A boy, his daddy and a bike

On a perfectly boring day,

I saw something not so boring.

It made me smile and chuckle a bit.

It was a daddy taking his little guy

to football practice.

Can you see the helmet hanging off the back?

What about the chair tucked into the saddlebag?

There's one thing you can't see.

The kiddo's big fat grin.

Made my day...

A fiddler and a goalie

Enjoyed a night with the fam.

We all got together to watch the wee one

do her magic on the fiddle.

Imagine me, city girl that I am, tappin my toe

to the sound of that fiddlin.

Yee haw!

That's a mask.

Feathers.

A plastic headband.

A golf ball.

Yesterday my 12 year old was polishing her nails.

Learning to use hot rollers

and asking me to put the sparkly eye shadow on.

Today she was 12

playing with her brother

being imaginative

Being a kiddo.

Love and Idiots

Frankie and I had a date tonight!
It was awesome.

The show and the time.

We don't get much of that time we took for granted

years ago.

Years sans kiddos. 

Those awesome kiddos of ours can be zappers

of the T word.

But they're good little peeps.

In fact, one of them even took our pic.

Happy Weekend friends.

Lunch Date

Today I had the perfect lunch date!

It was way better than the date I had

with the stale sandwich Monday!

Way...

Kindness

A very kind gal I know surprises me in more

ways than one.

She's super smart.

Calm as can be.

And knows from the tone of my voice

that I'm requiring a little extra lovin.

Pretty lucky to have a friend like that, eh?

A stale kinda day

Years ago, I would enjoy lunch out

at fancy little joints that made me feel sassy.

I would meet old friends to catch up

and maybe even try the newest eats from

a new chef.

Life's changed a bit since then.

See than sammy....total disappointment.

And just to the right

the reason I'm stayin in today.

It's a stale kinda day.

Saturday and Sunday ~ Weekend Update

Sunday

On our way...

Someone is going to start her first year

in National Charity League!

So excited.

We'll spend our Sunday meeting new friends

and learning all about how we'll make our

community a better place.

That's what I call "awesome!"

Saturday

Gotta love those faces!

Trey couldn't be more irritated...

I'm interrupting his first swim of the season.

Or maybe it's irritation that on APRIL 21 it's

105 freaking degrees.

Dear lord, please save me.

Celebrate

AIMS is over.

Let's have a party.

With sugar.

And sprinkles.

Well lookie here...

It's late.

10 p.m. late.

I'm working.

Frank's away on business.

In the quiet I hear giggles.

And lookie what I've found.

Anyone up for a lil pillow talk?

Blessed are they

She's asked me for months.

"Wanna go feed the poor, mom?"

How could I resist?

She's amazing.

She smiled. The ENTIRE time.

She giggled.

Then she cried.

With joy, her eyes released those happy tears

I thought only grown-ups had.

She was proud that we helped to pack 38 boxes of

food that will be sent to the poorest of poor.

She was happy to learn that a little boy named

Moses is fed because people like her give of their time.

Time that could of been spent at the pool diving,

or on the phone giggling with friends, watching tv or

doing exactly what I did when I was twelve.

But then again, I already said it.

She's amazing

A word problem

If anyone has my permission to mention the fact that

yet another year has passed, Anthropologie does.

My annual birthday card came.

Sheer genious.

"It's that time again..."

Exactly what I was thinking.

How did that happen?

I still have a couple of weeks, a day and several hours

before I can officially say it's the anniversary of my birth.

But maybe I won't.

It's a doozy of a number.

Don't ask. That's rude.

At least according to my granny in heaven, anyway.

She never knew her age.

She was 72 for like 12 years.

I plan on taking after her in that way...

If you're still interested, here's a clue.

It's in the spirit of those dang word problems

my fifth grade teacher used to give.

Mr. Floming.

Huge crush.

Super cute.

He was young. WAAAAY younger than I am now.

Or will be in 15 days and some hours.

Back to the clue.

This year my age's two digits equal 11.

11 is a fine number, isn't it?

The second number is 5 more than the first.

The second number minus the first is 5.

If you get it, treat yourself to something Anthro.

And no, you may not use my birthday discount.

Happy Place

I'm not working downtown today.

Took the day off.

Had a few things to do and a doc appointment.

And now that they're done, I find myself

in the same "place" I was over the last few days.

What I found in that town near the coast

with the best girlfriends I could dream of having

was magical. I nearly cried pulling away.

I realize as I sit here today thinking about "reality" I've come to learn 

the best gift the weekend gave was perspective.

Even amidst some chaos, fear and a wee bit of disappointment

I'm finding my happy place today is filled with the sights,

sounds and smells of home.

A phone conversation with a dear friend.

My favorite tea.

A funny little read.

Countertops wiped off by the love of my life.

Granted the humming sound of the washer and the smell

of the april fresh detergent pales in comparison

to the great Pacific, I can't help thinking the same thing

I kept saying this weekend,

"I'm just so happy."

Surprises

Saturday (Playing Catch-Up)

There's this friend I have that deserves everything good.

We spent last night in Beverly Hills celebrating

her birth. I won't tell you which year.

You wouldn't believe it, anyway.

Isn't she gorgeous?

Even prettier on the inside.

The resaurant was amazing.

Lisa's son-in-law treated us very well.

Food was delish.

Service, DE-lightful.

We walked off the calories looking around

swooning over all the beautiful things

all the while realizing the most beautiful "things"

aren't things at all.

Sunday

Said goodbye to Cali this morning.

The ocean breeze invited us back to visit soon.

We'll oblige....

The hours flew by and even the

long ride home to the desert

was PERFECT.

We were all a little misty as we said goodbye to our

dear friends.

 and then again when I said hello to

my dear family.

Blessed...

The list

Left the family today for a girls' weekend.

Left the craziness.

Left the chaos.

Left the list.

Left my heart....

Headin Out

Don't mind me.

I'm off.

Headin to paradise

with gals I'm lucky enough to call friends.

See ya!

Remembering - Photo Recycle

I'm a little sappy today!

Can't help it.

My kids are sooooo big.

It got me thinking about a fave pic of mine.

You know how sometimes something that happened so long ago

feels like it took place five minutes ago?

Yup....that's me today.

Just yesterday she was bigger than him.

His only words were mama, dada and Mimi.

And  I thought they'd stay little forever.

Messy with guilt

I'm a sucker for a clean house.

It made me giggle when this mag found its way to my

mailbox today.

I'm feeling some guilt today.

Rewind...I'm feeling a LOT of guilt today.

I'm happy when everything is in its place.

I Love

Shiny counters.

Scrubbed floors.

Sparkling showers.

Sometimes Most of the time I wonder

how I can get everything done.

I want it all.

I want to be a

Rock star at work. 

I'd love to be

An amazing wife and Awesome mom.

And certainly be a good friend.

I've had an aha moment...

I can indeed have it all.

Just not at the same time.

Here's my goal...

With great intention

 I'm gonna leave that counter a little

messier and play with my kids.

Not sweep the floor and go have a drink with the hubby.

Skip vacuuming and call a friend.

I'll clean later.

And with greater intention I'm gonna do my best to not

have any guilt.

No time for it!

Little Man Gone Rouge

Real.

Our life here in the B home is SUPER real.

It got me to thinking about the lives of others.

Do you ever get those annoyingly awesome Christmas letters?

I know you know what I'm talking about...

Perfect kiddos with straight As who never talk back.

The tropical vacation that had no rain.

The new hobby of gourmet cooking, marathon running and

making their spouse perfectly happy ALL at the same time.

If I were to find the time to write a Christmas letter

and be honest

mine wouldn't read quite the same.

Don't get me wrong. I do have a great life.

My kids are amazing.

My hubby - my most favorite person in the whole world.

We do fun stuff.

Have every blessing.

But life in the B home is Real.

Real means kids talk back.

Real means the perfect planned vacation gets canceled because of

a puking kid.

Real means that even the most amazing kid gets in trouble.

It happened.

My little guy went rouge.

He got in a fight.

A fight at school.

Never even got a phone call from a teacher.

Until now.

He never hit. Never bit. Never kicked.

Until now (well hit that is)

Trey might just be the least agressive kid you'll ever know.

Not the case this time.

Shocked.

Suprised.

Not my proudest parenting moment.

But something inside of me tells me that he'll learn.

He'll grow.

And he'll be REALly okay.

P.S. Yes, there's a little Trey humor on the top of the page,

the magic paper happens to be that carbon kind...

Gotta love that kid.



Risen

He is risen.

My heart is pure.

Joyful.

And grateful.

Some bunny isn't ready...

If nothing else gets prepared

for what happens to be the most

important day of the year as Christians,

at least there's bunny cookies.

May God find humor

in my lack of organization...

Somebody should.

Downtown with Dee

Months ago

before we realized it was Good Friday

me and Dee planned a night.

Downtown.

Dinner.

Time with Jay.

Jay Gatsby, that is.

It was a night to remember.

Laughs. Fun. A break.

Magical.

Thursday - Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday.

What do I know of holy?

This Lent has been less than what I hoped for.

It's really all on me.

I have a bazillion excuses.

None of them valid.

But I woke up realizing that Holy Thursday is what

my heart holds most dear.

Friends. Supper. Promises. Love.

Perfectly holy.



Forgiveness

I'm praying.

Praying for my family.

My friends.

For those who need forgivenss.

And those who need to forgive.

Ferris or Cameron

I'm working late tonight...again.

If you're every working late you'll likely have the

pleasure of seeing Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

It's on tonight...again.

I'm watching it as I write about green energy.

Don't ask.

I likely can't answer.

As I'm typing and watching

I began to ponder about who I'm most like.

Am I Ferris?

Or Cameron?

I'm not Slade. Sloan.

I never had a silk nightie at my disposal just in case

my high-school boyfriend wanted to take a dip in the pool.

Never.

Maybe I'm a mix.

Camerris...

The flick also has me thinking about the need to

have a Ferris kind of day.

You in?

Puppy love

Chilling on the job.

Hmmph.

Feliz Cumpleanos

When asked what she wanted for her birthday celebration,

Mia replied, "A fiesta!"

So of course, we obliged.

A Sunday afternoon with friends, family and FOOD! 

Yumm.... 

Carne, enchiladas, tres leche cake.

What could be better?

Happy Birthday, Mia!

So glad you were born...

P.S. Yes, that's a sombrero on her wee bitty head.