Goodbye winter!

Ever so s...l...o...w...l...y, the boxes are getting packed regardless of the fact that we still have no news.  We've had a couple days of warmth & it's been just enough of a push to say 'so long' to winter clothes for awhile:)  Of course a cold front has been predicted for this week, but i'm hoping it's short & sweet because unpacking the box is NOT an option.

A word on humor

It was one of those magical moments where i was bursting at the seams to show Zane something funny & i just knew he would think it was funny too.  i adore that moment where you're waiting anxiously for them to read the punch line & then the immense joy you feel when you finally hear that familiar laughter you knew was coming...  aw...such a good feeling.  To be on the same humor wave-length is so necessary.   

Out with the old...

Zane is unlike me in the sense that he doesn't need to regularly purge his possesions like i do.  Hence the reason he has a ridiculous amount of clothing, some dating back to his freshman year of high school.  That makes them, let's see... like 9-years old.  I can hardly keep things for 9-months.  Anyway, his neck grew an inch, and breathing was becoming a hazard. 

To see all these shirts bound for Goodwill was positively euphoric. 

A word on watches

To know me is to know how much i hate watches.  So it would only  make sense that i would find one i love on a counter at Blockbuster.  Yah, that's right, i'm the kind of girl who buys $8 watches at Blockbuster after years of despising them. 

In my defense, wearing one at work is useful. 

You, Me & St. Augustine

 My portal into the natural world & enjoying my baby steps.

 Tee-shirt weather in February? Ok:)

 A1A Burrito Works, mmm..

Anything remotely retro immediately jumps into my heart.

What will i remember about this improptu date night?  Zane discussing the depth of his loving relationship with blueberries while walking beside the bay at twilight.  And lots of laughing.



weird

people always looks at our fridge & all the pics when they come over, many times they have been people we don't know well.  people always ask who such & such is, and i'll tell them. and every.single.time. they always skip the picture of landon, even if they ask about pics of other kids on our fridge.  it's almost become this silent game i play with myself to see if they'll ask- as weird as that sounds, but it's just happened enough times that it's almost too weird to be a coincidence.  i have had a few occasions where people have literally asked me about every single picture on my fridge EXCEPT landon's, people who wouldn't even know to avoid asking about the picture.  in my silly little mind, i tell myself that God is protecting me.  

it's complicated, how do i even explain this.  

i have never ever hid my son from anyone, if they ask, i'm happy to tell them about him, and even sometimes when they don't ask.   all the same, bringing up such a heavy topic is not what i like to serve after dessert. so until a more logical answer surfaces, i'm just going to continue to believe that God is protecting me in this matter.   

Junebug Turns 11

Our little Junebug turned 77 in dog-years three days ago. 

She's quite the senior citizen.  Today i came home to my (mini) jar of pure shea butter half-eaten.  Can't wait for that to leave her system....

Of course I googled it, and found that i was not the only one who has a dog that's eaten shea butter.  One comment made me laugh. 

"At least she won't have to worry about stretch marks!"

A New Favorite

lavender lemonade.  Mmm.......

Johnny's Security Blanket

Johnny use to be Sal, and Sal came with this blanket, which his previous care-takers said brought him comfort.  And it did.  He loved to lay down & rest midst the smells of the familiar. 

We wonder a lot about what he must think.  We've been told that dogs are pretty adaptable, and we hope it's true because he was tragically ripped from his old life, and it must have been so confusing.  We know he came from a family that adored him, and treated him like a king & then one sad day, a terrible car accident took away their ability to care for their own needs, let alone his.  Hence his new home with us. 

We jokingly imagine if dogs went to therapy that Johnny would be there for his abandonment issues. 

Fast forward a few months & that blanket lays abandoned in the hallway.  Now he chooses the top of the couch pretty much over any other place in the house, preferably buried under a fleece blanket or two.

It warms my heart to know he loves his new home here with us. 

Shout out to Bear Graphics

i love my print, and i almost love the packaging just as much.

i also loved our dialogue while i was waiting for my package.  someday i hope to feel the U.K. rain on my face.

(have a looksie at their etsy shop).

Barberville, FL.

A day for visiting friends in the country.

The complicated side of me

The other day was the kind of day that found me sipping on loose-leaf detox tea blend & [blasting] britney spears.

I'm full of these kinds of contradictions and it alarms me how easy it is to desire cleanliness AND sing such dirty, overtly worldly things.

(& guiltily enjoy myself!!) That's the kicker.

And a word on music choices....the mister & i went to wal-mart & I bought the latest rihanna, he bought jerrod niemen(sp?), a country artist. How's that for opposites. But heres the thing that I adore. We can pop them BOTH into the car stereo and happily sing along to each others choices.

A word on clothes

Yesterday was the kind of day that makes me want to wear a sweater, not because it was sweater-weather, actually it was 68 & lovely, but just because it's cute, and i like it. 

It's from Anthropologie, my favorite store that i can't afford, but i found this 'anthropologie-reject' store a couple months ago, and picked up a bunch of things that needed some love in the form of buttons & sewing up holes & tears (& all for under like $8 a piece!)

This one in particular makes me smile because my friend made the comment that it looks like it has a doily on the front, and she didn't mean it in a good way.  Which made Zane laugh because he secretly agreed.

Zane & I have never seen eye-to-eye on much of anything except for you know the "big/non-negotiables" of course.  So we made a pact when we first started falling in love to never say anything negative about each other's wardrobes, or where they came from... (usually mine from Goodwill, his from Van Huesen)  And I have to say we've both held up our ends of the bargain pretty well over the years.  Of course styles have evolved, and sure comments have been made, but we've come so far as to have 'Color-Coordinated-Sundays.'  So that's saying something.

These days

"Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you." - Maori proverb

It was a Monday and it was the kind of weather day that made me R U N from the cold, dark shadows and into the warmth of the sun.

It was a perfectly unplanned day.  Schedules, as if by magic, cleared themselves and we got to spend it with a new friend.  The kind of friend that doesn't live anywhere near us.  The kind of friend that you know you quite possibly won't ever see again, but it's still okay, because the time you get with them is enough. 

The next day was confirmation of the goodness that was in the previous two days. 

Another stranger knocks at the door, and leaves as a friend that we're thankful to know.

What i'll remember about him is staying up until almost 1 a.m., the three of us talking freely about every topic under the sun (literally, from Winnebagos to Adam & Eve), and just appreciating his honesty with us. 

It's worth noting too, that sometimes gratitude becomes deeper and more real when you compare similar situations side by side.  And last year at this time I stayed in bed all day because that was all I could seem to manage, and that dinner with Carl was a miserable blur.  So to have his companion this year accompanied by a peaceful home, and a sound mind is all-together wonderful, and makes for Cloud-9 Days.