Translated in the French "Laurousee" dictionary as "to let do", "don't interfere".  I am seeing it played out daily.  It seems that no one is in any rush to help me.  Whether it be my emails about schools, apartments, Human Resources, contract departments or relocation companies.  It is really getting on my nerves.  I am an American for goodness sakes and we all suffer from anxiety, high blood pressure,  heart problems, and the like  due to our need  for speed.  "Someone answer me" is what I want to scream.

Do you think there is a lesson in this for me?  Anyone who knows me, knows that I am the girl with a list and I like to cross off each item upon completion.  I guess some things in life don't get "crossed off" when you want them to.....

Can you tell that I was the girl who was always redecorating her room?  I was forever rearranging my furniture.  Moving my bed from one end of my small room to another.  Cleaning out my closet and organizing my drawers.   I see the same thing in my kids.  Maxwell's room has tiny pieces of magazine and newspaper clippings tacked up to his bulletin board.  There must be 50 little pictures ranging from toys, tents, shoes to dogs.  Sophie is forever rearranging her knick knacks.  She knows when I move them too.  Scary. 

As you can see, once again I have revamped my blog.  Why?  That is just what I do.  Trust me, this won't be the last time.   Especially when Dan told me that he could do cool things with "power point".  He designed the tri picture on the front page.  I just gave him the pictures and he took over.  Thanks honey and have a safe trip.  We will miss you this week. 

As I am writing this my brother is celebrating his 42nd Birthday by running  the Long Beach Marathon.  How cool is that?  He has been a runner as far back as I can remember.  He learned early on that he would need to have endurance and speed to run from my mother who was always chasing him after getting into trouble.

Growing up as his little sister was a bit of a pain.  I must admit that I wasn't crazy about him growing up.  He was always teasing and torturing me.  Somewhere around the "tween years", he seemed to come around.  (Personally, I think it was because he got one look at my cute friends and thought that he needed to change his game plan).  He was right.  I fell in love with him as did a number of my girlfriends.    I still hold a torch for him in many ways.

He has grown into an amazing man.  He is a family man through and through.  He adores family and will do anything and everything it takes to come together and celebrate family.  

One time, after moving to Texas, he surprised the kids by ringing our doorbell on their Birthday.  He stayed for the day and had to fly back home.  Who does that?  He makes it a point to try and get our family together in the summers when he rents a beach house.  The days are filled with shell hunting, sandcastles, swimming, long walks, bike rides, kite flying and the nights are filled with campfires (in the driveway) and marshmallow roasting.  He is a  rock star when it comes to children, not just mine, anyones children.  It is amusing to watch.

Today I celebrate you Tim.  My love for you, although not spoken as often as it should, is endless.  I love you for loving my children so unabashedly, respecting my husband, honoring Mom and Dad, being the buffer between my Mom and Dad in times of conflict, the loyalty you have for Ana, your love for the Lord, your energy (it's contagious), your desire to want to spend time with me,  your acceptance, your generosity,  and the history we share together.

The memories are rich and full and I thank you for every single one of them.  From the days as a kid in Sierra Madre, riding our bikes on Ramona Street, playing dodgeball in the street, being banned from "the boys" treehouse, shirtless boys, go carts careening down Lima Street, raft races in the pool, carpooling to PCS and you tormenting poor Mrs. Green, the days at the beach, summer vacations spent on Balboa Island, riding on your handlebars, video games, visits from you at Heidi's Frozen Yogurt, crying on your shoulder about a boy in Dad's office, camping out at the Rose Parade and cruising Colorado Blvd. in the back of Dad's "tough truck", helping you on your pool routes in the summer and jumping into the customers pool's to cool off,  pushing the lawnmower and edger up Lima street to help you with some of your gardening jobs, house sitting with you after stocking up on junk food at Albertson's, all the concerts you took me too, trips to Vegas, Kings hockey games.  I could go on and on. 

Enjoy your day and always know deep in your heart that I am so proud to call you brother. 



 

I can't tell you how many times Max will say something that makes me stop dead in my tracks.  He is an old soul in so many ways.  He has a confidence and an awareness about God that makes me envious.

Last night as I was tucking him into bed, out of nowhere, he says "Mom, I really like me.....I am so glad that God made me".  As a mother, that just warmed my heart.  I want him to be happy in his own skin and give praise to God for making him unique.  How many times, have I gone to God, complaining about my inadequacies?  I told him "I am so happy and I can imagine how happy God is right now hearing you say that".  He said "You know, I am so happy God made you my Mother too".  Ok, he got me.   How wonderful it is to hear your child praising the job that you are doing?  Don't we all need a little acknowledgement and doesn't it give us the patience and encouragement to try harder, to want to do better?

I love old quotes and proverbs and often times I write them down.  There is a beautiful quote that made me think of Maxwell.
 
-While we try to teach our children all about life.  Our children teach us what life is all about- Angela Schwindt

I am going to wear an attitude of gratefulness today.  Max has inspired me to appreciate the positive qualities that God has instilled in me.  I think we all need to stop focusing and trying to change the negative parts of our personalities and instead try to master and deepen our strengths.
 
I will end this entry with a beautiful Chinese proverb and a thank you to my parents for the shade that I am enjoying today.......

-One generation plants the trees, while another gets the shade

I met Dan at his work for lunch yesterday.   As I was following Dan to the restaurant we stopped at a red light.  I looked off to my left and took a double take; could that be the hotel we stayed in for five weeks waiting for our house in Southlake, Texas to be ready?   No....yes, yes it was.....the Quality Inn.  Oh, did that ever take me back to four years ago..........

A week into our five week stint at this hotel, Hurricane Katrina hit.  Thousands evacuated from New Orleans to Texas.  Our hotel was taken over by hundreds of these evacuee's.  They all looked tired, worried, and worn out.  We had reserved two hotel rooms for our family but the hotel was running out of space for all the evacuee's.  The lovely Indian owners (who we got to know fairly quickly with 2 two year old's running around the lobby) offered us their apartment within the hotel.  That was the first embrace of many we felt from God during our stay.  It was a lovely apartment with two large bedrooms, bathroom, living room, kitchen and dining room.  It smelled of curry.

I discovered fairly quickly that God planted us in this hotel for a reason.  We were a light for these people.  The kids eagerly shared their toys with the many children who were hanging around in the hallways and the lobby.  I had a car and was able to transport these people to the local shelters were they could find food, clothing, medicine, and look for their loved ones.  Church services were held in the lobby every Sunday.  It was moving to see such deep faith in these people even though they had lost loved ones and every possession they owned to this horrific hurricane.  Their response to lifes tragedies taught me so much.

I met a lovely elderly woman named Orelia one day.  I felt such a pull to her, more so than anyone else in the hotel, she had many medical issues.  I was her taxi, counselor, and advocate during the rest of our stay.  I can still remember taking her to one of many doctor visits; her husband Elton was crammed in the back of our little Volvo stationwagon between Max and Sophie who loved poking him and laughing, sweet Orelia was in the front seat with me singing Gospel hymns.  She brought her Bible with her everywhere she went.  She was illiterate and wanted me to read scripture to her.  She found power and strength in the Word.  

Orelia and Elton moved back to New Orleans  the minute authorities gave the ok.  I still talk to her on the phone every few months.  She has Alzheimer's now and can't remember very much but she remembers me and the hurricane.  Elton is still very healthy.

Pulling away from the Quality Inn gave me perspective.  I wonder what God has planned for me in Paris?  I want to be His hands and feet and I pray that I will heed his gentle whisper. 

We rescued Otis from a local Pug Rescue organization last year.  Max and Sophie love animals and were begging us for a cat and dog for years.  We finally conceded and we found our loveable, exciteable, hungry, social, willful, little pug Otis.

He was supposed to be Maxwells dog but it seems that he has taken a liking to me.  (I think it is because I am the one who is always cooking in the kitchen and the boy is crazy about food).  I have never seen anything like it.  He knows when it is "feeding time" and spins around in circles waiting for one of us to dump that cup of kibble into his bowl.
 
Unfortunately, it looks like we can't bring Otis to Paris with us.  I've not found any apartments that allow pets.  Ugh.  (I see dogs all over Paris, what's up with that)?  We need to find him a great home so now I am soliciting the help from you all.  If anyone is interested in taking care of our Otis while we are away, please let me know. 

He is 3 1/2 years old and a great dog who loves to be around people.  He is wonderful with children.  I mean amazing.  He loves his walks, he loves to run around and play with the kids, he tolerates the pool, he will be your shadow and follow you around everywhere.  He is not a barker as a rule.  He does not get "freaked out" by storms,  thunder or fireworks. He loves to ride in the car, he loves to wear costumes (he is going to be a bumble bee for Halloween this year).  He loves playing with other dogs, big or small, he is good with cats too.  He is very healthy but you have to be careful about overfeeding him.  We have often commented  "what would happen if we just dumped the enormous bag of dog food on the ground............would he ever stop eating"?

On the flip side; he sheds, he is sneaky and stubborn.  It took us about 9 months to get him house trained.  This from an owner (Dan) who  trained bomb dogs for years. 

He is a doll and I pray that we can find someone to care for him.  If you want a companion who will love you unconditionally and spin around when they see you, Otis is the dog for you.  I will be more than happy to deliver him to your door step if you live out of state. 

 

I was so excited to see "One Republic" open for Rob Thomas last night.  They are a popular alternative rock group who have a ton of great songs out now; "Stop and Stare", "Apologize".  They were amazing and so grateful to the fans.  I noticed that from both One Republic and Rob Thomas.  They thanked the crowd for coming out and supporting them.  Who wouldn't love that?

We sat next to a sweet couple.  I knew we would "hit it off"  when I overheard the wife telling her husband "yea honey, we've been here before, remember.....we took the kids to see Barney and the Doodlebops here last year".  Ha.  Such a cool crowd.

Rob was amazing and had such confidence.  What is it about musicians?  They are just so cool.  He had an amazing stage presence andhe was easy on the eyes.

We were listening to the first encore song when my phone rang.  Ugh.  It was our babysitter.  I answered it but couldn't hear.  I handed the phone to Dan who headed out to the lobby.  He came back saying that Sophie was awake and crying, etc.  We decided to leave a little early to rescue our babysitter.  Once home, Sophie was sound asleep.  When she woke this morning I made sure to lay the guilt on real thick.  "You know, we had to leave the concert early because of your behaviour".  Max just sat there with a grin; "I slept fine.....right Mommy?"

 

I am not sure if anyone has heard of "Rob Thomas" or "Matchbox Twenty".  He is an amazing musician that used to be the lead singer for "Matchbox Twenty".  I love his music.  He is a passionate man to say the least.  His lyrics can be questionable but behind most of them is heart.

I am quite the passionate girl myself so I love the way he lays his heart out in the open for all to see.  Life would be so boring without passion.   

Anywho, tonight Dan and I are going to see Rob Thomas in concert!  I am beyond excited and counting the hours.  We saw him when we first moved to Texas in 2005.  He was great and I soooo enjoyed rock'in out with my man. 

I love concerts.  They take me back to my teenage years.  My brother, Tim, loved music and was big on attending concerts.  He was always so sweet about letting his little sister tag along with him.   This was in the 80's when you had to sit in a line in front of "Music Plus" (a music store chain) and wait along with a throng of others until morning to purchase your tickets.  It was always an adventure all curled up in my beach chair with a blanket and a "boom box" cranked up to the latest hits.  I will never forget those concerts; U2, Genesis, Phil Collins, George Michael.  Love them and loved the 80's.  Depeche Mode rocks!     

I come from a long line of great cooks and very domestic women.  My Mom swears she popped out of her Mother's womb with a frying pan in one hand and a feather duster in the other.  I could not agree more!  She loves to cook and wakes up thinking about what she is going to make for dinner.  Wouldn't that be fabulous???  I wake up and stumble through my morning and wait until 4pm and try and figure out what I can put on the table.  

When I think about cooking it is a gift of love for your family.   You are nourishing their bodies and their hearts in so many ways.  You are taking time out of your day to prepare something special for them. 

I read a wonderful quote this weekend that I am taking hold of with both hands "The best thing you can spend on your children is time".  Don't you just love that?   I am replacing the word children with family and friends.  

Today I tried to put that quote into action.  We hunkered down this Sunday and spent time together.  We watched movies, we painted nails, we read books, we colored, we made rice krispie treats, we built tall skyscrapers out of blocks.....  It was a wonderfully simple day and it didn't cost us a penny.  I am finishing it off with cooking a comfort meal tonight.  I am in the process of cooking breaded chicken cutlets with lemon and roasting sweet potatoes.  It could not be any easier. 

Enjoy spending time with your family today!


 

I realized fairly early in this school year that I needed to find a strategy to get the kids up and out the door for school on Friday's.  They are exhausted by the end of the week.  I thought...."fun Friday".  I build it up on Thursday and they come barreling downstairs on Friday mornings waiting to see what we are having for breakfast and what decorations I have out for them.  This morning was little hostess powdered donuts in a cool (Target) Halloween bowl with a fab cup too.

As I was watching them eat their little donuts, my mind quickly flashed back to summers as a kid in California.  My Mom and her friends loved the beach and every Wednesday was our day to go to the beach.  We would pile into someones stationwagon and stop at Winchell's donuts for two donuts and a milk,  We would devour those donuts on our way to the beach, singing along to the latest Jackson Five song; windows rolled down, often times our feet sticking out the back window of the stationwagon (we didn't wear seatbelts back in the day).  What a sight we must have been with donut frosting and sprinkles stuck to our faces as we waved at cars driving by.  If we were lucky we got a "trucker" to blow his horn for us which made my mother jump out of her seat!   I could still see her expression and then "that look", her hair blowing every which way, her skin kissed by the sun and then looking at Aunt Rita (or whoever was with us that week)  bursting with laughter......we got her again!