addendum...

Okaaaay, okaaay. If Johnny Depp is my pool boy, and I have a stocked bar, I'll show up.

just close your eyes... 

killjoy...

There must be something wrong with me.

Everyone is so excited about places like the beach and Las Vegas.

Beach? Sand up your ass
Vegas? Too many people
Beach? Too much sun causes cancer
Vegas? I hate to gamble
Beach? Not in love with bathing suits and sunburns
Vegas? Shopping is stupidly expensive
Beach? Again, too many people
Vegas? It brings out the worst plastic, obnoxious, loud, rude, white wristwatched, jazzo saccaharine people in America whose dreams and fantasies are just about as ridiculous as the sin in this stupid city. You want "the" Paris? Go to f'ing Paris.
Beach? Beach chairs are not comfortable and lying beached-whale-prone on hard sand is even worse...
Vegas? Is a whole lotta nothin'
Beach? Fear of sharks - so swimming there is not my thing...
Vegas? Filled with drunk people who smoke
Beach? It is packed with underdressed, overweight people
Vegas? I have seen the fountain. Yes. It was very cool coordinated to Barry Manilow favorites. Once was enough.
Beach? The sand that ruins my camera and my cell phone is way too hot for my delicate feet.
Vegas? It is too hot there
Beach? Those damn birds take my lunch that took me an hour to pack...

So there.

loner...

dats me.

Be the adult. Earn it. Demand it. Start Early.

yup...

Do kids mimic your moods, your temper, your humor, your insecurity, your jealousy, your anxiety, your bitterness, your patience and your joy?

uh... yup.

this...

is one of the best monologues ever written.

so, who dialed up hell?

yes, please.

funny...

My daughter is visiting from Chicago today. She walked out and left the garage open all morning... I texted her and said, "Raaaaachel, what are you thinking." She answered... "whatever, mom... you live in Pleasantville."

via Natalie, via Myrene...

Reason, Season, or Lifetime

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you figure out which one it is,
you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty;
to provide you with guidance and support;
to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON,
because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

— Unknown

Natalie...

I was given the most wonderful gift this weekend. Seventeen years ago, I taught piano

to three little girls and their mother who had moved here from Australia.

Last month I got an email from the eldest daughter, Natalie, who wanted to visit for several days. The family had moved back to Australia years ago, but Natalie was doing a trip around the US and meeting up with her family in New York and London in a few weeks.

I was mesmerized to know that an eleven year-old could have remembered me at all,

but to see her so many years later has been an amazing experience. She has given me so much

 more than she will ever know especially because her mother, my friend, had died of cancer
ten years ago. The family and I had been in touch, but to meet up with one of her daughters as
an adult, hug her and have her here for the weekend was just glorious to me.

I guess my piano teaching was never about teaching after all. Somehow I knew that.

Thank you, Louise, for being my friend and giving me the gift of your beautiful daughters

for I know that they will be in my life forever.

"People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime."

Myrene Hooper's favorite quote
(Louise's sister)

Natalie