A Gorgeous day!

There are days like yesterday that linger on long after the sun has set.
A day that brings with it a serenity, a peacefulness, that settles into your heart and lingers in your soul.
I had a day like that yesterday. The sun was shining, the wind was calm, and the ocean waves were turning and crashing with brilliant white foam.
We explored tides pools, hiked the big sand hill, rolled back down the big sand hill, and found sand dollars.

Then we splurged on a great dinner at the Pelican Brewery and watched the remainder of the sun turn from yellow, to orange, to red, then pink, until the final shades of purple disappeared into night.

It was a gorgeous, glorious day.

Sunrise on my Cell Phone

Each new day begins with a sunrise. Some days I am lucky enough to see the beginnings of the new day and all the vibrant colors as they permeate the sky. Some days I don't.
Whether I get to witness the sun rising or not I know that a new day awaits.

Our household wakes and greets one another with the usual words,'good morning'. Most often those two words are uttered, mumbled, or grunted. But sometimes they are proclaimed cheerfully.

The same two words are shared at work as people arrive and settle in at their desks. 'Good Morning' can sometimes be heard clearly and with energy. Sometimes it is barely audible and filled with fatigue.

It interesting for me to guess how someone's night went by how they express their 'good morning'.

I suppose when I wish someone 'good morning', I am wishing people a good start to their day. I don't think to tell them 'good afternoon' or 'good evening' as the days wears on. I just assume the 'good morning' applies to the whole day from start to finish.

The start of a new day is like my chance for me to start over. It is my chance to do this day better than I did the previous day. It is my chance to not make as many mistakes, or at least to learn from the ones I made yesterday. It is my chance to listen better, to parent better, to be a better partner for my husband.

But most of all when I get up in the morning in time to see the sunrise in all its glory I am reminded to tell God 'good morning'. I am reminded to talk to God more in the afternoon, to listen to God more in the evening, and to pray from start to finish.


Sunsets .... I'll save for another time.

It's not fair!

Life's not fair!
It's not fair!
That's not fair!
You're not Fair!
Something's not fair!

I think most all of us have said one of those statements at one time in our lives. Or Perhaps we've said it many times.

When I was a kid I probably said it quite a bit more than I do as an adult. My parent's comment was always, "who ever told you that it would be fair?"

Now as a parent myself with many children who are always complaining to me that 'something' isn't fair, I have had to use my parents line quite often.
And I even have several lines of my own to respond with depending on the child and the situation.
But at this stage in my life I am not much of one to say or feel that 'something's' not fair.

At least until this morning.

I am getting older. And I am thankful to be getting older because it means I am still here.
But I never thought that I would have to look at myself every morning in the mirror and have to face both wrinkles and acne.

This is not fair!

I am a grandma now for pete's sake!

I shouldn't have to be sharing acne cream with my 13 year old daughter!
I never thought I'd be yelling at my teenage son trying to locate the astringent to clean my face.
And I certainly don't think that using acne cream followed by the old-age cream to moisturize and soften all the fine lines and wrinkles is fair!


But I suppose the only positive spin on this whole bizarre blog is that I now have another line to use on my kids the next time one of them wants something and I say, "no" and they shout, "It's not fair!"

A New Year

2007
The new year came in without a bang. It came in without fanfare. It came in without trumpets, or song, or fireworks or an evening with friends playing How to Host a Murder.

It just came in the quiet of the night with part of the family watching television and part of the family playing computer games and someone saying, "hey! Its midnight!"
It isn't that our New Year was bad, but it was different from the past 7 years.

It is funny (funny-odd, not funny-haha) how attached one gets to routine. The past 7 years we have gathered on New Years Eve with some close friends for an evening of fun. We plan ahead, choose a How to Host a Murder Theme, assign characters, work on costumes, and on New Years Eve gather for great food and beverages, and lots of laughter. It never mattered so much who won the game, or who was the murderer. What seemed to matter most was who had the best costume, or at least who looked the most ridiculous in their outfit.



Just 6 couples getting together to act silly. Most people would run from this sort of evening not wanting to embarrass themselves. But we embraced it wholeheartedly.