I Wish That I Was Jessie's Girl

Anytime I hear that song, I think of Skatetown USA in Charlottesville (long defunct). Molly and I would shake our booties while gliding on roller skates around a disgustingly dirty hardwood rink, then plop them down on filthy, carpet-covered blocks of wood and drink down our Pepsi-Colas. If we were lucky, we'd be in the groove and able to do some sweet moves...skating backwards, spins, and through the legs. If we were really lucky, some cute boy would ask us to join him for couples skate.

I'm here to report things haven't changed a bit at skating rinks. They even still play "Jessie's Girl," along with Justin Bieber, Kool and the Gang, and Katy Perry. They still have couples skate, but since most of their customers are in the five to 10-year-old range, most couples are best friends or kids and their moms.

They also offer the option for inline skates now (if you are my age, get them, they are MUCH easier than roller skates). I find I'm a little shaky at first, but then my innate skating abilities shine through. Not to say my butt hasn't met the floor a few times, but at least I'm not alone out there in that respect. By the way, the fall to the floor is much longer than it used to be, so get ready for some serious bruising (to your ego and your bum) your first time out.

Anson's getting pretty good, and can pose for me without falling.

Charlotte, on the other hand, is still an amateur.

I tried to get a few videos of them roller skating, so you could see their mad skills.

Afterwards we took a drink break (they are still serving Pepsi) and cooled down before leaving.

Just to make me feel more in the environment I was used to, there was a Ms. Pac-Man arcade game shoved in the corner. I was tempted, but I knew if the kids caught me on it, they'd be whining to play video games the whole time we were there.

I hope roller skating rinks can keep up over the years. There is something so freeing about gliding around that rink, as long as you don't wipeout, that is.

The Circle of Life

Recently an old friend David and I were chatting about how weird it is for me to see photos of his son on Facebook. Jack is 10 and about the same age as David was when I first met him. It brought me so vividly back to fourth and fifth grade at Greer Elementary. And then I realized Anson is also in fourth grade. I feel very old and very young at the same time.

{Anson's and Morgan's Fourth Grade School Pictures}

Even stranger, David tells me he and his family just bought a house on my street in Montvue (the neighborhood where I grew up), immediately next to the bus stop. Dad, Molly, and I often talk about how that old house of ours shows up in our dreams quite often. We lived there for so long, and it was such an integral part of growing up for me, that I will never forget it. I could draw the floor plan by heart, even today.

Our homes and where we live are members of our family. The house, the deck, the woods and creek in the backyard, the cul-de-sac, the bus stop...they are as important a part of my memories as the events and people. I wanted to go back immediately after talking to David and look at old photos of the Montvue house. In the 1970s and 1980s, we didn't take many photographs, and most of what I found had fuzzy images of furniture or walls in the background, but not much to see of the actual house.

As a result, I decided that I'm going to use Morganic Musings to record parts of our house, even if they are not "done" or finished. I want my children to be able to go back and show their children where they started and lived life.

I'm going to begin with Charlotte's room, since I actually took a few photos of it for a friend who wanted to see a pink chair she gave us that she wasn't using anymore. Most of these photos are a year old, but not much as changed since then.

Charlotte's Reading Corner 

Wave Art by Cleta Norcross (a family friend)

Chair Art by Morgan Ford

Another view of the corner, as well as Charlotte's vanity (long outgrown), her dollhouse (still in heavy use), and her huge double window

Charlotte's Bed

Art by James Brewer (the one with the gray frame was a gift to Charlotte on her birth from my Dad, "Papa")

Sleigh Bed was a gift from my Mom, "Grandma Lee" (it was hers until she moved cross country and didn't need it anymore)

Pillow in bottom photo made by Charlotte in Mrs. Pierotti's kindergarten class, December 2011

I bought the "Jeffy Rug" (my sister and I named them that when we were kids because the texture reminded us of our dog Jeff's fur) for each of the kids, and it has been their single most favorite item in their rooms. They love stretching out on it and reading, putting it on the couch when watching TV, and even sleeping on it.

The Dresser

Yep, that's what it looks like most of the time. A total mess, so I kept it that way for the photo. All art by Charlotte.

Clothes Hanger

This was mine when I was a child. One side is a happy face, and one side is sad.

Door Sign

Doesn't every little sister have one of these?

{For the record, Wahoos, Charlotte's walls are NOT Carolina Blue. It is more of a light gray-blue. Just sayin'.}

Don't forget to record the everyday things in your life. Those are what you will remember and cherish, more than the graduations, vacation landscapes, birthday party decorations, or holiday trees. Get a shot of your car, your outfit, your hairdo (that will inevitably embarrass you looking back at some point), or your living room. Record your favorite shopping mall or high street; who knows what will come of it in five, ten, or twenty years?

Check!

I can (almost) check one thing off my list of To Dos for January 2012. I'm so excited to have worked through my first organizational project of the year, that I had to share. So if you are less than thrilled about seeing my plastic Christmas storage boxes, move on. Something about putting it in writing makes me feel more accomplished, I guess.

BEFORE

You know when you move and are packing, there are always boxes toward the end of the process with any old thing thrown in, just so you can be finished? A box with the VCR manual, wooden spoon, and the ceramic ashtray you made in elementary school, packed "carefully" with a stuffed animal to keep it from breaking? Well that's how my Christmas boxes usually end up. I am so over Christmas and household chores by the time it comes to pack up, that I don't care how it gets put away, just that it's outta sight.

AFTER

This year I was determined to organize my Christmas stuff so that I could unpack it bit by bit. Some things I want at the start of the month, some things I don't need until Christmas Day. I've also had the problem that the boxes were too big and too heavy, so that I needed Russell to help me get them in and out of the attic. So I invested in some small boxes, and reused some of the large. The labeling is the key. Nothing fancy, but useful. I'm so proud!

Now, where am I going to fit this stuff? Russell and I both agreed that we didn't think we had many decorations. These shots don't include the bin of ornaments, cookie cutters, or the three 18" high lighted trees and two large bins of lighted garlands for outside. Guess I need to clean out the attic...

My Dirty Little Secret

We all make goals, resolutions, whatever you want to call them. What keeps us from meeting them? Accountability.

So today I share with you my dirty little secret, literally. All those tidy spaces most people see in my house are just an illusion. Hidden away inside closets and rooms that are usually not seen are my junk piles. Things that I shoved out of the way to make the room look better. Things that I'm not sure what to do with, so I put them out of sight so I don't have to worry about it. Projects that I've started that aren't finished. Sally and Philip are pretty familiar with them, as I shove them in corners, under blankets and tables, or just move them from room to room when they visit.

I'm going to post some shots of my house, namely my office and the guest room, to show myself just how badly I need to organize! Granted, a lot of the bins and boxes you see are actually empty. They are things I've already reorganized and now the extra stuff is sitting around and I don't know what to do with them. (What if I need them for another organizational project? I'd hate it if I got rid of them.) Or they are clothes the kids have outgrown and I haven't decided what to do with them...sell, give away?

This year, I WILL FIX THESE SPACES. I'm pretty sure. 85% sure. Remind me of that.

This is the view from my desk in my office. Bags of clothes to be donated, plus a few boxes of mail order items that need to be returned.

The view into the nook in my office. Let's see, lots of empty bins and bags, a chandelier that never got hung, a box of fabric for projects that never got done, two packages to mail for new babies (who I think are about 1 now), and a roman shade for the window that never got hung. See a theme? Oh, and that's my college degree hanging on the wall to the left taunting me.

One of the worst offenders, my office closet. You can see I attempted at some point to organize, but then stuff got dumped in, like extra lampshades, bins and notebooks of items from our renovation project, some extra baskets and bins full of "kid crap" I've picked up around the house and need to go through, and then who knows what, since it's buried too deep to see.

My desk and credenza in my office. Isn't it pretty? Maybe if it wasn't piled with junk. There are several boxes of my mom's china that I am not using that need to go in the attic. Various "to do" piles...coupons to use, thank you notes to write, bills to pay, kid stuff to put on the calendar, invoices and bills to file, and so on.

Last, but not least, my photo project in the guest room. I have happily taken on the job of sorting through the Adams and Ford photos and slides to try to make sense of them. I need to throw out the ones that really don't matter, sort into some sort of categories, and file or put in albums if possible, or digitize them. I'm not even going to think about the photos on the computer that haven't ever been printed. It is a REALLY BIG JOB and not one that will be done any time soon.

But I'm enjoying going through them and have made some headway. I guess, in this case, I need an organizational system for my organization project. Does it never end? :)

I'm sure you are all so excited about this new venture of mine, telling you about my messes. But I need someone to report to, so I've nominated you. I'm the queen at starting these types of things, but not finishing. One thing about being part of a family is that you tend to have small increments of time to work on this type of thing, and can't leave it out everywhere in between. (I did have about 50 categories of photo piles at one point all over the room, but then we couldn't walk in there.)

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

Christmas 2011 Snapshots

This year I took a break from trying to take any organized and posed Christmas photos, so I present you with a mishmash of fun! The kids really got into it this year. I think my favorite moment was listening to and watching Russell and the kids have an all-out nerf gun war during Christmas Day dinner, complete with Santa hats. So many giggles.

We were lucky enough to host my Dad about a week before Christmas, and Sally, Philip, and Emma Christmas weekend. Even better, we were able to Skype with our family overseas and see the newest member of the extended Ford family, Teigan, for the first time! Hope you all had a restful and happy holiday, too!