gluten hangover

i was pretty much on the GF thang on the way to the coast on friday. saturday was pretty easy as well. i know not everyone is gf, so i don't expect that they'd provide those options for me. my in-laws were super fab about the whole thing. there was plenty for me to eat, and Mia only ate a smidge of the glutenny stuff. we all went out to dinner sat night, and i still did well. it was when we got back, and i'd been drinking a little...i ate a huge as banana nut muffin! then the next day i had 1/2 of a huge ass blueberry muffin! hmmm the rest is a gluten induced blur...i know i had a banana double decker moon pie (we were on a roadtrip) and some cheese rangoons. fuck.

this morning, i didn't feel well. at all. i ended up in the bathroom at a playdate, and all i have to say is that if i keep doing this, i'm gonna need to carry matches with me (sorry Ashley). i was sluggish and gained 3 pounds.

today, i'm back on the wagon. it hurts too much not to be. plus the feeling of being out of control really sucks.

just put it on

i'm sitting here on my mil's computer checking my email, and i HAVE to tell you what just happened. it's nothing juicy, but it did make me smile.

Dee (mil) opens the door and comes in from the balcony...Daryl is still out there. she makes a bee line for her bedroom at the same time calls back to Daryl 'just put it on'. Hmmm put what on, i wonder? she comes marching back towards the balcony with something in her hand. 'what's going on?' i ask. she replies with a stern look on her face, 'he WILL put aloe on his burn'.

now, i can NEVER get Daryl to put anything on himself if he doesn't want it on. Aloe is one of those things i always suggest, but never happens. let me let ya know that the tops of his feet are a smidge pink from the day of fishing...a little pink. he, like a lot of men, aren't used to real pain, so they kinda bitch and moan about the little aches, colds.... his feet are a little pink, but he mentioned it to his mama, and she went and got the aloe. i betcha he's got it on...let me go check. brb.

fuuuuuunnnnnyyyyyy!!!! i opened the door, asked him if he had aloe on his feet. they BOTH said 'yes' :)

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Comadre!

Andrea's birthday is today....but we CELEBRATED last night!

nine of us hit Cool River for drinks & dinner. there was one point where a slightly...or a little more than slightly tipsy...Andrea (with half closed eyes) broadly gestured to everyone at the table and said 'Theeeeese are my friends'. i have to say that was the best moment of the evening, for me. here was one of my dear friends, being cherished by a fabulous group of women. she was reveling in it...she was so beautiful. after dinner, we hit the dance floor and literally boogied...or did we shake, shake, shake...shake, shake, shake..our booties? we danced and were silly. when i left, the beautiful birthday girl...still dancing closely with her friends...her eyes were closed and she was gently swaying....so gorgeously serene in the sea of dancers.

Yvonne...by Andrea

Steph...by Anja

Leah Ann & Tanya....by Andrea

Me...by Andrea

Leah Ann...by Anja

(my camera was passed around a bit, guest photographers are noted above..I took the rest)

no ants were harmed...

so, Mia has a new fascination with magnifying glasses...i have an old fascination. while she was busy in her sandbox (with her back to me..i felt safe, but still very sneaky), i grabbed her MG and a dry leaf. it was a little breezy out, so i held the leaf still with my big toe....i had to hold my camera. MG + sunshine = FIRE! i created FIRE! ahhhhhh to feel like a kid again.

i'm killing myself....and i can't STOP!

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i'm freakin KILLING myself. have you tried Central Market Organics HATCH Green Chile Tortilla Chips?

OMf'ingG!!!!!! they're FABULOUS in the oh,-it-hurts-so-bad-but-i-still-want-more kinda way.

FYI: this is a chip you won't have to share with your toddler. Mia took a bite, then a second, slowly looked at me and gently put the remainder of the chip back into the bag :)

birthday love for Bonnie

pal o' mine, Bonnie turn a year older yesterday, and we got to celebrate her on Sunday night. it was such a blast...great friends, lots of great food, cold beer, 'ritas, water..and the water brought out the nakie babies. happy birthday, babe!

a side note about me:

a few weeks ago, i told someone or other that i was in my late 30's. it hit me hard while i was saying it. i'm not sure why, cuz i'm pretty confident about my age...i know i don't want to be younger! i guess it's saying good bye to a decade. since i'll only be 38 this august, i'll worry about all that later :)

there's no place like home

after 10 days, Mia and I are now HOME!!!! we got in Tues @ 2 am...Daryl and I were VERY happy to see each other!

(ummm....no pics)

latinas who lunch

this week, here in the valley, Mia and i haven't hung out with other mamas or kids, so Friday, we went in search. it's hot, so we decided on Chik-fil-A's indoor playscape. let me preface by saying that i was feeling cute...cute hair, cute jeans, cute green florally kinda hip top, and my new lime green sequined flip flops..CUTE! actually, not cute enough. there were 3 moms with a kid each...the kids looked normal, but not their moms. these were three incredibly beautiful Latinas that were impeccably put together. from their stylish cuts and colors, their super cute halters and those other shirts that look like tube tops but have strings from the middle that tie around their necks....white pants, new religion jeans, or sassy crops...ALL in HEELS!! and freaking CUTE heels,...sex in the city heels!!! at Chick-f'ing-A! maybe they just came from something important...nope, this is how they dress. i looked around for the rest of the day for HOT MILF SITC SAHLatinas....HEB? check! Walgreen's? check! here I was feeling fancy free...and actually a little more dressed up than I would be at home, and i looked tirada (slobish). oh, those damn gorgeous Latina housewives....oh think Gabrielle from Desperate Housewives...THAT'S how ALL the moms look down her!

this is an outfit one of the LILF's (sub Latina for Mom) was wearing...guy not included

i SO can't wait to get back to casual Austin....i just want to feel cute again. oh, cute thing was when their kids tried to get Mia into playing...they only spoke Spanish...it wasn't about colors, numbers, animals...that Mia's been learning in Spanish. it was 'hola, quires jugar? andale, ven con migo...' Mia just stood there and blinked. i translated and they played a little :)

Anja started it!

she added a quiz from quizfarm.com (random peeps write their own quizzes) to her blog. then Mel added a different quiz on hers. soooooo being the follower that i am, i found a silly quiz filled with misspelled words and weird ass questions. here's my score:

What is your heart filled with?
You scored as a Peace
Your Heart is Filled With Peace. You are a very Peacefull Person and love Candles and Eroma Therepy.
Peace
95%
Love & Romance
85%
Wonder
70%
Imagionation
30%
Hate
25%

FUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i did it! i fucking did it! since purchasing this wonderful camera from Bonnie, i've been afraid of deleting all pics on the memory card before i got to upload them to a 'puter. well, i fucking did it!!! i had them, i guess, half way uploaded. they were in some sort of folder, then i had to 'get images' after i did, i unplugged the camera and deleted 'all' files BEFORE anything had actually uploaded!!

SEE what happens when i need more chai! FUCK!

and i'm not even going to search for a stock photo of this monumental mistake!

FUCK!

*update* - i did NOT delete anything. i have all my pics safe in a folder. now HOW did my brain fail me so? at least on autopilot, i save my pics correctly :)

damn!

damn that empty cup of chai!! where did you freakin goooooo?!?! i need you soooooo!

it was an orange...

...i promise.

monday's best shot has been on my mind after several comments along the lines of 'oh, I thought it was a lime...are you SURE it wasn't a lime?'

how i WISH it were a lime...it would have gone great with my beer, but sadly, no. the piece of fruit in question was an under ripe orange. my mom has an orange tree. here are a couple of pics of Mia picking from said tree....the fruit are round, not oval like limes. well shit, some limes are round! but, this was an orange :)

now, where did i put that limeless beer?

how i mother

sarah napthali, author of Buddhism for Mothers...my heroine of the week

as i was looking online for the newest books on Mel's reading list, i ran across Buddhism for Mothers. it's synopsis sounded like something i needed, so along with both Peaceful Piggie books, Peaceful Piggies Yoga and Peaceful Pigges Meditation, i added BforM to my shopping cart. it was a great move on my part...well, that and acutally reading it. since being at my mom's, i've had a LOT of free time...to read, color mandalas, create animals out of Sculpey (yay 50% off coupon from Michael's) for Ita's garden, play my djembe...and over all spend time reflecting. i haven't really had to be anywhere or do anything. i've been able to take the time to reflect on how i parent, how i treat others, how i treat myself.

along with the book, i've added the Gifts of Imperfect Parenting blog series to my little list. the following excerpt rang true:

'We can NOT give our children what we don't have. If we want our children to have courage, compassion, and connection, we must practice these things in our daily lives. If we want them to love and accept who they are, our job is to love and accept who we are.'

this also goes a little bit along with the self-care talk i sat in on by Renee Trudeau last Fall. in the second drawer of my nightstand, sits The Mother's Guide to Self-Care. must pull that out when i get home.

does all this answer the how i mother question? probably not, but it lets you peek into the windows of my train of thought.

Best Shot Monday ~ The Squirrel Feeder

Mia and I are visiting my mom this week. In Ita's garden, there are several little creatures that my mom (Ita) takes much pleasure in moving around so Mia can find them in a different spot in the morning. The morning critter hunt is the highlight of every morning here at Ita's house.

This morning, Mia tired to feed a very under ripe orange to a resin squirrel...stuff memories are made of.


For more magical shots, visit Tracey at Mother May I

on the road

this was my view for 3 hours.

there was a curve.

then another 4 hours.

mandalas

ok. so. 9 mamas hit the house last night to drink and color! i printed out chingos of mandalas, bought colored pencils & markers, wiped down the tables and make guacamole. not sure if anyone had any breakthrough spiritual moments...but we sure did have a blast.

the amount of concentration shown was impressive...there were even those that had 'test' areas on the backs of their papers! everyone was super proud of their finished pieces and rightfully so.

then Mel broke out the games! Mad Gab ROCKS!! i'd never seen Steph laugh so fuckin hard! on went jokes, sex stories, poop stories...i'm so glad Daryl loves my friends and finds them so entertaining. he didn't even blink when Mel asked to see 'show me your genitals'. i love him....he actually hooked it up to the main tv.

we called it a night after Christen's blow job story...doesn't everyone end their MNI's with a BJ story?