Moments in time....

Time passes in a whirl and I come back here to realize how many moments I have not documented. I regret that but I won't dwell on it. I will document the ones I can now because I love remembering how I felt in those moments.

My trips to the DR have increased. In 2 weeks I will leave for what will be my 5th trip in 4 years. Four years seems like such a long time but in my heart it is a blip! My Facebook status last night said "Two weeks from today I will be on a plane to the place where my heart is happier, where I breathe deeper, smile wider and work harder than anywhere else. I simply cannot wait to get back to those people & that place. ♥" This is the absolute truth. I feel as though I am at home there as much as in my own where I have spent most of my 35 (eek) years.

I spent last weekend in Boynton Beach, FL for girls' weekend to celebrate my dear friend's 40th birthday. She turned 40 last year but also had a baby so we celebrated this year! :) There were 8 girls in her parent's lovely home and we had a fabulous time. No drama, no tears - just lots of laughter, sharing of secrets of love, marriage and babies, and fun all around. We sat at the pool, the beach, the bar chatting and laughing and relaxing.

The porch where I read every morning before everyone was up....






So much laughing.....












It was the most relaxing, stress-free time I've had in a long time. Most of the women were young mothers with little ones at home. In the beginning there was some guilt, but by the end we all agreed that time away is important to rejuvenate, recharge, and refresh!!!!

What can I say? Bathing beauties.....full of life....

We're so fancy - Blackberries and cash in a Ziploc bag.....nice!

Nothing says happy like wine and smiles!

Moving days....happy days!

Today one of my best friends from college moved to within 15 minutes of my house and within 7 minutes of my office. I could not be happier. Honestly, I am ecstatic. I am overjoyed. They have 3.9 little boys (#4 (also a boy) is due in 4 weeks) and they are the sweetest, kindest, most loving family. She is the most relaxed mama - never stressed, rarely angry, such an amazing woman. She was my first married friend back when we were so young, so innocent. She started out life after college getting married and moving to Germany to fly Black Hawk helicopters in the Army. Umm right - she's WAY tougher than I am.

Sweet, beautiful friend!

Upon returning to the US (pregnant with #1 who needed surgery), she lived in VA near our other friend and then moved to NC, close to my best childhood friend. I was able to see her intermittently and then they moved to western VA, far away from many friends. I only saw her once in the past couple of years and didn't see her boys much at all. I was so sad! :( When news came that her Army hubby might just end up at MIT, I nearly burst with excitement but tried not to get my hopes up.
The day she texted me "We're heading your way!" I could not stop smiling. When they started looking at houses, I hoped it would be within an hour of me. The day she asked me to look at a house 7 minutes from my office, I was nearly jumping up and down with excitement! Today I could not contain my pure joy.
I stopped at their home tonight to drop off a banana bread and my wonderful 36 week pregnant friend, said "Stay for dinner." I had no intentions of staying for dinner, only saying hi to all and coming back when they were more settled. I stayed for 3 hours. My friend is so calm for someone who has been in her new home less than 9 hours, for someone who is delivering her fourth boy in 4 weeks, for someone who just moved to a foreign state. Her boys are excited beyond belief and honestly so was I. I couldn't stop telling them about the things we could do here, the beach, ice creams shops, the drive-in, the fairs, the train, the Aquarium, etc etc!
She said to me tonight, "I still can't believe it's real.....like I can see you whenever I want." How true!! It feels like I have to squeeze in every moment with her this weekend until I can see her again. I don't!! I can soak up every minute of the next 2 years with her.....and I am content.

Babies and Birthdays

I spent a most wonderful, whirlwind weekend in VT for Miss M's birthday. You know those friends? The ones who seem like they have been friends forever (and at this point they have been friends for almost half my life which is close to forever!). My friend was dating her (now) husband when she walked into my life on the first day of freshman year of college so I have known him almost as long as her. J and I hit it off from the first minute - complete opposites - she was petite, where I was a giant....I was chatty and she was thoughtful. We spent more time in each other's rooms that year than our roommates did. I was far from home, so her parents invited me for Easter and made me feel like one of their children.

Through those 4 years, our friendship was a comforting constant. We studied, partied, talked, bonded, loved and supported each other. As she and her (now) husband dated and broke up, I listened. As I struggled with my mom's illness, she listened. We laughed together, made friends together and ate many, many Pub cookies and Dana Dining Hall meals together. Although we did our own things too, we never let our friendship go.

After college, she went back to VT and I to MA and it was hard. Roadtrips ensued, parties happened and their wedding was celebrated! Since then, we've traveled to FL to visit other friends, we've watched the Red Sox and 4th of July fireworks in Boston and cried together over many pitfalls of life. We supported each other through (similar) grad school programs and 30th birthdays.

Last May, life brought them an adorable bundle of love and joy in the form of the amazing Miss M! They were married for 8 years before having a baby so seeing them as parents is almost sweeter for me. I know them so well as a couple that it's like meeting them again to see them as parents!

Miss M's 1st birthday was celebrated this weekend with love and family and lots of laughter! It's always too short when I get to VT but always like coming home.....like seeing family again. It's never awkward....always a feeling of love and comfort, understanding and pure friendship.

I love my friends and their families.

Moments in time....

It's been such a long time since I've posted anything on this blog!!!! I looked tonight and realized that 2 long years have passed!! It makes me sad to have missed out on this much of my life because I really enjoy looking back through my archives at the moments in time.
So, I resolve to get back to blogging just for me....so that I may remember my life as I get older.
Tomorrow I leave for VT to see a sweet baby celebrate her first birthday! A darling girl who I have met but once since her birth and who I cannot wait to cuddle again!
I have made cute bow-bows for her and have my camera charged up for multiple photo sessions. My car holds 2 bottles of wine for her mama and I - the kind she can't find in VT that is a bargain in MA ($8/bottle!!).
I can't wait. Moments in time start again here.

Yikes!

It has been almost 6 months since I posted last! I like to read back on what I posted, so you would think I would have incentive to post.
What a whirlwind it has been! I'm not going to be able to remember all that has happened so I'll do a little photo story of a few highlights.

A beautiful (albeit cold) DC wedding in December! My first "maid-of-honor" duties and I could not have been more honored. My friend and I were the long time single friends, college drinking buddies, and working girls. We have seen many changes in life and I was bursting with happiness for her.

Now, they're expecting their first child in October!



My favorite little friends had a play date!

Follow the leader...

Shopping together.....

Snack time!

I SEWED!

Rice Heat Therapy Bag for Mama
(Tutorial from Sew Mama Sew Blog)

I spent some time up North in VT in WINTER! (So much winter that I got to spend an extra day due to unsafe driving!)

Vermont critters are friends! ;)

After the Polar Plunge in Lake Champlain!

Snowshoeing with a beagle!

I rocked....

We Wiied! :)

It snowed....

and snowed.....

but it was beautiful

so we walked despite wind that took your breath away!

Then we crafted.....hat in progress by JS.



I visited my favorite place.....

where Miss Kitty and Papa relaxed by the fire....

This has turned out to be really long and I didn't even get to small children making me a birthday cake!
Oh...and a whole post for my AMAZING medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic (which just happened a few weeks ago and I'm still sorting pictures). Truly an eye-opening, life changing experience.

This weekend is all about me. I have been working SUPER hard (65-80 hours a week) for the past few weeks and it's taking it's toll. That's why I am looking forward to my 10th college reunion this weekend. I can't wait to hit VT where my FL friend and my VT friend await along with wine and babies and the sweetest husbands ever. On to NY, where more friends, babies, wine, and memories await. Back to my carefree youth for just a few days....and you know I have a rockin' new dress to wow them all at dinner! :)

I've missed this. Maybe now that I've broken the ice, I can get back into it!

**Edited to add: I forgot the whole reason I wanted to blog tonight. My brother announced this evening that he and his gf are moving to FL. My brother is my savior, the one I call when I just need to vent, who always says "Do you need me to come there now?" when something happens with my mom. He is about an hour from me now and that's just far enough.
FL is way too far. It will be temporary and he is doing it to support an educational move for his gf, but I can't help but be a little bit selfish and sad tonight.

1-2-3

Today....was my birthday. It's an easy to remember day - 1-2-3 and all. I took the day off from work today to give myself some "ME" time. I realized today that I am not very good at scheduling that. My days are full of work, my nights are full of - meetings, volunteer work, sign language class and sewing class. Oh, right sign and sewing should be for me, and I do enjoy them sometimes, but it's all becoming too much. I am NEVER home and I don't have much time for spontaneous fun. Monday night - sewing (if I can leave the office), Tuesday night - volunteer at the Hospice Children's Bereavement group, Wednesday night - office meetings, Thursday night - sign class. Often that means that Friday becomes Late Night at the Office and that is NOT fun.

So, anyway - complaining finished. I need to sort out what I can weed out or place a hold on (in my head I am signing all of the things that I know how to sign - hooray! ;)), but I'm not coming up with much - except going home from work earlier.

Anyway, I wanted to sew today and it didn't quite happen. I had to take my mom to the doctor (which I knew but it's always a slower process than I realize) and then she needed to do another errand. I found myself getting frustrated and feeling selfish and I didn't like it. After all, if it's my birthday, it's a special day for my mom too right? Her first child was born today. Resolve to be more patient. With age comes perspective?

We had a work dinner tonight and thankfully I work with great people who made sure I felt special on my day.

That is sinful egg nog creme brulee. I just love the chocolate writing - so cute!
Taken with my camera phone so not great quality.... oh well. :)

I am thankful for my life, my friends and my family. I don't feel much older, but I hope that this year brings new perspectives, excitement and a renewed sense of peace with myself! :) (Oh and maybe a bit more blogging? Seriously, I'm so inconsistent!)
Happy Birthday to me (although it might be past midnight already.....)

Review

I thought perhaps I should look back at what I said I "would" do last year and just review how I did. I'm not going to berate myself for the things I didn't do, but I would like to remind myself of the progress I DID make. :)

This year:

I will continue to work on my finances so that I feel good about the way I am handling them. Check (sort of - I have worked on them).

I will save my money, research, and purchase a bike. Nope - I didn't get to this one, although I have the money for it.

I will learn more knitting techniques and make something for myself. I did learn a few more techniques, but then I lost my knitting mojo and haven't knit since February or March.

I will travel far and wide - including WI, MN, NC, NY, and VA in the first 2 months - hopefully AU and IRE will make it on the "far" part of the list. I travelled to all the states, but neither of the countries. I'm hoping for a trip to help people in the Dominican Republic this year....more on that later....

I will continue to bake, but work to improve my cooking skills. I wish I had cooked more.

I will do some form of exercise 5 times a week. I wish I had done this too.

I will be thankful to have my siblings all in the same country. I was and I am. My sister has returned and it makes so happy to be able to call her whenever I want!

B and I in Ithaca during a snowstorm!

I will appreciate my parents for what they are and be thankful to have them both living. I learned this lesson in a bigger way than I thought.

I will spoil the babies in my life with love and attention and perhaps a few little hand knit items. :) The babies were spoiled and it wasn't even a little bit difficult! ;)

I will spend time making sure my godson "P" knows how special he is to be the one who made me an "Auntie" and how much his mother (my best friend) means to me. When they visited in July, I spent almost every spare minute with them and I am so glad I did. He is becoming such a little boy!

I will make time for the important things in life - friends and family. I made time to take care of Mom, but was still to be at and in a few weddings and showers. These are the times memories are made of!

I will learn to sew - FINALLY - so I can stop being jealous of all the beautiful things on other people's blogs. I DID THIS! 100% I did it! I can't stop being proud of this. It's one of those things I've always wanted to do, but just never did. It's worth a post.....but I can sew now and have made several things in the past couple of months!

Three baby balls with bells in them -
a gift for my little friend whose favorite word is "ball"

I will do what I need to to keep my License in Social Work current, so that I can go back when I'm ready. I have to renew my LCSW in October, so I need to make sure I have all my CEUs by then.

I will make time for myself and my life. I have tried to do this by doing things I enjoy at night. I could do better, but I'm happy with the progress I've made.

I will make an attempt to be more organized. I made the attempt and it's a work in progress (esp now that I have fabric too)!

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with my accomplishments. I should make a list for this year. Not tonight though. I stayed home this morning with a pounding headache - my body telling me I need MORE sleep. If only I didn't want to sew in every free minute!

Oy vey.

Mom & I at a wedding almost exactly 1 month after her accident.
She was still in a wheelchair, but determined to be at this wedding!

Good grief, it's 2008 already? I feel a little bit like I have been asleep for the past 4 months. Mom is improving - thank you for the sweet thoughts! I have to admit that her accident put a severe kink in my life. I didn't do anything without thinking about whether someone could help her, stay with her, etc. Honestly, I thought about resenting it and then realized - I should be grateful! My mother, who took care of me in every sense of the word, who was unselfish and hard-working, and who bore the brunt of any adolescent angst I may or may not have displayed - needed me. How many people get the opportunity to care for their parent in such a way and have them recover afterward? So I feel as though I gave my mother these last 4 months. They were not wasted after all. They were spent giving my mother everything I had. My gift to her.

Happy New Year to all of you! I'm not going to do my New Year's post right this minute, but I promise to be back to blogging (heard that before? ;)) for now. After all, I have all kinds of crafting to show off. I'm learning how to sew and quilt and received this and this for Christmas!

In a moment.....

Where I have been? When I logged in and saw July 30th, I wondered could I have been away so long? Maybe you wondered too. I have been a lazy blogger before, but I swear that was not it!
I don't know where to start.

I have been losing sleep and doing lots of laundry.

I have spent more than 5 nights trying to sleep in a hospital.

I have been dressing, feeding, and caring for someone who could not do for themselves.

I have been cleaning house and preparing a new bedroom.


No, I am not having a baby. :)

On the morning of August 15, my mother fell down the stairs while she was on her way out to mow the lawn. She is a nurse and knew what had happened, but had no way to get to a phone. After a couple of hours on the landing of the stair, she used a cane to get to down to the bottom of the stairs, but was in too much pain to do any more. She lay on her face in the foyer for the next 12 hours until I found her at 9:15pm. 12 hours. It had been 24 hours since she had had anything to eat or drink on Thursday night. She had tried to yell for the mailman and paper girl, but to no avail.

She weakly said "Be careful" as I opened the door. I was shocked to see her on the floor, but in my mind it seemed that she must have JUST fallen. She told me had a broken hip and that I needed to call 911 because she couldn't move.

Life has been infinitely changed since then.

It is not a life threatening condition (for a 61 year old woman anyway - it can be life threatening for older people) and she has survived far worse, but it has been a challenge.

So that's where I've been for the past month or so. I've been lurking on other blogs when I catch a free moment, but not commenting because - well I just haven't had time.

She spent 5 days in the hospital and had a partial hip replacement. She spent almost 3 weeks in a rehabilitation facility. My neighbor asked "How's mom?" and I responded "Doing ok, she's in rehab." My neighbor laughed and commented "Your mom and Britney!" :) The most amusing part is that my mom does not drink at all.

Mom has been home for almost 2 weeks. On our first day home she had chest pain and I called 911 again. We were whisked back to the hospital and kep overnight, but sent home with a clear heart. Perhaps it was a muscle from using the walker and using her arms so much.

It has been a big adjustment. She is gaining independence each day, but is limited because she has to use the walker. She will not be cleared to drive for awhile as she broke her right hip. She can't bend, so everything has to be at waist level. Her bedroom, etc had to be moved to the first floor. There are a lot of assistive devices that she has been learning to use to dress herself, etc (try putting on socks when you can't bend at the waist or lift your foot). She's considering whether she should get a device that you can push if something happens. It seems that she is too young, but really - it can happen to anyone.

That's my month or so in a nutshell. I would like to be better about blogging, if only to remember all this in the future. ;)

Bliss

I just spent the weekend engrossed in conversation, wine and love. My friend is getting married. She may have thought, at times, that this moment would never come. The despair over getting older, relationships that ended, and the lack of quality options was frustrating and overwhelming at times. Lord knows, I understood. Then, she met him. Her knight in shining armor, her ONE, her perfect, understanding gentleman with a good heart and a tender sweet love for my friend. I knew it would happen. There were times over the years that she wanted to change who she was and I encouraged to hold onto herself. Someone out there would love the person she was. I was right. He clearly does. All those quirks she wanted to stifle are accepted and embraced by him.

And so, in 5 short months they will be married - in what will be the shortest engagement of any of my friends. It has been a whirwind since they got engaged, but she has it all together. Her planning skills are incredible and I can only view with awe all that she has already done. I zipped down to DC this weekend to spend time dress shopping, wine drinking, favor prepping, and just talking. I realized how I miss my friend. Life has been busy for both of us in the past year and we have not seen each other as much as we would like. She has been happily engrossed in her relationship, so our phone conversations have been shorter and less frequent. This is not to say we lost touch - we still chat and make phone dates so we can have more than 10 minutes to catch up! It's just that we are in a different phase in life right now.

My friend and I reconnected this weekend. I saw her new place (ironically soon to be rented as they combine households after the wedding), ooohed and ahhed over her wedding gown, chatted, laughed, gave opinions on options, and tried on dress after dress. There was margarita drinking and laughing with several college friends, and much baby love of a darling girl belonging to another DC friend. I awoke this morning with something as close to hangover as I have had in a long time. A bit shaky and a note to self that going beyond the 2 bottles of wine was probably not a good decision on our parts. We are not as young as we used to be and our livers not as capable of bouncing back.

After pedicures yesterday afternoon, we bought goat cheese and french bread and wine and had ourselves a fantastic French lunch! ;) Last night we called another dear college friend who was far away. We put the speaker phone on, she had a glass of wine at her house and we commenced the talking, laughing and comfortable feelings that come from time spent with good friends.

Unfortunately, I did not take as many pictures as usual. Too much fun I suppose.

Nothing compares to good friends. Something we should never take for granted.

Sweet, Sweet Summer

I wish computers had scentavision in them. I love strawberry picking. There is nothing like walking into a strawberry patch on a warm summer day. The smell is heavenly. You crouch down and spy a bright red spot among the green leaves. Your hand touches that strawberry warm and ripe from the sun. Undoubtedly one of my favorite summer activities. (I picked 16 1/2 lbs yesterday!)

Some of my strawberries had an accident and got a little bruised!

But some were JUST perfect....

Making jam is another favorite. It's one of those things my mom did every summer and I finally let her teach me. It took several summers before I felt comfortable enough to do it without her standing 10 feet away for questions or help when things starting boiling and jars needed to be filled! It's so sweet and delicious when you have a little leftover in the pan and you can have WARM on toast.

Mixing the jam. You can only use a wooden spoon.

The jars sit on the window sill and get tipped over every 10 minutes until the tops "POP."

Ready to be labeled!

Now I have lots of thank you gifts, Christmas gifts, and "just because" gifts on hand. They just need labels and they'll last until next strawberry season.

My fingers they are a movin'....as I become bilingual!

Tonight was my very first ASL class. I just discovered
that the class was being offered 3 days ago, so I hardly had time to
think about it. I've been looking for a sign language class since last
fall. I am hoping to put the knowledge to good use with href="http://asunnyview.blogspot.com/2007/04/catching-up.html">one
beautiful little (almost 1 year old!) girl I know. Hopefully,
she won't be too critical if my hands aren't quick (my teacher says
fast signing is not usually good signing) and my movements are a bit
clumsy. I just can't wait to participate in her world in this way. It's
so important to me that I can communicate with Miss Sadie and
understand what's she's trying to get across. It has not been an easy
year for her parents and the coming year is going to bring more
challenges and some medical procedures for their baby girl.
Nonetheless, she has only become more adorable and sweet with each
passing day.

My class was amazing and captivating. The teacher
is a speaking woman with no hearing deficits who is clearly excited
about teaching American Sign Language. I sat with nary a yawn for 2
hours without moving (except my hands!). This is no easy feat by the
time 8pm rolls around. I love the approach she takes, so that the list
of signs I learned tonight includes: newborn, weekend, drinking
(alcohol and lemonade ;)), President, doctor, train, purple, nickname,
kids, children, cars, planes (landing and taking off which will thrill
my Godson!), I agree, I disagree and I don't care. There are a bunch
more that are not in my head this second. I thought we would learn a
basic alphabet and then add on various words. Apparently, that is not
the best way to learn ASL. She also teaches some cultural aspects of
ASL. I love that too, after all I'm a social worker by training!

I'm
only sorry that I could not convince any friends to take it with me so
I have no practice buddies, but you can bet I'll be showing off to
everyone who will look at me!

Look at me becoming bilingual - who would have thought!?!? :)

Time flies....at the speed of light!

What I want to know is who turned the knob on time into overdrive? How are we one month away from the 1st birthday of two of my favorite babies? How is summer already here - when it felt like I had waited forever? How did I not blog at all about the week I spent spoiling my darling Godson and his new baby brother? Yikes. I'd like to request 48 hours in a day for the summer months please!

My poor laptop is crying because it has soooo many pictures on it. 10,000 something - to be closer to exact. I am a bad girl. I don't have an external hard drive, nor do I regularly put my pictures on CD. Now I am left with the daunting task of putting pictures on CD a little at a time. Uggh. My two memory sticks are almost full, but I don't want to load any more pics on my computer until I clean out some more photos. I hate the message "Your startup disk is almost full." I'm so sorry for overloading you my little PowerBook - please hold on just a few more days. I promise you will feel lighter and more joyful again!

Soon I will visit one of my new babies. He lives in FL and was born in January - thus I have not yet met him other than in a cell phone video. :) I cannot wait. However, he is the only baby born to a friend who has not yet received a hand knit item. I feel terribly guilty because I know his mom is waiting anxiously for it. I just hit a wall - got stuck - stopped being inspired - or perhaps just started reading too many blogs! Time to get on that sweater. I just found out that another friend is expecting this fall so it will be back to the needles for TWO baby items!

Back to that FL trip. I cannot wait. I will spend time with two of my fave college friends. We will talk, laugh, drink, hang out on the lanai (I love that fancy word for screen porch!), and swim in their pool. It will be hot, but we won't care. We will sit on the bar stools and laugh hysterically about something inane while her husband prepares gourmet Cuban meals for us. We will spoil that baby terribly and love him bunches so he remembers Auntie K and Auntie J when they come to visit again. :)
Somehow FL has become our meeting spot, as this friend has had the most life changing experiences in the last 2 years (bridal showers, weddings, baby showers and now - A baby!). They have to bend my arm every time! ;)

In July, there will be 1st birthday parties, visits from the above Godchild and family, more birthday parties and the big beach party for 4th of July. Oh and there will be more visting with the gorgeous sister! She was recently in town for a vacation from veterinary school and it was oh so sweet to spend time with her. She lived out of the country (on a tropical island no less) for 3 years so I didn't get nearly enough sister time recently. She'll be back in the area for an externship in July so there will be more laughter and adventures then.

My sister and I have this thing. We always gave blood together from the time she was old enough. We worked together for a time, so we'd go after work. When she was in college, we went to summer blood drives. After she moved to vet school on a island, we couldn't go together any more.

We're not weird. Unfortunately both B and I suffer from what my mother (the nurse) calls a vaso vagal reaction to having blood drawn. It has nothing to do with needles. I had allergy shots for several years with no problem. The issue comes with taking my blood. My body does not like it - not one bit. It allows the blood to be removed. I get up and my blood pressure plummets. Next thing you know, I'm on the floor, sweating and thinking - "Body it's ok. I GAVE them this blood. There was no emergency." I love giving blood though. So, the sister and I go together. We are each other's support. It doesn't have to happen every time. Sometimes it only happens to one of us.

My sister was bored on Mother's Day - being 350 miles from our mother and all. She decided the night before to make an appt to give blood - WITHOUT ME. Don't worry - she did ok - no fainting. I was not happy. She was coming here in 2 weeks - why not wait for me? It was a nice thing to do on Mother's Day and all. I just didn't want to go alone. She promised to accompany me. She did. I was rejected. Rejected and refused. My hematocrit was too low. Thanks anyway dear - go on home now and boost your iron and stuff. Eat more red meat, green veggies and such. Bummer.

We made up for it by getting swabbed for the Bone Marrow Registry. It was just like CSI - swab that cheek, swab this cheek. I had signed up for the Bone Marrow Registry in college but the woman told me to get tested again because they test differently now. They gave us a button which reads - "Will you Marrow me?" I've been trying to eat more veggies. I'm not a regular red meat girl. Pretty much I'm a no red meat girl. Uggh. I also might have had a teeny bit too much water. Like close to a gallon between 8am and 4pm. They say that too much water can lower your crit as well. It's just that water makes my blood flow faster and helps with the fainting issue.

Ahh well. The sister and I will attempt to give blood again in July. I do not intend to be refused again. My blood is good dammit.

First Mother's Day.....

This is the e-mail I sent to my dear friends who have had their first baby this year....

To all my friends on their first Mother's Day.....

I just wanted to wish you a happy first Mother's Day and tell you how proud I am of you and the beautiful children you have produced.

In the past year, you have done so many amazing things - birthing children, raising them, caring for them when they are sick, teaching them, and playing with them.

I am constantly in awe of all that you do - if you step back and think about it, I think you will be too. Would you ever have imagined that you would able to juggle so many things in a day? Would you ever have thought that it would be so difficult or that it would bring you such joy to be a mother?

You have all struggled with different things and with some of the same things. Every one of you has managed to deal with these things in your own way and your children are all still happy, thriving babies. This is a testament to your mothering instinct. No matter what you read on the internet, advice you get from well-meaning people (someone like me perhaps?), or find in a "What to expect" book - you are ultimately the person who must manage the issue, solve the problem, and/or stay up all night with the crying baby. You are the front line, day-to-day, 'round the clock worker who has to think on her feet, solve problems sleep deprived, and remember all the necessities when you leave the house. You go to appointments, remember important milestones, and teach your child the things they need to know as they grow. You are the one who must comfort a terrified or hurting child, remember when they last ate, and decide when they are sick enough to go to the doctor. You are quite simply - superhuman.

Day in and day out - I am so glad to have such wonderful mothers for my friends.

You were my friends long before you were mothers and I loved you for the people you were then - but now I have another reason to love you - for the mother you have become. You have produced adorable children for me to love and in doing so I have seen you morph into someone who I admire for a totally different reason. You are a mother.

So, on the day when we honor those who gave us life - my friends - I honor you - for being brave enough to give life to someone else and for taking on the responsibility of teaching your child about this amazing world we live in.

May each day with your child bring you new joys and more love......
Happy Mother's Day.

Feeling good....doing good....

So last weekend consisted of........


















Just a few cowgirls.....and some girls who have no clue how to line dance! ;)

Please ignore the phallic straws and focus on the cute bride in her cowgirl hat!

Just a crazy country line dancing bachelorette party.....with one very good college girlfriend.....and several fabulous girls I had never met before. I love coming together to celebrate a girlfriend! It's just good fun. I don't spend a lot of time in clubs anymore, but I have to admit this place was a pleasant surprise. It was not crawling with skeezy (?sp) guys like most clubs. It wasn't like being packed into a box of sardines.

As for country line dancing, I'm probably the least coordinated person on the planet. Not only with dancing, but with sports, with walking, with everything except sleeping.

I once provided a one woman comedy show at a friend's wedding. I had removed my shoes, but still had nylons on. A circle was forming around the happy couple. All of our college friends were gathering together and I noticed our friend Tim across the way. I sashayed over, reached out a hand to him, and he turned to set down his drink. Since we were pulling in opposite directions and lost our grip --- I ended up sliding across the floor on my rear with my legs in the air. The bride and groom were only sorry that the videographer had already left. I was only sorry that I had not removed those slippery nylons. That's what I told myself caused my little stumble.

So, yeah.....country line dancing - I gave it a try! After many years, I can Electric Slide sometimes. Thank goodness the bride and her dancing (and very coordinated/strong) friend were very patient teachers for those of us who had NO clue. I usually got the hang of a dance in the last 30 seconds of the song. What are the chances I'll remember those moves 2 weeks from now for the wedding? Ummm...right.

Nonetheless, the night was a rockin' good time and a great workout! I tried valiantly to keep up on the dances that I could. I watched slack-jawed on the ones where I clearly could NOT.

From this position, they all moved (in unison) into a push-up, then jumped up and continued dancing! Yiiikes!

The bride is the only one in her row who can do this part of the dance!

I got home Sunday and finished packing up these little baggies.

Bandanas, gum, toothbrushes, photos and other treats for Kelli's trip to Mozambique!

I can usually stay on my feet while shopping. Especially for Kelli's good cause. I had such fun doing this and I did not have to endanger my bones! ;) The box is on the first leg of a long journey (They arrived...along with lots of other baggies! :)) and I hope the baggies bring the joy I packed in them to many little faces.




Isn't it amazing how many different things can make you feel good? What makes you feel good?