Forever?

The other night my daughter and I were embraced in a nice tight hug. Sometimes you can tell when kids are 'humoring you' and cannot wait to end the interaction. This was not one of those times. She said, "I wish we could stay like this forever". So true those words were for me too. I know that one day the hugs will be swifter, fewer and not as generous....but I have hope. Things change, people change, so being in the moment really does keep me centered sometimes. It is almost like a mini meditation with my children....deep hug, deep breaths, all is good.

Mother Nature missed the memo...

THAT SPRING STARTED 11 DAYS AGO!!! What role did Puxatony Phil play in this madness? I think I'll go back in MY hole until...June maybe...but there is a little thing called children to feed. I guess I'll just have to deal.

Maybe this is Mother Nature's April Fool joke, a day early. She must be missing all kinds of memos. She needs a new Secretary...Al Gore might be up for the job.

I would walk 100 miles...

One of my new year resolutions for 2008 is to walk 300 miles by the end of the year. A mini goal was to walk 100 miles by my birthday (March 25). The walking is in addition to normal everyday getting around walking. I racked up the miles via eliptical, stariclimber, treadmill or good old fashioned walking outside. Some weeks I was committed 100% (just like Horton) on other weeks I could barely scrape a mile together. Well, talk about coming in under the wire, I had to walk 4 miles every day for the last three days to make my goal, but I did it...now only 200 more until 1/1/09. That seems doable. I don't think I could have done it (from a commitment point of view) if it weren't for L.P. up the hill, her morning calls (and sometimes mine to her) kept me on track. Here's to accountability and friendship (raise your moonshine one and all).

Happy b-day Uncle Sock

In 1969 I was the birthday present to my big brother (Uncle Sock to my kids). I’m sure he was thrilled. Well maybe at first he truly was, but then when I took up most of the time and focus from my parents, he probably wished I was sent back to the hospital.

Sock is 5 years older than me. As a gift to his newborn sister, he gave up his blankie which was mysteriously attached to his thumb. The story goes that whenever he touched the blanket, even just for a moment when stepping on it as it lay on the ground, he would automatically put his thumb in his mouth. When his feet were finished trespassing on the blankie, his thumb would dislodge from his mouth. So, his “gift” to his little sis was HUGE for him and a huge RELIEF for my parents. That’s not to say that the other 5 years of sucking didn’t take a toll. Orthodontists salivated when looking at his overbite. I could have had a pony if it weren’t for both of my brothers’ teeth.

My brother is one of the smartest men I’ve ever met. He is humble in his intellect, but it has served him and his family well. He is a devoted husband and loving father. He is also a dedicated soccer player and can outplay any young whippersnapper who swaggers on the field. Another great feature of "Sock" is that he loves to body surf at the beach. Huge water filled smiles and sand rashes abound during our annual beachweek. I am so glad that he didn’t send me back to the hospital so that I can still have him in my life. I love you man!

WHY?

WHY DO YOUNG MOTHERS GET TERMINAL CANCER?

No you di'int

Yesterday my daughter was responding to a story I told about her dad facing off with a raccoon. Princess acted out the racoon's role personified as a girl waving her finger and bobbing her head saying "no you di'int". The only description I can come up with her role playing is the stereotypical one of a black woman in the beauty salon talking with her friends and making the same exaggerated expression.

So my questions are a) how did my daughter do that with such precision b) where did she learn that expression and c) how did she know that that would be the perfect thing a raccoon would say when confronted by my husband with a broom. I'm thinking Hannah Montana had something to do with it.

I knew I loved that boy

Monkey told his teacher today that I was turning 29.

My response (via email)

...uhhh yeah that's right 29. How 'bout I FEEL 29...well that doesn't feel right either...aw heck lets call a spade a spade...I'm a year away from 40 : ).

Lets keep the boy in the dark about this, I need him on my side in the future for sure.

Happiness!!

Well, it's my birthday too yeah!

I’m entering my last year of my 30s. I somehow don’t feel despondent, sad, scared, frustrated…and all the other emotions one might feel. I’ve always said ‘bring it on’ to another year older. I do see though that age does some wonders to your body which I’m having some issues with (that is for a whole other blog on another day). I’m excited for this year. I’m exploring my options for what I want to do when I grow up. I’m enjoying the time with my kids as they grow bigger (boo hoo) and more interesting (as they gain life experience). I’m also enjoying more date nights with my husband which has been a 2008 commitment and we’ve done a great job at it (they’ve been a long time coming).

The kids LOVE to celebrate our birthdays as a family. I enjoy how excited and proud they are of their gifts and how gushy, lovey dovey they get toward the birthday “person”. It is a special day for all involved. I also like to use this day like a “Santa Claus” day and remind them that if they’re not acting appropriately, that they’ll mess up my day. I use every tactic I can get to manipulate them into behaving…tee hee.

Anyhoo, I am off to enjoy the day of my birth with celebrations (and a few necessary boring things thrown in). Happiness and Moonshine (aka drinky poos)

What's in a name?

I thought I’d shed the light on the Moonshine in the name of my blog. In February, I began my soul search. In that time I voraciously read self help books to find my purpose and decide what I want to do going forward. I read Loving What Is, The Secret, Finding your True North Star, Ask and It is Given, Rich Dad Poor Dad and so on. As I would read, I’d share my thoughts about positivity and the Law of Attraction with friends and family. I started to term my new outlook as Happiness and Sunshine. For example, if I was going along my merry way of happy thoughts and someone tried to shoot them down, I’d say (almost with my fingers in my ears) “happiness and sunshine”. I’m certain that I’ve annoyed many with my ‘mantra’…but happiness and sunshine to them! As I was sharing my new outlook to people, some would nod their heads in interest, some wanted to hop on my bandwagon, while others were skeptical and would have nothing to do with it….”its not realistic”. On one occasion, my brother (lets call him Eeyore for short) happened to be privy to one of my sermons. The whole time he was ‘yes butting’ me and 'poking holes'. I kept saying “what’s the harm in happiness and sunshine". At some point during this exchange, my son looked up into the night sky, he said in the sweetest voice you can imagine, “No mommy, its happiness and moonshine” while pointing up to the sky. Well, this got many chuckles from my family and a great agreement from me. “Yes Monkey, that phrase has true meaning on so many levels”. It is true in that sometimes, there is darkness with a silver lining, and sometimes, mommy is happy when she has moonshine. Once that phrase was uttered I began saying, "what a great name for a blog"….and that’s all she wrote.

To blog or not to blog?

Well, I’ve been thinking of just writing for the heck of it and seeing what flows. I like to write and I definitely appreciate “crafty” writing, so why not try myself? I often get compliments on how I tell stories and write them. Of course, my main fans are my mom and husband so maybe they don’t count.