Grateful: Day Seven

Today I am grateful for Women. Without a shadow of a doubt, without a hint of uncertainty, with all that I know, I can say for sure that the absolute most amazing people in my life

are

all

WOMEN.

To go along with that, I was inspired by this I found on a favorite blog linked to the bottom right over there...Deb Schweldelm.

WHAT I WOULD TELL HER:
(If I knew what to say.)
You are a miracle.
And I have to love you this fiercely: So that you can feel it even after you leave for school, or even while you are asleep, or even after your childhood becomes a memory.
You’ll forget all this when you grow up. But it’s okay.
Being a mother means having your heart broken.
And it means loving and losing and falling apart and coming back together.
And it’s the best there is. And also, sometimes, the worst.
Sometimes you won’t have anyone to talk to.
Sometimes you’ll wonder if you’ve forgotten who you are.
But you must remember this: What you’re doing matters.
And you have to be brave with your life so that others can be brave with theirs.
The truth is, being a woman is a gift. Tenderness is a gift. Intimacy is a gift. And nurturing the good in this world is a nothing short of a privilege.
That’s why I have to love you this way. So I can give what I have to you. So that you can carry it in your body and pass it on.
I have watched you sleep. I’ve kissed you a million times. And I know something that you don’t, yet:
You are writing the story of your only life every single minute of every day.
And my greatest hope for you, sweet child, is that I can teach you how to write a good one.

Grateful: Day Six

Today I am grateful for the sunshine and traces (just traces!) of warmth.

I am a person who loves weather. I mean REAL weather. Thunderstorms, rainshowers, sleet, snow, hail, tornadoes (not near me), cold snaps, deep freezes, etc. I want anything but 100 degree heat and sunshine.

But, I am discovering that I am also a person who much prefers the heat to the cold. I cannot stand being cold. As I type this post I sit here with frozen hands. I've been inside for several hours now and my hands remain cold as ice. I hate that. I really marvel at the fact that Mike used to live in Fairbanks where it would get to 45 below. Can you imagine? Can you imagine???

I just stepped outside to greet the mailman and the temperature is starting to creep up to the 50s and the sun is shining brightly. It was just the tiniest bit warm and it felt so good. I love that feeling of sunshine warming a cold body. The mid-summer Texas heat is still undesirable but oh how I love a beautiful Spring day with a temperature in the low 70s and the sun shining in the sky.

Carry on ;-)

Grateful: Day Five

Today I am grateful for my two best friends: Stephanie and Clarissa.

Here they are:





Here's what we like to do:

EAT. AND EAT SOME MORE. This is Babe's restaurant somewhere in BFE in the Dallas Metroplex. The best chicken fried steak in all the land. And the salad! Suspiciously sweet. When they bring the biscuits you can actually have the choice of sorghum (!) or honey. I think sorghum is illegal in most parts of the land (straight molasses). Only Kidding!

We like to huddle together and look cute.

Don't they look like an ad for a magazine? This is them leading the way to our other favorite thing in the world...

Shopping. More Shopping. Always shopping. At our Mecca. (We didn't buy anything full price of course and could only sneak around the scary sales room in the back. Read prior post on Anthrolopologie here.

Too poor to buy these hats, I pathetically suggested we take pictures of ourselves in them.

Here is Clarissa confirming what she already knew: Still no money in that wallet to buy anything here ;-)

Here is Stephanie doing what she does best: buying something only to return it in a week. She has made returning things an artform.

This is the store where my girls told me I needed to buy "age-appropriate" clothes and proceeded to usher me out in shame.

On to the next store...(by the way, Clarissa is consulting her iPhone which we made her do 1,000,000 times. Those phones are wicked cool!!!)

I have been friends with these gals (they are childhood best friends) since 1991. Ugh. How long is that? OMG. Nineteen years. Holy shit we're old.

I love them I love them I love them I love them I love them.

Stephanie and Clarissa, I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR YOU!

Grateful: Day Four

Today I'm grateful for college sports.
Last night my alma mater The University of Texas Longhorn football team played for the National Championship. It was quite a game.
Going in, the Longhorns were slight underdogs, but had every hope of winning. These kids (and they are kids!) have devoted their lives to playing football. They have played for years on very good teams, but at UT - you're nobody if you're not ranked number one or the national champs. So no matter how good of a season you had, if you weren't number one it's a disappointment. That's a lot of pressure in my opinion.
This year, the dream was thisclose to becoming reality and then the unthinkable happened. Colt McCoy (can you believe that name?), UT's star quarterback, gets hurt on the FIRST DRIVE OF THE GAME. Gone. Out for the game. Sayonara. It was like a kick in the gut. Texting back and forth with Clarissa and Stephanie last night produced this quote from Clarissa: "I bet that freshman quarterback crapped his pants when Colt went down!" My thoughts exactly.
Can you imagine being 18 years old, in high school at this time last year, and your first chance to really play comes in THE NATIONAL FREAKING CHAMPIONSHIP GAME???? With millions and millions of people watching you? With an amazing defense ready to mow you down with one false move or missed play?
And imagine being Colt McCoy? Your whole life leads up to this moment and you are injured on the first drive of the game? Cruel twist of fate.
And this is why I love college sports: Watching that little freshman get his feet under him the second half. Watching him jump for joy when he threw a beautiful touchdown pass not once but twice! Can you even imagine how he probably crapped his pants again, but this time for good reasons??? For anyone that cares or remembers...he reminds me of Major Applewhite in a big way. Lots of guts, very feisty. And did you catch Colt McCoy's interview at the end of the game? He was literally...speechless. He kept trying to talk but the words wouldn't come out. I'm sure he felt the biggest sense of disappointment and loss of his young life - but he was so gracious and talked about wanting more than anything to be out there with his team. A team that never quit even though they must have been absolutely shell shocked. I was all choked up. I felt so proud of the team - watching until the bitter end of a bittersweet game.
Professional sports no longer does it for me. Overpriced, overpaid, overgrown boys being deified for playing a game. Hmmphf.
But college sports? Sigh. College sports still matter and still represent the best things about teamwork and brotherhood and all for one, one for all.
Last, before the game ABC put together a montage of all the college football teams during cool moments of the last few years. One was a locker room scene and the Iowa State coach was surrounded by his players giving a post-game speech and he was screaming at them in a gravelly, raspy emotion-filled voice , "Right now...Right now I am so proud! I AM SO PROUD TO BE YOUR COACH!"
Well Longhorns...RIGHT NOW I AM SO PROUD TO BE YOUR FAN!!!!!!!!!!!
Hook 'em!

Grateful: Day Three

I am grateful for Waldorf education.
This morning, after taking Lily to school, Miss Helen asked me to stay for a cup of tea. So I did.
Upon the child-sized table we sat around there were fresh flowers, a candle burning, a teapot warming, sugar-coated almonds, apple slices and teacups.
We drank our tea and ate our snack.
Wednesdays are painting day.
Miss Helen got out the painting boards, began to soak the watercolor paper in water, set out the little glass jars of yellow, red, and blue paint.
Did you know that it is best to limit the very young child's paint colors to only the primary colors? Red, yellow, blue. And the youngest children (3s and young 4s) should really only paint with yellow and red. Why? Because those are the first two chakras that are present in a young child. AND, because little ones love to mix the paints together and mixing more than 2 colors makes....BROWN. Yuck. Blue paint is introduced after Christmas. Today was the first time they'd get to use blue!
Natalie and I sat together. Lily was next to us. We were ready to paint.
Natalie and I had red and yellow. Lily had red and blue.
Miss Helen goes to each child and sings a special song and gently paints with a dry brush onto their open palm (the hand with which they paint). She sings a special song about the fairies dancing in the water and jumping into the paint color. When the fairy is done with one color she dances in the water again and then jumps into the next color. (To encourage them to wash their brushes before starting a new color!)
The art of painting is very sacred and an expression from the soul so it is a very quiet activity. Even Natalie was quiet.
As the other children with red and blue paint were creating, one little girl exclaimed, "Purple! I have purple paint! My favorite color!" All of the other children watched with amazement and what she had created.
I helped Lily swirl her fairy (the paint brush) around her paper gently mixing the splotches of red and blue together to make a lovely shade of purple.
They do one painting and then that is all. The painting stays on the board to dry. It is labeled with their name and date and that activity comes to a natural close.
I stayed a few minutes more and watched Lily put together a puppet show with handmade puppets on a string. She set it all up and fixed the curtain to begin the show. It was short and sweet and went something like this, "There was a wicked witch who cast a spell on the little boy. And the witch could fly (flying the witch across the stage.)"
Then Natalie got crazy and I had to interrupt to say we would be leaving now...
And if you could be in the room...oh, it's just so lovely.

I hope we can ensure the school succeeds.

Our school:http://www.greatoakschool.org
Our Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/saracat (all money goes to the school!)

Grateful Project: Day Two

Today I am thankful for Coke. Man do I love a cold Coke in a can. Don't even get near me with a Pepsi.
Coke is it.

Grateful Project: Day One

Today I am grateful for the chance for another day to get things right. As I sit here and think about what my gut is telling me right now, it is that. I woke up today and had another day to give it a go. And not everyone gets that. I am a lucky girl.