Monday, May 27, 2013

farm living is the life for me

once in a while anyway...

you know, to hang out with cows like maisey, dead, & molly...
and gaze at the grazers...

and scrub some sheep...
 and scrubs some more...
 and stand there as a size reference...
and get some sheep to pose with their buddy...
and dress the sheep up in funny clothes to keep them clean after all that scrubbing...
 and drive the tractor...
and make this face...
and be ready to do it all again next time.

Friday, May 24, 2013

some kind of beautiful

last weekend i was grouchy.  like, grouchy-grouchersons-type-grouchy.  then everyone got sick, save tony, and i can't quite shake the grouchies.  i chalked it up to stress and then to hormones and to the hacking, coughing, body aching, sore throatness of it all, and ultimately to impatience.

this time of year is my favorite and my nemisis all wrapped up into one.  i long for spring. i love it with every fiber of my being. because spring gives way to summer and all i want is to get in my car with my people and, without a plan or a care, just go. 
but i can't. 


it's the season of waiting. 
but summer, in all of it's family-time goodness, is just on the horizon.

Friday, May 17, 2013

speaking of lucky

this girl needs to buy herself a lottery ticket.
she is a lucky little thing, that one. 

here's the short version...

not only does she have parents who love her to the end of the earth and the internet, but she also has neighbors watching out for her cat-loving heart.

wahh-what?
here's the longer version...

nani is lucky in that she doesn't worry about all of the little stuff.  she lets all of the things in life that send most of us to the brink of sanity just blow past her in the breeze.  often we see nadia as just having her head in the clouds- off in nani-la-la land- but maybe it is just that she is so very focused on the things that matter most- her family, friends, pets and lovies- that she just doesn't bother with the rest.
lucky, and wise beyond her years. 

which brings us to five very long years ago when nadia's very best lovey went missing.  she is convinced that someone sneaked into our home and stole her beloved cori doll.  i am pretty sure we left it somewhere.  seeing our carefree nani-b hurt over losing her baby broke our hearts in a surreal and irrational way.  we have found her crying in a heap in her room at odd intervals over the years about her baby, hugging a picture of her and cori.  and when i say we have found her, i mean i found her like this a month ago.  we continue to search every toys r us and target for a replacement, even though we contacted mattel and knew that they discontinued k9094 years ago. 
another stroke of luck for that girl is that she was was born with a long memory and a tenacious spirit.  she wasn't letting go.  so tony and i revived our search for a cori replacement and found one! 

when cori arrived in the mail (thank you ebay and florida woman for seeing her for the value she has) i immediately put laundry and when tony got home we sent nadia up to get the clean clothes out of the dryer.  she was in shock and disbelief! but most importantly she is happy and knows that she is loved.


and then you know the sad tale of the missing gordo.  well that little opportunist has been hanging out with the neighbors, feasting on their cats' food, vying for attention and sleeping in the barn, for the past few weeks.  i'm not sure if it is because he was sticking it to the man (the man being tony) after being put out for the day because he pooped square in the middle of our bed or if he his little itty bitty brain couldn't figure out how to get back across the fence.  seriously, it is probably the latter. 

she is lucky our neighbors' are good people.  good people who look out for stray fat cats and keep them safe.  good people who hug fat cats goodbye and hand them over to sweet faced little girls without hesitation. 

Monday, May 13, 2013

13 is a very lucky number

happy anniversary to my schmegalist schmegal,  loviest love. 

we were married on the 13th of may, just 13 years ago today.  i love him more today than i ever thought possible.  we spent this past weekend relaxing on an overnight get away.  it wasn't extravagant.  it wasn't fancy.  we didn't eat in a restaurant the entire trip. we walked and talked and he even ran with me.  but it wasn't out of the ordinary even.  but it was perfectly us.  we reflected a lot on why 'we' work and why 'we' are lucky and if it's luck at all or just hard work and decided we really don't know. 

but i want to know. 
i want to know how to prescribe this, this, -whatever it is-, that is so incredibly perfect for the two of us.  i want our children to know this kind of love. the kind that is so indescribable that we make up silly words for it because a word isn't enough.  the kind of love that isn't easy, that isn't always pretty, that isn't always patient, the kind that makes you believe in yourself just a little bit more and the love that can be the kind of irritating that sinks to the marrow of your bones, but is always just deeply, empoweringly there.  i still don't know if it's luck, or biochemical responses, or work, or fate, but i know i wouldn't change a day of it if it meant changing what we have now. 

i asked tony this morning about his thoughts on the past 13 years. he said it's kinda like the stock market.  the trend is always up, there may be dips now and then but it is in those downfalls that you need to invest.  that is when you will see the biggest return on investment. 

brilliant.

Friday, May 3, 2013

cats and muu muus

let's start with muu muus.  it is an easier topic to tackle.  honestly, there is not a topic here and nothing to tackle.  i just love wearing muu muus and feel like i need to publicly declare it.  so there it is. 

eclipse and the yellow muu muu

gordo and the hawaiian muu muu
as for cats.  i love them.  all of them.  this is not new information, but lately we have had some kitty hardships.  gordo left us.  nadia is broken hearted.  i am broken hearted for her and for me.  he was my little morning buddy.  we don't know where he has gone and can only hope that he isn't hungry.  if you see him, let him know we love him and his lounging chair is ready for him.
who wouldn't miss this guy?