Decorate Your Soul

"When flowers blooms, so does hope."
Lady Bird Johnson

Sarah celebrates her third birthday today (where did three years go, hmm?) and man is she so happy! She even sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me this morning and it’s her special day! I think she just knows that joy is contagious and likes to share it with others. I love that she is caring and gentle (mostly) and loving towards others. She greets friends with hugs and shares her popsicles with her sister. She helps out by cleaning her room (ahem, on occasion) and other areas of the house. She is energy-filled, playful, creative and imaginative. She loves to "make" you Macaroni and Cheese from her own kitchen and then twirl about in her princess dress. She is the epitome of "Full of Life" and I can’t seem to imagine a life without her in it. I remember being so happy when she arrived – she was perfect. All of our prayers were answered for a healthy, baby girl. It’s amazing how babies bloom into little people so quickly. I hope she will always know how much joy she adds to our lives.

Happy Birthday, Sarah Bean!

Man, I used to live for these books. Ann Martin was brilliant to me, as she wrote the The Baby-Sitters Club series that I divulged in my elementary and admittedly, through my junior high years. I would buy one as soon as they came out at the Starter Bros. near us and read it in a day and half and wait and wait for another month to go by to get my KrityStaceyClaudiaMaryAnne fix. I related to these girls in some way- even though I wasn’t apart of a club or hardly babysat outside my own home. They were so real that they became my little world of friends at home.

I have kept most of the books I bought- I must have about fifty or so of them in our attic waiting to be used in my classroom, or for my daughters to enjoy. A happy memory for sure.

So, we just spent a week and half of our lives on the red sofa finishing up with our season finales– well, almost. Lost and Everwood have one or two more episodes before the inevitable summer break. You may or may not know which shows we succumb to the television for, but I will list a few that are still fresh in my memory… if you have not watched your Tivo’d shows, don’t read the following bits…

Without further ado, let’s dish:

Grey’s Anatomy: I was teary-eyed at the end like most fans of this spectacularly written show. Not because Denny died folks, because that darn Alex got me to like him again. Derek and Meredith- c’mon guys… break it off with the current stand-ins before you, um, well, you know, get together.
I *heart* George. And Dr. Bailey. And Dr. Burke. He’s going to pull through, I just know it.

West Wing: A bit disappointed at the final episode EVER… I wish we could see ten years into the future if Josh and Donna, C.J. and Danny wind up married with children.  And if a Republican ever makes the presidency in prime time.

Survivor: Terry should have won. ‘Nuff Said.

Amazing Race: I forgot about this show until about halfway through the season. I love it because it is energy-filled and for some reason, I always root for the underdogs. I try like crazy to get Andy to watch this show with me, in fact, he’s the one that got me into it last spring. Anywho, the Hippies won (B.J. and Tyler) the last challenge which was to put various country flags in the order that they had visited them. I was most impressed that the players actually could remember the flags let alone put them in order. With the Japanese speaking, Tyler in action, I was rooting for the right team– woo-hoo!

Without a Trace: I’m just so glad that Malone’s girl didn’t get shot by one of my teenage heartthrob’s: Jason Priestly. Jason made a guest appearance as a bad guy. This show is easy to get into since you don’t have to watch every episode to enjoy it (much like the Law and Order TV show).

Boston Legal: Pfft. This show… Hmm. I don’t know why I like to watch it. Denny is weird. Alan is weird. Well, Brad is cute, but that may not be enough to bring me back in the fall. We’ll see.

What shows have been keeping you glued to the tube these last two weeks?

If you know me well, then you know that I have not been beat at the game of Scrabble for over a year now. I am not bragging, but rather just stating the facts here. Andy won’t even play with me as often as we used to since his pride took a beating.

Having said that, we had some new blood in town this weekend and Andy’s cousin Rachel was game to play this popular word game with me. I told her that we played pretty strict to the rules with an exception of some house rules that apply at the end of the game: If you made the longest word (as in tiles of letters) then you get an extra fifteen points added on to your total score. Number 2 house rule: If you score the highest word played, then you receive a total of fifteen points added to your final score.

We each played a good game… Never in my life, folks, have I ever had this close of a game. Ever. There was only one challenge played on the word "kobe"– a high score of 36 points for her word "yoke" and we tied in two long words spelled, so I took the extra fifteen points. That’s fair, right?
Despite what she said in her account- we tied. TIED!

Hold on, I have to straighten my crown here… I’m still seated on the Scrabble Throne.

Sassy shoes this week are some mules made by Kenneth Cole. I bought these beauties with a gift card at Macy’s a couple of birthdays ago– I wasn’t sure about that weird low heel look, but these are quite comfortable and I have two really cute dresses that go with them –perfectly. The 1 1/2" heel is wooden and the leather toes have some funky spider look going on.

Despite shoes like this that seem to go "out-of-style" at the end of its original selling season, I like to keep these around for their comfort and you guessed it, a splash of sass.