Under a Red Roof

Nothing Fancy

April 15, 2009 in Admiring, Being, Eating, Loving by Colleen | 1 comment

Something that I love about the life I share with Greg is the fact that we are just happy to be together. Maybe it is the fact that we’ve been a couple for eighteen years, but we realize that there is so little we truly need from each other. We are each our own source of happiness and joy, modified by the fact there is someone truly wonderful to cuddle with each night in bed.

We have no grand expectations or idealized versions of what our life should look like. What we have is what we want and relish, every last bit: being in the same room, listening to music, watching a movie, sharing a smile, a laugh, or, in this case, a meal.

This was our Sunday dinner. Neither of us has ever outgrown the fish fillets of our youth. So we baked some up, and I made tartar sauce and rosemary (fresh from the garden!) home fries to accompany them. It certainly wasn’t anything gourmet, but, with his company, it sure felt like it. Every bite was delicious. A real treat!

Hail to the Garden!

April 13, 2009 in Gardening + Nature, Learning by Colleen | 2 comments

Meet Wilbur, another one of my gnome friends. He was hoping I would keep him company today as he trundled various twigs and bits of debris around the garden. We had no such luck, however. Every time I went to put my boots on, the rain would start, and sometimes, as in this case, the hail, too!

I tried three different times to no avail. I guess Mother Nature thought I’d be better off indoors today. It so happens she was right. I am happily typing away after a big basement clean-up. I put away the stray tools, cleaned up cat messes, filled three boxes with various bits and bobs for the Goodwill, and gathered a rather tall pile of all the remaining boxes that need to be cut and bound for the recycling bin. Then I swept, vacuumed, and smiled contentedly at a job well done.

I love a productive day…

I Hear Music

April 10, 2009 in Listening, Spotlighting by Colleen | 1 comment

I watched part of the American Masters program on Philip Glass the other night. He is quite the dynamic character, and his music really reflects this. It was so fascinating to learn how there is always music playing in his mind, and when he composes, sometimes he has to strain to hear the notes. He doesn’t necessarily feel as though he is writing, but rather listening and scrambling to get it down with pencil and paper before it is gone.

I think writing is like that for me. I’ve always got my stories going, and sometimes, not nearly often enough, I sit at the keyboard and try to keep pace with the words as they stream through my mind. On the occasions when I hear music, unlike Mr. Glass, it is never my own, unique composition, though sometimes it is one of his!

This is what I’ve been hearing lately and actually queued up on the I-Pod. I call it Drifting. Try it yourself, you’ll see why.

“From the Same Hill” – Brian Eno

“Astral Weeks” – Van Morrison

“Sunset Soon Forgotten” – Iron & Wine

“Johnson’s Aeroplane” – INXS

“The Way” – Jill Scott

“Dime Que Te Quea” – Gecko Turner

“Umi Says” – Mos Def

“Sometime Later” – Alpha

“Jennifer” – Eurythmics

“Naima” – John Coltrane

“Moonlight Mile” – The Rolling Stones

“Going to California” – Led Zeppelin

“North Dakota” – Lyle Lovett

“Blue Sunday” – The Doors

“Violet” – Seal

“Alone in Kyoto” – Air

Have a great weekend!

Tomorrow Makes Five

April 8, 2009 in Eating by Colleen | 3 comments

Hello friends!

I thought I would give you a little update on my quest to give up sugar. The verdict is pretty darn good! Since I last wrote about it (five weeks ago tomorrow), I have had a bite of chocolate, a bite of peanut brittle, and in a far weaker moment, a slice of peach pie. However, as karma and my conscience would have it, the pie was not so good. The peaches were hard and the crust not up to snuff. Even as I ordered it, I thought, “What are you doing?” Life teaches us the way.

I think I told you that I had given up sugar before, even going for eight weeks once. Those times, however, it was with a particular end date or goal in sight, then I could have more. This time, I hope to just let it go. I am actually quite surprised at how easy it feels. It used to be that I would get a craving and fight, fight, fight it. Then I would set a time limit. Okay, Colleen, you think you want it now, so why not wait an hour or two and see what happens? I’ll tell ya – when the inner timer went off, I scrambled to the kitchen to make cookies, a cake, a pie, or sometimes, when we were out of the usual ingredients, a weird concoction only an addict would enjoy.

I wish I could say exactly what button has been pressed to make me lose the obsessive feeling, but I can’t. Now, I am enjoying fruit – fresh or dried, and when I feel a little more desperate, which thankfully isn’t that often, a glass of chocolate hemp milk (I’m also consuming very little dairy) sweetened with agave nectar or brown rice syrup. Just in case you are wondering, I haven’t replaced the sugar with artificial sweeteners either. For one, the ingredients terrify me – chlorinated sugar? Um, no thanks. Two, I’ve never liked the taste, so in the foods where I used to sprinkle sugar, like my morning bowl of grains, I use a little agave and some sort of fruit – my current favorite is dried blueberry. Yum.

I really like the ripple effect of this change. I know I’m doing something good for my body. I’ve lost weight, feel stronger, have more energy, and feel that my usual effervescence and love for creation is heightened. I sleep less without feeling groggy or crabby. The best part, however, is not having the feeling that I am missing something. I have all I need, and that includes you, my blog friends. Thanks for sharing the journey.

XO –

Colleen

First Warm Day

April 6, 2009 in Being, Gardening + Nature by Colleen | 1 comment

Today was the first time this year it’s been over seventy degrees in Portland and boy was it glorious! The sun made me feel energized, getting all manner of tasks done – laundry, weeding, cleaning house. Ahh, everything is easier when it is warm. Some highlights…