It's Not Rainin'

Allegorically...

What does a mother do when her daughter wants to go out and play in the rain? The daughter cries, complains, throws fits, is dissatisfied and angry with the world when she can't go play in the rain. The mother keeps telling her that she can go and play in the rain... as soon as it starts raining. Nobody can make it rain. It's up to the raincloud.

The daughter looks up at the raincloud. It's there in the sky. She tells her mother she loves the rain and wants to play in the rain. The mother says she knows that. The cloud knows that too. But it's still not letting loose the rain. The mother can't make it rain. The daughter can't make it rain. The cloud is the only one who can make it rain.

Don't throw away your happiness & your life in the present because it won't rain. Just because it's not raining doesn't mean that you can't play and enjoy your life. Daughter, it's not your responsibility, nor is it mine... to make it rain. Let the raincloud do what it needs to do. You and I can't make it rain.

Gorgeous rainclouds borrowed from here.

Houseguests

This weekend some family came over to stay with us. They're my sister's little ones, so I guess that makes me their aunt. Although I've loved them from afar I haven't had too much interaction with them. Sunday night was actually my first time meeting them face to face.

Adorable as they are, I'm glad they're not mine. Mean, huh? Well, it's just that they are too rambunctious. Too needy of attention. Too mischievous. Too smelly. Umm, they're not potty-trained!! But I'll admit that they are rather cute.

Sis, oh sis...?? When are your babies going home?

What's Love?

Last week I was trying to talk to my daughter about love. No, not about the birds and the bees. About love. For example, just because someone says that he loves you doesn't mean that he actually does. As they say, words are cheap but action talks. (Mixed metaphors? Whatever.)

Anyhow, if someone loves you, he needs to show that love for you. Anyone can say empty words. It takes a real man (or woman) to back up those words. If someone loves you he will respect you. He will be someone in whom you can trust... and that trust will be well-founded. He will do his best for you.

He doesn't have to have money to spend on you, but he'll want to do things for you. If he's as poor as a church mouse, he's still going to want to wash your car, mow your lawn, make you dinner, whatever. The point is, he'll want to do things for you. He will do everything he can to make you happy. He will want the best for you. He won't disregard you for his own convenience or because it's just too much trouble to do the right thing. He will treasure you and value your opinions and respect your feelings.

That's just my opinion, though. Here's a better definition/description of love:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

I need more love in my life. Don't you?

Three Things

Three things that made me smile this morning:

1. My daughter had a nutritious breakfast (yogurt and a banana)... with no nagging or prodding on my part. Yay!

2. The guy at the local cafe gave me great service and a free burrito!

3. My coworkers and bosses aren't hostile and are actually nice & pleasant to be around.

Yup, I'm blessed.

Video of the Day: Stranger in My House

Alright, I have no idea why I'm doing all these female singers lately. But the songs are amazing, aren't they? :) Here's one by Tamia. I've always loved this song. Apparently she's going to drop another disc next month. That'll be one to keep an eye (ear) out for.

Video of the Day: Stay

Why this one? I have no idea. It's just a wonderful song and Jennifer Nettles sings it so well. Her tears are as real as her determination by the end of the song.

"But I NEED It!"

That's what my little nephew will say whenever he's at the store with his grandpa and he spots something he can't live without it. It's also what I said when I saw this:

This picture is from here.

Isn't it pretty? Luckily, A. chimed in and told me no. Otherwise I'd be 125 bucks poorer and one horsey picture richer! :) If you've fallen in love with this oil painting too, you can find it at BirdonaFernStudio's Etsy shop. Go ahead and buy it. I won't tell you no!

The Sweet 100

Cakespy has put together a "Sweet 100" list. This is the funnest thing. You should also go and check out her original post- it has the cutest graphics. Not only that, her blog is bursting with baked yumminess. You should check it out. No, I didn't stumble onto this list myself. I found it at Ruth's Kitchen Experiments. Thanks, Ruth!

1) Copy this list into your site, including the instructions!
2) Bold all of the sweets you've eaten--or make them a different type color.
3) Cross out any of them that you'd never ever eat.
4) Consider anything that is not bold or crossed out your "To Do" List.
5) Optional: Post a comment here linking to your results--or just post a comment letting us know how many you've tried, or what you're going to try next!

Red Velvet Cake
Princess Torte
Whoopie Pie
Apple Pie with sharp cheddar
Beignet
Baklava
Black and white cookie
Seven Layer Bar (also known as the Magic Bar or Hello Dolly bars)
Fried Fruit pie (sometimes called hand pies)
Kringle
Just-fried (still hot) doughnut
Scone with clotted cream
Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy
Halvah
Macarons
Banana pudding with nilla wafers
Bubble tea (with tapioca "pearls")
Dixie Cup
Rice Krispie treats
Alfajores
Blondies
Croquembouche
Girl Scout cookies
Moon cake
Candy Apple
Baked Alaska
Brooklyn Egg Cream
Nanaimo bar
Baba au rhum
King Cake
Sachertorte
Pavlova
Tres Leches Cake
Trifle
Shoofly Pie
Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime)
Panna Cotta
New York Cheesecake
Napoleon / mille-fueille
Russian Tea Cake / Mexican Wedding Cake
Anzac biscuits
Pizzelle
Kolache
Buckeyes
Malasadas
Moon Pie
Dutch baby
Boston Cream Pie
Homemade chocolate chip cookies
Pralines
Gooey butter cake
Rusks
Daifuku
Green tea cake or cookies
Cupcakes from a cupcake shop
Crème brûlée
Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candy bar, cupcake)
Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
Jelly Roll
Pop Tarts
Charlotte Russe
An "upside down" dessert (Pineapple upside down cake or Tarte Tatin)
Hummingbird Cake
Jell-O from a mold
Black forest cake
Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
Kulfi
Linzer torte
Churro
Stollen
Angel Food Cake
Mincemeat pie
Concha
Opera Cake
Sfogliatelle / Lobster tail
Pain au chocolat
A piece of Gingerbread House
Cassata
Cannoli
Rainbow cookies
Religieuse
Petits fours
Chocolate Souffle
Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
Rugelach
Hamenstashen
Homemade marshmallows
Rigo Janci
Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers pie, Reeses pie, etc)
Divinity
Coke or Cola cake
Gateau Basque
S'mores
Figgy Pudding
Bananas foster or other flaming dessert
Joe Froggers
Sables
Millionaire's Shortbread
Animal crackers
Basbousa

Okay, I've only had 44 of these sweets. That's not good! Where's the dessert table? :)

Video of the Day: I'm Real

The video of the day is one of my favorite songs. Luckily the link is for the edited version!

Now people loving me and hating me treating me ungratefully
but not knowin' that they ain't making or breaking me.
My life I live it to the limit and I love it.
Now I can breath again baby now I can breath again.

Just watching the video makes me think of the summer. Soon, soon... It's right around the corner.

A Really Green Lawn(Mower)

I've always wanted to have one of those old-fashioned reel-type mowers. Everyone would always tell me, "No, no. Those things aren't good. They don't work very well." So I never got one. That, and the fact that I've always had a man to mow my lawn! Anyhow, I no longer have a man, but I do have a lawn- a very big one. And two gas mowers and assorted weed wackers, in various states of operability. Instead of turning them all on and figuring out which are the keepers, I'm just going to let them gather dust and... get a reel mower. Yeah, baby!! Our lawn is going green.

After doing extensive research (okay, reading the reviews on homedepot.com and amazon.com), I've decided to get the Scotts 20 In. Green Classic Reel Mower. This baby retails at $139.00 at my local Home Depot. That plus tax brings it to $150.47. However... Amazon sells the same thing (brand new) for only $109.00. Plus, there's no tax and no shipping. They even give a $30.00 credit if you get an Amazon credit card. Can you imagine? The lawn mower of my dreams for only $79.00? Oh, yeah. Mama's got a new lawnmower!!

This pic was found here.

Video of the Day: Pirates of the Caribbean

This is just because. Dedicated to my baby, who just loves Captain Jack Sparrow. What girl wouldn't? He was gorgeous back in my day, too. ;-)

Mother-Daughter Outing #3

Something came up on Saturday and I unexpectedly got a free day. Since we still had four food/beverage tickets left over from the festival, A. & I just had to go back. (Drat the festival and their unbreakable strips of 10 tickets! They wouldn't sell in anything other than lots of 10.) So, in order to use those four tickets we had to buy more. Then we ended up having two left over on Saturday afternoon. Luckily a cute little girl passed us & A. ran up and gave her our last two tickets. Hopefully the girl's mom found the two-ticket ice cream cone stand. Otherwise they, too, might have gotten sucked into the never-ending food/beverage ticket cycle!

Anyhow, while we were there, we browsed the great art for sale and listened to some terrific music. The reggae/ska/rock bands were the best. After sitting on various curbs and browning a bit in the sun, we finally wised up and went to this little taco place right by the stage. Santiago's Taco Loco Express has a shaded rooftop patio were we watched the band. It was the perfect spot to enjoy the music while A. ate her long-awaited turkey leg and I had my bacon cheeseburger and fries. Yup, we're traditional girls.

Stairway to Santiago's rooftop patio

Getting Henna-fied

Friday night, A. & I went to the Deep Ellum Arts Festival with some family friends. It was a beautiful night- nice and cool. While we were there A. and I got some mother-daughter henna tattoos. We'd been planning on getting some done. It was serendipitous that the henna artist I was interested in, Karen Weiss, was working the show. We're pretty pleased with the results and will surely be doing this again. :)

Child Abuse Prevention Month

Did you know that April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month? There are so many children being abused in this country. It's a shame. Children should be raised with love, not with abuse. This month why don't you do something that can positively impact a child's life?

There are many volunteer opportunities out there. More than I know about, that's for sure! In the Dallas area, there are a few organizations that help abused children (yes, teens are chidren, too!). There are even opportunities that enable you to work one-on-one and mentor a young parent. This can strengthen and encourage the parenting skills that all parents should learn.

If you're in the Dallas area, a few organizations that you can check out are:

Dallas CASA

Dallas Children's Advocacy Center

Destiny's House

Jonathan's Place

Our Friends Place

Promise House

To find a local organization that can use your help, you can check sites like Volunteer Match or even do a Google search for "child abuse" and your city's name. Even if you can't volunteer your time, gifts of money/goods are probably welcome. Give your local organization a call today!

(c)Tomo.Yun (www.yunphoto.net/en/)