There is still some work to be done, but I don’t know that I can ever take Lucas back to that house again.
Happily Ever After
Giddy with excitement over the gorgeous dress, the 25 foot train, the jewels, the beautiful cathedral, the cascading bouquet of flowers, the 3,500 guests, the pageantry, the glass carriage, the fairy tale.
A prince and a princess.
On July 29, 1981 along with an estimated 750 million other people, I sat glued to the television in an airport (probably on a layover some where returning to Karachi, Pakistan from being on summer holidays in the states) watching the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana.
I’m 38 years old now and just as giddy about happily ever afters and fairy tales.
If you need me today, I will be watching Kate Middleton marry Prince William.
I’m excited, but I won’t be setting my alarm for 3 AM, thanks to TiVo!
Related Posts:
Home Alone
I will be staying home alone this weekend while Todd takes Lucas to the Bay Area to visit his parents.
Yes, you read that correctly, an entire toddler-free weekend! Whatever will I do with myself?!
Honestly, I don’t care if I don’t see another living soul for the next 48 hours.
After much consideration and deep deep thought (yeah, right!), here is my Top 10 List of Things to do While my Husband and Toddler are Away, in no particular order:
1. Shave my legs.
2. Read and possibly even finish a book I started nearly three months ago.
3. Walk 10 miles AND take a yoga class.
4. Enjoy a leisurely lunch with girlfriends.
5. Organize my recent mail, e-mail, desktop folders, edit my media kit and update my About Me page on my blog (I don’t have high hopes for any of this one but added it, in case I feel like being productive).
6. Sleep. Nap. Daydream. Cat nap. Sleep some more.
7. Spend some quality time in front of the TV.
8. Plan a weekend for me and Lucas to be out of town.
9. Enjoy having the bathroom all to myself.
10. Make a special Easter dinner for my boys arrival home.
Check back on Monday to see how much I actually accomplish and in the meantime, Happy Easter!
Related Posts:
What A Crazy, Fun, Wonderful Weekend!
Every six months or so, I have a weekend that I look forward to with so much anticipation and excitement, and is so jam packed that it’s almost a blur come Monday morning.
Last weekend was one of those weekends…
I was in Vegas for an annual girl’s trip on Thursday night for a whirlwind 24 hours, home with just enough time to wash the smoke and ick out of my hair.
At 7:15 on Saturday morning, my friend, Coreen (The Adventures of Captain Fussypants, Little Miss & Caleb the Wonder Dog and pictured with me below) arrived at my house so we could car pool to Bloggy Boot Camp together.
It was an awesome one day conference but my head is still reeling from all the great take-aways. I promise to share highlights in an upcoming post.On Sunday, I spent the rain soaked day in LA waiting for my sister to cross the finish line at the LA Marathon, along with hundreds of other people. I was drenched and freezing fully dressed, so I can only imagine how miserable the runners felt.
Leah was really hurting towards the end of the 26.2 miles, but she finished in just under six hours and I am SO proud of her!
This picture was taken from the lobby bar at the Hotel Shangri-La. Once I learned that Leah had roughly an hour left to run, I wised up and got warm and dry and then ended up taking her there for a meal and beer.
It was in large part thanks to Leah that I was able to enjoy this crazy, fun, wonderful weekend because she spent Thursday afternoon, all day Friday and most of the day on Saturday with Lucas. Thank you, Leah! I sincerely appreciate your help and I know Lucas loved having his aunt visit for a few days. xoxo
Here’s hoping to catch up on my sleep tonight.
Related Posts:
St. Patty’s Day!
The Calm Before The Storm
Two weeks after my parents died in October 2007, after the dust had settled bit, the shock wore off some and the memorial service had been held, I returned to my job as a marketing manager for a trade publication.
It was what I had to do.
I needed to escape the sadness of my family, my home and the pressure of handling my parents estate. I wanted to use my brain on something I knew I was good at and be somewhere where I didn’t have to think about death or deal with my grief. I thought that getting back to my “regular” routine would help.
I was on auto pilot.
Almost a year later, in August 2008, I decided I needed to step away from my job and decompress from the roller coaster ride of emotions and tasks that I had at hand and just be with myself and my thoughts.
There was still a lot of work to be done; an estate to close and several trips to the house my sister I had inherited in Arizona. I also wanted to reconnect with family and start thinking about starting one of my own.
My husband, Todd was very supportive of my decision but I remember the day I gave my one month notice he said, your last day there, is going to be your last day there and the very next day, we are going to go on a trip. He was planning to take a week off work so we could do this, so we began plotting our adventure.
We could go anywhere!
We have both been all over the world… Europe, Africa, Asia. But this time, we decided to stay closer to home and planned a very different type of trip for us, a vacation that ended up being one of the best ones we have ever had together.
It was a road trip comprised of 1200 miles and three states.
We woke up when we woke up and got on the road that Saturday morning and drove; we had hotel reservations, but no agenda, no time line, just a navigation system.
First, we went to Las Vegas, the perfect place to get away from it all, let our hair down and have fun. We stayed at the beautiful Palazzo hotel, sipped cocktails as we lounged by the magnificent pool, saw LOVE, the Cirque du Soleil show and had a great time gambling, eating and drinking too much.Next, we headed to the Grand Canyon, a place even with all of my ties to Arizona, neither of us had ever seen before. It’s breathtaking and should be on everyone’s “Bucket List”.
We saw the Hoover Dam, ate at fun, eclectic diners along the route, visited the boarding school where I graduated from high school, on a whim, spent a night in beautiful, mystic Sedona and stayed a night with my sister in Phoenix.We ended up seeing more of our own state by ending our trip in Palm Springs, where the only thing we had to do was show up for a massage appointment.We covered a lot of miles, but we broke it up so that it wasn’t boring or monotonous and we talked. A lot. We talked about how different our lives were going to be with me not working anymore and what I hoped to accomplish with my time off.
We relished the sights and sounds of the highway and listened to a couple of books on tape and a ton of Dave Matthews. We played Rumi Cube in dive bars in the middle of the day and simply enjoyed being together.
That trip? It was sort of the calm before the storm and I mean that in the nicest of ways. I loved every minute of it.
A month after we returned home, we found out we were pregnant with Lucas. 🙂
This post is for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop: Prompt 1.) A vacation to remember.
Related Posts:
A Year Full Of Possibilities
My Barnes & Noble Silver Lining Paris Remembered 2011 desk calendar finally arrived this week and I can’t wait to start filling it in!!For as “high tech” as I am or try to be with my iPhone and online calendar, I get a big charge out of keeping track of my so-called life in black-and-white and multi-colored highlighters.
There is nothing better than a brand new, crisp, clean calendar.
Plus, I keep track of everything!
You probably didn’t know (or care) that I moved my body 735 miles last year in the form of walking, running, bike riding, the elliptical or StairMaster, or that I took Lucas to the Bay Area solo four times? How about that I saw 12 movies – in the theater and ate lunch at Subway 51 times (don’t judge!). I got my hair colored five times and had five massages, which is about 10 too few, by the way! I also noted that Lucas’ last day of wearing the Doc Band was June 3, he took his first steps on July 6, had his first hair cut on August 1. Looking back on 2010, I have a very blessed life.
And now, a whole entire year lay before me, page after page just begging to be filled in with birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, play dates, many more spa appointments, visits to Grandma and Grandpa’s, visits from aunt Leah, lunches with friends, dinners with my husband, long walks, yoga classes, weekend get-aways, Lucas’ milestones and a whole lot more!
A whole year full of possibilities…
How will you fill your 2011 calendar?
Related Posts:
Anywhere But Here
Today I want to be here. A half a world away. With nothing but blue skies and a warm sun.
Far from the worries, responsibilities, sadness and stresses in my life.
Just for today.
This photo was taken in New Caledonia in May, 2010 with my best friend, Sophie at my side.
This post is for Wordless Wednesdays and if you want to link up or see some really beautiful photographs, visit Alicia at A Beautiful Mess.
Related Posts:
Vegas On My Mind
An amusement park for adults.
Beautiful bodies in barely there bikinis.
Casinos full of eager players trying to keep their cool and their cash.
Dressed to the nines, dancing until the stilettos must come off and the sun comes up.
Entertainment everywhere you turn.
Fearless, foolish, fun.
Great friends getting together for a girl’s trip!
Hot spots, high energy and hangovers.
Inhibitions revealed.
Jackpot. Jokers wild. Seven come 11. Bet. Push. Stay.
Knowing you are going to hurt in the morning.
Lights, loud music, “LOVE”.
Mandalay Bay, Monte Carlo, MGM, Mirage.
Never. Coming. Again. Is what we always tell yourself, yet…
Once you’re there, one night is never quite long enough.
Poolside cocktails in the hot summer sun.
Quick escape, dangerously only an hour away.
Risk. Roll of the dice. Reward.
Smoke-filled rooms full of sparkle, shimmer and shine.
Time stands still and taunts you to stay up later.
Under dressed, over exposed and within reach.
VIP all the way.
Winner winner, chicken dinner!
X-rated, overrated, under estimated, it’s Vegas, baby!
Yearning for a shower. And a nap.
Zzzzz.
This post is for The Red Dress Club’s writing meme, Red Writing Hood. This weeks prompt is: write a short piece – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, whatevs – in which each sentence starts with the next letter of the alphabet. Starting with “A.” So, yes, your finished product will consist of 26 sentences.
Related Posts:
A New Year
2010 was a year of highs and lows for our household. Luckily the highs outweighed the lows and in many cases I shared them on Letters For Lucas
December – Leah and I took Lucas to Disneyland for his visit time.
- Exercise more
- Read more
- Cook more
- Be present no matter what I’m doing or who I’m with. Be in the moment.
And this year, I am on a mission to declutter our home starting with Lucas’ toys and books, but more on that in another post.
What’s on your agenda for the next 364 days of the year? Let’s make ’em count!