when all else fails

pack yourself into the car
with the kids
and about four or five dollars
and go to
your local
salvation army
and spend a couple of hours
laughing
at the winnie the pooh
extra large sweatshirts
and the puffy-paint christmas shirts
and the cutoff jeans
try some stuff on
and be silly
and let the kids
make funny faces
and be loud
in the dressing room
and maybe
just maybe
you will find a treasure
or two
like the too-small bright blue
sweatshirt
with a big monkey on it
that you just have to have
for a dollar
or that big bright red
american tourister
mini-suitcase
that belonged to someone
named peggy
when she was still alive.


i promise you
all of the above things
will make you feel

better.

letterboxing and mindspiration

dearest local peeps,

we finally did it! we created and placed our first family letterbox. it's located in andover, MA, in the most beautiful of spots. you should definitely take an hour, explore, and try to find the box. here are the directions to it:

team gilbert "wild calla" letterbox link

the stamp-carving was done by johnny and it came out absolutely amazing. i think he missed his calling as a stamp carver and somehow ended up as a corporate recruiter. the kids enjoyed the research on the wild calla. go check out the bog now, because the wild callas are popping up everywhere (and snakes! but that's another story for another day).



and in other news, go check out mindy's new spot! it's chock-full of inspiration (should i say mindspiration?). i have a little wishmama's piece up now about doing keri smith's wreck this journal with kids.

i believe in hippies

this morning, while driving around town, i randomly asked gray

"gray, are you religious?"

and she replied

"yeah".

and i said

"well, what do you believe in?"

and all whispery and creepalicious, she replied


"hippies..."

okay

"all of the moments in my life, everyone i have met, every trip i have taken, every success i have enjoyed, every blunder i have made, every loss i have endured has been just right. i'm not saving they were all good or that they happened for a reason--i don't buy that brand of pap fatalism--but they have been right. they have been...okay. as far as revelations go, it's pretty lame, i know. okay is not bliss, or even happiness. okay is not the basis for a new religion or self-help movement. okay won't get me on oprah. but okay is a start, and for that i am grateful."

-eric weiner, the geography of bliss: one grump's search for the happiest places in the world

anti-mom

today is gray's class picture day at school.

i tried my best to find something not-stained or not-ripped for her to wear to school.

thinking i've picked a somewhat ok outfit, she dresses and i give her the quick once over. she looks...ok.

maybe a bit wrinkly?

ok, a ton wrinkly.

i look at john and say "she has her pictures today. she looks wicked wrinkly!" then i ask gray to come over so i can attempt to "smooth out the wrinkles".

john looks up at me, laughs, and says "you are like the anti-mom."

and i say "what? that's hurtful! i'm not the anti-mom just because i don't iron!"

and he proceeds to explain how i'm the anti-soccer mom, etc. etc. because i don't iron and all that stuff. (we're laughing through this exchange, mind you- plus, it's his birthday so i have to play nice).

fine! maybe i am the anti-mom.

maybe being the anti-mom is the only thing that gets me through the day, being able to overlook the drips, the stains, and the bumps and allowing me to best smooth out the wrinkles of our lives.



let's hear it for anti-moms!

sacrifice the part to save the whole

humans amaze me

really, i am in constant awe

these past two weeks have been a whirlwind. in and out of hospitals with my mother-in-law. from bad mammogram to bad biopsy to complete mastectomy, only two weeks have gone by. two weeks? only two weeks? how can this be possible?

the things that we endure. it's really quite incredible. and while these weeks have been filled with tears and moments of silence and lots of fear, the bigger moments have been the ones of pride, of all-encompassing love, of support from friends and family and nurses with hearts of gold, and amazement.

my mother-in-law is the prime example of someone who suffers in silence. of someone who will sacrifice a part to save the whole without once looking back. someone who comes out of a major surgery, just having one of her body parts cut off, and when i go visit her in recovery, she looks at me all drugged from medication and immediately says

"nina, have you eaten? i feel terrible, you must be exhausted."

again, i'm in awe. and i'm honored that i was able to be present alongside her in her journey to wellness and i'm in shock, and eternally grateful, that her lymph nodes came back negative.

she's dodged another bullet and we all just stare with mouths wide open.


thank you all for your love. xx

got to be

"you know it's gonna be...
alright"

-the beatles


it's just got to be.
i'm exhausting my powers of positive thinking here in gilbertland.