151

TThe family that excercises together is one...that hopefully lives longer.

Went to the bike path with my husband and son today. Proud to say the 11-year old ran 2 miles! 

And oh, by the way, I'm only behind them  because after I ran my 3 miles, I jogged back to where they were so I could take the pic :).

It's gonna be beautiful tomorrow. So get out there with your family and be active!

Day 150

Ah...success. It's such a nice feeling. But it's made even better when grown from loss and hard work.

This time last year, our sand volleyball team was...well...challenged. We had fun, but we didn't win a lot of games. And although the bottom line was to have fun, most of us were competitive enough to want more.

So we practiced. And we talked more during the game. And oh yeah- we moved down a level into a lower league too. But, all in all, we really tried to be a team. Instead of just bumping the ball back to the other side every time, we started trying to do the traditional bump-set-spike.

Tonight, I am happy to announce, that our team won the league championship for our competetive level. What a sense of pride and accomplishment, especially after going through so many games where we just plain got our butt whipped. I am so proud of how much better everyone on our team has gotten, not just individually, but as a team too.

But the best part of all of it is the free t-shirt. I know, I know, you are jealous of my florescent orange t-shirt, but you can't have it. Nope. It's mine. I have the sand between my toes and every other crevice to prove it...

So tonight's pic celebrates perseverance, teamwork, and having fun. We are the Bad News Bears of sand volleyball- bring on summer league!

Day 149

Last year, I deemed myself the Tomato Goddess. I only grew three plants, and was overrun with tomatoes by the end of the year. I canned, cooked, diced, and gave away more Lycopene than you can imagine.

But it wouldn't have been possible without the kindness of someone else.

I had tried and tried for several years to grow tomatoes in my back yard. I tried them in the ground and in pots. I tried different areas of my yard. But nothing seemed to work.

A friend of mine's mother is an amazing organic gardener, and I told her my brown thumb woes one evening when we were all out shopping. A few days later, she presented me with over three pages of handwritten instructions on how to grow tomatoes.

Three pages. All about one kind of plant. No wonder I hadn't been successful- this was way more involved than I thought!

Although it was three pages long, it truly walked me through every step of planting and caring for the tomatoes all summer long. And you know me....I love directions and lists. So I dug and fertilized and planted.

And became the Tomato Goddess.

This year, I took it a step farther and planted tomato seeds. I wasn't sure if it would work, so I planted a bunch of them. Well... it worked, and now I am handing out tomato plants to whoever will take one!

Tonight I pulled out my three pages of Tomato instructions and copied them for a friend who I gave a tomato plant to. Her son is chomping at the bit to plant a garden, and can't wait to get his tomato plant in the ground. He started asking about what other kinds of things he could plant and grow. Of course, Fruit Loops were at the top of his list, and he was a bit dejected when he was told that unfortunately Fruit Loops do not grow on plants...

So tonight's pic represents passing the torch. And the art of growing tomatoes. If anyone else wants the magical directions, just let me know :).

148

On my way to a meeting at noon today, I passed by the front window of the hospital lobby. There, in the small rock garden directly in front of the window, I saw what seemed to be a new statue.

But then the statue moved.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that what I originally thought was a new decoration was in fact a peacock. Sensing more movement, I turned to the right and discovered three more were slowly walking around the front garden.

Now where in the heck did 4 peacocks come from?!

Can peacocks fly?

Do they live in the wild?

Do you think they escaped from somewhere?

These were all questions that floated around the hospital throughout the day, as the peacocks became quite the hot topic. The wife of our open heart surgery patient showed us pics on her phone that she had taken. One of the cardiologists hurried down the stairs to take pics as well. Staff and visitors alike clustered throughout the day to ponder over these four majestic birds.

When I left today around 4:30, the peacocks were still there. They seemed content and undisturbed by having humans so close by. It seemed to be two males and two females, and the females were laying in the shade while the males pranced around. People had even filled their empty styrofoam cafeteria containers with water and placed them out there. 

I smiled as I snapped pics for my blog, and a complete stranger started a conversation with me about them. There were two kids pulling their mon's hand to go over and look at them. And I thought of the patient's wife who got a few moments of distraction from what was probably one of the longest waits of her life.

Who knows how those peacocks got there. But it sure was neat. They were almost surreal, or magical, with their feathery tiaras and bold colored feathers. 

So today's pic represents how sometimes unexpected visitors can be a blessing, and the mysterious ways of Mother Nature.

Day 147

Some days it's the little things that wind up making your day.

After picking up the 11-year old this evening, I asked him what sounded good for dinner. He looked hopefully at me and asked, "Grilled cheese sandwiches?".

" I think there's leftover pizza in the fridge- would you rather have that?"

He didn't even miss a beat- "No".

 Grilled cheese sandwiches, huh? I would usually consider that more lunch-appropriate, but I really had no solid argument against bread and cheese.

"Sure". 

He smiled and actually rubbed his hands together in delight.

Not much later, I placed a square of toasted bread and cheese on his plate. He took one bite, closed his eyes, and declared, "you make the BEST grilled cheese sandwiches in the WORLD, Mom".

I don't know why, but that one sentence just made my day. My grilled cheese sandwiches are nothing special. I use Kroger-brand American cheese and margarine- whoo hoo. I doubt he has even had grilled cheese anywhere else but our house. But for some reason, my grilled cheese made the top of the list.

Many of us have that one thing our parents make that others just can't match. I like all sorts of chili, but my Mom's is the only true bowl of beans in my book. Hers was thinner than most, and to this day I just can't get ecstatic about a chili that is thick enough to double as a topping. And I have never found banana bread to even come close to hers.  except for mine, of course- but only because she gave me the recipe and taught me how to make it. When my step-son was preparing to leave for 6 months overseas, we had him tell each family member what he wanted us to make for his farewell party. Guess what he requested of me...yup. Banana bread.

So today's pic represents the culinary standards that are set for us in our younger years. Be it Grandma's fried chicken, Dad's chili, or Mom's banana bread. Hopefully, when the 11-year old is an adult and eats some fancy-schmancy grilled cheese at a trendy restaurant, he'll appreciate it for what it is,  yet think in the back of his mind that it's just not quite as good as Mom's.

Day 146

I enjoyed my day off work today. I went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, Tropical Smoothie for lunch, took a family bike ride, watched the 11-year old shoot his air soft gun for the first time, grilled burgers for dinner, and did a ton of yard work.

But several times throughout the day, I paused for a moment to give thanks that I was able to do all of the above.

As I get older, the significance and weight of our country's history bears more of my attention than years past. Having studied sociology and psychology a bit in school, I realize this is a rather normal thing for people my age. 

So as I lay in bed with my IPad, sunburn, full belly, and sore back, I pause one more time to give thanks. To soldiers, yes, but to so many others as well who sacrificed and lost so much so that I could live in a country that isn't perfect, but allows me to pretty much live as I choose. Thank you for going hungry so I could have a belly full of hamburgers and baked beans. Thank you for freezing in the snow so I could get a sunburn in my garden today. Thank you for walking miles and miles through a jungle full of danger so that I could ride a bike with my family today. Thank you using a real gun to do the unthinkable, so that my 11-year old only has to shoot BB's at a target and nothing more. And most of all, thank you for  selfishly giving the ultimate sacrifice, leaving loved ones behind, so that I can sleep in my bed with my husband next to me. Thank you.

Day 145

Most people have one or two ways that they relieve stress and/or just turn their mind off. Some like to pop those bubbles on packaging wrap. Others squeeze stress balls or do yoga. Before going to bed and in the winter time, I play Spider Solitaire on my I pad to turn my brain off, many times falling asleep cuddling my I pad instead of my husband...

But once it gets warm out, I pull weeds.

Yes, I also use Round-up at times, but there's just something about the manual labor of pulling weeds that I actually enjoy. It's something that I can put my whole mind and body into and pretty much zone out, digging and pulling with fervor. I use a huge screwdriver to help with the bigger ones with roots, a trick I learned accidentally years ago when I couldn't find the #$%*ing expensive weed puller tool I had bought.

And there's such satisfaction in the immediate difference pulling weeds makes. The garden goes from overgrown and unruly to  neat and orderly. It's a great upper body workout too, as well as a core and back strengthener- an afternoon pulling weeds will remind you of muscles you forgot you had the next morning!

So today's picture represents finding something that allows you to just turn it off for awhile. I planted some annuals as I went along today, which gave me twice the satisfaction as weed pulling alone. The only downside to this evening's session was that a HUGE (like as big as my head it seemed) spider crawled out of the hole I had just dug for a petunia- I jumped back and screamed like a little girl. I decided that was a sign that I should pack it in for the night. So much for stress relief...oh well. There are plenty more weeds to pull up tomorrow :).