{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo, a single moment to savor and share. 

inspired by soulemama.com

At the Bridge School Benefit Concert with Chris and Uncle Mike - My guess is Guns n'Roses is playing at this moment.

Read, Listen: Good Stuff

There is an overarching theme to the books I've been reading over the past couple years: Change. The belief that personal change is possible with work, understanding and will. I find it comforting that change is possible, and that one can choose to be different from what we've come to know as ourselves. Not just rearranging the furniture, but actually changing the physical structure of your brain, your feelings about yourself and others, your understanding of a given situation. And the way you lead your days and in turn your life.

I can think of several mind altering events in my life, which were small events, but big thought changers for me. One event was a meditation class at the Sunnyvale Zen Center. My motivation for taking it was to improve my memory. What I didn't realize when I began this class was that it could change many other aspects of my mind and behavior as well. The feeling I came out of that class with was a better filtered thought process. Like the difference between looking out a clean window or one covered with dog slobber. However, if you don't continue to practice, change the filter frequently enough, so to speak, well you will be looking through dog slobber once again.

I'm spending a bit more time reading for pleasure these days. Something about having both kids out of the house for school - time I guess. Also more space in my head, less worry, more problem solving. There have been a lot of books over the past several months, many on nutrition that are not here, others that were "mind changing events". I'm still very confused about nutrition, each book has a slightly or not so slightly different bent on the best nutrition for optimum health and brain function. But the books I have listed below, they have made a big difference in my life. I especially think Carol Dweck's book, "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" is worth reading for anyone who is alive. As in, it doesn't matter what you do or who you are, this book can truly open your eyes to how you experience your life. And how you can change your experience. It's based on years of research and it's great. Read it. Daniel Seigel's book "The Whole Brain Child" is also very helpful as a parent. I wish it was out when my boys were babies. This book is helpful in understanding emotions and what's going on and how to think through tough emotional events and of course how to help your children with emotions and the thought process during emotional events.

I recommend these Books and CDs about Change:

The Whole Brain Child
Parenting from the Inside Out
The Brain the Changes Itself
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialog with the Dalai Lama
Native American Healing Meditations
Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom
Mindful Moments: Ten Exercises for Well-Being

Let me know if you read any of these and what you think? And do you have other recommendations for me?

Coleman

Exploring the rocky shore in Monterey

Don't worry he's fine.

Coleman and Drew in fort with ammo.

Fishing at Loch Lomond.

At his birthday party with Max and Aaron.

Max

This is Max playing darts at our local pub.

Nice hat.

Kitty had surgery this summer, Max spent a lot of quality time with her when she was recovering.

Max built this altar in the backyard all by himself.

This was one of three birthday celebrations we had with Max this August.

Max reading to his rat, Muffin Top.

Another post surgery moment, Max didn't want Kitty to be lonely so he slept on the sofa with her.

Around Town

We don't get to The Boardwalk much. Max might be the only one among us who truly likes it.We go because, well, it's Santa Cruz and it's there. Max likes that flying swing thing in the picture up there. It makes me a bit sick just to watch, but Chris has a steel stomach and can ride with him. The Pixie Cafe, with that great sign "No Shoes No Shirt No Shorts No Problem" is in Rio Del Mar - I've always loved that sign. Had to share.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo, a single moment to savor and share. 

inspired by soulemama.com

Parkour: I'm not bored

They had to move back and forth three or four times while hanging from the balance beam.

Lately I've heard some desperately sad piffles about boredom. I may have said similar things when I was a child, I don't know. But as an adult, I just don't understand how you can be bored. I try not to respond to "I'm bored, there's nothing to do" with annoyance. What they really want to say is: "Please let me use the computer some more, I need a pixel fix." Parkour is a quick remedy to boredom and a really wonderful outlet for channeling serious energy overload.

The guys go to Vargas Academy in Scotts Valley. Some weeks it is difficult to get there because we're tired or have a lot of homework. The traffic can suck. But we keep on going because it's such a great thing for them. Parkour is also called running gymnastics, I think of it as ninja training, the guys just think of it as what they do at home but in a gym with a teacher and some cool props.

They climbed up the rope to the ceiling and rang a bell, and then back down.

::Grateful::

::Grateful::

New Outlook
Great book to read (Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck; you should read this)
Dinner with old friends
Tara community
Open Studio tours with my friend Linda
Sunshine
My Family
Coffee
ART

House Work: Bathroom Remedy

Chris' office is the last building that needs some love here at 2730. Sadly there's no time and no money for that to happen. There is no insulation, no heat, and recently the icky little bathroom stopped functioning. The toilet went. What kick started this project was that kayak trip we took. That trip made me realize that I could do the impossible. So I set about with a task; fix that bathroom with just a little bit of money and a lot of effort. I figured some paint, a new toilet and a new faucet, how hard could that be? Well, the waste pipe is a couple inches too high and that wasn't just one linoleum floor to remove, but two, the walls are delicate to say the least. I can deal.

Removing the flooring in that bathroom reminded me a lot of paddling in the slough. I wasn't getting very far for all the work I was doing. It was painful, back-ache kind of work, too. So I borrowed some tools from a contractor friend of ours and tried that. It went faster but was still slow going, and toxic to boot. But I am determined to make this little bathroom work again. Every spare moment I had this past week was put to use in that space. It's still under way, but you can see my progress below:

Kayaking Elkhorn Slough

We've been talking about kayaking in Elkhorn Slough for a long while now. We so enjoyed kayaking on the lovely little lakes in Massachusetts this past summer, each of us with his/her own kayak, slicing across the calm waters. Last week we were able to make that trip down to Moss Landing and jump in a couple kayaks to explore the slough together as a family. We saw otters, seals, sea lions, many different birds. In fact, while Coleman and I were blabbing away a seal practically jumped onto our kayak! We were all surprised by one another!

Here's how I felt about the physical and mental act of kayaking in the slough: At one point I was paddling so hard, really pushing myself to move forward; I looked to the shore and it seemed that I was going nowhere. Not just nowhere, but backwards (the water flows towards the ocean, we were heading inland). I suddenly felt utter and complete powerlessness. I wanted to just stop paddling, give up. Then I mustered up my mental capacity to overcome the situation, stopped looking at the shore to see my progress(lessness). It was still really hard. At this point both of the boys were sea sick and really cold. They wanted to quit, go home take hot showers, drink hot cocoa, anything but be on the water in a kayak going nowhere fast. We held out, saw some more natural wonder then made our way back, with the tide but against the wind - this was even harder than going inland. I felt positively spent at the end. But I made it, we all did. It reminded me that I can overcome hard things, seemingly impossible things. Put the blinders on, think about what I'm doing and let go of expectation. Eventually we got where we were headed and back again. I could do that again.

Next time we'll bring our cameras and take pictures from the dock or the shore. Who knows, our connections to the Pacific are still developing. It's all about learning and experiencing life together and on our own. This trip motivated me to work a little harder at my daily tasks and the projects I'm taking on. It wasn't a lot of fun in some ways. It was hard. And it was good.

Happy Belated Birthdays!

Max turned EIGHT back on August 7th. We had an intimate party (summertime travel for so many friends). He acquired yet another pet, Echo the Gecko. She's been quite entertaining for all.

Max is:
Cheerful
Loving
Compassionate
Funny
Energetic
Inquisitive
Independent
Hard working

Coleman turned ELEVEN back on September 18th. We just had the (marathon) birthday party this past weekend. It was so much fun to see how much the kids have grown and to watch them hang together. They are all getting pretty grown up.

Coleman is:
Funny
Loyal
Artistic
Philosophical
Energetic
Helpful
Adventurous
Charming

We love them both to the moon and back. And we're proud of the work they have both been doing in school and out. We're just plain proud of the people they are and are becoming. They've opened up a whole big world of growth for us, we'd never have had access to without them. They're both such beautiful, wonderful beings. Thank you, boys.

Loch Lomond Fishing

Back in early September we went fishing at Loch Lomond in Lompico. It's not far from us, just about 35 minutes away. Loch Lomond is a reservoir fed by Lompico Creek. It's stocked with bass, trout and other good eating fish. We went there to fish and caught a couple that were just too little to keep. Chris was the rower and we were the passengers - they have electric motor boats for rent there too, but it was a really crowded day on the loch and we ended up with a row boat. I believe you can rent kayaks and canoes also. If you're in the Santa Cruz area it is definitely worth a trip for bird watching, fishing between March and September and what look like great hiking trails. Since we've moved west one of the things I miss most about New England is the ponds and lakes. You can't swim in this one, but it is a peaceful lovely place to float around that made me feel right at home.

 

this was truly a challenge to row through.

this blue heron flew over us as we were rowing around.

I think this is a crane, at first i thought egret, but it has a yellow/orange beak.

same blue heron.