gorgeous hallowed eve saturday...

the babe is napping, so perhaps I can get caught up a bit here, yes? yes.

first off, this was in my inbox this morning. as some of you know, I don't always read the daily reflections, but today I opened it and am sincerely glad I did:

FAITHFULNESS is consecration in overalls. It is the steady acceptance and performance of the common duty and immediate task without any reference to personal preferences — because it is there to be done and so is a manifestation of the Will of God. … Faithfulness means continuing quietly with the job we have been given, in the situation where we have been placed; not yielding to the restless desire for change. It means tending the lamp quietly for God without wondering how much longer it has got to go on. Steady, unsensational driving, taking good care of the car. A lot of the road to heaven has to be taken at thirty miles per hour.

- Evelyn Underhill
The Soul’s Delight: Selected Writings of Evelyn Underhill

From pages 36-37 of The Soul’s Delight: Selected Writings of Evelyn Underhill, edited by Keith Beasley-Topliffe. Copyright & copy; 1998 by Upper Room Books. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

who doesn't need to hear that sentiment expressed?! people who are already being patient and uncomplaining with the tasks and travails of their lives, I suppose, or people who don't care to see the point in doing something if it's not somehow personally fulfilling. I don't quite fall into either category, so I appreciated the nudge to zip my lip and just do the work that's before me regardless of how I feel about it.

this weather is so pretty. we opened the windows yesterday and today and simply reveled in it. I had both a bacon & spinach scone from the t'afia farmer's market (we bought and froze them WEEKS ago and they were still delicious!) and malt 'o meal with milk, butter, and brown sugar this morning for breakfast. the malt 'o meal sent my memory recall straight back to at least four kitchens in different houses in different towns growing up. mom would make us malt 'o meal in the winter, along with cinnamon toast and sometimes sweet white rice... anyway, I love malt 'o meal and every year I say I'm going to buy it and never do. so there, 2010! malt 'o meal happened to you!

speaking of cooking, it feels good to be swerving back to our whole food habits. I made Ethiopian cabbage the other day, which is one of our favorite meals. seriously, it's so good... if you make it off of the allrecipes site, be sure to take the advice in the comments and up the spices at least double, maybe more if you like cumin and turmeric (which we do). I added some thinly sliced chicken sausage at the last minute, which isn't Ethiopian but sure did taste good.

a fine way to cook... recipe on the laptop, a cold dublin dr. pepper, and the quality control oversight of miss m.a.b.

little stinker, she should be napping and I hear her talking in there. well, let's see how long she'll let me blog.

what do I have to say? I know things are a-churning politically right now, and I hope everyone's voting. we don't watch much news anymore, so I'm having to look through the Voters Guide husband so kindly printed out and brought home. I can't take a lot of politicking at present. I still struggle with where the Christian falls when it comes to nationalism and politics.

..... aaaaand, that didn't last long. baby is now on the floor in front of me and I have drool all over my shoulder. pffft.

I should mention that margaretann booked her first gig! she (and mama's forearms) will be demonstrating the Weaning Swaddle on TrueWomb.com. pretty cool, huh?! now, before anyone suspects that I'm a crazy stage mom a la Toddlers & Tiaras, I honestly had no intention of magz getting involved in my business. one of my agents asked us about a baby casting and if we were interested, so I sent in a photo, the client wanted to meet her, and boom! we're off to Austin Monday to shoot the video along with about 5 other babies of varying sizes. wish us well! the thing with babies is that you can never be sure how they're going to act, so mama's going to try to keep her in the best mood possible that morning so there's a happy, swaddle-lovin' baby on set...

maybe I should go ahead and trot out the baby photos. did I mention we like our bouncer?

and that we've discovered feet?? oh yes.

magz is a scooter. see how she's off of her blanket, and is missing a sock?

precious little halloween feet. more halloween shenanigans to come.

I love her stripey legs!

sweet sweet naptime

it's occurred to me that people might get tired of seeing baby photos (don't worry, grandparents, I'm not talking to you. :P). I sympathize, and here is what I have to say to anyone who might wish for more adult fare around here:

I'm very very sorry. but that's the way it is.

a) because I just have a lot of photos of the girl and b) because most of the time my adult ideas just peter out before I can get here to write them down. and then they're gone, poof. I choose to believe it's a lack of sleep/time management issue. I'm sure it's not a forever thing, because if it were that would make me sad.

all joshing aside, I actually have a grown-up thought to share today. I've really been thinking about my journey to now and how the different stages of life are so... well, very different. if someone had told me five years ago I'd be mommyblogging photos of my baby today it would have sounded pretty funny to me, alien even. not that I didn't want to have a family, it just seemed like a long way from where I was. I spent the great majority of the years between 24 and 34 as a single woman, and had an entirely different set of expectations and priorities. not to mention the fact that I was way more stylish then. from where I sit now, I can totally see the merits and struggles of both kinds of existence.

which brings me to a topic I've meant to comment on for a few months now, prompted by a post of ms. sargent. for me, one of the most important common threads to weave through both my single and married life is to keep choosing to be in community with others. while I'm friendly and extroverted, a bridge-builder who really likes everyone to get along, I deeply love solitude and could easily go underground and exist quite happily for a good while. when I started making some positive changes in my life back in the day, some questionable influences were phased out and it was sort of challenging to make good new friends. that actually applies to both my husband and I - as our lives changed and especially as we got together, many people we'd previously known fell by the wayside and we were really in the market to find friends of faith. it's awkward to say, but many adults already have a tight group of friends and, frankly, don't really have a need of new ones. plus, we all know relationships take time and effort and some of us just don't have the space. prior to mr. bell, I also used to feel a bit at a disadvantage for being single, which sent me to try all manner of internet dating and to lament that there wasn't a particularly large or active singles ministry at my church (now that I'm married, I realize that hitched people have just as much of a challenge forging bonds at our small church as anyone else, and that in both cases the only thing within my power is my own proactivity). I even felt left out at having not attended a Christian college, but I could easily expand that idea to simply having not maintained the friendships I had in college and graduate school into my adult life as others had. maybe that's because moving a lot growing up taught me to let people go and forge ahead, I don't know. I could think of that in a negative light, but I think the moving actually ended up being a positive help to my brother and I later in our lives. I'm digressing - the point is, it would be so easy to isolate and live life to the tune of your own ipod, wouldn't it? no one to argue with, no compromise to make, no one really depending on you, no one to disappoint?

I'm thankful for a lot of things. my Saturday night group is a lifeline, no matter how much time goes by. I've never felt on the outside there. I'm grateful for friendships made and in the making that came a lot slower and harder than I imagined they would, and I hope to be more open to other adults who're looking for fellow believers and support. I'm glad and challenged to experience the push and pull of being committed to a church and natural family, and the deep love and character flaws that surface to be dealt with as we attempt to navigate one another. I'm so thankful to be known by my husband and to trust that he'll be there no matter what comes up, and I'm absolutely delighted to know my daughter. The constant tugging of all of these relationships forces me to reckon with myself and others and try to, eventually, own up to my portion of things. I need community, even if I don't like it all the time. it keeps me sane and on the better path.

and now to end with a photo that's not a baby, but is still pretty flippin' adorable.

-m.y.