Tame Friday

It is not going to be a wild Friday night here at our household. My daughter got her bony impacted wisdom teeth removed yesterday morning, and in solidarity with her, in order to just want to veg on the couch together, I got my booster Shingles shot yesterday afternoon. We are both doing alright, but we are played out, to say the least. A lot of life events have been happening this week, and my whole family is a tad drained, physically and emotionally. We need rest and healing.

So, on that note, as much as I love Fridays and I love posting my “Favorite Things Friday” favorites, today I only have one favorite to share before I crawl back on to the couch next to my sleepy little Chipmunk Cheeks. This week, I tried this fabulous new hydration drink. It’s called Lemon Perfect Water. Lemon Perfect Water’s motto is “It tastes like you are drinking vacation.” And that is the absolute truth. These waters are sugar-free, and they taste fabulous. They remind me of a healthy version of those fresh-squeezed lemonades that you buy at state fairs. They come in many flavors and they only have 5 calories in each bottle. Go to the store, buy your vacation in a bottle, and drink up!!! Have a great weekend!!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Healthy Pause

I am in a phew, exhale, big sigh, totally deflate like a balloon, and rest like a puddle on the ground, mindset today. So many “biggies” that we had been anticipating: our eldest son’s big move to a new state, the completion of our renovations, our youngest son’s high school graduation and the celebrations that followed, the safe extraction of his monster-sized wisdom teeth, etc. etc. are mainly finished and completed quite satisfactorily. It’s like my extra-big, neon signed and shined, mambo to-do list has been checked off and completed. Phew. Sigh. Deflate. Rest. . . . . and reflect. It all went well. It’s all over. I am going to rest a little bit before starting a new big load list. Big load lists always happen, especially in big load families. I try my best to stay in the present moment when I am in the midst of the planning, experiencing and executing the big load lists, but there is always that little part of me that repeats, “This will feel so good when it’s over. I can’t wait until the end of all of this.” I know that we are not supposed to anticipate the future. I know that we are not supposed to wish our lives away, but sometimes I just can’t help myself. And guess what? It does feel good to be at a completion point, right now. It does feel good to press “Pause” before loading up the play list and hitting “Play” again. I’m not ready to press “Stop” any time soon and I honestly wouldn’t want to hit “Reverse”, as good as a lot of my life has been, but healthy pauses, well, healthy pauses feel really good sometimes. Phew. Sigh. Deflate. Rest. Reflect.

“Sometimes you need to press pause to let everything sink in.” – Sebastian Vettel

“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” – Albert Einstein

The Way of Life

My youngest son gets his wisdom teeth removed today. Like many of these types of coming-of-age milestones, we have already been through this, with his two older brothers. We have a good idea of what to expect. My youngest son is 6’2″ and he works out – all of the time. He’s already high on the pre-surgery drugs. He is a dizzy boy. This is going to be a long day for him . . . . and for me. We’ll both be gorging on Talenti.

I’m longing to get back to normal. Of course, with summer here, the reset button has been pushed. We will be figuring out our new summer normal. We have to let ourselves get into the groove of new summer jobs, summer volunteering, my daughter’s summer tennis training, etc. I’m longing for “normal”, yet I’m not even sure what this normal is going to look like yet. This is the way of motherhood. I wonder if we moms would be totally lost and confused if the only schedule we ever had to think about was our own?

This is a really rambling, random post. Please forgive me, readers. Clearly, the summer reset hasn’t occurred yet. I’m still “all over the map” in my thoughts, in my schedule, in my emotions and in my biological clock rhythms. This is the way of motherhood, too. Or maybe, this is just the way of life . . . .

“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.”
–   Yoko Ono, Season of Glass

Frinally!

“If Friday had a face, I would kiss it.” – Empowered Partnerships

Happy Friday, my friends!!  “Frinally!”- Empowered Partnerships (again)

I can’t kiss anything today, actually.  My lips won’t pucker due to the tooth/gum surgery I had yesterday.  It’s like a flashback to the traumatic time back when I was a teenager and I had my impacted wisdom teeth removed.  I look like Alvin’s or Theodore’s girlfriend.

Friday always puts me in a good mood, in a good mental space, but today is more of a low-key, chill, good mood.   It might have something to do with the pain meds . . . .

New readers, first of all, thanks for reading!  I love all of my readers.  You make me feel so happy and heard.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Fridays, I stay at the superficial level and write about three favorite things such as products, songs, twitter feeds, etc. that just make my life a little more peachy!  Please check out previous Fridays for ideas.  There are so many Favorite Things Fridays now, it might as well be a catalog.

Here goes today’s favorites:

Rubbermaid Animal Stopper Garbage Can – I don’t like writing reviews on Amazon, but this garbage can is so effective, I think that I did take the time to write a review about this one.  We keep our garbage cans on the outside of our house.  We had a giant raccoon who decided to become a next-door neighbor to our garbage cans.  He felt like he had hit the jackpot and our garbage became his nightly buffet, like he was on a cruise or something.  His ability to spread garbage on our lawn was legendary.  Every morning, we wondered what kind of mess we would be waking up to and we would fight over who got to clean it up that day. We tried all the different anti-animal sprays on the market.  We tried all sorts of bungee ties and different garbage cans and this is the only garbage can that actually worked!  Ranger Rick finally moved on.  There are claw and teeth marks all over our garbage can and it was tipped on its side a lot of days, but that masked bandit could not get this garbage can lid off!  Worth every penny!

Lancome Advanced Genifique Yeux Light-Pearl Eye Illuminator –  Yikes, try saying that three times while chewing some peanuts.  I really wish I didn’t like this under-eye treatment.  I’m all about being able to get away with drug store brands if I can, but this stuff is really good.  I have never found an eye serum I have liked until now.  Now, no cream is a miracle when you are approaching 50, but this is the first one that I saw a marked difference in the skin under my eyes within a few days of using it.  Pricey, yes.  Worth it, yes.  The Lancome counters at the department stores and at Ulta, carry samples of this, so ask for some samples first to see if it works for you.  Then, break open the piggy bank and treat yourself.  It’s Friday!

Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Thin & Crispy Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies – When my husband and I first got married, we lived near to a Pepperidge Farm Outlet.  That place made me as happy as our friend the raccoon was, before we got the Animal Stopper garbage can.  I love all things Pepperidge Farm, but this particular flavor of cookie is over-the-top yum.  It’s a new-ish addition to the Pepperidge Farm Family of All Things Delicious.  A bag of these cookies doesn’t last a hot minute in our household (unless you find a good hiding spot for the bag.  SHHHH!)  Come on, moms, don’t pretend like you don’t have your own little hidden hideaways for “treats for harried heads of household.”

Okay, time to get back to icing my cheeks.  Feel free to send sympathy and love to me via the Comments section and add favorite things of your own while you’re at it.  I won’t mind at all.

“May Today Be The Fridayest Friday That Ever Fridayed.” – Lilybels.Co.Uk