but today, i have to say, it’s a great day to be alive.
travis tritt style even.
and yep. i totally just embedded a video of a mullet-clad country singer.
cause, to be honest, that’s how i role many days.
can i get a WHO-RA! new hampshire?
but for real. the sun’s been shining, my bare tootsies have been smiling, my children are covered in dirt and i’m singing.
also, we’ve been here a whole lot.
which a certain someone takes very seriously.
his sister, however, has bigger fish to fry; like the pebble variety that inevitably make their way into her shoes. harrumph.
not to worry, this wild one can’t be slowed for long.
except maybe for the occasional, life-sized, granny smith.
(rumor has it she even made it onto the live radio broadcast as the “little girl in the stands eating the enormous apple”.)
and in other news, we’ve been on a complete chocolate high the easter bunny came!
and we welcomed him/her with open arms.
and of course, the obligatory egg hunt.
next year, note to bunny self, do not mix candy with special rocks. funny how hard to distinguish the two can be.
and to be honest, the past few weeks have left me totally blissed out.
happy spring. i hope you all are finding your inner shine and letting it go buck wild.
friends and husbands. moms and sisters. beta fish and sons. chuck taylors and summer-time feet.
it took me thirty years to figure it out. but holy hell, ALL relationships are hard. and take time. and need work.
i know, right. what an epiphany. well, i guess i’m a little slow on the uptake. forgive me, please.
for sure this decade of my life will entail sustaining, revitalizing and improving the love that i hold for so many. and i’d like to think the love that so many hold for me.
Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky.
Rainer Maria Rilke
pretty sweet, eh?
it makes me smile thinking about all the people i can’t wait to see whole against the sky.
here’s to the life-long lessons we all have to decipher. and here’s to the exceptional people who actually recognize they’ve got some serious shit to work out.
truly, i’m starting to think that is more than half the battle.
my mom has taught me countless life lessons. all in her non-invasive, it will hit you and register with you when you need it to way.
and although i’m slightly hesitant to rank the life lesson of today’s blog among a top, anything, it is totally necessary.
you, mama, more than anyone else will understand. and approve.
life lesson #9 via mi mamalioni, christine:
when in doubt (i choose the “of what” depending on the day/circumstance)… head to tj maxx.
last night after the kids went to bed i needed some alone time. i was also in dire need of a new hat. hey, it’s almost august and i live in new england. add fine, humidity-intolerant hair to the mix and welp, thus the dire need o’ new hat. trust me, it’s for the betterment of mankind.
mostly, i needed to aimlessly wander the polished wood aisles.
to run my fingers over and in between rack after rack of red stickered items. knowing that golden ticket anthroplogie coat or free people top was lurking, undiscovered and mis-marked for a crazy steal.
to curve my way in and around the beautiful teal end tables, floral wing back chairs, glorious wool rugs and fringed throw pillows; striking a serious twang of the my house needs a total overhaul cord.
dancing with myself through the aisle of mirrors. lingering for a moment on a handsome floor length beauty. perfect, maybe?
give it a day. or a week. if you are still thinking about it go back and get it. that’s what my mama would say.
there are abagillion and forty two more productive things i could have done for, ah, two hours last night.
but taking 13 items to the dressing room, trying on every shoe in every row from size 8 to size 9 and leaving with a simple, black hat for $9.99 is what it’s all about.
there is something about sifting through obnoxious amounts of average merchandise to find that hidden gem. it gets me every time. and if i do say so myself, i kinda have a knack; a well honed and apparently genetic pre-disposition, if you will.
mostly, i feel the need to pay homage to the great tj maxx gods. to publicly (heh) give thanks.
may you continue to thrive so long as my discretionary income prohibits spending more than $39.99 for an anthropology coat. and my overloaded brain has no other relevant place to run.
you are a part of me, like mahogany hair and eyes off sweet amethyst (thanks, jack).
and i love you so.
*if you are an executive at the tjx companies, yes, please, i want to work for you.
**photos courtesy of hipstamatic for iphone. a really cool app.
the thought that my daughter would be anything other than a smaller, younger version of myself just never dawned on me.
even during my pregnancy, long before i really knew she was a she i assumed that she would be me. just 28 years later.
and i should have known, right from the start – with her small body, dainty little head and button nose, her long, lean starfish fingers that there was a chance she could be her own person, not her mother at all. (gasp). (for those of you who don’t know me or didn’t when i was small young, i was 10 lbs 6oz at birth and more closely resembled a line backer four month old than a just days old.)
i don’t remember myself as a newborn, a crawling infant or a toddling one year old. but i have pictures and the many memories of friends and family and suffice it to say, this little lady is for sure her own unique individual. and i’m quite sure, from what i can tell, just about the opposite of everything i was. except for the brown eyes. and maybe the nose, hard to tell yet.
she has developed from a smiley, easy-going mama’s babe into a confident, funny, and wildly clever toddler. she is goofy. she is sweet. she is hell on wheels.
if you call her name while she is walking away from you, her lips will form the biggest, slyest grin imaginable and she will run like hell. straight into the road, a neighbor’s pool, a pack of hungry wolves…doesn’t really matter.
last week i gave her my (usually up and out of the way) iphone to play with when an important call came in on the house phone and i couldn’t quite get her and her accompanying hurricane to slow or hush. it was locked. within 12 seconds she had pushed the center button and slid the “slide to unlock” section exactly as intended.
within 30 seconds she had sent an email to a group called “co-workers” which is, ah, funny because i left that job several weeks ago (i’m sure they’re now assuming life as a stay at home mom is going swimmingly) and had purchased the free trial of fruit ninja i had installed. awesome.
which reminds me of the interesting chinese folklore my mom brought back from a trip to asia – after showing her korean business partners a photo of her grand daughter one of them remarked, “ohhhh clever girl”. and to answer my mom’s quizzical expression, “the tops of her ears are higher than her eyebrows. sign of clever girl”. why, yes. yes, she is.
so today, as i guide her away from oncoming traffic, push her “unner dog” in her tree swing and lead her to time out after the longest one…….two…….threeeee i can muster i am reminded of her passion, the zest for life she carries on her sleeve.
to all those parents of wild ones out there, we are lucky. really lucky. and also really, really, on the verge of loosing it; perhaps even more than most.
here’s to embracing the wild spirit within, helping to channel and encourage whenever possible and keeping large quantities of alcohol handy at all times.
oh, and in celebration of surviving 38 of the last 41 days as a solo parent (with the exception of help from my totally rad friends and family) i have to post this video.
it was taken on a random week-day night last week. post bath time. for daddy.
it’s not overly funny, or cute. it’s not my kid dancing to a beyonce video or laughing uncontrollably for some obscure reason. it’s just a very normal day in our lives which to me, takes the cake on anything YouTube’s most viewed can dish out.
this weekend i need to slow things down. to let the laundry pile up, disregard the maze of train tracks sprawled across the floor. to turn a blind eye to the crayons under the easle, the toothpaste spots on the bathroom mirror.
i need to sit. and snuggle. and admire.
the beauty that surrounds me.
the little things that, in such a huge way, make up our life – in this instant.
like toddler socks and square toes and the softest, most squeezable ankles.
unfortunately, we’ve been reminded this week of how precious and often too short life can be.
and in that has come a place and a need to appreciate more.
each and every morsel, from ear notch to cheek freckle. and back.
as you may have read i’ve been struggling a little lately. and this quote reached out and grabbed me yesterday…
find what brings you joy and go there
and in keeping with the “simplify” theme this week, i think finding that joy just became really simplified. in a…in-your-face kind of a way.
funny when you sit back and stop searching what answers you may find.
