{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Pretty:

pyramid in motion

window star

oranges with cloves for smelling good

There's been quite some decorating and crafting around here! The pyramid is imported from Germany - my parents brought it when they spent Christmas with us here two years ago. The best part of the pyramid was the look of wide-eyed wonder and happiness on Noah's face when he saw it in action for the first time.
The window star is just something I whipped up the other night (she said smugly). My grandfather made these stars with great precision (or so I perceived it as a little girl). Each point is folded individually and they are overlapped and glued together to make a star that you can use and re-use during Advent and Christmas season for years. (As long as the sun lets you - they can get pretty bleached out.)
Noah and I made those oranges together. The cloves were a lot pointier than I remembered, so I was actually surprised how long Noah stuck with it. He's got a lot of determination.

Happy:

my hand looks fairly mutant-ish here

Gingerbread was made last Sunday afternoon. I've not had much luck with gingerbread in the past, but this turned out really well. So well, in fact, that it's almost time to make more! It goes without saying that Noah was an enthusiastic little helper. I'm hoping that he'll soon grasp the concept of not cutting one cookie out of the center of the rolled-out dough... but I'm not holding my breath. He's three, after all.

Funny:

leaves!

Real:

There are a few things that are too real for me this week, but photos don't exist of any of them.
Perhaps you can help me with this: I'm taking a water aerobics class two nights a week now. I really enjoy it, but the pool is very chlorinated. I'm usually in the water up to my chin (because the air is kind of chilly), so I end up breathing in the chlorine fumes for an hour while I exercise, and it's burning the mucous membranes in my nose and throat, which is surprisingly painful. Do you have any ideas what I can do to protect myself or at least stop the pain more quickly? I lay awake in bed at night after class because my throat burns. Not good.

Pretty, happy, funny, real is the brainchild of these ladies here, who are encouraging their reader to find contentment in the everyday perfection and imperfection of life.

tree

7 Sachen

I'm jumping on the 7 Sachen* bandwagon - an idea from the lovely Frau Liebe. Every Sunday (or sometimes Monday), 7 photos of things I used my hands for that day.
Unfortunately, I didn't remember the project until late this afternoon, so more than half the day went undocumented.

 Baked gingerbread boys with my human boy. (Turned out delicious if a little spicy. Hello, Cardamom!)

Rinsed a lot of dishes, which makes me grateful for my dishwasher - at least it does most of the work!

Stroked my growing belly.

Tried on every sweater I own, found out that not a single one is long enough for me AND baby to wear it.

Played some Christmas music on the piano.

Harvested one of the little mandarins from our little mandarin tree. My tasters tell me it was delicious.

Lit the second candle on the advent wreath. Christmas is going to be here and gone before we know it!

* 7 Sachen is German for "7 things."

rambly bullets!

This has not been the Best Week Ever, so I've been reduced to bullet blogging.

• I'm blogging from my shiny new laptop (which of course is awesome and NOT part of the not-the-best-week-ever thing), so until I figure out some photo-related stuff, there are no photos. Sorry.
• I had a chiropractic adjustment yesterday. It involved a lot of massage and only gentle cracking (oxymoron?), but I'm really sore now and have come to the conclusion that I need to break up with chiropracting in general. The idea of someone pretzel-ing me into a strange position and the pushing until my bones pop is just not palatable to me. Part of the paperwork I filled out was an "informed consent" form that mentioned a risk of fractures and paralysis... very unreassuring, frankly. Plus, when I got a massage (that ONE time I got one), I actually felt better afterwards. This has been a full 24 hours of soreness that's actually worse than the back pain I had when I went in. FAIL. (Though I'm neither fractured nor paralyzed, so yay.)
• I've started taking a low-impact water aerobics class at a center that mostly does therapy-related stuff for people with disabilities. They have a pool and their classes are open to the (paying, but not much) community. It's a good (though a bit slow) pace for me (right now, ask me again in two months - I'm sure I'll be huffing and puffing when the baby gets bigger), and my fellow water-exercisers are really nice. Now when I tell the nosy nurses that I exercise twice a week it's not a lie anymore! Yay!
• It's December! Today, Noah got verrry excited about his advent calendar (of which I will show you a photo soon, I promise). So excited, in fact, that he asked me at least once each hour if it was "tomorrow" now and he could open another gift. I hope this tapers off as December goes on!
• Another reason why today hasn't been awesome: My friend is closing her store. I worked there for a while (actually longer than I stayed at any other job!), and it has always felt like it was my store, too. So I'm sort of heartbroken about it. I'd love to buy it, but this is not the time in my life to take on such a huge endeavor. Also, I know that I'd be a terrible mother and wife if I owned that (or possibly any other) store, AND I'd never be as good as a store owner as my friend has been. I wish I could just win the lottery for her.
• Mommy Guilt Moment of the day: I wasn't feeling great (sore back, sad etc.), so I was in bed with my laptop while Noah played in his room. That is until he came in and asked me if I could call his grandma to see if she had time to come and play with him. Ouch.

That, I think, is it. Happy beginning of December.