mothers day, etc.

Mother's Day was fabulous. I'm really not a big fan of the day, for many reasons thatIwontgetintorightnow, but like Tina Fey said on SNL last weekend, "Mother's Day is tomorrow. Don't forget to pick up the phone and put out that fire." It all seems so forced and really, not at all about the mother.

Not this time! I was treated to a pedicure, a new pair of shoes and a new bikini on Saturday and on Sunday Josh packed a kick-ass cooler filled with all my favorites, some brilliant sandwiches and lots of water to add packets of our current crack of choice (while I'm trying to kick the Diet Coke habit), the ever so much healthier choice of Fruit Punch Crystal Light and chocolate Oreos. (shut up, it was my day!)

The beach was gorgeous. Warm, breezy, empty. One of the reasons that I vow I'll never leave California is because I could never leave my beaches. Nowhere else do I feel so calm and at ease, even when I'm just there with the kids and I can't take my eyes off them. But since it was Mother's Day, I actually got to lay down and close my eyes. At the beach! I didn't have to carry the cooler all by myself! I had another pair of eyes to watch the kids! (can't be too paranoid, you know) I didn't have to make and pack lunch! True, we almost forgot towels and a blanket, but that's something I'd forget even if I was by myself. And I only managed to burn a few spots of Josh's body and the top of my left shoulder and my ear. Oh well. Still, one of the more perfect first beach days I've ever had. Thank you, Joshie.

For the past two days we've been taking the kids and Buddy up to Schabarum Park to hike the trails. As much as I hate to take "walks" (they're right up there with "waking up early" and "quitting smoking") I've been enjoying myself more than I thought I would. The girls have really enjoyed it and look forward to it becoming a daily ritual. The pollen is thick right now but the weeds and wildflowers are so beautiful, even if they turn my head into cotton and send me into histamine overdrive. And these are just regular old wildflowers: wild mustard, queen anne's lace, thistle...I guess that's a weed, isn't it? Still, there's nothing like seeing nature in overabundance. One of those things that are more and more lovely the more of it there is. (Kind of like reeeeeally pregnant women...the kind who are due in 9 days!) In just the past two days we've seen almost 15 lizards, a rabbit and a dead skunk. Nature is fun! But so is Flonase.