dreams...senses and weaving meaning through memories

 "gingky" holding me holding my newborn sister marci

i've been "writing" so many blog posts in my head...and then life gets in the way and i've been choosing to experience these things instead of write about them. i'm still having trouble balancing living in the moment and appreciating what is and having to "capture" it through words or photos. so in some ways it has been a good thing for me that i've been blogging so much less because i've been appreciating experiencing these things instead.

this morning i woke up from a very vivid dream. i had just been climbing on my tile roof (identical to the roof of the apartment we rented when we first moved to san diego) looking at my neighbor's fruit trees with peaches and oranges (just went to farmer's market last night and was imagining planting these in our yard). down below i saw a little white doggy (same as gingky's yesterday) and remembered i was watching him (symbol of responsibilities i'm forgetting to fulfill) and he needed to go to the bathroom (my children requested this several times yesterday at inopportune moments). next scene i was opening the front door of my house and both doors swung open...really big inviting doors welcoming me (my sister marci is looking for a house to buy in redlands and last night i was looking at some houses with her and imagining what qualities i would look for in a home if we were to buy again)...i was excited to talk to manuel about something (miss not being with him and sharing my day to day thoughts and experiences) and i could hear the children happily chatting about something with each other and with him...(these sensations/observations are a constant in our home in the morning...i always look forward to their happy chatter and excitement to start their day)

as i tried to stay asleep to see what i was going to say or what was going to happen, i could feel myself coming in and out of sleep and realized it was due to the sensations i was experiencing around me...most notably the sunshine streaming through my window. i miss this way of waking up! as much as our house has a lot of light and windows, it doesn't have DIRECT light streaming through. next i was listening to the birds chirp and sing in the tree outside my window and of course the far off train i forgot to listen for but find as a comforting reminder of my dad's ever-present memory. a large hawk called out a cry and flew over...the sprinklers burst on and sprayed their steady stream over my mom's yard. i wanted to ignore all this and find out what was going to happen in my dream but then i realized this was sort of a metaphor to my life...waiting to "find out or analyze" what will/could happen in my life versus just making it happen. so i popped out of bed, observed my swollen eye lids (my body disagreeing, saying i really need better/more sleep) and ran down to write about this.

i am visiting my mom in the home i was born and raised in until i left for college at 18. i came out because a neighbor we grew up with, dear "oma" her German nickname, had passed away and i wanted to attend the memorial. i wanted to do it for her because she was such a wonderful woman and close friend of our family for so many years but i also wanted to see her daughter "gingky" (what i called her when i was too young to pronounce her name linda) and because it was something i felt i needed to do on a gut level i couldn't fully explain. yesterday my sister watched my children and my mom and i attended. it was a touching service complete with lots of biographical details that were fascinating, music that made me cry, a slideshow depicting her throughout her life with photos i remember seeing hung on the walls in her home and memories i was a part of in their pool and in their living room. the most difficult part was listening to gingky share her personal memories and how her mom touched her. i imagined how i felt sharing these things about my dad and how i will someday feel sharing them about my mom. on top of this i had my own memories of gingky's mom and what a gentle, loving, dedicated wife/mom/friend she was. it was strange to observe this intimate personal tribute to a woman i haven't been in touch with for over a decade yet she has been a part of my life and my childhood memories weave in and out of gingky's at some point.

gingky's youngest daughter is headed off to college. of course this got me thinking about my own youngest headed off to kindergarten in the fall. how time moves so quickly it will be seconds before my children move on. last night sea wanted to sleep with me...specifically she wanted me to hug and cuddle with her and she wasn't tired and wanted me to tell her stories so she could fall asleep and i was super grumpy because story had just fallen asleep and she woke him up trying to negotiate these things. i didn't handle this request well and even though i went to sleep with sea after story fell back asleep and we had some "resolution' of sorts i want to feel like my daughter can count on me to be there for her more often than not. and i want to get over my own self-absorbed "needs" and put her first more often because i know it is just a matter of time before she doesn't "need" me so much.

i'm trying to wrap up this blog post so i can move on with my day...my cousin katie is coloring my hair shortly and i have things to take care of. in the grand scheme of things, looking over the life of a dear friend yesterday, for example, this seems trivial and like i should take a few more minutes to end this blog post with meaningful, touching words that pay my respect and hold onto memories. but that is part of the tragedy of loss...when people you love die they are yanked out of the daily stuff and memories only get to come in and out as time and mental space allows. i think i will visit my dad's grave today, just to offer him a little bit of that time and space for reflection and memories. and i will remember to listen for the trains. and squeeze sea and story a little tighter tonight without them asking.

reflections on art, research, mommyhood and individuals

it is 6:30 a.m. on a sunday. i should not be up. i did not want to be up. but we co-sleep and my children and dog and cat were all competing for who went where and i found myself unable to go back to sleep. maybe it is because i have a lot on my mind. have had a lot on my mind. things i'm working through and trying to figure out...about myself, my family, my place in my world. i don't think my blog concept is that unique and wish i had a better blog title but really "mommy's journey" pretty well describes what this blog is about. when i started thinking about blogging i was really conflicted about my role as a stay-at-home mom. i didn't know any role models, felt part of my identity was tied up to making a difference as a teacher and was worried i would miss the process of learning and keeping my mind engaged with adults at the college level. really i think one of the bigger issues (perhaps a life long issue for me) was balancing dependence and independence. i've always prided myself in being so independent and not "needing" others yet i am so social and enjoy people...on my depressive down days i wish i didn't push myself away and could allow myself more dependence...in fact, i didn't even see the value of dependence until i met my husband...and then again when i had children i was glad they wanted to be dependent on me more than i wanted to foster independence in them (which i think comes naturally when you feel secure)...

anyway, i digress...i really wanted to write about art...so i'll start with a photo from last year's art show at sea's school. i led the "famous artist" lesson and chose monet's sailboats for at least a few reasons 1) my dad loved sailboats and they remind me of him 2) monet was one of my favorite artists as a child 3) sea loves the water and i wanted to see her paint a sailboat

most of the children in her class went with the traditional blues/greens/turquoise with white accents for their primary colors but true to sea's individual nature (and love for the color) she went with an orange sky and an orange sailboat. i love this about her. she can trust herself and go with what she sees or imagines without following the masses (at least artistically!)

this next picture was taken at last year's family art night at sea's school. i have taken over the art corps coordinator position for the school so i will be in charge of this event next year...here is sea giving a "thumb's up" which also reminds me of my dad (he used to do this both to encourage us growing up and also to say "right on!" when he was happy like sea is doing here)...

i met with one of the co-founders of the art corps program (they are professional artists who come to sea's school and lead workshops to teach parents age appropriate art lessons that build on one another...they teach a concept about art and tie it into famous art work so the children are learning both and then get to try to concept on their own art once a month...the parents take the workshop and then teach the lesson in their child's classroom...i taught most of the kindergarten and 1st grade lessons in sea's class and loved it!). i'm really excited to be the face of this program on campus. it will be my job to  get families excited about art at the school...i will do this with a booth at the ice cream social before school, the 1st day of school, the first open house and then have an art corps orientation where people can learn more about art. then i need to be sure there are enough parent volunteers both to lead and assist all the lessons in all the classes...advertise and sign people up for two family art nights sponsored by the PTA, and organize matting of one piece of art per 500+ children in the school for the art show at the end of the year. this is a very parent involved school which is good in many senses but difficult when they have competing agendas for what is most important. i'm hoping to convince them art should be one of the top priorities at the school...one way i am hoping to go about this is to look up research showing how art helps children in school...both academically (they care about things like test scores and grades that are not high priorities to me) and psychologically and personally just how art enriches people's lives (more important to me).

i came from a very academic background growing up (there was a well known medical school, dental school, physical therapy, nursing, etc. in our community where many of the parents worked and these occupations were definitely encouraged over anything artistic). i've always loved art. even when i got a "c" in it in 3rd grade and decided i wasn't very "good" at art i still loved it. i remember taking some personality test in middle school where they asked what type of people you would most want to hang out with at a party and i always chose artistic types as my number one choice even though most of my friends were social people types (my 2nd choice) and i fancied myself a nerdy analytical thinking type (3rd choice).

it is hard to balance the contrasting sides of myself...i love the author anne lamott both because she is really funny and an awesome writer, but more importantly for me because i can relate with her feeling drawn to very liberal and out of the box things yet feeling God and spirituality are equally important (there aren't too many of my hippy type friends who embrace the importance of God in their life...most of them are atheists)...she writes a lot of autobiographical material i can also relate with on her own journeys as a mother...she has a attachment parenting style like mine that i can also relate with...

wow, this post is all over the place. i originally felt motivated by writing about art...yesterday i attended a baby shower for a mom of one of sea's "students"...we became friends last year...she was always really involved at the school and showing up with personalized artistic gifts and homemade cupcakes for various holidays throughout the year. on top of our personal connection of caring about our children and both being involved in the classroom, she is an accomplished artist. our children have the same birthday. i'm not sure how much astrology weighs into everything but they are both leos (july 23rd birthday) close to the watery sign of cancer so they have a strong willed side but are also artistic...

anyway, i met one of her friends who is also an accomplished artist and we were talking about the difficulties with being a mommy and balancing this with other things we are passionate about or just wanting to get away sometimes. i totally get that! i've been reflecting on that idea since i spoke with her. i think i have finally come to a place in my life where i can give up parts of myself to embrace other parts. and i don't feel like i have to give them up forever. my children are 4 and 7. my youngest only has one year left with me before he is off to school and i will have a lot more free time. i want to embrace these unscheduled days of playing with blocks, reading books, making "maps" (he just recently got into making his own art), riding bikes, running in the grass and chasing and/or trying to fly kites. i have a lot of analytical and "deeper" ideas inside of me but right now, at this place in my life, i need to embrace the simpler experiential "moments" of my life...

this rambling is bordering on incoherent so i will end this post shortly and head back to my mommy duties including cleaning out the car of all sandy beach gear, making breakfast, wrapping birthday presents and packing to head out of town to a cousin's party...

but i wanted to include the idea of research (this idea isn't as out of the blue as it sounds...i was reading about research on education on a homeschool group e-mail this morning in bed)...looking at who you influence...groups or individuals...i studied psychology in college and graduate school...pre-kids i loved research and wanted to read and conduct my own to try and "prove" or at least show the probabilities for various things. when i was a teacher i liked that i was influencing many people every semester and i imagined life on a more global scale and how i could influence groups of people. now that i am a stay-at-home mom, my life is much simpler and my world is much smaller. but this is a good thing. i am more concerned with how i influence my children and the impact on the individual (myself and my family) versus groups.

in a different time and place my focus may be elsewhere (though i doubt i will ever give up the importance of my influence on my children...and their influence on me)...but for now i am happy where i am, doing what i am on this mommy journey...

Celebrating what would have been lorie's 40th

I figure my irritability and depression in part stemmed from missing my dad over this holiday of thankfulness but also missing my friend lorie who would have turned 40 today. This is what I just e-mailed her mom: "Dear nancy,  I've been thinking of lorie (and you) for the past few days but today in particular on what would have been her 40th bday. She was so full of life and zest and spunk and lived as if the smallest moments in life were cause for celebration and glee...I know just being in her presence would have been a party all its own today and I'm so sad we can't. I thank God we can reunite someday in heaven but until then I am thankful to celebrate so much of lorie that lives on... We have been spending the weekend here in ventura with manuel's family and some of his relatives from Bakersfield which of course reminded me how Manuel 1st knew lorie in central California...next weekend we will celebrate johnny facundo's 40th with him in sacramento...I remember hearing stories of them growing up together as just kids and I know we will reminisce all we miss about lorie. I'll touch base with you in the next few weeks to share more of those stories...for now I'm getting my children to bed too late but just wanted to drop you a short note of appreciation for lorie and let you know we are thinking of you... Sincerely, denise Sent from my iPhone" I wanted to say so much more along with detailed memories but it is late and my energy is low and I just got my children to sleep...

swirling in a pool

we are going to spend all day today at the pool...my thoughts have been swirling...i love the translucent nature of these photos as sea swirls in the pool...taken the end of last summer when sea was only 5 and about to enter kindergarten...i'm trying to write one more quick post with music that is too upbeat for my mood or energy, dog still in and out of the room, cat trying to escape outside to certain peril...kids transfixed by monkey george...my thoughts lost somewhere...i really want to find them because i feel compelled to "capture" these last moments before school starts...it is late thursday night and i'm going to schedule this to post 12:01 friday morning...i could probably do nablopomo if i could write several posts and schedule when they would post but somehow that seems to take away from the spirit of a-post-a-day...so i don't feel badly i'm not committing to nablopomo...

i also am going to decline jog-a-thon coordinator at sea's school. my friend is in charge of coordinating all the volunteers/coordinators and i feel like i might let her down but not as much as i would let down myself, my family and ultimately the school if i took the position...so instead i'm shooting for room mom. i met all three first grade teachers yesterday. the first one was sea's favorite...i'm not sure why...she was kind to sea, but so were the others...sea hid behind my legs and said loud enough for her to hear "mommy, can i tell you a secret?" and i said, sure, and turned her way to which she said "i want HER to be my teacher!"...the other two teachers were nice to sea as well. i've decided they each have their strengths and i can't try to control too much. i did ask each of them if i could be room mom if they were in sea's room... i think they said yes? i got caught up in trying to assess them/have sea meet them...

sea told one teacher she is a little bit scared about first grade because they don't give second chances (i still don't know what that means exactly) to which the teacher said "I will give you second chances"...i keep trying to get sea to tell me about kindergarten before those memories get lost in the experience of first grade. or tell me her first grade expectations...or what she enjoyed about the summer...i am trying to hold on to too much...i really am off to bed now...

end of summer beach day

we went to the beach today...a couple beaches in fact (huge swells, undercurrents, wind and excessive bacteria sent us packing to different dog beaches)...right now my children are watching curious ("monkey") george and eating spinach and cheese ravioli...our dog can't decide if she wants to be in there with them, outside, inside, chasing our cat...the cat is asleep on the desk by my computer...slacker is playing "favorite mashup station"...some trance/dance type number that has more energy than i do...manuel is already asleep...we are going to spend all day tomorrow at our community pool and then go to the ice cream social at sea's school tomorrow night to find out who her first grade teacher is.

i've had so much anxiety about letting go of my little kindergartener, summer ending, not knowing what is ahead of us...we should know a little more tomorrow...i wanted to write a lot more on that topic like my memories of her in kindergarten, expectations before school, memories from summer, etc. but i'm not feeling it right now. i haven't been feeling a lot of things lately...like an irritable, sleep-deprived, anxiety-filled low grade depression that seems more self-indulgent than anything else...so i want the focus to be on HER or at least appreciating the now instead of lamenting what i'm losing...

i changed my nablopomo badge to the month of september and the theme of "return" but i haven't committed to writing every day this month as i was WAY over it and it felt like a task halfway through...i want to enjoy and look forward to blogging when i have the time, something interesting to say...that may not be tonight :)

"cindergordin"

i've really had trouble with balance lately...wanting to put my family and being in the moment before others or this blog or not to worry more about recording life over living it...signing up for nablopomo doesn't help...i know it usually only motivates me to get on here and then i resent when days go by i HAVE to make time for this blog but am not feeling it...or at the expense of my family...

i feel like i'm coming to a cross roads or pivotal milestone or time of change or something like that for my daughter, sea. she just turned 6 the end of last month...but something about not being able to count her age all on one hand...not having the "play based" kindergarten...i'm not sure what the difference is, but i feel it. or maybe i'm projecting it onto her from my own experiences at her age...i know when i studied child development in my psychology classes they talked about how impressionable the first five years are...am i losing my influence on her now? i'm over-analyzing all this but she is worried about something, too. the last few weeks she will bring up how she doesn't want to go to school. i try to calmly ask her why and find out what she is worried about and she usually says something about wanting to stay home with me...that she can always do home school instead. it is true, i have told her if school doesn't work out that we can do that...i just haven't figured out what the criteria is for not working out...i've told her she needs to at least give first grade a chance.

i adored her kindergarten teacher. i think the only thing i could have adored about her more is if she had been warm and fuzzy and emotional and touchy feely but those qualities probably would have been at the expense of some of her characteristics that really worked for sea and our family like her strength, security, forceful nature...she is passionate in her beliefs and has the integrity to do what she believes in over the wishes of the school, district, state, etc. that kept shoving "worksheets" at her...she insisted on hands on learning, letting children play, move, be children, learn at their own pace, learn through art, music, dance...and by golly sea learned to read even when we did no homework and my only goal was for her to enjoy being a child and play...i have been looking for a similarly minded 1st grade teacher and unfortunately with budget cuts they've moved people around and i don't know who we will get...i know sea is strong, adaptable, secure, enjoys learning...she'll probably do fine with more structure and even with homework. but i think we are both worried. i asked her last night to tell me more about kindergarten. i was hoping if she could tell me about her experiences from last year i might get a feel for how that might contrast with her expectations for 1st grade. so maybe tomorrow i'll ask her to make me a book about 1st grade.

here is what she wrote about "cindergordin" (i love her phonetic spelling and that her teacher encourages it and doesn't try to correct it so they will try on their own):

"we dra thans awt of shaps"
"we mac sure (can't read how she wrote that) evryone is he rit now"
"we do reses thas the fonist ever now" (richard scarry reference with the "best __ ever")
"we pat (paint) ik"
"we do math"
"bot i do not like skool" (love her arms crossed and colored in for emphasis)
"i like to sta hom"
i believe we are hugging each other in this last drawing...i really want to hold on to her "too" tightly (we say things like i love you "too much" when we really like something)...not sure how to let go enough to let her thrive and find her own way when there is so much i want to influence and be a part of...

"mom, you don't have to worry..."

today was a farewell party for sea's friend calvin and his family. i've been writing this post in my head all day and dreading thinking about/trying to avoid writing this post at the same time. analogous to how i felt my senior year in high school when i wanted to say so much in so many people's yearbooks and ended up not writing in them at all for many of the same reasons. wanting to control this next major turning point in our lives...the first time sea has "lost" one of her close friends...

i had just shared with his mom how much i was going to miss them...tears streaming down my face, how i'd taken our friendship for granted and the fact they lived just right over the bridge...so much of our children's history shared...i was pulling myself together driving home, watching sea in my rear view mirror trying to imagine how she was feeling. so i asked "sea, do you feel sad that calvin is moving away?" she said, "mom, he's not moving away forever...we'll see him again..." this next photo captures their innocent glee...perhaps not fully understanding the finality of this farewell...
so i pushed a little further, trying to explain that though he would visit and we could visit them, he would not live here again...so she paused for a moment in reflection and then in her ever-optimistic child-like way calmly explained to me "mom, you don't have to worry...you know where we will always live with him don't you?"...i really had no idea where she was going with this one...so she started giving me hints the way i would with her "it starts with an 'H'...'H-E'...heavvvv...HEAVEN! you know Jesus could come tomorrow and we could live together with him forever. we could even celebrate my birthday in heaven!" that brought me back to reality and also to the value of re-framing my perspective...adoration for my daughter and her ability to see the light in life's dark moments and bring hope...so i'll end on that note along with a photo of sea and calvin...so young yet so old for their age...i can imagine them as teens posing for this same shot...

too many bags (skeletons) in my closet

this could be a catchy title with all sorts of wonderful psychological analyses...but i've spent my lifetime analyzing and got a masters in psychology and i'm still not at the "doing" or putting into action phase...so i'm allowing myself 15 minutes to get the details of this particular mess up to motivate myself to go through my junk and throw out what i've been hanging on to and not doing for all these years...anywhere from projects/arts and crafts to memories or self-help/enrichment type things i think i'll get to some day...i'm actually going to list out the general contents of all these literal bags i've been stuffing into my closet waiting for the right time, the right babysitter, etc...oh and of course now story is waking up from his nap so i don't even have those 15 minutes...more later i hope...or not if i'm actually going through them...

that was probably the best place to end this post...me doing instead of obsessing and analyzing and procrastinating (all labels i use too often because i do these things too often) but story is now nursing in my lap and i also wanted to get down the idea that i'm going to blog every day in february thru nablopomo just to get a "photo a day" up...one of my friends is doing the 365 photos in a year challenge and i'll definitely hit that number if you add them up but i really want to do one a day at least for a month to see how that goes for regular blogging without the pressure of writing something meaningful...ahhh the conundrum for me of balancing meaning with being in the moment (oh, and being productive with all the necessities of life...that is probably my biggest weakness of the three)...

tomorrow is february 1st...i always look at the first of the month as a "blank page" or chance for a new beginning...new focus...new priorities...i always talk about how important integrity is to me which goes right along with the nablopomo february theme of "character"...so for me, at this point in my journey, that would mean doing instead of analyzing and putting my family and my husband in particular over my self-absorption and obsession with all the little things i "need" or want before i can be productive...wow, so many of these ideas are labels in my posts!

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ACTUAL CONTENTS OF SAID BAGS AND BOXES:

(i know this is it's own form of procrastination listing this all out but somehow these details matter...i think it makes the post more interesting but more importantly for me may help me look at the kind of things i hold on to and get me to do something with these things instead of throwing them all back in to bags hidden away)

1) box with two bags: one a) with the supplies needed to create a memory book for cara...i hosted her baby shower LAST january...1 year ago...and printed out the facebook status updates to put with photos from before the baby arrived plus the ones from the shower (i haven't printed)...colored paper to cut out...cutting mechanism...and b) about 10 pregnancy books and journals i intended to mail to two friends who's babies are due in a couple months

2) one paper bag: with baby clothes to either give away to friends, the goodwill or put in a quilt we are making out of our children's clothes...

3) green and white striped bag: i used this as a "diaper bag" or i suppose with 3 and 5.5-year-olds it was more of an "everything they might need on a quick playdate of some sort" bag that never got unpacked...a couple changes of clothes story probably can't fit into anymore, two or three bottles of sunscreen, three or so lipstick/lip glosses i didn't like enough to commit to but thought i might still use...two or three journals i started writing in and couldn't find so i bought more...a couple diapers...seeds to plant (i must have gotten these from the harvest festival at waldorf last year)...one christmas sock that got thrown on top (xmas items already packed away with the matching sock missing its pair)...rescue remedy..."mommy" cards...sea's bracelet, 3 pens, a brush, rubber bands...three pairs of mix-matched socks...

4) orange gift bag: i just got this yesterday from a party the children attended...i decided it was filled with candy and knick knacks i'd like to go through before giving to them but instead it clutters my closet and we both have too much stuff we don't need...

5) another paper bag: one of the children's favorite stuffed kitties i grabbed out of the car so it wouldn't get misplaced :) and a random worm sprinkler head my sister got for my son for his birthday

6) one recyclable bag with bright dots all over it: misc. art work sea's done at home and in school i can't bring myself to go through and throw any out

7) one recyclable bag "i love my planet earth": ironically filled to the brim with way too much paper junk much of which will eventually end up in the recycle bin (bills, mail, tax papers, etc. type things i need to do or file or throw out)

i don't even have time to list the contents of the last red and grey bag as i have to re-pile these bags all back in the closet and go pick up sea from kindergarten...it is a lovely day so i'm hoping i can get sea and story to go play in the back yard while i pull these all back out to go through them...

MPT #13 11th and 12th grade: where do i go from here?

here is my senior portrait...mighty class of 1990...i really don't like this photo...i don't like what i'm wearing, my perm or my smile...i feel fake and made up for someone other than myself...which i'm sure i was...i am probably even wearing a little make-up which i still don't know how to apply and never wear now...i didn't have a "theme" for this last post in my journey through my childhood...nor do i have time to adequately write all the ideas competing in my head...so true to form my procrastination is going to require i write a pseudo partial post now and follow up with more details in the next few days...and i don't forsee reading anyone else's posts anytime soon so if i happen to have any readers/comments i'll have to reply much later this week...ok, with all those disclaimers i'll write a little about the next few photos and supplement say wednesday night...

this photo i believe is from my 16th birthday but it may be my 18th...my birthday is february 15 so president's day weekend usually fell on my birthday (my husband's is the 12th--lincoln's birthday) and people were often out of town and couldn't attend my parties...i actually look happy here...a little sun-kissed...i have always loved the sun
i chuckle every time i see this photo taken in my parent's side yard...not sure what i was posing for...i feel very dopey and not attractive but with all my other problems body image remained ok so i'm posting it for that alone...
this one shows a little more of my depressive, reflective side...i didn't show this to many people...not sure what i was thinking or trying to depict when the photo was taken but it feels more authentic and true to "me" at the time...
i have many photos from graduation and many stories through the 4 years in high school if i can just find the time...i've enjoyed the journey if i don't get much more than this up...off to start a co-operative preschool for my youngest, story, not quite 3...

i didn't write a theme for this post because the thought in my head was "where do i go from here?" both the unknowns and lack of direction from high school and where do i go from taking this journey of recording my childhood? thanks for following me on mommy's piggytales MPT...not sure if we have a "post-high school" post or not but i'll probably write something about the journey and where i'm at now with resolution or what i've figure out reflecting on my past...don't expect that for another week or so, though...

thank you, janna for an awesome opportunity...i may participate again some time when i have more time to write more reflective/detailed entries...

one last idea...i felt my obsession with one guy, kerwin, defined most of my high school experience and was interested to learn that several of the people on my 20-year high school reunion planning committee didn't even know...i think we were all too self-absorbed...we probably are all still too self-absorbed...hoping to put my focus more on my children who, by the way are climbing all the way up on my shoulders as i type :)

MPT #12 9th and 10th grade: search for meaning and identity

this was my 9th grade ID card...i actually liked it better than any other year...in between the feathered 8th grade hair and super curly permed hair of later high school years (photo below)...i was always on a quest for meaning and trying to figure out "who am i?" analyzing myself, life, what mattered...i always remember reading pop psychology books, personality books, philosophical idealistic books, anything i could get my hands on to figure out who i was...i always felt like i needed to deal with the "deeper" side of life which isn't really the focus for most people in high school...i was also quite social and the counselor or confidant to many (gave guys i had crushes on advice on how to get the girls they were interested in)...

i also spent way too many hours of my life writing in journals...analyzing myself, my motives, my dreams, my interests...so self-absorbed writing all the minutia of what i thought about instead of what i did...

i was trying to find my tattered and torn copy of "please understand me" which summarizes the meyers-briggs personality test into every day terms...unfortunately it was so over used and missing so many pages i finally tossed it and haven't replaced it...i am an ENFP which means i'm Extroverted (like people), iNtuitive (make decisions about life based on my inner sense rather than reality), Feeling (follow my heart over my head) and Perceptive (like my options open instead of set and structured). i found a book on temperament which summarizes my type as the "advocate"; an idealist who focus on the growth potential in themselves and others and wants a part in the process...always seeking to know who i am, the search for my "true" self...integrity is the foundation of my self-esteem (oh boy...i was always betraying myself in high school...giving in to gossip or saying what i needed to say in any moment to be liked by people i probably didn't even like that well...i hated how i was such a chameleon changing to fit my environment)...

i'm going to quote out of this book as it was so true for me "desperate to please on one hand, yet fiercely guarding their integrity on the other, they must skate on the razor's edge, no easy feat. they can never be sure they are real because their integrity is more important to them than their sense of reality"

"...their mission in life is to have a mission in life, thus putting missions just out of reach...they try to be spontaneous so spontaneity eludes them...they consciously avoid self consciousness and so are all the more self conscious. they wish to be in touch with their feelings, only to lose the very feelings they want to experience more intensely..."

oh, man, i'm feeling depressed just reading this. i definitely suffered from depression in high school. only my family really needed me to be ok, happy all the time, no conflict, no sadness...so i gave them that outwardly and internalized too much...sorry for the therapy moment...i think by the end of this week i'll be ready to reflect on what i was hoping to gain from this adventure to my past...i think i've learned how far i've come and how i have an opportunity to allow my children to LIVE their life instead of always stressing they aren't doing it good enough...so many regrets from high school i analyzed everything instead of doing it...i would have dated, taken risks...allowed myself to love and be loved...

i should add one other personality test i took informed me i was "melancholy-sanguine" which to those of you who know a LITTLE about this know it was quite the polar opposites together...i was basically intense, depressive yet social and outwardly happy...

i wish people knew me better. i wish i let them. i wish i knew my classmates better. i wish i had more time to write about this but my son needs me in this moment and that is more important...

i've joined mommy's piggytales MPT recording my childhood a year per week...by the end of the week i'll have finished up high school...check back tomorrow for more details...

MPT #9 6th grade: loss, guilt and training bras

in sixth grade i had ms. fund as my teacher...things were definitely looking up from 5th grade though i notice the polo shirt which probably had a matching pair of baby blue pants with a pink horsie...oh how to avoid those trendy "cool" items with my own child who is already telling me what the kids like and don't like...speaking of baby blue...it was 1983 and 1984 and baby blue was THE color for eye shadow and eyeliner and even mascara...i remember experimenting with this using those magic crystals that grow...my best friend cara and i took them from our class and put them on our eyes in the bathroom...i remember sharing a lot of secrets in those bathrooms, whispering, passing notes trying to figure a lot out during these pre-teen years...i was still very awkward...most of elementary school i remember being too big for my self-confidence...i was one of the tallest girls (or children for that matter) in my grade but quite insecure so i walked in a clumsy way and tripped over my long limbs so-to-speak...i was also a very "late bloomer" wearing training bras when i had nothing to train...

i could check with my mom to get the specific dates/years correct but i'll go by memory about my her parents...i believe my grandma had a heart attack and was in the hospital and then her husband called my mom up in the middle of the night and said he couldn't breathe so my mom said to sit up and she would be right there...she found him dead (i was too young to understand all these details at the time)...that was maybe june of 1983 the end of 5th grade and then they didn't want to tell my grandma he had died because they thought with her heart attack she might not survive the news...i don't remember who told her or how but sure enough she died the following may...here is a photo of them with me and my mom...
i'm not sure if i already mentioned how my mom's mom had more or less resigned herself to never marrying when she literally bumped into my mom's dad going around a corner in the hospital where she worked....he fell in love at first sight and pursued her despite her bitterness and pride and brushing him off for some time and my mom thinks she was a mistake since her mom had her at age 40 or so which was unheard of old at the time...so needless to say they were both born like 1901 or something so they were 73 when i was born and 84 or so when they died...i felt like i never got to know either of them in part because they were both private people who didn't share much of themselves but possibly also the fact that we were really different from one another and didn't understand one another and i was young and hyper and too much for them to handle at their age. anyway, i felt like i really let me grandma down and i remember the day she was buried i wrote her a long letter that i poured out my guilt and sadness over not being a better grandchild...details i still remember like how i wished i'd learned how to sew from her and appreciated the sewing kit she gave me (that lay unused and unopened in my closet)...i tucked this note into one of the flower bouquets on top of her grave and somehow idealized when God came it would still be there and she would read it. i chuckle reading this now but i spent a LONG time feeling so guilty and ashamed and didn't know who to share this with or what to do with these unresolved feelings. i'm sure my parents had no idea. i resolve to encourage my children to share how they feel with me but i'm sure this could happen to them, too. anyway, it is interesting because after my dad died 4 years ago i had similar guilt feelings...why didn't i hug him that last day, conversations i wish i'd had, etc. even though i always tried to live without regrets with him knowing he had a heart condition and could die anytime...this theme continues with other people who have died in my life and i wonder where all the guilt came from? i know one other contributor in group 3 wrote about this if i can find the post maybe we can brainstorm on it more...

so on to lighter brighter memories...i remember being in the school parade...the first purple clown is our friend sarah that we babysat after school...next is my sister and the girl looking the other way with the green around her neck is my dear friend cara...i have the white face and too big smile next to her...

i went over to cara's house a lot and she came over to mine...some specific memories i have through elementary include going up and down the laundry shoot from our 2nd floor to the basement laundry room...climbing through the garbage shoot (my parents had a hole cut in a cupboard so that the large garbage can could fit in the back and you could take the garbage out from outside...nice IDEA but super disgusting dirty inside...i think i was forced to do this when we locked ourselves out one day)...i think i already wrote about riding down the hill leading to our house in a little red wagon using the handle to steer, we also were active in gymnastics and swimming every year and still taking piano lessons without practicing or enjoying it...funny, i LOVED gymnastics even though i was way too tall for the sport and not that good at it...later in acro-sports or whatever it became called they wanted me to be a base instead of climbing up on top and that is about when it was no longer fun and i quit...

here is my dear dog snowflake (i named him) on our front porch...he looked like benji only white...i just learned recently this may be a breed of some sort but as a child i always thought he was a mixed mutt from the pound...
i'm losing steam on this post...saying goodbye to elementary and wishing i had more memories or that i had shared more or that i had done things differently or not been so insecure or appreciated my youth...my dad was always very upbeat, optimistic and seeing the glass half full or the donut instead of the hole or however the saying goes so he did help me appreciate much...i guess i'm thinking about loss and guilt and how those feelings spill over into today and feeling extra sad without my dad right now...this last photo reminds me a lot of him because he loved to walk...i want to say he walked every day (when he wasn't swimming or doing some other exercise that was low impact but moving as quickly as he could with his arthritis and stiff neck from some childhood illness)...i often walked with him and was proud i could walk faster than him from an early age...in part because i had such long legs...anyway, we would take a dirt road up behind our house to the "water tower" with our dog snowflake...here is photo of part of that walk...
life is a journey so i know i have a lifetime of opportunities to appreciate all the little things and make more memories...thank you for sharing these records of my childhood with me. i'm going to try and read all 21 MPT 6th grade posts in the next 24 hours...

i'm recording my childhood through MPT mommy's piggytales writing one year at a time every friday...this friday i'll write about 7th grade...

in between but hanging on

yes my title is supposed to be both literal and figurative...this is really a "non-post" filler to keep up with my commitment to post daily in the month of november for nablopomo. i don't have much to say. i feel like i'm in between ideas. or have too many ideas i've left behind and not sure where to head next...i don't want to leave halloween behind but don't even know where to start to catch up with those photos...i also assisted teaching art in sea's class (art corps) and have lots of photos of the kindergarteners making monsters...

and then there was my summary of memories of my third grade year...definitely the first of many difficult school age years for me (i was pretty care free and naively happy before then)...but just writing that i feel like that was over THIRTY years ago and i'm so past that and holding on to the pain and what that meant and how that shaped me...so many more positive things have happened since then and that is really where i want to put my focus. so maybe part of the difficulty with that post was that i didn't want to go back there because i feel like i'm past there in a good way? of maybe because i go back and forth being depressed and self-absorbed in the present and am uncomfortable with that part of myself so i'd rather focus on the positives...but wasn't that the very complaint i had with my parents? that they didn't model for me how to "be" sad or angry or frustrated? and i want my daughter to feel comfortable feeling a full range of emotions and have a good model of how to deal with the sad and upsetting parts of her life...oh where to go...it feels ok to be confused and unsettled and even have a lack of balance and perspective. that's life, right? a journey...part of the reason i chose "mommy's journey" as the title of this blog was that it is specifically my journey and i'll always be moving and changing and growing and experiencing until i die but without the apostrophe it could also ready "mommies journey"...like many, many moms before me have been and will continue to be on their own journeys and we are in this together...we can learn from our moms and previous generations and learn from our own mistakes...

i feel so blessed that i was given the opportunity to be a mom to sea and story. i have a lifetime to experience so much more with them and know we will hang in there together...

MPT #5 3rd grade: the world doesn't revolve around me

here is my 3rd grade class photo...i'm the 5th person from the left on the top row...

oh man, my 'procrastination, wait until the last minute sabotage' style of doing things that are important to me is already shining through in my "late" details of third grade. i've been trying to figure out why i waited so long and didn't come through on this...i suppose it is because up until 3rd grade my life was pretty idyllic and sugar coated and i was an optimist who believed my world was perfect. nothing really that traumatic happened to me (and now i feel badly for those who did read my lack of post and commented their interest was piqued!) but as i thought back to the major theme from this year, this is when i first remember experiencing depression. and anxiety. and disappointment. and feeling left out. and that my dreams might not come true.

contrast this with my constant need for attention (and successfully achieving it) along with the belief that i was special and important and going to do something big in my life...my narcissism began early thus the idea "the world doesn't revolve around me" which i didn't believe, but it was my first taste that my life might not work out the way i'd dreamt or believed...allow me a little free associating and analysis here...i suppose it is symbolic and noteworthy that part of what i was taught growing up was the importance of APPEARANCE...in how i look outwardly but more importantly in my family, to appear happy as more important than actually experiencing happiness...that sounds harsh and of course that was never explicit but i just felt like sadness or anger were never acceptable emotions and from an early age i learned to pretend everything was alright and bottle my negative emotions...

...so to connect these dots, i suppose i don't even want to address these negative memories and feelings in this post even though that is the most vivid memory i have from this age...

i'm rambling around the idea i'm trying to get at...basically what i recall most distinctively from third grade was that i didn't like the teacher very well and she didn't like me and would single me and my friend cara out. cara's mom was much more confrontational than my parents (remember my family liked to pretend like everything was alright or avoided conflict whenever possible) and ended up pulling cara out of this class. so my memory wasn't even about not liking the teacher; it was the trauma of having my best friend and security moved to another class...i would watch her laughing and making new friends and felt very abandoned and rejected and like i had "lost" someone very dear to me...i was desperately looking for someone i could attach to, connect with, feel understood and loved and then i felt like i "got" this in 2nd grade and lost it the next year. this happened about the time my study in psychology shows depression might show up anyway, so i'm not making this causative per se...

hmm...i think maybe i should have labeled this post more about depression instead of about the world not revolving around me...i guess even though i had a younger sister born when i was 3, i managed to still get most of the attention anyway. my neighbors 5 years or so older than me really built me up to be so brilliant and have so much potential and i felt adored, loved, special to so many people before 3rd grade...i guess the loss of my friend cara was the first experience i had of not being able to control everything in my life. that i couldn't manipulate everyone into giving me my way or creating the life i imagined.

this was also the year i got a "C" in art ?! sorry, i'm still upset about that...i have always loved art and though i never thought i had a talent in it per se, it was such a blow to get only "satisfactory" instead of "excellent" or whatever i believed i should have gotten at that age. really i don't think art should ever be graded...fortunately i didn't let my love for art go because of this. i think i would have gone into an art field if i'd been encouraged, though...

it is late and i've lost my ideas...i'll try to finish this post tomorrow night and appreciate your patience if you are checking back!

**11/07 update: i still don't have the energy to write more about 3rd grade but did add a little present day perspective in today's post...i won't make any promises about finishing this but may be inspired the day i'm writing 4th grade! :) **

this is the 5th in a series recording my childhood through mommy's piggytales (MPT)
i'll be writing about 4th grade the end of next week so i need to finish these ideas up in the next few days! thanks for your patience as i deal with these psychological hang ups i obviously still haven't sufficiently worked out!

in memory of lorie

this photo of lorie (in the middle) making karri laugh and arlene smile while we were camping together was taken october 15th, 2004...just shy of 4 years before she passed away. i wanted to write something poignant about her brilliance (she shown like a gem...her personality was so effervescent, she was one of the smartest people i knew and made most people close to her feel like THEY were the most brilliant/special) and maybe something about my depression and difficulty after losing my dad...how i just can't process losing anyone else and i need to reach out to lorie's mom and a couple other people who have lost family members since...but i don't have the energy.

so instead i'm copying and pasting the piece i wrote for the "tribute to lorie" booklet i helped construct for her memorial service:

dear lorie,

I’ve been putting off writing this because until I do I feel like you are still out there somewhere and I can just call you up or come over and connect in some way and I won’t have to write any final words…

I got the call on a monday and by tuesday I was driving up to visalia trying to sort out my thoughts and rollercoaster of emotions…nine hours later I was at your bedside trying to decide how to tell you how much you meant to me or if I should focus on saying goodbye and how much I’d miss you or I should tell you that I knew you could fight and pull through…but then when I saw you I was just struck by your strength. I didn’t feel like you would want to say goodbye or have me feel sad about losing you so I held your hand tightly and told you how much I love you and focused on the present. that is one thing I learned from you for sure…the importance of living in the moment and appreciating life and those around you…I truly believe you packed over 100 years into your short 36…you were able to move a few fingers and lift your leg and I felt you were the one supporting me as always at a time I so wanted to be there for you so I just squeezed your hand more tightly and hoped you would intuit these things…you never kept track of who owed who and always gave so freely of yourself so I just wanted you to know how much I appreciated that…by the end of the week all medical signs indicated we were losing you but I suppose one of the ideas I want to convey is that you will never be lost…your spirit lives on in so many ways! One of the last touching moments I had was at your bedside with arlene, both holding on to you for the last time and you lifted your arm a little...not once, but twice and I believe in your own way you were hugging us…not goodbye, but to let us know you will always be there…

There are so many things I want to tell you; reminisce about working together at brava, celebrations shared, ALWAYS laughing together, thank you for so many things, mostly I just want to be with you. I’ve been having these conversations with you in my mind, in dreams, and I suppose these are just more indicators you will always be with us…but there were a couple of specific things I wanted to emphasize…my husband was saying how you were “unapologetically yourself” and this was so important to me throughout our friendship. You were ok with your weaknesses and embraced your strengths and taught me to do the same at a time when I was very vulnerable and insecure. Secondly, you made me feel special and cherished by you every moment we spent together. If I can just love myself and help others feel loved the way you did with me, this will be just one more way your spirit can live on…

Lorie I could go on and on…you were one of the most brilliant people I knew…in many ways beyond intelligence; your quick wit, sense of humor, intuition and ability to read people and hang with the cool crowd or nerds or strangers…you made each person feel special and brought life to every interaction. People were drawn to you and wanted to be a part of lorie’s world. I always told you you should be a writer and just write life through your eyes…I’m trying to do this through this booklet but beyond that your life lives on in our memories…may it also live on in how we live our lives…may we learn from your example to embrace our opportunities to love ourselves and others and make the most of every day…I imagine you as a wee one…watching you through the eyes of sea; vivacious, spirited, full of life, laughing at the small things, at yourself, connecting with so many people...your spirit lives on... anyhooo…that is all I have until I can hold on to you for always in heaven

Love, denise

funny after i just re-read this (2 years later) i realized i wanted to write about her brilliance back then, too...she was just one of those people who GOT it...how to live life, treat people, connect, be in the present, give of herself...i miss her so much...right now i just want to laugh together...she could always make the most difficult situations either funny or give people perspective it wasn't THAT bad...i'm rambling through my pain and not very articulate but just felt i should get something down on this anniversary of her passing.

smiles...sea showing off her lost tooth

sea lost her first tooth last saturday and i haven't been able to let it go...i've wanted to blog about several topics but couldn't move past this one with all the cute shots of her leading up to losing her tooth. we made a pillow together (still have to make the little tooth fairy and tiny pocket for the tooth on top) but even those photos didn't quite come together with my ideal of this process...i joined nablopomo for october to motivate myself to move on...keep posting even if i'm not as moved...november is their biggest "post every day for a month" month with prizes for those who do...the theme this month is PLAY which i figure i can focus a lot on...both in time together with sea between school and alone with story...plus i'm going to start recording my childhood weekly beginning with my birth story on october 7...if you'd like to join this process sign up here and they recommend you not only look through old photos and things that remind you of your childhood but focus on PLAYING yourself to remind yourself what childhood feels like...
so here is sea the monday after losing her tooth showing it off to her classmates...

i love the profile shots...
and of course showing her teacher...
finally, she found brooke who had lost the same tooth a couple weeks ago...
proud toothy grins...
and i'll leave you with my favorite, a close-up of their smiles with a missing tooth...
sea had picture day at school yesterday and i told her to try and smile with her teeth so we could see the missing tooth...that advice may back fire on me as i remember my responses to my mom's similar requests were either the opposite or an exaggerated version of her request...we'll know in a couple of weeks...

sea's first lost tooth

i was having trouble moving past the last post where sea drew us in matching outfits...until today when she lost her first tooth. i probably won't be able to follow this post with any bigger news anytime soon...here she is first telling me it was "wiggly" (last night)...we went to visit uncle matthew and uncle dave (a surgeon) checked out her tooth to ascertain when he thought it might fall out...he gave it at least 2 or 3 days (not remembering my spirited daughter's persistent nature to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN)...
here she is this morning showing me how it moves even more...
we went to the beach for the day...she showed me how it was still hanging on...
and then, while showing it's wiggliness to a stranger, it popped right out of her mouth!
she turned and showed me...
and here is the final look...just like a jack-o-lantern and just in time for halloween...