the waiting is the hardest part

waiting. delayed gratification. patience. it's easier to try to teach this concept to someone than to practice it yourself. and it's one of those virtues that you just don't appreciate until you get older. waiting might not ever be easy or a lot of fun, but the more life experiences or screw ups you make, the more you realize the value of it.
last thursday was 'book buy back" day for wil at school. left to his own plans for the day, this would not have been high on the priority list of things to do. especially since he had to take his books to sell at 7:00 a.m. on the last day of school. so we dangled the carrot and told him that if he got everything together and took the books, he could keep the money. our plans for his "earnings" were to save the money and use it this summer when he goes downtown and needs cash for whatever he and his friends might end up doing. this way, he always has some mad money. he is mowing his granddad's lawn this summer as well, so the opportunity to earn some money for other things that he really wants to buy...like video games or bass guitars... is there too.
welllll...he really wants the video game now. he has devised and presented us with a plan to use his "mad money" for it so he can go ahead and purchase said game tomorrow. he will use his lawn mowing earnings to pay back the "mad money" fund as he makes it weekly. truthfully, this plan is not a problem. but the point we are trying to make about money management and delayed gratification will be missed if we buy into wil's plan. i want him to earn the money and save up to buy the game. how do you teach the value of waiting, delayed gratification and patience when it is still so hard to appreciate as an adult? and on a greater level and in the future, how do you sit back and let your child have some independence, make some decisions, knowing it will be a mistake? how do you let go and trust that at some point he or she will get it and learn from the mistakes? i guess you have to look at your own life and know that somehow you survived the mistakes...big or small...and learned a lesson or acquired a virtue.

land's end canvas line

i just read about this new line that land's end has created. i get regular emails from land's end and then regularly delete them because i am really not that interested in the clothing. they have great tote bags and good basics for kids. but that is about the extent of my interest in land's end. until now...
take a look at the new canvas line and see what i mean! they have perfect t's, really cute cardigans in tons of colors, fun scarves, jackets, and jewelry! look at the hammered bangle bracelets. it just goes on and on! i think they are offering j. crew's "basics" look at a much more affordable price. check it out.
http://canvas.landsend.com/canvas/index.html

"let me clear my throat"

why is it that the change of seasons, the end of something, the beginning of something, change in general, evokes so much emotion? as a kid, the last day of school seemed liked the beginning of the rest of your life. summer seemed to last forever. it was the greatest time. today was our last day of school. it was a gorgeous day...evoking optimism. pb and wil blasted dj kool for em and me as they ran out the door for wil's last trek to the middle school...evoking startled but hysterical laughter. em and i took our last ride together to the lower school...evoking sentiment and sadness. we celebrated the 4th grade completing their years at the lower school and moving on to the middle school...evoking excitement and apprehension. wil took his last middle school exam...evoking relief. we had a luncheon for several retirees at school and congratulated each other on the ending of another successful school year...evoking gratitude and pride. tonight we are sitting on the patio talking about summer and all that we want to do. this is a great time in life. after running the gamut of emotions today, i can finally sit back with a perfect glass of wine and rest. i love summer. i look forward to slowing down, enjoying time with my family and appreciating the little things that make each day what it is. today was a sad day because a lot is changing. but it is also an exciting day and that is what makes life and each season so precious.

this saturday

stop by, bring a friend, have a glass of wine, see some art! looking forward to it.

monday afternoon

as if we don't have enough going on this week...somehow we managed to find the time to rearrange artwork yesterday. pb framed some great new pieces to hang so we just had to take everything down off one of the walls in our living room. we haven't loved this wall because it is so tall and tough to fill up without looking like it's too contrived. in an attempt to find a happy medium between "planned" and the walls of applebee's, we moved some things around and added the new things. here is the wall until we change it again. check out the great lamp...another tj maxx score.

same as it ever was....

after an interesting, fun and thoughtful couple of days, we are toasting friendship tonight. To friends that are new, friends that that are tried and true, friends that are moving, and friends that we have lost. cheers...

feel good, ahhhhhahahaha...

you've got a new horizon, it's ephemeral style...

congrats on 8th grade graduation, wil.

art

we have been so busy this week. wanted to share some artwork that wil brought home in his portfolio yesterday. this trimester was the first time he has had a chance to take art since he left the lower school in 5th grade. i love it.

a good book

i just finished the book, the vanishing act of esme lennox, by maggie o'farrell. it was recommended by a friend by another friend. it is a quick, easy read and a great story. two other friends at school were reading it at the same time and we have decided that we have to meet for wine and discussion one night. it's that good.

on the road again

last night em and i made an impromptu trip to calhoun. i know, but we had a legitimate reason. we ran to the old navy store because despite rome's bevy of hair salons, tattoo parlors, accessory stores and banks, we have no place to shop for clothes. we have tj maxx, which i love, but we are missing a lot here! anyway, i had something i wanted to pick up : ), and em needed a bathing suit(bathing suit shopping can be a whole other blog on it's own). we didn't leave rome until 7:15 and it was a school night. hmmmm...is this the responsible parent thing to do when you know your child needs a good night's sleep before a long field trip tomorrow? i don't know but we went anyway and had the best time. we stopped by starbucks on our way out and then i let em drive the ipod and blast whatever music she wanted to hear. so we road off down highway 53 drinking our starbucks, listening to taylor swift and laughing hysterically. truly the best medicine anyone needs. it made me think how much fun it would be to make a real road trip with her or our whole family...or maybe not...but a road trip where you just get in the car with no specific destination, itinerary (every vacation i took growing up had an itinerary) or time constraints. if pb and i were to do this, i would want to go to texas. there is a little town there that i am dying to visit but it is in the middle of nowhere...as in you can't even fly and get there without having to drive 4 hours after the plane lands.

i know we keep saying this but it is the little things in life that matter. it's the little moments that you look back on and remember. i'm glad we put responsibility aside last night and made our road trip. summer is almost here and the road is wide open...

getting our read on

one evening last week pb and i had an idea. it was one of those nights that i wished i did not have to get up for school the next day. there is no telling the length our conversation could have stretched or the variety of problems we could have solved. at some point we ventured into a discussion on reading. we both like to read but rarely make time to do it. wil and em should be reading more. there is a direct correlation between students that are avid readers and their test scores. what could we do to encourage them to read more? these are just some of the thoughts we were discussing. so we came up with an idea. why don't we start a family book club? we haven't fine tuned all of the details or talked to wil about our grand plan yet (of course, em loved it) but here are our ideas:

we will each take a turn selecting the book and it will need to be on a level that we can all appreciate and understand. i am looking forward to going back and reading some of the classics that i read (or missed because of the available cliff's notes version) at wil and em's age. we plan to give everybody 2 weeks to read said book. at the end of our 2 weeks, we will have book club meeting. the person that selected the book is in charge of deciding where we will meet. it could be outside at starbucks, at shroeder's, johnny's pizza, or even just a fun dinner at home. we are anticipating some riveting conversations.

we will report back when we officially start and when we break the news to wil...

prowess

i like this word. it's not one that i use in my everyday conversations but one that i would if i had the need. i like the way it sounds. i like what it means. it's a trait i desire in myself and want to see in my children. not just in their talents, but in their personalities too. some are born with it and some develop it out of the situations that life throws our way. it's an attractive trait to possess. maybe i'll use it in a sentence with wil and em today.

a spring must have

a must have for spring is the nautical striped shirt. they are everywhere and i have been searching for the perfect one for months. one of my best friends in atlanta found it at j. crew, my favorite store. i don't have one in rome so lizzie picked it up for me in nashville. (which has a funny story to go along with it.) it is made of a heavier weight cotton than a regular t-shirt and has more of a tunic fit. it will be cute with shorts, with faded, worn out jeans or can be dressed up with white jeans. i have a feeling i am going to live in it. unfortunately, it's not available online, so you will have to travel to the store or beg someone (thanks liz!) to pick it up for you. and here's my funny story:

true to form, if i want something, i will call and have them hold it until i can get there or send a friend to get it. so, i called j. crew in nashville last saturday and asked them to hold one. lizzie said she had to go to the mall anyway and it really wasn't that hard to convince her to swing by j. crew. she called on sunday and said that it was raining pretty hard and there was no way she could get there. i called back on tuesday to see if they still had it. they did. i said that my sister-in-law was coming to pick it up but couldn't get there because of all of the rain??? she would be there today. then i saw the you tube video, "we are nashville". gulp. "rain"?? i had no idea how bad it was. talk about things spinning into perspective pretty fast. keeping nashville in my thoughts...

so here is the "i must have" shirt that survived the flood and made it to rome. and the cutest boy ever. btw, the 8th grade dance was saturday night. i will spare him any embarrassing stories...

happy mother's day

this morning was 'muffins for moms' at the lower school. yet another "last time" event this spring. i get to be on both sides of this day. i'm the teacher encouraging and helping these kids create special pieces of art for their moms. and i'm a mom getting to receive one of these priceless gifts. em has struggled with this because each year, i see what she is making and it is not a surprise. she has no idea how amazing it is for me to be able to watch her make these things. for six years i have been able to be a part of her life at school. that's been one of the best gifts a mom can receive. as i walked away from her classroom today with my armload of treats, i wanted to turn around and thank her. not just for the precious things that she had drawn or written about me. but for letting me be her teacher and her mom. for letting me be a part of her school days everyday for the last six years. thanks em.

on a side note, watch this video of our favorite taylor swift song. she wrote it for her mom. i had a fun conversation with another mom of two girls at dinner last night. they had just seen taylor swift in concert and she said it was fantastic. i admitted that i too, am dying to take emily to one of her concerts. we laughed because we're kind of using our girls as an excuse to be a fan. hoping to catch her in nashville soon!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYmATBwAz60

happy mother's day!

Prosecco

mmmmm. i have rediscovered this sparkling white wine from italy. we have been on the red kick for a long time now. even last summer, when it was hot as blazes, we were making our version of sangria with red wine because we couldn't get a taste for white. maybe there is some correlation between our loss of interest and the amount of smoking loon pinot grigio we drank in the past? hmmmm.

now that the temperatures are getting warmer and days are getting longer, i have been looking for an alternative for that much enjoyed glass of red wine on the patio. i opened a bottle of prosecco the other evening and it was delicious. it is a nice change and goes well with a great salad or fish. it is bubbly, light and a little bit sweet. i hope i am not teetering too close to the edge of asti spumante or wine in a box here...

my look book

for some time i have collected pictures out of magazines that catch my eye. i used to keep them in a folder, which was hard to sort through on a whim. next, i tried a 3 ring notebook. that worked and still contains some full page pictures that i have kept as well as the new ones that i tear out from time to time. i love sharing the latest things i've torn out and saved when i get together with girlfriends. it's inspiring and refreshing to look at new ideas for home stuff, clothes, hair, etc. it is a girl thing. lately i have been tearing out smaller photos or printing fun pictures i see on the internet and putting them in a small sketchbook. this stays in my backpack for school. when i need a moment of inspiration or just some eye candy, i will look through it. it is interesting to look back at the pages and see what sparked my interest or what i was into at different times. when i need a creative idea, i'll get out the look book and pour over the pages. it makes me smile. and pb is good to humor me and look at my latest additions and ideas from time to time. if you are into this sort of thing, i highly recommend this method of collecting ideas. a bulletin board with photos is cool, but i would run out of room. and the tiny notebook can be taken with me when i am shopping or meeting a friend for wine. something fun i like to do!

the non-supper club

it was our turn to host dinner last night for our non-supper club. the idea for this popped up on a friday evening in november when one of the couples hosted a "fall dinner for friends" at their home. when we received the invite, pb and i had no idea who would be joining us and what the "fall dinner" would entail. we had looked forward to it and ended up having the most delightful evening. the food was different from anything we had ever cooked, the conversation ran the gamut of topics, and their home provided an atmosphere that seemed other than that of rome, ga. we left their home that night saying how it had been one of our best friday nights and looking forward to the next get together. we all decided that night that we needed to take turns hosting dinner every month or so. a supper club, but not a supper club. just four couples and we have no set time or month.

the next dinner was in february. we had champagne and shrimp by the fireplace before dinner. when dinner was served, pb was ecstatic. we had cotillion the night before so it had been a bit of a late night. he was craving something hearty and i knew he was thinking that a little grease would be nice too. when the platter of sliders and onion rings was presented at the table, he could not have been happier. there was a caprese salad with fresh mozzarella, basil and roasted tomatoes. yummm. again, the conversation was not lacking in variety or laughter. when the plates were cleared, red wine was poured and a chocolate brownie pudding with ice cream was served. another smile from pb. the table was lit with the glow of candles and we all enjoyed the company of friends.

so this month was our turn. as soon as we set the date, i started feeling the pressure of "how do i follow those two dinners???". I know that is ridiculous but what were we going to serve? could we fit 8 people around our table? and why am I worrying about this?? we love to cook and we love having people in our home. soooo...we did our grocery shopping on friday and picked up a few things on saturday morning. we washed the pollen off the patio, set the table, pb smoked the pork tenderloins and for the most part, had a rather relaxing day. by the time everyone arrived, all was done that needed to be done and we had a wonderful evening. all that sweating it for nothing. as usual. when will i learn? anyway, we served homemade guacamole and some delicious cranberry, oj drinks before dinner. the guacamole was devoured. it was a muggy night but everyone wanted to sit on our patio so we stayed outside for awhile. at about 9:00 we came inside to eat. dinner was the tenderloin, mango salsa, a big salad and roasted potatoes with rosemary. not an original menu for us but everyone loved it. for dessert i made a chocolate cake and served it with ice cream, fresh blackberries and strawberries. again, to complement the dinner was entertaining conversation. everything from religion, work ethics, our kids and how to raise kids that don't expect everything but appreciate anything. the latter of those conversations being the most mind boggling. it was nice to hear my friends having the same conversations that we are having on any given night of the week. the ones about being a good parent and being confident that you are doing what is right for your kids.

lesson learned: things are never as big of a deal as i make them. everyone was so gracious and a good time was had by all.