A Few Updates

Just thought I'd quickly do a few photo updates while I'm thinking about it.

For Memorial Day we went up to Bear Lake and witnessed the largest bonfire I have ever seen. Z was so worried about going to watch. He kept saying he didn't want to get killed. Finally I realized he thought we were saying bomb fire. Yeah, I wouldn't be hip on attending one of those either.

Last weekend we went to the best 40th birthday party EVER! It was our friend N's and it was an 80s theme. As you can see the birthday boy came in his best David Lee Roth/Van Halen gear. It truly rocked.

And here is a picture of our awesome cat, napping on some random tiny little piece of something. In this case it is the reusable grocery bags I haven't returned to the car. Funny little creatures, cats are.

They boys and I are getting ready to head down to Cedar City for M to compete in the Utah Summer Games. I'm looking forward to watching my little karate kid compete in weapons form, kata and sparring. He's a tad bit nervous, but he'll do great.

A Week in the Life

So I did make it to Weight Watchers yesterday, barely. We woke up to one heck of a snowstorm. It is about time! I weighed in at 175.4. About what I figured. So my first goal is 6 lbs. for December. I want to be 169.4 on January 1st. Too ambitious for the holidays? I don't think so. It's just of matter of priority, and right now, decluttering my body is right up at the top.
This week has been filled with the mundane: school, work, karate, homework, cleaning, carpooling, etc. I finally got going and painted my kitchen ceiling yesterday. I took M and got some Christmas shopping done. Today I painted one coat of the yellow I am painting the walls. Already it looks so bright and happy. I know I'm going to love it. I moved some shelves downstairs to put the games in. My plan is to have one of my chrome restaurant style racks full of only dishes. I want to start using "the good stuff" all the time. Why the heck not?
R took the boys out sledding yesterday. It was quite a storm and they had a great time. I think I will take them out again tomorrow after school.
We went to dinner with some close friends that I just adore. Neither of us could find a sitter, so we loaded up the boys (they have 2 as well) and headed to a local pizza joint. It was a little crazy, but also fun. Sometimes I get a kick out of the madness that can be family life. I was proud of us, especially of R, for just going with the flow and having a good time. We went back to there house and just talked and enjoyed each others company. I had a really great time.
Today we decorated the Christmas tree. It looks really pretty. Every year I want to buy a new pre-lit tree and I then I can't convince myself to spend the money on it. And the past few years I have wanted to change my ornaments, but I just don't have the cash. Then I get it decorated and it looks so pretty that I don't really mind.
I'm sitting at the kitchen table overlooking the valley all blanketed with snow. The valley is clear (a rarity these days) and you can see all the way to the Great Salt Lake. The pine trees in my backyard are covered with snow and icicles. You really couldn't plan a prettier picture. It's moments like this that I am filled with gratitude and awe. It's these moments I need to remember when I'm frazzled and focusing on the problems.
I have just planned M birthday party and e-mailed to reserve a spot at the Utah Museum of Natural History. He wants to do a Super Sleuths party. It should be really fun. I've also designed our New Year's party invitations. I'm feeling a little more in control now. December is always a hectic month for me. Besides the normal Christmas craziness I also get to plan a New Year's party for a huge crowd, 2 birthday parties for my kiddos, come up with gifts for kiddos 2 weeks after Christmas as well as a gift for my mother, and plan spotlights for my kids at school. If I don't get a start early, I'm doomed. So I'm glad to have completed a few tasks.
So here's to another fabulous week!

Chance Encounters

I had such a happy chance encounter yesterday. I walked down to the school to vote and stood in the enormously long line and watched to women talking in front of me. I was thinking how cute one of the women's hair was and how stylishly she was dressed. I realized I had gone to school with the other one, but I didn't know her very well so I didn't say anything. After about 10 minutes I asked Z to go see if he could find his brother who was just finishing up his Spanish class. As I spoke, the lady with the cute hair turned to look at me, and oh my gosh! it was one of my best friends from about 5th to 8th grade, H. We both could not believe how long we had stood there before recognizing each other!

I've missed H. Our friendship was always interesting because we didn't go to school together after elementary. We'd be inseparable during the summer, then see each other less during the school year. She was a year older than me in school as well. I'd always worry when school started up that our friendship would end, but year after year it continued. But when she started high school I barely saw her. Then the year I entered high school she transferred to a private school and I honestly only saw her once after that. I always felt sad about it. Left behind a little. Logically I understood that we had just both moved onto new groups of people, and at the time I really didn't think about it much at all. But as time has gone by, I've realized how unfinished it all felt to me. I have a dream about her every six months or so and we meet up and are best friends all over again. Emotionally she was a huge part of my childhood. When she said she'd always felt bad we lost touch, it was like balm to a wound. Even if I never see her again, I would feel better going forward.

She had moved away for college and after she was married she moved away again. A few years back I heard she had moved back to town but I had no way of finding her. Her parents had moved and were unlisted. I didn't know her married name. Every so often someone, including my dad, would run into her, but no one ever had her number and I probably wouldn't have called anyway. I just kind of figured I'd run into her eventually. I could feel it coming for a long time. And then I did. I'm surprised it took so long. We know so many of the same people. She lives really close so I'm sure we are shopping at the same stores and eating at the same restaurants, etc. Her husbands older brother even dated a friend of mine for a long time. We just never met. Why? I don't know. But I'm so glad we did. It just brings some closure I've needed for a long time.

Do I expect it to be like the dream? BFF all over again? Of course not. But it would be great to keep in touch. Who knows what it will bring. But it certainly has made me very happy to have seen her and caught up for a minute.