Saturday, May 8, 2010

prepnextdoor is a little blog that i've started.  it came to be while i was out shopping with grace and kaitlin.  the photos became a fun little game for me while the girls were on their own, gaining just a little independence....

i walk through stores all of the time and think about the possibilities everyone has....at any income...starting out....on a budget.....spending money on rent in new york city, boston or any city....just thinking...and how my mom would love this....we talked about our finds all of the time...we shopped together....we talked about shopping long distance....style was my mom's middle name.  if you have taste, you can shop anywhere....she always said....and i'd like to prove her right!  little hints and ideas ....thinking of mom...one of my very best shopping partners in crime!

whenever we showed enthusiasm over any item in a store, any store...whether in london or paris or t.j. maxx, we would gather a crowd of curious shoppers.  we learned to whisper and talk in code! 

i've just explained that to grace.  it's in the gene pool....we've gathered a crowd too.  i had to teach grace out code of shopping....mom would be so proud.  grace learned at the knee of the best!  i'm proud that i did too!  i want to share that with you!

i should probably acknowledge, i'm just blog crazy....oh! and e-bay too!  imagine that just 6 months ago....i wasn't even computer literate!!  i'm getting to do what i love.  thanks mom!








happy mother's day!  i hope that you are all pampered on your day!








 do something surprising and fun for your mother.  treat yourself to something special...even if it's a new flavor tea or coffee or magazine 



 






or a bubble bath 







 



or a nap or a walk with someone you love 

 







or a walk alone or time to sit and just daydream or make a list of all of the people you love or write a list of all of the people who have sprinkled their love on you throughout your life 









or  go to a museum live or online or buy yourself flowers 

 






or take time to blow bubbles 












or call someone you love and miss!












or rent a chick flick alone 


 



 



or celebrate your day  with family or all on your own! 



 







eat bon bons! or just hershey's!
















whatever you do, make this day your own to be thankful....for the family you have....your kids who call you mom....your mom who is near or faraway or an angel watching over you today!  




don't forget to be grateful for the women who you have in your life or you've had in your life who have made a difference....just by being there for you.

think of all of the friends who have shared their mom's and those women you've been blessed to have in your life.  



call someone who has made a difference or drop them a note or just send them good thoughts!

















this is a day to enjoy.  guilt free.  keep it simple. really.  no guilt.  no lists. no agendas. no tasks. no to do's. no shoulds. no woulds. no coulds. no might haves.



just enjoy your day.

you have to. you must. you will. you need to. you should. you better, darn it! hallmark says so!



happy mother's day....to all of the mother's and mother's in laws and aunts who love their nieces and nephews like their kids, to the grandmothers and great grandmothers and......everyone! 



madisonctwalkswithdogs is one figured out  a blog that i started way back when i started littlemarymixup!  it's all with daisy and fitz.  just some pictures of our days....walking....the dogs....i guess you had that figured out already! i thought i should share it with you.  daisy came to us from the breeder some time around mother's day....she was a true gift to us all!  her sweet disposition has made life with our first family dog a joy!  she makes us all laugh.  she is well behaved and nurtures us all.

fitgerald, fitzy, fitz and "leave it!!!!" is the dog we adopted at 1 year old.  daisy was just 5 years old back then!  she helped to look after our frisky little food monger who so desperately wanted food and needed love.

daisy helped fitzy's adjustment period.  she slept in the crate we got for fitzgerald.  since fitzy apparently had some issues related to her crate...she HATED it and practically had to be picked up to get into her new niche that we had so happily prepared for her.  The only thing that we could figure was that perhaps she had been crated as a jail rather than her home for comfort.

Daisy took Fitzy on as her job.  Daisy went into the crate, with the soft and comfortable fleece puffy bed, to encourage fitz.  it worked. kind of.  daisy got her in....but not for long.  the only way we could have this bundle of energy was to have our sweet daisy sleep in the crate with her.
it worked.  daisy was happy to see a crate again.  it took fitzy a little more getting used to....it was a little different getting a puppy who had issues of abandonment after living with 3 families. 

the first family was a family with 4 children under 6 seemed to be a poor fit.  i can understand the IDEA of getting a family dog...maybe that wasn't the best timing on their part! we think fitz got some of her eating habits....food moochy, food obsessed, food compulsive and a food monger....and that's just the beginning...that's an understatement!  it seems that she may not have been out of the crate much and it seems she wasn't used to being on a leash and it seems that she had never been to the beach or the woods.  wow, a golden retriever who was a beast for food was more typical, but a golden retriever afraid of water?  that defied everything we knew of goldens!

she needed our help.  she did love our kitties and  adapted to them well.  she was sweet and loving with them.  she ate biff's  dinner right off his plate one night....while he was sitting there!  she ran through our neighbors' houses to introduce herself in the neighborhood.  she used to get a ride home from a family a few blocks away...she enjoyed the company of their german shepherd, lucy.  she was welcomed with open arms and biscuits at the dolan's.  the good news is that they loved her....and the bad news is that they loved her!

the dolan's were the first place she'd go if she was off leash in the woods.  why not.  fitzgerald?  dolan? what's not to love?  they probably had great sing alongs, corned beef and potatoes.  now she's living on a leash. forever!

so, that's how that blog came to be.  i wanted to document some of the fun i have and the
great places they "take" me!  I post the photos sporadically.  they make me laugh and they get me out on the best and worst days ....and even in pelting rain or snow, it's always great.


just sayin'.




these are the moments...those sweet moments...when our kids were so little....downstairs in the kitchen on mother's day....with their daddy....and lots of shhhhhshhhhshhhshhing going on!  those were  some of the most precious tid bits of life as a mom. hearing the pitter patter of the kids' excitement planning the big mother's day surprise breakfast! those were the days....when it was sweet....and that was what mattered....just the surprise that they had begun in school and planned out with biff.  that will hold me forever!




we've come a long way since then....everyone has grown and now, everyone feels that hallmark pressure....from crying moms on hallmark and long distance phone commercials....and now, even diamond commercials!




mother's day is a very nice and thoughtful time to say to the mom's we love, "oh my gosh!  it's mother's day!  what should we do? or better yet, what do you want to do for mother's day?"


not too much pressure for the husband... who's already got a mother. not too much pressure for the kids.  not too much pressure for the mom's.  not too much pressure for the  mom's who have mom's and mother in laws!


sounds like a great day!  in theory.  last year, i spent the day cleaning the garage....and for most of it, i was delighted to have the time to be there and get some order.  when t.j. came to me at about 6 o'clock or so and said, "mom. we want to go to the restaurant on the water for dinner" .... it created somewhat of a stir at our house.  Hmmmm, i said.  gee, it seems a little late to get ready for that NOW! 



i think i said something along those lines.  i guess i was thinking that maybe if they had mentioned that just a wee bit earlier, i could have gotten myself together....somehow.

t.j. seemed heartbroken.  i felt guilty.  i think i said something like.....hmmmmmm.....maybe if anyone had mentioned it a tad earlier, i could have gone.  i might have also said,  look at me, i'm filthy dirty and have dust and dirt from head to toe....it doesn't seem like the  right timing to go out.  the restaurant closes at dark.  perhaps we could go another night, preferably when i've showered.


oh my!  what a pickle!  in moments, the whole family was mad at me!  wait, but i'm the mom!  it's mothers day, i wanted to shout at them all.  how can i go out like this?   should i be flattered that they really don't think i look that bad?

it was one of those moments that we dream of....our family thinks we are beautiful and lovely no matter what we look like!  

with or without a bra, not showered, knee deep in garage treasures that are covered with dust and grime, dirty , chipped fingernails, hair in our face, a touch ripened and some sweat to round things out.  our fine attire has paint and grime  the love from smelly wet dogs!  


when my teens are usually horrified by me on a good day, when i think i look my best....great hair day, manicured nails, make up or at least my lipstick, coordinated clothing, deodorant, shaved legs and armpits, brushed teeth, jewelry, accessories and no broccoli between my teeth, no lipstick on my teeth and my zipper zipped even though i had to hurry to a lacrosse game or a teacher conference or to pick up my child waiting for me after school has been out for 2.3 minutes but i am considered late.... 
nobody is ever quite so taken with my appearance at those times.  last year was just one of those moments.  one of those mother's day moments....pressure for everyone to do something...even if it was to drag me out kicking and screaming, filthy dirty and crying, darn it, they were going to make sure i had a darn GOOD mother's day!  and i wanted no part of that hallmark moment from hell.  


usually, those hellish moments come on the hallmark imposed holidays....valentines day is another one that creeps me out.  i'd rather have biff make me my coffee...at just the perfect temperature.....all year long than have flowers or a card or a dinner out on valentine's day.





just not my thing.  great for anyone who loves it, just give me a few hershey's kisses and a real kiss and i'm good to go.



mother's day is great!  i miss my mom.  but phew, the pressure i used to feel to do something outstanding for my mom!  she never cared.  it wasn't something that was a big deal to her....she was happy for the love year round and not necessarily on that day.  actually, i wish she had been around last mother's day to hear what i behaved like...or at least to hear the description of what on earth i looked like that day!




so, here i sit, alone.  biff has gone out with grace and t.j. to "get something"....please don't let them live in fear...of me.....the mom!  ooh! the pressure!  please let them know that the best mother's day gift of all would be to just have fun together....doing nothing....maybe walking at the beach, getting along with no bickering or complaining.  i'd like to be clean, maybe showered with my teeth brushed.  that's it.

the greatest gift...truly...is that i still love my husband and i treasure our children...they have been the greatest gift that i could ever have dreamed of.....our family...our dogs...our cats....our fish.....our sense of humor.  Now if we could all just have that sense of humor tomorrow, that will be the greatest mother's day of all!
the dogs have given their love to me for mother's day and every day.....that's it .....just love, sometimes some licks.....  that's just fine.  no pressure.  just love.  no questions asked. they didn't care what i looked like either.