With age does come wisdom

I recently received an email from a co-worker. You know the type...the co-worker who incessantly forwards random jokes, funny stories and odd news items. Well, this particular email really resonated with me. It contained a column by a woman named Regina Brett who, upon reaching her 90th birthday, printed her favorite words of wisdom. It's a list of 45 life lessons. I wanted to share this with my legions of blog followers (total sarcasm there) and especially with my children should they ever read this. Some of these thoughts remind me very much of my own mother (my children's Mimi). I wish she were here so I could forward them to her too, she would have agreed with wise-wise Regina.

Here are a few of my favorites...

#1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
#3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...
#7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
#8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
#9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
#10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
#11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
#13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
#14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
#17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
#20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
#22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
#25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
#26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
#29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
#31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
#32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
#35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
#36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
#37. Your children get only one childhood.
#38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
#43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
#44. Yield.
#45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

I could not have said it better.

What a difference a weekend makes

Our couch is no longer just a couch. It's Mt. McKinley. Or so thinks IA. She has gone from a baby who had her hybrid crawl* down pat to a baby who is obsessed with pulling herself up on to everything. On Friday, when she came home from daycare, the highlight of her repertoire was crawling over to me and tugging on the bottom of my pants until I reached down to offer her an arm which she could use for leverage. Fast forward to Sunday and she was hybrid crawling to any stable structure...the couch, a dresser, the dining room table, her crib, her big brother's head...and pulling herself up all on her own. You can tell she loves the new vantage point and also relishes a clear sense of accomplishment. Baby gates are going up this week, can't say I've missed them.


This weekend WA also got his teeth cleaned for the very first time by Peepee. My Dad has is own practice in the town where I grew up and it was really fun to see my father work on my son. Two sides of my hereditary coin so to speak. WA is completely head over heals for Peepee (I'm thinking the chocolate ice cream, Oreos and Peepee's Lord of the Flies nature all contribute to this love) and to see WA watch Peepee work, you could tell he was in some kind of awe. I also got my teeth cleaned and WA was the little helper...using the water squirter and suction device to his hearts content...leaving me a little bit soaked in the process. He also got a thrill out of pushing the x-ray button as the hygienist shot pics of my teeth. It was actually really cool to see how fascinated WA was with everything. He really seemed to study it all and soak it up. Perhaps my Dad's hopes and dreams of a second generation dentist skipped my brother and I and now lie with WA.

* a roll/army crawl/legit crawl combo

Calm

This morning I had a feeling that I have not felt in a long time. A sense of calm.

This sort of thing used to happen to me all the time, back in my single days, when I lived in Seattle. Mostly I would feel the wash of calm as I was driving to and from work across Lake Washington on the floating bridge. Heading west on I-90 there is a curve right as you leave the city that offers stunning views of Mt. Rainier. Pure heaven on a bright clear day. Now, most of you are probably thinking..."Seattle? Bright sunny day?" Yes, they did occur...and quite frequently in the summer. On these days I used to blast Dave Matthews Band, roll down the windows of the trusty silver Jetta and just relish. Turning that corner most of my senses would be bombarded. Sight, check (mt. Rainier), Sound, check (DMB), Touch, check (the wind). Top that off with the warmth of the streaming sun and a feeling of utter peace and happiness would wash over me. I remember the sensation well.

This morning I got closer to that feeling than I have in a long time. I don't really know why, as I've had a bit of an emotional week, but I have to say it was great. I had just dropped both kids off at daycare after a pretty harried morning. I was driving away down a wooded street, windows were down and I was listening to John Mayer. I just felt good. Peaceful and good. Now that I'm back at my desk ready to start another crazy workday, I'm going to remember that moment and smile.

S.I.L.

I miss my sister-in-law. I don't have an actual sister. I have one brother who is 3 years older and with whom I have a close bond (thankfully), but not a sister. I grew up watching the special relationship between my Mom and her sister, who we call GAP. My Mom and GAP were very close and had an interesting dynamic...with my mother being the older, bossier sister. You could tell that they would never, never let each other down intentionally...and to my knowledge they never did. Even after my Mother's passing, GAP has stepped up in so many ways to fill the massive void left in my own life. And for that I am especially grateful. So seeing that model of sisterhood and benefiting from it's effects, I'm thankful that I have a contemporary female family member with whom I feel close. AGF, my s.i.l., and my brother went to college together. They were roommates, along with 2 other men and 2 other women, for most of their college career. My brother harbored a secret crush on AGF for most of those 4 years ("secret" might be the wrong word, I mean even I could tell!). It wasn't until their graduation party that he had the stones to make a move. Lucky for us, he did. And almost 20 years later, here we are. Over those years I've grown to love AGF like my own sister and we've shared numerous heart-to-hearts. I consider myself very lucky...as some people I know don't really even like their sister-in-laws. I haven't been able to talk to AGF recently and I miss her. I know life will settle down and that will change. And I look forward to it.

Who does this sound like?

Today's conversation on the way to school...

Me: "WA, do you know where we're going on Saturday?"

WA: "Where?"

Me: "Peepee's!!!" *

WA: "Yeah!"

Me: "Are you excited? You haven't seen Peepee in a long time."

WA: "No."

Me: "What? But you just screamed "Yeah!"?"

WA: "No, I don't love Peepee."

Me: "You're being silly. You do love Peepee, and Uncle B and Auntie A and KF and Daddy and IA."

WA: "No I don't Mommy. I love you." **


Not exactly the best way to express it, but the kid sure knows how to melt my heart. I really hope he doesn't have his Mom's puzzling and not-so-fantastic ability to unintentionally insult! Uh-oh.



* PeePee is what WA calls my dad, his Grampy F.

** Trust me, not true. He loves all of the above tremendously.

My cure for a rough Monday

1. One generous glass of tasty Merlot (left over from CMP. thanks HMcG!)

2. Breakfast for dinner (scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast topped with some of my mother-in-laws homemade strawberry jam)

3. Reading books and pre-bed snuggles with WA (appropriately enough one of his favorites right now is "No Hugs till Saturday")

4. Back-to-back episodes of House Hunters

Hey, whatever gets you through...

I asked for it

This is what you get when you send your husband and three year old to make a copy of the house key for you.




You should see how the fake fuchsia rhinestones catch the light :). I'm guessing you all agree that the Misters Allman certainly do deserve some style points!