So it was just a perfectly wonderful moment this weekend when Miss A discovered she enjoyed the pure bliss that can be found in some quiet time with a book.

We took a little trip to the Botanic Gardens (that’s the place the girls are frolicking in the current title bar pics) and while the husband took Lil’ G on a stroll through the apple orchard, Miss A and I found a couple of chairs by the lake and settled in to read for a bit.

It was awesome. We were shaded by a lovely little arbor, there was a nice misty breeze from the fountain on the lake, and Miss A, my super talkative-chatty-squirmy daughter, relaxed in her chair with her book and didn’t say a peep.

I can totally handle more moments like that.

If this is what having a 7 year old will be like, I’m diggin’ it big time!

Now pardon me, I need to find a new book to read.

In my defense, my other goal for May: to wake up every day at 5am and fit in 30-60 minutes of workin’ out before my life as a Mama takes over at 6:15 am has been a COMPLETE SUCCESS! I have not missed a day, proud to say. My abs have a few things to say about it too, but I told them to quit their bitchin’.

Now, if I could lay off the booze in the evening, I might lose more than 2 pounds in a week.

Wearing a swim suit.

In public.

I haven’t done it in nearly 10 years…2002 was probably the last time that much of my skin was exposed at one time outside my own house.

The idea of strolling around with all my imperfections on display for anyone’s inspection makes me more than a little queasy.

I know, I know – I need to get over myself.

We are heading out for a lil’ vacation this summer – and I really can’t avoid it – I’m going to have to wear a swim suit.  I promised my husband I would.

So it’s time for my personal boot camp – I swear I am more motivated to look good then I was for my wedding! (Maybe because I already looked pretty darned good then?)

Started this morning with a 5am alarm so I could squeeze a workout in before Mama duties called. I may have been a bit overzealous with the alarm…my husband made some comment along the lines of “I think you just woke Jesus up.” Whether the King of Kings sleeps on U.S. Central time lies beyond my knowledge…but I got his general point. So, I managed to get out of bed Day 1…let’s hope I can do the same tomorrow.

Cuz’ you know what’s looming ahead of me, don’t you?

The thing I fear only slightly less than wearing a swim suit in public…

shopping for one.

Sound like it might get a little stressful? It did.

So it was a moment of joyous excitement when we found out that Miss A had been accepted into a local charter school. We had hoped to enroll her there for junior high (after homeschooling her through 5th grade, but decided since the chances of getting in the school were so slim, we should start trying now).

Well, the stars aligned and things worked out in just such a way that a spot became available for her this year. We jumped at the opportunity, and I’m so glad we did.

Adjusting to life  in “regular school” (though this school is so far from regular, I don’t think it can really be called that – which is one of the reasons we like it so much) took some work for both Miss A and myself, but overall I have to say I am very happy with the switch.

One of the “benefits” of no longer being Miss A’s teacher for everything, is that now I can join the ranks of all the other moms who get treated to special surprise school projects on Mother’s Day!

Miss A made me a lovely Mother’s Day painting in art class, a card with a picture of the family and a poem written inside…

and a really neat card with a note written in Spanish!

She was so proud to present me with all her surprises, and I was so proud of her.

To all mothers – while we are the ones being appreciated today, may you appreciate your home, your family, and your life everyday (and take advantage of your special day in every way you can)!

Really.

But here it is not the end of the first week and already I skipped 2 days…if this was a diet I’d be thinking, “I’ve already screwed up, I might as well have another glass of wine…

But if I learned anything from my latest experience competing in The Biggest Loser, you can’t let one mess-up turn into a complete screw-up. View the set-back as a reality check, not as an excuse to give up and start all over again some other time. (And if you’re curious, I didn’t win this time around, but I lost about 18 inches and about the same number of pounds).

So, yes, I screwed up. I stayed up too late searching vacation destinations with the husband (more on that later), putting together lesson plans for my drama company, and designing a t-shirt for this season’s sand volleyball team.

So I missed two days, but I’m here now. Moving forward and hoping to meet my goal.

Like exercise, I have decided to try this approach: just do it for a little bit, it’s better than nothing.

I find that to be a very successful approach, and it has gotten my butt out the door for more workout time than ever. I no longer let the fact that somehow the two hours I had planned to workout have dwindled down to 30 minutes stop me from making the most out of the 30 minutes I have.

Like yesterday, between laundry and dishes and Lil G sticking everything from pencil erasers to the key to Miss A’s diary in her mouth, the time I had planned to lace up my sneakers and get outside came and went.  I refused to give up though. With the clock ticking ever closer to when I would have to pick up Miss A from school (part of the blessing/curse that no longer being a homeschooler entails) I got out there and got my run done – I didn’t have time to finish the full 5k I had planned, and only managed just over 2.5 miles, but that’s 2.5 miles more than nothing!

So, on nights I don’t have the time (or energy) to create long, meaningful posts (not that I do that often in the first place), I will log on and write something – anything, and see where it leads.

Again, it will be better than nothing!

I can’t recall how I stumbled across blogger Amanda Del Buono’s website: MandaJuice – Blogging With the Safety Off, but I’m glad I did. Her writing style is open and honest and quirky and funny. She is very near – if not exactly -  my own age, has 2 young chilluns (her oldest and Miss A were born in the same year) and, above all else, she is also on the journey to publication. She’s a few steps ahead of me because her first book is finished…and wow, but do I love how she includes an open invitation for an agent to come check her awesomeness out. If that is not the definition of awesome, I don’t know what is. (I promise to stop using awesome now). Her unabashed “Hey you, I wrote this incredible book, now who is cool enough to be my agent?”  was enough to get me wanting to read Gravy, the title of her hopefully-eventually-published-novel (y’know, the one she actually finished while I am still about 30k away from the 90k finish line I’ve estimated). I really like her recent post on “Where the Magic Happens” it makes me want to tote my netbook around more often, just on the off chance I’ll finally manage to find an extra 30 seconds in my day.

Apart from the kinship of a childhood in the 1980′s, motherhood, a love for Trader Joe’s,  and writing – I find we have something else “in common.” Manda went through gastric-bypass surgery and is very open about the procedure and its impact on her life. My mother and brother have both had this surgery, and my sister and other brother are both in the planning stages to have it as well. Though weight is a constant struggle for me, it is a battle I have managed to control, for the most part, in that surgery is not an option I have had to consider – nor do I ever plan to let it become one. But I can, all too well, understand the ache:  physical, mental, and emotional, that obesity causes.

But that’s not holding either of us back! On a much lighter note (yes, pun intended)  I am happy to see her GoodReads shelf includes Laura Kinsale’s newest novel, which I have cued up (thanks to a rockin’ SB Sarah!) and ready to go on Miss Scarlett. Wow, this is one Monday Muse I’d love to sit and have coffee with…especially if it means I’d be doing it in Portland (I still really want to visit there, and the husband still really wants to live there).

But if you can’t get some java right now – in the Pacific Northwest or otherwise, click on over to MandaJuice and start sipping.

Though I can’t imagine being unable to obtain some kind of coffee-type beverage at a moment’s notice in the Pacific Northwest…or is that a stereotypical fallacy? I’d be happy to do the research necessary to find out.

Things…they get busy around here.

And my life is full of conundrums…like  how Miss A can brush her teeth at the speed of light, yet manages to get toothpaste EVERYWHERE and on every surface…including the doorknobs.

Parenting is full of conundrums big and small, some serious and some silly. I’d love to hear some of yours.

Here’s something about parenting that IS NOT a conundrum: no matter how frustrated being a mama can be…no matter how exhausting…I’m so very lucky to be the mama of Miss A and Lil’ G.

Drama Mama over and out.

Finally showing my poor neglected blog a little attention has fired me up. I have decided to create a bit of motivation to keep going…this weekend, on May 1st,  despite having to wade through Annie performances, birthday parties, and pancake breakfasts, I shall launch the start of “Every Day in May.” In which I will write a post on my blog, every day, throughout the month of May.

Makes sense, doesn’t?

So c’mon, do it with me!

And if you decide to launch an “Every Day in May” campaign on your own blog, let me know in the comments so I can follow you!

And yes, I also know  that “everyday” should read as one word, but I need the emphasis of two.

So there.

I am never ever “not busy,” but lately I have been even more “not busy” than ever (did that makes sense?). So my blog isn’t even on the back burner – it’s stuck somewhere in the back of the Tupperware cabinet.

I know it’s important to make time for things you love…so I need to find a way t0o balance it all and get back to posting. I have a pile of awesome Monday Muses I want to start showcasing, my Disney reviews have been at a standstill (oh how I wish I was planning another trip right now!), and I have lots of neat little crafts and projects I can’t wait to share with the world (or at least the 20 or so people who read this).

I hope you have a Happy Valentine’s Day, and I hope you get to spend time doing stuff you love, eating things you love, and being with people you love.

And now…some of my favorite Valentine photos:

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Personally, I think he enjoys making her flip out.

Do all fathers share that? Do they all get a secret thrill out completely ticking their kids off just by repeating an oft-used and much hated turn of phrase?

I know my Dad did. Ugh. Even now I can hear him telling me “I can’t never did do anything.” You’d think, as much as that phrase annoyed me, I’d stop saying “I can’t!”

But guess what, I was a kid…”I can’t” is pretty much par for the course.

I get what he was saying, I get the message he was trying to teach me about not giving up. As an adult I can even appreciate the witty wording…but still…to this day that phrase raises my hackles.

Miss A says “I can’t” all the time. It is incredibly frustrating and I want her to cut it out and at least try her best…but I’ll tell you what…

I am VERY proud to say that I have never, not ever, responded by telling her “I can’t never did do anything.”

I just can’t do it.