September 29, 2011

the girls won out...fall dining room table.



that's right.
the girls won out.

they got their orange...red, yellow.

whatever.

i can't be a mean mom
after all.




 so what do you think?
i'd say it's pretty true to me,
barring the sprig of orange, but 
i figure.
i can't let the girls have a warped childhood, right?
yeah.
that's what i was thinking...



help me out here.
did i pull it off?

hope so.

so that's the dining room. 
tell me about yours...

September 28, 2011

fall porch: fayetteville style

out here in the south,
come fall,
peeps decorate.  

simple fact.

no pressure.

really.

so did i spend 2 hours in hobby lobby
scouring the aisles for 
non-fall fall decor?


i know.
misnomer.  
tend to decorate in whites,
blacks and greens.
(see visual above)


much to my children's chagrin,
they are still complaining,
that they got jipped.

i guess jipped they are.

still.

i trudge on.

no matter the season,
i tend to stick with the same palette.

i guess i need to get out of my comfort zone,
yet still i sit.

in my comfort zone.

 just like to keep it simple:
black burlap,
green gords,
white and metallic pumpkins.

non-fall fall.


 guess i'm not the typical fall
decor zhusher.


tell me how you spruce up the place?
would love to hear about it.


September 16, 2011

sports hall of famer

today i am packing.
i am packing for a brief trip back home
to my beloved san diego.

quick trip.
just a few days in fact.

why?
to celebrate a great honor in our family.

my dear dad is getting
inducted into the 
sports hall of fame.
yes.
i know.

pretty big gig, huh?
that's what i was thinking.

you see. 
my dad was a basketball ref for 
many years of my life.

little did i know,
he was reffing big big games
with peeps like

michael jordan
magic johnson
karl  malone
larry bird
charles barkeley
patrick ewing
scottie pippen

any of those guys ring a bell?

dad was one of the refs chosen to officiate
the practice games
held in san diego for the 
 1992 summer
olympic games.

here he is at one of those
games.

cool, huh?


i'm so proud of my dad.
he's a hard worker.
he flew up and down the coast of california
to be at his games.

what do they call them?
pac 10?
the wac conference?
yeah, 
he did them all.

did i mention how proud i am?

so, dad is flying his daughter down
to be there on his big night.

don't worry.  
more photos to come.

this was the event i was shopping for.

can't wait to tell you all about it.

so if you don't see me for a bit,
i'm off jet setting in my beloved san diego
albeit briefly
celebrating great honors.

more to come.

September 14, 2011

birthday traditions:

 43




grateful for 
my faith
my family
my friends
my health
my life


am lucky enough to have
gotten
 treated to a 
delightful lunch
shared a prosecco with a lovely twist of lemon
finished off with a maple creme brulee
have i mentioned how lucky i am?

well i am.
one
birthday tradition 
we celebrate in the brookes abode:
 we gather around the dinner table
one by one we go around that table and
share one thing we love about the birthday honoree.
and no repeats allowed...
can you say filled up?
well, you definitely get that way
after you sit  and listen to your family 
share good thing about you.

tell me about a birthday tradition
you have in your house...

heading off to count my blessings

September 8, 2011

fitness junkies gather around

no,
i doubt i will be able to blow dry
my hair tomorrow

but i still want to tell you 
about my day today

 
does this look familiar to anyone out there?

well if you were me 
at about 8 am this morning
you would have answered a stead fast no.

not until now, 
that is.

let me back it 
on up.

my dutiful walking partner 
and good bud, michelle,
has now broken me into 

t
r
x

be afraid...
very afraid.

keep in mind, 
my little muscles haven't seen weights for 
far too long.

have to admit it
was glorious.

trx is the ultimate 
in building muscle,
increasing flexiblity
and strengthening your core.

highly recommend peeps.



this is michelle and me.
yes, she looks like a delicate flower
in this photo.

she is deceiving. 
she is a rock, hard 
fitness guru.

i am lucky to know her.

 
  

i see more good things to come.

i promise you this.
there will be more about this
fitness guru...
be on the lookout for 
michelle gets fit!

now tell me about your 
latest fitness delight.


September 5, 2011

happy labor day


hanging with the peeps.
mr. man is off today.  
whoopee.
what are your plans?


September 1, 2011

see what happens when you say the "b" word...

it was the day after
hurricane irene 
made her big arrival.


the hoopla was over.
clean up was underway...
still a down day in the brookes abode,
as irene was making her way further up the east coast.

lo and behold,
a small gaggle of children where hanging around,
mulling about, whatever you want to call it.

then they said it.
they did.
they said the word.
"we are bored"

bored, i asked.
oh no they didn't...

this is when i went into full on 
used-to-be-a-teacher, now-stay-at-home-mom mode.

oh, really, i said.

okay divide into two teams,
get bike helmets on
and give me five minutes.

had two high schoolers upstairs crafting,
so i knew i had a sounding board.

operation scavenger hunt was
officially under way.

living in a gated golf community i knew
i had plenty of options.
here were the guidelines:

two teams of two.
on bikes.
no time limit.
i do think jack 
(the token boy of the group)
didn't know what hit him.
did i mention, jack was not used to speeding
on bicycles chasing down mundane objects,
on random fairways, 
after a storm
only to return sweaty, and hot
leaving him tired and spent?
here was the list
of items the high schoolers and i came up with.
sent them on their way with
one ziplock baggie,
one pencil
one post it note pad and 
one empty target plastic baggie.

away they went.

not only did we get a winner within 30 minutes,
but there was no further mention of boredom.

in fact, 
saw jack the next day to which he confessed
that he slept 12 hours that night thanks
to our little nieighborhood scavenger hunt.

i dare you to say you are bored again.

this mom's got lots up her sleeve.

how do you beat boredom in your hood?