So Much For Quiet

Spring is here and I am so very, very happy. 

I like warm...well, unless I am trying to sleep (like now...it's 3:30am).

Oh well.

So this weekend?  Well, it started with a long hike.  Just me and my dog and 5 miles of trail.  I needed it and so did he; immediately afterward he had a one on one with the groomer who bathed him and clipped his nails.  For a scaredy dog, this was a big deal.  Poor pup.

Cutest concert program ever, inspired by our middle son and his friends and a collage they made while sitting at the donut shop in the middle of the night.

The concert on Friday was lovely.  The cocktails after were lovely.

And then they packed up and left town on tour and the rest of the weekend, while lovely, was extremely quiet.  And maybe a little lonely.

 Saturday morning was another hike, minus the dog and plus one girlfriend.  I came home to a still sleeping houseful of boys and made homemade biscuits with sausage gravy.  Not a norm in our house but so very, very yummy.  

The garden got a good watering, my desk got cleaned out, the bookshelf in my bedroom got cleaned out and the laundry was laundered.

All in all...a very productive day.

My produce box came (can't wait for my garden to bloom!) and in it was 2 stalks of sugar cane.

???

Yeah,  my thoughts exactly.

 Sunday, a walk around our lake.  Church.  Some more cleaning.  A nap.

Sunday afternoon...Brian's basketball banquet.  The food was good, the parents were intense, I was a bit melancholy of the old days, and Brian got a really cool award.  All in all...a nice event.

I did dash out to hold a new baby boy.  Oh my...I do love a new baby.  

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And then that guy that I like so much came home and all was well in the land.  Well...sort of.  He's exhausted, Brian had a computer issue, there was a houseful of boys here playing video games, the dog needed to be walked, there are two sugar canes on the counter that my crew can't keep their hands off of, someone forgot to put the milk back in the fridge and the trash smelled.

Welome home, honey.  Life on a bus with 50 college students was probably more relaxing.

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This Week

1. This is what you'll see most afternoons...late in the day in between school and work and homework.  Old school video games are the best...so happy I kept them!

2. Our 48 (I found the missing one in the dirt!) olives are officially curing.  After 6 weeks and 6 gallons of salted water, we will have enough olives for one cocktail hour.  But that little tree in the garden?  It's gonna get bigger!

3. I made a lasagne this week and I've been eating it for lunches ever since.  Yum.  Homemade béchamel, homemade bolognese, fresh mozzarella.  What could be bad?

4. Brian texted me his 'tattoo'.  I approve.  First off, it says MOM.  Second, it washes off.  The perfect tattoo in my mind.  

5. Man's best friend.  That guy that I like so much was anti-pet and now we live in a zoo.  And guess who they all like more than anyone else in our little house on our little street?  Him.  Seriously.  And you know what else?  He likes them (a lot), too.

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6.  Daffodil season is here.

Amen.

7. I have this habit of just handing my phone to people and occasionally I'll find funny pictures or the occasional inappropriate app.  But never have I had a 'collect free fish' reminder come up in my calendar...and the best part?  No one remembers adding it...well, they sort of do but then they're not sure.

Haha.

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 8. Calendar alerts that show up on all our phones, followed by silly midday texts.  I sure do like him...can't wait until May when I actually get to spend time with him.  

All in all, a very productive week.  Work has been worked, trails have been hiked, food has been cooked, boys have been loved, the garden has been sat in.  I love daylight savings time until my alarm goes off every morning...there is just something really hard about leaving the house when it is still pitch black out.  

That being said, there is something totally, totally cool about watching the sun wake up the world around you.  This season is short so I'm choosing to embrace it.

Coffee helps.

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Opening Weekend

Ah...the weekend.

The sun shined brightly on SoCal...not just shined but spread it's warmth.  The pup and I have become hiking partners...he needs (and enjoys) the long, hard walks and I like the distraction he brings during miles 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The distraction from complaining, whining, whimpering and full out screaming.

He's a good distraction.

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By Friday I was tired.  Tired of work, which seems to be almost overwhelmingly busy right now.  Tired of a dirty house.  Tired of sleeplessness that always seems to come in the middle of the night.  Tired of the leaking washing machine.

Just kinda tired.

That guy that I like so much?  He's working 7 days a week, pretty much until May, and is beyond tired.  His boss, the Big Guy (that would be God, in case you were wondering), is pushing him hard, asking for a lot, not letting up.

My guy is tired, too.

The weekend began with a long hike followed by what I wanted more than anything...a warm meal prepared by someone other than me.  And put on the table by someone who I didn't have to tip.

The boys and I went to my neighbors, where my new favorite dish of all times was set in front of me...moussaka.  Warm, creamy, eggplanty...oh my.

A moment of silence, please.  

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The perfect Friday night...friends, food, lots of boys, an old friend who joined us, husbands who wandered in late from working long and hard.  

Oh...and wine.

Saturday morning that guy that I like so much was long gone when I got a text from Matthew inventing me to lunch.  Moms out there...trust me.  When your kid lets start growing up, they become human again.  They stop demanding sandwiches and socks and rides places and they start asking to meet up for lunch.

I'm 1/3 of the way there...and I'll take it.

Alex tagged along, we drove to the circle in Orange and lunched at Felix's...just me and my older two boys.  Oh, how I love watching them together.  Oh, how short I've become.

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And yep...91 degrees.  Spring, my friends, has sprung.

Saturday night, that guy that I like so much and I went out for a fancy dinner at The Bungalow in Corona Del Mar.  Great food, fun vibe, a wait staff that seemed to want to hurry us out of there.

Hate that...but the truffled mac n cheese was out. of. this. world.

Yum.

Sunday night, while cooking supper, I was texting my neighbor and convinced her to come for a glass of wine.  My little supper then stretched to feed 9...with a crowd of boys eating every leftover from my fridge. 

It was so impromtu, so perfect...just some of my favorite people sitting in the garden the night before we all had to begin an incredibly busy week. 

It didn't matter though...for just a few short hours it felt like summer.  The music was playing and there was some dancing and maybe, just maybe we shouldn't have opened that extra bottle of wine...but who cares.

The garden is now officially open for the season.  Come one; come all.

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That being said...Monday was a bit rough.  The time change brings great darkness early, early in the mornings...which makes it harder to be up and out of the house.  

I can't help but smile though...the garden is open.

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Looking For The Little Things

Yesterday was the perfect day for a hike...the sky was blue and the air was warm and the birds were singing.

But nope.  No hike.  Just me, my shoe box of receipts from the past year and my looming tax appointment were all that the DR ordered for the whole lovely day.

The good news?  It's finished.  The bad news?  Ouch to the pocketbook.

Oh well.

Today is a brand new day.  I'm so swamped at work...the kind of swamped where I look at my to do list and know that there is no way it can all be done.  I'm the one who figures out the solutions to problems and sometimes my brain just needs a rest...so today I am going to take a good, old fashioned lunch hour.

At least that's the plan for now.

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Lent began yesterday and I had all these grand plans of how my Ash Wednesday would be spent.  Praying at the beach.  A service in my favorite little church.  A time to make a quiet list of things I had hoped to accomplish this Lenten season.

None of that happened.  

I worked.  I dumped a LARGE lemonade in my work car.  I walked a stubborn dog who is afraid of open spaces.  I worked on taxes.  I dealt with a very difficult person at work.  

I felt sorry for myself.

And then we went to church last night.  I didn't want to be there.  The laundry really needed to be folded, the dishes on the counter needed to be cleaned,  the taxes needed to be finished.

But I went...more out of a'the boys need to be here and I need to set an example' than out of a 'I am here because I NEED to be here'.

Does that make sense?

In the end, as always happens, I was fed.  It's not always the obvious things either.  Tonight it was a very grumpy 15 year old, who's schedule is giving him a run for his money, and an older brother.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw that older brothers arm go around the shoulders of his younger brother, encouraging him to sit up a little straighter.  It was a quiet movement...not the typical slap, push, pull that seems to be the norm in my houseful of boys.

And I was once again showed that God's answers to prayers aren't always dynamite blowing up, but are simply noticed out of the corner of your eye.  

So here's to another day.  A new beginning.  A new day to mop and vacuum and clean the kitchen.  A new day to cook for my family.  A new day to serve.  A new day to look for the little things.

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Random Stuff

I've been researching olives and how to cure them and I've come to the conclusion that making olives is a dying art for a reason.

What a pain...but oh well.  Here we go.  I'm looking forward to 6 weeks from now when my first batch of home brined olives (all 47 of them...we had 48 but one rolled away when I was counting and I can't find it anymore) are ready to eat.

They better be good.

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I can't help it but it's happened.  I love this dog.  He is always happy to see me, wags his tail, follows me around.  

Did I mention that we changed his name again?  It's officially Buddy.  Buddy the dog.  Little Buddy.  Buddy, Buddy, Buddy.

He is, though, another male in this little house on this little street and thinks nothing of walking away from me when I'm talking to him.

Fits right in with the rest of them.

See that mug on the table?

Best mugs ever.  Had to fly to Colorado to buy them and with what they charge for shipping, I might just need to fly back to purchase 2 more.  They are the perfect coffee mugs...your hands fit just perfectly on them.

I've never had a 'favorite' mug until now...and now I get it.

We made homemade ravioli the other night...half roasted pork/sage/ricotta and half raddichio/walnut/ricotta.  Hard to choose the best of the two but I'm leaning slightly toward the radicchio ones.

Might have to have another bowl to help me decide.

Making pasta is one of those things I love to do...no fancy equipment needed.  These were rolled a tad too thin but other than that were pretty darn good.

It's Monday night.  That guy that I like so much has worked all day and again tonight; I've ordered a pizza with the hopes that he'll watch The Bachelor with me.  What painful season, yet I've watched every episode.

Why?  No clue.

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Empty

My car failed its smog check...$160 repair and a 100 mile road trip to reset the computer and now we are once again legal and on the road again.  She's a great car and at 137,000 miles still seems relatively new to me and, thankfully, my personal mechanic agrees.

The biggest issue is that it almost never gets driven anymore but that is soon to change.  The youngest shrub, sigh, is doing his drivers ed and will most likely have his permit within the next month.

Here we go again.  

The garden is in full bloom and I'm dreaming of Friday night dinner parties.  We haven't had an open weekend since who knows when and there doesn't seem to be any anytime soon.

I think that's part of my attitude problem lately...I've been sad and frustrated and short fused and basically no fun lately.  It's been rainy and cold and work has been a nightmare and I'm just tired.  

Very, very tired.

 That guy that I like so much was on Spring Break this week...though he ended up working almost the whole week. He's conducting a HUGE concert in a few weeks...the Bach St. Matthew Passion and while it is a major life-long thing for him, it's a major life-infringer for us here at home.  

Bach and I are having major space issues and Bach is winning...but hear me now.  Come April, once this concert is over, he's getting kicked to the curb and I'm reclaiming my boyfriend.  

So there.

Basically, here's the low down.  My normally half-full glass is empty.  It's not half-empty or a quarter- full or a third empty or whatever...it's just empty.

There's not even a drop in that glass.

It's dry.  My glass is dry.

And then stuff happens.  Today it was worship. Brian and I went to our home church and the worship there is always so deep and real and incredible.  God is so present.  The Word spoken is true.  

I just let it all soak in and I realized that it's not me that fills my cup, it's Him.  I can try and try and try but it all just floods out the bottom but if I let Him fill me up...through his word and prayers and song, it all stays put.

Oh ye of little faith.

So here's to a new week, with a full cup.  Here's to a better attitude, to not letting the little stuff bug me, to feeling more present and whole and nice.

That's it...here's to being nice this week.

Cheers.

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A Weekend Away

Last Thursday I left town with that guy that I like so much for a little getaway.  He had a conference in Santa Barbara and I tagged along...the promise of a beautiful hotel on the beach, hours upon hours of free time while he conferenced and long dinners out with cocktails was pretty enticing.

Dreamy even.

 I bummed a bit in the hotel and did a few little excursions on my own...some shopping on State Street (bought myself a super cute sweater) and a visit to the mission.  I fielded irate phone calls and texts from work...turns out none of the direct deposits went through and NO ONE got paid like they were supposed to (including me) and even though I had nothing to do with it and couldn't fix it, I still had to deal with it all. day. long.

So basically...I was grumpy.  I couldn't find my groove.  For the life of me,  I couldn't relax.

 And then I went to the Monastery of the Poor Clare's.  I slipped into Mass (I love me a good Catholic Mass) and as I was sitting there after it was over, I noticed people walking through a little side door with slips of paper in their hands.

They were writing their intentions, their prayers, and taking them to the nuns who would pray for them.

I grabbed a slip of paper, wrote a couple of things down, walked through that little door and handed the nun my paper.  She told me that the Poor Clare's would be praying for me, smiled at me (seriously...nuns have the nicest smiles ever) and on I went about my day.

Just knowing that someone was praying for me lightened my step.

That night in the hotel, I started to think about all the little things I wished someone was praying for me.  I started a list and filled both sides of a sheet of notebook paper.  I wrote and wrote and wrote and the next morning found myself at that little side door again, standing in front of the smiley nun with my scribbly sheet of paper.

I felt I should apologize to her...I mean, I was just there the day before.  I didn't want to hog their time with my 68 prayer requests.  But the knowledge that someone would pray for me far out weighed the embarrassment of being there a 2nd morning in a row, scribbly paper and all.

I handed my lengthy list to her, thanked her, and went about my day.  How nice to know that someone is praying for me (and my boys and my husband and my family and yes, my dog) and that had me thinking...why don't we ask for prayers more often?  Why do we wait for the big stuff before asking someone to pray for us?  

The rest of our getaway was nice.  We had a Europe planning meeting the last morning and lunched with Alex (who was up there for the weekend, too) and his girlfriend before heading back home.  We arrived just in time for a party at our house...17 people (my sis in law and her family, their friends and my bro in law and his family...plus my family) eating pizza and drinking wine in the garden on an ordinary Saturday in February about an hour after we walked in the door.

It was fun.

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And now.  Let's see.  That guy that I like so much is on Spring Break.  I'm not, but we'll be able to squeeze in a Disney day at some point...and maybe a breakfast at Snooze.  He's going to spruce up the garden and submerge himself in Bach...and maybe, if I can time it just right, do a few honey-do's for me.  

It'll be nice to have him around...he can help with that early morning driving, too.

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