This Life | Evidently

Melting Down

Aug 12, 2009 | Curated, This Life, You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Hi! My name is Wende and sometimes I melt down. Ok, scratch that. I melt down a lot.Â

This week I had several melt downs. And it’s only Wednesday. I thought you might like to read a list of my melt downs. You’ll either commiserate, because you too are a melter-downer. OR. You can go around feeling superior because you never melt down. Either way, I get bonus points for being helpful.

So, let’s review my melt downs. Shall we? Yes, yes we shall. You’re on my blog you do as I say:

Wende melted down in Safeway this week because of a pregnancy scare.

Ok, I’m going to let that sink in. And then I’m going to tell you that it wasn’t really a scare as much as a case of bad math. I get stressed out and I forget how to count the days in a week and kinda add stuff. When I am stressed there are extra days in the week and that makes me LATE. Really, really late.

Wende melted down this week because she was late and had to meet a new doctor.

I don’t know why I got all worked up about that. But I did. It turned out better than ok and now I feel a little foolish that I let it get to me. Not as foolish as I feel for not being able to count. And I was so stressed out about meeting a new doctor that I blew through a case of Diet Coke with Lime and convinced IZ that I could use another case. So we went to Safeway which led to my next melt down.

Wende melted down because she’s kinda over caffeinated. And then thought she was having heart issues until she remembered exactly how many Diet Cokes with Lime she’d had.

And then I felt foolish. Not as foolish as I felt for not being able to count or getting worked up about meeting a perfectly nice human being. But pretty darn foolish for googling “heart attack symptoms in women who might be pregnant.”

In my defense, I was late but not nearly as late at my bad math suggested. And really, the late night runs for pizza and diet Coke should have been a tip off that all was normal.

But, you know and I know that cravings are a symptom of pregnancy and vasectomies do fail. Probably not 10 year old vasectomies, but I was delusional because I was late. So I bought Diet Coke with Lime. And I drank too much of it and forgot how to count and suggested too loudly in the dairy aisle of Safeway,

“You don’t think I could be pregnant do you? I mean, your little swimmers didn’t get ambitions and break free or anything?”

And that’s when IZ melted down. In Safeway. Buying me more Diet Coke with Lime. Because even he thought the late night pizza run was suspicious. I don’t even like Pizza.

Making Space

Aug 7, 2009 | Changes, This Life

Got Cake?

Some of you have probably noticed that I started a new blog. I know. So much fanfare from this self-professed diva, you could just die, right?

I meant to write about this a long time ago. But this week? Yeah, this week has been kickin’ my old backside. And it’s a broad target, but still, OUCH!

So, here I am, at the end of yet another week. How did it get to be Friday, again? And I thought I’d take a few moments to explain myself. In a world where more and more people are blogging in 140 and Facebook status reports, I’m expanding. I’m making space and living into the extravagance of thinking you really want to read MORE of me.

Ok, I kid a little. But I am making space. Lately I’ve been feeling cramped on Evidently. Second guessing every post, wishing I could just write what I’m thinking without looking over my shoulder.

The thing is, I’ve never thought of Evidently as a vehicle to support or promote Mireio. It has always been, and remains so, a practice in seeing beauty. When asked how I keep at it year after year, the answer is as complex as it is simple, “Evidently is a spiritual discipline.” Because I know that I will need to blog, I pay attention to the beauty that is in my life. I’m going to report back to you—and I can’t come empty handed. It’s just not done in my world.

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August is a Month of Last Days

Aug 3, 2009 | This Life

Can you read my fortune in the coffee creamer?Â

It’s August.Â

July was one of those magical months. Unseasonably warm weather, much to some dismay Â of those who aren’t used to 80+ weather—but I’ll Â confess, I’ve loved every hot muggy moment of it. When the cool returns, when the rain begins to fall without pause, when the nagging desire to perpetually complain about the weather sets in I am going to look back and cherish the very real summer that was July. Â This year, my family will not be making our annual trek home, following the sun on its transit south. This is the year of the “staycation;” so, I remain thankful that summer decided to make an appearance on the coast this year.

I woke up today with that giddy feeling I typically get on the last day of a vacation. Â That Â this is it, make the most of it feeling. And it occurs to me, that August is a month of last days. It is full of Â last hurrahs and last splurges and last day trips to the beach or the river or the city. Soon the weather will put on a sweater, autumn winds will replace summer breezes. Before we know it, September will be here and all the ninth month implies. But not yet.

Now, it is August. A month of lasts. And if we are wise and Â careful and yet equally wild and willing to abandon a little of that must get this done compulsion — well, we will make the most of August. We’ll savor every last bite and remember that August is a month of blackberries and cobblers and long lazy days sipping tea by the gallon. We will revel in the doldrums and not wish them away for September. We’ll listen to the slow drawl that August uses to woo us, and we’ll fall in love with this month of last (good) days.Â

Keeping Cool

Jul 29, 2009 | This Life

We’re playing in the sprinkler and drinking lots and lots of this. What are you doing to keep cool in this heat wave?!

Brewing

Jul 17, 2009 | This Life

A Midsummer Tea

You will need:

Harney and Son’s Vanilla Comoro Tea: 2 sachets
Harney and Son’s Midsummer’s Peach Tea: 1 sachet
8 cups of water
Lots and lots of yummy sunshine

The hardest part is waiting.

* Tip: I use a bit of painter’s tape to keep the sachet tags from dropping into the tea while it’s brewing. It’s easy to work with and won’t leave a sticky residue on your favorite pitcher.Â