Friends and Family!

Sitting at home on a Saturday night watching TV. Wish I had someone sitting next to me enjoying the Bourne movie on cable; and by someone, I mean a special someone I've been seeing.

My special someone and I went to the movies last night and dinner; he introduced me to spicy hot wings and mini-corn dogs, scrumptious at least, if not healthy! We came back to my place and he fascinated me with his vast collection of hand tied flies and yes, I am genuinely interested! To say he is an avid fly fisherman is like saying winter in Michigan is a little chilly! The flies he has made are not only intricate and detailed but also beautiful and functional. He is planning on hitting the water this weekend! It's January (ok, almost February) in Michigan. It was 18 degrees today and he's going fishing, not in a sealed shanty with a space heater, but in a stream; yeah, he's into it! We finished the evening watching the movie A River Runs Through It; a beautifully filmed story that centers around a father and his sons who share a love of...fly fishing - LOL. Slow and steady with this one, we'll see where it takes us. You know me always in a hurry, but I'm making an effort this time.

On another note, finally got to spend some time with my sister who I have not gotten together with since Christmas. My sister is a human compass. If she goes someplace she never gets lost. She just has a natural sense of direction, unlike me who has been known to drive, back track, curse the map, turn around, turn around again and be asked from the backseat by my children; "are you sure you know where you're going?" to which I unashamedly reply "Probably not, but we can always stop and ask directions". My sister, the human compass, was coming to my house from Port Huron for a yummy Chinese dinner. I live right off I-69 which is a straight shot west from PH. She called me to say she was on her way and would be there shortly. She called about 15 minutes later and said, rather aghast, that she had somehow gotten on I-94 not I-69 and was headed to Detroit and had been headed south rather than west for about 20 minutes! My poor sister, the human compass, went about 80 mile out of her way! In sympathy I ended up bringing dinner to her house (but I refused to put my jeans back on and actually came in my PJ's) and as a bonus I got to see my niece and nephew, watch funny stuff on You Tube, laugh at the contestants on American Idol and share a fabulous Chinese dinner with my sister and her kids.

It was a great evening despite the human compass going off course!

Taking it slow..and tieing flies

I seem to post on Sundays. Maybe it's a week in review wrap up?

Some interesting things have happened this week. I'm beginning to appreciate the luxury of taking things slow. This is a very hard concept for me! I'm like a racehorse with blinders charging to the finish line. Unlike a derby hopeful, this is not the best way for a 42 year old woman to proceed through life. Good for young Thoroughbred horses, not so good for people, me especially. This has never stopped me though; charging forward, racing to the finish line, blinders in place (blinders are those little hoods horses wear to keep them focused forward unable to see what is right next to them) first one there gets the prize (or a broken leg and dragged back to the barn to be shot)!

I've been thinking about what my goal for the new year might be. I like to set a goal, rather than make a resolution. It's the same thing I guess, but a goal to me is something I want to learn or discover and a resolution to me is something I need to stop.

My goal is to take off my blinders and slow down. Some of you who know me are wondering; slow down, jeeze if she were anymore laid back (aka lazy) she would be in a coma! By slowing down I'm talking about appreciating the little things. Getting to know someone rather that immediately jumping into the thick of things. Learning to appreciate the things I have rather than wishing for what I don't have. Turning off the electronics and spending time with the people I love. Cooking at home and sharing a meal rather than going out to eat. Those things.

I've met someone who has been teaching me about fly fishing. I enjoy fishing, I always have. We fished all the time when we were kids. We used lures, worms, cheese, even the buds off the thick grass that grew at the edge of the lake we lived by when we were growing up. I even spent a couple of days in Canada at one of those fly in places with a huge lake and cottages where you spend all morning fishing, come in long enough to cook a shore lunch with your mornings catch, back out on the lake for the afternoon fishing and then back to the island and your cottage in the evening for another fish dinner and time spent around a campfire. In other words - heaven!! I've never tried fly fishing. I know what it is, the basic concept. Long rod, simple reel, pull out some line and swish, swish, swish gently casting the rod and pulling it back, again and again. Back and forth, back and forth and finally letting the line settle down and drift a little. The lures, known as flies, imitate nature - most specifically the insects that hatch in succession throughout the season. There are also lures that resemble frogs, ants, mice, crickets any unfortunate creature who falls into a river or stream and looks like a tasty treat to an always hungry fish. Some lures are attractors; not designed to look like anything but just shiny or squiggly enough to catch the fish's eye and entice them to give it a closer inspection! The flies are amazing! Some are so small I can't imagine even being able to hook anything bigger than a minnow on it! The sub culture to fly fishing is fly tieing. Fishermen who create their own flies at home using all kinds of material - mostly natural like feathers of all kinds, deer hair, moose mane, rabbit ear hair, squirrel tail, you name it and it's probably for sale. Man made fibers are also incorporated, fleece, chenille, iridescent thread, and much more all combined to make an irresistible little tidbit attached to a hook with the intention to land that elusive stream or river dweller! OK, I'll get off my flybox and give it a rest for a minute, but I'm hooked (bad pun, I know)!!

Here's to taking it slow, appreciating what you have, taking off blinders, appreciating the art of flies and....kissing for 2 hours!

Sunday, the end or the begining?

Is Sunday the start of the week or the end of the week?

We usually think of Monday as the start of the work week and Saturday and Sunday as the weekend..emphasis on end. Most calendars start the week with Sunday though. Because I share custody of my kids with their dad, our weeks revolved around Sunday. Take this week for example. Today, Sunday, the boys are with me and have been all week. Tonight at 6pm they go back to their dad's house. So this (to me at least) is a bad Sunday (not bad so much as sad), and end of the week Sunday, my boys will not be back for 7 days. This is also a rushed day..we clean the house together, finish homework before going to Dad's and try to cram in some "family" stuff on this, our last day of the week together.

The agenda for today:

David (the neighbor kid and best friend to my oldest) was still here - spent the night Friday and Saturday night! He just went home..I actually made them breakfast today, usually I make them get cereal or help themselves. So now that David has departed the day starts (at noon, sigh, not a good start).

SHOWERS - my oldest is 13 and has been playing video games and lounging for the past 48+ hours!! As soon as David left I just pointed at the bathroom door and said "GO". The younger is next..he's 10 and not quite as disheveled (yet).

HOMEWORK - my kids are probably no different than anyone's. Homework assigned on Friday does not even get considered until Sunday and usually not until the clock reads "PM". Of course by then anything they might have remembered relating to the homework assignment has been forgotten and I get to be brutally reminded that NO, I am NOT smarter than a 5th grader. Thank-you Jeff Foxworthy! One plus, the 13 year old is a great student and I rarely have to help with his homework..thank goodness since he is a 7th grader and that study material is way out of my grasp on a Sunday at noon!! I am shamed to admit I just had to look in the glossary to find out what the answer was to "What is a quotient"...hee hee hee, it's the answer when you are doing long division..it would probably be redundant at this point to tell you I was a poor student and by poor I mean dumb!

SHOPPING - because of this crummy snow I haven't ventured out this weekend. We need some food and I promised we could get a new Wii game that they can beat me at (which would be any Wii game) but, I am getting my own controller with a pink cover!! No one touches it but me!

FAMILY TIME - This will consist of playing the new Wii game I assume and me having aching arms for another week.

DINNER - Well, I'll figure this out after we go to the store, but I've been craving pork chops lately so that will probably be on the menu.

BACK TO DADS - at 6pm-ish we gather up the stuff and head over to Dads. Book bags, winter boots, backpacks with a favorite video game or book (they used to be filled with a favorite stuffed animal and blanket, sniffle sniffle time flies).

Sunday is the end of the week on days like today, but in 7 days it will once again be the beginning of the week when my boys come back around 6pm and start my week our the way it should always start with a big ole smile on my face and my finger pointing toward the bathroom saying - "You have got to get in the shower"!

Winter Wonderland?

I live in Michigan. I've always lived here; with the exception of a couple years in Florida which I would qualify as an aberration (long story, don't go there). Being a life long Michigan resident you would think I would have made my peace with Michigan Winter. I have not. In fact, this snowy season has really gotten to me and it's just the beginning of January...we have a couple/few more months to go.

I do not ski, snowmobile, snowshoe, build snowmen (ok, sometimes if my kids are here and the snow is the correct consistency), make snow angels, wonder at the uniqueness of the individual snowflake, marvel at the beauty of a fresh blanket of snow (ok, that's a lie, I can appreciate it..from inside where it's warm). I shovel.

I shovel, shovel, shovel. I salt and shovel. I don't salt and then I chip away at the ice and shovel. I try and avoid shoveling by making my kids shovel. I disregard shoveling and just plow my way through it into the garage and barrel through the drift at the end of the driveway when they dien to plow the streets around here (few and far between this heavy season).

I make a trail through it dragging the garbage can to sit, tilted like a drunken sailor, waiting for the Thursday morning pick-up. I drag the can back through the snow to the garage, with the snow crusted around the top of it. I am thankful I have no dogs to bring in snowballs clinging to their furry bellies and leaving little snow puddles all around the house.

However, I do have boys and they do go outside (yes, sometimes that actually leave the video game system and venture out into fresh air). Kinda like dogs they bring snow back into the house on their boots, gloves, clothes, jackets, and hats.

I try and ambush them when they come into the garage and get them to "stomp" off any excess, then into the laundry room to strip out of their snowy gear. Pull off snowy pants (turned inside out now), soggy socks (yes, also inside out), soaking gloves (inside out), dripping boots (liners pulled out), soaked hat (flung on the floor creating a puddle), jackets hung (right side out, but usually with one sleeve pulled in to guarantee it will be wet when they go to put it back on so they can gripe about it), and the long sleeve shirt I make them wear, soaked around the cuffs making their wrists as red as a fire engine!

After they shed everything, and I trail behind turning everything right side out (or is that right side in??), mopping up little snow puddles, placing boots by the heater, spreading hats and gloves out to dry. I emerge from the laundry room, back aching, muttering under my breath about how it would be easier with a PACK of dogs and clinging belly-snowballs.

I am greeted with rosy cheeked boys, big grins on their faces, hair standing on end with static electricity, runny noses, frozen feet and hands, streaking for the nearest blanket and video game controller with the plea of "Mo-o-o-o-o-o-m, what are we having for lunch, we're starving!".

I love my boys, but I just really detest winter!!

Back to reality..

It's been awhile..seems like a year or so..ha ha, get it? I've been so caught up with my new match I've thrown just about everything and everyone under the bus. That happens sometimes, with me especially. When I meet someone new I get really caught up. I had almost the last two weeks of December off and we spent an entire week with each other. Getting to know someone new is always interesting. In the beginning everything is all shiny and new. You just can't wait to email, IM, text, talk on the phone..all that good stuff. Once you meet, face to face, it changes a bit. There is much more texture. Things get real-er....yes, that is a made-up word, but it seems to fit perfectly. We have gotten to know each other better. The protective shield has slipped a bit. You start to get a glimpse of the real person lurking below the surface. I don't mean that to sound negative, but sometimes it works out that way. New information starts to fill the gaps of what you read about that person on their on-line dating profile. Time lines shorten..or lengthen. They make comments that make you go....hmmmmm, interesting. You reveal, or withhold information based on comments the other person makes. You start looking over the top of your rose colored glasses, to get a better look in the direct light. It's all part of the dating game. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't..this new one, well...I just wish I didn't like him as much as I do, that sure would make things easier! SIGH, I signed up for a 6 month membership on-line, so I guess I'll get my monies worth.

May be time to go back to the drawing board.