March Marched By Me

Another month with no blog post....ugh!  I feel like my beloved blog and I are breaking up and it is not the clean break... "Goodbye, it's been fun, we had some great times, have a good life." kind of break up.  It's the... "We never see each other, we never talk, I still love you, I think about you all of the time....maybe we can try to work it out. (but we all know that never works...or does it?)." kind of break up.  I start each month telling myself  I'm going to write more...because frankly, I can't write any less.  I'm going to pay attention to life around me and look with my eyes wide open.  But it all feels a little Groundhog day-ish.  How is this supposed to be surprising, inspiring, touching and entertaining or remotely blog worthy?  Surely it hasn't all been said...has it?

They are pondering cereal and whether it has all been said....
Apple, say hello to tree.

March drifted by me this year.  As I read my last post, January and February were a massive effort to just keep going one more day with hopes the sun would shine.  Amazing how much that giant star in our sky affects me and my productivity/mood/outlook on life/smile on my face.  I had high hopes that March would break the clouds in the sky and my brain.  There was that day, in spite of  overcast skies, I decided to pretend it was a lovely spring day and took my camera out for a field trip.  We went in search of beauty and found it!  I practiced my rusty photography skills on the azaleas and daffodils and by the time I finished that star in the sky had shown it's shy face.  

I have never seen flowers growing on branches like these were.
Surprising!

Wish the planters in my yard looked like this!

Happy flowers saying Spring is here!

The southern beacon of spring...azaleas!

Another time consuming activity in March was the search for the elusive perfect mother of the bride dress.  You would think that by the fourth time I would have this down to a science.  Oh no my friend!  Maybe if I had that 48 year old body with my 60 year old budget!  Alas, the dress has been purchased and as a result of the horrifying images that stared back at me in all of those poorly lit dressing room mirrors I am repeating an old Lenten tradition of mine...Weight Watchers.  Or as they refer to it now...WW as if no one knows what that stands for!  Needless to say, hope springs eternal and if I happen to snap back at you for no good reason it was because I was hungry....and sober!

Oh yum....kale, shrimp and oranges.
Salad done a million different ways!

What else....oh, I listened to Lauren Graham's (Lorelai Gilmore) book "Talking as Fast as I Can"  compliments of my daughter/bride-to-be/GG partner in crime.  I may have to explain to my neighbors why I was laughing and/or crying on my daily walks while listening to this book.  I felt just like I did when Gilmore Girls ended when I finished this book.  I miss them!  I now want to watch all of Gilmore Girls and the reboot again for the zillionth time.  FYI, Lauren Graham and I could totally hang out, I enjoy her perspective and humor.  You can also partially thank her for my deciding to try and patch things up with my blog.

In and effort to keep my hands busy not eating I picked up the old smocking stuff and decided to make and Easter dress for my grand daughter.  Something I have dreamt of doing ever since I learned to smock back in the '80's.  It is as much a pleasure as it was back then.  Creating something out of string and fabric is very rewarding.  Now to sew it all together...halfway there!

Spoiler alert....it's going to be super cute!

Speaking of smocking in the '80's....I found a dress I made for my daughter, Katie.  On Saturday, she and I took her children for our annual bluebonnet photo shoot.  It was a very special moment when we put Katie's old dress on Deirdre!  She must have known how special that dress was because she posed for the camera like a pro!

Be still my heart!
So glad I can't throw things away!

Other activities that made March float by were golf, the final emergence of the sun for an entire week and a short trip to Chicago.  The bride-to-be and I did some shopping and planning and walking and drinking and eating.  Shhh, don't tell WW.  We also got to have lunch with this motley crew!

Pizza, grand sons and NCAA basketball watching!  Fun!

Last but not least I have an announcement...I have decided to really break up with the blog and dedicate my time to writing a book about the joys of life such as hitting a golf ball straight, laughing and crying all in one 45 minute walk around the neighborhood, eating pizza and losing weight on WW, finding the perfect camera settings to use while photographing moving children on cloudy days, seeing all four of your grown children in one weekend, and what it takes to actually sit down and write more than a paragraph in a month.  Book coming out soon!

April Fools!

Finding My Voice

Today as I read my favorite blogs I experienced a little blog envy. I only read a couple of other blogs regularly.  They are both moms and are younger than I.  They both have a sharp wit and  I love that about them!   I was wishing I had their voice.  This lead me to wonder... what is my voice?  Finding a voice was actually one of the key points made in the writing class I took last year.  I think I am sometimes serious, sometimes funny, sometimes reflective and sometimes spiritual, often sarcastic. I've been told I remind people of Erma Bombeck....a huge compliment in my book.  I loved her!  She had a way of saying things that were so true in a way that was humorous. For instance, one of her quotes on raising children, " I take a very practical view of raising children.  I put a sign in each of their rooms 'check out time is 18 years' "....gotta love that woman!  Another gem, " God created man, but I could do better.".  Alas, I am not Erma!

Another voice I enjoy, and don't groan when you read this, is Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and The City.  I could not watch the show when it first came out.  I wasn't old enough...I was only in my early 40's,  and we did not have HBO.  I only started watching it when the watered down version showed up on TBS.  I was actually somewhat shocked when I saw an uncensored version, especially when I realized my daughters had been watching it for years.  Carrie's life was light years away from mine.  My 20's and 30's were not spent in New York City, wearing designer clothes, working on my career and sleeping around looking for love in all the wrong places.  Nope, I was firmly planted in suburbia raising children, making a career as a room parent- carpool expert-high school sports fan, and believe me... there was nothing designer in my life!  At least I had found love!  Even though we had (and still have) nothing in common, I always enjoyed Carrie's narration of each episode.  I liked her "voice".

This is what Erma would have to say about the fashions in Sex and the City!

I guess this puts me somewhere between Erma Bombeck and Carrie Bradshaw.  Sex and the Suburbs?
No one is buying that one!

To Write or Not To Write That Is The Question

Has the time of writing the annual Christmas letter passed?  With Facebook, Twitter and the blog sphere, doesn't everyone already know that your kids are fantastic, intelligent, overachievers?  Doesn't everyone know what you've done and where you've been?  Don't we all know way too much about each other's lives with the Internet?  This year I must decide whether to write or not.  Maybe I can just put my blog address on my cards this year and then anyone who is interested can just choose a post that they would like to read. 

I used to start thinking about my Christmas letter sometime in late November.  I would wait for a moment when I had the right amount of inspiration, time and wine to be creative and factual enough to write a mildly entertaining, informative and not too boastful letter to insert into my Christmas cards.  Sometimes it would seem like that moment never came and then...boom!  Inspiration! Or was it chardonnay?  An idea would hit and I could go with it and come up with a letter I liked.  Those letters were a good exercise for me, I did not write very often and the opportunity to exercise my mind and blend creativity with reality was always a challenge and a pleasure.  At least for me!

Now that I am writing at least once a week here on my blog a Christmas letter seems redundant.  Don't you already know what happened in our family this year?  Maybe there are a few people on my Christmas card list who don't read this weekly effort and they might enjoy hearing about our year, and maybe not!  I have thought of just writing something completely unique for my Christmas letter..... something inspired!  Although that would require inspiration.  I find myself just waiting for that right blend of inspiration, time and wine for an idea!  I will keep everyone in suspense as to whether I am or am not writing a letter this year. 
Pray for inspiration!