WW- Wordless Weekend

Someone got her first fishing rod and spent endless hours perfecting her cast.

The more seasoned fishermen enjoyed a bit of fishing as well.

The kids actually got to witness a plane landing on and taking off of the lake right in front of them.  To say they were thrilled would be a gigantic understatement.

There was the first ice cream of the season.  With sprinkles, too!

And of course time spent remembering the real reason for the extended weekend.

Flowers were planted.  Finishing touches were put on the yard. My new garden was put together and vegetables and herbs planted.

We fought through the nasty little black flies up north, too many ticks, rain, cooler than normal temperatures, and crankiness, and we managed to have a pretty productive weekend.

Only 11 more days left of school.  We're all just a little bit excited.

(Fine.  Not so wordless.  More like Wordy.  Oops.)

Random Grump

I'm grumpy.  I've been like this for a while now.  Too long.  It is kind of a grumpy rut.

I'm feeling lonely.  Strange how you can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely.  All of these people all over me all the time (literally, climbing on me, sitting on me, hanging on me, squeezing under me on the couch) and I still feel lonely.

I have a headache.  I thought I'd try this Skinny Girl Cosmo and it tasted like garbage and ended up giving me a massive headache for a couple of days.  And I only had two small glasses.  I know, I know.  If it tasted like garbage why did I continue to drink it?  Because I spent money on it and, dammit, I don't waste liquor.

Strange how you can till some soil, plant grass seed, cover it with dirt, water it, hug it, love it, sing to it and it will refuse to grow.  Then you walk down the driveway and see grass growing out of areas you have previously done everything in your power to prevent it from growing like cracks in the cement and in the garden.  Go figure.

I wish I could combine exercise with eating healthy.  It seems I can only do one or the other.  Never both at the same time.

Speaking of running, funny story.  This morning I went for a run without Molly (Which makes me feel incredibly guilty but the last few runs she has gone on with me I've had to drag her.  Literally.  Try running for 4 miles while dragging a 50 lb dog behind you.  Not fun.  Or stress relieving. I don't know what is wrong with her lately.  Maybe she is grumpy too.) and I was really looking forward to it since my last few runs have been torture (see parenthesis above).  I was doing fairly well considering the 30 mph winds, rain, and 45 degrees until a freaking bug flew in my eye.  It was a smaller gnat, but I could feel it.  And it hurt. And I started trying to fish it out of my eye with my finger (while still running- because if I stop it will be twice as hard to start again) and ended up making it worse.  The bug went in back of my eye and then my contact came out.  Now I have a headache from running with one contact in my eye. So much for a stress relieving, rejuvenating run.  Ah well.

The weather was lovely last week.  I sat on my back patio reading my book with the kids' running and laughing as background music.  Sometimes my life seems too good to be true.  And sometimes it just seems too true.

Summer is almost here.  School will be out in a few weeks.  This is good news.  However, this will not be a lazy, relaxing summer like I always strive for.  The boys are all signed up for baseball this year and golf lessons too (a first on both sports).  Grace felt left out and wanted to try dance class and gymnastics.  Since I didn't want the boys to have to sit around and wait while she was in class I signed them up for gymnastics too.  We'll see how long that lasts. Either way, looks like we'll be doing a ton of running from here to there this summer.

I have had the same awesome strappy black heels for the past 20 years or so and they finally broke.  Beyond repair.  It ticks me off.  I've been looking at shoes for a while now because I knew they would soon need replacing and I've found nothing that comes even close to their awesomeness.

I wish I made money.  Not like with a printing machine or anything.  I wish I had a job that paid.  It gets really old the way I keep feeling guilty when I need to buy myself a new pair of shoes or something.  Even if I made just a small amount of money at least I would feel less like such a freaking leech.

In case I had any doubts, I was reminded why I should never pursue a career in television.  This past weekend I volunteered at a fundraiser where there were two celebrities from Dancing With the Stars (Max Chmerkovskiy and Chelsea Hightower) and I never would have guessed either of them to be so thin.  I mean, they were both very thin and I never thought that when I was watching them on tv.  They were also better looking in real life too.  Just a really good reminder for me to stay away from television.  I don't need any help looking bigger or less attractive.

It has been raining for days now.  It is raining right now.  And cold.  It's only 45 degrees.  That makes me not so happy.

*sigh*

The fact that I'm so grumpy for no really good reason makes me really grumpy too.  Could I be more spoiled or self involved?  Cripes!  Snap out of it!  You'd think that with all these terrible things that keep happening in the world I would realize how fortunate I am and be grateful and happy for what I have every second of the day. Instead, I am just a grump. I've got issues.

I'm hopeful that writing about my grumpiness will help me get it all out.  So far, not so much.

Sorry for taking a grump dump on all of you.  I hope it's not contagious.

WW- Rainy Day

Sometimes you just need a snuggle with a good buddy. 

WW- Bird Watching

I'm back to my summertime obsession:

 A Goldfinch, a Pine Siskin, and a House Finch walk into a bar...

An immature Red-wing Blackbird

 A Common Grackle

 White Crowned Sparrow

 Three Pine Siskins

 A Pine Siskin

 A female Goldfinch watches the Pine Siskins eat

 An Oriole

What? 

 You talkin' to me?

 Coming closer

Checking it out

Getting comfy

For more birdy pics check this out:

Happy Mother's Day!

Such amazing mothers we are blessed with.  We are forever grateful for all you've done and all you've taught us.  We love you!

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) 

i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

e e cummings

Sending out a special prayer for all those who struggle to be mothers.  Those who struggle with infertility and long to be mothers.  For those who have felt the joy of pregnancy and then suffered through miscarriage.  For those that have lost children and are missing their angel child.  I pray for comfort for all those who ache on this day.

Lovely

This is going to be a busy weekend. Lovely, but busy. We have so much we want to get done around the house and the yard in between a bunch of big events going on as well.

Not only do I have a major concert (Brahms, baby! And it is gonna be GOOD) to sing for tomorrow night (and dress rehearsal tonight) but it is also Mother's Day on Sunday (obviously) and also Todd and my 12th anniversary.  Twelve years on the twelfth.  That makes it a golden anniversary or something, doesn't it?  Not that we have anything really special planned since we are kinda busy already, but that's okay.

It reminds me of a conversation Todd had with his father many years back.  Todd's parent's anniversary was approaching and Todd asked his dad if they were going to renew their vows to celebrate.  Todd's dad looked at him and said, "Son, I renew my vows to your mother every morning when I get out of bed.  Each day I renew my vows.  I don't need a special ceremony to do that."

That stuck with me.  And I think Todd and I both try to live that way too.

So, while I could be posting a lovely anniversary story on Sunday (maybe like this one or this one), or telling you again about how wonderful my husband is (like I did here), or even letting you in on The Story of Us, I will instead be celebrating the wonderful mothers we are fortunate to have.  And I feel blessed to be able to do so.

If you want to get a jump start on Mother's Day weekend please go to Elaine's blog and read her beautiful post.  It is such a gorgeous tribute to mothers and I am honored she allowed me to be a part of it.  Thanks, Elaine!  And well done!

Good music, celebrating mothers, celebrating love.  It is going to be a lovely weekend.  I hope you all have a perfectly lovely Mother's Day weekend as well!




Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Down

I haven't been feeling myself lately.  The last few weeks have taken a toll on me.  I am in a funk.  Just feeling down in the dumps and I can't seem to shake myself out of it.

This past weekend should have helped.  It was a nice weekend.  Sunny and warm. Gracie and I had the place to ourselves with the menfolk up at the cabin.  We had a lovely ladies weekend with trips to the library, a greenhouse, the pet store, lots of treats, and lots of time outside.  It was so nice just me and my girl.

I even bought myself a bottle of wine and stayed up way too late both Friday and Saturday night watching home movies and our wedding video.

All in all, it was the kind of weekend I love and it should have cheered me right up and gotten me back to my old self again.  But, Monday rolls around and I'm still feeling that now familiar feeling.  Just down.

I know I'll get out of this.  This funk won't stay forever.  But it is really starting to get annoying.  Spring is here.  The flowers are coming up.   The grass is getting green.  Temperatures are rising.  Days are getting longer.  School will soon be out. There is much to be celebrated.  But I just can't seem to make myself celebrate right now.  I'm just not feeling it.

Hopefully I'll get into the swing of things again soon.

WW-Getting Back In The Swing Of Things