i am so thankful for the life i have been given. i get so caught up in the winter just wishing the time would pass faster..but as these summer night dwindle by...i like to think that this is the time for me and a time for rejuvination for the upcoming year.

tennis nights. wine on the deck. dreams of the east coast vacation. i am happy to have summer in full swing. thankful for this time to stop and appreciate my life and the ones in it.

sunshine on.

keli

i just watched the brookings marathon and 1/2 marathon run by my house. what a great morning. sun was shining and people were out there busting their butts to finish. at first i was so mad at myself that i was not out their hitting the grind...but then i looked back at my great house with a cup of coffee in my favorite oversized white cup and thought...hey "life is good."

there is always next year...

denver

3rd day in denver. happy to be here. relaxing. 

spent the day in boulder. shopped. 

ran the dogs. 

dinner with the cousins.

loving it.

Cookie of the Month

When Martha Stewart wrote that she wasn't kidding. The Christmas cookies I chose to make for the cookie exchange this year involve approximatly a month of steps. Make dough, freeze dough, roll dough, cut dough, re-freeze dough, dip dough, bake dough, top dough with crushed candy canes (it was worth it to see Peter smashing them with a hammer...ho...ho...ho)!

What was I thinking?!?

Anyway...as I sit...the night before the 2nd to last day of school for 2009....I think the COOKIE OF THE MONTH...that I, Martha Stewart Jr, created look just delightful....and as I dip the last batch in white chocolate...the anticipation and excitment of spending time with family and friends overwhlems me...

White Chocolate Outside.

Thin Mint Inside.

Candy Cane Topping.

Holiday Perfection.

my family is wonderful. the time we spend together is very cherished.

mom. kind. emotional. caring. energetic. loves coffee more than me.

dad. funny. deep. beyond caring. calls to say "i love you."

katelin. strong. devoted. confident. too much fun to be around.

peter. so good for me.

14 day countdown until we are all together.

feels like -37

peter...really?...of all places.

the weather man said 2 things this morning that made me laugh. "... it will feel like -37" and "I29 is closed from BROOKINGS to CANADA."

i love waking up without a plan for the day. i slept SO well. no practice. no school. no reason to leave the house. as the snowplow goes by, and the sun shines in through the window, i am excited for a day with no plan.

peter...not so excited...his car won't start.

sick day

i am home sick for the second day in a row. the doc says bronchitis, laryngitis, and a sinus infection. i am quickly thinking that i could take this whole "not working thing" on...i am not bored one bit. between blowing my nose and taking the 2 inhalers i was prescribed life is good.

all this alone time has brought me to some moments of "deep," as "deep" as i get, reflection. why am i racing though this world?

i am a teacher. 24 3rd graders. great coworkers. wonderful principal.

i am a coach. 71 athletes. more parents.

i manage a swim lesson program. one supervisor. tons of little kids. more parents.

so in the midst of all this giving. i feel lost and tired. i love the all parts of my life ...with many moments of little joys. but have not taken the opportunity to enjoy any which one of them...because i am always racing off to the next. so is my task- learn to enjoy moments.

revel in the simple.