Spring is in the air!!

It was a balmy 83 f today in Michigan! That is a virtual heat wave! Flowers bloomed all over and the smell of hyacinths filled the air around my gardens. I will begin sprouting seedlings for the garden this weekend and I actually found Swiss chard still growing in the garden.

Crap

Yep that's what I stepped in as I ran outside barefoot to "rescue" my Mocha from running off. His lead line slipped off and he ran away, for a little jaunt. The cold, wet squish on my foot and between my toes was unmistakable. Nearly ill to my stomach, I managed to scrape a lot off and run into the house on my heel. Hopping into the mudroom and right over to the tub....both dogs chasing me as I screamed EWWWWW... What a fun way to begin the afternoon!

Sunshine and snow, the best time of Winter!

If you are lucky enough to live in Michigan, you will know what I am referring to. We have had four of the most sun drenched, brilliant snow blanketed days. Winter dtags on and becomes intolerable until we are treated to this! How we miss the sun, and should be so thankful for it's presence!

Criticism

Why is it that people are so fond of criticizing regardless of whether or not they are informed.

Saturday was a long, tiring and well traveled day. Woke up early and drove 18 miles to a yoga class to be with my teacher. Amazingly difficult and excruciating were on his mind that day. Crawled home and showered, husband made pancakes for breakfast! Slipped back in bed (towel still on wet head) and fell back to sleep until 2:30! Dried hair and got dressed (had a huge crease across forehead and face). Realized that a birthday gift had to be purchased and son #1 had to be driven to a skate park over 45 minutes away. No panic, just calm action, 2 skate shops, $140 later and we were on our way. Drop off the boy only to realize that the party host was really late, talked the guy into letting the kids skate even if the host hadn't arrived. Our plans to dump and ditch were thwarted and we stayed for over an hour. Starving!!!! Drove back to the West side and had to pop into Best Buy. Got a wall plug for the ipod touches the kids got for Christmas. Still calm and happy, but hungry.

Standing in line at Taco Bell waiting for my four bean burritos on Saturday night, couldn't help but start to feel it (criticism) creep in. Had to walk in because the drive up was so packed and not moving. Waited for 9 minutes to order as they were so understaffed. The women in back were flying and looked exhausted. Smiling and looking on, reminiscing about my high school days as a taco slinger. Felt better once the order was placed, noticed the mature woman just dying to sit down. She was working as fast as she could. There were 4 orders before mine, started to notice the mess on the floor and the critical mind started brewing. Had to remind myself of how it was to be so busy and not have help. Softened and smiled, relaxed and accepted to wait with patients. When she handed me the bag and apologized, my reply was "I worked at Taco Bell when I was 16, and remember how hard these nights were." Her face softened and she smiled, and thanked me with sincerity.

Catch the criticism before it tales hold.

Trees down, just a cold, long winter ahead.

There is such a sense of excitement when the house is decorated for Christmas. Now that the festivities are over and the trees down, the long road to spring seems longer.

Looking into ways to pamper and rejuvenate led to finding the deck of spa treatments cards that can be done at home that my sister bought a long time ago. Lots of nice ideas but some are too fussy and impractical.

Couple of good stand by, go to in a pinch are:

Loving to soak in a long, hot baths sound great but can severely dry skin, add in olive oil and some Epsom salt to detoxify and hydrate skin.

Hydrate before and after yoga and workouts so the body can effectively eliminate toxins.

Slather Shea butter on hands and feet and slip on big old socks to keep it from going all over the sheets and hop in bed.

Finally! Back to "normal"

I don't know how I get through the holiday season madness. Kids go back to school tomorrow and I get my life back.

We spent this last day of Christmas vacation in our PJs, playing games and eating. I love to cook and rarely ever fry foods, I think this vicious cold causes me to crave comfort foods. I cleaned out the deep fryer and filled it with fresh oil and whipped up some fish and chips, Malaysian fried bananas with coconut and donuts. We played Rummikub all day and worked on Alex's science fair report.

2 small dogs, one toppled Christmas tree

On Saturday morning, I was awaken by my husband who stormed into the room inquiring if I had "put the dogs to bed?" last night. We have to separate the boys while Mocha's back heals so we keep him in the kitchen and Jiva in the Foyer. I replied "yea why?" He said they snuck through the puppy gates and got into the family room and knocked down the Christmas Tree. 8:30 on my only morning to sleep in...come on....you must be joking! I grabbbed my robe and flew down the stairs, there, on the floor lie my beautiful tree and all the ornaments that we worked so hard on placing perfectly. Next to the side of the fallen tree was an unceremonious piddle of pee. I just stood there.....So thankful for yoga that calms my nerves and helps me to stay centered... I said "pick it up." Vic just stood there....dejavu ran through his mind of the old house 10 years ago when our tree stand that he had "fixed" failed and sent crashing our tree along with at least $700 worth of spun glass ornaments...this is another story for another time.... We picked up the tree, and to our amazement only one ornament was broken. So we start to hypothesize what happened: Scenario #1 Mocha felt better and taunted his brother to play, they snuck into the forbidden forest and spotted a huge tree....so wanting to assert their dominance they attempt to mark the tree..but alas, it is too tall so they lept into the air and landed just right to cause it to fall...then they mark their spot. Scenario #2 In the course of playing, Jiva gets hungry. Being the perpetual mooch that he is smells the chocolate ornaments and attempts to snag one for himself and knocks the tree over while prying one off a branch. Scenario # 3 They are so dizzy with delight at being able to play for the first time in 3 weeks that they get carried away and crash into the tree... Anyhow, Christmas is saved, the needles and water quickly cleaned and the ornaments replaced. I was buying dog snacks at Trader Joes and the cashier asked how my dog was. I replied " There are 2 of them and they knocked down our Christmas tree this morning and peed on it." The couple behind me burst out in laughter, we all did.