Giving and Getting

"I didn't get any messages," my child said to me disappointedly. 

"Well kid, you get what you give," I replied as I drove to the next stop on our busy weekend schedule.  "Send someone a text, then you'll probably get one back."

The last thing I want to do is encourage more online activity in my family, but I do want to encourage the whole idea of getting and giving and expecting and connecting.

When I was around 12 years old, I dreamed of what it would be like to be older, to be the ultimate...a teenager.  I pictured big house parties, Jake Ryan giving me a birthday cake, having to decide between the quirky, nerdy guy and the rich, perfect guy.   Yeah, basically I pictured teenager land like being in a John Hughes movie.

My father told me that I could date when I was 15.  I could.not.wait.

When I turned 15, I just sort of thought guys would know that was THE age and start calling.  I thought it would just happen.  I hadn't quite gotten the whole idea of building relationships, connecting, giving and getting.  When there were no Jake Ryan-types bringing me birthday cakes or asking me out on dates, I was severely disappointed.  

It's taken me a long time to actually get this whole give and get idea.  

I have a tendency to keep people at arms' length, or worse push them away.  Maybe it's because of the whole nobody asking me out when I was 15, or more likely it's because of all of my other issues.  Whatever the reason, it is hard sometimes for me to reach out, know what to say, know what to do,  let people in, ask for help.  I'm afraid to let people down, be let down. 

Yesterday, I went to a luncheon for a friend who has four treatments left of chemotherapy.  She is beating the hell out of cancer.  She is amazing.  The table was full of people, her people, dressed in pink.  We were there to give her support and smiles and hugs and gifts and "you go girl's" and love.  Because she is an amazing, cancer ass-kicker, yeah because of that.  But also because she GIVES. She gives support and smiles and hugs and "you go girl's" and love to everyone.  Every person at that table could tell a story about how she encouraged them to do something big or sent them a message congratulating them about an award or a race or a new job or a new baby.  They could also tell you a story about a message she sent telling them how sorry she was about an illness or a miscarriage and how she offered to take them dancing or out for a drink when they were ready.  She gives.

This isn't really about karma...I'm talking about building relationships, putting ourselves out there, reaching out, connecting with each other.  Not expecting the text messages, the boyfriends, the relationships, or the world to come to us.  We have to risk being rejected and feeling vulnerable.  And give.

                          *********

Our busy weekend schedule included our first baseball tournament of the year.  In a dome.  I am not a fan of indoor baseball, but there are still patches of snow on the ground so okay.  Plus, it makes all my boys really happy.

On Sunday, there was sun. Sun!!!!!! AND it was 50 degrees.  We were all let's have a picnic! and not wear coats and run and smile and laugh and love life.  Dude, 50 and sunny is a big deal.

Check out sand and snow.  Oh Michigan, you are so weird.

Real books, Real Connection & What I Know For Sure

My kids love a little screen time, okay a lot of screen time.  If I let them, they would make all their time, screen time.  I don't let them of course.  Too much time with video games and "high pads" (what Wade calls the beloved iPad which seems appropriate because it's a little like crack) and TV make my kids grumpy zombies.   So I try to limit it and discourage it, and it's hard.

Everything on their screens is so immediate and right now and flashy and distracting and addicting.  It's frustrating as a parent and as someone who loves my iPhone and television and my "high pad."  But I also love real books and story time and connecting and think that there is so much value in those things. So, Tim and make it a priority to read to the kids a lot.  

Tim recently started reading a series he loved when he was growing up, The Great Brain, to the kids and they are loving it.  They gladly give up their screen time to listen to him read to them.  Real books, story time and connection--it's so good.

Last week, Tim ordered the next Great Brain book in the series.  The kids checked the mail everyday after school to see if the book had come yet.  It was all so old-fashioned, like it was 1986 or something. 

When it finally did arrive, they were so excited.  About a book.

They couldn't wait for bedtime, they wanted Tim to start reading right after dinner.  So, he did.

Every night before bed, the kids hurry to get their PJ's on and brush their teeth so they can hear another chapter.

Wade is a little too little to be interested in chapter books, so he looks at other real books during storytime.  

Screens are good, but real books, storytime and connection are where it's at, I know that for sure this week and always.

Here's what else I know for sure this week:

• My kids are animals.  Yeah, yeah, I just wrote how sweet they can be.  And they can be.  But they can also be animals.  I found pictures that JT took while the other boys were wrestling and they are crazy. I mean crazy.  The roughest, meanest one? Wade.  

Yeah, look at Wade taking down the pre-teen with some crazy ultimate fighting leg lock move. Crazy.

• I'm getting in a fitness groove, finally.  It feels ahhhhmazing to get back at it.  Working out is my anti-depressant, I need it and I can't believe I sort of forgot that over the past six months.

• I am sad about Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's "uncoupling."  I mean come on, I hate when people break up.  BUT I also like to find the funny in every situation, here's a funny made-up interview between Gwyn and Terry Gross from the New Yorker that makes me laugh.  

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/shouts/2014/03/terry-gross-interviews-gwyneth-paltrow-about-uncoupling.html

• I love having a big family and I got to talk about it over on WhatToExpect.com this week.  It was fun to see my gaggle of kids on the home page of their site.  Check it out in case you missed it.  

• The Good Wife wins the best show on TV right now.  I have been upset all week about a major character being killed in last Sunday's episode.  Yeah, I know it's TV, but it was a MAJOR character (and I possibly have an unhealthy attachment to fictional characters).  How will I move on?  The trailer for this Sunday's episode looks so good.  It will either help me heal or put me over the edge.  

What do you know for sure (this week)?  C'mon, we're friends, share what you know. 

Leave a comment here or on my Facebook page or on Twitter.

I love getting to know everyone through pictures.  Please come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

THAT Mom

I pulled into the parking lot feeling like a real winner.  Only one car here, man I must be really early to pick Peyton up from practice, I thought to myself.  I smiled and felt so proud.  My smile quickly faded when I realized I wasn't really early, I was really, really late.  There was only one car in the parking lot because the coach stayed with Peyton after practice ended, after the building closed and everyone else left.

"Oh gosh, sorry, I'm so sorry," I said to the coach.  He told me it was "no big deal."

Peyton got in the car and I could tell he didn't think it was "no big deal."

"Oh geez honey, I'm really sorry," I said.  "Can you believe I thought I was early?," I added nervously laughing, knowing he wasn't amused.

Yeah, I am THAT mom. 

The mom that is super late for practice. The mom that doesn't know whether her kid's football team is part of the maroon or the gold unit.  The mom that doesn't know the kids' names in her own kid's class.  The mom that forgets and mismanages, but is trying hard and loving big.  

I don't claim to know it all or even most of it.  But guess what?  I'm giving out advice.  That's right.  I am strongly advising mothers (and all people!)  to embrace their authenticity.  Get real, people.  If you are a mom who enjoys running the PTA event and being a classroom mom--go on with your bad self.  If you are a bit scattered, but dig a good kitchen dance and can unconditionally support and love the hell out of your family--I feel you sister, and you too should go on with your bad self.  Shout out to the spread-sheet-loving mamas who can organize like a boss--go on with your bad self.  

In this village of motherhood/parenthood/personhood, we all have roles we play, we all have something to offer.  And it's all good.  Organized, Type-A mama you are the Yin to my Yang and I need you, we need each other.  Slacker Moms, Pinterest Perfect Moms, Soccer Moms...You Be You Dude.  We are in this together.  My wish is for everyone to feel comfortable enough to be their true selves--honest and authentic, and doing the best they can to be a good, loving parent/person.   

One time I made a vlog about just this topic--Mama Love. 
Check it out:


All this mom labeling and mom vs. mom was popping up a lot last month because of viral posts like this one on Salon.com called The tyranny of the "bad mother": Slacker moms are just as intimidating as perfect ones.  But I like this post over on Babble better it's called "Slacker Mom" is the New "Smug Mom"--But I Say Enough with Labels.  


What say YOU?  What kind of mom are you?  Are you sick of the labels? Do you feel like you can be the real you and not worry about being judged?  Are you sick of talking about moms?

Oh hey, I'm linking up with Mama Kat's Vlogging Prompts with a throw back video--the one where I did multiple Real Housewife tag lines.  
Check it out:



Oh my gosh, even though I am not an expert, I'm giving out advice on What To Expect.com! Click here to check it out.

Wade's World & #iPPP

For the past couple weeks, I've been feeling a little vulnerable.  Okay maybe more like a lot vulnerable and emotional.  

I feel a little over-informed, worried, anxious.  The world feels scary and evil and like it's possibly ending.  Pollution reports from the U.N., speculations and theories about why/how/where planes crash, devastating mudslides, teenagers climbing the new World Trade Center...it just all seems a little too much.  I want to turn off every TV and not go online ever again.  I want to hide, like a turtle in a shell.  Or run around like a frantic chicken screaming "the sky is falling."  

I need sunshine (or antidepressants).  I need a media break.  I need to think like a four-year-old.
  
Wade's world is pretty great.  He is all about the moment.  Sure he gets pissed if we are out of chocolate milk, but then Clifford comes on TV and he's happy again.  

The other day, a package arrived and just like a four-year-old should be, he was ecstatic about the box. He colored the box, he pretended the box was a car and then a pirate ship.  In Wade's world, it was THE BEST THING EVER.

He even showed how awesome the box was to his little friend Sadie.  The two of them played hide and seek for quite a while with the box.  One would count, the other would hide...in the box.  Over and over and over.  They had so much fun.

When it started snowing yesterday, my heart started racing and I was convinced that the extreme weather conditions that "will affect all human life" negatively were happening right then and there.  Like we were living in some freaky real-life version of Frozen, maybe we should build a bunker or go buy batteries.  My mind was going a mile a minute and then I heard Wade say "look I can catch snowflakes on my tongue Mommy!"  Even though we have lived in a frigid, snowy winter wonderland for months, he was still excited to see big fluffy snowflakes.  

Because to a four-year-old, snowflakes and boxes are all kinds of awesome.  Wade's world is about possibility and fun and what's that and look over there and wow and right now.

I took a deep breath, took a picture and then stood with my head to the sky, and my tongue out hoping to catch a snowflake.  Hoping to let go of some of my anxiety and remember the possibility and the fun and the what's that and the look over there and the wow and the magic of right now.


All the pictures in this post were taken on my phone.  Come play with me on Instagram.

Now Link Up for the #iPPP
Greta, Angela (my LTYM co-producer & iPPP co-host-er) and I want to see your funny, your yummy, your heartfelt, your favorite phone photos of the week.  Of course, it doesn't have to be from an iPhone.  All you need is a blog post containing at least one photo from any phone camera.  Link up below and don't forget to visit some of the others!

<img src=”http://mamamash.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/ippp-polaroid-125-x-125.jpg” alt=”GFunkified” style=”border:none;” />

Frozen--A Big Deal

We've been singing the songs from the movie Frozen along with the rest of the world for months.  Three of the kids and I saw the movie in the theater last fall and we fell in love.  So it was pretty much going to happen that we would buy the movie when it came out this past week on DVD.  

We bought it last Tuesday, but we didn't watch it until Saturday.  Since the whole family hadn't seen it, I wanted to wait and watch it when we'd all be together.  Since everyone is so busy, we weren't all together until Saturday afternoon.  

I wanted to make a big deal out of the day, so I checked out "Frozen Theme Parties" on Pinterest.  Holy shit people go crazy with themes.  I didn't really want to get crazy with it, nor did I want to cut out snowflakes and have a frozen world theme since that's what we've been living in for the past well, what feels like forever.  So we simply made it an ice cream party....ice cream and Frozen, sort of cute right?

Hey, I added fun, gluten-free toppings.  It wasn't totally lame.
Do you like how daffodils and a football are our centerpiece? Ha!

Who doesn't love a floor picnic/ice cream party?

I like making things a big deal, even if they don't look like the fancy Pinterest parties.  I like that we looked forward to not only watching the movie all week, but being together.  Our lives are busy and as the kids get older they are getting busier.  We are often running in all different directions--baseball practice here, a playdate there, a piano lesson, homework, homework and more homework everywhere.  Not to mention Tim working late and me doing stuff, yeah I do stuff occasionally.    An afternoon at home together is kind of something to make a big deal about.  

They couldn't get enough of Tim being home.  

I love seeing who they are all becoming, but sometimes I just want to press pause, freeze time if you will.  (Sorry I have frozen themes on my brain)  I love my kids and family so much. I love that we love being together.  

SuperHeros & What I Know For Sure

Wade got a new raincoat this week.  Well it was a hand-me-down from a friend, but it looks brand new.  The new/old raincoat pretty much made Wade's day, week, month....year?  He was incredibly happy.  Because you see, this new/old raincoat was a superhero raincoat and it had a cape.

But guess what? The raincoat didn't only make Wade happy, it made everyone that walked by him happy.  

Grumpy old men at the grocery store smiled when they saw him.  Women at the gym told him how cute he looked as they lovingly watched him zoom by them.  Person after person everywhere we went this week looked happier when they saw Wade in his superhero coat.  Even the too-good-for-us tweens getting off the bus after school one day.  This coat really did have superhero powers.

It's like the coat reminded everyone how much fun make-believe can be and believing in super powers and flying and capes and fighting the bad guys and righting the world.  Maybe it also reminded everyone how it's really pretty simple to be four years old and how sweet it is to be in love with a new/old raincoat.  I know for sure this week, that's what it did for me.

Wade's only problem this week was running to make his cape go higher and trying to look behind him to see it at the same time.  Yup.

Here's what else I know for sure this week:

• Spring is here? Okay, I know for sure the calendar says so, but the weather is still pretty meh.  But daffodils on my table and sunlight through my window did make it a little spring-y.  

Sunshine and daffodils make everything better--even my crappy broken blinds.  I hate blinds.

• I have been watching too much Scandal.  Even though I haven't watched last night's episode yet, I know I'm watching too much because I totally believed that B316 had something to do with the disappearance of the Malaysian plane.

• I miss Tina Fey and 30 Rock on Thursday nights.  Every now and then when I'm feeling down or grumpy, I re-read parts of BossyPants or watch YouTube clips of Tina like the one below.  I always laugh.

• Wade is definitely the baby of a big family.  After a sweet afternoon of painting, I asked him what he had painted and he proudly said "a battle scene from The Lord of the Rings."  Yes, he's seen that movie. 

• When I hear the song Happy on the radio it makes me grumpy. I know, I'm ridiculous, it's just on too much.  But, seeing Meryl Streep shimmy while Pharrell sang it at the Oscars? Yeah that made me happy.  And watching this children's choir from Detroit sing it made me smile too.

• Some families go to Disney World for a good time, we take our kids to Home Depot.  The great thing is my kids seem to have a blast, so it's all good.  

• I am very excited about Mad Men starting on April 13th.  The countdown is on.

What do you know for sure (this week)?  C'mon, we're friends, share what you know. 

Leave a comment here or on my Facebook page or on Twitter.

I love getting to know everyone through pictures.  Please come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

Due Date

When I was a little kid, my brother and sister and I used to treat our parents' wedding anniversary like a national holiday.  We woke up early and made them breakfast.  Then we put the breakfast on a tray, along with homemade cards, and woke them up by singing a silly song about love.  I am not making this stuff up.  Looking back now, I realize my mother had probably ingrained the importance of that date into our brains and encouraged us to do something special.  She was good at creating "something special" for people back then, it was kind of her thing.  Years after they got divorced I remembered the date of their wedding anniversary and felt a sort of pang of sadness.

Now I can't remember the actual date, it was sometime in August.  I also don't really feel any pangs.  But I do hold onto the memory of three sweet little kids believing in celebrating something special and believing in love.

Time is funny that way.  Special days, sad days, anniversaries, due dates--they can have a hold over us, give us pangs or remind us of a simple sweetness.  

Love this quote for all kinds of reasons.

This week was my due date.  

My miscarriage isn't something I think about everyday.  But it also isn't something I've been able to completely move on from.  For some reason, I never un-subscribed from the BabyCenter emails that update you with what is happening in the particular week of your pregnancy.  So each week since late August, I've been receiving an update like "Your pregnancy: 25 Weeks."  It became so routine, I deleted it without reading, much like I do PTA update emails.  Subconsciously I think I didn't un-subscribe because then it would be over, for real.  

On Monday, I got the email that said "Your pregnancy: 40 Weeks-Your Baby Is Due!"  Seeing the email, remembering the date, I felt a pang of sadness. Thoughts of how life would be so different filled my mind. Images of holding a precious new pink little baby filled my mind and my heart.  For a moment it was too much.  The pang turned into pain.  But only for a moment because I have moved on--there's been a lot of healing and living and loving that has gone on the past six months.   

Over time, the pangs and the pain will lesson, I may even forget the date, because that's life.  And that's good.  Because what I want to remember is what grieving has taught me, not what is has taken from me.  It has taught me to live more compassionately and honestly and patiently.  It has taught me that everyone handles life (and grief) a little differently.  It has taught me that I want my life to be about celebrating the something special and believing in love.


                          ********

One of my friends sent this quote to me the day after I came home from the hospital after my miscarriage last August and the words just spoke to me.  And helped me heal.

                         *********

The other side of grief and sadness can make people feel a little stronger too.  And sometimes I do feel a little bit like a bad ass.  Songs like this help.

Old School Blogging-Whoomp There It Is

I consider myself sort of old school.  For example, I prefer real books to reading on electronic devices.  I still watch shows like "Evening Nightly News," occassionally I buy a newspaper (made out of paper!), I think it's a real shame that soap operas don't dominate daytime TV anymore and I say things like "in my day."  Holy shit, I just sound like I'm old.  

Old, old school--whatever you want to call it, I thought I was the perfect fit to link up with Elaine from the miss Elaine-ous life and Kim from Co-Pilot Mom's Old School Blogging.  That's right I'm joining in on the fun and just like the old school Tag Team classic, Whoomp There It Is, says: "I'm taking it back to the old school, cuz I'm an old fool, who's so cool." 

For this link up, they are asking a bunch of random questions. Check out my answers:

What was the last thing you watched on TV?  I fell asleep last night to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Reunion.  I enjoy the Housewives' shows, but the reunions make me sad.  It all gets really real and fight-y. But I caught a few minutes of Ellen this afternoon and she always makes me feel happy.

When did you last step outside?  What were you doing?  I walked back to my car after having dinner with a friend.  It was dark.  I was so excited to be out after 9 p.m. on a school night. But I was really, really tired too....because I'm old (school).

What is on the walls of the room you are in?  My kitchen/nook/office/dance studio is my favorite place in my house, which is good because I spend a lot of time here.  It looks like a sort of insane kindergarten teacher's space--a giant chalkboard fills half of one wall, a Dixie Cup light garland hangs on the window, children's artwork lines the wall above the window, an easel stands behind me at the ready for anyone to be creative, a rainbow craft hangs by the door and fresh, beautiful daffodils are in a vase.  It's colorful and chaotic...a real window into my soul.

If you became a multi-millionare overnight, what would you buy?  I'm very bad with money.  I've always said that if I did win the lottery (or become a multi-platinum recording artist) I would find a way to blow it all and end up bankrupt.  BUT I would blow it all on sending my kids to college, buying a house on a beach,  starting a kick-ass charity, buying everyone I know a car and going to Paris.

Tell me something about you that most people don't know.  I LOVE being alone.  I've always loved it.  People are cool, but I find a lot of joy in being alone.

Who made the last incoming call on your phone? My husband.  We were standing in the kitchen/nook/office/dance studio together and I  asked him to called my phone so I could find it.  

If you could change something about your home, without worry about expense or mess, what would you do?  I would add a bedroom and change my kitchen floor (I would LOVE to have a checkerboard floor!).

What was the last thing you bought? Dinner. I had an awesome dinner out with a good pal.  

Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?  Neither.  I discovered an intense fear of heights on top of a mountain in my early twenties.   I prefer to stay grounded.

If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be?  These are two of my favorite things--food and celebrities. This is really hard for me to choose. My first thought was Oprah because she's Oprah.  But my final answer is Tina Fey because she is f*cking awesome.  

Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?  Whole Foods.  We are a gluten-free family and that shit is expensive.

Is the glass half empty or half full?  I can go either way.  A therapist told me once I was a balancer--someone is feeling a little down, I'm half-full and keeping it light; someone is feeling a little too high, I'm half-empty and keeping it real.

What's the farthest-away place you've been? Amsterdam. I was in college, it was sweet.  (That's 90s' old school slang for it was amazing.)

What's under your bed? So much junk. I'm part-hoarder.

What is you favorite time of the day?  I peak around 2 p.m.

By 4 p.m., I'm totally done.

What inspires you? People that work hard to help others and create change.  Women and men that I know that stand up for what they believe in.  Underdogs inspire me.  Artists inspire me.  My kids inspire me.

Don't my kids inspire you?
They can even make the baby pool a fun toy in the winter.  

And whoomp there it is! My answers. Shaka-laka-shaka-laka. 

Just in case you want to hear the Tag Team classic Whoomp There It Is, here you go:

 

The Day My Phone Died (Again) & A Weekend Update

"I have a better phone than your mom," laughed one of my children's friends.  

I sheepishly put the old, cracked (again) iPhone in my pocket.  The kid was right, their phone was better.  A tween had a cooler phone than me.  I shouldn't have cared so much, but I'm not going to lie, it stung a little. 

The whole idea of a tween speaking about and to me in such a disrespectful manner in my home is disturbing.  It brought back a whole flood of "why are you being so mean to me?" issues from my own tween-hood.  But this post isn't about asshole tweens.  This post is about phones, or rather life.

I've written about my deep addiction attachment to my iPhone before.  I actually thought I had made progress with some of my attachment issues.  But um, no, not the case.

After I recovered from the mean tween with this meditation chant "I am not my phone, my phone is old, I am not, my phone is broken, I am not, I am not my phone." I'm just kidding I don't meditate.  And that doesn't even sound like a chant, it's more like bad, depressing poetry.  I felt better after I admitted that the tween was just speaking the truth, my phone was old.  Ahhh, acceptance.

Just as the strut was coming back to my step, I dropped my old, cracked phone.  And it died.  As in stopped working completely.  I panicked.  What if people were trying to call me? (Even though nobody calls people anymore right?) What if a life-altering text message was coming through? (To be brutally honest, I don't get too many life-altering messages, ever.) How would I take a picture of the snow melting and share it on Instagram? (I won't make fun of that one, because that is a major big deal when you have been living under many feet of snow for months.)

My anxiety lessened when I remembered that my father had given me one of his old phones when we were visiting at Christmas.  I got the fancy looking new/old iPhone out of the drawer, grabbed Wade and headed to the AT&T store.  I ran in scattered and out of breath, not because of the phone, that's just how I enter a room all the time (seriously).  

"I need your help," I told the young man who looked a tiny bit scared behind the counter.  "My phone died.  And my phone is sort of my life.  I mean, not really, but you know what I mean.  I am sort of addicted and well, uh..."  He's the AT&T guy not my therapist I reminded myself.  "Can you help me?"

"Let's take a look," he replied as he was trained to do.  He told me since I was the only Apple customer he'd met that didn't use iCloud that I'd lost my contacts.  But other than that I was all good.  Then he recommended buying a better case.  

"Oh of course," I agreed.  "What do you have?"

"Well, we have cases but I am not sure if we have any in stock for phones as old as this one," he looked around the store.  

Okay!  I get it universe, I'm waaaay behind in Appleland, with technology.  Little kids have better phones than me.  My father gives me hand-me-down technology.  I am not cool.

"Oh wait, found one," the AT&T guy said, relieved that he didn't have to tell the crazy lady he couldn't help.  "It's Life Proof."

"Yeah, that's what I need and not just for my phone," I said once again silently reminding myself AT&T guy not my therapist.

Once I had the new/old phone in my hands I felt that the world was pretty alright again.  Even though I had no contacts and didn't remember any phone numbers.  

That night (and the whole weekend) my kids had fun with the latest and greatest technology--Siri.  "Where are you from?," Lucy asked.  "What is your back story?"

"Can I play with Siri?," Wade asked like it was a playdate.  Even though I haven't seen the movie, it seems like he's a child version of Joaquin Phoenix's character in Her. 

Good times are here again in the Youngblood household.  Sure we may be a few years behind in Appleland, but as long as we/I have a working phone it's all good.

In other news (a mini Weekend Report):

• Tim came home on Friday night with a set of drawers.  He really hopes they will help me "get organized."  Um, not sure about that, but look how pretty they are!

This is my workspace...complete chaos.
But I thrive in chaos.

• We are saying see ya! to Pretty in Pink/Pepto-Bismol walls.  For Lucy's birthday we told her we would paint her room whatever color she wanted.  Blue, or Cozumel, it is.  

Yes, Lucy inherited my save everything, but don't ever really have a place to put it syndrome.
And mmm-hmmm, I wore pink to the pink funeral.  

• Winter returned with a high of 17 on Sunday.  Waaaa. While it sucks and we are over it, JT and Lucy didn't let it stop us from being outside.

Roller blading like it's springtime.  Woot. Woot. Except you have to wear big puffy coats and hats and gloves, but whatever.

How was your weekend?  Could you live without your iPhone?