Finally, I can Breathe Again

Last weekend I had the total pleasure of sharing in the surprise birthday celebration that I planned for Matt and 23 of his relatives and friends.

Before I go any further talking about this particular soiree, it will help to understand the title of this post if I back up to about 3 months ago when this party first started taking shape. As a manner of comparison, for my 40^th birthday all I asked was to be let in on the day and time I had to be wherever I was being taken. Matt obliged me that information but I knew nothing else.

He never asked for the same.

And I knew what I wanted to do for him as the words…

“I don’t know what to do for your birthday, you have to help me, tell me what you want.”

…came out of my mouth back in early 2016. Because this year he’d be turning 40. This year was a huge milestone birthday. And I knew just how he was feeling about hitting that magic number.

In one word, freaked.

I remember when I was getting closer to the big four-oh. In the months leading up to my birthday I swear to you I was convinced I would just up and croak before I ever got there. Now I know everyone says ‘forty is the new twenty’ or whatever other platitude they like hearing themselves say out loud, but to me it was hard to imagine myself getting older.

Yes, despite the graying eyelashes, sagging boobs, slowing metabolism, I somehow managed to delude myself that I was still in my twenties or something. So when Matt admitted that he was kind of losing it over the upcoming day, I was just glad the party planning was already set in stone.

Because nothing makes a person feel younger than getting together in a room, filled with people they love, to laugh, cheer, eat, drink, and do all that ‘be merry’ stuff that makes life the best thing ever.

I chose to surprise him with renting a suite at Chase Field, on opening weekend, then filling it with 12 of his good friends, and get his dad and step-mom in from California, and get family in from Tucson, and get his mom in from Mississippi, and somehow manage to convince his sister and her 3 boys to make the trek out here from Boston.

And by some miracle of chance, all 23 of us (plus the handful of people at his office who also knew what was going on) managed to keep the layered secret since I first asked people to express their level of interest in buying their ticket to the game, and celebrating Matt, back on January 5.

Can I just for one second take a minute to acknowledge just how difficult it is to keep that much awesomeness inside your body? Especially considering:

• I’ve never kept secrets from Matt in the 17ish years we’ve known each other.
• He’s usually the first person I see at the end of the work day and I like recounting my day with him.
• I work at home, alone, so I like to yammer on for a while after he gets home.
• I just don’t lie. Ever. To anyone. Not anymore. I mean, when I was a kid, sure, but as an adult that seems pointless.

Boy was I ever wrong! The good news is I only had to tell one lie during all of this scheming and plotting. Amazing to say the least.

So are you ready to relive the whole experience along with me? Here’s how the timeline went…

January: Who’s in?

January: Holy crap, everyone is in?

January: Start thinking about where to house people.

February: Collect money from everyone – PayPal, shove cash in my pocket at a happy hour, stop by after work and drop cash just moments before Matt gets home (there was a lot of that kind of stuff).

February: Pay the first half of the suite rental fee / repeatedly hunt down the ticket rep.

February: Start the process of our home’s refi (meaning we shouldn’t put new, expensive purchases on our credit card and obviously the extra added challenge I really needed during party central planning stages).

February: Start formulating how I/we would get Matt to the ballpark. Deposit the last of the money from outside sources. Pay a huge chunk of the credit card bill & pray it won’t be an issue for the refi.

March: Email Matt’s boss/our loan officer to fill her in on the situation (AKA: don’t ask Matt about huge charges on the card, ask me!)

March: Final payment to suite rental. A small lull in party stuff ensues.

March: Close on the refi and (because Matt doesn’t know we will have people sleeping here), start doing construction again all around the house. Silently curse at my ladder every time I walk by it.

March: See about 100 new gray hairs starting to sprout while I try to maintain my composure because despite all the running to pick up/drop off, plan, email, etc. back and forth on party business, I still have to work every day, clean the house, do the life stuff I always do like there’s nothing else going on. Develop twitch over left eye.

March: Watch as my frayed nerve endings start jumping out of my body and realize there’s nothing I can do about it. Sweep dead nerve endings under area rug to be dealt with in April.

April: Finally! But wait, my in-laws, I hear, have plans and can’t house family. I start texting and making calls. Nobody responds in the ten seconds I expect them to respond in. Sheesh, how rude!

April: Oh shit, where will my SIL stay if my in-laws aren’t free? Agita takes hold.

April: Calls back and forth with my MIL – we can split the cost for a hotel stay. Begin researching hotels with a shuttle from the airport and/or are walking distance to Chase or our house.

April: There are zero hotels available in greater Phoenix. This is high season. You can stay in Scottsdale for $400 a night, but only 4 of you, not 5.

April: FIL & StepMIL save the day, the plans they had are altered, all 4 of the Boston fam can stay at the RV, plus I don’t have to lie about where I’m going at 10PM on a Thursday night because they have a vehicle big enough to pick up SIL and the kids at the airport.

April: I manage to exhale just a bit while I start doing the happy dance.

April: I tell Matt my mom is also coming up for the weekend and have to lie when he questions why – the one lie!

April: Coordinate with my sister and mom to be the drivers to the ballpark and arrive for early set up.

April: Consider hugging my friends and not letting go when they agree to put up my MIL for the night before the party as well as agree to be the carpool loading station for the bulk of the group.

April 6: Create an actual flowchart for the timeline of Friday’s events because I’m afraid of forgetting some small detail that will throw off the entire thing and cause my already thinning skull to implode.

April 4-7: Finish the small construction projects that need done for safety when family is in town, work, dry run to the ballpark so I don’t get lost, ensure Boston family is in safe and sound. Drop tickets for friends who won’t be able to meet up with the carpool caravan. Drool on myself and pass out on the sofa at 9PM just about every night.

8:20AM Friday April 8: Matt leaves the house late for work, like really late, for the first time maybe in his life. The moment the garage door closes I fly through a shower because I need to get to Sky Harbor to pick up my MIL, which happens with no drama but lots of traffic. We get breakfast then head to the mall to waste some time and catch up (this was really nice, I don’t always get time with my MIL because she lives pretty far away). My mom arrives at our house to drop some stuff. MIL and I head over to meet mom (praying Matt doesn’t come home for lunch or something). Mom and MIL take off for the afternoon. I haul ass up to the Musical Instrument Museum to drop tickets and a parking pass to FIL, StepMIL, SIL & nephews. I haul ass back home so I can clean before the rest of the Tucson family arrives for our “normal weekend” routine.

4:18PM April 8: I sit down on the couch with a snack, finish it, and go to get up to put my plate in the sink when I realize my legs will literally not move. Sit staring at the wall for about ten minutes while my brain does a hard reboot. Cannot compute. System failure. Switching to back up brain for next 24 hours. Running at 11% capacity.

5:00 – 5:15 April 8: Pray my mom remembers how to get to friend’s house to drop MIL, get text from Matt – he’ll be out 15 minutes early! Text friend to make sure my mom is on the way back.

5:22 April 8: Stare out front window praying the mom mobile rounds the corner before Matt. She does! We get bags inside approximately 4 minutes before Matt rolls into the driveway. Wendy & BIL roll in about 6:00. Drinks and a fun evening ensue.

Until Saturday mid-afternoon our weekend contained nothing out of the ordinary – Matt made a couple runs to Harbor Freight to do a project that morning, the family got showered and ready, and when Matt booted the compressor they all took off to go meet the crew of peeps at our friend’s place.

Then it was just the two of us.

And I knew he was going to want to lie down for an afternoon nap so I had to tell him something.

“Do you love me?”

“Of course.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Okay, then you have 15 minutes to finish this project before you have to be in the shower.”

“I knew it! I knew something must be happening this weekend!”

And at 3:06PM on April 9 we were on our way to Chase Field. I took a weird route to throw him off. But it’s impossible to hide a ballpark. He started getting really excited. He knew there would be at least 3 people at the game because they left our house early.

I text Wendy to tell her we arrived.

We head to suite level and he about loses it because he never sat in a suite at a ballgame before. I text Wendy that we’re a few minutes out.

We arrive at Suite 5 and I tap then he enters the room…

Countless phones are up recording his reaction as 22 amazing people yell SURPRISE!!!!!

And let me tell you something right now. All the stress, panic, exposed nerve endings of the last couple months? TOTALLY worth it at the sight of his face when he scanned the crowd and discovered just who was there to celebrate him!

As the day wore on (into the wee hours of the morning with the after party back at our place of course) small bits and pieces of the planning and scheming were revealed but mostly it was a time where Matt could be with so many people he loves. People he doesn’t get to see all that often.

My work was done. He was pretty much over the moon. And as far as I’m concerned, that sounds so much more fun than being over the hill.

• • • • • • • • • • •
In addition to this drivel I also write books, both fiction and non-fiction.
Learn more on my author page.

Last Chance

Yesterday it occurred to me that I only posted eight times this entire year. Wow. As compared to 2009 when I somehow managed to write an entire 50k+ word novel (first draft) and post 125 blogs, it makes me wonder: how, exactly, did I spend my year?

And this is truly one of my favorite holidays. Because, not only is it perfectly appropriate to wax about that kind of stuff, most people allow a pass when a person goes on and on about their big goals and dreams for the fresh new year ahead.

Scrolling through Facebook this morning I came across a couple friends who posted this question list. I thought about it and as most of you fine folks who have been reading my blog for a while know by now, I’m a sucker for a good call-and-answer post.

What can I say? They appeal to my lazy side because someone else already did half the work.

And today feels like a good time to both be lazy and get in one final hurrah for 2015.

So here goes nothing.

Three names I go by (strangely, it was difficult coming up with the third one because after almost 17 years together I just realized my husband doesn’t even have a pet name for me. Well, at least not one he tells me to my face.).

1. Jenn

2. Flynn-Shon

3. Sweetie

Three places I have lived (wait, just 3? This would be a LONG list otherwise…)

1. Bahstin

2. LINY

3. PHX AZ

Three places I have worked (yet again, another potentially LONG list. But we were just talking about this last night so I’m going with the three I mentioned during our trip down memory lane.).

1. Victoria’s Secret

2. DMR

3. CHA

Three things I love to watch (this will be at least partially seasonally appropriate just because it’s that time of year).

1. Hallmark Christmas movies (#nojudgement)

2. Movies I know by heart (The Goonies, The Princess Bride, The Ref, Love Actually, etc.)

3. My friends make drunken fools of themselves (just kidding. No I’m not. Yes I am.)

Three places I have been (again, I have talked about travel before, and again, and even one more time but those were all in the good old U.S. of A. So here’s three of my favorite international trips).

1. Amsterdam

2. Toronto

3. Ireland

Three things I love to eat (why are we only allowed to say three? Oh, right, because nobody wants to hear anybody ramble on for a week about the food they eat. Cool. I’ll keep it short and simple.)

1. Blue cheese stuffed celery

2. Cheesecake with cherries

3. Scalloped potatoes

Three people I think will respond (I assume this is where you were supposed to tag people on Facebook to guilt them into filling out this stupid shit on their own wall, hence, filling up our newsfeeds with loads of posts nobody will ever read. Sorry, you get the extended version on my blog. Ignore at will!)

1. Her

2. Him

3. Those people

Three favorite drinks (not water) <-- (yes that was written in when I copied the quiz but fuck that, I refuse to let anyone tell me what I can and can’t say so suck it internet list writer people!).

1. Water

2. Coffee (made with water)

3. Peppermint tea (made with water!)

Three things I am looking forward to (in 2016 and beyond).

1. Reading more.

2. Writing more.

3. Laughing and loving as often as I can.

As usual, most of the things I look forward to in 2016 revolve around bettering myself and/or my career. I’m not calling any of these things resolutions, just goals to strive towards.

Whatever your goals for the clean slate known as the New Year, I hope you make the most of what you already have inside yourself and work towards all of them.

A little every day might not seem like much when you’re in the thick of it, but 366 days from now I bet you’ll be amazed at just how much you did accomplish in 2016!

Make it a safe and festive night everyone!

• • • • • • • • • • • 
Like short fiction? Get a brand new story every month (one you won't see anywhere else!) when you sign up for my newsletter Facts & Fiction. Make 2016 better. Do it now.

Happy VD!

Two weeks ago...

What we said out loud

Me: I think we should do Valentine's Day this year.

Matt: Okay.

What was really said

Me: Even after thirteen years together I like to keep you guessing.  Good luck with pulling this one off, buddy!

Matt: She can't be serious???  Well, that's great.  Guess I'm screwed...and I actually enjoyed being married for a while...

There have been a few reasons for not really celebrating holidays like Valentine's Day or our anniversary before.  And they're all my reasons.  As most of you know by now our inner personalities reflect very stereotypical dude/chick qualities.  Only I'm the dude.  Matt is definitely the more romantical one. 

He's the one who used to leave little notes saying how much he loves me for no real reason other than it was a day that ends in a 'y'.  He wants to hug me in the middle of the living room for absolutely no reason whatsoever on a Tuesday at 8:46 PM.  Whereas I rarely remember our anniversary or little things like wearing my wedding ring out in public sometimes.  He wanted "Into the Mystic" as the last song at our wedding, I wanted to be introduced to "Welcome to the Jungle".  Yeah, it’s like that.

I truly felt that if he wanted to give me a present he didn't need the freaking Hallmark Corporation telling him what day I was supposed to get it.  We're supposed to love each other enough to give fattening, expensive, high-pressure gifts all year long right?  It probably sounds like a cop out but I love him every day, he loves me every day.  We don't need to participate in the world's biggest "I don't know what to do but I have to do something so here's this heart shaped locket you've never mentioned you like" holiday to prove our love. 

So what the hell was going on with me two weeks ago?

Well, all kinds of stuff lately has just been swimming around and I caught a little bit of a romantic bug.  It kind of hit me how I used to be super gooey and squishy back in high school when I started pulling out old journals to work on my current zine series.  Jenn ♥'s ________ is all over the place.  No, seriously, like ALL over the place.  Sometimes I even crossed out the first guy and just re-wrote a new guy's name when I fell in love the next time.

"Yes its true what you have heard about me, I fall in love every time..." - Melissa Ferrick

To be fair, I'm not some cold bitch or anything.  No way I'm about to be evil to someone so openhearted, that's not my style!  I'm the one who grabs for his hand when we’re walking down the street; I like to surprise him too.

And surprise him I did two weeks ago with one little phrase about one little holiday.

I knew I wanted to do something kind of gag-gift related for him, but I wanted super squishy cards.  Our relationship isn't all about lace and frills (seriously, even he has limits, he's still a guy for goodness sake!) so there wouldn't be any of that going on.  I went out and picked up a bunch of hilarious stuff while he was in Texas at a work thing last week.

Not hilarious to the whole world type stuff though, everything was an in-joke between him and me type of gift.  I got him an Angry Birds fluffy pig, a pack of playing cards with trivia that have an image from "Saturday Night Fever" on them, and a travel mug that actually plays "Free Bird" through a tiny speaker in the bottom (among other stuff).  I knew he’d love everything because that’s just Matt. 

He cracked up at every single one of them.

Oh, yeah, and we exchanged last night.  Because that's another thing about me, I don't ever wait to open gifts.  Who knows what could happen in 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 months...if there's a gift in front of you why on Earth wouldn't you just go for it?!?

Matt waited until yesterday to go & buy my gift.  He couldn’t exactly be subtle about it or anything, as of this moment we only have a joint bank account and one car.  What was killing me though was that he wouldn’t even give a teeny hint what it was going to be.  On the way out the door we exchanged:

“It’s something you’d never expect from me.”

“Divorce papers?”

*Eye roll, kiss goodbye* “I love you, see you in a bit.”

“Drive safely, love you too.”

So then I was left alone to consider just what in the world he was going to get me.  Left alone for close to an hour.  Torture much?  I thought, maybe it would be a Kinect because we’ve been saying for a couple weeks how we should get one. 

But that just isn’t Matt’s style. 

But he said I wouldn’t expect it from him.

But even still, he wouldn’t get me electronics on VD.

When he got back my mind was spinning but also I couldn’t wait for him to open his gift.  Like I said, he loved them, and I was so happy he did.  And to be honest I was relieved that I’d suggested it then pulled off a totally successful Valentine’s Day for the first time in probably 8 or more years.  Again, like I said, I am in touch with my inner-guy-ness.  I was nervous.

Then it was time to open mine.  He handed me an envelope with “I love you :-)” on the front and I could feel it was a couple pieces of paper.

“Wow.  It really is divorce papers.”

*eye roll* “You’ll like it I promise.”

He didn’t get me a card but hand wrote me a super cute note that will go in my Matt’s notes over the years scrapbook and I unfolded the other piece of paper; the one that matched the cloudy looking yellow envelope.  All I saw was Divinity Tattoo.

My jaw dropped to the ground.  Suddenly, him saying in his note that there’s something I’ve been talking about doing for a long time but haven’t yet, made complete sense.  It was the best damn Valentine’s Day gift this girl ever could have received!

For a while now I’ve been carrying around a drawing that encompasses some very important stuff to me personally.  It is super rough and all but absolutely exactly what I want an actual Artist to recreate into something out of this world good for my first ever piece of body art.

“Wow buddy, you’re brave.  Cause really, nothing says Valentine’s Day like buying your wife some pain.” – Chick in the tattoo shop

I can’t freaking wait.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

As of this very moment Matt is sitting in the living room, waiting for me to come out so he can open his gifties.  I cheated and already opened most of mine.  Which I pretty much do every year so it isn't any different this year.  But for some reason he wanted to wait until Christmas morning.

I just wanted to get a jump on writing out thank you cards...

Okay that's a half lie.  Sometimes I just open the presents whenever I want.  So there.

Anyway, don't want to torture him any longer so I'm heading out but before going I really wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy, super Merry and joyful Christmas day!  And if this isn't the holiday you personally celebrate then I hope whatever that one is/was becomes the most awesome of celebrations too!

Its unlikely I'll be back over before the New Year as we're going to have some out of town company over the turn of the calendar so while I'm at it hope everyone enjoys their New Year's celebrations too.

This year I resolve to pay no attention to anything that sucks.  People, places, things, etc.  I only want to put focus on the best of stuff in the world and see where the ride takes me!

Enjoy the last few moments of 2011 everyone...bring it on 2012...

Love ,
Jenn (& of course Matt)

PS If I've disappeared lately its for two reasons...

This:

And this:

After the New Year I'll share all the details about both I promise!

A Picture of Your Favorite Day

Totally chintzing out today and posting the shortest post ever for the request. Way too busy to be stressed about that though so as the brief explanation, not that you really need it if you know me, my favorite day is in fact my birthday!

Hey, it’s the anniversary of the day I popped out; if I never popped out I couldn’t have a favorite anything, so it seems quite appropriate.

That's me and my grampa Steve.  Not exactly the day I was born but pretty close to it!
Hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday and cheer on the Bruins tonight for the win in the first round of playoffs! Yea!

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Catch up on anything you missed  30 Photos, 30 Days
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Summed Up By The Beach Boys

Wouldn’t it be nice
If I had posted?
Then you wouldn’t have to
Wait so long…

Ah yes, the soothing and inspiring sounds of The Beach Boys will help me get through a rainy and gray day here in the northeast. I’m not complaining though, it has been sun shiny and mostly spring like beautiful for the past few weeks. Hence, why no one has read a word from me over here.

I love spring because people start coming out of the woodwork, me included, and it makes me so happy to see the temperatures start going back up. But it always means loads of stuff sneaks into the calendar and time flies by in the blink of an eye!

Since we last caught up I have:

Gone to a Bruins game & watched them lose (although they barely scraped by into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth and then promptly lost game 1 last night, boo.). Been given an opportunity to sit right behind home plate at a Sox game (and my fingers are crossed that Tek will catch that game!). Was offered a chance to fly somewhere I really want to go for free (feeling like a rock star!). Donated a wall finish to the Driscoll School auction and started discussing options with the winning bidder. Finished the manuscript for Ripple the Twine and handed it off to my first “feedback editor” for advice (which was mostly positive, surprisingly). Celebrated with Bridgete & some seriously cool peeps for her birthday in grand fashion (read: latest night I’ve been up since I was 27 lol). Began a hardcore workout routine (summer is right around the corner, yikes!). Went fishing for the first time in like 15 years with some old and close friends (and as always with them, hilarity ensued). Made plans to see or visit some of Matt’s closest friends who live far away. Became a contributing Editor to the EcoEtsy blog as a co- News and Views contributor. Celebrated Matt’s birthday in the North End with my Mom. And who knows how much more; busy, busy!

We got our tax refunds from both state and federal and, as promised to ourselves, they will be used not for bills (as we have done many years) or savings (as we have also done many years) but to purchase a new laptop for Matt and a used drum kit for me. My neighbors won’t have to worry though, my freaking fabulous drum instructor has taught me the power of the towel so I will be able to deaden everything. He also gave me the names of a couple resellers in the area so within the week I’ll be able to fling the sticks onto something more than the electronic kit or drum pad. I can not wait!

Speaking of drum lessons…I am actually getting better which is inspiring to me! I try to practice, or at least stay loose with Rock Band, every day and it has really made all the difference. Independent limb is starting to show in a more prominent way and I’ve been able to get comfortable enough to do fills between measures. Awesome! My instructor continues to be the most patient and wonderful teacher ever. No real dreams to ever play live or anything over here, it’s all just for a fun hobby I can do to tune out the world, but if I had those aspirations he would certainly be the guy I would want to have in my corner!

So that’s the skinny from my little cyber neck of the world. I hope to get back to regular posting again but who knows. And I’m not beating myself up over it, I still love reading everyone’s updates as often as I can get there even if I don’t comment I’ve been keeping up with everyone’s laughs & smiles and everything in between!

Have a great weekend and (most likely) a great month everyone!

Rhyme for the Summertime

I am supposed to be getting off my ass and out the door to go and drop off this library book before they close and I end up owing money for the privilege of having had this book for too long even though I could not finish it.

Instead of showering I sit here at the computer furiously typing on keys, misspelling a thousand words that Word automatically fixes for me, with a film on my still un-brushed teeth and I scratch at the seven huge red welts that mosquitoes decided to leave not on an arm but my right ass cheek last Saturday night while I spent my time laughing and enjoying the fire and company instead of paying attention to pesky things like bugs.

(There’s the run on sentence I’ve been looking for! Nice.)

It just doesn’t matter to me that everyone says not to scratch the bites or they could pop. They are itchy and itches should be scratched. Besides, the jiggle in that general vicinity will be a nice camouflage for any scars that might rear their ugly head. For now anyway.

Inspiration to write the book I have had in the works for a while suddenly hit me again this morning like standing on the third rail Inbound and I am taking full advantage of it all day if I can. Owing the dough to Arlington public library would be totally worth it.

G. Love and Special Sauce is playing on iTunes right now so I will recognize a song or two tomorrow night when my mom and I take in the Gratitude Café Tour. I have never seen those guys live but their groovy, lazy funk makes me want to slide; hopefully mum can appreciate the bluesy slop that is this band. Should be an interesting evening; no doubt there. Expect concert calls. Especially those of you I completely neglected last time!

Plus they are keeping me upbeat while I write this somewhat down character. I might have to start on the final third of this book and back fill pretty soon, it is getting tougher to write her without taking some of it in and then it takes me days to shake it off. I wonder if this is how actors feel at the end of a role.

That’s pretty much the reason I’m taking a break to write this too; mental break required. Unfortunately with that comes lots of random purging so I really apologize because this probably shouldn’t get posted until Thursday for the broken thought process madness. But it’s my blog and I’ll post what I want to. That’s just how my mind is flowing today; so be it.

We are in pretty good seats for the show tomorrow, stage left, section 1 row N. Who knows where that means we’ll actually be in proximity to the stage this time. After Hershey I will just leave it all up to the fates of concert going fairies and enjoy the grooves no matter where it is.

I wonder if I will have time to put my ‘Gangsta’ bumper sticker on my car before heading down there tomorrow? For those of you who know the song, do you think that is just too much irony putting a bumper sticker that quotes a song about a bike, onto a car? Hmmm. Have to think on that one.

After I forced myself to hit the road and complete everything (yeah, hi I’m back now), I got this additional burst of physical energy so it was all about aerobics and Pilates when I got home. I turned off the air conditioner so it would get really hot in the living room and it was just the thing I needed. I have already drunk in water the 3 bottles I likely sweat out while working out. The workout is a tough one, very intense, but that quote from Clueless kept me going:

“It will get better, just as long as we do it everyday and not just sporadically.”

So Trader Joe’s had these recoculously huge and delicious looking blueberries the other day in, I think it was, a three pound container. I was thinking some would have to get frozen so they didn’t go bad but yeah, not so much. I am more than half way through them already. They are perfect and oh so yummy! I love summer.

The reason for the party last weekend (and subsequently ensuing bright red bug bites) was my best friend S was throwing a surprise 40th birthday party for her husband B. What an awesome day! He totally knew, but pulled it off for months that he didn’t, and we all had a blast.

His parents and one of his best friends (and his wife) came up from Maryland and his brother and kids came all the way out from San Diego to be there for him. Not to mention the local slew of friends,. Family and co workers who were all happy to share the day.

After the planned event it was time for drinks and ‘smores back at their place in the back yard. Mosquito bites notwithstanding it was just what we all needed.

This weekend wrapped with my nephew T’s 3rd birthday party at my sister in law’s place. Almost as many people, well if you count the insane number of kids who were running around. Highlights of the day included the twins getting in the recycle bin, blowing bubbles after everyone else went home and of course decorating our own cupcakes. Oh yeah, and Uncle Matty’s special margaritas that I think M & I took more advantage of than anyone.

So the week will once again begin to fly as I hopefully get a haircut tomorrow, go to the show and then start Phase II of the painting job in the western part of the state. That will roll on into next weekend too so please don’t mind if I am an absentee blogger or commenter for a while.

Life just has to flow with the go every once in a while.

Happy Father’s Day

It feels appropriate to wish a very happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there in this great big world. Being a dad is a great thing, to enjoy time with your kids and share the everyday joy and beauty of their growth is something very special. Taking time to appreciate all the little things they do and recognizing that they are an awesome part of this big world will cause them to grow into wonderful people!

Take time to give your favorite dads a big hug and kiss today and thank them for all they do for you and others!

This is my dad…

This Polaroid was taken on Christmas about twenty three years ago. The bench, or stepstool, is what I gave my dad as his gift that year. I had made it in wood shop at school and from the moment I started it I knew it was going to be for him. My dad has been a carpenter / craftsman / contractor just about my entire life and I was very nervous that he would appreciate this gift. He loved it and could not stop hugging me for it.

I will be hugging you back a little later today dad. I know you don’t read this but it still seemed like the right thing to do to say happy Father’s Day and I love you.

Happy Father’s Day to all the awesome dads out there, you know who you are!
♥love♥

The Little Things Count the Most, Always

The end of another calendar year draws near and it always causes me great nostalgia for just about everything from friends, new and old, family, living and passed on, and places, those I have been to and those I intend to see in the upcoming year. Aside from my birthday New Year’s Eve is my all time favorite holiday and the night is always memorable; the fact that most years I shed a little tear for the passing of the calendar is purely tied to my heavily reminiscent personality.

My mom used to have a big party every New Year’s Eve, the house was filled with her friends and it was the one night we were allowed to stay up late if we could make it; my earliest memories of Saturday Night Live are attached to one of those parties. One year, back in high school, four of us from the gymnastics team decided to get dressed up and go out for Italian food and when I went to shake cheese on my ravioli, the top came off, which prompted all of us to laugh the entire night. Another year, my best friend had some of her college friends come up to party and we all got hammered on champagne right in the middle of the street at the Boston Harbor as we watched the fireworks with about 200,000 other people. As the clock ticked over to the highly hyped Y2K I gained some geographical space in North Carolina with a friend, her husband, sisters and other family and as soon as the lights did not actually go out forever we all passed a joint around.

As I get ready to celebrate moving nine years into the new millennium, things in my life have changed dramatically but one thing remains the same -- I never spend New Year’s Eve with people I do not love. If the year to come is a reflection of the way we rang it in then I certainly want to be with the people I love, doing exactly what I want to be doing at that moment. In recent years, with the exception of a very blurry memory of a visit to my sister’s a couple years ago, Matt and I have generally spent the evening with S & B; we have dinner, chill at their place, pop champagne at midnight, hug all and kiss our respective other half and end up falling asleep at approximately ten after twelve. With them having four month old babies this year, who knows if any of us will even make it to see the clock tick over.

This past year was up and down, back and forth but so many shades of grey in many areas of my life so I have been thinking back to New Year’s Eve last year and trying to remember how I spent the time as we rang in 2008. The four of us toasted to change and growing families as well as friendship and bonds that will never be broken. This got me thinking about new people in my life, how giving and kind they all are and how so many things can change from one year to the next.

Over the past year I have met some amazing people through blogging and even though we are all very different people when it comes to age, gender, rearing, religion or writing style the common thread is that we all enjoy supporting one another’s achievements. I have met two wonderful gals outside of our little virtual world, Trayce and Bridgete, and I suspect that everyone else is just as fantastic as these two gals because, frankly, I do not surround myself with people who suck. (Yes, I stole that line from my sister but it is rare she finds time to read my blog anyway so it is likely she will never know it. And if you do, thanks Wendy.)

One new friend, Rose, was so generous recently and sent me this beautiful Christmas ornament that she hand painted just because, what a thoughtful gift! I do not have a tree so it is dangling from my candle holder instead.

Ginger was kind enough to mail me a box of henna hair color after I mentioned thinking about giving it a try (I am still a chicken right now but someday…).

I do not know what the future holds but I do know that this coming year is sure to be full of great times and adventures, family, best friends, writing, selling, new friends, creativity and exploration but most of all a heaping pile of gratitude for how far I have already come. Ringing in 2009 in two short days I plan to toast to new adventures and amazing success for everyone I know and love. Have a safe and happy New Year everyone.