News stories are like waves in the ocean...there's always another one that follows..and another and another. Sometimes the ocean is calm and quiet...even serene. At times, the water sparkles like glass. The calm before the storm. Tumultuous waters, crashing waves, pounding surf churning.
Depending on the weather it can change in moments. Everything comes and goes like waves.
Life. News. Local. World. Family. Change. Moments. Blink. Time. Think.
That's how it feels...
Just as we were beginning to overdose on Friday's royal wedding excitement, Saturday's headline news of outrageous U.S. tornados blew across the television and internet into our family room showing the devastation of lives and communities rattled to their core. Prayer has made the difference. Their world has been rocked yet prayer gives them hope.
Sunday night, our heads were still spinning from accounts of royal kisses in London to mothers in Alabama ....on the ground, instinctively throwing themselves over their children to protect their sweet lives. A news bulletin interrupted the silly Trump boardroom on the Apprentice to wait for breaking news and word from our president that Osama Bin laden had been killed. Shock. Relief. Terror. Safety. Family. Life. Military. Prayer gives us hope.
What a whirlwind of information to process.....love and marriage, royal or otherwise. Disasters, natural or unnatural. Death, killing or dying. Prayer gives us hope.
President Obama is about to make an announcement about Osama Bin Laden. NBC interrupted The Apprentice TV show for the news bulletin.
Trump has been working hard to create doubt in people's minds about Obama's birth certificate. As Biff and I sat in the family room, we wondered if Obama purposely came out with this newsflash....to have some fun with Trump! Just wondering?
"Never give up. Never give up. Never ever give up" Words of Winston Churchill.
The words of Donald Trump,"Never give up" during a very heated night in the boardroom.
T.J. has some decisions to make. He's got so many good things going at school and after school. He's thoughtful about the choices he makes. He's weighing things. He's giving thought to pros and cons.
He's talked with Biff. He's talked with me. He goes back and forth. Quit. Go forward. Why quit? Why not? Change. Keep doing the right thing. Do your best. Keep trying. Give it your all!
We all have the moments in life. Tough decisions. We can all give our opinions and hear the opinions or suggestions of people we trust but at the end of the day, we have to trust ourselves. It's quite a big deal for a fourteen year old
and starting to make his own choices...not simply cherry vs. lemon ice choice.
That's big stuff whether you're in Trump's boardroom, a mom, a dad or the American Military fighting and searching for Osama Bin Laden!
Never Give Up!
Alarm bells. Wedding bells.I hope I wake up when the alarm goes off. When i announced the hour of my early morning wake-up plans, my children rolled their eyes. Although Grace said she would join me IF she could take the day off from school. Tempting as it may have been, I knew her heart wasn't in it and she was just using me and taking advantage of royalty. Nope. This early morning wedding is a solo invite...better for me. I wont be distracted!
Biff defended my temporary insanity as I pulled out my sparkly wedding headband for the occasion. After all, I should dress up just a little, don't you think? It wouldn't seem right to spend the day with royalty and not do something a bit special...I'll skip my wedding shoes. They're for our anniversary. I might try those sweet curlers during the guest arrivals. Ooh! My pearls! What's a wedding without pearls? I do have something white to wear with my tiara...no, I mean headband! I loved our wedding day...how could I be anything but enthusiastic for this couple? Sure, they have a few more tiaras and castles and butlers and ladies in waiting (mine are Daisy and Fitzy) and a horse drawn carriage....but I wish them only goodness and love and babies and fun and family and happiness together...deeply in love as best, best friends. We are blessed. I hope, at the end of their days...no matter what their stress or chaos or life may be....I hope they laugh like we do!
Sorry. Wait. Tonight that's not happening for me and Biff. Sadly, we won't be laughing as we fade off to dreamland tonight. I'm sleeping on the couch. In the family room. He kissed me good night and walked upstairs....I've got to be here for the wedding warm-up at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m....then to a little royal coffee at 6! I hope I can sleep with all of the excitement!
So much hype about the royals, Williamson and Kate, London, Balmoral, THE wedding dress, Diana....it's all such fun! Really, no matter how high-fillutin the royal family is, why oh why can't we get that queen a nicer handbag? All we keep hearing about os Kate's dress..what on earth will the queen carry as a handbag? She has diamonds and an awesome collection of tiaras...why wont anyone give her a nice handbag. May I see something in a really royal style please? I'm begging! Won't someone poke at the pink elephant handbag in Buckingham Palace? Please sir, I want some more...handbags!
Ding Don't the bells are gonna chime! So exciting to see another royal wedding! Having oodles of fun with friends...on facebook, with friends and TV!
Wind! Waves! And dogs! Fitz ran off like the wind today...well, more like...escaped, broke loose, hit the road.One minute Daisy was surfing in with a retrieved stick, Fitz would swim to Daisy...and they swam back to shore together. In an instant, I saw that look in her eye! Poof! She was gone!
Thankfully, a town worker with a giant lawn mower had his airplane like motor running...which stopped Fitzy in her tracks. Daisy had her under control when I caught up. The lawn mower fella looked a bit befuddled by the scene! He may never know that he saved the day!
Green! Finally green! Walking the dogs with wind and a fine mist was delightful since I was dressed for the elements. I love when that happens!
Did Boo fall asleep while reading my blog? Oh no! Could my life be that boring? Really? Maybe this blog needs to be more fun. Really...if the cat can't stop himself from nodding off...couldn't keep himself awake....a cat sleeps most of the day...and he couldn't even make it through my blog post. WAKE UP! Are you asleep too?
Did Boo fall asleep while reading my blog? Oh no! Could my life be that boring? Really? Maybe this blog needs to be more fun. Really...if the cat can't stop himself from nodding off...couldn't keep himself awake....a cat sleeps most of the day...and he couldn't even make it through my blog post. WAKE UP! Are you asleep too?
And out for lunch! 3 girlfriends. We go out to celebrate each of our birthdays. The birthday girl gets to pick the place. Somewhere fun, casual and always different and a teeny bit more upscale than a yogurt or PBJ on the run. We are hardly the ladies who lunch!
It always makes us laugh when the bill arrives. 2 of us treat the birthday girl. Believe me, it isn't calculator worthy... although we have no beverage stronger than lemonade, when the 2 treaters start calculating the split plus tip and who owes who how much... since one of us had exact change for the tip while the other had no more change ...only a debit card.....we look like AND the birthday girl patiently fiddles with her wedding rings and reviews her manicure, nail by nail....by nail, we find ourselves giddy with a slight hysteria over the confusion...well aware that we look terrifically tipsy...which makes us create a bigger scene. Basically, its the irreverent nervous church laughter....magnified
Sometimes the birthday girl offers up her wallet just to get the whole painful process overwith....perhaps hoping to be home by dinnertime.
Once the bill has been paid, the treaters begin the silly debate of which treater owes the other the simple sum, what bills we put on the waiter's little brown plastic tray, how much change came back on the tray, amount to tip the server... sometimes we have distractedly dismissed the birthday girl with pained looks on our faces, an air kiss and a quick wave to free her from the birthday hostage situation.....and the birthday girl, having aged over the process....runs off into the distance like a frightened cartoon character!
Ironically, one of the "girls" is a doctor, one a nurse and one was a mortgage broker in another life!
Ironically, of all the ""birthday girl" lunches we've shared, some of our greatest memories are of the bill being tallied!
Ironically, we have become "those women" who will continue to call themselves "the girls" well beyond the "certain age" years. We spend far too much time hunched over the table with eyes squinted, glasses perched at the tip of our noses, whispering nervously, nodding our heads, leafing through our wallets while truly believing we are not, will not, could not ever become "one of those women who quibble over a bill!"
After all these years watching "those women," I realize they haven't been arguing about who ate the steak and who had the grilled cheese...it's a luncheon ritual that has been going on since women carried a coin purse...it's not the money...it's time well spent with friends!
When was the last time that you had lunch with the girls? Call a friend ....do lunch! You go girl!
It's midnight. Do you know where your animals are?
WAITING for Daisy, who's WAITING for Jinx. Daisy let out the bark...the "let me out to get Jinx" bark. One woof. One abbreviated woof. That's it. She's out.
It's a lovely mild night. That's why we're still WAITING for Jinx.
Daisy's sitting quietly outside. WAITING. WAITING. WAITING.
Then I hear the call of the wild. One abbreviated woof. That's when it's time for me to jump. They're WAITING. Looking. LOOKING! I can see Jinx's white teeth in the dark. Now they're ready. Phew! I'm tired. I opened the door and they trotted in side by side. Jinx got his midnight snack. Daisy is looking at me. LOOKING at me. She's WAITING for me.
WAIT a minute. She's tiptoe(paw)ing up the stairs. Hey! WAIT a minute. WAIT for me! Now Fitzy is snoring.
I'm finally going upstairs too. It's taken so long to round up the critters that Biff will probably be snoring too.
All moms know that tone....the tone of voice used by our children when they call out our name. That name may be THE most important job title in the world, "MOM" but when it precedes the word/s "where are my..." or "have you seen..", it's usually an indication that we have our work cut out for us.
It all started last night just as I settled into my favorite comfy chair with my cup of tea. Ahhhhhh.
In an instant, my ahhhh was interrupted by that tone with my title. It was as if I heard the siren of the emergency broadcast system on television.
That's when the mania began! After an exhausting search with much re-tracing T.J.'s steps and sidesteps, we turned up with nothing. NO lacrosse jersey for today's game. Clean laundry stacks. No.
Washing machine. No.
Dryer. No.
Lacrosse Duffle. No.
Car. No.
Under bed. No.
Closet. No.
on and on and not kidding...on.
Nothing. Every. Single. Place. We. Checked. Nothing. Nowhere. No how.
Before T.J. left for school this morning, I heard that tone with my title. If T.J. didn't have his Jersey by this afternoon's game, the coach wouldn't let him play. Talk about pressure.
I hunted some more. Biff too. I hunted and raced against the clock. Nothing. Zero. Zip. I got a phone call. Later, a text. Urgent. From T.J. Where is it?
I talked to another team player's mom. We brainstormed. She gave me more intuitive mom suggestions. Nothing. I kept looking as we spoke. Then, I screamed...I FOUND IT! HERE IT IS! I scared my friend. We hung up our phones. I called T.J. , left a message on his cell and texted him with the news.
I flew out the door with his jersey and drove off to the game, miles away. My phone rang. I kept driving. It rang again. I drove on. My curiosity made me pull over. There was a text from T.J....Don't bring my jersey. What? WHAT?
Just then, Biff called. He told me that T.J.didn't want me to bring the shirt. T.J. told Biff that moms shouldn't be bringing kids' equipment etc. for them . It's high school. Kids have to take responsibility for their own stuff!
Ironic. I met. Biff at the away game. Our son had to sit out on the sidelines today...while his jersey sat in the car.
