simple pleasures

This is in response to Lizzie's tag. Here is a list of the simple pleasures I enjoy.

1. reading - and having a husband who understands how much I love to read even when I sometimes ignore him and the kids.
2. summer mornings - There is nothing like waking up to a beautiful, sunny summer day with the light streaming in through the windows.
3. softball games - John has played softball for the last 10 years (okay, so that is as long as I have known him). I love sitting outside in the early evening and chatting with the wives and kids of the other players.
4. music - I always have a song in my head, like there is a soundtrack constantly running through my life, even though you can't hear it. Music is my emotional outlet.
5. hugging my kids. I don't think this one needs an explaination.
6. dairy queen peanut butter cup blizzard with chocolate ice cream!!!!!
7. surprise letters and packages from my family - I am always homesick for them.
8. fresh raspberries and strawberries - they remind me of my Grammy.
9. new clothes - they make me feel beautiful and confident.
10. our new house - OK, maybe that isn't a simple pleasure, but it is definitely a big one in my life right now!!!

So, there is my list. What is yours?

Happy Mother's Day!

In honor of Mother's Day I wanted to share a little bit about my mom...

I have the most amazing mom ever. She and my dad were divorced when I was 12. My mom held it together for the sake of her kids. She held down one full time and one part time job while she was putting herself through school. And although she was very, very busy, she was always front and center for our dance recitals, choir concerts, plays and sporting events. On top of that, my mom is fun to hang out with. During my senior year in high school my mom and I were both dating. We would go out separately (doubling would have been way too weird even with my mom) then come home and sit on her bed and chat about our dates.

One day when there was a girl's choice dance ( in Utah those dates normally last from the end of the school day until midnight), I was hanging out at home with my date and the other couples we were going to the dance with. We had distributed squirt guns as prizes from a scavenger hunt we had done earlier, and embarked on a full out water fight inside the house! While my date was filling up his squirt gun at the kitchen sink my mom told him, "Now that isn't the way to do it." Then she proceeded to fill up a drinking glass and dump it on his head! My mom was the guidence counselor at my high school so she knew my date and all of my friends for that matter. My date was completely dumbfounded but the rest of us were laughing too hard to commiserate with him.

As for a more recent story, we will be moving in July. My mom is planning on coming to Philadelphia to help with the move, just like she helped with our last move and the moves of all of my siblings at one point or another. Her only question is should she fly put after she helps Lisa drive back to Kansas from Utah, or should she rent a UHaul and drive to Philly so she can bring us some furniture from my grandfather's house.

My mom is strong and independant and compassionate and loving and spends her life helping others and taking care of her children (which includes her kids, step-kids, in-laws, students, our friends, members of our ward and pretty much anyone else who walks into her door at home or at school). If you are ever in St. George, UT, let me know and I'll give her your address. She is always willing to open her home and let new friends into her circle of love.

Our new home???

We put an offer in last night for this beautiful house. We should know tonight if the offer is accepted. If it is, on July 18th we will be the proud new owners!

potty talk

John started potty training James this weekend. We got a book called "Toilet Training in One Day." Yeah, whatever. More like "Letting Your Kid Pee on the Floor Over and Over and Over." It was pretty much a disaster. Three days later, he makes it to the potty every once in a while but we have ignored the book's advice to keep him in underware all the time so there are fewer messes to clean up... or at least smaller messes. Now if we could just get James to point his "thingy" in the right direction...

"Lost" in Translation

John and I have been watching "Lost" since day one of season one. We have survived all of the really boring episodes as well as the many nail biters. As far as this season goes, I have to admit that I am ... well, lost. Between the survivors and the others, the "good guys" on the ship and the "bad guys" on the ship, the reappearances of people who are supposed to be dead (Jack's dad and Charlie), and Harley in a mental institution (is he crazy or the only one sane?), I am completely confused! If anyone has any theories or deep understanding of what in the world is going on in this show, I would love to hear it.

SOLD!!

Our house is officially under contract! We signed papers about 9pm last night. So we have until July 18th to find a new house or we are out on the street. I am so excited and terrified at the same time. Wish us luck!

Happy May Day!

At Bryn Mawr we celebrate May Day on the first Sunday of May with an all day party. May Day begins with the seniors (dressed in white like all of the students for the day) rising to go wake the President of the College. The traditional wake-up song is "The Hunt is Up" but it has been replaced sporadically with songs such as "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." After that, each class goes to a different dining hall for a scrumtous breakfast of strawberries and cream.

Following breakfast, May Day really gets kicked off with a huge parade that begins at Rockefeller Arch and ends on Merion Green. A bagpiper leads the procession, which consists of the President of the College, her attendants, the Traditions Mistresses, the senior class presidents, the Maypole dancers, the Worthies, and the Players. In a Grand May Day parade, which happens once every four years, Queen Elizabeth is added to the list, and it is rumored that elephants and such are brought in for such spectacles. My freshman year was Grand May Day. The college had brought in one of those huge, ornate, old-fashioned carousels and set it up for rides in the middle of campus. The president of the college changes her mode of transportation every year. One year she and her attendants rode in on Harleys.

After the parade, there is Maypole Dancing. Each class gets a Maypole in its class color. Maypole dancing is done while the Night Owls sing "To the Maypole." The seniors pretty much win every year, wheter their ribbons are a mangled mess or not.

There are many events throughout the day, including Scottish dancing, Morris dancing, the traditional King Arthur Play, the sophomore class play, the Robin Hood Play, the craziest a'cappella concert of the year, various cultural dancing and music displays, the May Hole dance (uniquely Bryn Mawr) and there is always a big concert in the afternoon with such performers as The Nields, Voices on the Verge, and Dar Williams.

Another main event of the day is when the seniors roll their hoops down senior row. Superstition holds that the winner is the first to receive a graduate degree and the second-place finish is the first to marry.

After dinner we hold our final step sing of the year. This particular Step Sing is usually very emotional, since the end involves singing the goodnight song to the seniors (it is usually sung to the frosh) as the seniors leave the senior steps and the juniors take over. This is the spot when the juniors become seniors, in a traditional sense, and they obtain the right to begin the college cheer, the Anassa.

The day ends with a late night showing of fellow Mawrtyr, Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story.

I mark May Day on my calendar every year. It is one of those things that make me wish I was still in college.

So to all you lovely Bryn Mawr Women (BMW's) out there, Happy May Day!

Thanks to Traditions Mistress, Carolyn and her webpage for some of the descriptions and the pictures.