I searched and searched and could not find a channel in the DFW area airing "The Rose Parade" this morning.  It made me so sad because I always watch the parade on New Years Day.  I  don''t necessarily sit and watch it from start to finish but it is always turned on and I can hear the bands playing while I am cooking or doing the laundry.

It's an immediate throw back to my teen years.  They were always spent spending the night on the parade route.  We layered our clothes because it gets so cold in California you know.   The cars line Colorado Blvd. filled with teenagers cruising.  The boys were always on the look out for the girls.  I was never one of  the girls that they wanted.  I guess my extra 20 pounds, braces and acne weren't what the boys were looking for......go figure. 

I can remember one particular year feeling like such a wallflower as I sat guarding about 20 chairs on the parade route.  All of my friends had found college boys who were gushing over them and I sat alone in a chair watching the cars cruising down Colorado Blvd.  Suddenly, I spotted my Dad's very old "tough truck" (it got it's name because it would never die, the sucker kept running and running, it was such a clunker), my brother was driving it and saw me and probably felt very sorry for his pathetic little sister.  He yelled for me to jump in the back.  I lit up and grabbed another friend who also happened to spot my very cute brother and we jumped into the back of the truck together.  We cruised the parade route and my soul felt a little bit lighter. 

I must say that I was sorry to miss the parade on television this morning but I am not sorry to have grown and made it through my teen years.  Forty feels so much better than 14. 

*This is an example of one of the rose floats.  They are covered in flowers and plant based materials.  If you are ever in the Los Angeles area around the New Year, don't  miss this parade.  You can actually buy tickets and sit in the grand stands.  Don't forget to check out the floats after the parade and the following couple days as they are lined up on Sierra Madre Blvd. for a close up look.   

I was talking to the kids last night about Halloween and they asked me to tell them a story about my childhood.  I started laughing when I thought back to when  my brothers and I along with a few neighborhood kids decided to "trick or treat" a couple days before Halloween.  We just couldn't wait one more day to get our hands on candy.   

The "roost" was that we would tell neighbors that we were moving to Alaska so we needed to trick or treat early.  (I guess they don't celebrate Halloween in Alaska).  We actually knocked on doors yelling "trick or treat" to these poor neighbors who had the most confused looks on their faces.  When they heard our story, they proceeded to try and find something to give to us.  It kind of backfired on us because they hadn't bought their candy yet so we had to settle for boxes of raisins, old hard candy and, if we were lucky, a nickel or two.    

 

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 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!