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On being thankful……

October 30, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 10 Comments

1. anticipating my Eight O’Clock coffee, finely ground just before it’s brewed with a healthy amount of real half and half.
2. loving it when my 18 year old son swoops in for the air kiss.
3. Sitting on the sofa, knitting, while my girls practice their reading and thinking that I am the luckiest mom in the whole world.
4. to be able to spend these precious days and weeks and moments teaching my girls everything from how to count by 5’s to how to make the best chocolate chip cookies EVER.
5. never taking for granted kissing my husband goodnight and good morning and good afternoon and good evening and enjoying. his. affection.
6. teaching my children about the absolute love and grace that Christ has showered on us all.
7. and thinking that I am so unworthy to be so blessed like that.
8. enjoying laundry. Warm. Right out of the dryer. In a pile on the sofa.
7. wishing I could swim in a vat of Chocolate. but settling for M&M’s instead. by the handful.
8. Working in the kitchen, wearing my monogrammed apron, and listening to good music….maybe Brandi Carlile or Eddie Vedder or Taylor’s Band or Johnny Cash or Lifehouse.
9. Thinking about how much I miss my daddy and wishing his life could have turned out differently. and noticing how I grind my teeth. just. like. him.
10. Saying a big thank you to my God for blessing me with the most wonderful sister in all the world….who knows me inside and out….and still loves me….unconditionally…..and beats me at Rock Band. everytime.
11. feeling so blessed to have discovered blogging and wishing I were neighbors with Jessica and country girl and the nester and jennifer and emily and……..and Susan Wise Bauer and keli and kelly and denise and pam and brooke and on. and on.
12. missing my patients and hoping that they have found a doctor who loves them and prays for them and listens. and wears cute shoes. and lip gloss.
13. talking on the phone to JamieKnoxville and believing that everything is going to be okay and laughing so hard I cry…..and thanking my lucky stars that someone knows my story.
14. enjoying my morning run listening to “Never Alone” by Barlow Girl and hoping I make it to the next restroom. in. time. (there is a downside to having 4 children)
15. contemplating the meaning of my life and having the sense that I’m doing exactly what I need to be doing and knowing I am so blessed to be able to do it.
16. praying that Caiti knows how much I love her and that I believe she is a beautiful unique child of God. with many good gifts. and beautiful straight teeth.
17. wishing I was more patient and kind and compassionate and gracious and forgiving.
18. and tall. and skinny.

Guess who else loves ya??!?!?!??!?

October 29, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 8 Comments

Apparently I’m not the only one who loves you and wants to knit you a scarf. Emme started knitting this on Monday and said, ‘Do you think the friends on your blog will like these colors?’ Oh how sweet!! She’s knitting those little hands to the bone too. Look how far she’s gotten in just one day. Grandma Evadne would be proud. She’s got the prettiest stitches—even and not too tight. She’ll probably finish before me. She decided to make her scarf for her friend Anna’s upcoming birthday…..but I just wanted you to know that she thought of you girls first. When I’m checking blogs she likes to look at everyone’s picture and read along. BTW, for those who don’t know, I’m giving away a hand-knit scarf for my 100th post!

Less is more……….

October 28, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 8 Comments

As I ponder the upcoming holidays and yearn for less commercialism in my life in general, I love this song by Eddie Vedder taken from the Into the Wild soundtrack. As you read the lyrics to the song “Society” , look to the right and hit play. Enjoy his sultry voice too! Since the time a few years ago that Steve and I stepped off the proverbial treadmill of the ‘rat race’ , we have continued to look for ways to ‘scale back’ our lives and our holidays. That’s not always easy to do when we were used to the rat race full speed ahead…..which always translated into more ‘stuff’ and trips for us and our children. So, we will continue to embrace the philosophy of less is more. What about you? Do you struggle with this too?

It’s a mystery to me

we have a greed
with which we have agreed

You think you have to want
more than you need
until you have it all you won’t be free

society, you’re a crazy breed
I hope you’re not lonely without me

When you want more than you have
you think you need
and when you think more than you want
your thoughts begin to bleed

I think I need to find a bigger place
‘cos when you have more than you think
you need more space

society, you’re a crazy breed
I hope you’re not lonely without me
society, crazy and deep
I hope you’re not lonely without me

there’s those thinking more or less less is more
but if less is more how you’re keeping score?
Means for every point you make
your level drops
kinda like its starting from the top
you can’t do that…

society, you’re a crazy breed
I hope you’re not lonely without me
society, crazy and deep
I hope you’re not lonely without me

society, have mercy on me
I hope you’re not angry if I disagree
society, crazy and deep
I hope you’re not lonely without me

I ADORE mornings…….

October 27, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 11 Comments

I don’t know how you spend your mornings, but I’m always conflicted about how best to spend this precious two hours to myself before anyone wakes up. Should I continue with the painting doors and trim I started a while back? Should I clean out the pantry? Should I knit on my sweater or start a new scarf to give away at my 100th post party? I definitely will empty the dishwasher and do another load of laundry. I definitely will read 2 chapters in exodus and read my morning prayers. I will most certainly have several cups of coffee while I listen to my favorite talk radio show. But should I start the massive project of deep kitchen cleaning or should I start reading Julius Caesar? Or continue reading New Moon? I am fraught with decisions like this every. single. morning. And I can’t reclaim the time back. Which is why all the fretting. So today, I

emptied the dishwasher

did two loads of laundry

cleaned out the baking pans cupboard and relined it with stainless steel-looking liner

started reading Julius Caesar

read in Exodus

did morning prayers

listened to this on “God’s Will for Your Life” which I highly recommend

and started this scarf to give away on my 100th post, which should be in a couple of weeks,
so stay tuned and enter a comment on that day to win….my beloved hand knit scarf…..’cause that’s how much I love you all. So, for all you morning people out there, what’s your favorite morning ritual?

"You formed me in my mother’s womb……"

October 26, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 8 Comments

The following excerpt is taken from an article written by Robert George, law professor at Princeton on the extreme pro-abortion views held by Barack Obama.

Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress.

Yet there are Catholics and Evangelicals-even self-identified pro-life Catholics and Evangelicals – who aggressively promote Obama’s candidacy and even declare him the preferred candidate from the pro-life point of view.

What is going on here?

What kind of America do we want our beloved nation to be? Barack Obama’s America is one in which being human just isn’t enough to warrant care and protection. It is an America where the unborn may legitimately be killed without legal restriction, even by the grisly practice of partial-birth abortion. It is an America where a baby who survives abortion is not even entitled to comfort care as she dies on a stainless steel table or in a soiled linen bin. It is a nation in which some members of the human family are regarded as inferior and others superior in fundamental dignity and rights. In Obama’s America, public policy would make a mockery of the great constitutional principle of the equal protection of the law. In perhaps the most telling comment made by any candidate in either party in this election year, Senator Obama, when asked by Rick Warren when a baby gets human rights, replied: “that question is above my pay grade.” It was a profoundly disingenuous answer: For even at a state senator’s pay grade, Obama presumed to answer that question with blind certainty. His unspoken answer then, as now, is chilling: human beings have no rights until infancy – and if they are unwanted survivors of attempted abortions, not even then.

When I read this article, I immediately thought of my years in residency training in OB/Gyn.

I was on newborn nursery duty one day when there was news of a pregnancy termination due to medical complications. The rumor was that the baby had Down’s Syndrome. I was unsure of all the details but I knew that they expected this 22 week old infant to die shortly after delivery. The details of what followed will haunt my dreams until I die. The pregnancy was terminated and the baby was brought to the newborn nursery to die. The resident who brought the baby in said,

“I’ll just leave this one over here out of your way, you don’t need to do anything, should be gone soon.”

I was frozen—–with disgust, with fear, with shame.

I picked up the little baby and swaddled him in his nursery blanket and sat in a rocking chair by the soiled linen closet and did the only thing I knew to do; I rocked him and I cried and sang Amazing Grace and lost track of time and space as I watched that sweet little image bearer of God take his last breath. He looked like a little piece of heaven to me. I’m not sure for what ‘medical reasons’ his life were taken, but he had ten fingers, ten toes and the cutest little button nose. It was as if I handed him over to God on the fragile threshold that exists between life and death.

What happened that day to that sweet baby, to that mother, and to all of us in the health care field who are left to pick up the pieces was wrong and vile and should never be supported by legal systems in any civilized country.

Lord have mercy on us.

Random photos from my week…..

October 25, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 9 Comments

First of all, thank you so much to Sandy who gave me this lovely blog award. I feel so much bloggy love and I know you’d love her blog site. She is very inspiring in all things home and such an encourager with her sweet comments.

Next, on the list, I decided on maple-glazed brussel sprouts for my new Thanksgiving item. Don’t make faces. They are fantastic and all my kids like/love them. I cannot tell a lie. Just cook a bag a thawed and sliced brussel sprouts in equal parts bacon grease and olive oil. Yes I said bacon grease. I’m a southerner and we all have a jar of bacon grease sitting somewhere in our cupboards. I said don’t make faces. Then add salt and pepper and when they’re nice and carmelized add a drizzle of maple syrup. Delightful!
and why oh tell me why do my like-new Victoria Secret bras not sell on Ebay? Is it because this is a poor picture? Do I need a model? Actually, my friend Donia gave me a slew of these and they just don’t fit me perfectly. Like not at all. It’s okay to sell them on Ebay, right? They’ve only been tried on and laundered. Which I fully disclosed. I’m listing them again. Somebody need these babies. I have like 15 of them.
And then there’s this child who is shaping up to be quite a hypochondriac. Figures. Living with two doctors who are not easily impressed with wounds, she’s learned that this is a good way to torture us. But, hey, I’ve got lots of left over medical supplies from when I quit work so what’s a little guaze and some 4by4’s if it makes a girl feel better. This particular ‘severe’ injury we’re nursing back to health happened mysteriously after her sister got stitches in her foot. Who wants to be out-injured by a six year old?
and I’m trying to make amends with my friend Cindy, who hated the last picture I posted of her and said that our friendship was on the rocks. I came across this one from a cross-country meet. I don’t know if this is frienship-saving photography but I’m gonna keep trying!
Then there’s these precious items. Meet my laundry staff. ‘Originally fresh’ Gain and ‘Pink Opal’ Downy. These two are the shnizzle. My children love their freshly laundered clothing warm from the dryer after being washed and rinsed in these two stars. I love the combo. Try it, you’ll see.
Oh, and of course, my bookclub. I love these beautiful, smart, funny women. We met at Tanya’s beautiful house and had gourmet french food prepared by her and Amy, while we discussed Madame Bovary. Join us next month for Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. If you’re too far away, we have a book club blog. We’d love ‘virtual’ members.
we ate all this at bookclub…..which was to-die for and totally calorie free, I was told.
And I couldn’t forget these amazing boys who came in 1st place AGAIN at the regional cross country meet. They’re off to state. Good luck boys!
And this precious sweetie who finally got her braces off…..
and loves to show off her new teeth!

So there it is……the week in pictures. Hope you have a great weekend!