Ouch...my heart hurts.

Recently I tried to explain to my youngest child what it feels like to have your heart broken.  She asked, “Does it bleed?”, “Can the Doctor make it feel better?”, “Does it hurt when it breaks?” and I hesitantly replied with “No. No. Hopefully not too bad.” And then I realized as much as I want to, I will not be able to shield my kids from hurt.  I can kiss boo-boo’s, get rid of the boogie man in the closet and place band-aids on non-existent cuts, but what I can’t do is protect them from when someone or something breaks their hearts. 

It dawned on me that on their journey through this life, there will be love and love lost.  There will be ups and subsequent downs and all I can do is talk them through how to deal with the hurt.  When I was hurting, my journal became my best friend and I spent many nights eating my way through a carton of Blue Bell Vanilla Bean ice cream.  The ice cream worked its delivish magic on my waistline, but the journal helped me heal past all the ex-boyfriends, lost jobs, gained pounds and missteps.  I gave my baby a hug and reassured her, that although her heart would never physically break (although it might feel like it has), I would always be there to hold her close, share her favorite ice cream and remind her how beautiful she is.

The "Transform my children" project...

I am the second to the youngest of seven children. I grew up with "handmedowns", small dinner portions, recycled bath water (because I got in the water last..YUCK), summers at Grandmas, a whole lot of church (every day of the week and twice on Sunday), early bedtimes (prior to 7PM) and plenty of scary stories from my siblings that still scare me today. 
I just had a conversation with my kids and they don't know any of the above.  Instead they know clothes of their own, large dinner portions (one meat, two vegetables, warm dinner rolls, sun-made tea, and dessert), sleep away summer camp, way too much television and small chores.  I have decided that over the next 60 days, I am going to transform my children from "faux silver spoon" to children with stronger morals than appetites.  We'll see how this goes.

You'll never be as beautiful as you are right now...

I heard someone say, you’ll never be as beautiful as you are right now and I began to think, it’s time for me to start being my most beautiful self, TODAY.  I drafted a list of things that I have not yet had the chance to do in my life and today I have begun doing the items on my list (I urge you to draft one of your own). It’s a relatively short list, but I’ve lived almost 40 years and haven’t done these things.  I know life is gracious, but I’m not sure that I will be able to do many of them when I’m 90.

v  Complete a half-marathon

v  Learn how to ride a skateboard

v  Go fishing

v  Go to a gun range

v  Bowl a perfect game

v  Go to an Opera

v  Go snowboarding

v  Try fencing

v  Learn to say “I Love You” in 50 different languages

v  Perform one day as a street performer

v  Have a song on iTunes (I HAVE RECENTLY COMPLETED THIS TASK)

v  Ballroom Dance

v  Learn to make a French dish

v  See the 7 wonders of the world

v  Have my palm read

v  Ride a camel

v  Dance in the Rio Carnival parade

v  Be kissed under the mistletoe

v  Skydive

v  Have a calendar made of myself

v  Sell my house for profit

v  Attend Coachella Music Festival