A Journal

Wednesday 4/13:

I'm breaking one of my rules today... "Don't blog if you don't feel good - you'll only end up complaining". It's true. Every time I blog when I am grouchy, feeling under the weather physically, over tired, or irritated, it comes out loud and clear in my blog post and I later cringe each time I read that post. It's not that I think that bloggers should pretend everything is perfect or only write happy thoughts - after all, a blog is a type of journal where you share your day to day, no matter what that is. It's just that I don't like the way that I complain. See? I'm complaining already. So, let me just put it out there so I can move on. Here goes... I feel crummy today. Every joint in my body is aching, I think I'm PMS-ing, I have a terrible headache, woke up with a sore throat, didn't get time to touch up my toe polish and I'm wearing open-toed sandals, am way over-tired from my crazy work schedule last week, and the high temperature dropped 30 degrees from yesterday - it was in the 70s yesterday and is in the 40s today... and the upcoming weekend? SNOW AND RAIN! Okay, I'm finished. Thank you for letting me get it all out.

Deep breath....

It's a good day. Spring is here. I'm trying my hardest to coax summer along, to convince her to come and stay awhile. I event went so far as to invite some friends over for a "summer" gathering last weekend.



Thursday 4/14:

Sorry - that was as far as I got writing yesterday. I was in a funk and just couldn't break out of it enough to write about our summer gathering. I actually ended up going home from work a couple of hours early and squeezing a quick nap in. Today I feel much, much better. So... back to our weekend...

It may have only been 50 degrees out and it may have been cloudy and gray, but we did our darndest to pretend it was summer. Hey - "fake it 'til you make it", right? We made a bonfire and roasted hot dogs, brats, and marshmallows over the fire. We even wore our sunglasses and flip-flops (there may or may not be some rubber flip-flop sole melted to the rim of our fire ring).

We drank coronas with lime wedges and with our dinner of hot dogs and brats, we had potato salad, fresh fruit, and green salad with strawberries and almonds. We tried, we really did. My brother and his wonderful, smart, witty, polite, funny and beautiful children came over. My best friend from high school (the one I call when I want to do something silly and ridiculous) came with her husband and their two always-entertaining beautiful girls, who managed to coax all of the other kids (except Gavin, who was in bed by then), to climb up on top of our clothesline post. Those little girls are monkeys - so fun! Our good friends M & C came with their two little adventurers. M & C are some of the most easy-going just 'hang out' people I know and are so great to spend time with because I don't ever feel like I need to entertain them or have anything planned. Their kids seem to be comfortable making themselves at home and easily adapt to their surroundings. The older kids took Gavin for rides around our yard in his wagon, they "took turns" (sort of?) riding around the yard on his electric Gator, and they all played in his sandbox, played fetch with Drake, and chased each other around the yard.

I had big plans for this little gathering that included lemonade, tiki torches, and beach chairs, but when it came down to it, it was just too cold and too busy of a day to get it all prepared. Although it was downright cold by the time we all came in from the fire that night, it was a good time and I was again reminded how lucky we are to have such wonderful people in our lives and such a beautiful, peaceful, and spacious place we call home - where we can run and play and have bonfires and dig in the sandbox and walk through the woods.

The next morning, there was dog poop stuck to the bottom of all of our shoes (including flip-flops), marshmallow goo stuck to the roasting forks, a deflated bouncy ball with dog-tooth holes in it, and a yard scattered with toys and other remnants of our fun night. I wouldn't have it any other way.


Friday 4/15:

Today was a good day. I worked from home today and got more accomplished than I probably would have had I gone in to the office. One of my projects took way longer than I expected (typical!), so I was glad I was at home where I could just sit and concentrate on it without interruption and the noise of the office. Early in the morning I even managed to take just a few minutes to throw our bedding in the laundry and load and start the dishwasher before I started working. It's a great feeling to hear the laundry and the dishes being washed while you work, and it only takes a minute then to throw the load of clothes from the washer into the dryer. At the end of the work day I was ready to make the bed with fresh bedding and put the clean dishes away in the cupboards. It was like magic! My niece R came to babysit Gavin tonight, so Cliff and I could go out for while. We hadn't been on a date in more than a few weeks and we were looking forward to getting out. Our good friends J & R just had their second baby girl yesterday afternoon, so we wanted to get in to the hospital to visit them too. Good-intentioned, but rambunctious 2-yr old boys don't mix very well with sweet and soft newborns (not to mention toddler boys aren't exactly sanitary), so it worked out great to have a babysitter already lined up, so we could go visit that precious little Selene!

So, our first stop was the hospital. We got to hold Selene and visit with her proud Mommy & Daddy and even got to see her big sister for a bit. What a beautiful family! We're so happy for them. After our visit to the hospital (and a glass of wine for me and bottle of beer for Cliff - after all, a new baby is cause to celebrate with the new parents!), we headed out for dinner. As we left the hospital it started sleeting and then snowing. While we enjoyed our dinner - bacon & gorgonzola gnocchi for me and a bourbon-marinated flat-iron steak for Cliff - we watched the sleet turn to snow out the window next to our table. It IS the middle of April, but apparently Mother Nature has overslept and is a little behind on bringing us spring! I called my sister Kristin (who is currently living in Kansas City, KS / Chicago, IL / St. Louis, MO - that's a long story!) to tell her that it was snowing (I just typed snotting) and asked her where spring was and she said "That IS spring! Weather uncertainty, fluctuating temperatures, warm and sunny one day and cold and wet the next? That's exactly what spring is!"

Pooey! That is not what I want spring to be. What about warm sunshine and blue skies, brightly blooming spring bulbs and flowering fruit trees, what about snow melt running down the edge of the road, washing all of winter's glum down the gutter? She's right though. I always think of springtime as the good days, but I think there are more cold and rainy days and bright, sunny warm days. After all... it IS April, and as the old saying goes, it's the April showers - not the April sunshine - that bring the May flowers.

So, here is what my front yard looks like on this spring night...

Happy Spring.