Picture of the Day

Dear Lila Holler,

Who were you in your last life?

I just found my six year old "relaxing" in her room after a long, warm bubble bath.  She asked me if we have any "guacamole" to rub all over her face.

I said no, (in case you were wondering.)

Grillin' Grillin' Mindin' my business. Yo Salt I looked around and I couldn't believe this.

Jay put together our new grill today and I made our first bbq'd dinner this evening!

Our menu consisted of marinated chicken, pasta salad, grilled zucchini and summer squash!

My marinade was really good!  I never follow any sort of recipe. I just toss whatever sounds good into a bowl and whisk it.
Tonight I used olive oil, vinegar, pepper, mustard, worchestire sauce, soy sauce, fresh cilantro and minced garlic.

I made my pasta salad with elbow macaroni noodles, grape tomatoes, cucumber, black olives and a little bit of Italian dressing.

I drizzled the zucchini and summer squash with olive oil and cracked garlic and pepper over top of them!

Dinner was DELICIOUS!!!!  I love summer cooking!

Tis the season to eat outside! There's very little that I love more!  I look forward to a summer of grilling just about every meal!

I absolutely hate air conditioning.  Previously, we lived in houses that didn't have central air conditioning.  They had window units.  I know that I stand alone in this, but I actually like window air-conditioning so much more than central.  I like being able to just cool one room.   The only time that I will turn on our central air is when my husband insists that it happen.  For this reason, cooking in the oven makes the house unbearably hot!  But cooking on the grill doesn't.

Right this second, I have absolutely everything that I want.

Well, everything BUT the pink flamingos that I've been dying for.  I want to line my peppermint patch with plastic flamingos.  Jay thinks I'm crazy, but I totally think that I"m onto something.

Flamingos are the new owl.

Mother's Day

I'm not going to lie, I was bracing for the worst Mother's Day ever.

The problem with me is that I value holidays in the exact same way 5 year old children do.  My parents were always extra celebratory, making a huge deal of every holiday, which is probably why I am this way.  Last year we didn't see fireworks of the forth of July and I carried an 80 lb. weight around in my heart for months.  I likely didn't recover until Thanksgiving.  Generally, I like to celebrate everything.  Memorial Day gets a BBQ.  The 4th of July gets fireworks.  A birthday is never a birthday without a cake and presents (and maybe a tiara, the times they are a changing').  Thanksgiving needs a feast and a turkey.  Christmas means endless gifts, cookies, carrots, a tree, and peppermint everything! Halloween has to have tons of candy, spiderwebs, creepy crawlies, witches and homemade costumes and East wouldn't be Easter without baskets and bunnies.  And I promise you that the calendar would not change without a fancy dinner, horns, a ball drop and alcohol on New Years Eve.  My point:  holidays are a really big deal to me.

This year my husband is working the night shift, 7 pm to 7 am and this was a week when he was schedule to work both Saturday night and Sunday night.  So, he got home from work, slept and got back up and went directly back into work.  We decided to celebrate Mother's Day on his next day off, which is Wednesday.

Even though I completely understand this in my brain, my selfish and adolescent heart was tantruming for days as Mother's Day approached.

I don't really even know why!

I have a wonderful family!  My children are loving (maybe not today... see my previous post) and in my heart I know that my husband and children love and appreciate me every day.  An arbitrary date in May has no bearing on their respect for me.  We have plans to go shopping on Wednesday and buy everything it takes to create my dream yard--  So, why did I feel so wounded?

I really can't answer that.

What I can tell you is that my husband gave me the best gift that I've gotten in years.  On Mother's Day morning he gave me a nice, dutiful card and a mixed cd.  He hasn't given me a mixed cd since we were dating.  All 20 songs are purposeful.  Some are theme songs to tv shows that we watch.  Some he wrote about me, way back in the day.  One was our wedding song. Some I can remember listening to together in those early years.  And some are clearly reflective of our lives now.  I was sincerely really touched by this gift and it turned my whole day around.  I realized that I'd rather have this mixed cd than any other present in the world.  There is no dream backyard and no piece of jewelry or gadget that I would want more.  (I am a super cheap date.)

Here's one of the songs!  I've never heard it before but I can't stop listening to it!



This really changed my day around.  I relaxed with the girls and we made and decorated a cake together.  Then I made a big dinner for them and curled up in bed with a horrible book that I'm unable to stop reading.

Loving Life!

I talk a lot about how beautiful California is, but it's because I honestly can't believe how lucky I am to live here.  

Every day I drive my car around Concord and marvel at the amount of love I have for this place.  I sincerely just love this community.  Concord is beautiful with weather that beats San Francisco's by about 5000X in my opinion (keep in mind, I am a guilty sun worshipper)!  We are basically surrounded by mountains and every way you twist your  body you have a beautiful view of something!  This town has tons of character and plenty of cultural diversity.   The BART is less than two miles from our house and Jay's commute into work is under 45 minutes- none of which has to be driven!  And as far as families go, there is just a ton to do.  This weekend alone there is free swimming at our local pool and a family festival.  We have Water World and Pixie Land and fantastic parks and schools.  

The more we settle into the area, the more I feel at home and fall more deeply in love with it here.  I really look forward to living the rest of my life in this town.  

Here are a few pictures from track practice last night!  

Bunny, with her Larry Bird water bottle and torn up runners knees. 

The view from the track field!  And this pictures does not do it any justice.  Believe me!  

Lila, practicing her dance and cheer routine.

Naples

For the record, I tried to post this blog update on the ipad and failed miserably.  First, I was unable to add the picture and then I couldn't find spell check, but the final straw was when I wasn't able to separate my thoughts with spaces.  So, in conclusion, the ipad is great for many things, blogger is not one of them.

The girls and I flew out of San Francisco on the red eye to Naples last Wednesday night and got here early on Thursday morning.  Abandoning all reason, care for beauty, aging and health, I continue to be a sun-worshipper.  There is just something about the sunshine that is like medicine for me.  Laying waterside, pool or ocean, with a book and a cool drink makes me feel incredibly joyful.  I love watching the girls playing without anywhere to go or anything that has to get done.  I love California, but since moving there our lives have been incredibly hectic.  Between the accelerated demands of private school education, all of the girls' extracurricular activities and their social lives, Jay and I have had very little time for ourselves or each other.  My days have been pretty saturated with the stuff of new surroundings.  Not only settling in, but errands, cleaning, caring for Sidney Holler's failing health and trying to help Groovy James assimilate into his new family.  On top of that, I have my crafts, which I've been trying to make a little time for each day while the girls are at school.  There's a project waiting for me at home, on hold, that I can't wait to return to.

Jay is sitting this vacation out.  His new job is simply too new for him to leave for a week, which I completely understand.  He's begun taking on some real responsibility there and is coming home feeling happy, satisfied and fulfilled by his job with Twitter.  I'm crazily proud of and excited for him.  He's definitely found his place in the world and the culture there suits him.  He's going to be working 12 hour days and will have every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off, plus he'll have every other Saturday off.  We are really looking forward to this.  Honestly, Jay has worked a lot of 12 hour days in his career, but done it 6 or 7 days a week, instead of 3 or 4.  I have a feeling that every week will feel like a vacation.  I am really looking forward to the summer, when we can take advantage of our days together.  We can choose to be lazy and enjoy our new backyard, or to adventure together as a family.  Speaking of family adventures, on the tail of one huge move there is already talk of another.  It looks as though we may have the opportunity to move internationally with the girls in 2013.  This, of course, is a tough call that I think we should revisit at the end of 2012.  At the moment, I'm exhausted by what feels like constant relocation.  I want my girls to feel normal and for things to be quiet for awhile.  Also, what about our pets?  I do not think that Sidney could survive a flight in cargo, so she'd need to be re-homed. In and of itself, that feels like an impossible obstacle to overcome.  On the other hand, we have always said that if offered the opportunity to live internationally with our children, we'd take it.  My time abroad was certainly more an education than college and I do wish the same for my children.  So, I am going to focus now on making our home in California, keep an open mind and just wait and see what happens next year.

So often, when I'm busy I fall into some unhealthy ruts.  For instance, I drink too much wine and not enough water.   I don't get enough exercise.  I eat the leftover toast off of my children's plates.  These small things really add up and work against me.  I have done a little soul searched over the last few days and have decided to make some changes when I go home.  Truthfully, I feel pretty terrible when I act in unhealthy ways, and when I fall into these types of bad habits things like my weight feel out of my control.  So, I am ready to take control.  

But for now, I'm going to go and slip into my swimsuit and head over to the resort pool (pictured above) with my mom and the girls.  The kids are working out with my mom's trainer today and I'm going to lounge in the sun with a book and let my skin soak in the vitamin d.