don’t you judge me

A while back, when Richard and I had cable t.v. and TIME to watch cable t.v. we watched an episode of My Name is Earl from which we still quote one line of dialogue. The specific episode that I am referring to is White Lie Christmas, which aired on December 6, 2005. The ONE line in that episode that we continue to quote: Don’t you judge me. You need to say it with a southern drawl: don’t you juhhhdge me. The line is uttered numerous times throughout the episode by the character Connie, played by the Grace Under Fire star Brett Butler.

So, yesterday Richard called me at the end of the day and I told him that I was considering heading over to the local thrift shop to see if I could spot anything interesting in regards to vases or jars useful for forcing bulbs or creating terrariums. The words out of his mouth: “You’re WHAT?!?”

Look what I found, for a sum total of $2.26:

 

If I had bought these jars at Smith and Hawken they would have cost me $60.

And I say: Don’t you judge me!

tackling my afternoons

I have been a-thinking. Oh yes. Me’s a-thinking again.

I have this *time* now in the afternoons. What to do with it? As is my usual issue, if my time is not structured, I can get nothing done. Or at least that’s how it feels. But, all work and no play makes for a miserable time, too. Dare I structure that FREE TIME? There is a certain amount of stuff that needs doing in the house, and there is stuff that I’d like to do. I need a way to reconcile the two — if I do MY stuff, I feel guilty that I didn’t do house stuff; if I do house stuff I feel like I should have taken time out for myself.

As I examine the time, it seems that essentially I have ONE hour to do something.

3:30pm leave work

4:00pm arrive home, take Emerson out, feed Emerson

4:00pm - 5:00pm FREE TIME

5:00pm walk Emerson for 30 min.

5:30pm arrive home, make dinner

6:10pm troops come through the door! Be prepared for any or all of the following: hungry, crying, screaming, cranky, happy, smiling, asleep, awake.

A stab at structure:

Monday — floors. Do ONE of the following to a defined space: vacuum, mop

Tuesday — clean a bathroom or two.

Wednesday — do ME stuff

Thursday — tidy and organize (easier to do a defined project here… we’re not lacking in that department)
Friday — moot, because I travel out to the daycare to help Richard with pickup.

So, today being Wednesday I get to do ME stuff. What shall it be?

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2:50pm update: I’m so torn! What to do with my afternoon? I can:

• knit
• make valentine cards
• browse the thrift shop for forcing vases

gardening — indoors and out

I’ve done nothing but dream of gardening these past few weeks. I received my Burpee catalogue in the mail the other week and have been poring over it. And then was reminded by Sage last week when she listed all the seeds she ordered … I need to get going.

In order to plan and implement a good garden I need:

• a sketch book to plan my garden out
• an inventory of what containers I have
• my window box installed (a fabulous Christmas gift from the hubby)
• an afternoon sans enfants to a garden store and purchase my plants
• money (duh!)

I have this vision of spending time in my backyard this year. Of enjoying it. Breakfast, coffee, reading a book, having help watering from the wee ones.
I’ve also been dreaming about indoor gardening: terrariums, cloches, more forced bulbs. I pitched my idea of terrariums to Richard and my idea was not met with the enthusiasm I had wished for. I think he believes they’ll look cluttery, when in fact I think they will look anything BUT cluttery! Small, contained, tidy little containers with plants. I think it’s brilliant. I should probably just go ahead and implement my plan. :)

I looked at the forcing vases, terrariums and cloches from Smith and Hawken — hello, expensive. I did a little digging, and found (cheaper!) items which will work just as well.

• glass domes from Pottery Barn, and Sur la Table.
• closed glass containers from Ikea for terrariums — $3-6! as opposed to the same thing from S&H for $30-40

I also have a strong desire to go bargin hunting at our local thrift shop to see what they have to offer regarding vases and glass domes.

More in the coming weeks and months…

open wide, this won’t hurt a bit

Wheel of Deluded Existence, or The Wheel of Life

Sandpainting is an ancient and sacred Tibetan art form intended to uplift and benefit those who see it as well as bless the environment. The idea of the Wheel of Life is 2500 years old and was a gift from Buddha. The artist creating this particular Mandala, Losang Samten, was the first to create them in the United States and the first to create them in sand.

While no two Mandalas are the same, they are identical in concept: the same symbols, characters and designs are used. A few of the highlights: the center of the Wheel of Life holds the 3 poisons — the snake (anger), the rooster (greed) and the boar (ignorance) on a blue background symbolizing the nature of the human mind. Surrounding that is a dark and light area — the yin and yang. On the light side are representations of those who seek lessen the effects of the poison; on the dark side are those who suffer due the poisons. The next circle is comprised of six main sections — human existence, animal kingdom, karmic hell, hungry ghosts, realm of the demi-gods, heavenly realm — that illustrate life situations and their conditions which result from these poisons. The outer ring of the Mandala has twelve illustrations representing the twelve phases of human conciousness. You can read more about Mandalas here.

Creating a Mandala is a painstaking process and takes a very steady hand. Losang Samten uses two metal cone-shaped tubes which have ridges on the outside. When he rubs the tubes together the sand comes out in a very controlled manner.

This particular Mandala is called The Wheel of Deluded Existence or The Wheel of Life. It is being created at the Philadelphia Cathedral from Sunday, January 13 to Sunday, January 27th. It will be on display until 12pm on Sunday, February 3rd, at which time the Mandala will be systematically destroyed and returned to nature as an acknowledgement of transience and impermanence. There is a webcam so you can see the systematic creation of the Mandala.

You can see more photos on my Flickr set or on my friend Shana’s Flickr set. You can also read Shana’s post on our visit at her blog.

You can find out more about Losang Samten through his website and through the Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia.