Creating Holiday Play

As the holidays fast approach Joe and I were lucky enough today to take some time and participate in our friend

Jennifer Denning's Interplay workshop

Say Yes! to the Holidays!

It was held at The Mask Center in the L5P Community Center

 

We took two hours to focus in on our body wisdom and play with topics around the holidays.

 

One of my favorites was doing the form "I could talk about..." tweeked a little to "I could say yes too...." for the Holiday season.

So here are a few of my "I could say yes too...."

....enjoying a long road trip with my family.

....reconnecting with family that I haven't seen in a while.

 

....walking hand in hand around the lake.

....playing games and laughing so hard your stomach hurts.

....Christmas cards this year.

....seeking out the joy in everyone I meet.

If you want to know a little more about interplay Cynthia Winton-Henry a new friend and one of the founders of Interplay wrote this article:  An Open letter about Interplay

I hope you've had a fabulous Sunday.  Here in ATL it's rainy and cool.  I just lit the fireplace and am going to settle in with a book to finish out the weekend.

Peace,

Christine

Creating Calm

Today has been an overcast and cloudy day in ATL.

I've been working on laundry and housecleaning on and off all day and I'm still not finished!  I need to get by to my flylady routine of a load a day - it works, I know it works and I'm not sure why I ever stop.

Sammie organized her room including closet and drawers and added a new decoration she bought:

I LOVE it!  Feels like what I've been working on this week.

Merlin on Alex's bed

Alex gave Merlin a hair cut this week and he was happy about it so when she left for school on Friday he graced her bed with his presence :)

Creating Randomness

Ruth taking pictures of the Ginko leaves on our beautiful walk Wed.

The Ginko leaves that had fallen overnight in Ruth's neighborhood

My friend Anji at the Atlanta History Center - We had a terrific time wandering in the gardens

Friends - a really cool pen created by Cynthia Winton-Henry

Alex checking out a car that she LOVES and wants to own

A heron statue :) at the AHC - One of my totems

They also had deer statues - another totem :)

Creating a Comeback

Today has been a tough one.

Yesterday my teenager and I had a doozie of a fight.  It was a perfect storm of lack of sleep, hormones and stress that exploded all over mom.  Yuck.

It threw me off my game so much I forgot to blog yesterday so here I am today.

This morning I was weepy.  The mom kind of weepy.  Am I doing a good job?  What could I do differently?  These darn hormones! Etc.  What kind of cruel joke is it that mom and daughters sinc up in hormonal rhythm?!?!

When I walked out of the house this morning there was a beautiful doe at the bottom of my stairs looking up at me to say, "Be gentle with yourself, Breathe in peace, Breathe out love."

Yoga for sure helped.

The sunshine helped.

The trip to the Farmer's Market with a good friend helped too.

I had the day to regain my equilibrium before picking up the teens this afternoon.

Like a light switch that had been flipped a different kid got in the truck after school.  My sweet daughter was back - the one that looked at me perplexed and said, "What's wrong?"

We've had a good evening with a yummy dinner, the first fire of the year in the fireplace, classical music playing while we all work on homework.  Oh wait, I typed too soon.  A small sibling dispute.  Mom's tired.  Time to shut the household down for a good night's sleep and a chance to do it all over again :)  

I love my incredible full messy life - even these growth experiences that challenge me.

Today I am grateful for calming music, fires in the fireplace, the sound of the fall wind sweeping through the leaves, neighbors who lend forgotten ingredients and peace.

Peace,

Christine 

Creating Creating Creating I could talk about....

After two months of blogging daily it has been weird to be on break (at first for a women's retreat and then out of routine).  As I sit to write this first blog back I'm in a pickle...what do I write about.  Again the Interplay form of "I could talk about" comes to my mind.  

I could talk about....


....Having company almost everyday for over a month
....Having amazing friends fly in from New York and Texas to attend the women's retreat
....The Highlands, NC and a beautiful Women's Retreat with 6 amazing ladies
....Attending my daughter's HS Orchestra concert and the music being so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes.

....Facilitating a Reflections Art Competition Reception and my daughter Sammie taking home 1st place in photography in her grade level.

Sammie's winning photograph

....My girl scout troop of 16 6th graders who make me laugh!
....My house that I am so grateful for yet needs a de-cluttering and Fall cleaning :)
....Interplay and how much I am loving it!
....Helping my oldest daughter cat sit a beloved neighbor's cat
....An upcoming Interplay workshop in ATL and Norcross.
....My husband Joe's incredible art that inspires me.
....How much I love Fall and all the natural art that I come across daily here in North Georgia.
....How poetry touches my soul and I am thankful.
....Our trip the the aquarium  - magical
....Our trip to the Natural History Museum and lunch at Swan Carriage House
....My truck getting broken into and all of my friend's luggage getting stolen on her last day here in ATL :(
....What I did with the first two hours that I had to myself in over a month
....My new business that I am going to launch in January
....This time of year smells like Thanksgiving to me and that makes my heart smile. 
....How parenting a teenager is at times the hardest thing I've ever done
....The amazing support network I have and how lucky I am to have such creative, talented, awesome people in my life.

Feeling Blessed and Back on Track,

Christine

Creating Joy

Here is the view from the beautiful Mountain home in the Highlands where I held my retreat.

My set of prayer flags I created thanks to +Darlene Sperber's idea!

Me balancing on a stump in the Nantahala forest after a hike to see Glen Falls

Part of the group in front of the falls :)

On the trip home we stopped by Tallulah falls and on the way out we had to capture the fall foliage!