Monday Morning Messes

Musings on Life and Beauty

Does your house look like this on Monday mornings?

messy floor
Sometimes I’m amazed at how much recovery my house needs after the weekend.  But then, sometimes it needs it every 2 hours.  Toys, shoes, socks, games, castoff items from school backpacks…

messy floor 2
Whenever my house looks like this, I try to remember a quote I read as a new mom many years ago.  It’s lengthy, but worth reading.  Let me share:

“Trying to look at clutter with more spiritual eyes taught me two things.  First, I tried to understand the nature of clutter itself — what does clutter represent?  What things do we regard as clutter?  Toys played with and not put away, dirty dishes to be washed, coats not hung up, books read and not put away.  Toys, dishes, clothes, books; children, food, warmth, intelligence.  Clutter is a by-product of life being lived.  Clutter is a mirror reflecting some of our sweetest blessings.  Go ahead — look at this mess.  Look at this beautiful, wonderful mess.  Thank you, Lord.  Now let’s tidy up.

“The second thing I learned about clutter is what it is not.  Unlike the spiritual qualities of purity, order, and beauty, clutter is temporal.  The word temporal is closely related to another word: temporary.  Clutter and dirt are temporary.  Order, purity, and beauty are permanent.  Always there.  Always to be found.  Sometimes quite buried but there nonetheless.  Pick up and wash, and there they are.  They were there all along.  As spiritual principles, order, purity, and beauty are not only true, but they are also attributes of God himself and of the god-nature within us.  As we pick up the clutter, wipe away the dirt, and beautify our homes, we are allowing those attributes freer expression.  When we clean, order, and beautify our homes, we bless our homes, and our work becomes a holy work, a work that can feed our spirits and sustain our souls.”

– Joan B. MacDonald, from The Holiness of Everyday Life, Deseret Book Company, 1995, p.20-21 My wish for you this morning and every morning:  May your spirit be fed as you take care of the evidence of your greatest blessings:  family.

Have a great day!

Jennifer

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One Step Report #4

One Step

Well, this week yielded 57 steps, for a total of 194 steps this month!  Wow.  I feel grateful to my Heavenly Father for helping me find so many positive things in my month.  I am grateful for a baby that seems to be back on her normal sleeping schedule, which is a very good thing for all of us.  I’m also mourning (yes, a bit of melodrama here) the loss of my kindergarten carpool this week.  I drive every day from now on.  The mother of the boy we carpool with has a new job and can no longer help drive, so I’m going to give her son a ride home for the rest of the year.  I’m happy to be of service; unhappy to have to load everyone up every single day.  This is my second straight year of kindergarten, and that mid-day pickup is a killer.  Oh well.

A few highlights of the week:

Finishing my valentine ribbon pillow .  It was fun and I’m pleased that I completed it on time.

Today I taught a workshop to a group of people in my Stake on the subject of food storage.  This is my other project, which I haven’t touched since the baby was born.  It went really well and I feel pleased with the results.  I’m also planning to jump back into working on the 10×10 blog .  I’ve got a lot of recipes to add.

Tonight we measured our kids on the board we use to mark and date everyone’s height periodically.  Now I have proof that I am still taller than my oldest son!  It’s always so much fun to see how much they’ve grown, and to me it’s another small piece of our family history.  The experience somehow turned into a contest to find a way to be taller than me, and so we ended up standing in a big circle and all jumping as high as we could at the same time, over and over again.  So silly, but fun and funny too.  Thank goodness I can jump higher than my 12 year old!  I’m pretty sure that in the next year I’ll have to acknowledge him as being taller than I am, so I’m enjoying my small advantage while I can (and wondering what it will be like to look UP at one of my KIDS… that seems so strange).

I spent a bit of time getting started on organizing our basement.  So far to go, but a start is a start.

I switched a couple of things around in my living room (things only I would probably notice) but they make a big difference in my opinion and I’m pleased.   I may post more on this later.

This week I started photographing my collection of vintage linens with the intent to have a fun little catalog of all of them.  I’ve wanted to record them for a long time, and this seems like the perfect way to do it (and a chance to learn how to take better pictures).  The first two are here and here .

Well, that’s about it.  I felt rather grumpy this week, which isn’t good.  Most of the time I was able to swallow it, but a couple of times I was a real grouch, and I’ve apologized to my family for it.  For some reason I felt like the month was ending, and I had somehow fallen short.  I look at my list, though, and realize how foolish it was.  I planned for 31 steps, and took 194.  That is something to celebrate.

Have a great week!

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Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Desserts

These lavender shortbread cookies are amazing.  Before I share the recipe with you, I must beg you to give lavender a try.  If you’ve never tasted it, this is the way to start.  If you’ve tasted it but think you don’t like it, this cookie is still something to try because it will probably change your mind.  They’re that good.


I must also say that this is the first recipe I’ve ever created that is so good I’m tempted not to share it.   My neighbor has dubbed them “Wedding Reception Cookies”… and guess what I’ll be making for his daughter’s wedding reception this summer.


I grow, harvest, and dry my own lavender .  If you don’t have any and don’t know where to get some, try your local health food store or order online.  Buy lavender that is suitable for culinary use.

Hopeful Homemaker’s Lavender Shortbread Cookies

1 cup (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, room temperature (do NOT substitute margarine!)

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons dried or fresh lavender buds 2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

In mixing bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy, and almost white in color.  Add sugar, lavender and vanilla.  Beat for 2 more minutes.  Sift flour and salt together and add to butter mixture.  Mix until flour is incorporated and dough is sticky.

On a long sheet of waxed paper, pat and form the dough into a log that is 12 to 14 inches long.  Carefully roll up, shaping into whatever shape you wish as you roll.  Note:  for shapes like the bird cookies pictured above, put dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness before chilling.  Chill dough for at least 2 hours.  Preheat oven to 325.  Carefully slice dough into 1/4 inch slices, or if you rolled it out, carefully cut dough into shapes using cookie cutters.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper and place cookies in rows with 1 inch of space between each cookie.  Bake for 17 to 18 minutes or until firm and just barely beginning to turn golden brown at edges.  Cool completely.  If desired, dip in chocolate and chill again to set.

Store in airtight container for up to 3 weeks, or freeze (if they last that long, around here they’re gone in minutes!)
Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies if rolled into log.  If cut with cookie cutters, your yield will depend on the size of your shape.


I hope you love these like we do.  They’re our #1 cookie.
Jennifer

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