WEEKEND ALERT!!!!!!!!!!

It's Friday.

And I have this whole weekend (after Stations of the Cross at St. Lawrence Church tonight) to WRITE...

To explore my new stories.  To play with characters.  To explore where I want them to be...

How I want Lisa's farm and nursery garden center to look to the readers. "Gardens and Greens" a family enterprise, but a family touched by sadness. Cancer. Loss. Strain and stress. But a family of faith, hope and love. Strongly united. A little German, a little Irish and downright ALL AMERICAN!

And my hero, Alexander Steele. Bruised. Broken inside. Stoic outside. Forging on because he must, because he's got kids counting on him and life with kids gives you little time to grieve, but we all need time to grieve the loss of someone we love.

I'm so looking forward to writing this story. Figuring out the kids. Playing in VIRTUAL GARDENS!!!!  ;)

I'm a down-on-her-knees get dirty kind of girl, so having Lisa and Alexander plan out his new and somewhat pathetic yard????

SO FUN!

There is joy in the silver linings of each and every cloud.  And pink flowers, too.

 So while we storm the heavens for a cure for breast cancer, I'm going to weave a story of love, hope, courage and gardens...

With some sweet little kids thrown in for good measure. Because breast cancer has no respect for age.

My friend Lisa with her daughter Taylor at our "Fight Like a Girl!" party

But together.... Together we will seize the day!

How Many Sick Toddlers Does it Take....

To run through a blox of Puffs Plus in a day?

Oh my stars, RSV's, strep, pneumonia for one, and ear infections.

Dr. Mazza used to say that soft winters are the worst for illness. That the germs don't die if the temp is "in between"...

Summer sun kills them.

Winter cold kills them.

Anything in between?

They wear us down with their constant onslaught and REFUSE TO DIE.

So the toddlers are snuffly. A little whiny. Argumentative. And some are home.

But we've got a warm fire, hot lemonade, snuggles, Dr. Seuss and Sesame Street.

If you've got to be sick, those are pretty solid surroundings, right?

Bless you, Toddlers!

This is Mary Ruth helping us fix a mistake...

This is what happens when La Decorateur (me) changes her mind about what tile to buy AFTER she's laid the backer board....

And then messes up the edges....

And then doesn't fix it for A VERY LONG TIME.

So now we (by WE I mean Paul and Mandy, Mary Ruth's parents) are removing the old tile. It will be used in the garden.

(author's note:  Yup. I'll have the gardener get right on that, LOL!)

Time to stop for some pumpkin roll.... Because why wouldn't you  stop for pumpkin roll, right?  

And we're buying appropriately sized tiling to re-do the project.

As soon as I have time to go to the store and play.

And that's how we roll, LOL!