Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Girls Night Out

There was a lot of excitement in the air...and on Facebook. A group of us were going on a "Girls Night Out". Our destination was "The Melting Pot" in downtown Mpls. for an evening called "Flowered Frocks and Flip Flops". It was a fund raiser at a fondue style restaurant to provide stuffed bears for hospitalized children.

I'll start by saying that most of the girls are quite a bit younger than me....and a bit more energetic. There were plans of pedicures and shopping and new dresses and...whew. I decided that I could maybe at least paint my toe nails. I did early in the afternoon on Monday. Monday night we played volleyball. I had a feeling my pedicure wasn't going to look so good when I went to take off my shoes and my socks were stuck to my big toes. I wasn't cut out for this. Guess I'll be wearing closed toe sandals. Then there was the what to wear dilemma. I'm too cheap to buy something new for a night out. But then I started thinking about how young most of them are, and how fashionable, and how out of place I was. Oh well, I dug in my closet, and dug in some of my stored away summer clothes and found something that would do.

The weather has been crazy warm in the 70's...I didn't think I'd need to be finding summer clothes for March! When I was looking for something to wear I remembered something that had happened back when I was in my early 20's. I worked with a gal that was about 10 years older than me. She had been losing weight, she was so excited to fit into some of her older clothes...one day she came into work wearing a sundress that was pretty out dated. I remember thinking "I'm not even old enough to have anything that out of style!" Not nice, I know, but I was young and thought I was in the know about fashion. 25 years and a couple of kids later and I've found out that I don't know anything. But it made me nervous all over again about the big night out.

I didn't need to be. Most of these gals are good friends, a couple I hadn't met before but they were nice and fun too. It was a good evening. Here is most of the crew...taken with my camera. A couple of them ducked out of the picture....

...but that's ok....I snagged this one from facebook. It's like those "what's different" puzzles. Can you see what's different?? :-)

The fondue place was fun. The only down side was that they divided the 11 of us into two groups. The tables were plugged into outlets in the floor and they were not moving! Our first course was cheese fondue. One was a spicy Mexican kind, the other was milder. I don't remember which ones we ended up with....the margarita's were 1/2 price. We had breads, chips, veggies and apples to dip in the cheese. It was gone in a hurry!

The next course was cooked in boiling broth....I had never had that, we've always used oil. This was so much healthier! Steak, chicken, shrimp, veggies, and even pot stickers. Yum. The pot stickers got a little mushy though.

Dessert was chocolate fondue. This one is the ying yang, with white and dark chocolate. We dipped rice krispie bars, cheese cake, other cake and strawberries. Double yum.

When they first brought the dessert out they caught one of them on fire and we toasted marshmallows. The flames don't show in my picture. I think it was during the marshmallow roasting that the suggestion of a girls weekend at the cabin came up. Hmmm....could be fun....
especially if someone brings the marshmallows!

In the end, the pedicures didn't matter, the outfits didn't matter....the only thing that mattered was getting out and having a nice evening with a bunch of fun women....and you can't go wrong when chocolate fondue is involved!


Saturday, March 27, 2010

Feeling Old

Today was the Women's State Parks and Rec volleyball tournament. It was really fun to play, but right now I'm feeling sort of old. And tired. Our team didn't do very well, but it was still a lot of fun. A couple of the gals are my age, the others quite a bit younger, and one of the gals that is my age has a daughter that played with us. Two generations playing together means that some of us are old. I'm mostly joking around, but I'll admit it takes a little longer to bounce back afterwards. Soaking in the tub never felt so good. And yes, my feet felt as ugly as they look.

Speaking of old, one of my favorite people sent me an email about old people that had me laughing out loud. Thanks Dawn! It was funny because all of it was true. Here it is:

Games for Old People
1. Sag, you're It.
2. Hide and go pee.
3. 20 questions shouted into your good ear.
4. Kick the bucket
5. Red Rover, Red Rover, the nurse says Bend Over.
6. Musical recliners.
7. Simon says something incoherent.
8. Pin the Toupee on the bald guy

OLD IS WHEN:
1. Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.
2. You don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.
3. Getting a little action means you don't need fiber today.
4. Getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot.
5. An all-nighter means not getting up to pee!

Yep...too easy to relate to! On another note....our little Billy has his permit now and drove us to Lion's Tap for supper. I think I sprouted another gray hair just thinking about it! Oye.
Have a Happy Weekend!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Random Stuff

There isn't anything big happening around here, but there are a lot of little things. So I thought I'd do a little post on some random stuff.

Random stuff # 1. Brian is a junior this year. He hasn't made any big decisions about what he wants to do after High School, but will be going to college somewhere. After he took his PSAT test late last fall he started to get emails and then all of these college informational mailings. Ads I guess. It's crazy. There are so many that we haven't even started looking at them yet. I suppose we better get on that. It's a little overwhelming to think about.


Random Stuff # 2. Billy has completed his drivers training, passed his test and now just has to have his eyes examined to get his permit. I think I should have my head examined for allowing it. Not really, he's a good kid...he's just growing up too fast.

Random Stuff # 3 . I'm playing in a volleyball tournament tomorrow. We play at 9:10 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 12:30. Depending on how we do in the pool we could be playing well into the afternoon. The good news is that it's a one day tournament, I'm afraid that being able to get out of bed on Sunday might be a problem. Oh...and I designed the shirts. :-)

Random Stuff # 4. A few weeks ago, at a volleyball match, I said something to one of the opposing players that I shouldn't have said. I knew that I needed to apologize, but didn't get a chance to until last night. I sucked it up and said that I was sorry, no excuses. He was very gracious. All was good. Then after the match, a gal from the Monday night league came up to me and apologized for the way one of her team mates had acted at that match. It was very kind of her, I tried to be as gracious as the man I apologized to was. Very strange that harsh words were exchanged at all, stranger that one was by me and a separate one was directed towards me. But very nice that apologies were made and all is well. It's supposed to be for fun after all!

Random Stuff # 5. I've been battling my weight for a while, finally the scale is inching down. Walking more and watching what I'm eating is actually working. It doesn't sound that hard, but sometimes it's impossible. Sheesh. Anyway, isn't it funny how much better a number on the scale can look when you're on your way down instead of moving up?

Random Stuff # 6. One of my friends is thinking of starting a cool blog. I offered to help make the header for it. While we were emailing back and forth, I got an email from blogger announcing their new blog templates. Cool timing huh? I've been planning on changing this blog a little bit, I'm glad that I waited.

Random Stuff # 7. This is Molly. She likes to sleep on which ever unmade bed she can find. She has a couple of options...hmm. One of the advantages of working from home means that I can find the cat, give her a shake and say "wake up cat!" I'm just getting even for all of those times she wakes me up at night. She doesn't like it much....

She usually gives me the crabby cat look, then starts grooming herself. Then I pet her in which ever spot she's just groomed, so she has to start over. I just want to show her what it would have been like if she had kids.

When she's not sleeping, she's looking outside. I'm not sure what she's thinking about....it looks serious though. Maybe she's planning on some sort of revenge. Hmmm...I'm getting an uneasy feeling about this...


...maybe it would be better if I just let sleeping cats lie. Have a happy Weekend!


Thursday, March 25, 2010

Thinking About Flowers

I've been thinking about flowers, and green grass, and sunshine, and warm days. Spring keeps teasing us this year, unusually warm one day, cold the next. It makes me wonder where I'm at. Lost. Confused. Cold. In honor of my confusion I think I'll spare you and stick to sharing some song lyrics today. It's one of my favorite Greg Brown songs. Most Greg Brown songs are my favorite...it depends which one is playing. But today, this one is my favorite.

"You Are A Flower"
Your smile makes me smile
I can always see your face
You help me make it through every day
You're with me every place
You left so much here with us
Your love is all around
Your children's children will smile that same smile
and say "oh look what I have found"

You are a flower
shining for a while
You are a flower
What a life, what a woman, what a smile.
And I will laugh and I will sing
and I will go on through
To let this love just come on out
that's what I learned from you
Your heart went out to everything
a field of stones, a field of flowers
and when we form that magic ring
we feel your hand in ours

You are a flower
shining for a while
You are a flower
What a life, what a woman, what a smile.



Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Out Front Part 2

Last week I started my little "Out Front" series. Not much has changed out front this week, probably not enough to warrant a post, but here we are. Out front. The Shasta Daisy leaves are turning green, the tulips are a little higher, the carnation leaves are coming out, and some other green leaves from a plant that I don't remember. Absent minded gardeners look forward to garden surprises every spring. That big ugly stump was from one of 4 HUGE ugly bushes that covered the front of our house. We chopped up the other stumps, but this one remains. It was just too much for us. Maybe I'll hack at it this year, I'll probably just plant something bushy around it. It will go away eventually.

The tulips got a little nipped by the cold I think. But they are still coming and have grown a bit this week. So, not much going on out front, but there is sort of a lot going on inside. Inside the house and inside my heart.

Last week Billy was handed a pretty big lump to swallow. He didn't make the cut for the High School freshman baseball team. Trouble is, he should have made it. He's played with the same kids for years, he stands out as being one of the better players. It's not just mom vision saying that, his stats back it up. But some how the coaches didn't see what he has during evaluation. It's one of those moments where you try your best to keep things in perspective, where you try not to over-react. But it's your child being told he's not good enough....when you know in your heart that he is. Grrr. Deep breath. Then you pull up your big girl panties and try to improve the situation. Eric politely talked with the coach, he also talked with last year's coach. We learned some things that could be improved on. We learned a little bit about baseball politics. We're getting Billy some extra training before travel tryouts which are in a few weeks and are feeling more hopeful. But the biggest thing I learned is what my boy is made out of.

We found out that he's made of some good stuff. Billy is passionate about baseball....so yes there were some tears, and some hurt and some anger. But then he started thinking about what maybe went wrong and what he needs to do to get better. Instead of hanging his head and hanging up his cleats he's more determined than ever to prove that he belongs on a team. What could have devastated him has lit a fire under him. The boy makes me proud. I do believe that things happen for a reason, maybe he'll end up being an even better player because of it. Hopefully the stress of it won't do me in and I'll live to see it happen. I guess no one ever said being a parent is easy.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Birthday Boy

3...

2...

1...

Lift off! Lift off to a busy weekend. Billy turned 15 yesterday. I wrote this post about him last year on his birthday.

I don't have much time to write today, but I wanted to get this posted to say....


Happy Birthday Billy!
The wonderful young man that you are growing up to be makes us prouder every day. How did we get to be so lucky?
Love,
Billy's Mom.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Watch 'em Grow

About a month ago, in the bottom of this post, I had shown this picture....

...and this one too. I mentioned that I had an idea and would share it later. Well, now is later. My idea was to photograph my Watch 'em Grow pot a few times a day and then hopefully put the photos together into a little movie about how the garden grew.

I like how it turned out, I hope you do too!



Happy Spring!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Out Front

I'm thinking of starting a little series here on my blog called "Out Front". It will be a snapshot or two taken from my front step to show how things are looking around here. Maybe a weather report, maybe a note or two about what is blooming in my front garden. I'll do it once a week or every other week, just because things seem to change so quickly around here. For example, this is what it looked like here last month...February 8th....snow, snow, snow.

Here's the view from yesterday, March 17th. Temps around 60 degrees, bright sunny day. What a difference a month makes! We've had a few wonderfully warm days in a row, but the weather is supposed to turn on us tomorrow...a high of 41 with rain and snow.

I hope it doesn't snow too much, because look at what's peeking out of the soil....a tulip! I planted a couple of dozen (I think) pink tulips last fall and it looks like some are coming up! There is something about planting bulbs in the fall that gives such a feeling of hope. Hope that we'll all make it through the long cold winter. Hope of better days ahead. Hope of spring and sunshine and warmth. Hope of blossoms swaying in the late spring breeze....

...and hope that those wascally wabbits stay the heck out of my garden! Shoo you wabbits!!
Happy Spring.


Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Springy

It was down right springy last weekend. On Sunday, after giving the horses a nice brushing I decided to take a little ride. I wasn't planning on riding, I only had tennis shoes with, but that's OK, it was just to nice not to hop on. First I took Czar out. See how Penny had already found the nastiest pool of water to flop herself in? Nice. I usually ride with someone else, because leaving one horse in the pasture causes....

...this. The left behind horse runs and whinnies and makes a big old fuss. They are cranky to each other when they are together, but separate them from their BFF's and all heck breaks loose.

Czar wasn't too happy about being away from his buddy either. I took a couple of short rides up and down the road...such trauma to have a fence separating the two! He was as springy as the weather.

Next it was time to take Skylar out...Czar wasn't very happy about it. Goofy I tell ya.

Skylar wasn't very happy either. He was kind of springy too. A couple of head cases. That's what happens when they laze about all winter without someone showing them who's boss. I'm the boss of you boy, don't forget it. Even with their crazy antics it was good to get them out a little bit.

Afterwards I had them back out in the pasture explaining things to them when this shadow passed over me. What in the world...oh, it was just this little old bald eagle flying by.

60 degrees, my horses, and an eagle flying over head. All in all a pretty good day.




Monday, March 15, 2010

Spring Cleaning

It's gradually been getting warmer around here...we had rain and even some thunder and lightening last week....and all of that means the snow has quickly left! No snow, a little sunshine, and all of a sudden it's 60 degrees on Sunday.

Eric and I took a quick trip to the country to see our folks. It was a bonus that is was so warm! I was happy that I had a T-shirt on underneath my sweatshirt...I sure hadn't expected to set the sweatshirt aside for a few hours. But I did....because it was time to push up my sleeves and get some spring cleaning done....pony style. The horses were lazing around in the warm sunshine, a perfect time to get out the brushes and help them loose some of that itchy winter coat.

My mom even got in on the action. She was still wearing her church clothes and didn't want to get too close to the beasts...but Skylar got his belly brushed through the gate.

Eric and his allergic nose made sure to stay up wind from the flying fur. I think the boys enjoyed the brushing and the attention.

Do you feel better now Skylar? How about you Czar? You boys sure look handsome after the long cold winter.

You look good enough to smooch!

Ewww...maybe next week I'll bring a toothbrush.
Aren't the first few warm days of spring the best? There is hope that the winter is behind us!