Patience is a virtue, especially during boating season.

Well, it is official, boating season has begun.

"Patience is a virtue. The ability to wait for something without excessive frustration is a valuable character trait.”

Breathe and repeat.

Why is it hard for me to remember this adage for boating season while at the same time remaining amazingly patient with my toddler asking “A doing mama, a doing??” 1,651 times in a row?

Where is that yoga DVD of mine?  Meditation Book?  Breathe.

After two days of an MIA husband who probably would have slept on the boat while it was still on the trailer if I would have let him, a buddy of ours helped launch the boat this weekend.  (Sometimes being a working mom pays off in ways that you never expect.)

Now, since I dream of a book launch one day, I try to get excited each year for McGyver's boat launching because I believe that he sees the boat as I see a book - something you dream of, prepare for, create, nurture, and eventually set out to sea hoping that it can sail on its own, bring peace to you and joy to others.

I have to say that I was proud of myself.  I was much more patient than usual trying to prepare for work and lugging Samson to the office, grocery store, and helium tank for balloons for an event while waiting for the official call that all was well with the world - (IE, the boat is in, I can drop Samson off,  and life can begin again.)  

Thankfully, McGyver finished a few minutes before I had to leave for work, with only one minor snag.

While launching the boat, my car (the car I graciously let him borrow for the occasion) went too far under water and my break light fuse blew out.  Who knew that this fuse is connected to the gear shift?

Breathe.
Let McGyver do his magic.  Don’t stand over him tapping your foot.  Walk away, your evil eye is not going to help him figure it out any faster.
Breathe.

Remember, it is only 4 months. . . and more material.  

Sadly few believe me when I tell them that I love our boat.  I do.  It is a beauty and a great escape out on the open lake; a wonderful place for the three of us to camp under the stars.  But it does take a lot of patience, and the ridiculous things that happen along the way do DRIVE ME CRAZY!

Breathe.  Center yourself.

I knew that there were seasons in the Rocky Mountains, I just did not know that they would consist of boating season, planning boating projects season, purchasing new items for boating projects season, and working on boating projects just prior to boating season. 

I am glad that Leo is a sailor and is a bit OCD, because if not, I would never have a boat and get to enjoy the few moments each summer when something is not going wrong, the weather is just right, and the timing for the three of us to enjoy it together actually occurs at the same time.

Remember; Patience is a virtue.

I should be a virtuous woman in less than 4 months at this rate.

It's official, I live with a bunch of gun loving rednecks

Ok, so I went to Texas this weekend for a family reunion of sorts and found myself laughing at this no gun sign at the country club where the party was held. 

 

The real joke was on me when I returned home to the front page story that the number of people in my county seeking permits to carry a concealed handgun increased by 283 percent from 2007 to 2008.

“We believe it started with the presidential election,” the sheriff said of the rapid acceleration in the number of people seeking the permits."

Whoa, you should have seen the letters to the editors and the online anonymous fighting about Obama taking guns away.  Genious.

At least now I know what I want for my birthday!

 And please don't forget to email your address so I can send you our family's holiday card in December.

Good 'Ole Redneck Memories

Sometimes I feel as though my family and I are the Beverly Hillbillies story backwards. No, we never struck oil or had millions, but we did load up our two SUV’s with our son, dog, ourselves and most of our belongings on a few days notice, and moved from the big city to a small rural town the likes of which could be the backdrop for a Beverly Hillbillies episode.

Perhaps that is why today for some reason I am feeling nostalgic about my southern past and one of my acting roles playing the pregnant fiancé of Jesco the dancing outlaw …..

My ‘line’ was to belch loudly as I was introduced to his family ... and I think that it was the role that 'qualified' me to join SAG (the screen actors guild) which is funny in itself.

Burping was a great skill of mine ‘back in the day.’ I won many contests and awards over the years, but in recent years I retired my crown to play the role of a LADY in my life.

But, from time to time I do have friends finding me on facebook and the internet who remind me of the linebackers and crew members that I put in their place, and when I replay those memories in my head, I have to smile.

No matter what your gifts are in life, make sure that you embrace them and in the wise words of Kenny Rogers “…Know when to fold em’, know when to walk away and know when to run.”

Isaac Skis

No news is good news

I used to live in Wash Park in a darling Victorian where I could walk to Café Europa, Thai Basil and the Mayan, and Tango on Friday nights at the Mercury Café, but all that was a few years ago before I went crazy.

I blame the local Denver and world news for my demise.

Even if it was my fault being a news junkie (two days sober now), is it fair that while pregnant during the infamous Denver Snowfest of 2006 every story was about women forced to give birth at home or in parking lots, or that the news continually reported on lead poisoning in toys, the rise in autism, food recalls, domestic violence stories, and general fun-loving stories about the overall atrocities in Colorado and throughout the world?

Nothing can make a soon to be mother more proud of choosing this time to bring a new member of the tribe into this world. It is sad to say that the continual bad news is weighing many more of us down now.

I knew then that if I did not turn off my television, quitting my job, becoming a shut-in, and being suspect of everyone and everything were sure to follow, so after a few discussions with my husband we made some drastic changes.

We got rid of our Comcast.

Oh, and we also traded our Denver urban life for one in a small rural town in the Rocky Mountains.

What?

Yes, so I guess I also have the media to thank for this wonderful life.

Without their stories of suburban Republican soccer moms in their Hummers, and the challenges of the Denver schools; had I not seen reports on the bottom falling in the Denver real estate market, or the continual stories of children getting abducted or hurt in and around Denver, things might have been different.

Can there be a better place than the Rocky Mountains to cure you of your news addiction? Who wants to stay inside when you live in a year-round playground? I can’t think of a better cure for panic attacks than waking up to a view of the Continental Divide.

I suppose time (and my news sobriety) will tell whether a different kind of insanity creeps in, but I just could not continue to ignore our vacation home tugging fervently at our sleeves promising adventure, no local TV news, less stimulus and people (we thought that meant less drama, ha!), and the feeling that raising our son in a place where instead of buying books to teach him about animals, we could just point to them on our ride home from school.

Who needs the TV news anyway when our sweet little town is a microcosm for the world.

We have the age old clash between the old and new with the old-timers resistance to change and the newly planted city yuppies pushing for it. Thankfully the fight is much more civilized and simply plays itself out in the op-ed section of the newspaper.

If you are worried about the milk vs soy controversy for your children, you can buy a quarter share of a goat and switch your family to goats’ milk. Instead of trying to force yourself to watch O’Reilly to see how the other half lives, you can attend a dinner party with your Republican neighbors and learn to like them anyway. And, rather than watch more news about how this country is in the toilet, you can volunteer at the local food bank to make things a little better.

I am not going to lie though, I will miss Andrew Romanoff and Barack Obama on the news circuit.

Perhaps when I am strong enough I will permit myself to read a few stories in the Onion and watch a Daily Show or two.

A host still has to be well versed with retorts at her dinner parties, right?