Hello, my friends. And Happy Friday! Do you ever feel like you want to say something like, "Stop the world, please. I'd like to get off." I mean, I would at least like to ask if it could slow down a bit! Jeesh! I remember as if it were yesterday, coming home as a teenager, popping my head into my parents' bedroom, where my dad would be acting as if he were watching TV, when we all knew he was waiting for each of us to get home before he fell asleep, and filling him in on my night. He used to tell me something at the time I couldn't understand, yet I never forgot. He told me not to wish my life away, because the older you get, the faster it goes.
Of course, sixteen-year-old me smiled and kissed him goodnight before going off to my room to listen to my stereo and talk to my friends on my little white corded phone. We talked about an upcoming Chemistry test, prom dresses, and how many days until summer. Those days, school years lasted forever, and summer was three whole months of long, lazy days. I suppose we honestly thought they would last forever. Suddenly, I am fifty-six, with a sixteen-year-old of my own, memories of my mom and dad in my heart, and months and days that pass so quickly they feel like a dream. I keep a picture of my dad on my refrigerator and often tell him that I get it now. I do. And I think of what my mom used to say, too. Life is but a dream. So I try to remember those things in the midst of this roller-coaster ride of life. I try to slow myself and relish the small moments that make up these quickly passing days. Like these...
Madison getting me this precious bunny with a ribbon that matches my kitchen accent perfectly. Just because...
The beautiful pictures she and Nicolas send when they visit the ocean on a random Thursday morning...
The pictures I snap on an ordinary, cloudy day during my morning walk...
After-school wind-down time with pups that wait all day for this moment...
My ten-year-old puppy that is my shadow...
And cookies fresh from the oven...
There are so many more, like afternoon calls with Peyton on speaker, Rhett and I eating Panera DoorDash before he heads to work, Flynn and I sitting in our little schoolroom, talking, laughing, and learning, Steve taking all the puppies outside over and over, and Kyrstin organizing our evening Boggle game. Just little moments making up our ordinary lives.
And to add some lightness to all this seriousness, here are a few reminders not to take ourselves too seriously, courtesy of Pinterest.
Happy Weekend!
And for a little treat to start off Holy Week, how about having a sundae bar for Palm Sunday? I mean, I don't need an excuse to eat ice cream, but why not, right?
Billie Jo
