today’s entry, october 16, in my simple abundance daybook (sarah ban breathnach…buy it. it’s profound in the enjoying-the-small-things kind of way)…

ceremonials for common days

“there are numerous holidays throughout the year, falling just when we need cheering up. we respond to them as if company’s come to call, bringing out our special dishes, linens, crystal, flowers, candles…”

however…

“we actually do most of our living among the common days, taking them for granted just the way we do people we love. yet myriad occasions during the course of each day cry out for consecration.”

which got me thinking…

whilst i gush about harvest decorations and upcoming christmas rituals–(and, don’t get me wrong, i went to costco today and they have christmas trees up….CHRISTMAS TREES!! and velvet christmas ribbon…and snowmen for the mantle…and toys…and walking up and down the aisles with my little knowing she’s old enough to really enjoy it all this year had me downright giddy in the heart-crazy-palpitating kind of way)–however, i know it’s all the in between stuff that’s really life, and i want to be remembered for making the everyday stuff–the common day rituals–worthy of that kind of celebration.

“a liturgy of commonplace moments ripe for personal ritual…”

and lest they be overlooked between the more recognized events of, say putting up the tree or watching the thanksgiving day parade…i can’t help but pay homage to the celebratory events of common life today….

my first cup of coffee in the morning in my favorite mug…saving for a long-desired purchase and finally being able to buy it…hearing the sound of brett’s footsteps enter the laundry room after a long day at work and watching lainey run to meet him…feeling more confident than i’ve ever felt at twenty-nine…having a good cry…jumping right into conversation when my sister calls without even a hello…dancing to a good song in the car…rocking a footy-jammied baby…playing tug-of-war with the dogs…coloring with sidewalk chalk in the driveway…a bowl of cereal before bed…snail mail in a colored envelope that stands out among the rest…eating popcorn at austyn’s football games…sunsets…tomato soup and grilled cheese…reading my dad’s comments on my blog…the way my mom still calls me “pumpkin”…slow-cooked oatmeal with dried cherries…my camera…brett lookin’ all cute in a tight black t-shirt…brunch with my girlfriends…samantha brown’s voyages on the travel channel…mopping my kitchen floor…crockpot dinners (dot, i promise…more recipes to come…now get back to your bold & the beautiful)…afternoons in barnes & noble…when i see my brother’s name on “incoming call”…ups pulling up to my driveway with a package…baby fingerprints all over my windows–and not caring one bit…bubble baths…having best friends for across-the-street neighbors…greek salads…candles…lainey’s sweet baby breath…sliding into clean sheets at night.

“there is no shortage of common day ceremonies waiting to be enjoyed…only weary imaginations in need of inspirational transfusions.”

loving our common little life tonight…

(go #13!)…what i love most about austyn’s games: watching brett be all proud. i arrived tonight right after an awesome play austyn made, and in verbally replaying it, brett looked down, smiled and said, “look, i have goosebumps.” i love what a good daddy he is.

high up in the bleachers with my zoom lense, i secretly caught cubby feedin’ daddy popcorn far below …and i love that he had no idea i took this.

…enjoying the common-but-not-so-common things. ~k

this time, if you comment (and do…i love them!)…leave me one common day ritual you love, worthy of celebration…i love being inspired by others.

been wanting to do this for awhile…
would like to have a pic of her in my wedding dress every year.
so, a little late, but here’s my girl in mommy’s dress at one year old:

…and the dress was so huge, there’s no way i could have gotten the entire thing in without her swimming like a widdle tiny fish in it…no, not even fish…plankton.

…and i love how she looks like she’s smoothing out the satin in this one.

…so, how cool would it be for her wedding someday to send this out as a save-the-date-card?
oh, for peter’s sake…i’m planning her wedding and she’s one. i’ll stop.

…enjoying the it’s only-gotten-better-since-that-day-of-wedded-bliss things. ~k

we had a very busy saturday this weekend, but sunday we managed to have a wonderful home day after a sermon at church on realizing what is important during these difficult times–namely family. yup, we started going to church again–a real church, not just our church of the holy beach. and, although i must admit dressing up a little baby in dresses and tights and bloomers and patent leather maryjanes and hearing all the old people ooh and aah behind us is reason enough to go (of course i’m kidding…okay, half-kidding), we’re going because it feels good. maybe that’s a selfish reason to go, but at least we’re there. and it feels good.

home day continued with watching the boys play tackle football with the neighbor kids outside and then making a big mess of the kitchen in baking halloween sugar cookies. (i like to milk any opportunity to make sugar cookies…almost cut the dough into mayflower ships and called them columbus day cookies today…but no.)

and then today, i made an accidental discovery…that hiding a lime in the camouflauge green grass and setting her out on a hunt to find it is hysterically entertaining…for both of us. she wanted to do it over and over.

and then she was happy as pie to just walk with this lime. like it was her best friend. (a similar event happens in the grocery store when i give her a sweet potato).

stress not, my dear wall street…look at the girl with the limes…she’s just…happy.

i read this today and it inspired me to no end. this woman took the words out of my heart and slapped them on her blog.

and so i’ve been pondering if i’ve yet found the thing that makes me cry “how magnificent!”. for a brief moment i thought i don’t know if there’s anything that i’m so attached to as to be called my life’s work (excepting my loved ones). but i corrected myself quickly because i do know that feeling well, that excitment is felt by me in my many hobbies and interests…

yes, it thrills me to no end to just be home and be creative, and while i know there are great things being done in that big wide world out there, there are great things happening in our little home too…and they make up part of that bigger greatness.

…but i kinda disagree with the laundry thing.

lastly…target unveiled the christmas prequel…one lone aisle bedecked with tinsel, twinkly lights and crappy christmas tchotchke.

and while most guffaw at the premature sight of christmas madness, i am…
…inspired. excited. happily anticipating my favorite season. october’s just the beginning of it all. the next several weeks, my life’s mission is to cozify our home and plan just how i am going to imprint beautiful traditions of home and family and holiday splendor into the little hearts of little hamptons.

drooling at the site of this:

okay…not to get ahead of myself.

hoping for a good night tonight. she’s been waking up and, to make a long story short, i’ve let her get into some pretty bad habits of coming to bed with us in the middle of the night. we both love it but, being that her little jammied feet are entangling brett’s neck more and more and that he has to be somewhat rested to perform at work, we’re having to break the habits. she woke up last night, i rocked her for a half hour, put her in her crib and then listened to her cry for another forty minutes while i laid on the hallway floor, head in my pillow crying with her. it was awful and, while everyone tells you that it’s the right thing to do and that you’ll feel like a victor in the morning…it’s a crock. even after she fell asleep, i felt horrible and still do now. but i don’t think there’s anyway around it.

oh, for goodness sake…wrapping it up.

leaving you with my little heaven….

…enjoying the blessed things. ~k