Imperfectly Perfect

March 30, 2011September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. Brackett1 Comment

This is our beautiful Bradford pear tree just before it burst into full bloom a couple of weeks ago.

It doesn’t look like this now because all the wind and rain have washed away all the lovely pink and white-ness and left it all over my driveway and lawn and carport mat so it gets tracked into my house and makes a mess and I forget that I thought it was beautiful on the tree in the first place.

I took this picture a few weeks ago with the intention of writing up this post.

Then stuff got in the way. You know. Like play rehearsal. And dishes. Lots of laundry. And Amelia’s thumb. Oh, and reading the dozens of “books” my kindergartener brings home every Friday. And watching movies of old TV shows with my girls. And Belle’s birthday and lots of other important and memorable (but only to us) moments that have kept our lives consumed. This is also why the second image for this post is this:

Because the trees are blooming and the sky is falling (or so it seemed at 5 a.m. this morning when the thunder woke everyone) and the grass is greener and the days are longer……

but there is still a Christmas wreath in my laundry room. I hung it there to get it out of the way when I took it off the door. In January. After the big snow. It’s still there.

Why be perfect when it’s so much more fun to see all the imperfections make up a quirky random life?

Link up your imperfections at Capturing Motherhood and celebrate the undone to-do list, empty fridge, and rainy days.

Thankful Thursday

March 25, 2011 Lindsey P. Brackett7 Comments

I need to be thankful today. Thankful and not spiteful. Thankful and not regretful. Thankful and not prideful. Can you tell I’m having a bit of a down day?

I lost my temper. Someone else lost theirs with me first, but that doesn’t make it right. And no, it wasn’t Joshua. That fight was three days ago over the lights for my school play and I won, thank you very much.

But only because he’s less selfish and more forgiving than I am.

Sigh.

Thankfulness. It’s important. It’s a reminder of what’s true in my heart and soul.

That’s why the first thing on my list today is pizza. From Papa John’s specifically. Delivered at lunchtime in the middle of a school day during a crazy week. Ordered as a thankfulness for what is hopefully one less thorn in our side by one of my team mates. Teachers. We celebrate the littlest, craziest things that no one else would care about.

The teacher in my is thankful for sticky notes today too. Especially ones that are covered in phrases like “You rock!” and “I’d never heard of Romeo and Juliet before I took your class. Thanks.” It really is the little things. The little sticky things.


Stick-it-to-’em Day. A secret project to be kind to the teachers because sometimes we need to know that what we do matters.

And finally today, I’m thankful for forgiveness. Jesus forgave me and continues to everyday from the moment I get up and begin messing up. I think (hope) my students forgave me for losing my temper at rehearsal. And right now I’m praying to find forgiveness in my heart for those who make me feel unappreciated, unwanted, undeserving. And I’m thankful that simply writing this post has helped me get there.

Thankfully there’s grace.

link up your thankfulness at black tag diaries with my friend Julia.

reflections

Just a Little Drama

March 12, 2011 Lindsey P. BrackettLeave a comment

Anyone who’s met my girls knows they’re a bit dramatic.

Alright, a lot dramatic, but I’m holding out hope it’s a phase. That doesn’t last until they’re in college.

Tonight, however, they’re experiencing some great drama without actually having to create it themselves because Annabelle wanted to sit in Madelynne’s chair.

Mimi passed along some DVDs she no longer wanted and in the collection was The Wilderness Family.

Tell me I’m not the only one who remembers watching this as a child. Now granted I had a bit of an obsession with Laura Ingalls Wilder and anything remotely pioneer. But I love this idealistic idea of shedding the trappings of civilization. Except, I’d like to do it with running water and electricity.

But back to the drama. These films are filled with it. Blizzards. Grizzlies. Wolves. Avalanches. Fevers. Fire. And that’s just Part II which we finished tonight. The girls were very worried…

but like all things family-friendly cinema, in the end everyone lives happily ever after.

If only real life were such an ideal.

But you know, this ever after is worth every moment. Even if I’m not skipping through a meadow in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.

perfectly imperfect · reflections

Like a .99 Burger

March 3, 2011 Lindsey P. Brackett3 Comments

Forgive the title. We’re working on understanding figurative language in my super-exciting 7th grade reading class, so as I thought about what I would post tonight, I considered how I feel smooshed.

What? It’s a word. You know, smooshed. Smashed down. Flattened. Like a .99 hamburger that’s not worth much because, let’s face it, it’s hard to get quality for less than a dollar.

Unless you’re stacking a store coupon with a manufacturer coupon on triple coupon week and its B1G1.

That’s never happened to me because couponing is one of the many things I attempt but don’t do perfectly.

My problem is I’m doing too many things. This has been a flaw of my life. I was in nearly every club and organization in high school, but I wasn’t outstanding at anything. Nowadays, I juggle home and church and school and play practice and blogging and quiet times and friends and facebook and family and laundry.

Oh, the laundry.

This is last week’s picture. That laundry basket is still in the same place. It’s just full of different laundry. It never ends, does it? And I just remembered that I put a pile on my bed thinking I would fold it. Yeah, right.

I’m not perfect. But I’m always trying to be. I have this misconception that perfect people can handle lots of activities and still have a clean house and a happy family.

I think those people only live in my tv.

Unfortunately, I’m as flat as they are right now because I’ve let life flatten me out rather than letting love fill me up.

I’m beginning to make commitments to things I love. Family. Friends. Writing. Scripture.

But I’ll never be perfect.

Thank goodness, because if I was, what would I blog about?

Link up at Capturing Motherhood

project 52 · reflections · resolutions

Project 52.Something

February 28, 2011 Lindsey P. Brackett1 Comment

Yeah, I did good for the first month. But apparently after January was over, so was my discipline.

So here’s my attempt at reclaiming my weekly project of documenting the random days of our lives.

We’ve had a pretty down week. It’s been busy with Joshua working late hours as the bank transitions to its new holding company and the girls and I are getting ready for the spring play at my school.

But this weekend, I was hit hard in the heart with a reminder that no matter how much I may hate the idea of my life changing because of his job, I am so blessed to be able to pack up my stuff…all that nonsense knick-knack brick-a-brack that makes our house our home.

Not that we’re packing just yet. But as I visited with our friends tonight who lost their entire home and both vehicles in a horrific fire yesterday morning, I’m definitely more grateful for my van with its chipping paint, my crooked kitchen cabinets, my sagging couch. And I’m amazed by how quickly people will work to show others love and support when the physical structure of a life is gone.

Thank you, Lord, though, that it is never the physical structure that gives us our life, but rather the friends and family who are still standing no matter where you are.

Wow, long post for Project 52! Here’s pics as promised!