Go Green!

My first born angel boy has been pitching on his fall ball team and he looked amazing at this weekend's game. In the two innings that he pitched he struck out three batters, gave up two in field flys (one that he caught) and a line drive directly back to him that he snagged easily. The last series of photos on the link below shows his smirk after catching the line drive and his team congratulating him on keeping all runners off base for two straight innings. There are just some moments as parents that feel better than others and Sunday was a definitely good one.  I am genuinely grateful to the Mom who volunteered to take photos of our team.  The images that she has captured of my son in the last two weeks literally bring tears to my eyes.

Terrific Team Green Photos

And if his athletic prowess weren't making me so VERY proud I would brag about his 6 A's and 2 B's in his first month of third grade or his cleaning out his piggy bank for a charity they're collecting money for at school. This little boy has always been something truly special for us and September is no exception.

Thank you Dear Lord for the precious gift of our son.

And GO TEAM GREEN!

Not Me Monday

It is Not Me that hasn't done a Not Me Monday post in monthes and monthes and monthes. And certainly not me that has tons of guilt over all of the truly unladylike, inappropriate nonsense in her life right now. Enough that she just has to write it down and get it off her chest. That would be ultra embarrassing and un-suave. Which definitely makes it Not Me.

It would not be me that has had a sinus infection, cold, allergy thing for more than a week and starts to daydream about Nyquil sometime around 3 PM. Or me that changed the alarm clock from 5:20 AM to 5:45 AM when she woke up at 4:30 AM and went back to sleep with the sheet stuffed in her nose in lieu of getting up for a tissue. That would be so disguisting and pathetic. Not Me!

Nor was it me that told myself {out loud} while I was making dinner last night to go ahead and prep school lunches. If it were me I would have known that I was already in the kitchen with all of the supplies handy and would only have one mess to clean up. I would have known that so it wasn't me that ignored the voice in my own head and blew her off like a dandelion. Then grumbled for the twenty minutes it took to make two lunches at 6:30 AM. That was not me.

And most importantly it was not me that wore a sundress over the weekend and packed leggings for the evening when the temperature dropped. If it were me I would have taken an entirely new outfit that was perky and perfect for the evening event. And if it were me that was just using leggings to change my outfit I definitely would not have put them on right in my seat at a sporting event instead of getting up and going to the restroom. That would be too lazy to be me. And if I were lazy and unfashionable, I definitely would NOT have accidentally tucked my sundress into said leggings while I was changing in my seat. at a sporting event. With 14 rows of seats behind me. Oh no, no, no not me.

And last, but certainly not least, it was not me that all kinds of excited about blogging again and joining up with MckMama for NMM and then can't navigate to where the links are. I am super technically sophisticated and I would definitely be able to find her Not Me Monday posts and widget even if it had been forever since I posted. I would not just post the twitter hashtag #notmemonday and call it a day.  Yup - so not me.

Miss Me

How much I miss me has been rolling around in my head a lot lately.

The me that laughs more and has boundless energy.  The me that never misses a birthday and calls just because. The me that has a jersey for every single team her kids play on and drops sweet, silly notes in lunch boxes. The me that sings along to songs on her iPod and blogs about funny stuff her kids say.  I never knew how much I liked Miss Me until this me moved in.

This me eats too much fast food and not enough vitamins.  This me hasn't had a good day at work in longer than she can remember. This me absolutely, positively cannot get out of bed when the alarm goes off. This me drops off at school and makes dinner, but only because she's supposed to.  This me has a back injury and a bad attitude.  This me is no damn fun at all.

I miss me.  That's what I've been thinking lately.

And then at 2:13 am today this me died.  In a dream. And it seemed so real that she woke up crying hysterically and could not console herself.  This me was wearing my pajamas and my wedding ring when she died.  She looked like me and sounded like me, but she was truly sick and helpless.  She had the same precious children and terrific husband.  Her sweet son was sitting with her and talking to her, but as she was dying he pulled away from her.  He clung to his Dad and sister in consolation and left her to die. Alone.  Who she was caused them too much pain to stay.

For a few hours in the earliest part of the morning, this me prayed and cried and held her children when they slept.  The reality of her desperation engulfed her and she could not sleep or think or stop crying.  This me realized she needs to move past the medicine and specialists and dim outlook on the world and pull it together.  This me knows that she's got it good and it's time to start acting like it.

This me died in a dream today and scared Miss Me back to life.

Welcome home, Miss.            

Ten Things

Another month that flew by unbelievably fast.  My sweet kiddos started 3rd grade and Kindergarten this week and I feel like I am following behind them in slow motion watching my life unfold without me.  Every.dang.month.  I gotta get a faster horse.

Even when I feel like I am missing something I can always come up with ten things about the month that made me smile.  Be sure to go see Emmy and her friends for their ten things, too.

August 2010

Spending extra time with B and celebrating her first birthday

Warm, cloudless afternoons with a breeze

My Athlete and his buddies having a blast at a tournament in San Diego

Helping the kids make their own pizza for dinner at home
The Princess losing her very first tooth

Generous parents who take care of me even when I am OLD

My sweet family going camping without me

They LOVED it and I truly relished the quiet for a few days

A Girl's Night Out that included a rowdy piano bar, a few too many birthday drinks and a late night stop at Del Taco

Playdates, pools and popsicles

My proud boys with the Winning Ticket

Law of the Garbage Truck

This little story landed in my inbox this afternoon and I think "Isn't it uncanny how the most poignant things show up at just the right time?" I am definitely feeling like one big ol' garbage truck these days dumping my frustration and sense of despair on anyone in my way - especially my poor little loves.  I need to heed the advice of the taxi driver  .  .  .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport

We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.

My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.

So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'

This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.

As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.

Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,
so ... Love the people who treat you right.
Pray for the ones who don't.

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a garbage-free day!

"Faith is not believing God can, it is knowing that God will."

Gone to the Dogs

Our dogs are dirty, and ill mannered and up to no good most of the time.  They shed, track in dirt and drink from the toilets.  My home would be far lovelier without our dogs.

But they're family.

We chose them and they deserve the home we brough them into.  And really, what's not to love  . . .

comfortable companions

It's Not You, It's Me

Blogging hasn't been on my to-do list lately. It is something that I think about, and miss, but it has fallen to the bottom of the list along with trim the roses and buy The Athlete a desk. I absolutely mean to do all of it, but life keeps getting in the way.

Life like working well beyond a reasonable capacity, and missing everyone's birthdays from November to June, and dutifully accepting meetings during important events in my kids' lives, and some testing to diagnose herniated disks that are torn and lots of pain medication and ice packs and subsequently being really unhappy with just how out of hand things have gotten for me. Completely.Out.Of.Hand.

Things that seemed temporary have become a lifestyle and I need to make some decisions about a lifestyle change. I don't mean a change like selling everything and moving to Cancun to braid hair with Camille. That's not anything I have EVER considered - LOL!

Just a conscious slow down and reassessment of the things that matter to me and what I am willing to give up to make sure the things that matter stay at the top of the list.

Him

And Them

Birthday cards and roses.

And my blog.

See you soon

Ten Things

ven when I have fallen off the blog wagon (much like now) I try to make sure I take time for Ten Things.  Emmy hosts at the end of every month and it's a great opportunity to remember what the top reasons to smile were that month.  Thank you, Emmy, for keeping me on track and helping me remember that there's always a reason to smile.

JULY 2010

Pedicures and ice cream on Girls' Days with MY girl

Creamy white blossoms on the magnolia tree out back

An easy, family filled celebration for the 4th of July.

Good food, good times -- lots of fun!!

My body reminding me that I can't take care of anything else if I don't take care of myself first

Watching a movie on the patio with E and making our own date night at home

Colleagues like Tracy, Shannon, Lynn and Alexis that are really just great friends that I happened to meet at work

Taking some time to enjoy being a Mom to my wild and wacky two and remembering what a special blessing they are to me every.single.day

E's parents always being there and offering us sanity in an otherwise truly insane time in our lives

My sweet husband confirming travel plans for our tenth anniversary trip to Maui

aaaloooooha 

An all expense paid trip to a world class destination and still thinking that there's no place as beautiful and charming as my own home