Endless Pursuit for Mom of the Year

Drench yourself in words unspoken. Live your life with arms wide open.   Today is, where your book begins.   The rest is still unwritten.   -Natasha Bedingfield I've sat down to write so many times I've lost track.  I get started then stop.  Something was always missing. Wittiness. A lesson. Humor. An ending that made sense.  Something!  I would always leave that writing for another day.  Another day never came.  Time after time, I'd go back to it, then scrap it and start over.   Starting over.  What a funny notion.  An empty piece of paper, a blank slate, always clean and new.  Always. I mean, who would argue the best part of school starting was new notebooks.  No writing or markings, just waiting for fresh knowledge.  Ok, so I still love a new notebook.   Losing someone you care for always makes you reflect on things, on your own notebooks of time; your blank pie...

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.   ~ Judy Garland ---------------------------------------------------------- I wish I could give the best of myself every day.  Now, I know some of you are saying well, then just do it!  For me, it's not that easy. I'm human. I slip up. I get moody. Sad. And in general, life just gets in the way.  Most days, I wish I were super woman. Able to cook, clean, have a pristine house, and hold it all together while wearing a perfectly styled hairdo. It just doesn't work that way.  Mostly, it makes me sad to realize that my family never seems to get that best of me opportunity.  We exude it all day (or at least attempt to) with co-workers, gas station attendants, customers and generally anyone else we come into contact with.  Yet my poor family gets the leftovers.  I don't know about you, but I've never been much of a leftover fan.   I...

You will never have this day with your children again -  tomorrow they'll be a little bit older than they are today.   TODAY is a gift, breathe & notice, smell & hold them,  study their faces & little feet & pay attention.  Enjoy today mama - it will be over before you know it.   Relish the charms of the present.   --Jen Hatmaker -------------------------------------------------- Time. It's a funny thing really. When you are working, there seems to be too much of it. When you are having fun, there's never enough.  Either way, it is something we all have a limited amount of and how we spend that time is what counts.  This very sentiment has been on my mind for some time now.  Yes, I know, time that has lapsed FAR too long in actually sitting down and writing in this blog (I hope you've missed me as much as I missed you).  Either way, I prefer to pick up here right where we left off.  Like w...

A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image. ~ Author Unknown -------------------------- What a powerful influence teachers are to young minds!  We have been blessed to have fantastic teachers as daughter of the year #1 progresses through school.  One of them just stands out among the others.   I normally don't use names in my blog, but there could be a million Ms. Green's out there, so we'll go with it.  Daughter of the year #1 and I both know, to us, there's really only ONE Ms. Green. It's no secret that #1 has struggled with her confidence over the years and after a terrifying 1st grade bullying incident, I just wanted to throw in the towel!  FIRST GRADE people!  Second grade got better, in spite of those "bathtub conversations."  But, I might not ever forget the day I took #1 to school to see who her 3rd grade teacher would be.  I'm still not sure...

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely.  ~ Ogden Nash ----------------------------------- Whew!  Today was a big day.  BIG day!  I turned 40.  How in the hell did that happen?  It honestly seems I was just turning 30 not that long ago.  As I begin that trip "over the hill" let me relive my day for you.  This, my friends, truly IS 40! I felt this way.  Really I did.  But today I felt too damn old to deal with a 4 year old fit on my bathroom floor against the bathtub.  All this over the pants I put on her today.   The fit ended just long enough to give me a taste of my favorite musical treat:  the recorder!  This time, #1 played the piano while #2 blew with the force of a very mighty wind through her sister's recorder.  After all, it's never too early to start the day with Tylenol.      I'm 40 now, so I went all Seinfeld today and ...

Music is what feelings sound like.  ~ Author Unknown ---------------------------- I knew this day would come.  In fact, I hoped it would.  But never, ever, did I think it would try my patience like it has. Growing up, music was like air to me.  I needed it daily and as my relationship with it grew, it became something very important to me. I nearly made it a career until I grew unsure how I would actually accomplish that.  My mom will tell you all about the scholarship I turned down as a result, just ask her. In the end, it was a love but, for me, it was never a career.   Daughter of the year #1 has been taking piano lessons for 3 years.  There were times it tested me but that mainly came from frustrated bangs on the keys and hearing Jolly Old Saint Nicholas clear into the month of March.  Who knew my ultimate test of patience would come with a 12 inch piece of plastic with holes.   Ah, the blessed rec...

The first sign of maturity is the discovery that the volume knob also turns to the left.  ~ Jerry M. Wright -------------------------------------- I awoke this morning with the realization I have less than 30 days in my 30's.  I won't lead you to believe it was a profound experience.  No, I wasn't sobbing in my bed over my lost youth.  I did, however, spend a little time pondering where (ahem, in my youth) I thought I would be at this point in life.  After making a list of items for a co-worker to accomplish before her "big" birthday, I decided to do the same.  So, here goes, 15 things I will attempt to accomplish or do more of in the last few days in my 30's.   1.  Wear a suit.  I am not sure why, but I always thought I would have a job where I wore a suit to work every day.  I am so glad I don't have that type of job, but I do own a suit.  I should break that out soon.   2.  Make a difference i...