Weekend good things

It's Memorial Day weekend and time to remember those who paid for our freedoms with their lives. In reality, it seems to be a weekend dedicated to driving fast cars in circles and over-eating. But rather than wallow in the sadness of either, I'll focus on the good things.

1) Friends who stand by you. Suz is one of those and I'm ever thankful for her.

2) Motorcycles. My friend Howie loaned me his Harley Davidson Sportster on Saturday and I spent most of the day riding. For me, riding is about the most relaxing thing I can do, and I don't mind being alone when I do. I'd still rather be with people, but on a bike it's not so bad.

3) Time. They say time is what God does to make sure that everything doesn't happen all at once. Ok, maybe it's just me. But I'm grateful for time. Time to allow things to develop naturally, time to heal, and time to begin again.

I have a handful of others I'll thank more privately for their friendship.

3Gs - gas, goals, and a grad

Bad weather prevailed over much of this Memorial Day weekend, but the three-day holiday was not a total washout thanks to these good things.

1. Gasoline prices finally dropped below $4 per gallon in our neck of the woods. I filled up my Subaru tank for about $50. Whoop dee do!

2. My son scored five goals in his last game of the spring soccer season. According to the assistant coach (my husband), fans for the other team groaned every time he had the ball. That made me chuckle, and made every minute of freezing my butt off on the sidelines worth it!

3. We celebrated my godson's eighth grade graduation with friends, food, and fun. It's hard to believe that this once little, curly-headed baby boy has grown up so fast, and so tall! He's much taller than me, which of course Brian will say is not that hard because I'm quite short. Ah, all the new adventures and experiences he will have in high school. I'm so happy and excited for him!

It was a pretty good weekend after all.

Brian Food

I love food. I love to eat. I even write a whole other Brian-Food blog about that. Sue even asks me what I have for lunch every day with her little acronym, WAL (What About Lunch?). Today, my three good things are food.

1) Bacon. Seriously, bacon is fantastic. Bendy, crispy, crumbled, chunked, sliced and in bits - it's all good.

2) Pie. I would rather have a pie anytime over cake. Birthday cake? How come cake gets that spot? Pie is simply superior.

3) Coca-Cola. It's the real thing, the pause that refreshes, nectar of the gods!

mmmm - good things!

WAL and whatnot

Food glorious food! It's a good thing in my mind, and especially in my tummy. Today, I'm serving up three helpings of gastronomical glee. Let's begin.

1. WAL? - from time to time, OK nearly every day, I ask Brian WAL (What about lunch?) My favorite part of this silly exchange is that he always tells me. Sometimes whatever is on Brian's plate sounds really yummy, sometimes it does not, and sometimes it's really not that healthy for him. And I tell him so because good friends are honest with each other, right?

2. My chocolate stash - I like to eat a little bit of chocolate every day so I always try to keep a stockpile in my kitchen cabinet. When my hubby goes shopping, he often brings me a chocolate treat. It's like chocolate is my crack, and he's my dealer. Today I ate mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joes - yummy!

3. Pancakes for dinner - my family loves, loves, loves to eat pancakes for dinner! My son's record in one sitting is 15 pancakes, and he's not even a teenager yet. In fact, we enjoy eating all kinds of breakfast foods for dinner. See about this very good thing on my other blog, In Sickness and In Health.

friends, food, fun - good things, no?

Pro Conveniences

What's not good about conveniences that make every day just a little bit easier. Here are three of my favs:


1. Drive-thrus. OK, these have been around for a long time sort of like sliced bread, but I love being able to complete an errand without ever having to leave my car like banking, picking up prescription meds, or treating myself to a tall cafe mocha latte with whipped cream!

2. Caller ID. It's totally cool to see who is calling, be it an old friend (yippee!), new friend (yahoo!), telemarketer (boo!) or mother-in-law (no further explanation needed.)

3. The Internet. Oh, the things I can do! Write this blog. Keep in touch. Plan vacations. Shop. Watch YouTube videos. Comment on a witty FB status. Help my kids do research for school. Shop. Listen to music. Connect with others just like me. Pay the bills. Did I mention shop?

Thank you to the pros who invented these three conveniences. To you, I tip my new hat.

Working from home

I'm an internet guy, and most of the time I work from home.
Sometimes, I really miss the people, because I'm kind of an extrovert. (replace "kind of" with "a polar") Working remotely is a double-edged sword. I get less human contact than I like, but I get to listen to music on my stereo, work in a fairly cool environment, wear shorts... or PJs or... ____ to work. (try not to think about it)

Today, I'm in an all-day meeting at a local conference center.

1) I get to wear my big boy clothes and even wear shoes!

2) I'm in a room full of really great people and have face to face conversations.

3) They feed us.

Those are all some good things.

Silver lining

As health issues cloud my body and mind each and every day, little bits of sun peek out and lift my spirits despite the stormy weather.

1. I enjoy a cup of coffee for a cause each morning with a Just Love Coffee brew, knowing that by purchasing this java I've helped my friends who are adopting a young child from Ethiopia.

2. After more than a year of lessons and more than a year of nagging him to practice, my son performed in his very first drum recital. He rocked!

3. A mixed bag of rain and sun today will help nourish our recently planted vegetable garden.

Sip, boom, ahhh . . .

Brian's shoes

I'm in the middle of a rotten divorce right now and from day to day, it feels like I'm just waiting for the other other other other other other other other other other other other other other other other other other shoe to drop. Today was a pretty good day.

1. I moved back to my townhouse, I hired a cleaning company, and they tore through the place in 3 hours.

2. I got new sheets - 400 thread-count egyptian cotton. mmmmmmm!

3. Two friends of mine invited me out to dinner for later this week. I'm so thankful for them.

Yeah, it's a pretty good day.