My posts stopped showing up on Facebook again so I need to see what’s going on.
Test for Stupid Facebook
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Project Optimism: The Terrace
Note: Photos to come.
Last July, yes I said LAST and JULY, our terrace, our little piece of the outside world in the city, was closed for construction. There was some notice about not being up to code and the work taking approximately 4-6 weeks to complete, depending on weather. We were going on vacation when the work was supposed to start so a week beforehand we shipped our plants and grill off to my in-laws’ house, thinking we would at least have it back for part of the fall.
This was not the case. Four weeks turned into ten turned into 16. Our bedroom windows were sealed shut with plastic for three and a half months. Summer turned into fall turned into winter turned into spring. From our windows we saw other lines of apartments lose their balconies and then get them finished and reopened again and again. The weather turned warm and sunny again and still we couldn’t use our outdoor space. Our patience wore thin. It wore very, very, very thin.
We complained to management, and the super, and tenant relations. We got the runaround. Finally, I LOST it. When they were nearly finished and then stopped work on our line for an entire week I went nuts! I went down to the super sweet girl in tenant relations. I begged her to do something…ANYTHING! And then a miracle occurred and last Thursday they took down the two-by-four that was nailed across our door and removed the caution tape and we had our porch back! Just under TEN MONTHS later we have it back!
On Saturday we went to Home Depot and bought planters and flowers and seeds. Yesterday we got our grill back from the husband’s parents’ place. Today we planted petunias and grilled sliders for dinner. It may not seem like a big deal, but to us it is. And we are very, very happy to have our terrace back!
In all my excitement I forgot to take any photos! I’ll take some tomorrow and put them up I promise.
To All Of You
While my feelings on Mother’s Day are many and varied, as are those of the multitudes who have written about it on the internet, I just wouldn’t feel right letting the day go by without posting a huge thank you to all the moms out there.
I just want to let all the mothers in my life, all the moms who read this blog, all the moms out there working hard that I appreciate what you do and most likely so do your children and husbands and partners and whoever, even if they don’t show it. I want to let you know that even if this day is overly commercial and far from the sentiment that it set out for in the beginning, it is totally ok to want a little recognition sometimes. Please don’t feel guilty for expecting a thank you or an hour or two to yourself to do something that you want to do or even a bouquet of flowers. This job is hard and you totally deserve it.
So there! I said it! I hope you all had a wonderful day with (or without) your families. If not, when the kids are in bed, sit down, have a treat or a glass of wine or watch some heinous reality tv or read a book, smile, take a breath, and know that what you do is important and amazing and awesome and I think you’re special.
Daily Prompt: Landscape
I’ve never done any Daily Prompt posts before, but I’ve been having trouble with writing motivation and this one seemed to call to me so here it goes.
When you gaze out your window — real or figurative — do you see the forest first, or the trees?
This is anxiety…
I look out the window and see the forest before me; lush, green, leaves upon leaves as far as I can see. It’s beautiful, peaceful, inviting. But there are an awful lot of trees. Everywhere I look, trees. What kind of trees are they anyway? How far do they go? What could be on the other side? If I went out into the forest, what would happen to me? Would I get lost? I’m sure I’d get lost. Would I be able to survive? I can’t make a fire! How would I survive without fire? I would definitely NOT survive. I would be eaten by a rabid bear before nightfall.
Inhale.
Exhale.
The forest is beautiful, peaceful, inviting. I CAN think of the forest without seeing all those damn trees. I can imagine walking the paths and hearing the birds. I can smell the flowers and the earth and the rain from the night before. Could it be muddy? It’s probably muddy. Should I wear boots? I might get too hot if I wear boots. I could wear shorts and boots. But if I wear shorts will my legs get scratched up, will I get poison ivy? The scratches and the poison ivy could get infected and then I’ll need to call the doctor. I HATE calling the doctor! What if they find something else wrong with me? What if I have cancer? What if I’m dying?
Inhale.
Exhale.
The forest is beautiful, peaceful, inviting. The other things do not matter. I can go for a walk and not get lost and wear boots or not wear boots and wear shorts or not wear shorts and the end result will NOT be my death. My death by walk in the forest is highly unlikely. I just need to breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Look at the trees. Why are there so many damn trees?
Pacifism 101
I just had to share this. It’s an important message and so perfectly stated.
via Pacifism 101.
Project Optimism: The Ponytail!
It’s the little things people…the little things. And my ponytail may be a little thing, but I am loving it. You may remember me ranting a bit about Zooey Deschanel awhile ago. Well, I am still on the path to long locks. I have not yet given up and chopped it all off. My patience and efforts have been paying off, because I can once again rock a ponytail!
Now instead of pushing my hair behind my ears 8 billion times each yoga class (Seriously, how do people work out with their hair down? Drives me bonkers!) I can put it back in a fairly secure, teensy, tinsy ponytail. Woohoo!! This means the growing project will get easier because I can just pull it back and forget it while it does it’s thing instead of getting it trimmed all the time so I don’t look bedraggled everyday.
This is happening. I’m sure once my hair has reached my desired length, I will get fed up and cut it again, but it’s a project that I am intent on seeing through. And that is my happiness on this chilly, Spring Monday. Enjoy.
Project Optimism: The Bike
This weekend was absolutely gorgeous – warm and sunny the whole way through. When we read the weather forecast we decided to go up to the in-laws’ on Sunday to grill and hang out outside. Brady’s been very into his bike lately, riding with his friends in the park, and we felt like it was time to take the training wheels off and their neighborhood would be the perfect place.
After eating our delicious burgers and hotdogs and corn on the cob, the husband and his dad got out the wrench and the wheels were off. The first attempts did not go so well. The husband and then his dad both tried taking Brady up the street, but it ended up with a lot of frustration, falling over, and yelling of “JUST PEDAL!”
We decided to take a break and eat dessert. Afterward, I joked to Brady that I was going to ride his bike. We took it up into the road and I made a very silly attempt to ride around the car which resulted in me, flat on my butt on the street, and Brady laughing hysterically. After that, he asked me if he could try again, just with me.
He got onto the bike and I held the back of the seat and ran along with him as he got going. He pedaled faster and faster and I told him to “go, go, go” and then I took my hand off the back of the seat and, like magic, he kept going. He realized I wasn’t holding on, pedaled just a bit more and then braked and fell into the street.
I ran over to him, filled, no bursting, with pride, joy, elation, amazement. He jumped up and screamed, “I did it! I did it! I knew I could do it! I knew from the beginning I could do it!” I grabbed him up into a giant hug and spun him around. As I set him down he was already picking up his bike again and getting back on, “let’s do it again,” he told me, beaming.
We went again and again and again. He took longer and longer rides and got better at stopping without falling down. We turned back down the street to see that everyone else had come up to watch. He struggled a bit, but never wanted to give up. He was determined to get better, even when his knees and palms had been scraped. He rode the last bit to where my husband was waiting for him smiling, and crashed into the neighbors car because he was so distracted by the audience. Even then he just laughed.
We stayed a little longer than we had planned so he could work on his new skill. By the end we were both out of breath and exhausted. In the car on the way home, I still couldn’t stop smiling. I thought to myself “holy shit, THIS is what it’s all for.” Moments like that, of pure, unadulterated bliss really and truly make it all worth it. I helped my son learn to ride a bike yesterday, and it felt amazing.
