Ten Things to Smile About: January 2013

January was fast and frantic and ended up with The Athlete suffering through the flu for a week. The perfect way to recap and remember the goodness is the very first Ten Things to Smile About for 2013. 

Ten Things to Smile About: January 2013


A weekend getaway to the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

 

 

 

Bedtime prayers with my sweet, sweet boy

 

 

 

Cleaning and refreshing our long neglected home.  2013 is a brand new year!

 

 Ziplining for the first time.  Amazing.

 

 

 

Costa Rica

 

 

 

 

Keeping up with the kids via email and FaceTime while i was out of the country.  There is definitely some upside to technology.

 

The zaniness that is of Bob

(formerly known as The Princess)

 

 

 

 

Basketball season

 

 

 

 The exteme beauty of where we live

 

 

My wee little cookie machine

 

 

 

The reminder to recall my Ten Things come from Emmy Mom. She always makes me smile, too.

  

  

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

Q is for Quiet

It's so quiet. Too quiet. There is NO noise in the house. No low level Phineas & Ferb and puppy dog toes on wood. No Star Wars vehicles firing against shreiking protest at Disney princesses.

Quiet.

Has she suffocated him with only a pink poodle pillow and a sly grin?

Did he lock her outside and and the paper boy swept her away?

Quiet.

I forgot. They're not even here. They had a sleepover. Both of them.

Hallelujah!

Oh what should I do with such unexpected bliss? Sleep? I can't. Run? I don't wanna. Coffee and paper? Maybe . . .

Oh, I know. I'll clean. So sad. So true. To clean the floors without immediate footprints on shine and vacuum without begging someone to move is it's own form of therapy.

Thank you to Grandma & Grandpa for my clean floors. I Love You

O is for Octopus

If I had six more arms would it be enough? Can any overachieving, deep loving, hard working woman ever have enough time and resources? I'll say no. Even if I were an eight legged creature who didn't need to catch my breath to survive it wouldn't suffice.

Arm One is for loving ~ calm those fears, kiss those tears, tell him he's the one

Arm Two is for working ~ sign here, fly there, pretend you're having fun

Arm Three is for homemaking ~ dust this, bake that, adjust the frame just right

Arm Four is for memory making ~ look this way, step over there, can I upload these tonight?

Arm Five is for playing ~ apply sunscreen to him, find a hat for her, the tickets are right here

Arm Six is for resting ~ close the shutters, lock the door, a quiet moment's near

Arm Seven is for friend keeping ~ send the card, make the call, the effort is so crucial

Arm Eight is for me ~ care for your skin, keep your teeth clean, aging is just brutal!

Knowing that six more hands won't help I'm going to have to keep moving with the two I am lucky enough to have. It would be nice though to have an extra one to hold my drink while I'm trying to take a photograph and wrap a birthday gift simultaneously . . .

Why Ask Why?

Are there a million things that boggle your mind every single day? I find myself WAAAYYY too often sitting somewhere wondering about all sorts of mysteries of life. Like these:

Why

can she open a hermetically sealed sterling silver piggy bank, but she can't find the strawberry yogurt in the fridge?

Why

do I make list after list and search ads for the best deals at the grocery store and leave with $200 worth of things that I didn't come for?

Why

can I plan a black tie dinner for 200, complete with the appropriate number of ounces of meat per person, but I can NOT make a meal plan for my family for more than 2 days at a time?

Why

does that dog bark and bark and bark, and chase the mailman, and charge after other people's dogs with wreckless abandon, but is deathly afraid of the vacuum cleaner?

Why

is there a lowest available fare guaranteed tag on their website, but it's NEVER available?

Why

can they watch Disney channel for HOURS on end, and recite every single word of the new Sabrina Gomez single, but cannot not focus on a three item list that I have asked them to work on?

Why

do I even bother asking myself these questions? I should know better by now.

I wish . . .

I wish
the dog would STOP barking at everyone who walks within 100 yards of our house

I wish
my kids would stop asking for snacks every hour and eat a full meal

I wish
I didn't live so damn far from my family

I wish
I would actually get up when my alarm goes off at 5 AM and go running like I mean to

I wish
school lunches would pack themselves

I wish
Sophia didn't have asthma

I wish
we were going to Hawaii this summer

I wish
work were fun again

I wish
there were 28 hours in every day and four of those were all mine

I wish
my babies knew that I love them like crazy even while I try to make them decent humans

I wish
I could call my Nanny and she would tell me I am being ridiculous

I wish
saying her name didn't still make me cry

I wish
I would get over my day and remember how good I have it . . . Tomorrow will be much better. I am sure of it

School Day Storage

Does anyone have a brilliant suggestion for how to store school projects/art? My heart is overrun with spelling tests (already!), sponge painting masterpieces and paper mache renderings. What do I do with it all?

Please help if you're a scrapbooker/collector/saver of all things. I am not ready to let good work go, but it can't continue to live on my desk in the kitchen. Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Shoulda been a plumber

Who knew that edamame would clog a sink so badly that it wouldn't drain for three days?!?!??! Well, word to the wise - it does! I guess it's the string on the string beans . . . VERY BAD! The plumber just left my house and a 20 minute visit cost me $164. Are you kidding?

Needless to say, I am disgusted. With myself for not throwing the edamame in the trash and with the grumpy plumber who just cost me my hair appointment this month! There are times when I think that renting would be downright charming ; )