Living in the indoor sunshine, doing a little office work today with my cat and mouse.
I loved that Zuma wanted to be where I was, soaking up the warmth from the morning sun.
How was your day? What made you smile?
Life is good.
Monthly Archives: August 2015
Lake Shoreline
I don’t think of Shoreline as Lake Shoreline, but I saw a hat and a shirt today that had this statement written on them. I think of Shoreline as this place by the Bay with goose poop that is land locked by the Google Complex.
It is a little lake and people do enjoy being on and near it. I just think of it as a man made body of water and not as a lake lake, where you want to hang out.
But today my opinion changed. The boys have been wanting to play together and have asked for a week or two if they could rent a paddle boat. We finally made the time work today and their wish came true.
We lived in the sunshine, again! As they paddled, I sat on the shore and read a book and checked email. I was happy they were out together keeping each other company and I could relax for a bit and keep an eye on them from my chair since the lake isn’t that big.
Lots of kids were out enjoying paddle boarding, wind surfing, kayaking, and sailing. It was a gorgeous day again in California and I was happy to have a day at the Lake after all.
There are so many beautiful places in Silicon Valley and I probably am only scratching the surface. I wonder what other unknown outdoor places are waiting to be discovered. Do share if you have a favorite.
Life is good!
Exploring Open Space
Being outdoors and exploring new places makes me happy. 
Love this land
It was a hot and gorgeous Sunday and I’m so glad we got out to enjoy the views, a chat and 6.6 miles of exercise. We loved exploring the trails at Fremont Older and finding our way to the horse stables at Garrod Farm.
Silicon Valley Cowboy
Garrod Winery
Life is good. Hope you enjoyed your week-end.
Bloom
My birthday succulents are blooming. I loved this little surprise, especially since we spent most of the day at home while Juliana continued to rest and recover. Poor girl is still not feeling well.
I had fun baking a spaghetti pie, just for fun. I felt like making something savory and it was good, although next time I’d add some ricotta cheese to make it a bit less dry. The boys still seemed to like it.
This was one of the perks of staying home with a sick child. Plus the laundry is all done!! 🙂
But seriously, I was going stir crazy. Jeff and I snuck away for a walk for awhile to get fresh air and exercise. This made me happy! We went looking for the best grass alternative front yards and gathered a few ideas, with our few thousand steps.
The funny thing that happens when you slow down is that the day is really long. I guess we need to bloom where we’re planted.
Life is good, in sickness and in health.
nAMaste
Home. Sick.
My baby girl is home and is so sick. She fell asleep in the arm chair today and is hardly eating or drinking a thing. All that she wants to do is lay down and rest and have me close by. I wish I could take away her pain.
I took her to the doctor and he said a virus is going around and she has the same symptoms. He advised that she just rest and drink water and to eat small bites if she could, until she begins to feel better. I wish I could make her feel better.
We changed all our plans for the weekend and are staying still until she feels better. Be well, baby girl.
nAMaste
Home Sick
Charlie was “bored” all day. I took away his screens and told him to find something to do. He said he didn’t know what to do and that he was home sick. I told him that being sick of being at home was not the same as being home sick but I did appreciate his description.
I also told him it’s perfectly fine to be “home sick” and that he had to learn how to entertain himself without an electronic device.
I sat with him and we read together for about thirty minutes with about twenty interruptions. One day he’ll be able to sit still and concentrate. Right now we are still “patiently” practicing.
He discovered his Kapla blocks and this made me happy to see him playing on the floor.
Finally he decided to go outside and play and took the bakfiets for a ride through the neighborhood.
I loved watching him from the kitchen window and seeing him happy and outside. Of course, I went outside to capture the moment and he invited me in for a ride. I declined and he offered again. I changed my mind and climbed in with my dress on and faced my fears to share the experience with him. He liked driving me around and scaring me by going over the bumps.
I loved that he still wanted to play.
Life is good, even when you’re home sick.
nAMaste
A Peek Inside My Window
Every day I give you a little peek into my window, into the daily life of a Real Housewife of Silicon Valley. Sounds so dramatic and it’s not…I just liked playing with the reality tv show of the similar title.
What would I see if I peeked in your window? What would you choose to share? Would it be dramatic? The best rose ceremony ever? Oh wait, that’s a different show.
😘
Pacific Peace
I love California and today and tonight did not disappoint.
Life is good.
Things Aren’t Always the Way They Seem
Be careful how much you read into other people’s photos or stories or headlines. Things aren’t always the way they seem and I think we need to remember this as we journey together through social media and the news.
I am a true idealist. I have big dreams, always. I create playlists in my head about how I think things should be.
Today I took the kids to Raging Waters because this was the wish of the little one. He wanted his siblings to spend the day with him and play and this was his dream, since he had a season pass. We made it happen and here is proof:
As I was taking this picture after we ate lunch, I was thinking of the morning and how the big ones protested. They didn’t want to go to a water park today. I know, crazy thought, but true. Who has to beg to bring kids to a water park to hang out and enjoy outdoor adventures together? This is ridiculous, I know. But this was my truth and you’d never know from this picture of my happily ever after moment. We are perfectly imperfect, remember?
I think this picture symbolizes probably a lot of other moments we see on our screens. Everything looks happy yet there were arguments and frustrations before the snapshot. LB and I used to call these our Norman Rockwell moments where we had to take 50 shots to capture the one moment where we all looked happy at the same time so that we could remember what we envisioned in our heads. This makes me laugh and I hope you can share this connection and say, “Yeah!! That’s so true and real and funny!”
We actually were enjoying THIS moment. It was just the journey getting here that was frustrating, but of course that wouldn’t make for a happy story.
I did actually learn some things today about raising teenagers. I learned I need to make quicker decisions. I learned that even when they aren’t interested, they sometimes are. And I learned to practice patience. They all came around and we had a great day together, living in the sunshine.
Life is good.
Stories Connect Us
Juliana asked me why I choose to write every day and share something about my life.
We all have a story to share and I like discovering connections between mine and yours. Our stories are always changing which makes us all so very interesting.
Writing my story helps me to show up every day and to be thankful for what is. It’s like yoga for the mind – being present on the page.
And when you, my BeLoveRs, write back by whatever means (email, text, Facebook, comments, etc) and connect and relate your story with mine, we share a moment of our spirits being connected and this is ReaLLy cool to me.
Writing also captures the highlights of the history I am creating daily. It’s my digital scrapbook that just happens to be public and I treasure this as I don’t take the time to scrapbook otherwise and I have a bad memory.
Listen the next time you’re at the table and see how the conversation goes. Listen for the connections and the history and for the stories of our lives that make us who we are and bind us together.
Our stories connect us.
To be continued…
here i am 