going coastal

in 16-ish hours, i will be on the beach with my best friends from college!!! we get together once a year to gossip, laugh, drink, and generally catch up with each other. last time we got together, we went to a fabulous ranch called the wildcatter. i highly recommend it.



i cannot wait to get my toes in the sand and soak up some sun!

i seriously might not be able to sleep tonight. i am so lucky to have these girls in my life. they are amazing, brilliant, witty, beautiful, and all kinds of hilarious!! lots of fun to be had this weekend.

my babies are with their dad for the weekend. i had these amazing plans for loving on them a ton and doing manicures and pedicures with them before they left this afternoon. nature had different plans in mind for us.

we had a massive water leak in the kitchen and i spent most of the afternoon cleaning it and trying to stop the geyser. it kind of felt like the bp oil spill, except scaled down to the size of my house. and no animals were harmed, although browning was kind of shell-shocked.

i kept thinking, 'top kill! top kill! top kill!' and much like bp, i had no earthly idea what to do.

not fun at all.

i ended up having to disconnect this copper pipe thingy, smoosh it out of a hole, and mold it into a shape that lets it drip into my sink. are you impressed? i kinda felt like a rock star when it was all said and done (not that i'd ever, ever, ever want to do that again).

alright, i am off to finish packing...i hope you have a great weekend!!

peace, ♥♥♥, and happiness...

sweet nothings...and more

my new goal for the girls is for them to fall asleep in their own beds. this has been an issue. i totally realize how bad it is, but we're working on it.

i promise.

tonight while i was moving cee from the couch (i know, i know) into her bed, she gave me a huge hug and said, 'mommy i love you so much forever and ever.'

oh, hello herd of butterflies that just made my heart flutter! come on in and stay for awhile, won't you?

a few minutes later, jay came into my room to ask me if i would pat her back. i thought she was already asleep. i went back into their room and laid down with her. she said, 'mommy, you are my bestest most favorite mom ever. i could not live without you as my bestest mommy.'

how sweet of you, butterflies...i see you brought some friends with you...my heart is fluttering even more! mi casa es su casa, and you are free to stay in our home for as long as you'd like.

thank you, God, for blessing me with my two little earth angels. my heart has never known a truer kind of love.

my soul is extraordinarily full of peace tonight...

♥ ♥ ♥

sigh

of relief...

i have found a great addition to my blog wardrobe. do you like it? yeah - it's the exact same one i had before. i just needed a new html code. i really couldn't sleep well last night because of the failed background attempt.

i have to warn you, though, i found some awesome custom blog designers during my mini-crisis and there may be another change coming soon...

i so wish you could see my child right now. jay is in her room with the twilight cd blaring. on her hello kitty cd player. she is dancing and jumping on her bed to a little muse, paramore, and linkin park. this is funny to me. :)

i have been slacking on pictures lately - today i plan to remedy that. we just might do a full on photo shoot. brace yourselves!

peace...

change

it's not my most favorite thing in the world.

when i logged into blog world 3 hours ago, i had a little blinky message on the 'hot bliggity blog' thingy that said my background would expire on august 1.

a.) i can't believe it's almost august.
b.) i can't believe i have to pick a new background.
c.) i didn't think it would take very long to pick a new decorum for my blog.

o
dot
m
dot
g.

it was worse than my divorce.

and worse than trying on swimsuits.

i am not at all crazy about the one i have right now (background, not swimsuit. i kind of like my swimsuit.).

not. at. all.

it's an evil shade of green and it reminds me of duck poop. or worse - bile?

the paisley stuff makes me feel like i should tie a thin strip of leather around my head and attach feathers and turquoise beads to the knot. and then i should braid my hair into pigtails and tie daisies at the ends of them. to stick with the theme, i would then have to put on some purple hued john lennon glasses and flash the peace sign.

gag.

but cee was about to lose all of her endearing patience with me.

she kept muttering something about me being hard headed, devious, and picky.

i'm sorry you have to witness the debacle that is my background for the moment.

i am brain dead and i can't look at any more patterns right now (oh - wicked flashback to picking out china).

please bear with me while i try to get it right. i'm off to indulge in some (more) wine to ease my pain.



change stinks.

:(

sigh...

eat, pray, love

i read this book when it first came out three summers ago and loved it. in three weeks it will be released as a movie. i am so excited to see it and i wonder if it’s going to live up to the magic of the book.

i really want to read it again before seeing the movie. when the author wrote it, she was in her 30s and freshly divorced. sound familiar? i think it will have an entirely new translation on my second read. now i just have to peruse through my stacks and piles of books and try to find it. that could be a monumental task.

you know the saying 'when it rains, God is crying,' right?

i have always thought that was charming. jay told me another sweet one when she accidentally let go of her helium balloon the other day: 'when balloons go into the sky, they go to heaven and the kids in heaven get them.'

cee added, 'if the balloon pops, the noise makes the angels cry.'

we are at the jumpy place right now. it is fabulous – the girls are jumping in the bounce houses, running around, and having a ball. there is wi-fi here. it might be the perfect place. whoever came up with this concept is brilliant. i need to create something equally fabulous. in my spare time. one day. maybe.

it started raining on the way here and i don’t really like driving in the rain. jay spontaneously busted into prayer when the rain started:

dear God,

i’m sorry you’re sad. please don’t cry, it will be okay. but my mom’s trying to drive and the rain freaks her out. so not to be rude, but if you could please stop crying right now that would make us so happy.

amen.

it’s lunch time, the crowd is starting to thin, and i am amused by the moms who are literally chasing their kids trying to pull them out of the jumpy things to go home. that will be me in about 15 more minutes. i better go stretch and warm up so i’m ready for the rat race.

peace, perfect places, and prayers...

new laughs

i found a new blog to follow...i'm head over heels for it.

check it out if you have a chance. it's called
how not to act old.

i have to admit i am dually intrigued by the author...she has a brilliant blog and she turned it into a published book with harper collins. it hit #7 on the new york times booklist. oh yeah - dreamworks is now working with it as a script, too. nice!!! i want to be her when i grow up.

here is an itty bitty sample of her humor:

i did consider some other title ideas.
-the devil wears bifocals
-do they have facebook in hell?
-i scored some eileen fisher caftans
-that shit was bangin’
-i may be old but i am one amazingly hot american bitch

yup - she rocks.

i don't know much about her yet, but i think she is going to be anne lamott's british equivalent with a dash of nora ephron thrown in for some spicy fun.

enjoy it - i know i will. :)

peace, publishing, and pre-production dreams...

image can be found on amazon.com or bn.com...

ode to twilight

jay orchestrated this photo shoot for some of our afternoon entertainment. browning is such a great sport!

it is pretty twilight cover -esque, no?

wait...is this a ball or is this an apple?


ooooh! definitely smells like an apple. (if dogs could smile, i think this would be what his smile would look like.)


be assured that the apple was gone completely devoured less than 2 minutes after this photo was taken.

while we were having fun with the apple, cee was busy making clothes for her sock monkey. i'm pretty impressed with her work.


that just about sums up the most exciting part of our day. seriously.

cee is growing up and changing so fast. i was watching her sleep last night (yes, this is something that i love to do: watch my babies sleep - they are so peaceful). this might sound weird, but her nose is morphing. it's transforming from a cute kid's nose into a defined, pretty, young lady's nose. it's giving her a new look. i am sure that these are things that only moms notice about their kids.

if you think i am a nut, then take a peek at your baby pictures and observe how your own nose changed. if you don't notice it in your own pictures, then you probably still think i am a nut. i respectfully respect your opinion. :)

peace and play time...

vampires

i went to see eclipse last night and in the words of jftb: o dot m dot g - très fantastique!!! i am still fully gaga for edward and the entire cullen coven. and (**spoiler alert**) holy Lord - bella's ring...i love that, too.



i don't know what i'm going to do with myself between now and november 2011 when the first breaking dawn is released. stephanie meyers and summit entertainment are honestly going to have to give me something great between now and then to help me pass the time. i might get down on my knees and beg.

that's all i have for now. peace...

whew.

lemonade stands are not for the faint of heart. the girls had so much fun and made some nice ca$h. everyone is so friendly about giving attention to kids, and i met some wonderful neighbors. sweet!!



they had the cutest little set-up going.


a good time was had by all. :)


i am seriously exhausted - i am absolutely not cut out for manual labor. i have an entirely new respect for anyone who does manual labor or works outside for long periods of time, especially in the heat.

by the way - have i ever told you where i got the phrase 'a good time was had by all'? no? okay, i will.

in high school, i was looking through a memory book of my grandmother's that my mom kept. there was a write up in a newspaper from the 1930s about a reception that my grandmother hosted during that time. she was in her 20s then. the write up was adorable...it told about who attended the reception, what was worn by the guest of honor and the hostesses, what flowers adorned the tables, and what food was served. no detail was overlooked. the women were listed by their husbands' names, which i find to be so quaint and elegant at the same time:
-mrs. james simmons...
-mrs. william montgomery...
-mrs. carter adams

at the end of the of the editorial, the author wrote, 'and a good time was had by all.'

since then, i have always thought that this phrase was perfectly charming and heart warming. i think that today we take so many things for granted and worry about so many things besides simply enjoying events and time. maybe that's how it's always been, but for some reason, that phrase just rocks my world. ♥ ♥ ♥

okay - that's all for now. i am loading up on advil and smearing some sort of numbing nedicine on my aching back. yes, i am old.

peace and pleasantries.

lemonade etiquette

the girls...bagging cookies for tomorrow's big sale. as you can see, jay is sporting her traditional summer wear.


i am prepping them for their lemonade stand manners. this was the tail end of our conversation...

jay: what if somebody comes up and says 'give me all your money'?

me: well, what could you say?

jay: i'm sorry sir. we are not selling money. we are selling lemonade. see our sign? it says lemonade. duh!

cee: what if the person says 'i am not a sir. i am a girl.'

jay: then i would say, 'oh, sorry m'am. would you like some lemonade?'

cee: what if somebody just stands there and won't go away?

jay: that would be kind of like weird and stuff.

cee: i think i would just say, 'excuse me, stand-at-the-stand person, could you please move so the other customers can buy some lemonade from us?'

me: okay then.

cee: what? i said please.

me: *sigh*

here is a series of pics of cee blowing up balloons...they make me giggle.

i think i can, i think i can...


ummmm...you didn't mention how hard it is to blow up a balloon...


i'm not going down without a serious fight. or i might pass out from insufficient oxygen. which ever comes first...


our prices have been revised and our marketing is stellar. wish us luck!!


peace and politeness...

blog fog

i have wanted so badly to have a great, witty, funny post today. instead, i have nothing. bummer. waiting for the muse to strike...

turning lemons into lemonade

we have some serious plans for the weekend!! the girls are going to have a lemonade stand to combat the summer boredom (the lemons). they went to their room to 'schedule the logistics' of their stand and came back to me with *this* divine menu:


i am really fond of the part that says 'free to pet the dog.' there was some debate over whether or not to charge for pup pets.

for those of you who don't know, the girls' dad is in the music business and produces/promotes concerts & musicians. it was no surprise to me when jay said, 'mom i think we need a band too because we don't want our peeps to get bored and stuff.'

other suggestions/rationale have included:

* baby food, because the babies can't chew food yet.
* baby bottles, because crying babies are really annoying.
* wine for the moms, because - well, because they are my children. :)
* water for the dogs, because other dogs get thirsty, too.
* a taste test, because people can decide if they want pink or yellow lemonade before they pay.
* hand sanitizer, because people might want to get their hands clean before they buy their stuff.
* pizza without sauce, because not everybody likes sauce on their pizza (suggestion from cee - guess who doesn't like sauce on her pizza).
* caramel apples, because it will be so fun to make them!

and those are just the ones that have been brainstormed in the last 5 minutes.

i am so excited for this endeavor...they are celebrating their entrepreneurial spirits (yes, i spelled entrepreneurial correctly the first time...it was a bonus spelling word in 4th grade, and i never forgot it).

they are working on their stand sign right now - i am so impressed that they are cooperating with each other on this!


all that's left is for them to pick a charity so they can donate a portion of their proceeds (i haven't told them about this part yet).

peace, prosperity, and pets for pups...

crack

crack kills, right?

well i have a question for you.

is there ever a good time to tell someone that their booty is hanging out for the world to see?

i can't really think of a scenario where emily post would permit pointing out this particular faux pas to the offender.

unfortunately, i have seen way too much crack recently; and it is, in fact, killing me.

hugs. not drugs.

peace and appropriate pants...

older, wiser, or grumpier?

or all of the above?

first order of business: happy fourth of july to each and every one of you!!! God bless america (land that i love - stand beside her and guide her)...

next order of business: firecrackers in our small town city park...

oh my. we have been so fortunate for the last 6 years. our small town 'city' park has had an amazing fireworks display each 4th of july since i've lived here. last year my girls were invited to play a pick-up game of football. the year before, they ran around with all of their friends...they laughed until they were ready to collapse into a rip van winkle kind of sleep. the year before that, we parked at a local business, put the kids in the wagon (on top of a few cases of beer) and walked to the park after dusk and just in time to see the spectacle of sparkling lights. i have tons of happy memories about 4th of july in the park.

not to be a pessimist, but all good things come to an end. right?

this year our city park decided to host a frat party of sorts. events on deck for the day included:

-beer pong;
-chihuahua races;
-quarters (i have to admit that i was really good at this in college); and
-keg tossing.

small town perfect-ville has gone commercial. :( we sold out to the college crowd.

today i went to the grocery store...i passed the park on my way there. much to my chagrin, i saw the evidence necessary to confirm my sell-out suspicions...there was a guy who was peeing on the sacred ground known as the pumpkin patch. this is where i have bought all of my pumpkins since we've lived here. ironically, the pumpkin patch is sponsored by the methodist men's group. at least it was a man who was marking his territory on the pumpkin patch. but still...eeeew.

another super fun thing i saw was a girl barfing on the sidewalk in front of the dentist's office. i will never look at that honeysuckle shrub the same way. i used to think, as i was sitting in the dentist's chair, 'ah - what a quaint and lovely view. the shrubs and trees really relax me and keep my mind off of the drilling noise on my tooth enamel.' now that peaceful walkway is forever tarnished with the aftermath of an excess of beverages.

the small town charm has been christened with the end result of way too many beers.

it's all good, though.

last night the girls and i enjoyed the beauty of my neighbors popping major fireworks. we're talking about the big, pretty kind. it was tres fab.

seeing as i am 'the neighbor who is rarely seen', i don't actually know my neighbors. this is kind of unfortunate because one of them might be seth rogin. or at least he laughed *exactly* like seth rogin. which was entertaining in itself.

we sat and watched for a good 30 minutes before the lovely display turned to all out shenanigans. they started aiming the big, bad fireworks at the across-the-street neighbor's house, and they were quite amused with their own antics. tons of fun for them; not so fun for us. the girls and i made a quick exit just in case they took aim at us. today when the girls went outside to play, they found 'remnants' of the fireworks...we were really that close.

tonight shall be wonderful. we have enough pyromania supplies to induce barrels of fun for the girls. we'll be viewing from the comfort of our driveway. luckily, said city park is within perfect viewing distance from our house. they are very much looking forward to this. yipppie!!!

i am, too.

peace, protective eyewear, and pyromania...
(and happy birthday, u.s. of a.)

p.s. - while waiting for it to be time for fireworks, we are watching annie. i love her. cee just asked me, 'mom - back in the old days when you were a little girl, did you wear curly hair and weird silky gowns like annie?'

after the fact: cee and jay agreed that the actual entertainment was me running away from the firecrackers, and the firecrackers were simply the background. my mom may or may not have needed a poise pad. :) next year i want to get the girls a shirt that says 'wild about sparklies'.


also, some day i want to be able to take really good pictures of fireworks...i think i'm gonna need to invest in a dslr with some positively rockin' lens filters. :)

the good old days

'mom, back in the old days did you have a microwave or did you have to put your food in a bucket with a stick over a fire?' -cee, july 2, 2010, 6:30 pm...

a.) i was not alive 'back in the old days' - i am a 70s child.
b.) huh?
c.) somebody's been watching a little too much of the travel channel this summer.
d.) i am horrified that she seriously thinks of me as living in 'the old days'.

peace & youth...