Horsing Around

Song - In Spite of Ourselves - John Prine & Iris DeMent

Now for a little comic relief....

Correct Social Distancing from Horses

My youngest son Tyler dressed in a horse mask in Boonville, California.

I guess he wanted to make friends with some horses?

Twenty-four years strong

Song - I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz

It's Tyler's birthday.....twenty-four years on May 2nd.

Today!


Happy, happy Birthday Tyler.

See the joy in my baby's face?

He's still got it!



"You know you're getting old when you get that one candle on the cake.  It's like 'See if you can blow this out' " --Jerry Seinfeld

You know you're getting old when you get that one candle on the cake. It's like, 'See if you can blow this out.'
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_birthday.html#HPI1iuwLb5zLrITY.99

Birthday Party Time

 Song - Happy Birthday - The Beatles

Last evening we had a quadruple birthday celebration BBQ.

A very happy birthday to Tyler, Ashley, Tom & Barbara!
 
The weather was beautiful, the company divine, the food was delicious and the birthday's were celebrated with a few close friends. 

What more does one need?

Oh yeah....a martini....remember that martini I told you about last month when Mr. B and I were in Arizona.  Well, I decided it would be fun to greet people as they arrived with a "Summer Solstice Martini".  Mmmmm....so good!

So I thought I would share the recipe with you and see what you think?


SUMMER SOLSTICE MARTINI - Inspired by AZ88

• 2 1/2 ounces raspberry vodka
• 1 ounce Cointreau
• 1 ounce Rose's lime juice
• 1/2 ounce cranberry juice
• 2 ounces orange juice 
• Place in an ice filled martini shaker and give it a good shake.  Pour into martini glass and add a slice of orange.  Enjoy!

Hope you try it sometime this summer!

"I bought a piano once because I had the dream of playing As Time Goes By as some girl's leaning on it drinking a martini. Great image. But none of it worked out. I can't even play Chopsticks. But I've got a nice piano at my house!"  -- George Clooney

Lightness of Being

Junie-Maroonie - my niece

Last evening I got a text from my friend "J".  While we don't get together too often, when we do, it just feels like "home".  Neither of us are very "high tech" people but we can email and text and....oh yeah, sometimes blog!

Our text last night began over concerns about a mutual friend of ours who is in the hospital.  The evening ended in laughter and tears.  I'll tell you, there is nothing like a good ol' belly laugh to relax your body and remind you that you need to laugh.......and often!

Our waiter in Avignon (must of been my pronunciation of Diet Coke please!)

Here goes - typo's and all....


ME - Jill is doing great. I walked here up & down the hallway today!!

J - Great.  U walked the hallway or she did?

ME - Sorry.  I walked with her (Jill).  Up and down the hallway!
ME - Actually I probably needed the workout more than her!!!

J - Ok that makes more sense.  I thought u were proud of yourself for the walk!

ME - I am! ! !
ME - Thanks for the rose & dogwood info too!

J - Btw.  What's next on the schedule?  Nantucket, France ???

ME - I had to cancel my trip to France in June as Jon is graduating from Cal Poly on June 10th.
ME - When can the three of us get together?

J - January?  Maybe for a couple days-we can take over the apartment and plan our next trip.
J - Sh******, I need to buy and puck up my painting b4 Xmas.

Me - Okey dokey.  Let's book it!

J - Pick
J - Why r u so fast at this?  New phone?
J - U home for the holidays?
J - Forget what I just said "slow poke"!

ME - Yes.  We will be home.  And I will mail or

J - Or what?

ME - OK I was just trying to compose my message girlfriend!

J - Lol

Me - Is hubby helping you QuickDraw ?

J - What's that

Me - Or what is that I will bring it to PA.

J - Okely dokely
J - Let's check in next week

Me - Quick Draw mcGraw was a TV show.  And FYI I'm crying now because you crack me up!

J - R u drunk
J - Now that makes me laugh.
J - Are u skinny, medium, or fat?
J - I'm door #3 - fat.

Me - I just read our text to Jim and he is crying now too.  Good going!
Me - Me too...what will we do.  You are not Fat.  Just beautiful.
Me.  Next week.  Painting delivered.  Lunch?

J - What will we do?  Talk about our plan when I c u.

Me - I mean diet lunch?

J - Next week is BAD.  What about the following week

Me - Okey dokey.

J - Perfect.  Hi to Jimmy baby

Crystal clear.....right?

You know how when you are texting and the person responds faster than you can answer.  That's what was going on and we never really got in sync.

I think we will hook up eventually.

Maybe in Nantucket or possibly France......

Tyler at the Boadwalk - delighted to be "driving a car" with his big brother!

TJ & Jon - happy to be playful

Tyler laughing at himself for hamming it up for the camera

Paul & TJ - my nephews

Sweet, sweet Cal - my grand nephew

Jodi - my friend laughing at playing Canasta in Tahoe

Junie - Maroonie & Andy

My parents - Betty & Cal - happy to be at the World Series

Mark & Mr. B - (private joke) while boating in Tahoe

Me & Jackie in Paris

Even dogs have a lightness of being!! Especially if they live in Carmel!

“Laughter is carbonated holiness.”  ― Anne Lamott

Gobble Gobble....

Our son Tyler used to recite this poem to our family every Thanksgiving.

What a wonderful memory because he was so cute in second grade and because it was exactly how we all felt after our big meal.  

Happy Thanksgiving one and all. Hope you are enjoying time spent with your family and friends!

Ate Too Much Turkey

By Jack Prelutsky

I ate too much turkey,
I ate too much corn,
I ate too much pudding and pie,
I'm stuffed up with muffins
and much too much stuffin',
I'm probably going to die.
I piled up my plate
and I ate and I ate,
but I wish I had known when to stop,
for I'm so crammed with yams,
sauces, gravies, and jams
that my buttons are starting to pop.
I'm full of tomatoes
and french fried potatoes,
my stomach is swollen and sore,
but there's still some dessert,
so I guess it won't hurt
if I eat just a little bit more.

The Tortoise

That would be me...the tortoise.....very slow.  It took me 10 years to decide about how we would best remodel our house.  I clipped photos from magazines (thousands of magazines) and read book after book.  I checked the internet for updates on what appliances, windows, contractors, paint colors, flooring, cabinetry, design, to see what felt was right.  I checked to see if we were within our budget while still obtaining quality materials.    Maybe it's my metabolism but I feel like I have always been this way,  checking things out thoroughly before I put my toe in the water.        S....L....O....W..... (right mom?)

Tim & Jeanette at Tahoe cabin

My two brothers would try to get me to ski down "gun barrel" in our teens, at Heavenly Valley but NO, I was quite content to go down the bunny slopes and work on my turns.....for years!!!

I wasn't like that when I met Mr. B......I knew he was the one.  My friend invited me to a local baseball game....he was the catcher on an adult softball league.  Instantly I knew he was kind, had a good heart, was very interesting, sweet, handsome, funny, loving, and deep.  

I wasn't like that when I was ready for children....I think I knew that decision from the age of 4......but it kind of amazes me that I can feel in my soul that these huge decisions are right but I can take forever picking out the right vet for our dogs, or deciding on what plants need to go where in the garden, or what color to paint the kitchen.  

20+ warm yellow kitchen colors (there were 3 other walls with similar swatches!) - our patient contractor.......

Maybe some things are written in your DNA ...or in your soul.  Kind of like a bird knows when to make a nest, then sit on it and then (like our backyard Canadian Goose nest) she knows when to leave it because the eggs are not ever going to hatch. 

A Robin's nest

I hope all three boys grow up to be just like their dad! (Well maybe without the BIG glasses!)

 

Jon & Jim

 

TJ & Jon

Jim & Tyler

Tyler & Lily

Andy & Jim

Kayli & Andy

“Nature is slow, but sure; she works no
faster than need be; she is the tortoise that wins the
race by her perseverance.” -Henry David Thoreau,
naturalist and author (1817-1862)    

Landing on my Heart.....

Our Son 

And he truly is a gift...

My son, Tyler is 21 today.  I remember the day he was born.  His two brothers were sent off to his Aunt & Uncle's home for the night.   He was born in the early hours of the morning and I could not wait to announce his arrival. You have a sweet new brother, son, grandson, nephew, ...I remember the nurse weighing him and measuring him, then giving me the tape measure with his length noted on it. Today we have a mark in his bedroom closet that announced his desire to be 6'2 and a baseball fireball.  He achieved that!  The doctor that delivered him was not my regular ob-gyn, but a young new doctor that looked like he just parked his surfboard outside and had come in to deliver a baby or two.  I had had a brain aneurysm four years previous to Tyler's birth so I was a little anxious about the strain. But he was perfect ..... and beautiful...  
Tyler was the easiest going of the three.  I guess he had to be since his two older brother's schedules dictated what Tyler and I wanted to do...but we went to baseball, soccer, field trips and such while Tyler slept and he was happy to just be with his brothers....

Always a smile on Tyler's face and always a "will you marry me mom" along with a bouquet of flowers that he had picked from bus stop in grade school down the lane.  

Tyler - I am so proud of you and I love you ....always.... happy birthday....mom...

  from  Beth at "be yourself....everyone else is taken"
http://www.moredoors.blogspot.com/

....and

 he is

truly a gift.

but don't get me wrong. he has not been an easy child to raise these past few years.

 not even close......

when our son was little

 he was very agreeable to our way of parenting and his love for life taught us how to live.

but

by the time he reached high school.  well honestly there were days i wanted to lock him out of the house and wish him luck.

four years

of broken hearts. tears. frustration. yelling. silence. head shaking. door slamming. grounding.

finger pointing. sleepless nights. blurry mornings.

and

now we are here

with a son who is finally on a new path.  finding his way. making us laugh again. talking for hours with us. working full time. winning back the love of a sister who didn't like him for a long time.

and

oh was he ever sick this weekend

when your nineteen year old son needs you to be with him in urgent care

two days in a row

you know he really doesn't feel good.

and

as i sat waiting with him.  taking this photo on my phone that he didn't see.

in my mind

he was 3 years old again suffering from another asthma attack.

he was 5 having an allergic reaction to peanuts.

he was 8 and having his head stitched up after cracking it open on the side of the pool.

he was 12having his finger tips

super glued back together after a firework exploded in his hand.

after a multitude of tests. we  still don't know what is wrong.

and

 today he's better.

he's actually better in so many ways.

and

his love for life

which he never lost.

even when life was ugly

is still tangible

i can't tell you how nice it is to have  our son back again.