Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

coffee

First Friday Five {December}

It’s that time again. On the first Friday of each month, I share with you five things I’m loving or obsessing about. Here’s the December edition!

december-five

  1. Local coffee shops. I spent a lot of time writing in November and on a few Wednesdays, a friend and I tried a couple of new-to-us coffee shops. Here’s something fun about the area in which I live: We are not overrun with Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. Yes, we have some of those, but there’s a greater number of local coffee shops, and I have yet to find one I don’t like at all. This one to the right is a new favorite with a mint mocha to die for. wp-1480611504952.jpg
  2. The Duolingo app. As I continue working with refugees, I’ve wanted to improve my language skills but right now, I speak fluent English and that’s it. My husband told me about this app, and now we’re dueling on Duolingo, him with Spanish and me with French. I love the refresher and the chance to learn a new language at my fingertips.
  3. Not having Facebook on my phone. After Election Day, I couldn’t handle social media, or not well. So, I took the Facebook app off of my phone and seriously, I’m a different person. It’s not that I want to avoid news or totally check out from other people’s lives, but now I have to sit down with my computer and open Facebook, and I’m less likely to use it as a distraction because it’s not so accessible. Sure, I’m missing things that people post, but I’m also forced to connect with people more intentionally and *gasp* face-to-face.
  4. Cupcake Wars. The kids and I are working our way through a Cupcake Wars collection on Netflix, and even though I don’t bake much anymore, I still love to see the creativity that goes in to these cupcakes and the themes. Downside, my son drew me a picture of what he wants his birthday cake to look like, and he wants to help!
  5. The Moth Radio Hour. While I waited in the parking lot for my husband to get off work one night, I turned on NPR and discovered this gem of a show that also is a podcast. Real people tell true stories in front of a live audience, and it does not seem to matter what they are talking about, but I am interested. It’s a good tool for learning storytelling, too. I’m noticing the details people include in their stories and how that enriches the whole thing. Can’t stop listening. Warning: Many of the stories are gritty and have content that isn’t suitable for children.

What are you raving about these days?

Saturday smiles: Rise and shine edition

A morning in our house. All times are approximate.

5:35 a.m.: Boy child walks into bedroom. “Mommy, I need breakast.” (He leaves off the “f.”)

5:37 a.m.: Mom staggers to the kitchen, blindly grabs a box of Life cereal and a bowl, pours cereal and milk, offers a spoon to boy child, who evenly distributes his cereal into the milk. Mom smiles at his preciseness then staggers back to bed.

5:45 a.m.: Boy child wanders back in to bedroom. “Mommy, I need more.”

5:46 a.m.: Mom shuffles back out to the kitchen, refills the cereal bowl with Life and milk. Back to bed.

5:50 a.m.: Boy child returns with whine in his tone. “Mommy, you gave me too much!” Dad intervenes and asks if boy child would like to crawl into bed with Mommy while Dad gets ready for work. Boy child crawls into bed. “On Dad’s side!”

6:10 a.m.: Mom sneaks a peek at boy child, who has gotten quiet. His eyes are closing and opening slowly. Mom wonders if maybe a few more minutes of sleep are in the cards.

6:12 a.m.: Boy child rolls over, points a finger at Mommy’s nose and says sweetly, “Hi, Mommy.” He repeats this three times, each time getting closer to sticking his finger up Mommy’s nose.

6:15 a.m.: Boy child is fully awake and begins rolling around on his side of the bed. “Stinky feet for breakfast!” he giggles as he puts his feet in Mom’s face. Mom pretends to sleep, to no avail.

Sometime between 6:15 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.: The girl child has awakened, used the potty and is changing the toilet paper roll. She brings it to the bedroom as an offering, having told her Dad, “It’s never been this hard for me.”

By 6:30 a.m. we are all out of bed, gathering in the kitchen. The girl child is slathering cream cheese on her mini-bagels. The boy child insists he’s still hungry. Dad is eating breakfast. Mom is in desperate need of a shower.

6:50 a.m.: The coffee’s on. The kids are fed. Dad is almost out the door. Now it’s only 12 hours till bedtime. And you wonder why I drink coffee?

keep calm and drink coffee