Up Coon Mountain

Ignorance IS bliss. Had we known what the short but rocky hike up Coon Mountain in Westport was like, we might have not done it. But it turns out the La Lu is a champion hiker! And Waylon was happy to face out in the Moby on the way out, and in on the way back. We stayed at the summit for a couple of hours, lunching, hawk and eagle and turkey vulture watching, and greeting every other hiker who came along. The weather was glorious and in the 60s...Happy Spring!

Before dinner, I took Eva for a walk around the block. Sort of. It's not really a block per se, but it makes a square and it is paved, so I call it the block! We tossed rocks in the stream of run-off that goes from the woods and through the park. We squished some mud. And we went to the playground. We also marveled at the police activity at the youth center and watched the teenagers play basketball and flirt with one another. The whole thing was so delightful that I don't care if Waylon doesn't sleep through the night. Sort of. It would be nice though!

Tomorrow we plan on hiking Coon Mountain. Spring feels surer and surer.

Missing

Lately I have been feeling an emptiness in the part of me where friendship lives. My life is so full in so many other ways...family, work, love...but as far as pure girlfriend time goes, I've got nothing. I have wonderful friends, it is just that I never see them. And after a while of not seeing them, I feel like distance grows. If not for the great lunches at work, my once a month book club, and one or two phone calls a week, I'd feel completely alone.

And yet...I just can't seem to figure out how to make friend time in my life. Getting to book club alone is a feat in and of itself. Phone calls are interrupted. A girls' evening out? I've had one in the past year and a half. (Work events do NOT count.) 2 small kiddos, rural living far from my existing network of girls, no local babysitter and a husband without a 9-5 work schedule...it all makes it so complicated.

When I was a kid, my mom never hung out with her friends. I always wondered why. But now I know. And talking to some of my friends, even the ones without kids, we all seem to have this same problem. I have one friend, a single mom, who actually goes out and dates and I have no clue how she manages. When I hear about moms with social lives I am completely baffled..how do you do it? Do you talk about things other than kids with your pals?

I need to do what Bill and I always talk about...invite all the people we like over for dinners. (Not all at once though...I don't want to be that social!) So expect an invitation if you live within 60 miles of me!

Judging a Fridge by Its Cover

This fridge couldn't belong to anyone than fly fishing, gun toting, liberal voting, Spongebob watching, fashion loving, nature museum exploring, family picture taking, sarcastic joking, bird watching, toys-that-make-noise hating and loving, small child rearing, mediocre gardening us.

And yes, some one wrote sex with the leap frog letters. But I have no idea if they did it on purpose.

Riding the Wave

I realize that the title of this post might make you think I was back to, um, peak fertility. But no. I am instead talking about the wave of motivation I got from the professional association meeting I attended at lunchtime. I left feeling pumped up anew and ready to tackle the least favorite part of my job....actually asking folks for money. It's true...I am a professional fundraiser who hates to ask. Just as 95% of the general public would hate it. And, I venture to say, probably 90% of my fellow fundraisers. But we love hearing YES so we do it. And really, it is not the ask I hate. It is making the first phone call. By the time I get to asking I am good to go. But anyway, a colleague at another organization spoke to us and I left our meeting ready to make all the calls I have been avoiding. (I also left as treasurer of our association...how did THAT happen?)

And then...

And then I got pulled in to read a grant, and had to return three phone calls, and then reschedule a meeting. Then I had to run to an eye doc appointment. And to day care. And so it goes. I couldn't procrastinate so well I wanted too! Here's hoping the tide is still high when I get to the office tomorrow!

In other news, I am back to contacts and my face feels nekkid. Tried hard to get a nice picture of the 3 of us...oh well.

If this doesn't look like Spring, you have ever experienced a real winter. Everyday I search for signs. Softer ice. Red Winged Black Bird. The golden tones of a sleeping lawn yawing awake. We are desperate here.

Mud Season