... When No One Else is Watching

Autumn

October at Gardner Village = Beautiful!

Feeling the Love

I know I have said it before but it bears repeating. I love my family. I love my family as a daughter, sister, wife and mother should, in the most beautiful of ways. There are many times - mostly after I have taken in the world news - when I think of how blessed I am. Anyone would be lucky to call the people in my life 'family.' For me it's a distinct honor.

Why am I telling you this? Well, sometimes I realize it more than other times and my love for them is almost more than I am capable of expressing. One of these time happened the other night while my mom was over to my house. My mother and I have always been close and anyone who knows me will tell you I have an insanely close bond with my mother. Maybe my mom said it best the other night, "I was so young when I had you and Diane that in a way we all kind of grew up together." She was always very much my mother in the way that she would scold me if I misbehaved and applaud me when I did well but she was also the person who would grow to be my greatest confidante.

We were sitting in my kitchen the other night making some curtains for Avery's room, okay, let's be honest - she was making curtains and I was watching. During this time I had one of the most meaningful conversations I have ever had with my mother and it made me realize how blessed I am to be able to call her 'mom.' I won't bore you with details of the conversation but there were points that were life altering for me. Now that I have my own child I am accutely aware of the fact my behavior will impact Avery more than any other's. I hope she will see a strong woman who has her head on her shoulders, who walks the walk and talks the talk and doesn't back down from something she believes in. I want her to appreciate intelligence and education, I want her to see kindness and behave with kindness as her first impulse. Most of all, I want her to be strong, I want her to stand up for what she believes in and find her passion in life. Interestingly enough, these are the same things my mother wanted when she gave birth to me. I found out the other evening no matter what changes with the world, a mother's desire for her child is the one constant in life.

My Current Favorite

I know I'm her mom, and I'm probably extremely biased (as all moms should be) but I think she just gets more and more beautiful everyday! And she makes my world more and more beautiful everyday!

Reality Television - The Gift that Keeps on Giving!

I admit it - I make my husband sit and watch certain television shows with me. He's a trooper and will watch Grey's Anatomy, Law & Order: SVU, and repeats of Friends without groaning and griping too much (I actually think he really likes Grey's Anatomy.) Where the real torture comes in is where I require he sit and watch reality television. I completely admit that I do like quite a few of these shows, they are my secret, guilty indulgences. Obviously, they are not so secret anymore. Some of the shows I like are Amazing Race, So You Think You Can Dance (LOVE it!), The Biggest Loser (since I am fighting my own personal battle of the bulge, it's nice to see I'm not the largest person on the planet, which is how I feel sometimes) and Project Runway.

Last night we were watching another favorite of mine, Dancing with the Stars. Rob usually sits through this one with me because, as I said, he's a trooper. I noticed half way through the show that whenever Joey Lawrence would come out Rob would immediately say, "whoa." I couldn't figure it out until I realized that was what Joey Lawrence's character would say all the time on his tv show. And now that I asked him about it he keeps on going around the house loudly saying, "whoa" whenever the fancy strikes him. He thinks it's hilarious, and I thought it was funny at first, but now I am highly considering never watching Dancing with the Stars again. This was probably his plan all along!