Before

Before you speak, listen
Before you write, think
Before you spend, earn
Before you invest, investigate
Before you criticize, wait
Before you pray, forgive
Before you quit, try
Before you retire, save
Before you die, give.

- Arthur Ward

Good one. Got any inspirational quotes that you go by?

Summer is here

Cookouts on our deck. Margaritas in the pitcher.

Cookouts on Dan & Julie's deck.

Robin and Ian and their little patriot....

...I mean pirate.

Boys and their toys

Doggie Day Care

Remember? First we said we would never get a dog. And now here we are using dog SERVICES.
Here's Brownie going to Doggie Day Camp for the day. They actually pick up the dog at your house in the morning and drop him off at the end of the day. It's a valet kind of thing.

We did it because the people that run the camp will take care of Brownie when we go to Jim and Jenna's wedding in a few weeks, and they wanted to get to know him.

Later that day when they dropped him off, the car was filled with barking dogs. Brownie bolted out of the car and high-tailed it in the house. I've never seen a dog so glad to get home. He must have thought we sold him off to the gypsies or something.

They actually gave me a written note about Brownie's day, just like you get when your kid goes to preschool. Here's an excerpt:

Today's Activities:
Catch, Tug of War, Wall ball, Agility Class, Wrestling, etc.

Brownie had a pretty good first day. He's comfortable around all the dogs but hasn't found a buddies to play with yet. Mostly just observing and a little shy. A real sweetie!

Oh. My. God.

Shoes for Moms

We had a fabulous time on the third annual Mother's Day shoe shopping trip. Caitlin gets the award because she flew in on the red eye just to make the event.

We've got it down to a science now. We start with the discount racks and then move on to the main rows o' shoes. After we fill up the giant mesh bags with shoes, we gather in a circle and evaluate, tossing out ones that duplicate or don't work and sometimes adding new ones in.

Some of my favorite quotes during this process...

"That shoe is very slimming. It's a slenderizer!"
"That duplicates animals, or at least continents. But even though it's a duplicate, I think you should still get it."
"Doesn't it look great? Too bad it's incredibly painful."

Before shoe shopping Bob and the boys were so sweet and gave me great cards, chocolates presents and breakfast.

No one's saying how many shoes were purchased.

Spring

There's a week in early May when I wake up and look out my bedroom window and see this flowering crabapple tree.

What a nice way to wake up.

Spring is busting out all over.

Watch the World Go By

Watch Flickrvision. It's hypnotic.

Mothers for Peace

I never knew this...

"Mother's Day was originally started by Julia Ward Howe in 1870 as a protest against the Civil War. "



Sign the petition.

Magic

This is a picture of me and my Mom. It's washed out and tattered because my Mom kept it in a frame for years and brought it with her everywhere she ever lived. When Mom died, I tucked it into my wallet so I can take it out and look at it wherever I go.

Here are just a few reasons why I love this picture.

When Mom and I were younger we used to laugh about how we were big floor-sitters. It seemed like we always ended us sitting on the floor - to talk, fold laundry or work on a project. It's funny - because even when Mom was younger, it wasn't easy for her to get up and down from the floor - but, just like this picture, there we always were.

In this picture Mom is wearing a red flannel nightgown that I remember vividly. She wore that nightgown for years, until it was threadbare....because that's what you do when you find a really good flannel nightgown.

I can still remember snuggling up to her like I'm doing in this picture. Snuggling was big. We used to have this thing where I'd get up and crawl in bed with her in the mornings - and she'd say "back to back" and we'd curl up touching, back to back.

In this picture I'm wearing my Jack Kemp pajamas. Jack Kemp was then quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, and not yet a Republican politician. Knowing how much I loved Jack Kemp, my Mom bought a pair of boys foot pajamas with little football players on the top and cut out Jack Kemp's number from a piece of felt and sewed it on the front. I wore them until they were threadbare, until my feet popped through because I got too tall...because that's what you do when you get a really great pair of pajamas like that.

So in this picture we're sitting on the floor, in our favorite pajamas snuggling in front of a crackling fire. It's magical.

Moms do and say millions of things that guide their children on their way. But the thing that proves they really are magic? Just a touch from them can make you feel better, safer, loved.

Actually, the magic is even more powerful than that. All I have to do is take out this picture and look at it. And I feel better.

The Ass Family

Thanks Barb - I had a good laugh over this one.