True Love…

Surprises you with The Cheesecake Factory dates.

Laughs with you at your really lame jokes.

Forgives you easier than you forgive yourself.

Is okay with take-out and leftovers for dinner all week… or two.

Is simply at peace with you.

Listens to you when you are ranting and raving until you are calm and rational.

Is silly and deep, all in the same night.

Lets you eat the rest of the blueberry cobbler because it’s just one of those days.

Is constant and grounding.

{True Love}

♥

I’ve been virtually absent lately.

For the last couple weeks if I don’t work with you or live with you I haven’t seen you.

Or talked to you.

Or emailed you.

Or any sort of communicating with you.

I feel like I’ve been living and breathing work.

I know three things for sure:

1.  It is a challenge.

2.  Only the biggest cup of caffeine is getting me through 10+ hour work days.

3.  The cashiers at QT should be on a first name basis with me.

{Drink Up!}

♥

If you are lucky enough you will meet that one person in life who will leave you forever changed.

She will swoop in with deep throaty laughter and high heels and bangles.

She will demand only your best.  And you will not dare give her anything less.

She will push you and you will push yourself.

She will introduce you to a new world. A world that you had only imagined before.

She will teach you that all you have to do is step beyond the shadows.

And just when you think you cannot do what is put in front of you,

that you simply don’t have it in you,

you think of her and her laughter and high heels and bangles.

And you walk into the light.

{Shadows}

♥

…more styrofoam cup displays of love and affection.

♥

Happiness on any given Sunday is  bowl of homemade sugary popcorn.

It makes the approach of Monday that much easier.

♥

Woman

♥

{ Self Portrait }

{SOOC.  This is exactly what I look like at 7:18 PM. No fixes. No retouches.  I’m tired from a 50-minute commute home and a trip to the gas station; my glasses have left pink spots on the sides of my noses; the wrinkles under my eyes are clearly visible; the blemish that literally popped up overnight on my cheek is in plain site; whatever makeup I started the day with is long gone.}

It’s one of those nights… tuna melts, homemade kettle corn, and Spongebob floating in vanilla yogurt.

Sometimes this path of life is hard, and things happen for reasons you can’t figure out.  But it all happens for a reason and at the end of the day all you can do is simply put one foot in front of the other and move forward.

I really want a new car.  Really really bad.

It’s not easy having to deal and interact with sociopaths, pathological liars, and enablers.  I know, it’s a no brainer.

And in case you were wondering, family and business is still a hard mix.

This morning realized I probably look like a complete dork when I’m in the car by myself laughing hysterically at the morning radio show.   Oh well.  Speaking of laughing…people need to do it more.

At times (okay, a lot of the time) I want to live in a Pinterest world.

It’s funny how the universe pushes you out of certain situations because it knows you would never leave on your own, and that ultimately your awesomeness is needed and appreciated more elsewhere.

We’re half way through our fifth year on this adventure called Beau. It gets more and more interesting with each passing day.  Right now this adventure is all about mermaids, cooking videos on You Tube, and “All the Single Ladies.”

February is quickly approaching and I’m still mulling over my word for 2012.  I have a lot of things I want to work on, but I can only do so much.

I wish more women thought of themselves as Superwomen.

Happy rest of the week to you!

In slumber, existing in another world

I’m watching my story like a film

I love it so, this dreamland

I want to savor every scene, commit it to feeling and memory

But slowly the filter loosens and leaks, like it must

In come noises and warmth and light

I try to capture that feeling of dreamland, I want to grasp it and keep it close

Gradually the film fades even as I try to hold tight

And I try to make note of it to return to, bookmark the chapter, to return to my story

But I can’t…It’s not there to cross the line into the realm of day

Soon only snippets remain, glimpses really

I’m swimming to the top, desperately trying to see what is getting farther from me

Losing focus while I’m being pulled away

Only to hope to return at night

♥

{I Dreamed A Dream}

lamp

Hers:

lamp, clock radio, water, laptop and mouse, kindle, bible, lotion, bowlful of odds and ends, mugful of odds and ends, hair clip, notebook, (and my iPhone if I weren’t using it to capture this observation)

Observation:

It’s quite possible that I put too much on my plate. Might need to declutter my mind, my to-do list,  and my bedside table.

My thought on my morning commute today: I can’t scrapbook to save my life (poor Beau) but I can blog.  Maybe this blog is really just one big old scrapbook of us, much like my Grandma’s scrapbook of the ‘65 trip across country (1 woman + 6 kids + a blue Ford Van = Road trip from California to Maine.)

I’ve surpassed the 500 post mark.  I never thought I’d make it this far.  I have an issue with follow through,  or not following through.

So it turns out there is some French in War and Peace.  Not a lot, but just enough to make me wish I had kept up with French after high school and college.  The plus side is that I’m understanding more than I thought I would.

Trying to wear flip flops less.  It’s hard.  I wear them every single day.  How I ever got through Iowa winters I’ll never know.

While we’re on the subject of shoes, in an attempt to dress more adult-like, I’m going to inject some ballet flats into my shoe collection.

Palms and planes make me so happy.  What makes you so happy?

I love this place I call home.  It might sound funny, but driving this week I thought to myself, “I love my valley.” I love being cradled by my mountains, love how the sun casts them in a purple light in the evenings and a golden glow in the mornings. 

Because I love the book, and because we have more advantages than we sometimes think… “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” –The Great Gatsby–

Another beautifully written book? Suite Francaise.  I’ve only read the first paragraph, but it is beautiful in its simplicity.

We’re on for Disneyland this summer.  Yay us!  Do they still have the Electrical Light Parade? (If they don’t does that date me?)

The weather person in me thinks there’s a 90% chance Winter is over here.

Beau is watching You Tube as  I type this.  He’s watching some sort of Snow White “Whistle While You Work” video in a language that sounds like a mix of Japanese and Italian.  He is enthralled and it is funny.

That whole “people don’t do what you think they should do” lesson is hard for me.

Well folks, we made it to the weekend!  Have a great one!