Category Archives: make me smile

just about as good as sex

–hunting for a pen in the space behind the parking brake–that space where random car objects live–and finding a dark chocolate bar, 73% cocoa content, with a label that reads “Sexy”

–wearing sandals. little white strappy sandals with tissue-thin soles. for the first time in 21 years. the air moving over my instep making my foot feel mustang-convertible cool.

–taking my 5 min daily lay-in-bed-naked-after-my-shower moment and have Toby lay down next to me, purring up a storm. doze for a moment and wake up with toby napping at my ear and ellycat draped over my foot.

–biking home at 11 pm after my AROOM group discusses A Midwife’s Tale. speeding down the hills that were so arduous on my way to group. walking in the door to greet John with cheeks flushed and heart pumping hard. wanting nothing more than to get back on the bike and go for another few miles.

thickly spread

A few days ago Rich wrote…
Jana,
I dare you to try my favorite: Orowheat wheatberry toast, ripe avocado thickly spread over it, and drizzled with clover honey. To die for!

Rich,
Thank you for the dare. You were oh-so-right! The sweetness of the honey was perfectly paired with the creaminess of the avo and the crunchiness of the toast (not orowheat, but a Trader Joe’s imitation). I’m thinking that this treat could only be better if the bread were homebaked, and it was a heel slice where the crust was perfectly crisp and the center of the bread still steaming. And the honey was gathered by Trappist monks on Huntsville, Utah. And I was sitting under a tree on a warm afternoon and after I finished my sublime repast I had time to relax (perhaps take a short nap) to contemplate how much I enjoyed what I had just eaten.

But in the meantime, I’m settling for near-perfection and I’m headed to the Farmer’s Market for a few more avocadoes tomorrow. 🙂

Make me smile…

Ride bikes with me to the University Center. Where we stop by our favorite bookstore and C&E spend their monthly book allowance as the owner chats with them about which books they’ve read lately. Then go in Trader Joe’s and buy some snacks for the weekend and a few necessities (milk, blueberries, goat-milk yogurt). Riding home we pass the kids’ art teacher walking to yoga class. Smile and hear her admiration that we ride our bikes to the store. Let E lead the bike brigade and watch her making good choices about crossing busy intersections. Arrive home out of breath, but happy. And see the newest pink rosebuds and double impatiens blooming on the porch and the clematis vine that has recently ‘woken up’ and is starting to climb the wall.
🙂

deja vu…in the rain

It was almost dark by the time John got my bike home tonite (he’d had to ride it home from the shop where I bought it in Newport Beach).

But despite the gloaming and the rain, the kids and I went out for a bike ride (John joined us on foot, because his bike was at his office).

We decided that the large mostly-empty parking lot across the street would be the best place to ride together, with it being so rainy and almost-dark. It was great fun doing donuts around the streetlights, zooming up and down the slight hill in the middle of the lot, racing each other from one end to the other (a long ways–the parking lot is almost a block long).

It wasn’t until we were returning inside that I remembered that this was the same parking lot that I had paced back and forth in during the hours that I was in labor with C so many years ago. The contractions coming unevenly, the constant walking to both ease the pain and to initiate labor (he was a week overdue).

Back then I couldn’t have imagined myself zipping around on a bicycle with my two pre-teen kiddoes in tow. But that night, like tonite, was so full of promise, of joy, of surrender. It made me so grateful for then…for now…and for what amazing adventures the future holds for our family.
[Note: both kids had a wet mud streak up their backs after our ride. Me, I was spared such. Granny bikes don’t leave backtracks. 🙂]

Make me smile…

–John and C are in the next room over, where C is having a lesson from his Dad on how to tie a tie. They are giggling and working through the process together (while looking at a diagram of different knots)

–All of this is in preparation for C’s ordination today. At 12 years of age Mormon boys go through a rite that is somewhat akin to a bar mitzvah. C will be called up to the front of the church meeting and be asked to recite an Article of Faith from memory. He will officially graduate from the Children’s Meeting (Primary), and after church he will be ordained to the introductory level of the LDS Aaronic priesthood by John.

I’ll post a picture soon 🙂

funny

Ok, maybe you shouldn’t watch this if you’re embarrassed to be giggling in your cubicle. But if you need a good chuckle, check this out–especially the March 24th entry on “How to Kill a Ninja” (I suspect that chudacek will find it particularly amusing).

Make me smile…

–turning in grades yesterday. whew. another quarter of school all done. ate 2 do-si-dos and did some high-fives with the kiddoes to celebrate.

–a blank page on my calendar today. still lots of stuff to do, but no classes, no appts, no meetings. woohoo!

–crocheting. about 10 years ago my friend Mindy taught me how to crochet and since then I’ve made many crocheted items, but I’ve never learned how to read & follow a pattern. Thanks to the Happy Hooker I’m about halfway through my first follow-a-pattern project.

–the sun is shining today, small birds are twittering on my front porch, I’m sipping hot tea w/milk, and the day stretches ahead of me with all of the joy and promise of a grassy field filled with wildflowers.
🙂

Just what I needed this morning….

Yah, a long week at our house. It’s finals week at UCI and we’ve had papers to grade and deadlines to meet and busy kids Oh, and I must tell you E was crowned with the title of ‘Master Artist’ this week by our elementary school district. Her duties will include a presentation before the school board and the city council. And she says it’s okay if her class didn’t kowtow to her (as we did when we learned of her new title), instead they clapped…

But back to this morning. I was busily getting dressed in our bedroom and John was headed into the shower. He was completely naked and singing along with the “Jesus Christ Superstar” songs that were playing over the speakers under our bed. He was gently swinging his hips, eyes half-closed as he sang the refrain from Simon the Zealot’s song:

Jesus I am with you.
Touch me, touch me, Jesus.
Jesus I am on your side.
Kiss me, kiss me, Jesus.

It was both touching and hilariously funny and even a little ridiculous. It was so John–all vulnerable and yet totally living in the moment, surrendering to the music. Totally un-selfconscious. Lovely….

mom, you probably don’t want to read this one…

This afternoon I tried a neighbor’s scooter (not the stand-on kind, but rather a wanna-be vespa-type scooter).

Poor John had to throw himself between me and a car in the parking lot when I panicked and accelerated. Straight forward. Into the rear end of a very nice pickup truck.

So we learned a few things from this experience:

1) When John is having to make a last-minute decision his first impulse is to throw his body at the problem–not thinking of the danger to himself. What a man!

2) When Jana is nervous (yes, I was visibly shaking), she accelerates. Brakes? WHAT BRAKES!!!!!?????

3) If Jana is going to own a scooter she is probably going to wear out the soles of her left shoe very quickly because of her Fred Flinstone style braking response.

4) I LOVED RIDING THE SCOOTER!

Most of my life is lived at a snail’s pace. I can’t run, jump, cavort or bike very well. I amble. But maybe, soon, I’ll be scooting. Wind whipping through my hair, imagining that I’m in Paris or Shanghai. Baguette, roses, and calico kitty in my back basket. Scarf flying at my neck. Bugs in my teeth because I’m grinning ear-to-ear…..

Note: a part of me is saying, “SCOOTER–what are you thinking??? Do you want to lose your other leg, too?” The other part of me is saying, Geez. it’s not any faster than a bicycle. And think of all the wear and tear you can save on the car…”

things that make me lose control…


–cookies. can’t. stop. eating. cookies. esp soft sugar cookies.
–massage me and i am yours.
–rubbing the soft fur of cat belly as time goes by.
–getting out of the shower and i don’t have anywhere to go. warm and completely contented, i lay down on the bed for just a moment. and wake up an hour later. bliss.
–the blossoms of the satsuma tree on my front porch. inhaling deeply as i walk past. doubling back for a second sniff.
–dropping off my kids at school this morning. as they turn their back on me and melt into the crowd, the overwhelming urge to chase after them and say one more time, ‘i love you.’