Finally the age she acts

My darling daughter is 8 today. Since about age 6, she has been pegged as an 8 year old by strangers. This is due to her size and I believe to her maturity level. She is an even-keeled, socially intuitive (a term I made up myself) young lady and she makes us proud. Having said that, lately I feel as if I'm dealing with a premenstrual teenager. We've been getting a lot of lip, slamming doors and sullen expressions. The word on the street though is that some of the boys her age are also acting this way...so maybe, just maybe, it is an age-appropriate thing we're experiencing.

Princess' day has already reached a pinnacle because her Dad surprised her with a Zune...her very own (he works for the 'mothership' who makes them). I struggle with this because I remember being 14 when I got my first walkman (does anyone remember THOSE?), and my 8 year old has her very own state of the art personal music thingy....don't children have to wait for ANYTHING anymore? I AM making her wait to get her ears pierced until she is 13 (I had to be 16). She has pointed out every friend who already has hers pierced, just in the slightest chance that I might be convinced to change my mind....I'm not budging on this one.

Anyway, our 'Do-do' (pronounced doo-doo) is getting old and I am not sure how to feel. On one hand, I am so blessed with a healthy, happy, considerate, loving human being in my life who is growing and thriving; and on the other, my baby-girl isn't little anymore and that makes me sad. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

We have a tradition in our family where we serve breakfast in bed on special days. It started when the kids were 3 and 6. My husband was in Seattle buying us a house and I was back in North Carolina with the kids. It was Mother's Day and they decided to make me breakfast in bed, that was an interesting experience both in bed AND in the kitchen (which I had the pleasure of cleaning up).

Cleaning for the cleaning lady

It has always been an conundrum to me that we clean for the cleaning lady; but here I am doing the mad dash today to get the house in ship shape order for the cleaning lady (or should I say person). I am having about 18 ladies over tonight to play Bunko and I thought it would be a nice treat not to have to do the scrubbing myself. This is my birthday present to myself (a month late). Unfortunately, by 9am tomorrow, the house will be back to its normal state...oh the humanity.

It was quite difficult to find a picture that represented cleaning in my stash of photos...so this is the closest.

Like cats and dogs

Forecast for the week: RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm losing my mind!

Picture taken of our bus stop mascot this morning.

Fooling myself rich

I saw a motivational speaker named James Ray (he was featured in the Secret). He talked about how he was once told to walk around with hundred dollar bill in his pocket at all times and it would help you to "feel" richer. So, I decided, what the heck, what harm could it do?

Since that time, I've had a hundred dollar bill in MY wallet. I'm not sure it is having the effect that it is meant to. The feelings I get when I carry the $100 are; I hope I don't lose my wallet; or, boy I wish I had smaller bills; or, I find that I am explaining to the store clerks that I in fact am not 'super rich' and only have a $100 because I'm trying to fool myself that I am. It also gets tricky when you want to give lunch money, allowance or make a small donation to the kids...but I'm working on a solution. LIKE, carrying more than just a $100 bill. Recently, my dreams were even effected; my car was robbed and everything was stolen in my wallet and my first thought (in my dream) was, darn, they took my $100 bill.

The positives are that I actually spend less money because if, say at the gas station, I go in to buy a "treat" and they only take cash or I must spend more than $10 to use a credit card, I end up passing on the treat. I save money and calories at the same time. Also, a kind stranger gave me 2 free tickets for the bus because my smallest bill was a hundred (not that I told her that).

Now that I've shared this little secret, those of you who are local...better not be trying to dip into my wealthy wallet...ya hear!

Gratitude X 10

1. Sunny weather for our Hawk Walk and Run fundraiser on Saturday


2. Hawk Walk and run fundraiser is OVER


3. Drinks with friends to celebrate Hawk Walk and Run completion


4. Nothing pressing to do this Sunday


5. Son sleeping in until 8:30am


6. Daughter sleeping at friend's house


7. Spring might be on its way here finally


8. Warm snuggly hug from Monkey this morning


9. Reclaiming my house after crazy week last week


10. Daughter's birthday next Wednesday.

Eating, sleeping, breathing this!

The wheels go round and round

I took the bus yesterday! This was a mini goal I had this week. I'm trying to find creative ways to keep me moving (and oh by the way, save the planet). I had a general idea of the bus routes but things weren't all that smooth. Firstly, I had forgotten any small change (I only had a $100 bill which I'll explain in another post). I just happened to ask the right person where a cash machine was because she gave me 2 free bus passes (note to self, I need to "pay it forward"). I got the 'short bus' which had my destination on it, well, lets say it wasn't the express bus. So I took a scenic route which I really did appreciate because; I saw the lake that looked like glass with crew boats on it; I found a short cut I hadn't known about; and I got to people watch (for a long time). I made it in good time and really didn't mind the ride. Then on the way back, I made a very similar mistake and then some, I got the bus that took me to a different terminal than I needed. No harm done because I had nice passengers help me to find another bus to back-track my way home. Through all of this, I considered it an adventure, and I happened to have the time to do it. I can see doing it again if the time permits.

A few observations:

1) a lot more people take the bus than I had expected.

2) even though a lot of people take the bus, there are still too many cars on the road (including mine). I do think the tide is shifting a little, but not in a huge way.

3) I love public transportation from my days in London and San Francisco, but its a little different and more complicated when you're out in the burbs.

4) there are many people who know A LOT about which bus takes you where....I mean A LOT. One woman told me all she knew (a little like Rain Man).

5) I'm glad I carried my hand sanitizer.