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TMI?

May 5, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth 54 Comments

I’m blogging today over at Melissa’s place. I’m talking about motherhood and vulnerability. Oddly enough, in my real life, I’m getting my first mammogram. I will soon be the expert in vulnerable now won’t I? Doctors make the worst patients but after your urgent pleading (Darby) I’ve also scheduled my yearly preventive health exam.

In other health related news, I started a new high protein (NO CARBS, NO SUGAR, NO DIET SODA) diet 2 weeks ago. I was feeling awful all the time. Can anyone say “too many major life changes in one year?” I don’t metabolize sugar correctly and if I start on carbs early in the day, I’m on a bouncy ball all day with cravings and emotions and the like. I was VERY skeptical. I have the willpower of Winnie the Poo. But for some reason, this has worked for me. It’s called the Ideal Protein Diet and you can only get it through a physician. You only stay on the very strict portion (phase 1) for a few weeks. I’ve lost almost 7 pounds and 5 inches and really feel better. I didn’t go to the doctor seeking a diet. I went because I felt run down and stressed and tired all the time. It’s not a miracle diet but it works for me because I’m a carb-addict. Funny thing is, when I was in medical practice, I specialized in helping people make lifestyle changes; losing weight, smoking cessation, stress reduction and all sorts of behavior modification. And now I’m in need of a little lifestyle tweaking myself. There’s no shame in that. We all need help sometimes. It’s okay to be vulnerable.

People often ask me why I never talk about health on this blog. I was trained very traditionally in an MD program but found myself much more intrigued by alternative approaches to wellness and prevention. I firmly believe that what we put in our bodies is most often responsible for our health outcome. If I ever go back into medicine, I’ll likely retrain to do alternative medicine. So, I don’t talk about traditional medicine because there’s only s portion of it I believe in. And I don’t talk about alternative medicine because I haven’t properly educated myself in it and so much of it is so darn new age. I guess I’m in a holding pattern so until I get it all figured out, I’ll continue to talk about my children, my faith, my favorite books, and my butter-laden recipes.

Now, head on over to Melissa’s where there will be no mention of protein or mammograms or butter.

Kitchen Dilemma

May 4, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth 53 Comments

I’m sitting on my new deck watching the geese and egrets fly by and the lake water ripple, drinking a wonderful cup of coffee as I type this. I still haven’t shaken the feeling that I’m on vacation—in Hilton Head—with no definite endpoint for my return ‘home’. The only downside to living your entire life like your on vacation is that I seem to have lost my skills for meal planning. Dinner sneaks up on me—-because really, who wants to spend their vacation at the grocery store? And take out in this town is a poor choice for long term eating. Which brings me to my kitchen.

My new kitchen is all ordered and will likely be installed in 2-3 weeks. I ordered four cabinet doors before I settled on a color. After almost ordering 3 different cabinet colors, two different door styles and 2 different counter tops, I finally settled on one color, one door style, and one countertop. I know, boring right? I’ll just have to add spice in other ways. I wanted clean lines and simplicity because of the openness of the floor plan. Besides my IKEA farm sink, I think I’m most excited about my 48″ Dacor stove and hood. {Honey, I promise I’ll cook more when I get my stove}. I had several inspiration kitchens but the one I leaned most heavily on was this one in April’s issue of Southern living. My cabinet color is very similar and my countertops are white quartz. I also took plenty of inspiration from Erica’s kitchens in Coastal Living but eventually decided against the blue island that I was sure I wanted. I’m still deciding between the small 1 inch iridescent tile and regular subway tile for the backsplash. I settled on open cabinetry for the back wall on either side of the hood even though I sacrificed some wall cabinets for open shelves that will likely span across the windows too.

My main dilemma at this point is that I really want to paint the few walls in the kitchen a different color than the living room. (a much lighter whitish color that would be too light for the living room). As you can see, that will be somewhat difficult to do without coming up with a creative way to transition. I’ve thought of a framed chalk board— to be used for menu writing. I’ve also wondered if putting drapes on that window and hanging the rod to the ceiling which would obscure a marked paint transition. And I know the railing is still bothering you but for now, stay on task and let’s discuss this pesky transition. What would you do?
And why, you ask, do I still feel like I’m in Hilton Head?
I don’t know if it’s the plethora of sunsets I get to enjoy…..

or the plethora of beautiful plants in my yard. My azaleas are in full bloom and are simply gorgeous. Now if I could only get my cooking mojo back…..

p.s. those rocks are a jumbled mess because I keep running over them with my ginormous SUV. I think I need a vacation car.

All grown up

May 3, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth 18 Comments

Where do the years go? Can she possibly be old enough to dress up and go to prom? She has become a beautiful woman. And I am one lucky mother.

“And this baptism now saves you”

April 29, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth

Something is happening to her. I’m not altogether sure that she fully grasps it. It started when she quit work. And it further heightened when she brought her children home to educate them. Maybe you’d call it an epiphany. Or an awakening. Sometimes it feels more like a death or at the very least a drowning of an old fantasy.

But something very peculiar happens when you face the truth about yourself and about your life in one area; it eventually creeps into all areas of your life, invading your presuppositions and putting to death the lies under which you’ve operated for so long, drowning them in a sea of life-giving water.

It took her by surprise and she must learn to swim again. Or so she thinks. She reaches out for something familiar but even her virtues seem to have washed away. There is no sure footing. There has to be another way. Or surely she will drown.

When you allow layers upon layers to be peeled back so that all you’re left with is the nakedness of your own depravity……

When the words of Christ sink in and take hold and gnaw at you and undo you…….

He is taking you into His death. “Deep calls to deep at the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers have gone over me.”

She finds it hard to breathe. She fights Him. She finds it impossible to surrender…….

And then He comes. He has made another way.

He will be the one to surrender.

And His surrender will be perfect, even to death.

His words play a melody in her heart.

He has come to give her life abundant.

how long have i been in this storm
so overwhelmed by the ocean’s shapeless form
waters getting harder to tread
with these waves crashing over my head

if i could just see you
everything would be alright
if i had to see you
this darkness would turn into light

and i will walk on water
and you will catch me if i fall
and i will get lost into your eyes
and everything will be alright
and everything will be alright

i know u didn’t bring me out here to drown
so why am i ten feet under and upside down
barely surviving has become my purpose
cause i’m so used to living underneath the surface

if i could just see you
everything would be alright
if i could see you
this darkness would turn into light

and i will walk on water
and you will catch me if i fall
and i will get lost into your eyes
and everything will be alright

and i will walk on water
and you will catch me if i fall
and i will get lost into your eyes
and everything will be alright
and now everything is alright
everythings alright

studio 3z makes me smile

April 27, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth 28 Comments

Remember when we went to Cincy a few weeks ago? Well, one of our great pleasures was meeting Brett and Jess of studio 3z. I found her blog months ago and began to confess my smittenness of their work. They are the most beautiful, unique family I think I’ve ever laid eyes on. And they homeschool too. Oh how I wish I lived in Cincy. Today, Jessica emailed me and said some of the pics were posted from our photo session and she graciously let me post a few of them on my blog too. You’re gonna wanna make some hot tea and nestle into a comfy spot when you visit her blog–it’s one of those you’ll get lost in. Brett and Jessica are as warm and gracious and beautiful in person as they seem when you visit their site. I consider it a honor to call them friends. Enjoy their work!

two little love birds!

love the shots into the sun!

and who can resist an old blue caboose as a prop?

i couldn’t resist taking pictures of them taking pictures—-

and I think this is my favorite pic of their adorable family.

I know, you’re smitten now too, aren’t ya?

Dumpster Divin’ Yard Sale-in’ and Lake Livin’ aka the longest post known to man

April 26, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth 26 Comments

I’ve been keeping things from you and I apologize profusely. But I knew you’d be jealous.

I have a dumpster.

There, I said it.

I rented one for the move and I’ve never been happier with a rented item. I’m giddy about it. And to celebrate my sheer joy, my friends Kelly and Denise went dumpster diving with me. And tried to pull out some old fabric. But I put my foot down and made them come shop at the actual yard sale.

Which you should have attended, by the way. When you move into a house with at least 4 less rooms, things must be purged.

And if you didn’t happen to make it to the sale—you missed out. Because everything was negotiable. Even the small children.

Everything except the pressure cooker, that is.

Nick marked the $15 Walmart pressure cooker at a whopping $100. It was a conversation piece. Here’s a sampling of the many people who asked about the cooker.

Random Yard Sale Attendee: “Do you mean to price that cooker at $100?”

Nick: “Yep.”

RYA: “Is there something special about it?”

Nick: “Not really.”

Turns out, Nick is an aspiring chef and wanted to keep the cooker for himself. We told him to just take it out of the sale and keep it but he insisted that, for the right price, he’d sell it. At the end of the day, he let his guard down and offered to take $40 for it. The woman laughed and said, “You can just keep it then.” He was happy to see that absolutely NOONE was tempted by the world’s most expensive pressure cooker. We laughed all day about it.

Then there was the scary pumpkin/shoe display.

I walk into the garage and overhear this:

Daniel: “Why is that scary pumpkin with the really tall legs wearing a top hat and eating paper?”

Nick: “I don’t know but I think that’s why the shoes aren’t selling, man. We should move the pumpkin.”

{{{Backstory: The teens were in charge of the yard sale and got to keep half the proceeds from the things they sold. They were highly motivated workers. Nick and Daniel (Steve’s nephew) on the lower garage and CAiti on the upper garage. The boys worked hard to set their garage up like a department store with a veritable sporting goods’ section. It was priceless.}}}}

The boys worked hard and seldom did I see this when I went downstairs. But I love the cat ears head band Nick. And the price tags.

And CAiti was busy all day too—-negotiating, chitty chatting and watching lots of our pretty things go bye-bye.

I was so happy to sell both of our extra refrigerators. I called my favorite appliance delivery boys to load that baby up for the happy new owners. I’m sure Stevie and brother Jeff were thrilled to be interrupted in their fishing excursion to help—-but they really did deliver appliances for their dad’s store back in the day. It was all so vintage. I’m just sayin’.

It was a great day and fun was had money was made by all. I love these guys.

Of course, since we were so lucky to have brother Jeff, Daniel and Grandpa Eddie visiting, we had to squeeze in a little lake fun!

We live on a peninsula, with our house on the ‘main channel’ side and our dock on the ‘cove side’. Our 4-wheeler will make the trek down to the boat a little easier on the 40 somethings.

They were such good sports to put up with our busy schedule this weekend and our beastly mammoth, Hank. Hank thinks he’s died and gone to heaven. He swims and chases ducks all day.

We were sad to see our family go today. We made them promise to come back down soon. {Thanks so much for making the long journey down—we love you guys!!!}

I leave you with one more pathetic peak into my house. I’ve been meaning to clip some wisteria from our road and put it on the mantle but I’m so exhausted that by the time I remember to go clip some, I’m too tired. You can see more unedited pics from the weekend and from the house on my flickr stream.

And I’m gonna go collapse in a heap.

Love to you!