camel shoes

Camel Shoes

I have a camel on my nightstand.
He wears two shoes.
At night.

He is stitched into an elaborate,
Miniature Persian rug coaster.
With fringe.

He came to me by way of an old friend
Who brought him back from Saudi Arabia.
He wears two shoes.
At night.

Unless I am sick, then he wears more.
One day, I hope he can be free
Of his two shoes forever.

We will sleep better, on our own feet,
Without those two damn shoes.
At night. All night. Every night.

Inspiration Searching...

As the story goes, our master bedroom is the last room (well, actually the bathroom will be last) to be touched in our cottage redo.  What's new.  And as the story goes, it should have been the first.  Sadly, we are now feeling the necessity of being first as our relationship begins to spiral into a sea of doing it all for others but never for ourselves.  I am keenly aware of the impact an environment has on a soul, or two; thus, I begin the search for our bedroom inspiration.  Actually, I started this search a few years ago but it's now time to really tackle the issue(s) and make all things here lovely again.  My inclinations seem to lead me towards color ~ simple and sometimes overwhelming. And it leads me to mirrors and the impact they have on a small space. Did I mention our room is a small space?  Very small. No complaints though...the smaller it is, the less to clean.  Yeah.  I really don't like cleaning.  It's gross.  I digress.  My inclinations also lead me to uncluttered spaces which means lots of built-ins.  It is just senseless to think you can do a small bedroom without built-ins.  But where to put them?  I'm fairly certain of one wall that must have built-ins, but lately I've been thinking about adding another built-in section either on the wall where my two closet doors live, or over there, where the beautiful double windows are open.

You see, what happens is that I have SO MANY saved pictures, etc., that I cannot seem to narrow it down!

Here are some BEFORE pics...totally embarrassing, but necessary!

And here is our first AFTER photo...mind you, after means that only 2 walls are complete at this time :o) Such is life.

Unfortunately, the stripes look yellow in the photograph, but they are actually white and snow white with different sheen's.

Dear Children

This month I began writing letters to to my children.  I've kept journals for years and in those journals are many letters to and notes about them, but these new letters are individualized and I want to continue writing them for as long as I'm able.  My mortality is beginning to dawn on me, which I am assuming is a reaction to my approaching 40th birthday, and communicating to my children in a way that will provide them with pieces of my love long after I'm gone is now becoming extremely important. 

And with that...I'm off to write.

If you are reading this blog, good night and sweet dreams to you.

stef

Bars...

Kindness Bars

I'm always a proud mother, but this morning.... it was an extra special moment.  As I do every morning (well, almost every morning), I walked Madison to her car, seeing her off with hugs and I Love You's to begin her departure into another day.  Pause...the item she forgot.  This is a daily occurance and I must say she comes by it honestly. While I am waiting at her car I see a box of nutrition bars in the floorboard behind her seat.  She's a stickler for a spotless car so when she returned with scarf in hand I inquired about the bars.  Nonchalantly, because for her it really is natural, she tells me that they are for the homeless.  She is feeding the homeless! This brief conversation reminds her to pick up another flavor after school today.  Yep. She likes to offer them a variety of flavors. Madi's concern for the homeless began as a little bitty girl, just tall enough to see out of the car windows.  She doesn't care why they are homeless and passes no judgement on them.  If they are homeless she feels a sense of responsibility to help them.  And so she does...