Tumbles and Spills!

Happy Monday!

It's been a wild and crazy week. Spring break was anything but slow in terms of keeping busy and the wacky weather we've been experiencing. It's been hot, cold, raining, clear, and windy. I love this time of year because it's full of the unexpected! Speaking of the unexpected, Dave took a spill on the slopes on Friday and blew out his calf. Just what does that mean, blew out his calf? Well, I'm not completely sure but we'll know more when he gets back from another set of medical appointments today, and hopefully he'll have answers. I suspect that it's more serious than a simple pulled muscle as there is lots of swelling and I can see the pain on Dave's face. I'll keep you posted and hopefully I'm wrong about this being more serious.

The Auburn Rodeo was in town and we had fun though we had to modify our plans for the weekend as Dave was not in any condition to country dance. We went out and listened to live music both Friday and Saturday nights and though we didn't do much dancing, we had a really great time. Mike joined us and guess what? The Easter Bunny knows where you are when you are not home on Easter morning! The Easter baskets were beautiful and abundant - Fun! Fun! Fun!

As it is in life, we are rolling with the punches and doing the best we can with what we have. I hope your Easter holiday was as nice as ours was, full of love and family.

"Something wicked this way comes!"

"Something wicked this way comes!" I don't know what it is, but there has been a strange feeling in the air lately. It's entirely possible that it's just in my sphere of influence, but several complete strangers were noting something similar. I was in a fitting room in Nordstrom when the ladies in the fitting room next door were conversing about how communication was difficult and that the days energy was weird. Our neighbor shared with us about a pet tragedy in our neighborhood and the sighting of a bobcat in her backyard. The bobcat story was the most fitting to the way things feel, sort of like we are prey and we need to be very aware. I don't want to dwell on that which is dark, but I'm wondering, are you feeling any of this, too?

On a brighter note, we had a very productive and fun weekend. Dave had to drill, but event then we managed some quality family time. His unit decided to head out on Sunday and hike around Folsom lake. It was a breezy seventy-something degrees outside an just the epitome of a beautiful spring day. Saturday night Dave and I had a date night and walked downtown to see Endangered Species, an 80s cover band. Being out with Dave was fun and reminiscing about where we were and what we were doing in the 1980s was great. We are planning the final Poobah this year and since it started in the late 80s, we decided to send it out with that same theme. The planning has already been fun, although leg warmers in July may not be the best choice of a costume!

I'm hopeful this weird space will see it's way to the door and I can get back to feeling like the world is my oyster. For now, I'm trying to lay low and keep my mouth shut, you know us Sagittarius kids, we have a major propensity to put a foot in our mouths! If I keep my mouth closed, the worst that can happen is I end up with a fat lip! Laughing! Welcome to Monday - send me some good news!

The Perfectly Choreographed Weekend

It's never fun to be sick, and for me to be sick on Monday, well that's a double whammy! This is a bad week to be under the weather as we had such an amazing weekend and I want to share it with you.

We headed out on Friday after work to the bay area and landed in Campbell to meet Dave's mom for dinner. It's always fun to watch her and Mason laugh and play no matter where we are or what we're doing. From there we made our way to Alameda where we had an amazing day on Saturday. We went to the beach to fly kites and we had lunch at Quinn's Lighthouse (one of my favorite places!). While we tootled Alameda, Mason was full of questions. My calm, quick what's the right answer was put to the test. Question #1: "Why don't we give everyone who asks for money our money?" This lent itself to some not so loving remarks but the answer was that there are programs for people to seek help through churches and other organizations provided someone is not able to work. Mason still thought we should be more giving and willing to part with our cash. Question #2: "How do women get pregnant?" This question led to Dave taking a big bite of lunch filling his mouth rendering him unable to speak! A lot of help he was! My answer was very matter of fact, when a man and a woman are in love, they have sex (which Mason knows a little about, but I reminded him is a conversation we will have when he is a little older. As he says, "I know mom, it's not appropriate.") and this is how a woman gets pregnant. He then went on to ask if Dave and I are in love, why don't we have more kids. Well, that one I let go in the shadow of some silly comment by my helpful husband to which Mason replied with rolling his eyes and a look that screamed Dad! Don't be so immature! Finally, question #3 was in the car listening to the radio. The song, I Kissed a Girl was playing and Mason asked, Why would a girl kiss another girl?" I answered, "Girls sometimes kiss girls. People are just people and love who they love." He then went on to ask, "Do boys kiss boys?" "Yep, some do." I matter of factly replied. "Eww! That's weird." I reminded him that we heard a gay man speak about being bullied and I asked him if he thought it was okay to beat up a boy because he kisses other boys to which he emphatically answered, "No!" Thankfully, that ended the questions that challenge mom.

Dave and I had a date night in San Francisco that included dinner and the show Rock of Ages. What fun! I have tried all these years to get Dave to go to see shows with me to no avail. Clearly a show written around the music and hair bands of the 80s was what I needed. We had a ball. Mason spent the night with Uncle Mike on his boat and he had an equally great time. They went fishing, kite flying, sailing, they played pinball and went to Tuckers for ice cream. On Sunday, Dave played in a game tournament in Oakland while I went shopping in San Francisco with Lisa and Diana. It's safe to say that though we got home very late Sunday night, a great time was had by all!

I hope all of you are able to coordinate your schedules to include the people you don't get to see very often and make it all work as beautifully as we did last weekend. It's completely blissful when everything just falls into place perfectly! Enjoy the warm weather this week and I'll see you next time!

The Perfectly Choreographed Weekend Pictures

Persistence Pays Off

Here I am again, coming in under the wire! As I learn to accept that which I cannot change, I am okay with getting my Monday Motivator out under the wire.

School is going well, we are days away from wrapping up orders for ZipperBack Gloves third season, and the best news, the sun has been out and temps have been in the 70s. Add to this there is still tons of snow in the mountains for spring skiing! Whoo-hoo!

I'm going to leave you with a poem from one of Mason's books, Unstoppable Me! 10 Ways to Soar Through Life by Dr. Wayne Dyer. This is an amazing book for kids, but everytime we read it I get a renewed sense of what is possible, too! Yes, Unstoppable Me! (and you, too!)

#2 Persistence Pays Off!

When there's something in your life
that you want to do,
once you begin,
you must follow through.

It's not about talent
or if you are smart;
it's about never quitting
something you start.

Don't tell yourself,
"I can't," or dwell on mistakes;
patience and determination
are really all it takes.