Toluu

The Good Mother's Guide to Happiness

Tip #54 Believe It When You See It and Sometimes When You Don'tYesterday

Liv: Dad? Is seeing believing?

Dad: I don’t really know. Why do you ask?

Liv: I don’t know. I just heard that somewhere.

Dad: Well, you don’t see air. Do you believe in air?

Liv: I can see air. I see air when it’s cold outside.

Dad: Well, what about God? You don’t see God.

Liv: Yes, but I know God is here (pointing to the middle of her chest) in my heart.

Dad: What about love. You can’t see love.

Liv: Yes, but I see you and Mom.

Damn, I love that girl.

Tip #53 Chase the Holiday Blues Away By Going Somewhere Warm and Sunny (and a Question for You)January 6

I started to feel a little blue today.

After all the family holiday cheer, food, long lost friends in town, food, Bunko winnings, and well, food, going back to the grind of everyday life was sort a downer when Monday morning decided to show her unappealing troll of a face.

The tree is down...

The Bunko winnings have been spent...

The reindeer ears have been removed from Cayman's noggin'...

Willie is leaving this weekend...

Oh sweet sorrow!

How will I ever recover?

But then, like the Red Rider BB Gun tucked away just beyond the tinsel covered pine, in that space between the bureau and the wall, I saw a little gleam.

A little shine caught my eye from some Christmas paper that floated across the living room floor as if to tell me..."Hey Lady! Awncha Fo'gettin' Sumthin'?" (My Christmas paper has a New Jersey accent and sounds like Tony Soprano.}


Oh YEAH!!!
I almost forgot!!

In a few weeks, the tribe is headed here:

To go to this:

A Conversation No Mother Should Ever Overhear While Buying Jeans With Her Kid and His FriendJanuary 4

Jake: What about these?

Dak: I don't want those Levi's. I want the 501's.

Jake: Why do you want 501's?

Dak: They have the button fly.

Jake: But what about "easy access"? You don't have "easy access" with all those buttons.

Can we all join hands now and say a little prayer that his need for "easy access" is so he doesn't wet his pants when he really has to pee and not er...um...other reasons?

Bunko: Not Just for Chicks Anymore....January 2

For the past eight years or so, we have religiously attended annual Bunko Night.

We have made arrangements months in advance to ensure that Ryan's restaurant schedule could accommodate that one night off during the holiday season.

We have made airtight babysitting arrangements each year, because children are forbidden at Bunko Night.

We weathered a foot of snow and ice to get there one year.

Why?

Because Bunko Night, as silly as it may sound, is SO MUCH DANG FUN!

This is beautiful Heather here with me...

She is responsible for the brainchild of Bunko Night.
Wouldn't you kill for her hair?
I would.
She and her husband Kirk...



...are our gracious hosts.
Wouldn't you kill for his hair?
I would.
Every year,

A Sappy Recollection of a Realization Made on New Year's Eve a Very Long Time AgoJanuary 1

Fifteen years ago.

My mind was free.

My eyes were wide open.

I was filled with ridiculous thoughts of romantic love.
The kind of love that should not endure.
The kind of love that fades away because there are too many reasons for it not to be.
Every day since has delivered new challenges.
Every month since has presented new opportunities.
Every year, the stories are told again and again.
And new stories are created.
To be told again, eventually.
Our hearts and minds wander from time to time.
Sometimes yours.
Sometimes mine.
But every day...
Every month...
Every year...

Our story continues to unfold.
And we endure.

The story of me begins and ends with you.