Great Zeus!

You just never know when something is going to turn into a passion. DS discovered a computer game called Age of Mythology during a playdate with friends. He liked it so much that they got him his own copy of the game for his birthday last month. It's a good thing I have a laptop because suddenly my PC was unavailable for most of the day!

This game is a sort of simulation game - you start off with a few humans living in a long-ago era. As you play, you direct the characters to do things that enhance their chances of survival, such as hunting animals, building shelter, etc. Over time they have increased their population & have developed a civilization. What adds to the adventure is the mythology stuff - you select gods for your communities to worship, as according to where & when they are existing (Ancient Greece, Egypt, Rome & Norway). The game gives information to help understand the myths, the gods, the monsters - Shaun became more & more curious about these stories.

It makes sense - years of loving Pokemon & Yu-gi-oh lead him to anime & manga - stories that deal with heros & evil beings, supernatural powers & complicated plots. The myths of ancient cultures have these same elements.

DS is gobbling up these stories. I found a lecture series on the Odyssey that is was available for free download from the library that he enjoyed. Then, while at the library, we discovered a book written by Rick Riordan called Percy Jackson & the Olympians. Turns out that it was the first in a series - now we're awaiting our Barnes & Noble order for the entire series!

Who knows where else this new passion will lead us - maybe to Greece! DS is already saying he wants to see the actual temples to the gods that were built by the ancient Greeks. His love of manga/anime has brought him the desire to learn some Japanese - he know owns several translation books & has been creating signs for things around the house in Japanese.

You just never know what the connections will be...

Me & my Grammy

This is my Grammy. This photo was taken when I was about 3 years old & she was in her late forties. She was a very important part of my life, even as I became an adult, married, & had my kids. Three different times she & my grandfather housed us temporarily, once while we were looking for a new home in a new state, once when our house caught fire & needed to be repaired & once when we were building a new house. I took my kids to visit them every Tuesday for 4 years, until we moved further away & the kids started school. My grandparents are gone now, & this past weekend was the 4th anniversary of Grammy's death. I'll always miss them & the void they left in our lives. XXOO I'll love you always Grammy & Grandpa!

New Year, New Goals!

We all know the cliche - New Year's Resolutions, a Clean Slate, etc., etc. Well, I've been Clean Slating my life these last few weeks. Trying to chuck out the clutter & past-their-usefullness reminders of interests past.

Today I tackled cleaning my kitchen, which includes a walk-in pantry. I found boxes of bread mixes & containers of long-forgotten tea blends that got knocked to the dark corners of the shelves. Things with price tags that say "Bread & Circus", which became "Whole Foods" years ago! Into the garbage!

I grabbed all of my cookbooks that are stored in open shelves at the end of my kitchen peninsula - & when I say cookbooks, I also mean magazines & ripped-out magazine articles, pages from newspapers, notes jotted down from various now-anonymous sources, inserts that come with whatever kitchen appliance or tool they are meant to enhance. So many - & I haven't looked at them since I first placed them there. I easily rid myself of half of the pile.

Then I remembered the corner cabinet. Placed over the counter that elbows the oven & sink, it is large but awkwardly shaped. It held many more cookbooks, plus all of my old copies of Cake Decorators magazine, plus catalogs from my wholesale cake decorating supplier (from 10 years ago!) I swear the cabinet breathed a sigh of relief as I unloaded the weight. Into the recycle bin went the old flour, sugar & tea canisters I never use. Look at all of this space! My vast collection of exotic hardly used spices was next. I was merciless - if I hadn't used it in 2 years, well, it was history!

I haven't filled the space yet. I want to enjoy the feeling of purging these old cluttery things for a while. Obviously, my nature is to hold on to things even when it doesn't make a lot of sense to do so. My brain shouts, "What if you need this later? How can you just throw this away?"

I think what is important is to remember that sometimes letting go of things really means giving you the space to allow new things to enter. That doesn't necessarily mean new stuff. It can mean letting peace enter. Or new habits. Maybe by doing the purging work now, I'll have less maintenance work to do later.

At the very least, I'll have cleaner counters!