just popping my head in to say we are fine! the storm did a lot of damage to our beach area, but the streets are driveable and we did not lose power, according to a neighbor. we will start driving back from NJ tomorrow. Taking one more day to rest and make the best of things. We never lost power here but an hour away in Atlantic City things were terrible. We are so very blessed. Today I'm washing laundry, took a long walk, fiance made me a yummy omelette, and going to work on some knitting for a long spot. Hopefully out for a nice dinner. It will certainly be nice to have a two-day workweek, though a bit hectic with PT conferences coming up.
Hope you and yours along the East Coast stayed safe yesterday.
Also, Happy Halloween! Trying to really hang on to some money so I will not be handing out candy to children this year (also have issues with the slave labor in the chocolate industry). Looks like I'll be celebrating that quietly.
Christmas ... well. The marketers are already at it. I'm trying to ignore all the store displays. That will be a quiet one this year, too. I just really don't believe in spending money on gifts for everyone anymore. I would like to do something charitable, and get a few practical things for John and our parents. (I like nice gifts of things like food and soap, locally-crafted things too) We have a wedding to plan. No idea where money for everything would come from, so we pick and choose for what works best for us. Priorities, you know, starting a family and all? Yeah. Back in a bit ...
Blessings,
K.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
battening down the hatches:: 28 October
Expecting major wind, rain, and flooding from Sandy here near the southernmost tip of Virginia. We are under voluntary evacuations but with nowhere but NJ or CT to go (and those areas expected to get hit worse), we are staying put. The center will pass us to the north, but we are two and a half blocks from the beach and the water was up to the bottom of our sand dunes already this morning.
It's expected to be calm here till 4 p.m. or so this afternoon, the wind has eerily gone silent for now.
We are just in nervous anticipation mode at this point. We have flashlights, candles, matches, water, weather radio, boots. We have coffee brewed to drink cold tomorrow and Tuesday, when the power will likely be out. School has been canceled for the near future. Our laundry is washed, our patio furniture is put away. We have extra blankets. We feel as ready as ready can be ....
Keep us in your thoughts. We are expecting that we will be fine but we just can't anticipate the damage from downed trees, power lines, and water. Our cars are parked on higher ground and we are hoping they will not be ruined by flood water.
catch you soon,
k.
It's expected to be calm here till 4 p.m. or so this afternoon, the wind has eerily gone silent for now.
We are just in nervous anticipation mode at this point. We have flashlights, candles, matches, water, weather radio, boots. We have coffee brewed to drink cold tomorrow and Tuesday, when the power will likely be out. School has been canceled for the near future. Our laundry is washed, our patio furniture is put away. We have extra blankets. We feel as ready as ready can be ....
Keep us in your thoughts. We are expecting that we will be fine but we just can't anticipate the damage from downed trees, power lines, and water. Our cars are parked on higher ground and we are hoping they will not be ruined by flood water.
k.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
new craft space
I am so excited to share this with you. Happened upon the antique table in a thrift store this week for $40. a true steal, it fits magically well with the $20 antique chair I picked up when we first moved to Virginia. My new crafting space in the tiniest room in the house. I also do yoga in this room. The rug was thrifted on the same day and in the same place as the table, for $14.99 and smelled sweet, like soap. The things that patience brings you, one of the true perks of a rural area with its other, non-negotiable frustrations.
Now I just need to learn how to sew ... beginner's links appreciated. I am thinking of coasters, cloth napkins, and three-part card pouches from my classroom.
Things are relaxed here lately on the weekends. We could fill them with activities outside the home, but are choosing not to. This pace feels right, a retreat from the very stressful, nearly all-consuming first two months of school. For me, being home is catching up on housework (laundry, sweeping, dishes, deep cleaning of certain areas, menu planning, cooking staples like beans and tofu and baked goods, catching up on finances), knitting, reading a great page-turner of a novel. napping, sometimes. long walks and yoga on video. I say, why feel guilty about not turning outward when turning inward feels so right? Just be as you are in the moment. The socializing, well .. plenty of time and opportunities for that. To give myself the true gift of rest is unparalleled.
Now I just need to learn how to sew ... beginner's links appreciated. I am thinking of coasters, cloth napkins, and three-part card pouches from my classroom.
Things are relaxed here lately on the weekends. We could fill them with activities outside the home, but are choosing not to. This pace feels right, a retreat from the very stressful, nearly all-consuming first two months of school. For me, being home is catching up on housework (laundry, sweeping, dishes, deep cleaning of certain areas, menu planning, cooking staples like beans and tofu and baked goods, catching up on finances), knitting, reading a great page-turner of a novel. napping, sometimes. long walks and yoga on video. I say, why feel guilty about not turning outward when turning inward feels so right? Just be as you are in the moment. The socializing, well .. plenty of time and opportunities for that. To give myself the true gift of rest is unparalleled.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
7:: October. slowing down.
Slowing down.
That's just what I feel like doing now that we seem to have officially turned the corner into fall. Reading books (The Hobbit, again, to start). Knitting. Baking. Sleeping. After two months here, and one of school, we are feeling settled, more or less. I have mixed feelings about life here. I love my job, I love the natural beauty and the unpolluted landscape and long walks along the beach. Overall, I find it soothing and healing. On the other hand, I do not like the un-crunchy nature of such a place. I can't find a yoga studio anywhere (I am trying to start a co-op of interested yoginis). I have to travel an hour to get to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. There are tons of farms, but which grow conventional crops. There seems to be quite a bit of ignorance, and smoking :-(
However, there is no feeling of temptation to run to the shops. By nature of the distance, it does have to be premeditated. In that way, it helps the nesting feeling emerge. The more places I live, the more I realize I have a split personality, wanting to be alone with land around me, and wanting to be close by good culture and community. We do have some of that in Cape Charles. For now.
I've been struggling with still feeling wanderlust toward certain places. I've been dreaming about crunchy enclaves in New York, Vermont, North Carolina. Even Oregon, though the distance is frightening to me. I miss Louisville all. the. time. But part of me wants to just find that special place to settle for a good long time. It seems so like second nature to dare I say most people. Not to us, to John and I. We are also in a line of work that is very specific, and it's hard to find a good situation of in many places (there are lots of terrible Montessori schools out there). I still have faith that we'll get to the right place when the time is right.
As my thoughts turn toward soon starting a family, I feel the very urgent need to get even more serious about keeping my finances in check. I'm on a good road with that now, but it's still a bumpy one with some kinks still being ironed out. If I can find a great school, I'd like to still work and have my baby at school with me. And maybe take time off later to be a part- or full-time SAHMama once I have some money stockpiled up. I'm still thinking that yoga teacher training might be in my future, and then doing yoga as a side business. That's a big decision I don't feel ready to make yet.
I'm so happy to have my camera back. Here are a few pictures of our new humble abode just a block from the beautiful Chesapeake Bay. For now, I'm trying my best to bloom where planted and enjoy the way.
things i'm looking forward to::
baking with pumpkin
crunching in fallen leaves
treating trick or treaters
eating yummy vegetarian meals (I've gone back to no meat eating after a nearly five month break from my nearly six years of vegetarianism/veganism, and I feel GREAT)
having friends over for supper
breaking out the sewing machine, at some point.
horseback riding with the elementary teacher at my school
finishing painting the bedroom (you can see the ugly pink reflected in the mirror), our new color is beachy blue and called "sprinkle"
fixing up two large end tables i found at a yard sale
taking my friend heather's fall online whole foods workshop
knitting more this fall and winter than in years past
planning our simple wedding for next fall
saving money, just a bit
That's just what I feel like doing now that we seem to have officially turned the corner into fall. Reading books (The Hobbit, again, to start). Knitting. Baking. Sleeping. After two months here, and one of school, we are feeling settled, more or less. I have mixed feelings about life here. I love my job, I love the natural beauty and the unpolluted landscape and long walks along the beach. Overall, I find it soothing and healing. On the other hand, I do not like the un-crunchy nature of such a place. I can't find a yoga studio anywhere (I am trying to start a co-op of interested yoginis). I have to travel an hour to get to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. There are tons of farms, but which grow conventional crops. There seems to be quite a bit of ignorance, and smoking :-(
However, there is no feeling of temptation to run to the shops. By nature of the distance, it does have to be premeditated. In that way, it helps the nesting feeling emerge. The more places I live, the more I realize I have a split personality, wanting to be alone with land around me, and wanting to be close by good culture and community. We do have some of that in Cape Charles. For now.
I've been struggling with still feeling wanderlust toward certain places. I've been dreaming about crunchy enclaves in New York, Vermont, North Carolina. Even Oregon, though the distance is frightening to me. I miss Louisville all. the. time. But part of me wants to just find that special place to settle for a good long time. It seems so like second nature to dare I say most people. Not to us, to John and I. We are also in a line of work that is very specific, and it's hard to find a good situation of in many places (there are lots of terrible Montessori schools out there). I still have faith that we'll get to the right place when the time is right.
As my thoughts turn toward soon starting a family, I feel the very urgent need to get even more serious about keeping my finances in check. I'm on a good road with that now, but it's still a bumpy one with some kinks still being ironed out. If I can find a great school, I'd like to still work and have my baby at school with me. And maybe take time off later to be a part- or full-time SAHMama once I have some money stockpiled up. I'm still thinking that yoga teacher training might be in my future, and then doing yoga as a side business. That's a big decision I don't feel ready to make yet.
I'm so happy to have my camera back. Here are a few pictures of our new humble abode just a block from the beautiful Chesapeake Bay. For now, I'm trying my best to bloom where planted and enjoy the way.
baking with pumpkin
crunching in fallen leaves
treating trick or treaters
eating yummy vegetarian meals (I've gone back to no meat eating after a nearly five month break from my nearly six years of vegetarianism/veganism, and I feel GREAT)
having friends over for supper
breaking out the sewing machine, at some point.
horseback riding with the elementary teacher at my school
finishing painting the bedroom (you can see the ugly pink reflected in the mirror), our new color is beachy blue and called "sprinkle"
fixing up two large end tables i found at a yard sale
taking my friend heather's fall online whole foods workshop
knitting more this fall and winter than in years past
planning our simple wedding for next fall
saving money, just a bit
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