I'll Be Here and There

I'll be here

and THERE today.

Karen is flitting all over the country on a birthday extravaganza!

I'm filling in for her today over at Somewhat Quirky.

Please come by and visit me over at her place and say hello.

Let the quirk begin...

Take It Easy

I came in from the backyard on Wednesday where I had been taking photos.

I still had the camera in my hand when I saw two mourning doves

enjoying an afternoon nap out on the front porch bench.

Not wanting them to fly away, I carefully and quietly shot these photos through the window.

Their coloring is beautiful.

Don't you love that lime green eye lid?

I watched them for quite awhile, just taking in the quiet beauty of the two 

as they napped on the shady porch in the heat of the afternoon.

I am deliberately slowing my pace this summer and enjoying these moments.

This evening they will soothe us with the sounds of their gentle songs.

And we'll be listening.

"Lighten up while you still can...don't even try to understand

Just find a place to make your stand

and take it easy."

(lyrics by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey)

51 and Still Learning

Some people dread their 50's.
I am embracing them, for they are the "after" years from a very long and bumpy path.

That path sent me veering crazily off course from what I had planned for my 40's.

If I had known what was coming, would I have made different choices?

The answer is a definitive yes.

I would have listened to my intuition.

I would have silenced the influences in my life that were afraid of their own truth.

I would have been bolder.

I would have been braver.

I would have walked away sooner...
from so many things.

What did I learn?

Mental illness is an insidious disease.  Mentally unwell people are all around you.
In your families, in your workplace, in your neighborhood.
You marry into it, you acquire friends with it and you can't always identify it.
It's duplicitous nature is veiled and wrapped up in pretty paper -
and smelling like trust.
(ie: Sociopath)

There are some people who continuously look for conflict. 

Walk away from these people. 

The battle they are fighting isn’t with you, it’s with themselves.

You can't assume that accountability is something understood by all.

Caring for someone doesn't mean that you must engage 
in the chaos they create around themselves.

Most importantly:
You don’t drown by falling in the water. 

You drown by staying there.
So if any of you out there are feeling as if you're underwater-
Start kicking like hell and swim up.
Swim up.
It's so much easier to breathe when your life is in your hands again.

(Thank you, Ursula)

There are reminders every single day.

You just have to see them.

Go, June Bug, Go.

For The Booze Hounds

Julia Reed's latest book,
But Mama Always Put Vodka In Her Sangria! 
looks like a real hoot but I am telling you...

I would die if I drank this concoction.

I think I threw up a little just reading the recipe.

No one over the age of ten could take this much sugar!

Could they?

Margaret Houston

If you think you can handle it, knock yourself out!

Here's the recipe.

The Yucca Flats

(Yield: Depends on the crowd!)

One 16-oz. box powdered sugar

2 fifths gin

One 6-oz. jar maraschino cherries, with juice

6 oranges, halved

6 limes, halved

6 lemons, halved

Dissolve sugar in the gin in a gallon-size glass jar. Add the remaining ingredients. Fill with ice. Wrap jar in a towel and take turns shaking until the mixture is really cold and some of the ice has melted.

Recipe from Garden and Gun

I definitely can't handle all that sugar.

However, Linda over at ModMom posted this recipe and I loved it!

Strawberry Sake Cocktail

Here's a pic of mine...it didn't last long.

I used organic agave instead of simple syrup and San Pelligrino instead of seltzer

because that's what I had in the pantry.

I made it again without the sake, too.

Perfect for poolside!

Make sure you have a muddler and very fresh mint.

Limp mint is a no no.

I mean, do we like limp anything?

If any of you Booze Hounds try The Yucca Flats recipe

I want to know about it.

Mostly I want to know how many times you threw up

during your trash can punch flashbacks.

Bwahahahahahaha!

Magoo Speak

"What are you saying?"

"I'm not saying anything."

"You're saying something."

"What could I be saying?"

"Well, you're not saying nothing. You must be saying something."

"If I was saying something, I would've said it."

"Why don't you say it?"

"I said it."

"What'd you say?"

"Nothing."

- Jerry and Elaine, in "The Red Dot"

I kid you not.

This is how every conversation goes with my husband.

To which I'll add this-

Am I right, ladies?