nicole's birthday!

• the birthday celebration we had for my boss, nicole this morning. awesome cupcakes, fresh fruit, lovely sentiments about her and her hugs.
• a boss who cares about me and 'what's in it for me' and what we can, together, accomplish. that she trusts my opinions and goes with my gut as much as hers. that we can say anything and that our relationship has been elevated to a place where we don't take things personally (for the most part!).
• a much too short visit with the dority's this evening. we let the boys talk about garden stuff and we talked about what she should wear this weekend. having second parents right around the corner is such a blessing. they are the best.
• the house they wanted in another neighborhood sold!!!! i danced in her driveway and didn't even apologize for not taking her feelings into account. they belong here! they can move when we do, but only to the country with us!
• our windows are in for our new room. i'll be hanging drywall for a memorial day weekend move in! wow. how exciting!
• yet again my man cooking dinner of homegrown collards, corn and venison cheeseburgers!
• david totally using his rain day to our advantage and getting mother's day gifts handled for sunday and asking me if he needed to take care of chris, too.
• rain rain rain rain rain rain. much much much much needed rain finally coming down. our yard and garden thank you tropical storm andrea.
• paris hilton ending her ridiculous pleas to get out of serving jail time. we would all do it and lose a lot in the process. she's finally agreeing to suck it up - good for you, paris! (of course there will be an appeal. . . .)
• you, my little collard green, you!

projects

• finally getting these pictures posted to my glog! how much fun is this really?
• a lovely dinner with new wine poured by my man and cooked by my man and then retiring to the deck overlooking the pond to finish the bottle.
• zucchini and squash from our garden for dinner.
• david immediately turning on the braves game when we came inside which means time for me to play with my glog!
• the girls having their evening snack - miss peabody and sandy catching cookies off their noses! truely amazing!
• an anticipated visit with adrienne and daniel later this month!
• all the rsvps for mom's reception - i get to catch up with christine, the cranio-sacral goddess from wilmington and emily, the crazy woman who weazeled her way into mom's will - aparantly my new sister!
• david doing completely inappropriate things while impatiently waiting for me to finish this post .

hang on - i'll be back!

• that!
• a great weekend that included the farmer's market, a middle school production of annie that was really really good and time spent with david.
• more training at corporate in park city for june.
• mother's day plans that include a boat ride and all of us in the country.
• giraffes
• michelle's great weekend at ross camp. god, the memories are flowing back. craig did peel out of the parking lot, but only because of my mother! haha! kevin became 'the good son,' we discovered that a man who had lost half his face from cancer was the most inspiring person i had ever met, we found out that sticky notes don't belong in certain men's genitalia (yuck, thanks peggy) and that hairy backed men from saint louis can start a revolution! i love it! how much fun to remember that. as a side note. . . . . never mind - i just can't go there! most of what happened at global must stay at global!
• it's finally raining. only 3 days of winds and our garden suffering but finally tonight. rain.
• tomorrow is wednesday - hump day!
• you, little rain drop, you!

team building

• nicole trusting me to take our team to the next level and creating 'team south carolina' with candice, terri and me. three remarkable women from vastly different backgrounds and oh, the fun we'll be getting into!
• did i say that i was 'letting go' in sedona? well, it continues back home as well. feeling yucky the last couple of days is putting perspective on what is important - that's good coming back from vacation. good food = good. junk food = junk. why do i do this to myself?
• i hear john bon jovi will be on american idol tonight and although i don't spend my time watching that - i can't miss him now can i?
• tivo'd oprah.
• david taking care of the yard.
• big d dropping 'the upper room' by the house each month for me.
• that we finally got the laundry out of the hall that's been there since michelle was here.
• chandler for calling to check up on me and have elizabeth tell me she 'wvoves' me!
• you, sweetness, you.

red red RED RED rocks!

• brigham (sp) young said about salt lake, 'this is the place' - he never was in sedona i take it. how incredibly blessed am i to spend time here. i feel so alive yet in a real deep way. that sounds goofy. i'm not energetic and jazzed, but calm and clear. stoned on the air and the smell and the stones and being with denise.
• although this is my 4th time here, it's the only time i've had to explore and take in what i can in 7 days. what an amazing place. around every curve is just this scene even more beautiful than the scene before it.
• very little distraction. no radio, little tv, just thoughts and feelings and soul connection with one that has known me since i was 12. 12! and how much we knew about each other then that went unspoken. and how those words still go unsaid, yet we know. but are feeling more confident in ourselves to speak.
• artichoke pizza
• vegan blt with avocado and sprouts at d'lish - holy cow - that was so good!
• trader joe's 3 buck chuck and 2 bottles left over to bring home!
• the sunset over the rocks.
• the pink jeep tour and the goddess guide who can drive that thing!
• mario the indian who set us straight. 'in dios' - 'of god' - don't call him a native american!
• letting go. . . literally. . . how much can one poop during a trip to sedona. as my buddy says, 'there's some mad healing goin' on!'
• massage school sessions of shiatsu, hot stone and thai. yum!
• david being ok with me being gone for 7 whole days. him being ready for me to come home tho!
• the projects he did in the house. powerwashing the outside and replacing the garage door with his dad! folded laundry (he did leave me his shirts because i am the shirt folding queen!).
• a week without the braves game!
• that i'm home and the braves will again fill my house with the sounds of summer.
• the bush outside the porch window that is filling my house with sweet smells.
• sushi with my husband. cucumber salad! and the perfect idea to ask them to add avocado the next time!
• the idea that we may go fishing this weekend in the boat with dave and kim and the anticipated nap underneath while the boys drive us offshore.
• that david got to spend time with his parents on friday and big d helped him with the garage door.
• you, little yellow desert blossom, you!

soul connections

• the joy of watching my mom's joy this weekend. her glow when tom walks into the room. seeing his eyes light up when she's around. watching their vows as he looked into her eyes and promised himself to her.
• the passion that their relationship has that was so very well exibited in the weather yesterday.
• good champagne
• new family
• how sweet my husband is and how sexy he was in his linen suit.
• mom and tom's friends who were there for support and love.
• how stunning she was and their first dance.
• michelle surprising mom and how it was the cherry on top for me that she was here.
• michelle and melinda connecting and appreciating each other. michelle seeing what i see in melinda and how important she is in my life.
• did i say good champagne?
• did i say how sexy my husband is?
• late night dinner at basil with good champagne and key lime martinis!
• michelle's rental convertable mustang and david squealing the tires last night as michelle yelled, ''get it david smoak, get it!" i almost peed myself!
• the things that go unspoken between michelle and me because they are just understood.
• she and david getting to spend the day together and that i got to walk on the beach with her and eat at the good little hippie joint on folly.
• kevin being here in charleston last week and seeing the beauty that is this amazing place. he was so caught up in his woman that he adores that he couldn't break himself away to call me for 3 minutes! rock on kev!
• my vacation is coming up on sunday!
• ricky is starting on our room this week and we need to make decisions on colors, etc.
• david's birthday on friday and dority bringing the boat so they can go fishing.
• david planting sweet potatoes in the garden just for me.
• soul connections
• magical friendships
• aunt vivian and uncle boober
• gorgeous flowers
• meeting mom's little brother from big brothers big sisters on friday and calling him my 'uncle darryl'
• my new computer allowing me to take my time with this glog and not be rushed or unfocused with the phones ringing at the office.
• david's giggle.
• you in my life!

reconnection

• good talk with nicole about what we're in it for.
• willingness to work hard because someone is counting on us for that.
• 3 girls getting together for dinner with good pinot noir, mac and cheese and duck clubs. we missed melinda so next month we're back to gastronomic delights!
• melinda and wesley seeing 'joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat' tonight together without the boys - a date night for them.
• my new computer hooked up and at my house so that i can be connected again!
• a day off of work tomorrow for spa day with my mom.
• surprises for my mom on her wedding weekend.
• the anticipation of meeting her 'little brother' darryl tomorrow. he's in 5th grade and made her bouquet of palm frons made into roses. being able to connect with this little guy who mom spends her time with each week and has fallen in love with.
• david's meeting with the 'big boss' tomorrow and all that brings.
• the braves - do you feel me smiling?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
• again - the braves?!?!?!?!? if i say it enough - do i become attached to it?!
• a good but short conversation with my dad. is he always over a urinal when i call? must be the holland bladder. good lord.
• you in my life!

glogging!

• a few stolen moments to glog!
• jennifer back from vacation and less urgency for me to take it all on!
• busy-ness that comes with my life and all the people i love in it.
• mom - her wedding plans working out so easily and nicely and that i get to tease her about being 'bridezilla'! beautiful weather forecast for sunday and her yard looking divine with all the love and care david and i put in it last week. aunt vivian and boo flying in early on saturday to celebrate with us. all the people who will just happen to 'show up' at angel oak at 1:30 on sunday to be with her on her wedding day.
• my new family complete with 2 nephews, 2 nieces, 2 sisters, a brother and a brother-in-law. busy!
• an easter celebration complete with softball and sore muscles - i felt old! but i can still knock the shit right out of the ball.
• a hopeful sermon on sunday by mike.
• miss olive's life and how she impacted david. he loved her and she loved him. she is out of pain.
• hans and connie koldeway - their memorial service yesterday and the memories it brought back. political conversations in their living room at 15 before i knew i had a label but knew that i thought differently than a lot of people here in the south. their son chris saying that they were liberals because that was what freedom meant. absolutely.
• a spa day this friday!
• pending vacation with the smell of sage and red rocks all around me. drinking wine with denise and giggling like we did when we were 12.
• it's almost time to go home to my sweet husband and our girls and get slobbered on by them. . . and him too!
• you in my life!