This Side of Invisible

Why is it that I can't seem to do anything without music ? Music really does speak to my soul and bring the beat to my heart .  It's amazing how there is something there for everyone, every mood, every situation, every breath.   Poetry as it should be, flowing through the notes and chords and straight through us.  I'd just like to share with you some of my fav's both old and new.  I have a hard time pinpointing fav songs (just like fav books) so here are just some of the bands I'm in to, it's more about the feel and theme of the music. My companions for many years: The Cure The Cranberries The Smashing Pumpkins Indigo Girls Loreena McKennitt Veruca Salt No Doubt My new friends: The Killers Keane Blue October Muse Bond Blackmore's Night all things Celtic Women Coldplay Deathcab for Cutie Leona Lewis Mediaeval Baebes Ludovico Einaudi Trio Mediaeval   The Elders It's a bit of a list, I know, but I assure you that each of these artists/groups has...

Got this via email today and thought that at this time of year it was appropriate to share.  It's interesting, I don't know how wrote this email.  Don't know how much is true and how much is exaggerated, but I find myself not caring.  It is inspirational.  I know that some of the basic facts are true, i.e. women went to jail so I could vote!!!  Wake up call Ladies, get your butts out there and make a difference.  Get your butts out there and show some gratitude for the privilege given to you through sacrifice and torture.  Get out there and VOTE!!! This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago. Remember it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote. The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote. (Lucy Burns) And by the end of the night, they were barely alive.  Forty prison guards wielding clubs and ...

Every mother in America should be hacking down law-maker's doors over this one.  To think that my hard earned (or rather my husband's hard earned) money is responsible for such atrocities!  Not that this is the Senators's/Congressmen's fault, but they did give these people the money to fund such projects. The new PlannedParenthood site called Taking Care Down There is a monstrosity.  It is evil, it is vial.  They not only portray but also condone homosexual behavior, group sex, and masturbation!  Who are they to teach my kids these things are acceptable?  I assume they are trying to liven up the sexual education and going for a Juno-ish feel.  What they achieved instead was cheap, crude and irreverent vomit. I really don't know what these people were thinking, but we, the People, must act!  It's because we sit back and stay quiet that these things happen in the first place.  I urge everyone to call their senator/congressman and complain.  I can't call, but y...

So school has started.  It's funny how the grind can become more grating.  Schedules are tighter, even though kids are at school there seems to be more to do.  So, I have come up with a great school year schedule for me and the kids and I made it through week one of this new schedule.  Last night, I relaxed just a bit and didn't vacuum before I went to bed (the kids did spill some popcorn, but I fully intended to vacuum first thing this morning!).  My good intentions were spoiled when I awoke to a sick kids who desperately needed a doctor.  So around 2 pm the popcorn was still there waiting for me.   My husband (today was his day off) huffed and puffed a little when he came to the kitchen for a snack.  I said, "You hate me because I'm a crappy housekeeper, huh?"  Totally meaning this rhetorically and trying to lighten the fact that the house was in a bit of disarray.   His response, "Even though my mom was a natze about cleaning it was really nice to have a c...

One of the hardest things to do as a stay-at-homer (for me at least) is get out of bed everyday.  It's not that I am depressed this is by no means the case, but it's getting up to someone else's needs everyday.  You know how, when you have a job outside of the home, you get up leave the house and go to work.  That's not so when you are a stay-at-homer.  I know!  It's craziness!  Seriously though...  So those who work at least have a variance in schedule.  The weekly grind and then the joy of the weekend.  It's not that they have nothing to do on the weekends (I'm sure working mother's play catch up on the weekends as do we all), but they have something different to do.  As a stay-at-homer, everyday is basically (not technically) the same.  You wake up have a short time to yourself and then it's breakfast, getting everyone dressed, brushing teeth, morning clean up, rushing to get somewhere on time, diffusing fights and tantrums, etc.  You get the pict...

While these addresses may be more recent, the ideas and principles behind them and in them are the reasons why I make it through the most challenging, more difficult days.  From the last seven years of experience as a stay-at-home mother, I have learned a great truth:  All things worth having, worth fighting for, worth treasuring are also challenging and can often push us to the extreme of our abilities, patience, humility and faith. Daughters of God by M. Russell Ballard http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-851-37,00.html Mothers Who Know by Julie B. Beck http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-775-27,oo.html I would also recommend: Your Greatest Challenge, Mother by Gordon B. Hinckley She Shall be Praised: Latter-day Prophets speak to women The Blessings and Responsibilities of Womanhood by Spencer W. Kimball *All the above can be found on lds.org

Ok, so I had this idea for a book.  A book about the struggles of a 21 century, feminist-ish woman dealing with life as a stay-at-home mom.  Yeah, so that woman is me.  And while someday, I may compile a book of episodes, for now we get a blog. Don't get me wrong, I love, adore, treasure my children and my husband and I strongly belief that as a woman of God I should be at home with my children especially while they are young.  And while I never doubt any of the above mentioned, I do still have struggles one a day-to-day basis (and have had since day one of stay-home-mommy-ship).   Ok, so I don't really qualify myself as a true feminist, mostly because I do believe that women should take pride and honor in raising their families.  However, I did grow up in a feminist culture.  Every woman in my family for a few generations have been "working women" (as if there is such a thing as a non-working woman, any and every woman has plenty of work to do).  My parents, like so ...