Bowl Game Bonanza!

I think the College Football Playoff might be the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Seriously. The only bad thing about it is that I have to wait a whole year for it to happen again. Yesterday was quite possibly the most fun I have had watching college ball all season. It was enjoyable watching the SEC West get repeatedly waxed - yes, I am one of those annoying fans who cannot STAND hearing endlessly about how superior the SEC is to every other conference. I sure did like watching Jameis Winston finally take the fall that was long overdue. The guy is no doubt a great player, but as a fan of a fellow ACC school, I really don't like the negative attention he has brought to FSU. It was nothing but a THRILL watching Nick Saban and Alabama lose to Ohio State's 3rd string quarterback...and how impressive is that freaking team??? It's hard to imagine another team in the nation that could lose not one, but two QBs and experience very little drop off in production. I do feel like the Oregon Ducks are going to win it all, though. That is the fastest offense I have ever seen; there were times I felt like I was watching the game on fast forward. The National Championship game next week is going to be one for the ages! On one hand, I can't wait, but on the other, I'll be bummed because the off-season will officially begin. 

Can't let this post end without a shout-out to my Clemson Tigers. I am ashamed to say that I had chalked the Russell Athletic Bowl against Oklahoma up to a loss before we ever took the field. Leave it to my boys in orange to remind me that you never count a Tiger team out...EVER! I won't make that mistake again! Congratulations to all of our seniors, who are leaving as the winningest class in school history. Special shout-out to Cole Stoudt, who handled a roller coaster of a season with dignity and class, and ended the season in true hero fashion...so happy for that guy! I'm expecting really good things in the future...ever loyal to dear old Clemson. GO TIGERS!

Finally, my older son's new favorite pastime is to ask Siri on his phone who won a certain game, just to see which verb she chooses to describe the beatdown. Here is our favorite from the bowl game: 

Cheers! 

Happy New Year!

Tonight's Wine: None. Abstaining due to the delicious wine I (over)sampled at last night's NYE party ;)

Welcome, 2015! It's nice to put another year behind us. This year was an especially up-and-down one. We had some fantastic highs (two trips to Disney World, new job for the husband, lots of time with friends and family), but we also had some pretty crappy lows (my mother's cancer treatments, losing my last grandparent, the death of my 10-year-old's courageous friend who had been fighting cancer for years). It always feels like the year ends right about when it is supposed to...just when I am most craving a new start and making changes. Trying to put these into practice this year:

1) Run 12 races in 12 months. I really let my running slide this year, and I am NOT my best self when I am not committed to it. First 5K of the year is next Saturday...I won't be breaking any land speed records, but I am going to finish!

2) Get in exercise at LEAST four days a week. Thinking of CrossFit, but terrified to try it. I'm klutzy and not too coordinated. It could be a disaster. But hey, a new year is a good time to step out of my comfort zone.

3) Be more present with my boys. Family dinners are going to be mandatory four nights a week, whether the husband is traveling or not. I'm ready to start cooking good food for my family again, and I'm ready to put my kids back where they belong...at the forefront of my life.

4) Be more chill about aging. Yes, the big 4-0 is only a few weeks away now, and I am dreading it. Severely. However, I have been given a major karmic kick in the ass by watching a precious child never have the chance to reach 10, let alone 40. Who am I to do anything other than celebrate every damn day I am given??? Nobody, that's who. Bring forty on.

5) Limit wine to weekends. Oof. This one is going to be the hardest. Also the one I am most likely to break. I'm up for the challenge, though. I think. :)

Cheers to all of you and best wishes for a magical, happy, healthy, and FABULOUS year!

39 and Holding...

Tonight's Wine: Wonderful Wine Co. 2013 Columbia Valley Riesling

So, tonight is the last night that I will go to bed with a man in his 30s. Yes, my dear husband hits the big 4-0 tomorrow, and he...well, actually, he couldn't care less. We had a great weekend this past weekend to celebrate (well, I had a great weekend, anyway - he had a tooth abscess Thursday night and spent the weekend nursing bourbon and taking antibiotics!), but it wasn't a big deal. Although I had been trying for months to plan some huge getaway or party - Vegas! The Bahamas! Europe! - he just wasn't into it. I have to admit, my own big 4-0 is a little over six months away, and I am already obsessing. Subconsciously, I feel that on that February morning, I will wake up stooped over, wrinkled, and with my whole body aching. Ridiculous, no? But I think that's the difference between turning 40 as a woman and turning 40 as a man.

Let me be the first to tell you, there is no doubt that my husband has improved with age. He is more physically fit now, the little bit of gray in his beard suits him, and I think fatherhood and experience have mellowed him and made him kinder, smarter, and more fun. It is so easy for me to see how the aging process has done him nothing but favors...so why is it so hard for me to see whether it's done the same for me? Why do I view this stupid, arbitrary birthday as THE END of my youth, my vitality, my LIFE? It's insane, I know, and yet. And yet, it's still there.

The best way for me to handle 40, I think, is to remind myself of all of my gorgeous, smart, funny, successful, fun-loving friends who have reached that milestone already and lived to tell about it. When I look at my girlfriends, there is not a one among them whose age every crosses my mind. I have a couple of younger friends (and I admit, they are annoying me a little right now by virtue solely of BEING younger!), but most of my friends are in the 40-and-up club. And they are AMAZING. As a matter of fact, one of the things I admire most about my 40+ friends is their confidence. They look great, they accomplish much, and they know it. They are past the worrying and insecurity of a younger age. 40 has been fantastic to all of them. It's going to be fantastic to my husband, starting tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe, by six months from now, I will have accepted that it is going to be fantastic for me too.

Cheers!

Summertime Sadness

Tonight's Wine: Wilhelmina 2013 Riesling (not normally a Riesling fan, but if I'm ever going to drink it, the hot summertime is when!)

What a summer it has been. I just cannot believe it is almost over. I went today and, for the first time, had to buy school supplies for not just one but both of my boys. My younger son went with me, and although it was cute to see how excited he got about picking out his pencil box (Atlanta Falcons-themed, naturally) and markers, I couldn't help but think...how in the WORLD did we get here so quickly? Wasn't it only last year that he was a little two-year-old crying when I dropped him off for preschool? Am I the only mom who feels like I have lost years somewhere along the way? It truly does not feel possible that my youngest - my BABY - is going to be a first grader.

So yes, the end-of-summer sadness is setting in over here. Big time. But I need to remember all of the happiness that this summer has contained in its short (TOO short!) ten weeks! Vacation at the beach with my family and nephew #2. Endless lake days on the boat, having a beer and watching the boys swim their hearts out. The beginning of guitar lessons for my older son. Soccer season for the little guy. Vacation at the beach again for the 4th of July with our oldest friends and their beautiful daughters. A visit to the water park. Vacation at the lake with my in-laws and nephews #1 and #3. Dinners out with my gorgeous friends. Late nights, late mornings, pool visits, hotter-than-Hades running in the mornings...almost too much fun and pleasure for one season. I'm going to try really hard to fight my glass-half-empty nature and instead reflect on what filled my glass all summer long. And hey, there's always the possibility of a Labor Day weekend beach getaway, right?

Besides, if all else fails, all I need to do is remind myself that football season is on the horizon! Ahhh...I feel myself cheering up already. ;)

Cheers!

Blessings Abound, Part 2!

TONIGHT'S WINE: Cupcake Vineyards 2012 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

(*Note - I do not drink wine every night, and as noted previously, I am far from a connoisseur. However, I'm learning about it, and on blogging nights that I am enjoying a glass or two, I'll let you know what I'm drinking!*)

Where was I? That's right, I was giving thanks for the wonderful news that my mother's breast cancer is officially in remission. She's not done with treatment yet; there is radiation ahead, along with several months of Herceptin infusions and five years of oral medication. But "remission" is the key word we were waiting to hear, and "remission" is what we've got! Hallelujah!

Although we were not together for the best of reasons - a family member with cancer is rarely cause for celebration - my family was together. The bonus to this terrific Friday is that I got to spend time with my amazingly awesome nephew. I have two fantastic sons of my own, but I also have three absolutely adorable nephews (yes, all boys - not sure what's up with the X chromosomes on the male side of this family, but having lots of little dudes around is FUN!). My brother's super cool two year old was in attendance at the doctor's appointment, and any time spent with him is wonderful time. He is completely gorgeous as well as a total genius, and I'm not in the least bit biased. ;) We went out to breakfast, read books, played cars, and I left that day loving him even more than I did before, if that's possible! 

So! Great medical news, quality time with the precious nephew...and the weekend was just getting started. Did I have a wonderful friend's 40th birthday to celebrate that night? Oh yes. The fun was just beginning...

Blessings Abound!

Wow. Just wow. It is very rare to have a weekend like the one I have just had. Rare and amazing and beautiful and life-affirming. I'm putting this weekend in my mental bank and I am referring back to it every time I have a down moment. I have no doubt that the memories of it will lift me up when I am feeling sad or negative.

This weekend started Friday morning with a visit to my mother's oncologist. Hard to imagine that a terrific weekend would start with a visit to a cancer doctor, huh? I'll give you a little bit of background. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of August 2013. I have never been more in shock in my life. She had a completely normal mammogram in January 2013, and she found this lump herself mid-August. In those seven months, she had grown a tumor the size of a golf ball. Needless to say, this cancer was classified as aggressive and fast-growing. Although our family has a history of just about every kind of cancer you can think of, we have absolutely NO family history of breast cancer. It is nothing short of a miracle that this tumor was in a location easily found by my mom, and that she did not put off having it biopsied. She began aggressive chemotherapy treatment on October 1, 2013, and it was not lost on me that this was the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She lost her hair. She suffered through horrible mouth sores that made swallowing nearly impossible. She was hospitalized for a fever that, thankfully, was not indicative of infection but easily could have been. She completely lost her appetite, yet she gained weight because of the steroids she was on. She also smiled through the whole ordeal and never had any doubt whatsoever that she was going to come out the other side of this thing, happy and healthy. She was blessed with angels on Earth at the hospital, beautiful and compassionate nurses and doctors who knew she would be okay. She underwent a lumpectomy on February 27, 2014. And Friday morning, her oncologist declared her in complete remission. No sign of the tumor, no cancerous cells in the surrounding tissue, no cancer in the lymph nodes. My mother, father, brother, aunt, sister-in-law and nephew were all there to hear this amazing and fabulous news. According to my mother's doctor, she is in a very low-risk category for this cancer to recur. Although he says you can never call a breast cancer patient "cured," he wants her to believe in her heart that she IS cured. So that is what we are all going to do. I've never felt so much like celebrating in my life. My mom and I are nothing alike. We have wildly different styles, ideas and passions. But she is my everything, and I am not sure I realized that before we went through this experience together. The idea of losing her stopped me in my tracks. I am almost forty years old, but in regards to my mom, I am still a child and cannot imagine a world without her. Hopefully it will be a long while before I will have to. I love you, Mom. I am so proud of you and your fight and your courage. I am so grateful that you are going to be okay.

Long post, and this is just regarding Friday morning!!! The weekend continued in epic fashion! More to come later...thanks for hanging in there with me. :)

So Proud :)

My younger son had his "America the Beautiful" play at school today. He was Neil Armstrong in the Parade of Patriots. I am insanely proud of the job he did. He has always been very outgoing and friendly, but I was blown away by his confidence onstage. I really see performing in his future. I'm sure there's absolutely no bias in my opinion, either. :) Always enjoy the special days at his preschool...I'm going to miss that place next year. It's been a great experience for him.