a taste...

whenever i complain, the weirdest thing happens: the universe shows me i'm wrong.

as disgruntled as i was yesterday morning at weirdo-competitive parents and creepy dads who tug on skirts and ask for a sick kiss of their own after you've just given a sweet one to your daughter, it all slowly disappeared throughout the day.




there were a lot of small moments that added up to wonderful. lillie asked to run to the pool to practice her turns, which is major for a girl who glides through the water with the most graceful stroke but, really, is in no rush whatsoever to finish quickly. she just loves to swim.

i was telling them yesterday that all i really want for them is to grow up to be strong swimmers. i have nightmares about this not coming true. i really do. because sometimes, life is all about saving yourself and anyone else around you who's drowning.




i met a mom at lacrosse who. made. my. flipping. day. she was interesting, she was enthusiastic about her daughter for all the right reasons, and she clapped really hard when her babe ran fast or tried hard or just tapped sticks with another girl after a particularly good play.

my kind of mom.

and it was the cutest thing! she had so much to say, and she'd start to...but then she'd wave her hand and shake her head at herself and say to me "oh, you don't want to hear that!"

but i did. i really, really did.

lillie made her first goal, and after that, grae must've bruised the hell out of the goalie trying to get her own. i'd hear a thunk and a groan and an exasperated growl from my grae-girl, and i'd do my best not to laugh. i was unsuccessful, mostly.

on our way home, lill told me i was right about scrabble, and that it applied to swimming and lacrosse, too. she got a taste, and it tastes delicious.


let me explain that one.

on our last beach holiday, the girlies were playing scrabble with their nona. they're just beginners and don't have the arsenal of words that my mother-in-law does, so i suggested that nona didn't exactly have to take all the triple words positions.

"they're never going to learn to win if i just let them win," she said. and i agree with her, mostly. i mean, i love how pat and his siblings turned out, so i have mad respect for how she raised her five.

but i also think that we all need to taste winning before we really crave it.

same goes for happiness. thanks for sending it my way.

oh! and i almost forgot the nicest part of yesterday...i was invited to design a bracelet with this very cool company! the process was so addictive and thrilling that i may have told uncle sugar last night that i want to be a jewelry designer. he may have rolled his eyes. humph. just wait until you see what i made, mister. i'll show you, too, as soon as it arrives. better news than all that nonsense? you'll get a chance to design your own, too! details coming soon...xoxo. first three things that stopped me on pinterest: here, here, and here.