Confessions of a Lawn Queen

I have a confession.

I am a lawn queen (to a small degree).

I love our riding lawn mower!

It’s an old green and yellow “John Deer.” Nothing fancy.

Nothing new. Although my husband did just get new tires put on it for me.

I feel somewhat odd because mowing the lawn is not a chore for me.

Now, if it was a conventional mower, forget it!

But the luxury of riding around, headphones on, and making the yard look beautiful is great!

There is this feeling of satisfaction as I see the taller sections of grass being sharply cut to perfection.

I believe a hairdresser must feel the same way as they shear the overgrown strands of their customers locks.

It involves almost all of the senses:

the sight of progress and beauty,

the smell of freshly cut grass,

the feel of the mower turning and moving as you drive along,

the sound of well…for me it’s my favorite songs, but the sound of the mower to some may be soothing,

and I hope taste is not involved because that could ruin the whole experience!

I must say, I am not perfect and don’t have that luscious lawn that should be on the cover of every home and garden magazine, but I am proud of my work.

Now, I will not make this my new profession or offer to cut your yard or anything crazy like that!

O.k. I did cut part of our neighbors yard…

Thank You Nora

Sadly, Nora Ephron passed away yesterday from leukemia.

She was co-writer, screenwriter or director for some of my favorite movies.
“Sleepless In Seattle,”
“When Harry Met Sally,”
And my ultimate, watch it a million times and it never gets old movie
“You’ve Got Mail.”

I believe she got what men wanted in a romantic comedy, since they would be forced to go see it.
A relatable leading man, full of humor and yet strong and dependable.
Someone they would want to be friends with. A man who could be real.
A man that could be them.

She definitely “got” women.
We want to see ourselves as someone real. Not too perfect, yet desirable.
Someone we could actually relate too.
Plus we like that hero of a leading man who can sweep you off your feet with sincerity and thoughtfulness and humor.

I am a little sad for the loss of her genius and believe that I may never see another “chick flick” as clever as the ones she was a part of.

Nora, you will be greatly missed.
I realize to some your contributions may seem trivial, but they lifted me up when feeling blue.
Made me laugh and made me cry.
I was your perfect audience.
And I loved your work.

I hope you google her work and get to spend a little time “researching” her movies.
I could only hope to ever achieve her kind of success in any venture.
Thank you Nora for all you have done!

Summer Sounds

I was laying by the pool yesterday on one of those plastic white lounge chairs enjoying the sounds of the pool when a song came on the radio that made me feel summer.

There are just some songs that are “summer songs.”. They would transport you to the beach in the middle of a snow storm!

Here are some of my favorite tunes I associate with pools, beaches and bathing suits.

-“Magic” by the Cars
(All of you youngsters will have to go look them up on iTunes.)
Also by the Cars-
“My Best Friends Girl”
“You Might Think”
“Just What I Needed”

-“Put Your Records On”
By Corinne Bailey Rae
Also “Like A Star”

-“Soak Up The Sun”
By Sheryl Crow

-“California Gurls”
(Yes that’s how they spelled it)
By Katie Perry with Snoop Dog

-“Free Fallin’ ”
By Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

-“Island In The Sun”
By Weezer
Also “Surf Wax America”

-“Steal My Sunshine”
By Len

-“Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay
By Otis Redding
(Probably the best poolside song!)

-“Lovely Day”
By Bill Withers

-“American Girls”
By Counting Crows

-“Love Like This”
By Natasha Bedingfield

-“Wavin’ Flag”
By K’naan

And of course any song by the soul of summer himself,
Bob Marley!

My faves of his are:
“Stir It Up”
“No Woman, No Cry”
“One Love”

I hope this inspires you to make up your own new summer playlist.
Feel free to share what your favorite songs are.

I Don’t Eat That

Health magazine says to utter these 4 little words and it will help you turn down treats.

The July/August issue is out with all kinds of tips on losing belly fat, summer recipes and so much more.
I love this short little article.

Can you feel the empowerment ?
Throw away “I can’t!”
Try out the new go to phrase in your life: “I don’t eat that.”
Become a junk food critic or a health food snob.

Now if only I remember to “empower” myself when I face those temptations head on during a craving.

Great Workout, Fun Name

Yoga Booty Ballet

I love it!  I love the workouts and I love that when I recommend this to women, they stop and say, “What?”

YBB for short, this workout selection includes ab workouts, yoga, ballet and strength training.  They are not “easy” when you first get started, but once you learn what is coming up, they are fun!

I have used these workouts often, and they still challenge me!

(Don’t get me wrong, I still need these badly!)

True to what the name advertises, it is a yoga and ballet and “booty” workout.

This fits the needs of almost every women and leaves you feeling exhilarated.

There are videos in this series for hip hop dance, pregnant women, for night time and my favorite name “A.M. Latte.”

The leaders, Ti and Gillian, are calm and encouraging plus easy to follow.

You will sweat and it is work, but it is also rewarding.

I highly recommend that if you have had a problem finding the right combination video of dance, yoga and strength training, to check it out!

Say it with me, “Yoga Booty Ballet!”

That never gets old.

 

5 Reasons You Should Nap Today

1. Last night you stayed up late because it was Saturday night! Partying, playing, talking, watching something you regret today…
Why didn’t you just go to bed earlier?

2. You go out to swim, garden, play and it’s soooo hot. Immediately you are drained! It’s ok. Go take a nap.

3. Rest restores your body.
You need rest to rejuvenate and lose weight! The doctors are telling you to take a nap!

4. You have no other obligations.
What’s keeping you from your comfortable bed? Is that your pillow calling?

5. It’s a rule. Sunday is a “day of rest.”
God even took a rest on the 7th day.
He’s practically shouting, “Go rest!”

So don’t worry if something doesn’t get done today.
Give yourself permission to relax.
As for me…yawn, stretch… off I go.

Roll With It

Roller skating.
Is it a thing of the past?
A poster child for the 70’s?
Are skating parties a thing of yesteryear?

I hope not!
My sister and I had our own skates.
Hers were white with pink wheels and mine were white with orange wheels.
We loved roller skating!
The eighties had us in leg warmers and big hair frozen from a gallon of “Aquanet”.
We looked good as we flew around the rink performing our jumps (I mean we called them jumps) and quickly turning to skate backwards (I am sure it was beautiful!).

The nineties brought about rollerblades.
I could see myself knocking down every kid in my path if I put those on.
So, no rollerblades for me.

What a great family activity!
A place for all ages.
Everyone can laugh as their sister/brother falls only then to have the same courtesy returned.
The Limbo on skates? What better entertainment is there?!

I still have my white skates with their orange wheels.
(To not have to wear those ugly brown stinky skates, what a bonus!)
Maybe I will put them on again and see if I can still gracefully float around the rink. (Ok just to keep from falling will be great.)

Care to join me?

The Wilderness Walk

Recently, my sister, two nieces and I decided to walk a local nature trail.
It started out great as two conservation workers were catching butterflies and we were able to observe and spot bright yellow ones and big black butterflies fluttering around.

We chose to walk the “Raccoon Run” strictly for its name, I think the girls hoped to spy a raccoon on the trail.

Through the woods you could hear the different birds calling to each other.
The dragonflies seemed to beckon us to chase them.
The wild flowers were in full bloom and fragrant as we walked past.

We were well into the walk when rounding a corner I noticed a man was just standing ahead of us. I realized he was watching an animal. We stopped and got really quiet as he told us he walked right past a deer.

Excitement was hard to contain for the girls. They just wanted to squeal and run to see, but we were able to remind them the deer would run away.

We tip-toed closer and closer. We were steps away when she moved further into the woods.
We stopped and sat on a bench, waiting to see if she would walk past us.

She then started calling to another deer.
It was at that moment I noticed Bambi.
So cute and tiny on the other side of the path. Blinking her big brown eyes at us.

We stayed still hoping the mom would cross to get to her baby.
As we sat, she started stamping her foot at us. (The universal mom code for “you better not hurt my baby.”)

We decided to leave as Bekki mentioned the mom probably could wait us out.

As we walked a little further we get closer to Bambi. She is about a foot off the trail and close enough to just miss touching her. She was adorable!

We stopped, of course , hoping to get a picture.
Right as my flash went off, I heard a low growl coming from the other side of the woods!
I quickly made everyone walk away.
We were between something and a baby deer.

I did not want to find out what it was!

We get back to the nature center and find that it’s bobcat mating season.
Yikes.

As we went to our next adventure of the day I was happy to reflect on how rare it is to be so close to a deer in their habitat. What a great experience for the girls.

Still, that was probably my last wilderness walk for a while.

Fun For All, All For Fun

Summer begs for fitness and fun!
Swimming, biking, walking,
and of course all the activities in theme parks!

Our family enjoyed this Aquatic Center in Shawnee, Kansas yesterday.
There were water slides, diving boards, kiddie play areas, lap lanes, pools and of course the “lazy river.”

This is a great family day adventure and it encourages laughter and fun!

There are countless opportunities to see belly flops and buckets of water suddenly being dumped on your brother/sister.
You can laugh after you race down water slides, discussing who really won and if it was the slide or the person.
Then you have to race again.

There are throw downs to get a tube for the lazy river and competitions off the diving boards. Best dive, worst dive, best splash…

A bonus- everyone sleeps so sound after a day in the water!
Just don’t forget the sunblock !

Puppy Love