Easy Breezy Days of Summer

Well, well, there's internet access even way out here in the sticks. Who knew?

Even still, the lovely Melody is hosting Best Shot Monday for a few weeks for me so be sure to pop over there to leave your best shots of summer (or whatever else you want to share). As for me, I leave you with a BSM that shows us living it up family vacation style.

from the road

Yellow Polka Dot Best Shot

There's been a Parent Bloggers blog blast happening this weekend and the gist had to do with bikinis. You know, something like, the bikini: friend or foe. It's summer and all that so I guess, it is the season to fret about these matters. We'll I hate bathing suit shopping as much as the next gal, and I have even a stronger dislike for wearing them but I'll be honest, I do wear a bikini when a bathing suit is an absolute must. I'm not saying it's a great idea or anything, as a matter of fact I'm not a big swimmer so I rarely strip down to my suit even when I'm at the beach or pool so I guess not many people would even know I'm in a bikini, underneath it all. But I am.

A girlfriend of mine (with almost the exact build as me) admitted she wears one too although she wasn't sure it was such a good idea either. And here's the real kicker, she actually asked another friend if she thought she had any business wearing one, after birthing and nursing 2 kids, rounding 40 and all that. Her friend apparently didn't feel the least bit shy about replying an honest one liner; you're borderline. Which means at best, I'm borderline too.

But what's in a bathing suit really besides extra flesh that we wish we didn't have, in all the wrong places I might add? Your size is as important as your age. And from my point of view, it's not important at all. I'm 40 and I'm not freaked about it. It's a number. Just like the size or cut of my bathing suit. It's only weighty if I make it so. Pun totally intended.

Although I am the first to acknowledge a little balance in my life couldn't hurt (less work, more exercise), I'm choosing to focus less on my own bathing suit and more on my daughter's not so itsy bitsy teenie weenie...

After all, isn't the point of the bathing suit summer fun?

You know this little gem had to be my Best Shot for this sunny Monday!

Oh, and speaking of BSM, summer fun and a quest for balance, me and the fam are heading out for a few weeks. Woot! And because I am having to relinquish my control over having internet access (gasp. can't. breathe.) the wonderful Melody will be hosting Best Shot Monday over at her place Slurping Life for the next two weeks (thank you sweet Melody). That means on both June 30th and July 7th you'll be popping over there to post your BSM links. I shall return and be your gracious hostess again on July 14 with lots and lots of shots to choose from I'm sure!

Until then...show us what kind of summer fun you've been having this week (bikini or not).

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by BOCA.

My Best Shot at Slowing Down

I woke up this morning with a start. Gasp! What day is it? It's Monday, isn't it?

We've had quite the eventful week and I so wanted to write about all of the spinning and swirling mommy emotions that have been flooding my head and my heart but alas, besides a birthday, and a promotion ceremony (my baby has been promoted to middle school) we had a different kind of flood. The laundry room spilled over with so much water from the defunct washing machine that it's damaged our wood flooring AND it got the wall so wet that all of our cabinets actually fell off the wall. Big, heavy cabinets. Right onto our washer and dryer. Big huge crashing sound. Not pretty. And certainly not good timing. Happy Father's Day.

It's hard to focus on the light at the end of this tunnel because I'm not sure how many miles down the road it is but I know we'll get there eventually. This too shall pass my Grandma reminds me. She's right. And it could be worse. As we still have some wrapping up to do before all of the end of the school year hullabaloo starts to settle down it feels so hectic around here, it's hard to keep my head about me. Deep cleansing breath. I will look back on all of this and laugh, right?

Although I have hundreds of photos on a number of compact flash cards all over the house and videos galore from the recent pomp and circumstance(s) -we got a new video camera-yay!-I have yet to get any of them to my computer. However, in the midst of the chaos, I thought it might be nice to share a photo or two that speak more of slowing down and being mindful of what is important, than anything else.

I submitted this image as well as a few others for consideration in a lovely collaborative project called my heart wanders. I was so inspired by their call for images and the project itself, I spend one afternoon in the midst of all the activities and slowed down long enough to create a handful of photographs that I really love. Truthfully, I'm just delighted to have stumbled onto my new blog crush.

So, in the theme of slowing down a bit today, I offer you this best shot for the day. If nothing else, I will be using it as a mediation of sorts to find some calm today. I know it's there somewhere. I just have to seek it out.

Did you find any time to slow down and smell the flowers this week? OR perhaps you captured the craze of life in a shot that brought perspective or maybe even humor? Whatever your week looked like, we'd love to see how you caught it in action.

My Perfectly Imperfect Best Shot Monday

I thought about sharing this shot of my girlies from last week for my best shot but since today is the kick off the fantastic blog series The Gift of Imperfect Parenting at beautiful Brene Brown's blog Ordinary Courage, I figured the much more appropriate photo to share was this one.



Today I'm feeling courageous enough to show you my real life at it's craziest, it's most absurd and with all it's flaws. And you know what? I'll bet you're cool with that, aren't you? See. I knew I liked you.

As I said in you last post, I encourage you to tune in to what Brene has to share in regards to 'raising our children with courage, compassion and connection'. It's a message you don't want to miss. Be sure to pop over to her series and snap up the CD ASAP. You'll be really glad you did.

So...on that note, would you like to share your perfect pictures (or the perfectly imperfect ones if you dare) on this fine yet flawed Monday?

Imperfect is the New Perfect

If you do nothing else for yourself this summer, you must get the incredible Brene Brown's brilliant CD The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting-raising children with courage, compassion and connection. I am serious here. GET. THE. CD. NOW. I promise to write more about it but for now, I wanted to at least begin to spread the word since I have a minute of internet connection at my disposal (my internet has been out for days-eeeek!)

So...why the urgency? Brene starts a series on her blog this Monday (6/9) that goes over what she covers in the CD. I don't care if you are a parent or not, you really owe it to yourself tune in. She teaches some amazing stuff. I cannot say enough about it (or couldn't you tell?) and know I'll be following along with her as the blog series unfolds. Oh, I'll be buying her book too.

You can pop over to her extraordinary blog Ordinary Courage for more details. See you over there!

Let's Click!

You going to BlogHer this summer? Sweet. Me too. And check out what the Shutter Shutters are up to. It's the first ever BlogHer PhotoWalk!



So, who's into roaming the streets of San Fransico shooting photos with with a flock of what Pam calls BlogHer birds? I am, I am!

If you would like to join us, please let us know so we can look for you. Hee hee.

My Best Shot and Kate's Perfect Post

Last summer my family and I traveled to Key West Florida where this shot was taken. It’s one of many that I took on the trip that only touches on the history that exists at this southernmost point. Even simple photos of the architecture give you the feeling that you are not alone there, that there is more than meets the naked eye, that those that came before accompany you with each step.

I hadn’t really reflected much on the trip until a few days ago when I was deeply stirred by a post over at SweetSalty. The photos Kate posted of her peaceful place are sacred, still, and so impossibly hopeful. The quiet calm, the whispering wind, the tranquility she captured prompted me to re-look at some of my photos from our trip.

I began to see things I hadn’t seen before as I poured over the images using her words as a guide. Her offering enlightened me and filled me with an understanding I hadn’t held before. Everything about Kate’s Perfect Post is poetry. Each word woven into the next with some sort of soul string that is beyond anything I can explain. It may be intangible (and something I cannot convey through words) but I can feel it.

The image I share today for My Best Shot is another ode to Kate. To hope and love, to the past and present and to keeping the balance of both. But most of all it's an ode to magic.

I lust so deeply for magic, I swear sometimes I can will it into existence.

These words of Kate's call to me as does the black bird perched on the fence of the ancient cemetery—singing to all of us that our mere will for magic can most certainly bring with it little miracles.

What shots do you have to share with us today and what kind of magic do they hold for you?

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To see more of the Perfect Post nominees for May, go visit Lindsay at Suburban Turmoil and Kimberly at Petroville where the lists are posted.