Full Circle

Yep, it's been quite awhile since my last post. A lot can happen in a month. The sale of my house FINALLY closed...a lot of wine was consumed during that painful process and I'm still experiencing night terrors and blackouts over it but that's another story for another time.

So Coco and I are back at the "rents" until I find my needle-in-the-haystack 50's ranch. Yea yea I know there are tons of 50's ranches but you know from previous posts that I want a very specific mod 50's ranch. I have hope, tons of hope.

Anyway, coming back to the house that my mother grew up in, the house that I essentially grew up in visiting my grandparents, really brings back the old childhood memories. It is a house right smack dab in the middle of Winston Salem, around Wake Forest, and my mother has pictures where all you could see were fields. Looking out of the window now, there are apartments in the distance, houses across the street, continuous traffic, etc. I found the pic above online from this very area from 1965. Very few houses and buildings really - drastically different from today.

I remember going down to the dug out basement sitting on a wooden stool eating homemade sauerkraut out of a huge enamel pot that my grandmother made. I sat in the backyard with my grandaddy and shot cardboard boxes with the pellet gun and climbed apple and peach trees until I couldn't climb another branch. I would go into my grandaddy's shop in the backyard and "tinker" and somehow the days lasted forever.

I hope to give Coco a slice of this life I experienced even though life is very different now. She's been going outside lassoing branches and playing with her horses while sitting in the dirt of the garden - maybe she's on the right path.

image courtesy of flickr.com

Stop And Smell The Laundry

We just came off of a gorgeous weekend here in Winston-Salem. I had most of the windows thrown open so the great smell of sunshine could envelope the house. Saturday night, I had closed down the kitchen for the night and Coco was in her room playing and I was in mine reading a book with my room lit with tons of tiny Christmas lights {windows still open to let the cool breeze in}, and I thought, why can't everyday be just like this day? I'm working on adopting a much simpler way of life. Probably most would say it's already simple but in my mind, I want to live in a much smaller way too. Our house is not large by a lot of standards, maybe 1,800 sq. feet but it's way too big for me! I can't imagine why people want huge McMansions to live in and take care of.

Simple and small for me - small house {mid-century of course}, no debt, no excess "stuff", clean closets, lots of exercise, green grass, running barefoot, complete work & life balance. I'm lucky that I enjoy what I do but you will never find me sitting at work after 5 twiddling my thumbs when I could be home with Coco and actually enjoying life - real life...family life.

Yep, a good old fashioned clothesline that makes your clothes smell like sunshine everyday.

image courtesy of The Row House Nest {my new favorite blog}

Rollin' With My Homies

My daughter Chloe-Bell has skate night once a month sponsored by her school. It brings me back to my childhood every time we go. And yes, I still bust my moves on the flo' even if Chloe cowers behind the Centipede game. Some things never change.

My parents like to think they raised me, but from 1980 - 1988, Sportsworld was my home, now Skateland. So many great things happened at the skating rink...I kissed boys, was on the speed team {had nothing to do with boys by the way}, had my first drink of California Cooler which was secretly stowed away in a locker, and I could "shoot the duck" like nobodys business. The nights were all planned out...we would hop over to the Ben Franklin for candy, then walk over to McDonalds for sustenance, then on to the skating rink where couples skating awaited. The skates above looked a lot like mine and for many years I rocked them with spandex {wow}, three layers of neon socks, and big hair. Ok, maybe the real thing wasn't as great as it is in my mind but to this day, every time Devo's Whip It comes on I get a tear in my eye.

P.S. Thanks to Coolio for inspiring my blog title today...ah, good times.

image courtesy of Skate Shack