{Virtual Coffee}

Good Morning!
Happy Tuesday morning to you from my front porch.
It's coffee on the front porch weather, you guys! This makes me so happy. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!
This morning my coffee isn't quite as pretty as it is in this picture, this was actually last week's coffee at
my favorite little coffee shop, with two of my best girlfriends.
So today I'm having my coffee on the front porch and that's a pretty good place to be this morning, if you ask me- even though I would really love to rewind to last week!

So - it feels like I have not been around here for morning coffee for a long time, and a little scarce around here lately anyway. The days and weeks have felt so busy lately and I end up running out of time for more than half of the things I intend to do every day it seems like.
And speaking of busy... It's May? Say what?
The last month of school is so busy with field trips and teacher gifts, concerts and just extra things to remember to buy and do. Ughhhhhh.

Last week Charlotte and I made May Day baskets for their teachers, this was my idea because it
was one of my favorite things growing up.
I remember cutting lilacs from the bush in our backyard and wrapping the bottom in a wet paper towel and then somehow making something(?) out of paper to hold them... I can't remember that part?
Then we would leave them on our neighbor's doors on May 1.
Charlotte loved making them and even made an extra one for "someone at school" but it was really for me and she surprised me with them the next morning.

Speaking of lilacs...
On Sunday I cut the last of the lilacs from my bush so I could smell them in the house just one.more.time. this Spring.
The rest were dying so this was the last salvageable bunch.
I love this smell so very much, it instantly reminds me of Spring and home and my mom and my childhood backyard.

If we were really meeting for coffee this morning....
I would have to tell you about my latest obsession- I got the first season of Girls from the library and was immediately hooked. I know people have all kinds of stuff to say about Lena Dunham and I don't know the story on her personal life and don't really care because- the show, I LOVE that show.
Now I am on the 3rd season and I can't get enough.
We signed up for HBO free for three months so now I can watch it on HBO instead of getting it form the library, and then I got the HBO Go app on my ipad so I can watch Girls/HBO wherever I want.
I am not gonna lie, sometimes I just LOVE modern technology.

Lastly, this weekend I am hoping(I said hoping, it's not super likely) to do a little work on my front porch-- the underneath part of it needs paintedr, the steps and porch itself need to be scraped so they can be repainted.... and I really want to paint my front door this yellow color.e
What do you think? Our house is a bluish-gray so I think it will look good.
I also need to finally spray paint my wicker chairs, get new pillows and plant some flowers.
Geez. Check back with me in a month or two maybe, it's gonna take a while.

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On that note, I am going to finish my coffee and sit here in silence for just a little longer(I hope) before the craziness of another school/work morning gets going around here.
Tell me,what's going on in your little corner of the world? What's new?
Have you been enjoying your Spring... Any exciting Mother's Day plans?
Are you counting down the days until school gets out yet? I'd love to hear what you are up to!


* * * * *

Have a great day & Happy Cimco de Mayo.... I will be celebrating with a fat margarita tonight!

{Virtual Coffee} The "Come On Already, Spring!" Edition

Good morning.
It's Tuesday morning again, how about some coffee?
Last Tuesday over coffee, I mentioned that I was on the couch under a blanket having coffee and I remember thinking, while I typed that, that I really hoped that by the next Tuesday(today) I would be out on the front porch having my morning coffee.
No such luck though as today is another dreary + cloudy day.
Maybe next week? Fingers crossed.

"So yeah, no nice + sunny Spring weather here this week although we did have some nice weather over the weekend. I think we are just all so over Winter and ready to be outside in the sunshine enjoying the weather and getting fresh air. It's near the end of March now... we are ready.

So if we were really having coffee this morning we would surely be chatting about what we did over the weekend, huh? How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?
We had a good weekend, it went too fast, just as every single weekend does, but good nonetheless.
Saturday morning I had to make a quick trip to the store for milk and toilet paper and I left with tulips for myself. Usually I buy myself the clearance bouquets but I decided I needed tulips this time, so I treated myself. I really wanted yellow but they didn't have any so I settled for pink.

It was just the kids and I this weekend and it was a full couple of days, we had a lot of fun.
Friday night we went bowling with my brother and my nieces, Saturday Charlotte had a new friend over to play and Saturday night Wyatt went to a birthday party sleepover.
Saturday night Charlotte and I snuck out in our pajamas to get ice cream and we took Stanley along for the ride with us and learned that he's really not the best car rider yet. Oh, Stanley.
Good thing that boy is so cute!

 {after we saw Cinderella}

Sunday afternoon Charlotte and I saw Cinderella.
Have you seen it? Do you have any desire to see it?
I liked it, we both liked it a lot and I think the original Cinderella has always been one of my favorite Disney movies since I was a child so I was curious how this new version would be.
I wasn't disappointed, Charlotte and I both liked it a lot.
More importantly than the movie itself, it was nice to go do something with just Charlotte and I...
If I'm honest I will tell you that sometimes in the back of my mind I think I had better do these things with the kids while I can because I am afraid one day I am going to wake up and they will be teenagers and want nothing to do with me(for a few years anyway)... Just like that.

Over coffee this morning I might just get a little deep on you about this whole motherhood thing.

It is exhausting. Mentally. I am always second guessing myself... 

And then in the next moment I believe I am doing ot just right... not perfect, but just right... 

The best I can.

Some days I worry over all of the little things- 

Why doesn't she ever seem to play with anyone at school?  Why isn't he 'getting' his math?

And the next moment I laugh it off knowing that she is good, she is awesome and her own person and she will be just fine. She is better than just fine. And so is he.

We bring all of our own insecurities into this parenting thing, even when we try not to.

Some days I want my kids right next to me forever and the next moment I want to get away from everyone and everything and think some thoughts all my own.

Please tell me that I am not alone... That this craziness of motherhood is universal.

My coffee is just about out and I think I have rambled on long enough....
I am thinking that today might require a second cup of coffee... this no sunshine thing is rough in the
mornings in a serious way.

Thanks for stopping by here today + thank you for listening to me this morning.
What is going on in your world today? This week?
Do you have a Spring Break coming up or have you already had it?
Somehow I just realized my kids are out of school all next week for Spring Break... Whoops.
I guess someobody hasn't been paying enough attention to the 1.5 million papers comingh home from school, huh?

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Have a great Tuesday, friends.

{Virtual Coffee}

6:35 a.m.
It is still completely dark still at this time since Spring Forward happened...which is not my favorite thing ever, if you really wanna know.
Birds are singing though and that just makes it feel like Spring out there, even if I am under a big blanket drinking my early morning coffee on the couch.
I love that Spring just feels so close now.

Sometimes after a busy weekend, it's easy to feel, even a couple days into the week, like you are still trying to get caught up. That's exactly how I am feeling this morning.
Since I started working again, my struggle is always the same-- Feeling completely behind on everything at home AND not wanting to spend my entire weekend doing those things. Ha!
I know I need to start spending a little more time getting caught up on these things as well as some time on Sundays to do a little to prepare for the school/work week ahead.
I just need to make myself start doing it already, which is often easier said than done for me.

Do you use Sunday or the weekend in general to plan for the week ahead at all?

If we were really meeting for coffee this morning....

I would tell you that I got to see my three best girlfriends over the weekend.Two of them I have been friends with since junior high and the other since high school. That's a long time, huh?

The older I get the more I realize how absolutely important it is to have friends in your life that you can really and truly count on... and unfortunately, this doesn't always get easier the older you get, either.

My younger self would just die to learn of this... But i have to say that it's not as easy as I thought it would be by the time I hit 40, regarding many, many things and that includes friendships.

That being said, I am so thankful I have these friends that I have been through so much with.

I do wish that I got to meet up with these girls for coffee every week, it would be sooo awesome + 

the mini weekly therapy sessions would be so good for me. Sighhh.

Oh, you wanted a Stanley Update, did ya?
This past weekend was  b e a u t i f u l   and Stanley is loving this weather + being outside just as much as we are.
The kids have been really good about playing outside with him and taking him out, no matter how cold or how much snow we have... But it's just so nice now that we can leave the door open and he can go in and out when he wants.
Stanley is doing well and if we could just get him to sleep in one spot for the night and keep him from going from bedroom to bedroom waking us all up... That would be great.

Sunday we celebrated two of my niece's Birthdays, they spent lots of time outside, cake + ice cream,
The Wubble(having you seen those balloon/bubble things?) and lots of time to play with cousins.
Some days when I am so annoyed/over/tired of where we live, I remember that my kids live near their cousins and grandparents and family and nothing can ever replace all of these memories and the relationships they have...
Right?
That's what I will keep reminding myself.

This weekend I am thinking about taking Charlotte to see the new Cinderella movie.
Has anyone seen it? Thoughts?

Hope you all have a great day... Yesterday it was in the 70's and today it's just supposed to be in the 50's... But I'll take it! No snow, ice or freezing temps? 50 sounds just fine to me.
Tell me what's going on with you....what's new in your world?

Happy Tuesday!