Skippyjon Jones is muy, muy Excellentito!

I have just become a huge fan of Skippyjon Jones. I visited a bookfair at my son's school and picked up two different Skippyjon Jones title-itos. I am not sure if me or my children laughed harder as we followed the adventures of this Siamese Cat who fantasizes about being a Chihuahua and running with a wild gang, Los Chimichango's!

As I read the words, I found myself attempting to channel Speedy Gonzales to muster up my best accent. My accent was muy, muy lame at best but my rascalitos thought is was totally loco and insane-ito! My son even pleaded with me to read it again...yep, in his eyes, I was that good!

I ordered two more Skippyjon Jones books and have to admit I am pretty excited for them to arrive. With these and just seven more episodes of LOST, well, I am a pretty excited El Skippito Friskito myself-ito!

Mean Girls

Today, I had coffee with a dear friend from high school. As happens, we drifted apart to be reconnected just a few months ago by random circumstances. While enjoying our coffee we reminisced a bit about high school before catching up on our lives now...which with both agreed, are quite stellar!

As I left the coffee house, I started thinking about my high school days and drudged up some old memories that were probably better left buried. I recalled my skirmish with the "Mean Girls" who were once my friends. These "Mean Girls" - who we will call MG's because they don't really rate a full set of letters - were atrociously awful. The meanest MG was a girl named Ana...oh yeah! That's right! I am naming names! And, I can do this with confidence because I am pretty certain she is not one of the five people that read this blog.

Anyhow, Ana, was a spindly little wrench. She would whisper secrets about me to the other girls in our group while I was sitting right there. Once I called her out on it. With nerves so tense I thought I would vomit, I screeched, "Why don't you just say what you want to say to my face?" Well, that catapulted her to center stage where she unleashed a verbal lashing so harsh I honestly do not recall the words. I only remember her contorted face and being mesmerized by how large her mouth was as the words spewed out.

It was on this day that Ana had one of her evil minions deliver a note to me between classes. This is how lame high school is...the messenger had typed up the note in her typing class! Anyhow, all the girls...um...excuse me...MG's signed the note which declared that they were not friends of mine anymore. I remember looking at the note and being horribly embarrassed. I had just been kicked out of the lamest group on campus...in writing! I felt hot and nauseous...a theme of my high school years. But, I refused to shed a tear on campus

Whenever I choose to recall my high school years it seems this is the memory that pops into my mind. I recall the snotty look on Ana's face and the smirk of her messenger (her name was Jennifer by the way) as she handed over my walking papers. I tend to forget my friends like the one I met with this morning. I forget the times we laughed and had silly conversations and dreamed about how our lives would turn out.

Whatever happened to Ana? I am not sure. No amount of Facebook stalking has turned up information on her. I have seen her twice since high school. Once while Christmas shopping with my son when he was an infant. I was strolling through a shop when I heard her itchy voice talking to the cashier. She was talking about how her hair used to be long and actually had her high school picture in her wallet to show the cashier as proof. I thought that was weird because I certainly never carried around my senior portrait. The second time I saw her was outside of a home improvement store. My hubs and I had just loaded up our truck with whatever gear we needed to complete some forgotten home improvement project and Ana walked by with her dad. She caught my eye as I watched her pass and her reaction was to speak louder so I could hear her say, "so Denise says to him..." It was at that moment that I felt pity. I was hanging out with my family that I had created with my husband and she was walking with her dad and talking like a 30-year-old high school student...oh hey! That's like the cast of 90210!

I am so thankful for the few good friends I did have in high school. We have moved on and gone separate ways but it is a treat to reconnect with them and hear about their lives and successes. I will work on remembering the fun moments of high school and letting my memories of the MG's slip away. Maybe one day I will run into Ana again...perhaps I will ask her to show me her senior photo.

Rainy day

So, here I sit in my office watching the rain fall. I love the rain! I especially love the rain when I am inside and not splashing around in it. But, I love the sound of rain tapping the windows and the smell of rain when I step on our porch. I was thinking about other things I love and realize I am one lucky chick-a-dee!

I love the sound of my children laughing. They have these great belly giggles that spurt up from their very core. Their laughs are the sound of genuine delight and happiness.

I love having faith in a being greater than myself. I love praying and the comfort I feel knowing that God is at the wheel. It is hard to feel insignificant when I believe God created me to be specifically who I am.

I love my friends! I have such good friends from all walks of life. I love their differing characteristics and dispositions. I especially love my girlfriends who allow me to be my silly, dorky self!

I love scented lotions. I love a hint of scent rather than a dab of perfume which ultimately makes my skull cramp. It is fun and girly to slather on lotion that smells like cherry blossoms or raspberry buds.

I love living in the sticks...or on the fringes of the sticks! I love having a plot of land to traipse around on. I find joy in watching my son dig the biggest hole he can possibly dig as he searches for dinosaur bones. I relish in watch our dogs run the length of the property scouting out scents and traces of varmints. I love watching my daughter dance around in wildflowers while dressed up in a tutu and tiara.

I love old jeans, pony tails, and sloppy sweatshirts. All of these represent comfort, of which, I am a huge fan!

I love unexpected checks in the mails; e-mails from old friends; clearance sales on great merchandise; books I can't put down; laundry that is done; reading bedtime stories to my children; running without feeling winded; and a marinara heavy Italian meal.

And, I love my husband. I love that we don't always see eye-to-eye (and not just because he is taller) because it means we have maintained our individuality in our unity. I love that we both think we suck at the parent thing even though our kids are forming into amazing little people. And, I love that he loves me even when I am having a bad hair day; a bad zit day; a bad outfit day; or all of those days rolled into one!

The sun is starting to poke out and I am sad to see the rain go. But then I realize I also love the sun and again ponder my many blessings.