Edie Wadsworth

Happy Birthday Malachi

January 16, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth 10 Comments

This is Steve’s oldest son Malachi {with his girlfriend Alex}. Today is Mal’s birthday. We miss him so much and wish we could be with him today to celebrate! We’ve found it gets harder and harder to spend time with your grown children when they have real jobs/responsibilities. We were looking back at old pictures yesterday and growing nostalgic. Mal is quite an artist and tech-y genius; as a matter of fact, he’s one of those gifted right and left brain people that make me envious. I can’t help but see his dad in him. And after looking at cute pictures of he and Emme holding up oranges for eyes, I think we’re gonna have to call and beg him for a visit.

Happy Birthday Mal! We love you!

p.s. the first picture stolen from Mal’s (or was it Alex’s?) facebook

Christmas Coveting

January 14, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth 51 Comments

The Backstory

{in the following true story, the names have been changed and faces hidden to protect the innocent}

It happened the first day they went outside to play after Christmas. They came in with cold chapped faces and forlorn little hearts.

“Mom (in a pitiful, woe-is-me little voice), guess what such-and-such got for Christmas”

“What?”

“Well, Sally got a DSi, Myrtle got a cell phone, Hattie got a laptop and EVERYDODYYYYYYY in the whole neighborhood has a Wii except for us. {voice gets decidedly whinier} I’m not saying I don’t like my doll and my new underwear because I do—-but why would Santa not at least bring us a Wii too. I mean I know it wasn’t on our first list but nobody’s ever gonna want to come play at our house ’cause all we have to play with are dolls and stupid legos. (uncontrollable sobbing ensues) And I hurt my leeeeeeggggggggggg. Can you {sniffle} make {sniffle} me {sniffle} some hot chocolate {sniffle} and read Harry Potter?”

So that’s how it started. And from then on, everytime we were gonna see new friends, we had THE talk. You know the one.

“Okay girls, now we’re gonna see some friends that we haven’t seen since Christmas. Ask them if they had a great Christmas and maybe something fun they did—but don’t ask first thing—‘what did YOU get for Christmas’—–remember, Christmas is about the birth of Christ and being together with your family. And when they tell you what they got, be thankful that your friends were blessed so much and had a great Christmas. ANd then move on and talk about something else. K?”

And I don’t come down too hard on them about being ungrateful little wretches. And it’s not that I’m against electronics. I happened to be completely infatuated with my MacBookPro. And my amazing iPhone. {which my 7 year old can navigate better than me—-I knew I was in trouble when she set my ring tone to a quacking duck and I had to ask HER to change it back. } But somehow I’ve managed almost twenty years having kids that were only very minimally into electronics. So, I’m holding out as long as I can. But, I’m the same way when it comes to coveting. We all are. Which is why we all desperately need the forgiveness that only Christ can give.

“I wish I had that car. I wish I had that house. I wish I had that figure. I wish I had that hair.” We all do it, don’t we. It’s the curse of being human. I just snuggle with them on the sofa, dry their little coveting tears and find a multitude of things for which to be thankful.

Two Weeks Later

We’re almost finished with book three of Harry Potter so we spend a lot of time in front of the fire reading—-and while I read, they play stupid legos.

Imagine the inner laughter I had to contain when I took notice of their lego houses. It’s a veritable house of electronics. This family has a Wii–stocked with plenty of games—-an xbox and a DSi. The lego kids even had laptops and tv’s in their rooms. And not one more mention to me (at least not yet) of how dreadful it is to live in our house sans electronics. This is a win-win all around. I get to be amused listening to them make rules to the lego children about how much time they’ve been playing Wii—–AND I don’t have to buy a Wii. I love legos. And apparently my children do too.

Books Read in 2009

January 13, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth 13 Comments

All the President’s Men
Harry Potter-Chamber of Secrets
The Glass Castle
Harry Potter book 1
West Oversea (Lars Walker)
The Abolition of Man
Toqueville’s Democracy in America
Heaven on Earth
Glen Beck’s Common Sense
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
Year of Wonders
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
March
John Lock’s 2nd Treatise of Gov’t
Into the Wild
Beautiful Boy
Out of the Silent Planet
The Centurion’s Wife
The Secret Life of Bees
A Philosophy of Education
The Hidden Art of Homemaking
Plato’s Republic Book 1-4
A Thomas Jefferson Education
Night
The Life of Pi
The Abolition of Man
The Great Divorce
Basket of Flowers
All Rivers Run to the Sea
Phantastes
The Education of a Daughter
Brave New World
Surprised by Joy
The Autobiography of Ben Franklin
Founding Brothers
Eight Cousins
The Problem of Pain
A Grief Observed
St. Teresa of Avila
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Dumbing Us Down
100 Years of Solitude

So they loaded up the truck…….

January 11, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth 34 Comments

Well, I decided to move to WordPress and it’s gonna be more of a Klampett-style move. Jed pulled up his truck and loaded me and all my posts up….but we seem to have lost Jethro and Granny in the chaos. Pardon the mess and the random things flying overboard and hopefully in a few days you’ll feel right at home. The links may not work, the comments may not migrate and we will all bump into things as we find our way around. I think when all is said and done, you’ll love the new site. Darcy has been holding my hand all day and we’re both gonna cross our fingers that nothing explodes when I push the button to import my blog to this new site. I feel like I’m in charge of secrets at the FAA or something. I’m like Jack Bauer meets Jed Klampett. People with my lack of computer skillz should not be allowed ‘under the hood’ like this. So, without further adieu………..{maybe I should say some magic words}

p.s. I’ve got Granny’s rifle in case anything goes wrong!

I’ll explain all about why I moved to wordpress later but Darcy recently wrote a post on it if you’re considering it. Here’s one big reason I moved. Big photos!

Do’s and Don’ts for Surviving Blissdom ’10

January 8, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth 192 Comments

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Blissdom last year. I left the conference sure that I would attend it again. And it’s hard to believe that it’s just one month away. To give you time to gather your survival supplies, I wanted to do this post early. So here it is: how to survive Blissdom and have fun doing it!

1. Do start thinking about your goals for Blissdom NOW.

If your primary purpose is to connect with other like-minded bloggers, start doing it now. Send out emails, letting your blog friends know that you can’t wait to meet them. Make plans to meet—-or shop, or share lunch or coffee. The conference schedule is packed but there’s always time for a fun rendezvous with your favorite blogger. If you’ve been dying to meet the Nester, send her a sweet message and tell her so. Meeting her was one of the highlights of the conference for me last year. And she’s just as adorable and warm and down-to-earth in real life as she is on her blog. And she wants to meet you too! {as do I}

If your primary purpose is to learn more about blogging and networking—then do as much as you can ahead of time. Spend some time on Twitter or Facebook or Flickr or Stumble Upon and learn something new about blogging or social media. The more you already know, the more you’ll gain in understanding when you’re there. And maybe most importantly, blog! You will meet new people who will start to follow your blog after Blissdom. Give them some great posts to read from your archives. Try writing one post a week that you are really proud of—–edit it and edit it again until it’s a post that you just know others will want to link to.

And work on your blog. Declutter it. Make it a friendly, inviting and informative place to visit.

2. Do decide whether you want to hand out business cards/goodies/etc.

Nearly everyone will have business cards for their blogs/businesses. It’s an easy way to meet and greet and then later you’ll have easy access to finding your new friends’ blogs without trying to remember the names of everyone you met. A LOT of people gave out goodies last year. I took little bags of my chocolate chip shortbread cookies to friends I knew already and a few to folks I wanted to thank for being mentors to me. If you have a business, it’s a great way to make an impression. Last year, Kristi from Pink and Polka Dot {my roommate this year} made me the cutest keychain with my name monogrammed on it. I nearly cried. Don’t feel pressure to do something like that but if you enjoy baking or sewing, it’s a good way to say “thank you” or “I have a blog crush on you” or whatever it is you want to say.

3. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

The two weeks before Blissdom, everyone will be posting about clothing and shoes and what-to-wear-to-the-cocktail party. Just be yourself. I promise you; noone cares or will remember what you wear. Stacy and Clinton won’t be there to haul you off for wearing your acid washed jeans and Valentine’s sweater. It’s fun to talk about and think about a little but it’s really not important. {small caveat: Nester had on the cutest black cocktail dress I have ever seen last year—-so it’s possible someone will remember—-but still don’t sweat it}

Jeans and a black sweater is always a safe place to start. It’s fun to take what would be plain-jane outfits and make them perfect with accessories. Make some cute felt flower pins to attach to stuff you already have.

And wear cute earrings. But for heaven’s sake don’t break the bank to try to come up with wonderful new outfits. I bet you have the perfect thing in your closet right now—-with just a little mixing and matching and accessorizing.

And though I always give it the old college try, we’re probably not gonna lose that last 10 pounds. You are most beautiful when you are comfortable in your own skin. We love you just the way you are. I promise. And we didn’t know you when you were 20 with no wrinkles and a size two. K? We’re all in this together. We’re raising kids and nurturing families and most of us bare some signs of it. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

4. Don’t let your inner 7th grader take over.

And we all know she’s in there. My inner 7th grader wears long tube socks, has a mullet and a fair amount of acne. And she’s nervous. And wondering if she’ll fit in?

{on careful 2nd perusal, my inner 7th grader looks like she’s gonna win this basketball game or somebody’s gonna get hurt—-but you see the point I’m trying to make. I smile a lot more these days. And I don’t have a mullet.}

“Will anyone recognize me? Know me? Will I remember names? Will I feel left out? Will it be like the lunch table at junior high where I’m looking around for somewhere to sit and hoping noone sees my anguish?

We all feel the same way. So the best remedy for you is this; do for others what you’re hoping everyone does for you. Introduce yourself. Notice if someone is alone and needs a friend. Do some research ahead of time and see who’s coming. Search them out. Make them feel welcome and offer to sit with them. I’m also asking that anyone who is coming to Blissdom alone leave a comment on this post and let’s make plans to meet at some point. And please, if you see me at at the conference and I don’t know you or recognize you, please introduce yourself. I can’t wait to meet you. You are why I’m making the trip. If it helps, imagine that every one you meet is wearing long tube socks, has a mullet and a fair amount of acne.

I’m making a list of people that I’ve never met before that I want to meet. And folks I met last year that I can’t wait to see/hug/invade their personal space. There is almost nothing like it—-seeing the person across the room that you’ve read about and grown to love—and finally meeting them face to face. So make your list. And then leave plenty of room in your heart for all the wonderful bloggers that you didn’t even know about.

5. Do find ways to serve.

Look for opportunities to be helpful and encouraging. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Noone is intentionally trying to be snobby. Some people are painfully shy in real life. Some people {I’m not naming any names but she used to have a mullet} are notorious huggers and invaders of all personal space. Many people will have their babies with them. Offer your help. Offer to fetch a soda or some crackers. Many of your fellow bloggers are in the midst of real life heartaches. Be gracious and understanding. Go the extra mile.

Tell Alli and Barbara how much you appreciate all the thankless hours of hard work they put into making the conference such a success. Tell the speakers what a great job they did. Find positive, encouraging things to say and say them, frequently. Pretty soon, your conference will be wonderful because you made it that way. You took the time to be kind and to place others ahead of yourself.

Be generous.

Be the first one to speak.

Smile a lot.

Don’t wear tube socks.

That about covers it. What did I leave off? Add your advice to the comments.

I can’t wait to see you! Make sure to leave a comment if you’re coming and especially if you’re coming alone. Heckle the mullet at your own risk—-I’m even a little afraid of my inner 7th grader!

Ringing in the New Year

January 7, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth 16 Comments

How do you get your children to:

1. Sing for you on New Year’s Day

2. Make ‘2010’ with their bodies in the cold windy chill….

3. Join in a collaborative effort to do the dishes

4. And with only a small amount of tomfoolery?

Answer:

You feed them large amounts of pasta and bread and then tempt them with all manner of chocolate fondue covered yummies

then if that doesn’t work, you do whatever is necessary!

I can’t think of a better way to ring in the New Year then right here at home with the kids. We were happy to have Cody and Morgan join us too! Hope your 2010 is filled to the brim with joy!

The Verity has still been playing a few shows here and there despite the fact that the 3 of the boys are in college now. It was just like old times to enjoy their music live.