. i've prayed and sang and believed. i haven't felt this way in a very long time. and it's so beautiful. if this the opiate for the masses, count me in.

also, how are you? i truly want to know.

love, love, love,
effie

this!

http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com/

this is amazing. i've pored over these photos this morning, delighted. each time i click "older posts", i find a new favorite. and to think it just as easily could have been that no one would witness such wonderful captures of a time. fascinating.

halloween and a mini-belated-thursday things.

lots of new pics on my flickr.

-spooky tales!
-let them sing it for you. hours & hours of fun.
-unnecessary quotations.
-i'm not ashamed to like this song.

today starts nanowrimo, and i just might participate.

thursday things!

-halloween food ideas
-audio stories for kids
-patchwork mat tutorial
-wikipedia list of unusual deaths, i found this especially creepy.
-pyrex, i love you.
-regretsy
-little owl pattern
-rumi poem that i love

thursday things and some.

it's been the rainiest fall this year, and rainy days mean, for us, daddy is home. it seems like daddy has been home for the last 2 weeks, which has been 3 parts spectacular adventure and 1 part wreckage of our routine. things like housekeeping and big projects don't sound nearly as much fun as tucking away for an afternoon nap, watching foggy drizzle slide down the window. or a cabin fever inspired jaunt around the block just before supper. or knitting, reading, and talking mornings into afternoons into evenings. however, today, daddy is back at work, and i'm staring at this mess... but it's not horrifying me as it once would have. instead, i'm content with the playing that occurred. and grateful for the opportunity to thank the universe for each member of my family as i put away emma's books and crayons and papers, violette's teddy bears and dolls, theodore's blankets and toys, lovey's books, chewed up bottle caps, and socks.

my thursday things will be a bit different today, i want to remember this feeling of gratitude i'm basking in right now. so here are my thankfuls for today:

-the green-ness of green
-baby's hands & affection
-my sweater, growing row by row
-lovey's browns, lovey's reading face, oh! all of lovey
-violette's independence, rivaling rudolph's
-emma's all-knowing vocabulary (she told my mom the other evening, when mama was having a hard time with the carseats: "well, maybe you made the wrong selection")
-good folk songs
-big laughs
-project inspiration
-our home
-drizzle and the word "drizzle"
-"basin"
-the gift of language
-the overwhelming scent of clove.
-pumpkin cobbler
-reading in bed
-tea, especially chamomile
-paper maiche messes
-hopes of a handmade christmas
-approaching holidays and time with family and friends
-this feeling of being surrounded by love and goodness

poo-poo the naysayers, life is good and beautiful. it all depends on where you're looking. i'm making this promise, right now. i will stop entertaining the ideas there are devils lurking around every corner, hidden mean-ness in uttered words. there is enough darkness out there without my creating new drama. and when i'm full of gratitude and light, there is simply no room for the darkness. (and we all know dark is just an absence of light, an illusion.)

thursday things.

-pronoia resources
-punny card!
-the gashlycrumb tinies
-quotes on being vegetarian
-this just might work!
-me, on ravelry
-dreads inspiration, plus! he's a saddhu from nepal!*
-new favorite band



(thursdays make for the best rain days.)

*going for the neglect method, again. twist & rip all the way. i'm a few months in, so hopefully they'll look good in about a year.

thursday things.

-encyclopedia of mythology
-fuzzmail.
-the arrow of time, family photos from 1976-present
-2nd favorite poem
-love, love, love these sculptures.
-the new avett brothers album came out tuesday, i love it. my favorite song: and it spread.

effie and jonnie, december 2002.

today is my brother jonnie's 22 birthday, i'm wishing and hoping this coming year is full of big adventures and excitement for him.

thursday things.

-101 t.v. free activities to do with kids!
-darling little book.
-why mister rogers was the best.
-fish hat!
-radical coffee table idea. i so want to make these!
-the sweater curse.




p.s. contrary to popular belief, mr. rogers didn't serve in the military, nor did he have any tattoos! heavens forbid someone is just plain nice, with nothing to hide. http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/mrrogers.asp

8 things - past lives and alter egos.

this is my first 8 things post, so i'm kind of excited. this week's topic is past lives and alter egos. i fancy myself multi-faceted enough to embody all of the following:

1. mary poppins.
2. children's librarian.
3. 1950's housewife.
4. a crazy, bohemian, hermit writer surrounded by composition notebooks, classic literature and tons of highliters in every color.
5. holocaust survivor. i don't know if i believe in past lives, but i know for sure that there is something to this. i remember having these extremely vivid nightmares as a tiny girl, and not having the words to explain them. and then when i learned about the holocaust and saw photos and heard stories, i knew that's what i'd been dreaming about for so long.
6. buddhist monk.
7. simone weil.
8. a zoologist.

thursday things.

-10 puzzling ancient artifacts.
-make a little notebook!
-brain teasers.
-3 way chess.
-lioness and baby.
-276 questions to ask before you marry. (while i think 276 is a bit more than enough, it never hurts to discuss the basics- kids, careers, whose responsibility it is to put in the trash sack after taking out the garbage... in all seriousness, it's astonishing how many women i've talked to that had no idea their spouse wanted 15 kids/0 kids or what have you.) in any case, some of these questions are hilarious.
-cookie dough pie.
-interesting concept, teaching your child how to argue.

thursday things.

-shaped pears!
-rules for poetry.
-50 things everyone should know how to do.
-banksy is fascinating..


this video, my friends, is the best thing i have ever seen.

thursday things!

-adorable dress pattern
-s'mores bars!
-"pretty" is oh so relative. (and i ♥ craigslist.)
-harry potter cupcakes!
-i kinda want everything this chick sells.
-always new stuff up on my flickr - i've been playing in photoshop!
-this little guy always cracks me and the girls up
-lovely poetry

what is it?

it's the feeling of laying in bed, surrounded by my sweet little family; it's the first cup of coffee in the a.m.; it's cardigans; it's the edge of autumnal crisp in late august evenings and early august mornings.; it's rain; it's little weedy flowers strewn all over the house; it's pictures colored by preschoolers hung up every where imaginable; it's new bags sewn; it's planning projects; it's spending time with the family i was born into; it's real & composed music; it's the first hug&kiss attack when daddy is home from work; it's suppertime, listing our thankfuls and talking about our days; it's emma saying "clume" for climbed; it's the way violette wants to be tucked in with "flower" every nite; it's theodore's precious, chunky, slobbery smile; it's my husband's devotion and love for me; it's every tree, rock, flower, & blade of grass; it's the sky, the sun, the stars, the moon; it's the ocean, it's the desert; it's you, it's me. it's the divine.

thursday things!

-lovely photography
-interesting looking pasta pie
-for the harry potter fan knitters
-tips for rising early i've been attempting waking up when brady leaves for work, but so far i've been failing. these ideas seem to be pretty good.
-in case you're bored...
-homemade checkers!
-we're up to season 5 on lost! this is the only show, besides gilmore girls, that i've liked in a very long time.

this is one of the few pictures i've taken that i'm actually pleased with.

been on a really big 90's kick the past few days, it's good stuff.

thursday things.

-clever and quite useful housekeeping site
-wonderfully wacky words.
-the best blueberry peach pie. so tasty!
-interesting gal
-one of my favorite photos
-free art!
-one word, go!
-redemption song goodness.
-tomorrow is mewithoutyou & the psalters!!!!

working on a road trip mix for the drive, as the show 2 hours away. what's your favorite road trip song? and maybe tell me your favorite road trip story? i'll surely love it :)

theodore wants you to have a beautiful, smiley day!

thursday things.

-teen decomposes plastic bag in 3 months.
-cantaloupe salsa - must try!!
-fun little book recommendation site.
-gives me hope!
-rain days with lovey are the aces. and we get another one today!! this one is preschooler free, and we're cleaning and doing laundry.
-alice in wonderland trailer - so stoked!!

novel.

(click on austin to read the best novel ever!)

-brady's post about 'fork you bobby frost'.

my husband wrote a book...my husband wrote a book, a novel, a work of fiction. a book. have you written a book? i haven't written a book. i know very few people who have started, and finished, writing a book.

in november 2007, he decided to participate in nanowrimo. he wrote, he drank energy drinks, he worked all day and came home and wrote. he wrote, he ate candy bars, and he wrote. he wrote, he laughed and cried and wondered where the heck are these crazy characters taking us? and he wrote. and i read the pages one by one as they came off the typewriter, falling in love with this book, these characters, and brady all over again. on the sunday after thanksgiving, he finished. and it was celebratory and fabulous. (and we realized just how much work it was going to be to enter an entire novel onto the computer. it wasn't what one would call a fun task, but i'd do it again!)

after almost 2 years, i think that perhaps 3 or 4 people have read this novel. it has been listed on lulu, he has sent it to a few places, no one seems all that interested. and i realize that i'm biased, and i realize brady might not be the perfect marriage of rilke and bukowski, but he's darn close. and everyone, every single person, needs to read this book. not because brady penned it, not because i want everyone to recognize what a fabulous writer he is, but because we all need to stop and listen to the point of this book. it's about being kind, it's about loving each other. it's not just a riot and a hoot, it's important. and if you can't get over all the F-bombs and all the exclamation points, then perhaps you need to read it more than anyone else.