•• Pretty Distraction ••

This has been a good weekend. The wather was wonderful. The storms that we’ve had lately seemed to have just disappeared… at least for the weekend.

My weekend started out wonderfully. I had a decent day at work (something that doesn’t happen that often), relaxed Friday night. On Saturday morning I got up early, took my shower and got ready. I attended a Garden Party with a few of my friends. There were four of us girls, and we met up at one of the girls, M’s, house. It was beautiful. We had colorful dishes and napkins, she baked a magnificent quiche, some delicious mushroom caps that were stuffed with a cheese and baked, she mixed a delightful champagne punch, that just oozed SUMMER. One of the girls brought some delicious scones that were cinnamon and raisin, and the other girl brought a Lemon Triffle. We ate outside on her patio, and enjoyed the sun and food. After a brief encounter with the *mister* that was aligning her patio, and then the frog that tried to ATTACK ME!, okay.. the frog didn’t REALLY try to attack me… but, it did eye me!, we decided to drag our chairs out under one of her huge shade trees. Once under the tree, the weather was perfect. There was just a slight breeze every now and then, to cool us off, and the sun still kept us warm. M’s garden is just beautiful. The colors were so vivid and varied, the bird baths that were all over, the whole atmosphere gave me sucha  peace. I’m not an ‘outside’ person at all. Nature and I, ususally don’t get along. However, being there, with the delicious food, the beautiful surroundings, and of course… the laughter with friends, made for a wonderful day. I love gathering with friends, when you can go from talking about books, music, movies and then go to talking about sex, to relationships, to everything… THOSE are the friends that you treasure and you keep close. They are rare finds, and I’m so blessed to have found so many wonderful, inspirational, women to have in my life.

I visited with my mom and dad before the Garden Party, and then again after it. My mom is my best friend. Without a doubt. Later Saturday night, my aunt and uncle came into town for the night.. My uncle is going to roof my great-aunt (my grandma’s twin)’s house in a couple of weeks and they were down to measure the roof for her. I went back over to my grandparents and visited with everyone some more.

Mothers Day began with a nice breakfast with my grandma and my aunt. My mom wasn’t feeling too well, so she didn’t join us.   Then we had a fun-filled (and exhausting) trip to Wal-Mart. We shopped some, and then headed home so they could get on the road. Then, a trip to the Mall and to the Apple Store, for my very FIRST — OFFICIAL iPod. I’m so excited I can hardly stand it. I have had many mp3 players, but this is my FIRST iPod. It’s cute, it’s silver, and it’s a 2G iPod Nano. I could have gotten a larger one, but this one is just fine…. well, at least for now.   The day ended with some Bath & Body Works, some Tupperware, and a delicious dinner.

Now, I’m exhausted and my body aches from all the running around. (I think that I’m getting old, surely this is a sign). It’s time to get things ready for bed.

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend… regardless if you celebrated Mothers Day or not, it should be enjoyed.

I had a dinner and movie night, which turned out to be dinner and chatting night, with a good friend of mine. She made “Tortilla Pizzas” and let me tell you, they were DELICIOUS! — Not sure if you’ve ever tried them… but here’s what you do.

Wheat Tortilla (as the crust) — Top with Pizza Sauce — Put on your toppings you want… such as mushrooms, ham, canadian bacon, sausage, even pepperoni.. basically whatever YOU want on your pizza. We put ham and black & green olives, mushrooms, and topped with cheese. – Place them on a cookiesheet, in the oven at 350 and cook until the cheese is melted and the tortilla looks a little (or a  lot depending on your taste) crispy. That’s IT!

They were wonderful, AND not that bad healthwise!Quick to make too

This evening, I was flipping through the TV channels and trying to find something to watch. I had already watched ‘my’ show (Gilmore Girls) and with nothing much going on-line, I found myself *bored*. So, I came across the Tyra Banks talk show. Yes, I know some don’t like her — well, I happen to think she’s cool. LOL Anyway, she had a topic on, discussing how women have a distorted view of their own bodies. She had several guests on, that talked about different aspects, and of course, an author to offer her advice. Well, it got me thinking about something that a very good friend of mine had told me. See, she, like so many of us — kept a journal. However, like how most journals are.. they sometimes end up being a negative record, and normally have a sad tone. Anyway, she started a “Joy Journal’. And, she made it a point (I believe daily, but at the very least weekly) to write something in her “Joy Journal” that brought her joy that day. It could be something as simple as a quote she heard, perhaps a joke, or something else. It didn’t have to be a deep emotional thought provoking entry.. just something that brought her joy. This got me to thinking… and I notice so often times I only write when I’m down… and when I can’t seem to get things out in anyother manner. Sure, I write other times as well, but *most* often is something dealing with sadness in some form. So — I’m going to try to incorporate JOY into my blog. Some blog entries might be something as simple as a quote or a lyric, or maybe something that’s abstract to anyone who reads it. But, I’m going to test this practice…. maybe you should have your own “Joy Journal” All too often, we forget to focus on the small pleasures in life, and we only seem to focus on the large things, or the bad things… Find the Joys in your Day.   ~S