Ten Things to Smile About; December 2013

Ten Things to Smile About: December 2013

Well, true to form I am way, way late on this post.  Again.  But December is so full of goodness for us it is impossible to move away from doing the good stuff to writing about the good stuff.  Any day of the week I'd rather be late to my blog than to miss enjoying life.  We are so blessed to have such a good and plentiful life.  Last month was so good it was hard to pick just ten things that were worthy of a smile.  Happy New Year!

Much to my dismay, I do enjoy how much the kids love the return of Arthur the Elf.   Their happiness does make me smile.

My sweet Athlete being recognized with high honors in his first trimester of middle school.

The beautiful Christmas cards we receive from friends and family.  I love, love, love Christmas cards and save them all.

An overnight in Santa Barbara for a business event.  It was a grueling drive home (5 1/2 hours!!) but it was so fun to see my close friends who I used to see every day in the office

Taking Bob to see Frozen on ladies night.  The cutest movie!


The start of basketball season for both of my boys.  It is a serious time commitment for Mr. Montoya and a lot of work for The Athlete but even I am surprised how much I love to watch basketball.  It's my favorite sport of the year!

Even after five years of fighting for a seat, hearing the same songs and seeing the same production at school I love the annual Christmas pageant.  Now that my first born is too old to be in it the hassle of it is a little less and I can cherish the opportunity just a little more.  I know I will be heartbroken when I don't "have" to go anymore. 

The safe arrival of Nana.  It is always the OFFICIAL start of Christmas when she's here

Touring model homes with my Mom and Bob.  It was fun to get inspiration from brand new, perfectly decorated spaces and someone sweet and sassy was ready to move in.

Seeing the Rose Parade floats up close as they were being built.  AMAZING!

 

Those polka dots were cranberries and blueberries.  All applied by hand!!

Hard Lock Down and Tough Love

Thanks to Facebook, Instagram and even the occasional IPC (in person chat) with a girlfriend I realize that I am not the complete lunatic that I sometimes think I am as a Mother.  I mean, sometimes I behave like a lunatic but it's not a chronic condition.  There's only so much you can do to protect yourself against the necessary lunacy required against a strong willed, sharp tongued nine year old girl.  Seriously, this girl could have pushed Mother Teresa to the edge.

So yesterday there was an email that circulated to school families about an Emergency Lock Down that happened on campus.  The message was brief but the closing message was that the suspect was removed without incident.  I was relieved and crushed all in the same sentence.  Relieved that no one in our school family was harmed and crushed that this is the place in time that we live.  Even in our tiny, parochial school, ocean view bubble on the Western edge of the continent. The kids filled us in after basketball that hard lock down meant that they turned off the lights, couldn't speak and all action stopped in anticipation of someone who shouldn't be in their hallways being there.  Even to type the words brings big, fat tears to my eyes.  I love that my kids are protected and hate that I am raising them in a world that even knows the words "Hard Lock Down".  The ultra crazy Mama Bear in me wants to run far and fast to somewhere . . . underground maybe . . . that things like this don't happen and eat ice cream and play board games with my sweet people all day for the rest of our lives.  Lunatic.  I know.  

And, on the flipside of my lunacy a mere 18 hours later was me turning around in the middle of the street and driving my daughter home to ask her Dad for a ride to school after she lied to me about her school uniform.  The uniform wasn't such a big deal, but I have a zero tolerance policy on dishonesty and I simply couldn't tolerate the disrespect.  In hindsight, she will grow up and tell her therapist what a crazy bat I was always flying off the handle and doing super dramatic things like dropping her on the front porch and telling her to figure it out, but she can truly get to me like no one else can.   

All of that has been eating at me while I am home sick today and the bottom line is that even though I'm a wee bit crazy there is nothing in the world I want more than to send wonderful humans into the world from our home.  I want to protect them from lock downs, drunk drivers, sun damage and mostly themselves and send them to their futures overly prepared and flourishing in the cruelness of the world.  Several hours of downtime haven't given me the answers to exactly how to do that so I'll just hold onto my lunatic card for now.  Sorry, Bob!