Adventures in Living!

Summer

A Recap, Some Comments, and Some Musings

So, my birthday was last week, and the big party and gathering of friends was last Saturday, spearheaded by the best husband any woman could ever want. I know I've thanked him already, but it never hurts to hear it again....Travis, you are awesome, and thank you for making my 40th birthday truly something special. I love you.

Now, some pictures...

The Cake! My favorite....white with white frosting. I am not a chocolate cake fan.

Some of the thirteen kids in attendance try desperately NOT to touch the cake!

I am forty years old and I still love the whole "Birthday Song" thing...with candles.

We had a large number of friends and family come from all over...and both of my parents were here, which I don't think has happened for my birthday since I was in high school, so that in and of itself was fantastic. Unfortunately, my brother --with his two little kids-- decided to leave early, and they took my mom with them, which I wasn't happy about, but what can you do? ANYWAY...a good time was had by all. My oldest was even home for the weekend, thanks to the flexibility of her dad in swapping a weekend. I even got presents, and that was not only unexpected, but more than generous from all of my good friends. Thanks, guys. (I need mailing addresses so I can write you all thank-you notes!)

So, as I said, many of our friends were here, and that was just beautiful. I know some people could not make it for a number of reasons, and those who did not come, well, we missed you.

I had a long portion of this entry here about friendship and about how things change as you get older, but it was turning into a long, rambling blahblahblah with less of a point than I had hoped to make. So I deleted it. Thus I have made my comment for today. :)

I just got finished with an extremely busy couple of weeks, and I am exhausted, both mentally and physically. Pretty much my life consisted of wake up- Get dressed- GOGOGOGOGOGO!!! -- stop -- GOGOGOGOGO!!!--sleep. Life around here is usually kind of crazy as the norm, but this was really nuts. I am glad it is mostly done now, and hopefully I can relax and do some other fun stuff.

For some reason I have been in an almost bitter mood today. I'm chalking that up to the vagaries of stress and overscheduled-ness, but after I got my torch work done this morning, I really felt in need of a pick-me-up. In these cases, I would go for the HUGE hunk of Italian Cream Cake that is leftover in the freezer, but I was trying to do something less detrimental to my hips. A trip to Barnes and Noble is always enjoyable, and I picked up three magazines and a book on Romanesque art and architecture that was on sale for $9.98. I need to get the Gothic one, too, and maybe the Baroque. A whiz through the local Target for cheap jeans for my hard-to-fit oldest daughter, and a brief stop for an iced Caramel Macchiato (tall, nonfat), and I was happier and on my way to get the littlest ones from preschool.

The kiln is running, Kira is home from school, and I am about to go read some new magazines. All is well.

Ponderings

Some days are just hard. Some stretches of days are just hard. Oh, I cannot wait til the weather is warm and I can throw the kids outside and let them play in the pool all morning and all afternoon.

Soon.

March can be an incredibly fickle month around here....sunny, warm and full of promise one day, rainy, cold and dreary the next. Ugh. We're currently in the rainy, dreary downswing of the month. The good news is that my crocuses and daffodils are blooming, so real spring, honest-to-God spring can't be much further off.

Travis is taking a couple of days off to go through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's basic course. He's got the awesome bike, now he needs the license to go with it. It'll be so much fun for him, I know. Even though is it all drizzly, nothing could be worse than the 19 degrees with 15mph winds weather I took the course in! (I am woman, hear me roar!)

My first art/craft show of the season is coming up this Saturday. I'll be downtown for the Saturday Stroll on Broad Street, and I'll be set up with other artists near Quirk Gallery. I hope it's a decent show; it's the first time they have done it with Saturday Stroll, so we'll see.

I'm still pondering the mysteries of the universe, still thinking about art and what I can do with it. I desperately need a metalsmithing class. Desperately. It's hard to teach others to do what I do when I am doing it with old leatherworking tools, plumbing tools and a bowling pin. Don't ask. I'm not giving up my secrets!

In other, other news, the cheapo five-dollar candlewarmer that I bought at Wally World is the BOMB for keeping my coffee warm over the course of my usual morning! Whereas I used to despair that my coffee was cold, cold, cold by the time I got halfway through the necessary cup, I now can hang on to that warm cup for a couple of hours! Happy coffee'd Mommy makes for a much smoother morning.

Gratuitous photo......

My little man. Love him.

Have a great week, everybody!

Summer season

The scenes of summer, here at our house.

riding on the Washington metro, June 09

  nasturtium flower

the herb garden, early July

Hershey Park, Hershey, PA with the Girl Scouts

playing in the pool

  gathering from the garden

tomatoes by the wagon-load this year

Wren goes adventure riding, August

Ah, summer. It's been a great one, and although I am seriously done with the heat, we have managed to ahve fun, grow vegetables, and travel a small amount. Fall is coming, and I am waiting.