Personal Update

Yes, Mother's Day went well. Very well. In fact, I hesitate to brag about it. My daughter drove in from college. She and I went out Saturday night for dinner and had some nice girl talk. Sunday brunch with her brought more girl talk. Then we took all 5 older kids to the beach for fun in the sun. She drove back to college from there, and the boys and I went out to a local Japanese Teppan Grill that night. Boys LOVE it when they throw food in the air.


There was a nice post on Breastfeeding Moms Unite this past week that described how single moms of very young children sometimes miss out on Mother's Day festivities, because their kids are so young. That is true. I spent 11 years as a single mom. Now that my kids are older, everything has come full circle. Each stage of childhood brings new vistas. When children become adults, the scenery changes again, and still for the better. It is a pleasure reaching the point where you each value the other, forging bonds of friendship/love that last through time, though you may be separated.

I took a nice, long walk with the baby today. He fell asleep in his jogging stroller. Sweet little snorer. I have been walking a lot more lately. The weather has been perfect. There is a fragrance in the air here, in Southern California, that is heady. May brings profusions of Star Jasmine and Honeysuckle, that make my walks as sweet as a visit to the candy store.



The neighbors are forging ahead on their rebuild. Quite a change, if you recall the mounds of dirt and flat expanses of concrete.


More random thoughts:

I saw on The Steady Drip blog a post about keeping a positive attitude with regard to today's politics. This reminded me of a story from the day of the wildfire, and here is my comment: "I do believe in the power of positive thinking. Yet, this concept can confuse people. They start to believe that we must be "happy" all the time, and if they are not, they must take "happy" pills. Doing this at a time of national or personal crisis can be disastrous. For example, during the CA wildfire last year, my neighbor, who takes "happy medicine", was unable to pack or think about packing as the flames bore down upon our neighborhood. She said airily that she would wait for her husband to come home. The flames chased us out 15 minutes later. I prayed for her safety as I ran for my life with my kids and boxes in the car.
So yes, I think we need to visualize success. We can and WILL get our country back. But we should not kick ourselves about feeling upset about present events. These are upsetting times."