I Heart The Start of Summer; In 5 Words

Trampolining with my sweet girl
Hotdogs bought on the street
Farmer tans and sandal lines
Sleeping with the windows open
The smell of cut grass
Incredible overindulgence at The Cupcakery
The sound of a lawnmower
Aimless wandering in Osborne Village
Jumbo strawberries dipped in sugar
Sitting on balconies at sunset
Cool mornings and hot afternoons
Ice cubes melting in glasses
Tank tops and bermuda shorts
Ice cream melting over everything
Camp fires and cozy fleeces

Sometimes Life Just Gets In The Way...

Hello.

Topless

I saw a couple of Jeeps on the road today. I have been driving ours as of late and have always noticed other Jeeps out there. Today, though, these Jeeps looked different than mine. They were just as awesome, just as dirty, just as cool. But they were a little more...naked.

They had their tops off. And I was jealous. With ours being the 4 door version its a little trickier to get the top off as it comes off in three pieces and one of them is extraordinarily large. But the two smaller pieces are above the driver and the front passenger and I wonder how tricky they are to get off...

I know right now we have no where to put the big back piece and the soft top is stored away somewhere but on a day like today, with sunny skies and 20 degree celcius weather, unlocking those pieces would have been dreamy.

Long Winters Night

Today as I was walking to my car I actually had to stop and try to remember when it had felt this warm before. I did not have jacket on and was not even remotely chilly. I am a hot-blooded person, I get hot very very quickly so I have not been wearing a jacket for over a week now. But every once in awhile I would wrap my sweater around me just a bit tighter or walk just a bit quicker to get inside. But not today.

Today there was no snow. No wind. No chill. Just dryness. And warmth. And I could not recall the last time I felt that warmth. I guess thats one sign of a long winter.

Blatant Motherly Pride Emerging

I have a freakin cute kid.

Close Your Eyes and ...

If I had a wish chip right now, my top three wishes would be...

1) my sister would move back to winnipeg
2) my best pal would find that someone special that would be the "me" to her where she is the "Pat"
3) our house would be built in record speed, with award winning precision and to our exact specifications

I would honestly settle for 1 & 2.

Tweet Tweet

So I got on Twitter. I'm not entirely sure why or how much I actually like it, but I am giving it a shot. I figure with the amount of hatred I had for Facebook, the fact that we're now pretty good friends means I should be a little more willing to give a little more time to new things. So I tweet.

I can tweet on the cell phone, the comp and the iTouch. Its pretty easy. And I have been following some local Twitter-ers (is that what they would be called?). Its like getting a quick fix when you don't have access to their blog, or keeping up with their day-to-day when they haven't written a post. Its kinda ok.

But what floored me was the celebs on Twitter. I clicked to follow Dooce (huge fan of her site and her tweets have thus far not let me down) and on her list of who she follows, was Demi Moore. She has just been in the news for basically talking a woman down off a ledge and not committing suicide. So I clicked to follow her. Well, it spawned from there. I now follow Ellen De Generes, Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Pete Wentz, Mark Walberg, and my new absolute favorite in the world, Puff Daddy. P Diddy. Whatever the hell he is called now.

Puff is one funny dude. I was shocked. Probably as shocked as you are reading this. P Diddy, really? Yes. Really. Not that I am a huge fan of his music but the sheer joy and passion he has for what he's doing everyday? Undeniable. Its refreshing. Hes funny and hes basically freakin excited to be doing what he's doing. And I like reading that. I would like reading that from anyone. But reading it from a celebrity is kinda....weird...strange...interesting...cool.

Anywho. I am not sure how long I will "twitter" for but I have vowed to give it the old college try. I'm not sure how many people are that interested in my moment to moment goings-on but sometimes, its just fun to put it out there into the universe. Tweet on.

She's Here, She's Here!

I saw her the other day, in a reflection in a puddle just before we jumped in it. I saw her the other day, rustling the leaves of the tree we sat under, shaking off the last of the old to make room for the new. I saw her the other day, through the glare in the windshield as we drove to school in brilliant sun. I saw her the other day, she blew past as I sat outside under a blanket of hope. I saw her the other day, taking care of the birds that have been gone and the ladybugs that have been hiding. I saw her the other day, kissing the cheeks of my daughter. I saw her the other day, her arm around me, reminding me that its important to breathe it in.

Spring is here. I saw her the other day.

When It All Just Comes Together

So things have been making sense lately. Things are falling into place and are doing what they're supposed to do. The rightful order has been restored and life is as it should be. It dawned on me today after reading someone else's blog that we all have good things going on, even if sometimes it doesn't feel like it.

Sometimes in life the little nitty-gritty-shitty things seem to completely overshadow the good holy-crap-its-happening things. And every once in a while when reading other blogs you want to send some inner happiness out into the universe and hope it finds its way to those who need it. A windshield wiper of good working hard to get that smushed bug of bad off the window.

I love the blogs I read. My heart aches when things aren't going well for all the virtual-strangers-cum-virtual-friends. My heart beams when things are amazing for them. I question with them, I wonder with them, I think with them, I share words with them. And I just hope that even while we all bitch and moan about the crappity stuff (love that word), we realize how much good we all have.

Whether its a fantasticly awesome girl-crush, generosity to charities and a lifestyle that allows one to afford the generosity, a full day outside shooting clays, a gorgeous hike in a gorgeous state full of gorgeous hidden gems, putting together a brand new bed successfully solo, or a spring break used up to its fullest, we are lucky, lucky people. And me? My good stuff? I spent a day playing in puddles with a 5 year old who kept hollaring "This is the best thing EVER!". Pretty sweet, no?

Numbers Shmumbers

I have never professed to like numbers. Or technology. Or anything that has a formula or a system or a way it has to be to make sense. If there is only one way to come to a conclusion or find the answer to come up with a result, I probably don't like it.

And thats usually because I don't know the formula or understand the system. I don't know the difference between a mega byte and a gigabyte, couldn't tell you what a logorithm is, vaguely recall square roots and don't even think about asking me how to turn a percent into a decimal value.

Rather, I prefer things that can be molded, changed, altered yet still the same. I love to read a story that changes all the time, or spin words until the answer makes sense, or challenge the idea so that it can be seen to have more than one result. You just can't do that with numbers. They either work out, balance, or they don't.

Some people like the certainty of that. They like the fact that one plus one is two and will never be three. No matter how much I say but what if one is pregnant and she doesn't know it yet, wouldn't that make it three? No. There is no such nonsense where numbers are concerned. And thats crummy. Because I have been working with budgets all day today and no matter how many stories I told, how many tales I weaved, how many pregnant ones there were, those numbers? They didn't like me.

Puddle Jumpin'

Floored

I was checking out some other blogs from someone else's blogroll this morning and I was shocked at the inability to correctly use the english language. Clearly there is no one monitoring or correcting people's blogs and I don't even think there is a spell check on a blog but for the love of god, man, if you can't even get all the words in your BLOG TITLE spelled right? Well. Then there is just no hope for you.

After checking out one particularly grammatically-challenged and spelling-mistake-riddled blog I was reminded of a few of the odds and sods that drive me mental on any given day. And with her blog came a new one that has laid dormant for awhile, a forgiveness given here and there but not anymore. It is now officially on the list.

I have probably ranted about this before but I am far too lazy to go back and find the post and link to it and really, it bears repeating so here she be.

Their, there, and they're. Oh. My. God. They each have DIFFERENT MEANINGS PEOPLE!!! If you need me to tell you what they are then you need to revisit your third grade books.

Your and you're. Please. Please stop. I can let a typo here and there go. Fine, I have even been guilty of typing too quick and forgetting the "e" or not adding the apostrophe. But honestly. BELONGING TO and YOU ARE. They are two very very different things.

And now for my newest cringe worthy error which I am seeing with more and more regularity. When people use then instead of than. Like, I enjoy baseball more then basketball. NO. You enjoy it more THAN basketball. Than. Than than than. Not then. Then is what comes next. Than is something other.

So their you have it. Your welcome to take from this what you want and other then that, I can't help you.

Moments of Weakness

Back when I was a wee lass, I would help myself to things from our fridge. We have a picture of me, busted, at the fridge door, the milk jug in my hand and a puddle of milk at my feet. I am thinking I probably did this kind of thing alot.

Today mck decided she was hungry for a snack. I knew there was chocolate in the fridge that I didn't need her seeing or eating so I offered to get her something but she was on it. She cracked open the fridge door and I made suggestions. How about cheese? Bread and butter? Peanut butter on crackers? She surmised that she might feel like cheese but she wasn't sure. I saw her standing in front of the fridge with the door open, moving ever so slowly, as stealthily as a 5 year old can. It was taking an awful long time for her to decide.

"McKinley. You're not having chocolate right now."

"Oh man, I didn't think you could see me."

"You're taller than the door my dear."

"Oh. Right."

And then I let her eat chocolate. I'm weak, I admit it.

Leaving Them Happy

Today was a weird little oxymoron of a day. I spent virtually the entire day in a budgety little hell and yet was in such a perky, happy, I-think-I-just-saw-a-leprechaun, honk-if-you-love-anything king of mood. The uber-est of uber strange for me. Usually when I am doing budget shit I am followed by a dark little cloud casting gloom on all around me with what feels like a spotlight in my eyes and water torture on my forehead. So this skippy, peppy version of me freaked me out, I'm not gonna lie.

Alas, I screwed up the aforementioned budget shit (accounting = a little more than a little vomit in my mouth) but then I managed to hit a three pointer at the buzzer and reverse it. I made nonsensical trip budgets make sense (after much squinting at the paper, because that always has a way of making things work out). But in the midst of my successes and failures I somehow managed to stay in the land of things good and shiny. And it spread.

Anyone I needed help from today was left knowing how much I appreciated them, had a laugh while I was chatting with them, and I am pretty sure that once I left, I left them happy and in a better mood. That's kind of cool.

Anywho, I think its a bit of a testament to my place of employment that I can have the kind of day that would otherwise drive someone to throw their computer out a window (though I confess I did ask someone if IT would replace mine if I did just that) or committ a heinous crime, yet I still kept my spirits up and left a little cheer in my wake.

Maybe they all just think I'm crazy. Whatevs.

My Tunes

Ever catch yourself with earbuds in, oblivious to the world around you, humming along to some amazing tune, very nearly singing along, feet swinging, head bobbing, fingers tapping, groovin' to the music, turning it up at the really great parts?

Ever do that at work and get busted? Me neither.