Life

As the month of May is coming to a close there are many things that have been changing.  I became an aunt,celebrated Mother's Day, celebrated my 4th wedding anniversary and reached my 6 month of pregnancy with my second child.  And with all these things going on it has made me reflect a few things; one of the main things is that no matter how much planning and goals we set for ourselves in life we have no control of our lives -it is all in God's hands.  We can try to plan out what we want to happen and that is just it we can "plan" but odds are that life will take over and it may not go as planned.  As I said I became an aunt this month to a precious sweet little girl, Isabel.  She is wonderful!  And she too had her own plan as to when she was going to enter the world.  Even though she was a scheduled c-section she decided that she was going to come on her own a few days early.

Auntie J and Isabel on her "birth" day

I also came across a song recently as we are decluttering our house, trying to plan for our new addition, Baby Girl #2.  It was the song that was labeled "Everybody's free to wear sunscreen" but it was also in one of the Chicken Soup for Your Soul books.  When you read the words it is one that makes sense as you get older, and I don't mean that you have to be 70+ to really see where the author was coming from.  It is an essay about "Life" and how we all need to take a moment and reflect on our own life.

Here are the words to the essay that became a song - 

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, 

sunscreen would be it. 

The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by 
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable 
than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now. 

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not 
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. 

But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and 
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before 
you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you 
imagine. 

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as 
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing 
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that 
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm 
on some idle Tuesday. 

Do one thing everyday that scares you 

Sing 

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with 
people who are reckless with yours. 

Floss 

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes 
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself. 

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you 
succeed in doing this, tell me how. 

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. 

Stretch 

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your 
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they 
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year 
olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. 

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. 

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe 
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky 
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t 
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your 
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. 

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people 
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.. 

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. 

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. 

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. 

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for 
good. 

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. 

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you 
knew when you were young. 

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; 

live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. 

Travel. 

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will 

philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize 

that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were 

noble and children respected their elders. 

Respect your elders. 

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,

maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one 

might run out. 

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will 

look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who 

supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of 

fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the 

ugly parts and recycling it for more than 

it’s worth. 

But trust me on the sunscreen…

  

The farmer and the dell...

As a stay at home mommy; I like to do things with Anna that teach her something and can also save some money.  I mean how many 2 year olds tell you they need "my coupons for my purse" when we run to Kroger.  So I decided that we will start a small garden this year.  I am not cheap but I can't get over paying so much for tomatoes and certain herbs at the grocery.  Especially when we can do this ourselves, or at least have a good time while trying.  Anna enjoys being outside and has her own shovel and rake; she is my little "Southern Belle".  


We have created our first raised bed and have planted big beef steak tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, a red pepper plant, chive plant, cilantro plant, and basil plant.  Then we started seeds for spaghetti squash, green beans and corn.  We even decided to do some flowering plants - Zinnias!  They are one of my favorite summer plants.  I am sure some true backyard farmers will say we did not plan out our bed the proper way, but it doesn't matter to us.  The joy that I get when Anna asks about her garden is what matters, and when she told me the other day that God watered our plants so we did not need to -this was after Lexington got 4+ inches of rain in 3 days - made this mommy laugh.

April 19, 2011 - the beginning of our garden

Look out farmers market here we come!  (Ok, maybe not this year)