The Long Weekend Revisited

Last Sunday....a great excursion to the beach. The kids weren't sure if they liked walking in the warm sand with bare feet, but it turns out that's a great way to keep them where you want them!

We had a great time, but I felt a nagging twinge of sadness. I tried to cheer myself up with bumper sticker sayings like, "don't believe everything you think", and reminded myself it was that time and I was just feeling sensitive. A group of young mothers sat gossiping, laughing, commiserating. I watched them from the sidelines, outwardly smiling, but secretly missing my own friends, missing that female comaraderie.

Later, after a few miscommunications with M. (my tender self took everything personally) an accidental headbutt to my lip from my son (amazingly painful!), a wrestling match called teeth brushing and two toddlers frustrated by the book selection, the flood gates opened. M. and I got them in my lap, a book ready to go, but I couldn't say anything. It was that silence you hold when the tears are right there. Boo looked up at me, wondering why I wasn't saying anything so I decided to read, voice cracking and all. M. took over while I sobbed in the chair. It only took a couple moments before I felt better and the kids didn't really seem to notice, although I suppose it's not the end of the world if they see their mommy cry. She's human too. Boy is she ever!

P.S. I'm feeling fine now.

A few seconds after this, a two inch tall 'wave' caused Bear to topple into the frigid water. Not a happy camper!

Their first taste of the milkshake (Mom's idea) responsible for the sugar crash an hour later.

Happy Birthday V

I started this post Monday night, but never finished. Hopefully, that can happen later this week.

All in all it's been a good weekend. Laughter, tears, and cake. We had it all.

Today: my stepdaughter's birthday.... she's 28. Hard to believe I first met her when she was 17 and I was a mere 33. V. has always been wonderful, but it has been such a pleasure watching her become an independent young woman. Creative, funny, a beautiful smile with a smidgeon of moodiness....just don't wake her up too early! Anyway, she's visiting with her boyfriend, so I made her a buttermilk cake with berry filling and cream cheese frosting. It was probably one of the best cakes I ever made! Sorry, no pics, we ate it too fast.

OK, now it's Tuesday and I just discovered that we celebrated her birthday on the wrong day. It was today! Today is the 26th...my husband & I both thought the 26th was yesterday. Who knows what V. thought we were doing...she never said a word as we sang Happy Birthday and sat down to eat a special birthday meal. I suppose getting the day wrong is better than forgetting it. And today V. & her boyfriend graciously offered to watch the kids for a couple hours while we went to the show (Star Trek...a must see). What a saint.

More KISS

I sat on the couch last night, doodling in my sketchbook watching the American Idol finale, when Adam Lambert's version of the KISS song Beth caught my interest.

"What is he going to do now?" (Adam is always so creative with his songs.)

And there they were...my guys: Paul, Ace & Gene...KISS! Even though my KISS fling only lasted during my 12 & 13th year, that 13 year old's starstruck thrill remains. The giggles started, the notebook cast aside in exchange for the camera, and I began shooting the TV madly (you know, for the blog!) as I told my husband, "I'm really not that into them anymore." Secretly grateful for TiVo once again!

Lucky for them and us, the makeup hides wrinkles and the plastic "secrets" we all look for in our aging celebrities. They can keep this up well into their 70s, and their fans, by then in our 60s, can climb onto our guys' aching shoulders and excitedly fling our bras on stage. A scary sight indeed!

The KISS shirt is on today.

44

Good food, great friends...I'm living a Michelob commerical. Who could ask for more on your birthday weekend? A parade, a good scream on the Zipper, a babysitter, a party, a pretty cake, tons of mexican food, margaritas, and best of all, sunshine. Glorious sunshine. Maybe 44 isn't so bad after all.

Enjoying her first parade at our local Spring festival.

Not too sure about it.

Not quite summer yet.

Calories, schmalories!

A Day Off...Sort Of

I'm taking today off, an early birthday present. The kids are at the sitters and I have seven & a half luscious hours to myself! So many things I want to do, but I've got to choose carefully. After all, days like this don't come around often and I'm not wasting it by hanging out in bed all day, no matter how tempting.

I'm not cleaning, but I'm hanging pictures, moving furniture, hanging out in my pj's, writing on my blog, making another pot of coffee (why not get wired!), finishing a mother's day card (in my family, every holiday card arrives a week or two late & it's perfectly OK--finally, a dysfunction that fits my lifestyle!) The day is turning out to be pretty busy, but a pre-baby sort of busy. Better go and enjoy my time.

Wow, I Lost an Inch!

OK, I know that sounds like a weight loss commerical, but I was amazed when I got out the tape measure yesterday morning. I finished this book a few weeks ago and have been kind of following the program...a few splurges here and there, you know...living real life! I was going to wait two weeks from my first measurement (May 1st) but thought a peek wouldn't hurt. I was already prepared for disappointment due to my indiscretions and was resolving to "stay positive" but to my surprise...one inch smaller!

You On A Diet has good information and despite its hokey & slightly irritating writing style, the program (a.k.a. new lifestyle--how many times have we all said that!) is working.

Finally these puppies are done!

I found these wonderful scraps of wool felt at a fabric shop in town that was going out of business and I couldn't resist the call of a project. "Why not make some cute pillows?" Ahem...I started last November. My first attempt at stitching a face and experimenting with "whip stitches". (Turns out my eyes aren't quite as good as they used to be!) Boo's pillow is the second one I did, hers turned out a little nicer since I made all my mistakes on Bear's. I don't think he'll mind much, he held his for about thirty seconds.

It has taken me weeks to post some photos of these, but here they are.

Color is a little off and I don't have Photoshop on this computer, they are a little more vibrant than this.

Boo tries to give Bear his pillow, but he's busy.

TGIM

Weekends no longer mean sleeping in, lazy mornings with the paper, gardening or the decadent afternoon movie (or afternoon delight for that matter!). I look forward to Mondays. I drop the kids off at eight, but I'm actually quite lucky, I have a little time before work. So there's time for vacuuming, computer, grocery shopping... all without the relentless interruptions. Believe it or not, it's quite peaceful.

A little back story to this: February thru May is our company's busiest time and it requires M. to work nearly seven days a week, which means I'm a single mom most weekends, so Mondays are also time to savor an empty house. No kids, no husband, just a couple of weary dogs and cats relishing their break too.

House Dreams

Yesterday while going for a walk, we stopped to look at a house that was for sale. The owners were in the yard and invited us in to look around. It's a family house with room enough for large dinners, an attic to play in, a large pantry, huge closets, a laundry chute and yes, a hot tub. The upstairs bedrooms had late afternoon sunlight dappling cozy window seats. I could see our kids in those rooms. It's the kind of house I dreamed of as a little girl, straight from the set of "Eight is Enough", where everything turns out OK and nobody worries about the power bill.

As great as it is, it's just not the time. I can't even imagine the monumental task of putting our current house on the market, keeping it clean for showings, "staging" it, not to mention the current real eastate market. But we can always dream.