Rainy Days and Mondays…

I think I am either having déjà vu, or I have titled a previous post the same. First it is a rainy day, and second it is a Monday. And further both days are gloomy, whether it is a Monday or a rainy day. Today is gloomy. This is a picture from Olympus Cove.

And this is the Vortex Radar.

Hint: Blue and Green ain't good.

This is downtown Salt Lake - - Are those roads or rivers?

Sometimes shaking the gloom of a Monday lasts on into Tuesday, and on a bad week by the end of the day Wednesday. I have this just nagging feeling that this could last into Thursday. I don’t know… just sayin.

Typically, Spring brings such a sense of freshness for me, a feeling of new beginning. Hope springs anew. My daffodils are blooming, sometimes the tulips (if the varmint deer haven’t done a throw down on them.) Why does Spring feel so different this year? Kind of like I am still waiting for the Spring trigger to go off. I think something is missing; maybe something lost. Maybe it is warmth. Maybe I just need to get out of my head. Maybe I need to have eyes wide open; to get anchored in the love and beauty that surrounds me despite the fact that it is a rainy day and that it is a Monday.

Perhaps seeing the beauty of my front yard…right here…

It's Just How I Roll

As life rolls along, you tear your bathroom apart because the plaid wallpaper doesn’t look as cute as you thought it did 7 years ago when you put it up. You find that there is two feet of piled up leaves in between the border of the fence and the concrete and finding the wherewithal to clean them out absolutely escapes you. You realize that two little weiner dogs can deposit an ungodly amount “fertilizer” on the lawn over the winter. And just about the moment that you wrap around all of these little factoids, anomalies, and realizations, a curve ball hits you. Who knew you were playing baseball? It is basketball season for God's sake. You take this in stride; you make the best of it. You even try to spin it in a positive light. But in the end, it was still a curve ball that hit you like a sucker punch. Just as you finish reeling from the shock and awe of it all, something bright and sunny happens. But you question it. You second guess it, because after all, that is what you do. You are the queen of second, third, fourth and fifth guessing. Typically when something is too good to be true, it usually is. I am holding out hope that this good thing is true. Because that is just the sortofgal that I am. You know - - it's just how I roll. .

Old Friends/Good Friends

They say that 56% of your waking time is spent at work. I guess that means that you better like your job!

A couple of weeks ago I was visiting friends and family in SoCal and had the opportunity to work out of our Irvine office. I got to see Susan, Cheri, Cathy, Peggy, Janette, Linda - - all of my old TKC family. It is hard when we were such a close knit organization to be acquired by a larger company with different values and culture. Somehow, we have managed through and survived it.

I love these pictures and I also love that we are all still good friends.

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Life is All About the Moments

I will always cherish and remember the time that I spent with my grandma. I loved the way that she made scrambled eggs. And she would cut up my banana…. I loved that. These are the Moments I hold near and dear to my heart.

This weekend I had Maycie Jean overnight. We did our regular routine of chicken nuggets, cheese, and cut up banana. We read books and sang songs. Please see below for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and associated hand motions….this would be “like a diamond in the sky.”



We also baked cookies…We started off with all fresh ingredients, kneaded, rolled out, cut into those perfect Valentine cookies….. ummmm not…..


Maycie will now demonstrate the proper way to arrange store bought cookie dough on a round baking sheet.

When I asked Maycie if she thought the cookies would be good, she handed me some dough and said "I don't know.... You taste it."

We got them all arranged and put them in the oven to bake.

I put 10 minutes on the timer.

Maycie: Grandma what are you doing?

Me: I am turning the timer on so that Grandma will remember that there are cookies in the oven."

Maycie: Silly Grandma, you will remember.

Me: Trust me, I won't.

And in the famous words and gesture of Maycie Jean she says.... "But you will..." Duh, Grandma....

For the next ten minutes, we did princess poses....

Taste testing of uncooked cookies...I don't recommend this...

We even completed a rousing round of calisthenics involving heads, shoulders, knees and toes....you know I am all about getting daily exercise.

We even had a momentary stare....

Then that was it - the timer went off and out came our hard work....

I know that Life really is about the moments. I know I will never forget the moments of my grandma's and my time together. I pray that Maycie Jean will always remember ours!

Muah!

The Princess Party

So, seriously, will this birthday ever end??? It started with a lovely weekend with my parents - - birthday dinner with Mom, Daddy, Mike and Shelly…. Ham, roasted potatoes, green salad, asparagus, and rolls. And of course, Mom’s incredibly yummy pineapple upside down cake…

Then to the Melting Pot for seriously yummy delishousness of shrimp, scallops, and salmon… a cheese fondue to die for, and one of the best Caesar salads I’ve ever wrapped my lips around…

Then on to last night with some of the best Mexican food I have had in quite a long time. It was followed by a Princess Party - please don’t confuse this or me with a Party Princess. It was just a Princess Party…. Please see photos. This will explain a lot.

Divas...yes....we are all diva princesses...

Through the midst of it all, Brandon remained fairly ambivalent.

Jake was just glad to be there with his Princess crown on.

Maycie and Kayla helped with the unwrapping part.

A good time was had by all, and I am seriously ready to put this birthday to bed. Can someone fetch my scepter and cape?

Muah!

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Momma Needs a New Pair of Shoes

Anyone who knows me knows I love shoes. Shoes, shoes, shoes. Pumps, flip flops, boots, mules, sandals, clogs, tennis shoes, sling backs, dress shoes, pant shoes, hiking boots….I have them all and at least a few pairs of each…okay, more than a few pairs of each. Did I say I love shoes?

Well just yesterday I got these darling little numbers in the mail… How cute are they?

It isn’t as if I really need a new pair of Frye Veronica Slouch boots. But okay, I really needed a new pair of Veronicas. I did. I swear I did. Ask my Mom, she’ll tell you.

The application for these are just endless. You’ve got your denim skirt, your skinny jeans, your kaki skirt… good grief, I could go on and on. See, I told you.... look how cute they are!

Truth be told, I needed these like a hole in the head, but I love them anyway!

Birthdays.....Aaack

I’m really not much of a birthday person and almost always approach January 31st as I would any other day. And this "no big deal" attitude toward my birthday has really started since I turned 40, because let’s face it, it’s not as if my life is really going to change for the day - - It is not as if I can just lie around and eat Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter ice cream and celebrate the fact that I’m one year closer to qualifying for Medicare.

Perhaps contemplating, on the 10th anniversary of my 39th birthday, things like…. how long will it be before I’m required to cut my hair short and have it fixed at the beauty shop once a week? And when will I be too old to call my kids and sing silly songs with them, or walk like an Egyptian? When will I finally feel like the adult my age suggests I should be? Because most of the time, I feel pretty dang immature for my age.

Fortunately, I have my physical body to remind me of what my mind hasn’t yet accepted. For example, I find I can no longer wear the fitted, light-colored t-shirts and snug ribbed turtlenecks I used to wear with equally snug jeans without also wearing a vest or jacket to hide the Michelin demon residing around my midsection.

I was pleasantly surprised to have these show up at my office…thanks K! I guess the 10th anniversary ain’t so bad.




Because after next year, in the profound words of Raymond Ned, “It’ll all be over but the cryin”.



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