Can I just say...

If you substitute "Lori" for "Lois"...this is my L*I*F*E!!!!!

A spark into a flame

Hmmm...it came to me a couple hours ago and now the idea has blossomed into a plan of sorts. When my mom died she wanted to be cremated so I asked for some of the ashes - she loved to golf, I live in Augusta, Georgia...a golfing mecca. The "holy grail" of golf, if you will. So, I wanted some of the ashes to quietly spread the next time I'm at Augusta National (shhhh...don't tell, I don't think they would like that.) But then I had the spark of an idea. Why stop at just the National? Take some with me to Key West in November, some on our Disney Cruise in April, some when we go to Asheville, North Carolina next July (we plan trips a long time in advance...it gives me something to look forward to!) - are you getting the idea? Now I just need to go to the hobby store and get those little ziploc bags they have there so I'm ready to roll!

Are you ready for a little adventure mom?

25 things I love...

In no particular order:

1. A fresh pedicure
2. Coffee
3. The sausage breakfast burrito at Sonic
4. Good stationary
5. Merlot
6. BMW 325i
7. Chewy candy
8. Frank Lloyd Wright architecture
9. The beach
10. My job
11. Michael Buble
12. My son's artwork
13. Text messaging
14. Facebook
15. Kate Spade handbags
16. Pigs in a blanket
17. Italy
18. John Steinbeck novels
19. Food TV
20. Keeping my car clean
21. My annual vacation with just the girls
22. Aquariums
23. Toasty bagels with cream cheese
24. Roller skating
25. Spicy perfumes

Are any of your favorites on my list? What are some of yours?

Arlene

My mom died. July 9, 2009. My mom was a lot of things to a lot of people...daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and friend, definitely a friend. She was Switzerland when it came to friendship! She loved everyone equally whether they loved each other or not! She had a lot of practice being a mediator - my dad and I have very strong personalities so she spent a lot of time running interference between the two of us - but never made either of us feel like we had lost the negotiations!

My mom was one of 10 kids who married an only child. She sometimes regretted marrying at 20, but stayed married for almost 59 years. She wanted me to see more and do more than she had done...and yet she had managed to do a lot in her life. She once went to Las Vegas at midnight in a convertible with my dad and some friends, just because. She took helicopter rides, rode skateboards, hung out on Padre Island at spring break and started drinking at 10:00 am in Mexico because I needed company!

She kept these journals...not a "Dear Diary" kind of thing but these general info journals that started in the 1960s. Interested in when I bought my first car or when they repainted the living room or I came home for a long visit when I lived in New York? It's in there. Wanna know what she paid for a new microwave in the 1980s? Check. My brother's minor in possession bust and college graduation are in there as well. A wealth of odd family information. These are the only things of hers that I truly wanted, there are probably a dozen of them. Seeing her handwriting, knowing she was thinking of her family as she wrote each entry...that's what's important to me. I've started reading them and laugh over some of the stuff that's in there that I had totally forgotten! Melissa...did you know I paid you $500 for the Datsun? I can even tell you what day it was!

I will miss her every day, but WOW she was an incredible woman and I was blessed to be her daughter! Love you Mom!

Unsure

I'm getting older. No particular news flash there since we are all getting older every day BUT I'm feeling my age more and more these days. It doesn't particularly help that all the other moms of Kyle's 8-year-old friends are just turning 30ish. And me? I'm 42. Things seem to take more effort and I find myself weighing the effort involved vs the outcome. Six Flags in July...not so much. Street festival? Maybe. See what I mean? I catch myself throwing a bit of a pity party now and again about my flagging energy in comparison to the other moms. How I don't particularly want to be out past 11:00 or deal with drama. I had older parents...they were in their mid-to-late 30s when I was born and there were good things and bad about that - we didn't really have money woes since my parents were well-established financially which allowed us the opportunity to travel and have some things other kids didn't have. But, my parents were tired. LOL...I just self - analyzed myself with that one...I'm becoming the parent I didn't really want to become!

So, as I sit here on 4th of July I'm really working up the energy to gather our stuff, head downtown, deal with traffic, find a parking spot, find a decent place to watch the fireworks (read "avoid rednecks") and then deal with the slow moving traffic jam after the finale. But hey, you're only young once!

Failed Experiment

We recently returned from a trip to Arkansas to visit David's parents. For reasons I really don't understand I decided at the last minute not to pack my usual arsenal of make-up and hair accessories. I just tossed a lipstick, an eyeliner and some mascara into my bag. I left the make-up, curling iron and blow dryer in their usual spaces and walked out of the bathroom. What was I thinking? I don't wear a lot of make-up, but what I do wear, I need. A quick swipe of mineral powder, bronzer and blusher, some eyeshadow, liner and mascara...all essential (it turns out) to my well-being. My hair is this semi-curly mass badly in need of a trim and THIS is the time I decide to leave it all behind? Again, what was I thinking. I did not feel like myself the whole time we were away. At first it was liberating...a couple quick scrunches of the hair and I was done BUT then I caught a glimpse of myself later in the mirror. Eeeeeek! As it turns out, I am a slave the the girly entrapments I thought I could do without! Never again, my friends. I am back to my former never-go-out-the-door-without-full-make-up-and-hair self!

Oh and as to the long hiatus from blogging? I think it can best be attributed to writer's block. I've never had that before and it was very frustrating. Nothing really seemed like the right thing to blog about - it all seemed too trivial for words. But it appears the block has lifted itself and "trivial" doesn't bother me anymore!

Impromptu

A long time ago I read an article in some family or woman's magazine about taking time to say "yes" to your kids. The article went a little further that I would want to (candy for breakfast?) but the idea has stuck with me. Obviously with two working parents we have to say "no" a lot - either out of exhaustion or frustration or, you know, just because. But this week it's just Kyle and I and today I decided we would (shhhhh!) skip church and have some fun! I didn't give Kyle the green light by saying I would say yes to everything he asked, but I decided I would be more open to possibilities of saying YES. It helps that it's 70+ degrees today. We started out with a great breakfast where Kyle helped me crack and cook some eggs. Then after getting ready for the day we headed to Barnes and Noble, which FYI is very quiet at 10:00 am on a Sunday! We spent a long, long, time reading books and magazines, playing with the train set and loafing in a multitude of chairs. Kyle finally decided on the first book in The Chronicles of Narnia, "The Magician's Nephew" a book I didn't even push him toward, but was thrilled with because I read the same book to Tony when he was 7! (Tony is now 19.) When we left the book store Kyle glanced across the street and said, "Can we go to PF Chang's for lunch?" YES we can. We shared kung pao chicken and pot stickers and a lot of good conversation. Our waiter was funny and engaging and couldn't get enough of Kyle's funny ways. Then it was into the mall for a shirt for school pictures on Tuesday then Kyle wanted to go to Putt Putt - okay, we're off!

This afternoon I'm going to be saying yes a lot more to things that are in and around our neighborhood and maybe close the day with a carpet picnic and a good movie. It's been nice saying yes and forgetting about towels that needed to be washed and floors that need a good vacuuming.

Oh and my newly found yes-ness led me to invite three of the boys back to our house for an hour after cub scouts. I found myself surrounded by four 7-8 year olds who kept saying dude this and dude that. Apparently this is their way of communicating.

YES - it's a good thing!

I'm ready to go back!

We had a marvelous time at Disney World - the trip was a complete surprise to Kyle and we were driving under the "Welcome to Disney World" sign before we told him what was going on! He was so excited and shouted, "Today I start living!" He's a little off the beam sometimes! My best friend Angela and her two lovely girls (Larissa, 12 and Zoe, 9) met us at Disney which was an added bonus for all of us!

We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and had our coffee each morning with zebras, giraffes and the like right off our balcony. We did Animal Kingdom Park, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot - with extra time at Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. We also did a day at Sea World - which if I had to do it over again I would have put that at the beginning of the trip instead of at the end...it was a bit of a letdown after Disney!

Enjoy the photos!

When you wish upon a star...

We're off to Disney World tomorrow - be ready for lots and lots and lots of photos when we get back next week! Say a prayer for us! HUG!

The Good Word

My bible has been with me since early 2000. It was given to me by my friend Heather when I was slowly finding my way toward a life with Christ. I was afraid of it at first - treated it with almost too much reverence. I was so very careful with it that I...uh...kind of forgot to read it. Forgot to consult and rely on it. No longer! For the past six or seven years it has been used and abused - written in, written on, and tears have stained the pages. I have post-it flags on key passages (a lot of them in Psalms) I write dates on verses that particularly impact me and even write down what was going on in my life at a certain time. I slip notes with prayer requests for my friends between the pages and find myself reading it too long on some mornings that I put us all behind in the "getting ready" routine. Thank you Heather for giving me the best gift - as I often say, you followed me to Topeka to lead me to Christ!

Goodness!

I am way behind in my blogging. I've composed several posts in my head but something always seems to distract me...you know, things like Facebook, playing Nintendo, laundry, life! We leave on Jan. 21 for Disney and I hope to have a decent blog post up before then! Stay tuned!