Very nice, funny and huggable

image: www.prlog.org

At least that's how my youngest described me in this year's utterly precious Mother's Day card.  Yep, it's a keeper.  This was my 16th Mother's Day and it contained both poignant and annoying moments. Kind of like motherhood,  in general,  I guess.

Quinn gave me a marigold, Griffin gave me a song and dance about the present I was going to receive at some undetermined point in the future, Liam gave me hope that he will one day shave that caterpillar of fuzz from above his top lip and they all gave me a hard time about walking the slightly over a mile distance to the Capital City Gastropub, our chosen brunch spot.  Just another day in paradise, right?

The death march walk on a beautiful late spring day was filled with conversations and complaints, probably in nearly equal measure.  I don't really remember Mother's Day 2011, my first as a separated parent, but I believe that this year was my first public Mother's Day as an unattached mom.  And it was a little weird.

The boys and I sat on the Gastropub's sunny front patio seated next to another unaccompanied by a partner Mom and thoroughly enjoyed our bountiful brunch.  I felt proud of my children for their appetites and their manners, Quinn's requests for a beer, aside.   When it was time to walk home, the older boys went ahead of Quinn and me, moving at a different pace than a 7 year-old with comparatively short legs and a 45 year-old with a belly full of smoked salmon and eggs.  As we approached Albany Academy, I suggested that Quinn hand his glasses over to me and take a tumble down the grassy hill, an idea that he enthusiastically embraced.  After his third spin, he staggered to his feet and remarked that he would have missed the opportunity to have that fun experience had we driven rather than walked.  

Very nice, funny, huggable and, dare I say, sometimes able to teach my boys that taking a walk and roll or two down a hill is a much more enjoyable way to travel through life than merely being a passenger. Hugs for everyone.

Motherhood - adapted and adopted

When my oldest son was born via an unanticipated c-section, I felt incredibly removed from the process.  I suspect it was more because of the drugs I was given than his method of arrival.  I believe I've mentioned I don't really care for pharmaceuticals before. Afterwards, I remember confessing to a friend that I could have been given any baby and would have loved it equally as much as I did that less-than-6-pounds-wonder that was handed to me by the trusting nurse in the operating room.  The process was completely unexpected but I adapted to the circumstances.  I became a mom. 

By the time I was expecting my second child, the friend I had confided in was anticipating the arrival of her daughter, via adoption.  After years of interventions and attempts at conceiving a biological child, my friend and her husband had navigated the foreign adoption process.  They brought their infant home a couple of months before I delivered, naturally, my full term, full sized baby boy number two.  Our babies were introduced in my newborn's first week of life on the outside.  My friend told me she had been comforted by my admission years earlier, that those words had helped convince her that having the capacity to love a child had very little to do with having the ability to birth one.  She became a mom. 

Adapting to becoming a mom or adopting to become a mom, are equally enormous leaps in a woman's life, certainly too huge to be honored in a single day. To all you women out there who have ever made the decision to love a child - I wish you a Happy Mother's Day.  

On timing, springtime and past times

How appropriate was it that my divorce should become official as the religious celebration of rebirth approached? There are times in life when timing is perfect, and this is a fine example of that phenomena. New life, miracles wrought by faith and love, light where there had been darkness...This is very much a season filled with hope and optimism for many, including me.

I've been guilty, more than once, of saying that holidays aren't very important to me. I find it just as potentially meaningful to have a meal with those who I love any evening of the year - a red letter day isn't necessary to make a shared dinner special. I can appreciate however, the power of a holiday to make an experience a lasting memory. The boys will be with their dad this year and the promise of Easter baskets at Dad's will motivate them to move a little faster than usual on this Sunday morning. Last year Griffin and I flew east Easter Sunday after spending an idyllic Passover in Palm Springs - not too shabby for the goyim, right? We spent the afternoon in Connecticut with family, the same relatives I hope the boys will be enjoying the day with today.

My childhood Easters are a mishmash of memories - hunting Easter eggs after an ill-timed late snow, organized annual activities at the home of a gracious Greenwood Lake resident who opened their property to the community's children for festivities, pretty dresses, baskets filled with plastic grass and shrink wrapped chocolate bunnies. Dinner was always ham - from a can, naturally. Pineapple rings, maraschino cherries and brown sugar elevated that piece of meat into something that never fails to make me smile. Good memories.

Spring break was the school vacation that found my brother and I daring one another to jump in the lake for our spring "baptism." We leaped into the barely thawed water shrieking with laughter and life. Alive. Afternoons were spent collecting sacks of polliwog eggs, fascinated by the thought that from this cold jello-y substance frogs would come. Miraculous.

I hope you and yours, today and everyday, know the miracle that is life. Enjoy.

The luck of the Irish

What a day I had on St. Patrick's Day! I mean how can a colleen complain about a day that included a flat 4 mile run, a creamy pint of Guinness and a vivid voice from the past reminding me who I am?

My day started with The Running of the Green (Island). I remember signing up for the race shortly after I participated in a 3.5 mile New Year's Day run and thinking that 4 miles seemed an awfully long way to run without stopping. Yesterday, though, between the camaraderie of a contingent of green-clad runners, the mild temperature, and the sun breaking through the clouds, it really wasn't too far to go. And that was before Karen and I had decided to celebrate our efforts with a pint.

On a day which typically means excess, particularly in Albany, Karen and I knew we were only having one. Seriously, it wasn't even noon - who the hell did we think we were? Our car pool rendezvous point had been the Corning Preserve parking lot so we headed over to the nearby Olde English thinking (correctly) that we would beat the overindulgent crowd. This was the maiden visit for both of us and we couldn't have been happier. Well, maybe if Matt had been there, but, that aside, it was the ideal spot and I very much look forward to returning on an occasion when I can sample a few more of the offerings.

And - that voice from the past? As is often the case, it came from the most unexpected place. I was tossing some crap out of my basement as I work towards being fully responsible for the condition of my home. There was a box of books that had been residing in the dankness of the cellar for a decade and a half and it was time to "discard"* them. As I removed one, a green envelope slipped out from between the swollen pages. Oddly enough it was a St. Patrick's Day card I received in 1992, my senior year of college. I had spent the first three weeks of that particular year in Ireland getting to know my father's family and was feeling very connected to my heritage. I returned to Albany with a new sense of self and an inner peace that I have done my best to nourish in the 20 years which have passed. The man who gave me the card had included some thoughtful words about my roots and my new found identity. While his words continued to touch me despite all the years which have gone by, what made the largest impact was my forced recollection of who I was then and who I want to be now.

The relationship I shared with that long ago man was romantic and passionate and filled with intensity. And doomed. There was no future in it and an observer to it once characterized it as creating more heat than light. She was right. But, as is consistent with all the human interactions we have, I learned from it and wouldn't be the person I am today without that experience. On a day of firsts, a reminder from the past seemed oddly appropriate and I'll be considering the message far longer than that delicious pint lasted.

*librarian talk for get rid of

Another verb...

To add to our conversation about action words, I offer LOVE, along with some adverbs.

Boldly
Freely
Sincerely
Sweetly
Honestly
Passionately
Bravely

Home...

There's no place like ___________.

 _________ for the holidays.

_________ is where the heart is.

Each of these phrases suggest that home is a place, something with a distinct location, probably with a zip code.  At this time of the year our thoughts often turn to that place as we plan where we are going to spend our holidays, and reflect on years gone past.  Home, yet another of those 4-letter words that can mean so many things to so many people. 

But is home really a place?  Isn't home more a state of being than an actual location? Personally, I know that the first image that enters my mind when I hear the word "home" is of my childhood home, Greenwood Lake, N.Y. We lived in a number of different houses, so I don't imagine a particular residence. Instead, I recall a time period in my life, friends, and experiences that shaped me into who I am today. Despite my having resided in Albany for more than 20 years, on some level Greenwood Lake will always be home - and I'm a member of the Facebook Group to prove it. The other evening, I was walking around my house, my home of the last 15 years, admiring the holiday lights and the tidy quiet that temporarily makes me notice the boys' absence a little bit less. I had such a sense of peace and belonging that the first word that came to my mind was...home. Happy sigh.

Do you remember how Glinda defined home for Dorothy?

"Home is a place we all must find, child. It's not just a place where you eat or sleep.
Home is knowing. Knowing your mind, knowing your heart, knowing your courage.
If we know ourselves, we're always home, anywhere."

 

With that timeless piece of wisdom in mind, I sincerely wish you each have the chance to be home for the holidays and, more importantly, each and every other day of the year as well. And, although I won't be in GWL or in my DelSo home, or even with many of the people I truly love when night falls on Christmas, I know I'll be home nonetheless.

Winter Wonder Lark

Just in case you haven't had your fill of half-naked folks running down Lark Street, a few of my shots are below. It was a great day of fun, charity and local shopping. Who says Lark Street isn't wholesome?

Pics from the TU's Seen Gallery (not mine)

All Over Albany's archive of photos

Do you believe?

image from:everydayliturgy.com

The holidays are the time of the year when our beliefs are placed front and center. Our choice of words in greeting, be it Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa or a less committal Happy Holidays, suggest what we believe in. When we decorate our homes (and our cars these days) we express, on some level, our beliefs. The presence of an adorned tree, a menorah, a crèche, all of these objects convey a message about what we place our belief in.

If someone were to ask you "Do you believe?" what would your response be? Would it be, similar to the perpetual "Fine," reply to "How are you?" You know, the sort of question that garners an immediate and automatic assurance that of course you believe? Perhaps you'd assume their query was merely a whimsical holiday-ish greeting and not give it another thought. Or maybe you'd revisit that question a little later, when you had a quiet moment to think about it...

I was thinking recently about what I believe in. I don't really have a formal religion, (despite my having acquired the Catholic trifecta of baptism, communion and confirmation) but I firmly believe that there is a spiritual presence in the Universe that I can talk with to express appreciation, fear and hope. When I look at all the world's wonders, I am comforted by the thought that there is some sort of plan for each of us, which leads to my second belief... I believe that life's timing is something to be respected and accepted. When things come together in a fashion which can only be described as nearly effortless, it speaks to me. Accepting timing gracefully is not always easy - there are occasions when I want something to occur in a particular fashion, yet, am thwarted by situations and circumstances. Things happen, I believe, when they're supposed, good and bad.

And, at the risk of sounding like a Dixie Chick, I believe in love. Romantic, passionate, "I've got your back" love.  I would never renounce the years of my marriage, but, other than to try to catch a glimpse of the place where things began to go awry, I wouldn't want to revisit that time because I believe in the possibilities the future holds.  I believe in living a full life, not merely an existence.  I believe in intentions and decisions made.  I believe in me.

Shopping for the left-handed librarian in your life

Shopping for the left-handed librarian in your life

Bethlehem Turkey Trot

We've already established that Thanksgiving can mean a lot of things to different people For some, the holiday tradition may include a physical activity to  stimulate the appetite or to help eliminate some stress. There are a number of morning races in the region, but I opted for the Delmar version because it is fairly new and thus, not too crowded.

I got to bed pretty late Wednesday, after working more hours in a single day than I had cumulatively slept in the previous three nights. Surprisingly for me, I wasn't particularly nervous pre-race, no jitters at all other than the frequent peeing kind. Come on - that happens to you, too, right? I was in good spirits as the holiday dawned and was very comfortable as I started the run.

There wasn't official timing available but I borrowed a friend's watch and did some self-timing. The start was rough because of general bottle necking and the presence of many dogs and strollers. I'd estimate that the first 1/3 to 1/2 mile was mostly spent positioning myself at a comfortable pace. My first mile was a decent enough 9:17, my second was slightly quicker and then I forgot to time my third. I felt pretty in the zone, though. After running the golf course a couple of times a week recently, the flatness of this course was a real lack of challenge treat. My finish time was 27:30 which shaved 40 seconds off my last race time and previous personal best*.

The race was really fun and I completely enjoyed seeing former and current students, silly costumes, and turkey fryers at the ready in a number of front yards. There was typical  enthusiastic Delmar support from spectators and I loved seeing the families and groups of friend running together. (Sorry, Donna!  Next year we'll stick together or at least have a plan to meet, post-race.)  Next up is the Jingle Jog at the Crossings in Colonie on Saturday, December 3rd. I'm looking for two more bib numbers before the end of the year which will make 2011, by far, my most productive year of running.

*sounds way less uptight than "personal record," don't you think?

Paper White Project - Week 2

One week later

Watch this pot!

6 bulbs, some soil, a cool pot

I can only imagine where some of you thought this was going...

It's that time of the year, folks - get your paper whites planted and look forward to the most satisfying, least expensive holiday decoration ever.  Last week, on my way home from skiing, I picked up 6 bulbs at Hewitt's, total cost: $7.62.  I popped the bulbs into a pot of soil this morning and expect to see beautiful flowers in about 6 weeks.  Not to get all Martha Stewart-y on you all, but, this is a perfect hostess gift for holiday parties. 

a specimen from last year

I will try to remember to give you weekly updates so you, too, can witness the miracle of life and all that.  Trust me, a watched pot never provided so much beautiful entertainment.

Scariest things at Fright Fest

Yesterday afternoon the boys and I headed up to the Great Escape's Fright Fest in an attempt to get into the spirit of Halloween.  We had been persuaded to buy season's passes for 2012 by what seemed to be a pretty good deal - $49.95 per person with free parking for the year along with admission to Fright Fest.  I figured if we made it there twice it would be worth the cost.   I guess I still feel that way after our experience yesterday, but, I definitely have doubts about how many more times we'll visit this place beyond next season.  Let me share with you the most frightening aspects of our time at the park.  Regrettably, I did not snap a photo of the most horrific thing I saw: a milkshake at the Ben & Jerry's concession was $7.99!!!  Yes, a single penny less than 8 dollars for a milkshake.  Now, that is some frightening stuff.  And I saw people who looked they could neither afford the expense nor the calories seemingly happily sucking them down.  How scary is that?

Really, really long lines.

Are these deceased employees or park guests who waited too long for a ride?

Little Lillys on rollercoaster*

 *The Comet wasn't running nor was the Bobsled ride.  Not a lot of options.

Performances which were impossible to see due to lack of a stage or crowd management.

Boys not getting everything they wanted!

The thought of G driving in a mere 4 years.

The Ferris wheel rotating with only 4 of the 20 cars filled

Land ahead, Columbus!

I forget sometimes that I run for clarity - to be able to see better.  Despite thoroughly enjoying my genuine two complete days off in a row, I was feeling punky today.  Yes, precisely punky, I'd say.  I was able to rationalize my funk as being the result of too much wine and not enough exercise over the holiday weekend, but there was something else.  Something that made me feel off.

I watched a sweet but sad excuse for a romantic comedy and then forced myself to put some running clothes on and get on out there.  I was barely .25 mile in when I realized without a doubt what was niggling around in my head... 

Exactly one year ago this weekend, my neighbor, Ken Ragsdale drew a picture (is this the right word? is there a more correct artsy word I should know?) of the view of Arcadia Avenue looking out from his front porch.  That perfect piece of his work now hangs in my house.  And, Columbus Day 2010 was when I, too, began to gaze intently at a similar view but somehow my eyes went beyond Arcadia Avenue, and I began to see all kinds of things I hadn't before noticed.  Or perhaps, even wanted to notice, would be a more accurate assessment.  Ah, yes, the hindsight view.

The path from thinking "nothing will ever change," to living a life that is more vital than ever before, is disconcerting sometimes.  Thank goodness for DelSo - it certainly eliminates having to explain a lot of things individually to people since it's all here! 
 

There were layers and layers of emotion that were stripped away, some with a slow erosion, others with something more akin to the proverbial band-aid rip, and, happily, what remains is a true concern for one another and a sincere hope for all future happiness.  No longer casting for stability and safety with one another, but instead discovering a future that involves explorations to different places.  Happy trails ahead.

45 Things I've learned this year

1.  I prefer my surgery with local anaesthesia.
2.  There is a huge difference between having one's heart broken and having your ego
     stomped on. The first situation requires time to heal, the later demands a realistic
     examination of what the relationship really meant means.
3.   Part time parenting is the dirty little secret of divorce. That's all I'm saying and I'm quoting
      someone else.
4.   After a couple of 5Ks, a Warrior Dash and a sprint triathlon or two, I know I'm up for more
      physical challenges at age 45 than I was at 35. Or 25.
5.   Being alone and lonely is an improvement on being with someone and lonely.
6.   Writing is a path.
7.   The lines on my face are not from sleeping on my stomach. I'd better get used to them.
8.  There is a deep irony in losing one's ability to see close-up while simultaneously
     beginning to grow rogue hair in random places. Jury is still out on whether diminished
     vision is a curse or a blessing.
9.  I'm happy to get away from home for adventures but content to be in my home - even
     alone.Where ever you go, there you are.
10. My brother and friends, both old and new, continue to be amazing sources of stability,
      support and nonjudgmental love.
11. Speaking of love, I feel blessed to have as much love in my life as I do. Opening one's
      heart and letting go of the negative creates space for the positive.
12. Relationships may change over time, but common interests like children, cycling and food
      can keep a friendship alive.
13. Never believe all the decisions in life have already been made. Choices always remain.
14. Exercise, particularly running these days, is a sanity saver.
15. It is wonderful to work for a restaurant owner who understands owning a restaurant is a
      professional endeavor not a vanity project.
16. Having good credit is an often minimized reward in life.
17. Ice cream and alcohol make summer fun. They also make me about 5 lbs heavier.
18. I am much more productive when I am busy.
19. I don't know why or how, but apparently I sometimes inspire people. I hope the    
      inspiration I provide is to live a full life.
20. The challenges in life merely make the sweet spots more special.
21. I have a new found appreciation for exercising when the temperature is high.
22. I'm not that difficult, much less impossible, to take care of.
23. Milk, and other dairy products, from Meadowbrook Farms are a luxury I am willing to work
      into my budget as a necessary expense.
24. Children accept change with grace when it is accompanied by honesty.
25. Being healthy makes everything better.
26. Speaking my mind, with as much sensitivity as the circumstances demand, is best for
      everyone involved.
27. People are capable of things never imagined - both good and bad.
28. Endorphins are real. And addictive.
29. Grocery shopping can be fun!
30. Love comes from places not previously imagined.
31. Life has many chapters. Not every character makes the leap from one chapter to the
      next. This is okay.
32. Worrying is less productive than work.
33. Sleep becomes less necessary with age.
34. I have a latent competitive streak that surprises me.
35. Acceptance and surrender are very different emotions.
36. I will not tolerate feeling invisible.
37. I don't have many regrets in life but, those I do have, constantly remind me to avoid
      accumulating any more.
38. I love buying wine by the case!
39. There is nothing so heady as falling in love.
40.  Words are very powerful to me, but without action they lose their mojo.
41.  I've never been more optimistic about the future.
42.  The Capital City Gastropub is going to rock this town.
43.  It doesn't really matter where you are.  It's all about who you're with.
44.  Feeling excited about tomorrow is invigorating.
45.  Being in love is the best drug in the world.  Maybe even the universe.

Spicy sesame noodles

my parking strip herb garden

Are you growing any herbs this year?  I was on my game early and was able to get some good stuff before everything other than basil and parsley disappeared from the nearby nurseries.  I finally got around to tearing up the parking strip in front of my house and put in a couple of types of lavender, sage (thanks, Wayniac!) and rosemary and they all seem very happy.  On my deck I've got a mess of basil, flat leaf parsley and Thai basil - all doing beautifully in this heat and rain we've been getting here in Albany.  The glut of Thai basil prompted me to seek out a recipe for last week's Independence day festivities, and judging by the compliments I received (and the ease of preparation), I think I came up with a winner...  I present to you (from Epicurious) Spicy Sesame Noodles with Chopped Peanuts and Thai Basil:

so good

The recipe did require a quick trip to the Asian Market.  I went to the one on Colvin Blvd and I must say, it looked like they cleaned the place up a bit - the fish smell wasn't quite as strong as it has been in the past, and things were generally well organized.  I was able to pick up my noodles, peanut oil, ginger, green onions and peanuts there, along with a very tasty $.99 pineapple. The prep was wicked simple and, although I didn't really measure anything, I used a moderate hand with the sambal (in place of the chili oil) and came up with a pretty ideal creeper kind of spiciness.  The noodles definitely absorb the flavors, so make this early in the day to give the ingredients a chance to make friends.  Delicious and refreshing, along with cheap, fast and easy.  It really doesn't get much better.

Sunday Dinner - Father's Day edition

Family dinners remain an important part of life for all of my family so for Dad's Day the plan was a shared meal on the deck.  And what a spectacular day it was!  The menu was cobbed together (with duct tape! Isn't that how Dads do it?) kind of last minute, but I did have the forethought to take some sausages which were leftover from Sausage Fest 2011, out to thaw. I grilled the sausage and then they were cut into rounds, toothpick speared (doesn't everything taste better when eaten off a toothpick?  So festive!) and served with some spicy mustard as an appetizer.

The meal included both a pork tenderloin and this beautiful piece of wild salmon.  Price Chopper had the fish on sale for cheap and I bought 1.5 lbs of it.  I marinated it for a short while in soy sauce with some coarsely chopped thai basil and then grilled it up.  I must say, it was delicious and I'll probably pick up another hunk of it later in the week.  I rounded out the table with the skinniest asparagus I've ever seen and a bowl of yellow and orange lentils which I had cooked in a quart of chicken stock and then seasoned with garam masala and salt.  As a finishing touch, I chopped some flatleaf parsley and tossed that into the lentils as well.  Do you eat lentils?  I suspect they are going to be my next obsession.  All of this delightful food was washed down with a bottle of Gruet and a '99 Chateauneuf du Pape.  Family, friends, food, wine...yet another lovely Sunday evening.  Hope all you other fathers out there were feted as well.

fish after some grillin'

stunningly beautiful asparagus

Sausage Fest 2011!!

A few weeks ago, I got to thinking that I should host my first solo event at Chez Silvia.  The Memorial Day holiday provided the perfect opportunity to gather friends together to celebrate the arrival of summer while also memorializing the events of the past - perfect. As I considered the invite list and the menu, some latent irreverence kicked in and I decided that all women, all sausage, was the way to go and thus, Sausage Fest 2011 was born.  Honestly, it was my easiest birth ever and completely lacked the post-partum ickiness that no one ever tells a woman about anyway.

Troy Farmer's Market bounty



While the star of the grill may have been the medley of sausages, veggies were well represented also.  These beautiful examples came from the farmer's market and were brushed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper and then lightly grilled. 



Sausagepalooza!

The sausage were a mix of Italian hot and sweet (hot Italians are, truth be told, a personal weakness), chorizo, andouille and two varieties of chicken.  I think the chorizo may have been my favorite, but all were enjoyable.

cold wine for a hot day



Pretty table, right?  The bucket of flowers came from Lisa's garden downstate and they were magnificent.  I baked a couple of loaves of bread in the morning and, thanks to thoughtful guests and another indulgent expedition to Empire, there was plenty of wine.  I made a salad  of Asian greens with a mustard vinaigrette and fresh corn, a potato salad garnished with chive flowers and tossed together a big bowl of arugula with lemon, olive oil and shaved Asiago.  Mary Lynn contributed a delicious orzo and feta salad which rounded things out perfectly.

salad three ways: Asian greens, potato , orzo and feta

Despite popular belief and false assumptions, this was not a male bashing event.  It was just some women getting together to enjoy good food, conversation and a gorgeous evening on my deck.  Don't take it personally, guys, none of you were  grilled in effigy, after all. I'd be lying if I said we didn't take a cheap shot or two, but the day was much more about having a good time and looking ahead to the future than it was about denigrating males.  Trust me, I'll always be a guys' girl, but it's nice to have a group of interesting, eclectic female friends to share sausage, memories and wisdom with.    Minced meat in a casing has got nothing on that.

Lori and Kerry

Mary Lynn and Lisa

Becky and Kaaren

me and Donna

Memorial Day Weekend aka the weekend I learned to love running in the heat

I don't know what happened to me.  I've always been a lazy runner - looking  for the flattest, coolest running route possible is the way I've always contended with my need to burn calories and get high on endorphins.  I've never been one for  heat.  I've never enjoyed the sweaty, stickiness of it before, but something has changed recently....I'm actually craving hills and feeling some sick pleasure when running in the blazing sun.  Weird, huh?  

I think it began during my time in the desert last month.  The challenge of convincing my body to run up the hill in 85 degree heat was appealing to me somehow.  I was able to get right into the exact moment when each of my feet, steadily and slowly, hit the ground in their own constant rhythm.  I was so tuned into the immediacy of the exertion that I didn't even project into the future reward of running down the hill, down with a pell-mell joy not often witnessed in those beyond the age of 11 or so.  Bliss. 

These recent runs, a little later in the evening than my usual exercise time, have been gloriously challenging.  The sensation of the wind blown threat of rain has been idyllic - perfect running weather to make a girl truly glisten.  My muscles have felt fluid and my breathing has become more shallow as I improve my aerobic capacity.  I've been like a needle pulling thread as I've explored my neighborhood in an ever expanding circuit, admiring gardens, inhaling more flowers than fuel, stitching together the fabric of my community with each stride.  Very cool for a hot day.  Try it. 

Mother's Day

pretty table, pretty plate, pretty tasty

Sunday evening I thanked my boys for a lovely Mother's Day and I wasn't even kidding.  There was nothing I would have changed about the day, other than to have included more guests. There was very little indulgence in the traditional sense, but you folks know how I am -  happy to be productive, and that was what the day was all about.  Despite having a mental list of things to do, I slept in a bit and then forced myself to not get out of bed until 9 a.m.  Just so you know, this is actually harder for me than getting up at the crack of dawn to go to the gym.  Since the boys are not really capable of making breakfast (although making a mess is a skill they have mastered),  I cooked up some waffles and sausage and we enjoyed a delicious breakfast accompanied by the day's editions of the Times-Union and the NY Times, courtesy of Liam.  Very indulgent - I haven't regularly read the Sunday Times since before I became a mother. 

 

pretty special neighbors and friends

Next up was laundry, sweeping the "helicopter" debris from the neighbor's enormous tree off of my deck,organizing flower pots, and planting some herbs and lettuce in a couple of large containers.  I had picked up some flowers on Saturday at the Delaware Avenue Neighborhood Association plant sale and happily got my hands dirty arranging geraniums, pansies, nicotina and a couple of other things in an array of planters.  I also weeded the front yard, planted some morning glories and nasturtium, re-grouted the shower drain upstairs and re-wired the door lock release button - and still had time for a 3 mile run! 

The only way to end a day like this was with an impromptu dinner party.  I already had a mess of pork chops marinating in soy sauce and kecap menis, so I decided to call the neighbors, add some chicken breasts to the grill and make it a party.  Ken and Lori shared their crop of freshly picked spinach so I made a salad of the greens with Gorgonzola, strawberries and a light lemon and olive oil dressing, along with some grilled asparagus and baked sweet potatoes.  The table was lovely, the evening was mild enough for comfort and the wine, a 1997 Petite Syrah from Lava Cap, was fantastic.  Since I hadn't a chance to bake (I know, I'm such a lax hostess!  What the hell was I doing all day instead of sifting and stirring?!), we finished our meal  with leftover Easter candy, including a fresh box of Peeps, and sips of Navan.  Delightful.

I may not have been the recipient of a spa gift certificate as I have been past years, but the gifts bestowed upon me were sincerely simple; the newspapers and the chance to read them somewhat leisurely, breakfast with my boys, the opportunity to accomplish many tasks which will give me pleasure for months to come, and a couple of  handmade coupon booklets good for shoulder rubs, garbage removal and vacuuming.  And who needs commercial flowers anyway when you have a  house filled with fresh lilacs?  Being a mother isn't always easy, but a day like this one reminds me what the real gifts of being a mom are, and, just like that handmade card proudly mounted on my refrigerator, I will cherish them forever.