Mmm, beefy

I passed out for nearly four delicious hours this afternoon. I do so adore a meaty nap.

20120624-174107.jpg

Never "too old" for a play date …

Several months ago, two of my friends and I decided we didn’t see enough of each other, and determined to change that. I utterly adore these two fabulous women–in their own unique ways, they bring out the best in me. And sometimes snorting, when the three of us are together.

We agreed to meet regularly; the standing monthly appointment is on my calendar as a “Mental Health Break.” We meet at Laughing Planet and hilarity ensues. Really, if you can’t laugh at Laughing Planet … At first, it seemed a little, well, silly, that three grown people would have to purposely schedule time to just hang out and catch up. But now we have done a few times, this is one appointment I don’t want to miss.

We have no agenda for what’s become a play date. We tried that once, an agenda. It didn’t work. We were unanimous in that. So, we have no defined deliverable; there’s no key indicator or metric used to measure our productivity. Wait. Scratch that. There is at least one measure … how much my sides ache the following day from laughing at us. Laughter really is good medicine. And a fabulous ab workout. Never mind the dinosaurs. 

Last month, we discovered we all have
 birthdays within 30 days of each other. Who knows where it came from, but we ended up saying we should wear tiaras this month to celebrate. Kristina actually has one, and good girl, she wore it. I don’t have a tiara, so I stopped at the craft store, and picked up supplies to make one. 



Unfortunately, Brenda couldn’t join us this month. Since we didn’t get to see her tiara, we made her a princess one. Complete with a castle, crown, cute little mirror, and frog prince (that I somehow managed to cut off in that bottom right corner). We’ll deliver it tomorrow. 🙂

Two pictures at once … talented paparazzi, we are.  



Long live play dates!! 

Four-eyes


This puzzle by Jan van Haasteren was a gift from one family member to another for Christmas 2011. Last week we made a bit of family night of it–dinner and a puzzle. It’s been a while since we’ve done anything like this. And I had a blast.

As you can see, there’s a lot going on here. As with any puzzle, sometimes you have to check the back of the pieces … to be sure they fit. 
After mom fit these two together (and was proud of herself for making a match!) I just happened to look at what she’d connected. 
Um. A for effort, momma. {giggle} But not quite. {giggle} Try again. 

>~~<~~>~~<~~>~~<

It strikes me this is a good analogy for life. There’s a lot going on. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if things fit. And, pieces that seem to fit may not create the right picture. Double-check. If necessary, get someone else to look, too. And take pictures! The best memories are made of simple moments.   🙂

Dripping

There are so many things worthy of mention on this, Thanksgiving Day.

Yet when I look out the window and see sunlit blue sky on a crisp, autumn day, it occurs to me the simple things are really the most important:
– Family that loves me without condition
– Close friends that support me, no matter the situation
– Four-leggeds that remind me there is joy and adventure in the most mundane tasks (even
taking out the trash)

I am thankful for God’s provision and blessings. My cup truly runneth over.