{pretty, happy, funny, real}


round button chicken


 ~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter! 
I'm having to combine two weeks on this post.

{pretty}




I was blessed to go on a girls' weekend with four amazing women.   It was a grand time with great conversation, food, fellowship and much laughter.   We were able to experience the first cold front of fall as it blew in and attend mass together in a beautiful little church.   We also shopped at the local trade days event.   Near closing time, we came upon a booth with some beautiful religious statues.   One of the owners said her sister had started hoarding statues and she managed to get her to sell some of them.   "Make us a deal!"   was her cry.   So we did.   And she accepted our offers.   I thought of Mama as the seller let me get boxes of more statues from under the tables.   Mama loved to be the first one to unwrap things before they were set out for others to see at a sale!

 Above are pictures of  our collection of beautiful statues we bought--rescued--on our trip.   The seller said she was glad they were going to people who would appreciate them.  

One of my rescued items: this little wood carved Our Lady of Perpetual Help as it now sits in my home.


{happy}

Honestly, just the sight of ROYAL MAIL in my mailbox makes me happy.    When it marks a package containing great British drama, I'm more than happy.


I've been waiting for this one for months.   As part of a Cultural Olympiad, the BBC produced television adaptations of three of Shakespeare's history plays: Richard II, Henry IV, Parts I and II and Henry V.   I've watched Richard II and Henry IV, Part I so far.   They are amazing.   Beautifully done, they are authentic and accessible.   I'm looking forward to watching the rest as soon as I possibly can.



This is another one I had on pre-order from Amazon.co.uk as soon as it was aired in the BBC.   Parade's End is a television drama adapted by the great Tom Stoppard, based on the novel series by Ford Maddox Ford.   It was directed Susanna White, who directed one of my favorite British dramas, the 2005 BBC Bleak House.   

I am one happy Anglophile!

{funny}



Little brothers need dress-up, too!   Clad in his Superman shirt, here sits Thomas, beaming as he holds up his new Hawkeye costume.   Hawkeye is the never-miss, archer-assassin from Marvel's The Avengers.   Thomas has carried the little bow and arrows with him since he got them, even to my oral surgeon appointment.   He's just disappointed it didn't come with a quiver.    So, he slips the bow in the back of his shirt.

{real}




Whilst looking for last year's tax return (not that I was at the last minute filing before the six month extension deadline--nope--not me), I found a file of papers and essay exams from college.   I used to file everything BC (Before Children).   What I found sometimes made me cringe as I read it critically, but it also reminded me just how much writing has meant to me throughout my life.   It reminded me that I need to make a focused effort to write regularly, through this blog, private journals, and actual pen-and-paper letters.    When I graduated from college, I had plans to teach whilst writing young adult fiction.   Then, I would go to graduate school.

Teaching didn't allow for much work on the side, though, and later came children of my own.   This blog sparked my return to writing and made me realize how much writing is a part of me.   So, I committed to take time to write, no matter if what I produce is ever read.   It's the process that is as important to me as the product.

From a blue book exam.  The sight of a blue book still makes me happy.   It took great effort to control physical signs of my excitement on test days.

More than one English professor shook her head and said, "What a waste," when I told them I was an Education, not English, major.   At the time, it just made me want to teach all the more!

Still one of my favorite things I've ever written, it was just a description of one of many approaching storms I witnessed growing up in Louisiana.   It was the first organic piece I'd written where my writing voice could really be heard.







Comments

  1. Julia18 October 2012 at 11:18

    Write on, sister! I would love to read some of your essays. Bronius found a few binders of essays (not women) of mine from college and I was determined to write them up on my blog...one day. I have been trying to join a writing critique group with Brazos Writers but my schedule doesn't ever sync up with the existing ones. Maybe we can start one! :) I know I would benefit greatly from some seasoned advice.

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