My "Mother's Day"

Today is my Mother's Day. Which I can officially acknowledge at 10:15 p.m. to mark 28 years since I brought our brown-eyed bandit into the world. Yes, 28 years! Next year will be terribly awkward since we'll both be 29 and I already have twin. Hmmm.

When my oldest sister (whom my "real twin" and I call our "upstairs mother") sent me the above image today, I had to cry. 

It's one thing to love your child and celebrate his existence. But it's a whole new level of pride when you can look at your adult child and realize you did good raising him. I mean we have to take SOME credit, right?

Despite his serious "Thinker" pose above prepping to be the narrator in a grade school play, he has the best sense of humor. A perfect combo of (yes both of us, LOL) his parents' quick wit, clever turns of phrase, and of course, sarcasm.

I love his courage to get a passport and study abroad. Not knowing anyone! But finding a career focus after graduation to work for a company that provides this same opportunity for others like him.

I beam with pride when I hear how much he does for others. His girlfriend's family cannot say enough good things about what he does for them – from physical labor to helping care for people and animals. I'm most proud of you for that, Carter. You have such a big, generous heart. 

You have such compassion. Even at 8 years old you'd be corralling wayward shopping carts in the Walmart parking lot with a "Mom, why can't people just put them where they belong? It takes like 5 seconds!" 😁

And I'll cry typing this... throughout your childhood (even in the sometimes surly teen years), every time I called my mom, you were willing to talk first with a "Hi, Grandma. How's it going?" She just thought you were so kind, smart, funny, and exceptional.

I'm biased. But I agree. 

Thanks for making my "Mother's Day" my best day! 💜

That Damn C Word

 

So... fricking cancer claimed the life of one of our favorite coworkers when we were at the newspaper. Granted, we exited in 2003 but we – at a minimum – have exchanged Christmas cards ever since.

I think what both Jim and I remember is that Diane always had a smile on her face. Even when we had last-minute changes of where ads had to be placed, etc. for the day's newspaper edition.

In a weird coincidence of the way-back time machine, I was in Lamaze class with Diane's son and daughter-in-law, who delivered their boy about a week or so before Carter. Diane watched them both on a few occasions over their toddler years and that's why we occasionally her called her "Grandma Diane."

Ugh.

I sometimes think during funeral times that it stinks how many people we know. But then have to pause and remember... they were pretty amazing people, how lucky were we that we got to spend part of our lives with them?

Just something to ponder.

Dirt and Grit

If you pay attention, you can really learn some life lessons watching a baseball or softball game. Mainly, the players who succeed are the ones with grit who don't give up.

Last night I split time between both of those games and was editing photos way past my bedtime! Behind the lens of my camera I see and capture both jubilation and disappointment. Great plays and missed opportunities.

Last night I really wanted to tell the umpire he was wrong to call this guy from the other team safe. But nope. My frames captured it and our second baseman missed the tag. By mere inches.

But that didn't make him throw his glove down and quit. He just tried harder the next opportunity.

And would you look at that? He clearly made the out the next time. And the opponent missed reaching the base safely... by mere inches.

My hubby coached baseball forever. Not as long ago as when Babe Ruth was around with his inspiring quotes, but many decades. I loved watching him and listening to him encourage the kids (of all ages) to keep trying. And when they made a mental mistake (usually running bases or fielding), he'd ask, "OK, so what did you learn from that?" They'd answer and he'd say something like, "Right? So next time don't do that."

If we all could have a supportive Coach Austin in our ear, maybe we'd spend more time focusing on what we can learn from our mistakes and bad choices instead of beating ourselves up. 

Remember: You can't beat the person who doesn't give up!

Believe in yourself!

Let me introduce you to Theo

I think I told you a short while ago that I was reading a book that was both interesting and inspiring... and possibly life changing.

That book is "Theo of Golden" by Allen Levi.

And was our Book Club discussion tonight. 

I'm not going to spoil any story lines but give you a few things to ponder.

The "public line about this book" is this: One spring morning, a stranger named Theo arrives in the small Southern city of Golden. He doesn't explain much about where he came from or why he's there—but when he visits the local coffeehouse, where pencil portraits of the people of Golden hang on the walls, he begins purchasing them, one at a time, and giving each portrait to the person depicted. In exchange, he asks only for the person's story. And so portrait by portrait, person by person, secrets are revealed, regrets are shared, and ordinary lives are profoundly altered.

But it's so much more than that. Do you realize how hard it is for some people to accept a gift with no expectation in return?

Also, how would you, me, or any of us accept a portrait of ourselves when the artist sees us as some sort of shining light when we see ourselves as living in shadows or darkness?

"Theo of Golden" is quite honestly an unforgettable novel about the power of generosity, the importance of connection, and the quiet miracles that happen when we choose kindness and wonder.

And, quite honestly, prompted me to perform more "random acts of kindness."

What this character did was reinforce that  no matter our social status, we can still listen and help others in need. No matter our current social status, we do have the capacity to help.

Sunday's Games of Chance

So first of all, I got to church and realized our youth group was going to host BINGO. The only price of admission was a big ol' candy bar. Thank goodness one of my lady friends had two so I could stay...

And get BINGO twice for some candy bars. It's a great idea!

Of course down the street from church I saw the blossoms – cherry, Hopa, whatever – were begging to get invited to the spring blooming party. I hope Mother Nature invites them soon!

Then, after getting an external car wash I figured I should work on my interior at home. If the fact that I finally removed my snow brush impacts you – or our next month – I apologize!! "Please end, winter!"

I removed it and lots of other stuff from the back end. And realized I have long ways to go with spring cleaning.

And per usual, I'll count on you to tell me what to do next! <3 

Shop Local Saturday

There wasn't any random holiday today like "Shop local!" but that was how the day went. And frankly, I loved the opportunity to support these entrepreneurs. 

First, after assessing my gift certificates for Rustic Redefined, (on 8th St. in Wis. Rapids!) I needed to start my day with clothes shopping. Every woman's dream, right? 

Side note: I'm not really a fan of shopping ... but with $250+ in gift cards from hubby and friends, I walked into the place like Vivian from Pretty Woman with "I have money to spend!" How fun is it to not even look at the price tag? A very foreign concept for us middle class folks. 

But so enjoyable! Also.. GO THERE! They have such stylish and unique stuff.

I came away with a dress, two tops, a matching necklace, and cool summer handbag. And... still one more $100 gift card to spend. 

Unrelated: My fashion show at home made me realize my advanced lady choices are "aged" because hubby showed no enthusiasm.

Who cares? I like what I got!!

After I got home, my friend and neighbor Cindy across the street and I headed down to Adams for Independent Book Store day.

If you are a bookworm of any type, visit Books on Main!

I was excited to get the last copy (in the store) of my book choice for Book Club in June. And  2 "unplanned" bonus books. Whoops. Can you stop us or only hope to contain us??

The one take away today between some very different types of retail / transactional experiences is that we should all think shop local first. And recognize not only the value of your transaction but your ability to support a personal passion for succcess!

#BuyLocal

TGIF: Trifle Gathering In Friend's (house)

Considering what a hot mess things are at in my life (mainly work life) right now, it was a very welcome distraction to get a call on my Trifle Hotline this morning.

OK. It's not a real thing. But now I'm wondering if it should be. Ha.

A friend was inquiring if I had a recipe for trifle that includes XYZ, her father-in-law's favorite candy bar. I told her I always make these things up on the fly, but recommended how she could make it work into the (what I consider required) trifle layers.

Side note: I can't go into specifics because I do not want to spoil the surprise... the image above is not what we worked on – it's just to get you trifle fans a reason to read this!

I also asked if she even had a trifle bowl. And when she said no she was just going to buy one, I had wicked flashbacks to Christmastime and my focus to find just one bowl! Now that I have 3 of them and one was fresh out of the dishwasher, I said, "Let me loan you a trifle bowl, stop by your house over lunch and give you a Trifle 101 tutorial."

So that's what I did.

I gave her the Trifle 101 basics. Cake-like layer on bottom, then pudding layer, then crunchy layer, repeat all 3, and add a whipped cream topping and "fancy/decorative" cover.

I saw the final result later today and think some birthday boy is going to be pretty happy tomorrow.

Of course this also got me thinking, since no less than a dozen people have urged me to hold a workshop/tutorial of some sort, should I do that? Would you come? Would I need to just pick the flavors, charge for the ingredients and the bowl so you can take that home and understand the basics of building a trifle... and the etiquette of serving/eating it? There really is a lot involved.

Or should I just do a video (very amateur quality) demonstrating it?

For those who have asked me or wondered, I welcome the feedback. I can either do a Trifle on Demand type Hotline to make them, or I could empower you to do them and keep your family and co-workers happy for life. Ha.

I appreciate feedback since trifles can appear intimidating. 

At the same time, I'm a nice and honest lady. They are NOT that hard to do. Y'all can handle this.