Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Two!

My baby turned two last weekend.   TWO!   That means for two full years you've been lighting up our life, making us laugh, and bringing such joy to everyone who has the pleasure of knowing you.  Here are a few things you do....  I know, one day it will seem impossible to remember (sniff.)

:: The Wiggle!  Oh J, your dance moves are beyond precious.  Lucky us, we've caught them on video because no words could ever do justice to your adorable wiggle.

:: Animal sounds.  What does the cow say, "moo".  The horse says, "neigh", the kitty says "meow", the dog says "woof " --- more like fffff --- but I gotcha, little one.

:: So many hugs and kisses and blowing kisses and more hugs.  Your ease with affection is so admirable.

:: Run!  You don't walk most places anymore, you run everywhere.  Your little feet - pure excitement to get where you need to go.  Even if it's just the bathroom to help someone flush the toilet! :)

:: And last but not least, The Bus.  Your obsession with the school bus.  Whether it's watching clips of Wheels on the Bus on youtube or seeing the kids on the street get picked up by school bus or seeing a real bus drive by us.  Your excitement is contagious!

Happy Two Years old to the love of my life.  My angel.  My sweet, sweet baby boy.   You are everything I ever dreamed of and so much more.  


Friday, November 14, 2014

Today

What if this is really how we approached each day:


Thursday, November 13, 2014

Redoing the Little House

I really hope I'm not too late in the season to paint the playhouse and ideally the pool shed too.   They are such an obvious part of our backyard "landscape" and with their sweet little window boxes and charming mini-size, I think we could really make them great.   We'll see if the weather permits it.


(image, image, image)

Friday, November 7, 2014

We did it - Article Club

After talking about it for years, I finally got my act together and organized a fantastic article club!  Modeled after this one , I invited a handful of lesser known friends to join me.  I purposely wanted to extend the participation list, so that I could get to know some new people and we wouldn't be tempted to fall into the familiar roles that can exist with deep rooted friends.  

We started the group with this article - intentionally broad so that we could get to know each other before focusing in on a more specifically themed topic.   Next time, someone else will moderate - picking the article and the location.   And we met at Bronwyn, enjoying a cozy Bavarian atmosphere while we chatted.

I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and is looking forward to the next one.  I am!!

 

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Tiny Beautiful Things

Dear Sugar columnist, who turned out to be Wild author Cheryl Strayed, hits it out of the park in this collection of essays.  Wow.  It reads like a perfect combination of memoir, self help and guilty-pleasure beach read.  It's not for the faint of heart and she doesn't hold back.  But her ability to tell it like it is, being honest without being hurtful, is the gem of the book.   One of my favorite reads!

“Don't surrender all your joy for an idea you used to have about yourself that isn't true anymore.” 

“Nobody will protect you from your suffering. You can't cry it away or eat it away or starve it away or walk it away or punch it away or even therapy it away. It's just there, and you have to survive it. You have to endure it. You have to live through it and love it and move on and be better for it and run as far as you can in the direction of your best and happiest dreams across the bridge that was built by your own desire to heal.” 

“You have to pay your own electric bill. You have to be kind. You have to give it all you got. You have to find people who love you truly and love them back with the same truth. But that's all.”


Tuesday, November 4, 2014

What to do with cranberries

The last few weeks of the Fruit Share via the CSA, we got fresh cranberries.  If you've ever tasted a true cranberry, you know it's virtually unpalatable because it's so tart.  I hated the thought of tossing the bags of cranberries, but how much cranberry sauce can you really eat?

But I saw these ideas to use cranberries with your holiday cocktails - perfect!  I'm going to freeze them tonight so they're ready to go in December.