new space

So, I'm sitting in a new space. 

Literally and metaphorically. Let me tell you how I got to this new space. The physical, literal new space that is. 

We have a little building in our back yard. 

The previous owner enjoyed carpentry as a hobby and used it as a wood shop.

 We have mostly used it for storage.  

One day I received a phone call that was important to me and I wanted to be undisturbed. 

My house was full of children and activity. I slipped outside to my backyard and into the old wood shop. 

I sat in an old broken rocking chair I got at a garage sale in Arkansas years ago, surrounded by our bikes and other junk. I enjoyed the phone call uninterrupted. 

As I was sitting out there I realized what a pleasant space it was. 

The wood shop has 7 windows and a high ceiling. The view out all the windows is green and leafy.

Why do we use this pleasant space for storage? 

I realized then that I wanted to finish off this space and use it for something other than storage. 

So this summer we hired our cousin who is good at finishing work and we created a space that is clean and painted and pretty.

 It is still quite empty, but that makes it feel exciting and open to possibilities to me. 

My husband has talked about finishing this space for the kids, we could put a TV and a game table and let them be out there with their friends... This idea has always made me sick. 

"Yes! Lets create another space for our kids to be lazy and cook their brains in front of a screen and eat and not clean up after themselves with all their friends!" 

 So I have always said NO WAY to my husband's idea. That day on the phone, sitting out there alone I saw how I wanted to finish the space, but for ME….. and Nathan too. So here I sit. I hope it can be a space used for reflection, retreat, creativity, learning, healing, singing and working. Not the kind of working I do in my house. All that work gets undone every day.

 I hope this can be a space for working and creating things that stay done. 

The metaphorical new space…..

I wonder if I can tell you about it and how I got here?

I don't really know where I am, I just know it's different and a place I've never been. 

That's true for all of us at the beginning of something, right? 

September is a time for new beginnings for our family because all of the children begin a new school year, another grade older. 

I love getting some structure back in our lives. 

What I love the most is the PEACE and QUIET and the opportunity to be alone and do what a please. It is the perfect balance to taking care of them and living in the burst of energy and activity that a young family provides. 

Last week was the first week of school. While the kids were gone I cleaned up and it stayed clean.

 I turned up my music and sang along loudly while I did housework. 

Then I read what I wanted and ate what I wanted and watched movies and napped. 

Yes. I did.

It helped that I got a head cold that really asked me to lie down. 

It felt like a vacation during those few hours they were at school.

So here I go into the second week of school. 

Flinging my thoughts in word form out into the big void we call the Internet. 

My kids don't have my password so they can't come in here to change or delete my thoughts. 

I love my kids, really, I do. 

They are my struggle and strength, my teacher and task master. My purpose and pain….

I'm grateful life feels a little more in balance with them back in school. 

 I'll be back here writing soon.