How was your Mother’s Day? 
Juliana decorated the kitchen for me when I got up and there were flowers and cards and gifts on the table to enjoy.  Jeff brought me coffee in bed and Charie came in to snuggle.

I was happy and frustrated and sad today but mostly happy. I say that to keep things real because I share mostly the happy parts of my life but want to be clear that there is work and struggle behind the happiness. 

I have a lot of expectations and hopes and dreams and sometimes those are hard to manage and live by.   And I wouldn’t change a thing!

I was really sad that I wasn’t in Southern California with my family and my mama who were all gathering for a family early dinner. 

I was sad for Laurie who’s celebrating her first Mother’s Day without Chase.  This day has got to suck for her.

I was sad and frustrated that my kids didn’t really want to go for a hike with me, and that we had to make them go anyway. In my imagination, we all want to do the same thing and live happily after. I have raised independent and confident teens who have other ideas than mine and sometimes this creates conflict. It’s healthy and normal and presents a struggle that I’m not quite good with just yet. I’m still learning. 

Luckily Jeff is good at negotiating or maybe cracking the whip. Thank goodness for him and getting everyone on board because once we all got out and to the hills, we were smiling again.

I loved walking with everyone and enjoying the views and sharing stories. It reminded me of our time exploring in Europe together and us walking everywhere.  This made me happy and we got almost 10,000 steps in.  

I was happy that we all had breakfast together and sat on the couch to watch a family movie together with popcorn.

I love that we all love Japanese food and that they made a reservation for dinner out tonight.

I loved that we stopped at Philz for a coffee and mochas before heading home and relaxed on the couch together. Christian took a selfie of us, that he never does and shared it on FB.  This made me smile because even though we get frustrated with each other, we still love each other and are best friends. We say we are sorry and quickly forgive and forget which is awesome. I love this kid.

Charlie wanted to play cards before bed and beat me almost every hand. I love playing games and loved that he wanted to play with me.  It was on my wish list today and he listened. 

It was a full day of togetherness and I am content and grateful. I got to text and talk with friends and family and enjoy everyone’s FB Mother’s Day love stories. I hope your day was good and that you felt loved.

Life is good. 

nAMaste