And my 6 year old says . . .

My daughter who is six went shopping with me tonight. While in the restroom she asks me, "Mom, what does T-A-M-P-O-N spell?" I tell her. She says, "What are those?" I tell her something she will use when she gets older. Then she asks, "Mom, what does N-A-P-K-I-N spell?" I tell her. She says, "Why would someone need a napkin?".

And then her final observation . . .

"Hey mom, those Tom Toms are only 25 cents!"

~end~

Country Music = Bumper Stickers = Country Music

Back in college I briefly dated a die hard country music fan. The fact that I had no interest what-so-ever in that style of music back then should have been my first warning that he was not the one for me!

After a night out at some cheesy country western bar we were driving back to campus listening to country music. I was telling him I just didn't get it. The music was kind of depressing and the lyrics were cheesy. He asked for an example. I told him it is always about someone's lover running out the door, driving off in their truck and such. I kid you not, two songs later we were both laughing out loud because the lyrics were about someone leaving, slamming the door on the way out, kicking the dog and driving off in the truck!

Lately, I have been tuning to country on my commute to work for a change of scenery. My best friend listens to country and always has. I know some of the big stars from her and occasionally even know the words! Today on the way to work I realized that the lyrics sounded like sayings on bumper stickers! Case in point: "God is great. Beer is good. People are crazy." I love the saying! But I had to think that I might have read that one time before while driving in traffic????

On the way home I heard another song with a play on words that ended with "you can kiss my GLASS". Again, sounded like something that would be plastered on someone's bumper or ass for that matter . . .

So I beg to question which came first. The music or the sticker????

Racing time

I feel like I am always racing the clock. Go here. Go there. Do this. Do that. And it just seems to get worse as the days pass. I am holding on to hope that one day I will just slow down.

I envy my older neighbors with grown children - many of their children my age or not far behind me. They just seem to enjoy life, their surroundings, their food, the air. They move slower, look more relaxed, seem so content. For just one weekend I want to be like them. I want to spend all weekend just leisurely painting a bedroom listening to the music I want to listen too. I want to cook a full meal with my husband and eat it slowly in silence while I drink glass of wine. I want to work in my yard all day and just enjoy the plants, get dirt all over me and then kick back with a beer afterwards.

In retrospect, I used to do all those things before I had kids. But now, I am running full speed all the time. And it is tiring. We are told as parents to slow down and enjoy all the moments with our kids but I feel sometimes those moments are measured and limited by the clock.

Sure one day I will be like my empty nest neighbors. And I will want to go back to when my kids were little. I know that. But, I need to figure out how to slow down the clock so I can at least catch my breath.

Start of fall

Son rides instead of strolls.
Gift of a halloween owl & cookies from neighbor.
Parents arriving in 2 days for visit.
Started new job.
Lots of rain.
Wet yard.
Long grass.
Miss my best friend.
Love my family.
Daughter is getting so tall.
Damn foot injury is preventing good exercise.
Hubby is frustrated.
For once I am not.
Goes in cycles.
Clean desk = a clearer mind.
Clean house would = happy me.
Wondering what is next.

My Girls

If you read this blog you know I have a set of friends I go out with on a regular basis. And you have probably read about them in the past.

Tonight I met with them again. We did our monthly dinner out. Except it has been many months since we have been able to do it. So it was long overdue.

I have known these women for over 3 years. Our kids went to preschool together for 2 years and we have remained friends despite the fact that our kids now go to different elementary schools.

On my way home from the restaurant I felt different then I have in the past. Yes, I still had that feeling of being recharged after a lot of good laughs. I enjoyed our conversations. But tonight I felt more. I realized how special these women really are. I realized how much I depend on them, how much I admire them and how much I love them all.

I have many other friends in my life that I love. I have a best friend of 30 years. I have 4 fabulous college friends that live in four different states and for which I would do anything.

Why is this group so special to me? It is hard to explain but I will try.

There is no judgement.
There is total comfort around them.
They are sincere.
They are real.
They are funny.
They are extemely complimentary.
They love to make fun of each other's quirks.
They love to laugh.
They have great kids.
They have great husbands.
They are accepting.
They are all very different from each other.
They are extremely supportive at times of need.
They give great advice and true opinions when you really want one.
They know what is right for you more than you do.
They know how to make you feel good.

Life has been stressful and tough lately. And these women have been my rocks. They have held me up and pushed me forward. All in their own ways. They have given me hope and guidance. They have spoken words that have changed the way I think. Being a strong-willed person who is usually the rock for someone else this is sometimes hard to accept and admit. But they have been there without judgement. And have been there faithfully.

Prior to dinner, the most important thing I wanted to know is if one of my friends went to her class reunion. The day before the event she sent an email that she might not go because she wasn't feeling so good about how she looked. Well, tonight she expressed such gratitude for all the emails that we all sent back to her encouraging her to go and telling her how beautiful she really is. She was so amazed by our support she shared the emails with her husband and it actually made it him tear up.

Another friend gives me things because that is just her. Not out of welfare, but because that is what she loves to do. Share. And what it does for me and my self-esteem is more than she knows. Having that little something new or pretty makes a girl stand a little taller and smile more.

Recently, that same friend let me borrow a necklace for my job interview. She sent me home with 3. I privately loved 2 of them. I returned them to her tonight at dinner. She opened the little jewelry bag and pulled out the two I love and said, "Wait, you were supposed to keep these." I was taken aback. "No, I can't" I said. She said, "Yes, I have only worn that one once and I have something very similar to this one already." I immediately took off the necklace i was wearing and put on the white one and wore it with pride! It is not the material want or need of her gesture. It is the generosity. That she knows what I love and that she loves to give. To her giving and making you happy makes her happy.

I could go on about the others. They are all very special to me in their own way. I have a special relationship with each of them in my own way. They all provide something to me that the others may not. They are all unique.

But what they all have in common is that they are all beautiful. Inside and Out.


-end-

An elementary celebrity

Today I visited my daughter during lunch. She is in 1st Grade at a public school.

Halfway through the the lunch I noticed a small group of kids suddenly stand up and start waving frantically and shouting something. I looked in the direction they were waving but couldn't see anyone. And then almost instantaneously every single 1st grader in that lunch room was on their feet waving and shouting towards the same direction. I couldn't make out what they were saying. I craned my neck to look.

I mean it was crazy the reaction these kids were having. Their faces all lit up with excitement. The cafeteria monitor and other parents were all looking at each other in disbelief.

I was quickly racking my brain to think who could be out that window that they all recognized and were excited to see? A New Orleans Saint? (I mean several have kids at our school) Nah. They wouldn't all recognize a player that easily. Someone dressed in a character outfit? Eh. Maybe. But such a reaction? It was like they knew this person . . . Firemen in uniform? Could be but again, why the excitement that was so incredibly fast? Hanna Montana? It had to be someone like that based on their reaction.

Well, it was none of the above.

Who was this person that these kids were frantically waving at, on their feet pratically jumping up and down about seeing, chanting his/her name?

It was . . .
The retired principal of the school! Someone that they knew for 1 year (last year) as they were all 1st graders. I was shocked when she finally walked in. I thought these kids were going to explode if she didn't acknowledge them. She spoke a few words to one of the monitors and then took the lunchroom microphone they use to dismiss lunch and addressed the kids.

She proceeded to tell the children that even though she is retired she will be at the school every Thursday. She is going to take Violin lessons (the same ones they offer the kids - with the same teacher). She is also going to come into the lunch room like she used to and teach them French. Apparently, she did this with the kids during her years as principal.

So she got down to business and started teaching them French. And even gave them a homework assignment. To take what they learned that day (asking someone how they are doing) and applying it at home with their parents.

I met this woman many times last year. I saw her for what she was. The Principal. I encountered her outside the school a few times and she seemed nice enough.

But today I saw something else. I saw a woman who to these kids is a rock star. She is someone they truly admire, respect and love. And it made me proud to have my child at such a school where such respect, admiration and love is really a two way street.

Janis Joplin and Rum

Today I was listening to a Janis Joplin song. And with many songs/artists, the music reminds you of a particular moment in your life.

One time when I was home for the summer from college, my parents took me to a state park in Ohio. It was a few hours from our house and we just went for the night to get away and do something.

At this point I was finally legally able to have a drink. Although sharing a drink with my parents happened before that time. But this time I went down to the bar in the lodge with my dad and we pulled up two 1970's brown vinyl bar stools to the very small bar. We were the only patrons at the bar.

My dad ordered us two Pina Coladas with Meyer's Dark Rum. It is his favorite rum and he wanted to introduce me to it since in college about all I drank was cheap beer.

He put a few bucks in the Jukebox and played a bunch of Janis Joplin songs. Together he and I sat there listening to Janis and sipping our Pina Coladas. Sharing a right of passage and first moment - Legally drinking with a parent in an actual bar.

I don't recall what we talked about. Dad isn't much of a conversationalist. Doesn't matter. It was the atmosphere. The music. The rum. The moment.