Bedroom Scrapbook: Entry #2

This mirrored nightstand (at JCPenney for under $300) and chandelier (by Castlewood) would be so romantic.

Bedroom Scrapbook: Entry #1

Here are the things I've found so far that I really love. This bed by Paula Dean is just dreamy. Just so happens that our current wall color is very similar to that shown in the photo of the bed...makes it easy to picture the whole scene! The bed would also go well with creamy colored drapes; love the Moorish tile pattern of this fabric called "Riad" by Windsor Smith Home. Also love the idea of bringing the ocean inside by accenting the walls with a painting of the ocean with whites, blues and grays.

Bedroom Redecoration

We've lived in the new house for almost three years and have done a lot of decoration of the great room, living room, kitchen and the boys' rooms. The two spare bedrooms have each gotten a coat of paint, but are otherwise undecorated; as is the Master bedroom. The walls are a golden taupe color and there is beautiful white molding around the windows. I either want to stick with the wall color or find a medium gray tone. We have a large dark-wood bed, but no other furniture. All of our clothes are either hanging in the closet, or folded on the closet shelves that are meant for shoes. We definitely need a dresser and maybe an armoire. A new bed might be needed and a side table or two. Frankly, I'm not sure where to start but the blog may help me to catalog some ideas and develop a plan to make this room livable.

Beautiful Contradiction #2: The Plastic Vortex

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yiPZNsW8fI
This video describes the efforts of graduate students at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution in defining the problem of the accumulation plastics in the North Pacific Ocean Gire. It begins, "A thousand miles from land, the Pacific Ocean is striking in its beauty; rich, deep blue waters, calm seas and serene stillness." The beauty of the ocean has been meaningful to me from the time I can remember. Growing up in a small town on the Northern Coast of California the ocean offered many benefits: a gorgeous view to the west, a moderate climate, an opportunity to play in the toe-numbing surf, a financial resource for my stepfather and others who made their living as fisherman, and a place many of us went to catch our evening meal of crab, salmon or abalone. That beauty is now being challenged by a throw-away mentality that has led to the accumulation of plastics and other rubbish in our landfills and now in the oceans. We need to make better choices as consumers, or risk the health of our oceans' ecosystems. Even from a very selfish perspective, we need to look out for ourselves. As higher-order consumers, we will be the ones at greatest risk of accumulating all of these chemicals into our bodies. What choice will we make? There seems to be only one good one.
Beautiful Contradiction #2; the Plastic Vortex (painting above) was inspired by this tragedy. Thank you to those from Scripps for doing the work to accurately define the problem! Now that we know better, maybe we'll do better.

Beautiful Contradictions

Very excited to be done with a series of paintings that I started a few months ago. The theme of the paintings is "contradictions." There is so much tension when two opposing forces collide. And with that collision comes a spark. An energy that can inspire action if the observer so chooses. The series is called Beautiful Contradictions.

Beautiful Contradiction #1; When the Levee Burst: The first of the series was inspired by the breach of the levees in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. The storm itself was a natural occurrence. We think of weather as unavoidable, in the natural plan, divinely ordered, although it is becoming harder to argue that human interference with weather patterns is not a factor. Issues of global warming aside, the true tragedy, in this case, occurred in that New Orleans was unprepared to weather the storm. The breach of the levees was inarguably avoidable. Did so many people need to have endured pain and even death? One can't help but think how much suffering could have been avoided had a different series of decisions been made regarding resource allocation for the levee system. I refer specifically to the fortification of the levee system surrounding the 9th Ward. Nothing captures that tension more than the moment that the levee burst. Inspired by that moment, will our policy makers make different decisions in the future? And even in the face of such tragedy, there are countless stories of the people of Louisiana and surrounding areas helping those in need. Herein lies the beauty; that even in the face of human failure, many people acted in love toward their fellow human beings.

Beautiful Contradiction #1; When the Levee Burst is my imagination of what that moment entailed.

Yummy Bayou Pasta

The focus of this entry is food, AGAIN! Although my brilliant plan to split the meal-cooking responsibilities has been less than embraced by the rest of the family, there are occasions when the responsibility is shared and both the process and product are extremely enjoyable. Tonight I made Emeril Lagasse's Bayou Chicken Pasta, and I fully intended to do so alone.
It is a fantastic recipe that I've made before. I go straight by the book, except I replace the cream with 1/2 and 1/2 and use both chicken and shrimp. A few crawfish tossed in would be great too. I'll try that next time!
This time, as I began browning the butter and chopping the onions and garlic, the pasta pot boiling away, both of my boys smelled the aroma, walked into the kitchen and uttered these words, "We want to cook with you, Momma." Music to my ears. Simply made me smile. So, Zackary's contribution was the parsley and Ky's was the green onion. Derrick provided some guidance regarding avoiding the sharp, serrated edge of the steak knives they used to do their dicing. Gever Tulley, author of 50 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do, would have been awfully proud.

Pause for a moment while I admire the capability of my children...and my husband. Wow! Very appreciative.

What a fun, collaborative process. And the product wasn't too shabby either. Yum! Now...what's for dessert?

New Energy Policy Needed

Over the last several weeks I've been thinking about making some changes to my much-to-busy life. Minor speed bumps on the road of life have kept me away from the blog (among them a toe surgery, car wreck and thousands of dollars in unexpected medical bills). Just the disasters I needed to drive some change. These disasters are nowhere near what others have experienced lately.

As the earthquake and tsunami in Japan threatened nuclear reactors and caused us to reexamine energy policy on a broad scale, I am wondering about my own use of “energy.” Beyond the crafty mantra to, “Reduce, reuse, recycle!” that my family consistently tries to implement better than we already do, I’m now trying to take a more deeply analytical approach to my own energy use. One sign that I’m not using energy efficiently is that I come home from work every day completely exhausted. Another is that I have so much to do that I completely neglect some obligations and the things I remember to do are not done as well as they should be. Like many of my friends, I am a woman who wears too many hats. I am spread too thin, trying to do too much. I use my energy very inefficiently. I find that I don’t do any of these things justice; they are deprived of the energy they deserve, despite my best intentions. And I am left feeling guilty about it.
For someone committed to wearing my hats well, this is an extremely uncomfortable position in which to find myself. The solution: to give up some of my hats. Take them off so that someone better suited might pick them up to wear them wonderfully herself. Ironically, there is a sense of guilt in making this choice. If I give up a commitment (or two or three), does it mean that I don’t care? Someone looking in from the outside will certainly think that’s true and judge me accordingly. Before I give something up do I need to have someone else in mind to assume responsibility for the hat I’m taking off? Or if I let go, will God take care of those things that I am not able to? And if I let go of something that I’m not meant to let go of will I cause myself or others to suffer? All of these what-ifs are leading me to believe that I need to should approach this decision carefully and prayerfully. Things need to be let go of…it’s just a matter of what and when. When I let go, I need to trust that things will be taken care of by a power much greater than me. If I choose those things that use my energy most efficiently, I trust that in the grand scheme of things, I will be leaving things open for others to use their energy the way they were meant to as well.
How did I get myself in this overextended mess in the first place? I might be trying to make up for those I saw fail to live up to commitment that I thought they should have upheld. But that is really not my judgment to make, is it? But I can make some decisions to use my energy wisely today. Right now. So I will.