Appreciations 5/24. The best things ever.

1. Pulling this $10 bill out of my wallet. IT SAYS FISH!

$10 fish

2. Mother’s Day gifts. Katie & Mckenzie each gave me a pair of sunglasses to replace the beloved rainbow and blue ones I lost during the past couple months.

mother's day sunglasses

3. May 24th gifts. Today I FOUND both pairs of sunglasses. Hahahaha! šŸ˜„ You guys! Now I have FOUR pairs of beloved sunglasses!!!!

found sunglasses

Appreciations 5/17-5/23: Energy, Events and Excellent people.

Another wonderful dinner and race group with Delaneys, the Duncans, and Rachel. I planned to leave early…but was drawn in by the complex, often challenging, beautifully expansive discussion about our relationship to and understanding of privilege, false empowerment, and systemic racism. I feel like I am learning so much.

GOOD: Ridiculously cold rainy weather for a yard sale – during which we had lots of fun and sold some stuff. 😊

BETTER: Driving home after dropping off ALL the rest of the stuff at Value Village! Wheeeeeee!

Fun party to celebrate Cina’s birthday and graduation. 😃

Getting to watch a play at Phoenix Theater with sound design by Katie and original music by Mckenzie. ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø #myawesomekids #proudmama

Breakfast with Amy and Alison. I love you two so much – both for the fun we have, and for the ideas I can steal from you. 😘

More garage & chicken prep work. Chickens!!

So much energy these days. Wow, I am so grateful. Last week I did 12,000 – 14,000 steps every day, and still had energy for yard work, work work, and family fun. SO loving this time!!

Best. Job. Ever.

At Skynote Consulting, we take Mondays (and haikus) seriously.

My message to Sara:
New name for Pat’s list
Sunshine, coffee, back to work
Monday morning fun

Sara’s reply:
Starting Steve work soon
With clarity from sunshine
(and coffee helps, too)

Appreciations from the weekend: A mama’s delight. šŸ’œšŸ’™šŸ’šā¤ļø

So much walking and gardening and zooing! What a thrill it is to have the energy for wondrous weekend adventures!

My first trip to Friends School plant sale. O M G. That was amazing! Sarah, Ida, and I had So. Much. Fun! 🌿

Our subsequent gardening spree with Mckenzie. I don’t have before pictures, so you won’t get the full effect…but we did SO much clean-up (filled our empty compost heap twice over!). And planted so many awesome plants. Fun fun fun fun fun! 🌺

Zoo day with Katie, Cina, Mckenzie and the Duncan girls. Holy hot one! I’m glad we got there early!

Check out the Kangaroo Crossing Rules. Hahaha! We all got a good laugh out of that…though we were very disappointed to have to leave our wedge-tailed eagles outside the exhibit…

Spring greening. And purpling! Our new oak tree is leafing out and our lilac is going crazy!

My 4 AM Odyssey

On the one hand, I did wake up at 4:15.

On the other hand, I have already
• made my bed
• swept the floors
• done laundry
• reached inbox 0
• written a poem
• researched new recipes
• updated a spreadsheet
• sent any number of emails with any number of emojis
• cracked myself up
• dubbed myself Queen of Emojis
• pet the cats
• consumed coffee

So.

#nailedit #naptime

Appreciations 5/4-5/8: Sunshine and shadows. ā›…ļø

Spending time with Debb two days in a row! Though I’m sorry for HER that she has to travel back and forth so much…I am super happy for ME when I get to see her. šŸ˜‰

Delicious and amazing May Day brunch with the the Duncans, and the Delaneys and their neighbors. What lovely people! šŸ’œ

Getting some stuff done, rescheduling some stuff, resting some. I may be a slow learner…but I AM getting better at listening to my body. Progress! 🌸

Funtastic weekend with the fabulous Duncans and Mckenzie. Just lots of nice little moments, hilarity (dammit!), and fun.

Supremely gorgeous blooms-everywhere-pre-insect-bites weather. Minnesota at its very best! Yum.

Window art at my house — I love the process of making art, erasing art, making new art. So much fun!

Sunlight and shadows playing with our window art. Brilliant!

Magic

Being human is a form of magic, I think. These wise and beautiful words from Patricia Wrede‘sĀ Thirteenth Child seem more important today than ever.

“This is the most important lesson you must learn about magic…There are many ways of seeing. Each has an element of truth, but none is the whole truth. If you limit yourselves to one way of seeing, one truth, you will limit your power…To be a good magician, you must see in many ways. You must be flexible. You must be willing to learn from different sources. And you must always remember that the truths you see are incomplete.”

Appreciations 5/3: My job!

The 8.53 second commute to my office. 😁

Feline office mates who really don’t care if I show up in my pjs.

Birdsong and a view of the rising sun from my desk.

7:04 am, 0 emails in my inbox and fewer than 10 in my action folder.

Looking forward to working on fun accounts with truly lovely clients. ā¤ļø

7:46 am. Nap break!

Appreciations 4/29-5/2: My lucky little life. šŸ˜€

Super fun meals last weekend! Lunch with Katie & Cina (& Josie!) and Sarah & Ida, then on the SAME DAY dinner with Terri & Ellis & Ruby and Sarah and Ida. Good food, amazing people, so much love. ā¤ļø

Big batch cooking with Sarah. So lovely to spend time together making food. Plus…she has a food processor!! And now I know how to use it, too! Whee!! šŸ˜€

Weather and energy for yard work and garden planning.

Zero emails in my inbox. (Temporary, but satisfying).

Spring flowers in MN. Gorgeous!

May 1 windowsill 2017

Our window sill in the kitchen. I love it!

Planning super fun plans.

Chickens!!!!!! (See item above ā¬†ļø)