Rodeo Weekend!

It was rodeo weekend here in Auburn as the Wild West Stampeded rolled into town. As most of you know, four years ago before Mason was even two he decided he was going to ride bulls. As dutiful parents we advised him that he had to ride a sheep first however, he had to be four to be allowed to participate in the Mutton Bustin events. When he was four, we registered, dressed him up, and when it came time to actually ride the sheep Mason cried, "I want to watch the bulls from my seat. I don't want to ride the sheep!" Needless to say, I didn't make him ride. Last year he asked if he could ride and I said no. As the rodeo approached this year, Mason informed me that he was ready and really wanted to ride the sheep. I initially dismissed the conversation as big talk, but he persisted. The morning of the event, he was up at the break of day, dressed and ready to go. Dave and I still sleeping, Mason was standing by our bed and Dave told him, "Mason, if you don't ride the sheep, you don't have even a chance at winning the buckle and even if you do ride, you still might not get it." Mason's reply was, "Dad, I'm gonna ride that sheep. I'm older now, I'm gonna do it." Do it he did! This was my first moment as a mom that I was so proud! I've been proud of Mason before, but not like this, this was the first time Mason accomplished something I know he really wanted to do. I'm proud because he overcame his fear and followed through.

The rest of the weekend was equally wonderful. We barbecued with friends, got some work done around the house, and all-in-all, just thoroughly enjoyed a gorgeous weekend at home. Looks like Old Man Winter will be back this week and in true springtime form, it will be warm again this weekend. I hope you had a weekend as fun-filled as we did! Here's some food for thought this week if you have something you want to overcome.

"You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind."
- Dale Carnegie

Work! Work! And More Work!

Happy Day!

The sun is shining but there is rain on the horizon. It's been a busy week and the weekend was equally full. Dave had drill this weekend so for him, it's been on continuous work week. It makes me chuckle as I write that because even though the week is broken up into different kinds of activities, it seems to me that the work never ends. If it's not Monday through Friday get-paid work, it's house work, school work, yard work, or ZBG work! Do you know what I mean?

Good news on the glove front, we placed our inventory order for the 2010/2011 season and even in this down economy, we are showing more than 100% growth! Last year we ordered a total of 900 pair of gloves. This year, 1950 pair! I'm very excited and hopeful that some of our other irons in the fire will turn that number over a few more times. See, you can make it happen if you just keep on making those calls, even when the answer is no (and can I just say, I don't don't take no for an answer very easily!), revisit the conversation with a different question! I know a couple of you out there are pursuing entreprenuerial endeavors, how's it going? Write back and tell me...John S? Dahlynn? Ernie?

Being that it's Monday and more rain and snow is on the way, get out and do something today to enjoy the sunshine and plan a good indoor activity for later this week. With this plan, you can be present enjoying this very moment and have something to look forward to!

Happy Monday!

Unsettled Times

I love springtime! It's this wonderful mix of rain, sunshine, snow, hail, fog, and wind. It's an incredible metaphor for our lives right now, all over the place!

I've been so busy juggling all my responsibilities that my days are blurring. I wake up in the morning and it takes me a moment to process what day it is and am I late. The good news is, I'm sleeping so deeply that I have to wonder what day it is and am I late! It's no secret that times are tough for all of us, but now more than ever it's important to make time to do something, anything that makes us happy. One of those things for me is writing and I know I'm getting overwhelmed when a Monday Motivator doesn't go out and I don't realize it. I know you are all over-busy because for the first time in more than ten years, not one of you asked me why you didn't get it! So I'm writing...the Monday Motivator, my Intentional Winning in Life blog, and as a Lifestyle expert on Amilya.com (you can see my current article here http://www.amilya.com/experts/bullies-and-respect/) What are you doing in these tough times that you love?

I firmly believe the old adage, that which doesn't kill me makes me stronger. I also know that as my dear friend Zelda says, "Tough times don't last but tough people do!" I don't know how much longer these tough times are going to linger, but as long as I have my family and all of you, I'll be just fine!

Happy Monday!

It's Too Late For An April Fool!

It's April 5th so there'll be no fool'n ya'll! What the heck? I don't know, I woke up feeling silly and this is what you get! Take it for what it's worth...go out this week and play, be silly, laugh, and have a ball! It's the best advice you'll get all week and you can tell 'em I gave it to you!

Truckee Was A Blast!

We arrived in Truckee on Friday and Mason and Kyle got off to a great start playing in the snow.
Building an igloo or snow fort is always a good thing to do. I went out to look at it and when I looked inside I said to Mason, "There's a rock in there." He said, "No mom, it's just a hard spot. We'll dig around it." Laughing! A rock or a hard spot? Same-same. I say despite the six year old drama we're currenly dealing with, he is an optimist at his core..."We'll just dig around it."

We grilled sausages while the kids played in the snow. That grill mounts onto the back of Greg's truck. Sweeet!

Dave and I slipped away to North Shore Lake Tahoe for a little bit of cuddling and kissing on a winter beach! Okay, it's not really a winter beach as much as it is a beautiful beach in the winter...and come to think of it, it's no longer winter!

GAMES! The kids live for this part of the Truckee house!

We taught Kyle how to ski and Mason just keeps getting better. Lisa L. spent some time on the slopes with both boys and I'm so grateful! She's a great teacher! "Spread the peanut butter!"

The Garcia's homemade cheesecake with Dave's apple-cherry pie filling on top. The whipped cream goes without saying!

Just another ZipperBack Kid!

The best part of the weekend...magazine, slippers, hot tea, in front of a fire! Happy Monday!

Happy Spring!

Happy Spring!

Yep, it's official, springtime is here. It's been gorgeous outside. Mason and I made the most of the sunshine and got to work outside on several projects. We brushed the rust off the outside fireplace, gave it a fresh coat of black paint, and cleaned it out so it's ready to make S'mores. We also repainted an outdoor patio set I picked up last fall. Can you guess what color we painted it? Go on, take a guess! I have to recover the seats and find a table-top, I would love to have a piece of stone of some kind, but that's proving to be challenging. I went to Home Depot to see if I could order a piece of counter top material but they told me no. Holy cow! Really? I also went to A&A Stepping Stone and found a beautiful piece of ocean slate. It needs to have the edges ground to smooth them out and I don't know what kind of labor intensive project that will turn out to be. Then if that works out, I need to have the holes drilled for the screws and hope that the stone doesn't break. Sheesh! So close and yet, so far. In any case, it will be gorgeous when I finish it, I'm certain of that!

Mason got a sleepover invite so that meant "Free Babysitting!" I dropped him off at 4 PM and went right to the nail salon where I got a pedicure. From there, I did some shopping at Old Navy (30% off everything!), met Lisa Leis for dinner and then we went to see The Bounty Hunter. As the night was wrapping up and I was happily reflecting on my girls night out, I got the perfectly timed call that Mason wanted to come home. All in all, a great night!

So now we head into a new work week and I'm sure my lists will be long. I'm energized though because we had a wonderful weekend and that always makes it easier to go back to work. One day soon, I hope to be doing work that I look forward to doing and in essence, it won't be work at all! Happy Spring!

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain

Happy St. Patrick's Day