Birthday Bliss

A familiar theme of mine is to pamper yourself whenever possible.  Life is hard; life is short; you deserve it!

With that said, last week was my birthday.  And I decided that another rule of mine is to NOT work on my birthday.  So I took the day off and filled it with some of my favorite things!

I started the day off with a massage.  As I have talked about numerous times before, for me, there is no greater relaxation than a massage.  It is the ultimate escape for an anxious stress freak, such as myself.

Thank you, Alison, for my perfect massage on my birthday!

Hubby sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers:

Thank you, hubby, for my flowers.  I love them!

And a homemade bouquet from daughter B:

Thank you, my creative daughter!  I love it!

Next up was a shopping trip to Barnes and Noble with my three daughters.  They have a love of reading which they picked up from their grandmother and me.  I love the escape that books offer.  And my one daughter is absolutely addicted to books; she would be happy if she could read all day, every day, and not have to do anything else.

Here we are at Barnes and Noble.  I absolutely love this bookstore, not only for all of their books, but also for all of the inspirational gift items.  I am a lover of quotes, and Barnes and Noble has many, amazing quotes printed on magnets, plaques, and bookmarks.  *sigh*

My favorite genre - Romance, of course!

My youngest enjoying the children's section.

My older two checking out some games (my book lover already has 4 books picked out).

Next on the agenda was dinner with my mom, followed by dessert at a yogurt place.  After pigging out for two hours, we finally headed home at 8:30 pm.  Unexpectedly, my two neighbors were there waiting for us with cupcakes and ice cream!  And yes, we all proceeded to have a second dessert...it was a celebration after all!

Delicious gluten free cupcakes from Trader Joe's!

Officially Another Year Older,
Me

Motivational Moment:

Today's moment is one of Life’s Little LaughablesTM:

The following conversation occurred the day after my birthday with a friend from work:

Me: I strongly believe in spoiling yourself on your birthday and doing something you enjoy.  What is that saying ...?

Her (excitedly yelling as if she were on a game show): KICK THE BUCKET?!!

Me: NO! That is NOT what I was thinking.  I do NOT want to "Kick the Bucket", particularly ON my birthday.  I was thinking more along the lines of "Seize the Day" and checking things off of my bucket list on my birthday.  But thank you VERY much for your suggestion.


Make it a point to pamper yourself whenever you can, even it is something small and quick, like sharing a laugh with a friend. And always take care of you.

Peace and Love,
SG

A Beautiful Day

Today ended up being my perfect kind of day. (I love it when days end up exceeding expectations...I think the key here, is that I really didn't have any expectations...or big plans.)  The 4th of July is definitely becoming my favorite holiday.  A day off from work.  Leisurely hanging with the family.  Weather was mild and pleasant: temperatures in the 70s, beautiful sunshine, light breeze, gorgeous sky.  My idea of perfect weather.

 
I live in a small town that has a 4th of July parade in the morning followed by a festival in town. Then we go back home and just relax for the middle part of the day.  We have the parents over for dinner (grilled hamburgers and hot dogs) and then we end our day with fireworks.

There was a beautiful sunset...

and an awesome fireworks display.

Enjoying the Moment,
Me

Motivational Moment:

Life is what happens in between our plans.  May you enjoy your downtime.

Daughters, Books, and Quotes

It's all relativity folks.  When I looked at my last post, which was over a month ago, I laughed since I thought I had it bad in the month of April.  The month of April was just a really, crazy, busy time at work. The month of May was much more damaging to my psyche.  (And let's not forget that the month of May is a notoriously bad month for me, as described here: End of School Year Insanity Link.)  But this past month of May added fuel to the already raging fire.  I was hit with two big surprises at work, at the same time, and let's just say they were not of the good kind.  And then last week, we had a tragedy of the purest sense: a co-worker died in a motorcycle accident. He was a very kind man, a very hard worker, and he will be greatly missed.

Moving on to a much lighter topic than death (which, isn't pretty much everything a lighter topic than death), I wasn't feeling well this morning (lingering stomach flu issues); I actually cancelled my massage, which is shocking in and of itself.  I spent most of the day laying around reading a book that my twelve-year-old daughter highly recommended: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It is a fiction book, (which the author emphatically states a couple of different times) about kids with cancer.  As you can expect, I sobbed several times during this book, but the book is written very well (obviously, since a movie was made from it).  Reading this book prompted two blog-worthy notes (well actually there are many topics I could delve into from reading this book); however here are today's two:

1.  I truly love the fact that I have a twelve-year-old daughter who is recommending books to me, and I actually, really like them.  They have deep meanings, fabulous quotes about life (and I love quotes!), enjoyable sarcasm and wit, and are just wonderful reads.  It was a moment of pure enjoyment for me. I am seizing the day and enjoying this time in my life with my daughters.

2.  The second reason was a quote in the book that I just loved!   "What a slut time is.  She screws everybody."  True.  So very true. (I could also add that Death is a Bitch!)  One of my family's favorite TV sitcoms, The Middle, also had a quote about time that resonates: "The days go by slow, but the year's fly by."   There never seems to be enough hours in a day.  Ever.  And Death just pretty much sucks.  Enough said.

Ever the Optimist,

Me

Motivational Moment:

Alright, so I have to turn the negativity around from my 'time and death rant', so here goes:

May you enjoy the time you have here on earth.  May you find little things - or big things - that make you laugh or smile every day. May you enjoy the special moments that each season of your life brings you.

Peace and Love,
SG

Unexpected Beauty

This past Saturday, I was having a crabby morning, coming off of a crappy week.  Not only is work crazy for me this month, but I had to go to an earlier shift (since hubby got a new job) and trust me when I tell you that I am NOT a morning person.  And on top of all of that (or perhaps because of all of that) my joint pain has been very bad.  I know, blah, blah, blah...we all have our trials in life.  But humor me and allow me to call the month of April my Perfect Storm for stress.  With that said, I am still able to enjoy simple beauty that is around me.  I had to share my unexpected beauty of Saturday afternoon, which also brought to mind two other simple beauties I felt were blog-worthy.

Saturday, I had a massage scheduled for 12:30pm.  (I know - rough life!  But I always encourage all people to indulge in what brings them bliss, as much as they can, for their time here on earth!).  As I was saying, I was heading to the massage in a crabby mood (hubby and I were in a disagreement over a movie that he thought was acceptable for our children to watch and to which I couldn't have disagreed with more.).  But as I arrived at the spa, I remembered that I had referred a co-worker (I shall call him Kurt for this blog) to my masseuse (Alison) and he happened to have the appointment before me.  When I walked in, I saw Kurt right away and asked him how he liked his massage.  He said he loved it and would definitely be coming back again.  This made me so happy since he had previously checked out a place I had recommended about 6 months earlier and did not have good luck. He, unfortunately, had a 19-year-old girl who was very new to her position and was not at all versed in the fine arts of massage.  I was worried that his first experience would scare him off massages (which I, of course, adore), but I am happy to say that he was willing to try another place.  So when he said he loved his massage and that Alison had done a great job, I was very happy.  This is not, however, the unexpected moment of beauty that I experienced that day.

Apparently, when Kurt was checking out, he had asked Alison which of the products I liked that they sell.  So she pointed him to one of my favorite Aveda lotions and he bought me one.  He then had them give me my unexpected gift at the end of my massage.  When Alison handed me the gift bag and told me it was from Kurt, it melted my heart.  I do not know Kurt very well.  We are more like work acquaintances then close friends. So the fact that he would buy me such an extravagant gift just for simply referring him to my masseuse, left me speechless and humbled.  He not only made my day, but he turned around my crappy day with his completely unexpected, but thoughtfully beautiful gift.  It put me into such a grateful and happy mood, that it immediately made me think of two other people who I thought were beautiful.

The first one is another co-worker, who had just turned in her resignation at work.  I talked with her to see what was going on and I ended up being humbled by her leap of faith as well as her love and dedication as a mom.  She has three children who all have different levels of ADD and one who also has OCD.  This child seemed to be struggling a lot lately and his doctor mentioned that home life has to be calm, consistent, and schedule-driven.  The doctor also said that children struggle more with maternal stress than paternal stress; she knew right then and there that she needed to quit her job and stay home with her kids.  I find her actions beautiful, full of love, and a complete leap of faith.  And I wish her and her family the absolute best in life.

The second observation was about my 52 year-old male friend.  He is married with a 17 year-old son.  This is not the demographic of a person whom you would think would want to watch the animated movie "Frozen".  Not only did he watch the movie on his own accord, he actually enjoyed the movie.  His exact words were: "Fantasy, magic, adventure, love...all the things in the books I read.  Such a great movie!"  I found this entire thing to be very cool.  Not only is he comfortable enough in his manhood to rent such a movie for himself, but he has such a depth of character to actually, truly, enjoy such a movie (and readily admit it!).  It's a beautiful thing.  (By the way, if you haven't yet seen Frozen, my three daughters and I absolutely love it!)

Enjoying the Beauty Along the Way,
Me

Motivational Moment:

Today's Mo Moment is another of Life’s Little LaughablesTM :

We were watching a comedy the other night and the term "lingerie" was mentioned a couple of times.  My twelve-year-old asked me why they were pronouncing that word wrong.  So I asked her what word she was talking about.  And she said: "laundry".  I laughed, but I could understand how she could make that connection.  The word "lingerie" does sound as if you are separating out the word "laundry".  What was not fun was trying to explain what lingerie was.  I think I would have preferred just letting her think they were mispronouncing "laundry".  ;)

May you find beauty in unexpected places each day!  ~SG

Life Observation 1.0

I am calling this entry a 'Life Observation' rather than a 'Random Rant' because the 'Rant' category falls under a complaint, whereas today's musings are merely bemused observations about life.

My family and I just returned from our Spring Break vacation.  We went to West Palm Beach in Florida to visit my sisters.  My bemused observation makes me think about Murphy's Law (poor Murphy).  The entire week before our trip, West Palm was sunny and 80 every day (as continuously reported to me by my sister).  The forecast for our week (7 days in advance) called for rain for the entire week.  I am happy to say that the forecast improved the closer we got to our trip; however it did not prove to be highly accurate.

On our first day, it rained all day (even though the forecast called for sunshine).  This was not one of those quick little rains that cleared up within an hour.  Nope.  It was gray and rainy, ALL DAY.  The second day was supposed to be nice, prior to a cold front moving in on Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday was going to be 80 and sunny.  And of course the following week was calling for 5 straight days of 80s and sunshine.


As mentioned, Day Two was supposed to be all sun; the plan was to enjoy our pool as well as get some ocean time in. Here was the sky as we left our condo and headed for the beach:

And here was the sky within 5 minutes of arriving at the ocean:

The walk to the beach was TEN minutes.  I could not believe how fast this storm moved in. So we grabbed all of our stuff and ran to a picnic shelter area.  I am happy to report that this was a typical, short-lived Florida storm.  Within 30 minutes, the sky cleared and returned to being a beautiful, sunshining blue.  We were thrilled that we were going to get our beach time in after all.

We walked back up to the beach, laid down our towels, set up our umbrella, and just as I was getting settled in to read my book, I kept noticing annoying little bugs biting me.  It was almost constant (certainly the antithesis of relaxation).  My husband didn't believe me because he was not getting bit.  Then he laid his white t-shirt on my towel and within seconds we saw a hundred tiny little brown bugs all over his shirt.  That was enough evidence for me to immediately high-tail it out of there.  Beach time over.

Apparently, we experienced an extremely abnormal phenomenon for the beach ... no-see-ums were everywhere.  Typically, annoying no-see-ums are not on the beach, they are usually farther inland (my sister says they are in the mangroves...and NEVER on the beach with the ocean breeze).  We found out that the weather pattern we just experienced came from the West (whereas typically the beach breeze comes from the East, off the Atlantic Ocean).  One cool thing about life...one is constantly learning new interesting facts.

Like I said at the start of this blog, this truly is not a rant or a complaint (I actually find it amusing).  I would not change a thing.  Escaping Ohio, after the brutal winter we just had, was a wonderful thing.  (And keeping in line with our winter, Ohio's spring break week brought unseasonably cold weather and snow almost every day.) 

So...I ask you...for the end of March...would you rather have a cloudy day with this view?

Or experience this view?

Enough said.  ;)


Bemusingly Yours,
Me

P.S. Ironically, a friend pointed out to me that our last family beach vacation (at Ocean City) was timed perfectly to catch the end of a tropical storm.   Hmmm...don't get me started on my luck with going out to dinner...

Motivational Moment:

1.  May you be happily surprised by cuteness. I LOVE the geckos that are in Florida. Absolutely Adorable!

2. May you get to experience the beauty of a jellyfish without experiencing the pain of swimming with one.

3. And finally, if you happen to go on vacation to a warm place and you unexpectedly experience a cold front, may there be a hot jacuzzi to warm you up and chase away your blues. *sigh*  What a view!

Unexpected Moments of Bliss

Every now and then, the stars align and you unexpectedly have a good night. This is particularly a beautiful thing when you are dreading the night to come.  Tonight, I 'volunteered' for my daughter's middle school spring dance party, which was an orchestra fundraiser.  Usually, it is my husband who fills in for these things because he is currently out of work, (his company closed 6 months ago) so he gets all of the kid running-around duties.  Typically, by the end of the work week, I am exhausted (aka falling asleep on the couch by 8:30pm).  Besides the usual end-of-the-week tiredness, this week had the dreaded time change, which makes morning come one hour earlier.  Now let me tell you, if you are like me and are not a morning person, then you well know how horrid this time change is.  Getting up at 6:30am is bad enough, but getting up at 5:30am is downright disgusting.  Anyhoo, I was not looking forward to tonight. And since hubby had a job interview, I had to leave work early and go to my 3rd graders dance party until 5:30pm and then had to be the ticket taker and door watcher for the middle school kids from 6:30 - 9:00pm.  Needless to say, after a long week at work AND the time change (AND cramps!), I was dreading my evening.

I am really happy to say that my evening was not only not horrible, but it was actually downright enjoyable.  My mom, who is 68 and absolutely amazing, had volunteered to work both parties (the elementary school party as well as the middle school party).  Yes - this woman constantly makes me look bad. She is the freaking energizer bunny; and yes, she is my hero.  I was watching her work the floor (as I was in my position guarding the door) and I realized how blessed I was to have her in my life.  She has endless love and energy for her family and for school functions (she is raising a granddaughter who is in 8th grade) and she is beautiful, on the inside and out.  She can seriously pass for a woman in her 50s, despite the fact that she is almost 70 (a positive aspect of her genetics I hope to inherit).

I realized my evening was actually becoming enjoyable as I found myself dancing and singing to the blaring popular songs being played by the DJ.  I also loved watching my twin 12 year-old's dancing the night away with their two bffs.  The innocence of youth is fleeting.  These girls will be graduating from high school in the blink of an eye.  So it was with a big smile on my face that I watched their little group of girls dancing all night, partaking in a hula hoop contest and a limbo contest, as well as being the last ones on the dance floor as the night came to an end.

As I was driving my daughters and their friends home and listening to their animated discussion and boisterous laughter, I was amazed at the sense of happiness that came over me.  It was a pure moment of bliss.  I wasn't exhausted.  I didn't have a headache.  My joints weren't killing me.  All was well.  That is until I realized the girls' conversation had drifted to talking about a certain boy. *SIGH*  It's only a matter of time until the drama of young love hits.  In the meantime, however, I'm happy to say that I treasured this cherished moment in time.


Carpe Dieming,
Me


Motivational Moment:

Today's Moment is one of my Life’s Little LaughablesTM :

Last night, as my husband was prepping for a job interview, I was telling him to say that he fits the job requirements to a 'T'.  Daughter B asked what that saying meant, so I explained to her that he fit the job description perfectly.  Then she said, well shouldn't the saying be that he fits the job requirements to a 'P' for perfect?  I thought that was a pretty good point.  :) 


Enjoy the ride my friends!

For the love of Love

I had to send a little shout out to ‘Love’ since it is Valentine’s Day.  In my recent ‘Art of Survival’ blog, I mentioned how much love drives the economy; it is particularly evident at this time of year.  Just think about how much money is spent at Valentine’s Day on cards, chocolate, flowers, and jewelry (makes me want to own a card and chocolate shop…but then I would probably eat all of my profits…*sigh*). 

Setting the economic facts of love aside, I have to agree with a line I heard in the movie Labor Day, describing the main character as “being in love with love”.  I get that.  I also am in love with love.  I love being in love.  I love seeing love around me.  I love Love.  Thus, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I wanted to send a shout out to LOVE by sharing some of the examples of love I have witnessed in the past few weeks from friends and family:

-      A young grandpa who takes his granddaughter on weekend adventures and truly loves his time with her;

-      An older set of grandparents who are watching a newborn for a close family friend; the love between the 3 of them evident in all the smiles amongst them;

-      A husband who takes care of his dying wife as well as his daughters, while working full time and keeping the household running;

-      A wife who happily takes care of everything from her 3 children to her household and dog, all while working full time because it is just who she is; she is truly full of love; she is always thoughtful and always willing to lend a hand;

-      A neighbor who steps in at a moment’s notice when needed;

-      A father who volunteers to coach his daughter’s basketball team; his loving nature evident in how he coaches all of the girls on the team;

-      A woman who loves shopping and shares her love with her family by spoiling them with gifts (her three nieces get so excited for their aunt’s big box of gifts for birthdays and holidays);

-      A sister making a good luck card for her younger sister’s first basketball game;

-      A mother whose adult daughters adore her for who she is and for all the love she has always shown them and their children.

These are just a few examples of love I have noticed in everyday life.  There are many more innocent, simple examples (such as a smile), as well as many more extravagant examples.  Love is all around us.  It really is what life is all about.  I hope you all love who you are – as you are – and you love others for who they are. 

I wish you all a life filled with love. 

Lovingly Yours,

Me

Motivational Moment:

I love ‘Love’ for what it is and what it feels like; however, if you need any convincing for just how good love is for you, here is an article that lists several health benefits of Love: Huffington Post Love Link

As always, Peace, Love, and Joy!  SG