Day 103: Heat Wave!

There's a heat wave hitting Chicago. I noticed the warmth as I was running my errands and had to take off my jacket because beads of sweat were beginning to form on my forehead. It got up to nearly 50 degrees yesterday! Wowza!

For a Texas girl, this barely qualifies as warm. But, I welcome it with open arms. Come on down, Spring... I'm ready for ya!

Day 102: Hugo-Mania

Yesterday, we got to meet Hugo, Kate and Andy (and Elliott's) new pup. He is a 12 week old, 30-something pound Golden and has the softest fur ever. He's such a sweetie and just wanted to snuggle up to any one of us the whole time we were there. Maizey is so excited to meet her cousin!

Of course, we also got to play with Elliott before he took his nap. He has this very fancy Batman set up and he insisted I play Robin. Well, I must say, "playing" super heroes isn't exactly my forte. So, this was my interpretation of Robin...

Elliott's thinking, "Gigi...play ROBIN not the Creepy Aunt!"

Day 101: Night Out

Rick's cousin Billie and her husband Joe live here in Chicago but we don't get to seem them very much because both our schedules are insanely busy (and completely opposite). We love hanging out with them and their girls, and we were able to make some last minute plans with them for a dinner date last night. Usually, we have to book out months in advance, so we all jumped at the chance to eat some Italian fare together on a whim!

They came over to our place beforehand to have a drink and play with Maizey. We had a wonderful night together catching up. We look forward to seeing them again...in a few months, I'm sure!

Days 97-100: Oops!

Well, I guess procrastination has finally caught up with me. There was certainly a lot of happiness over the last four days, and while I tried to document as much as I could, I realize now I have no idea which days correspond with which pictures. Thus, here are some of the things that have brought a smile to my face this week...

After-school snuggles

My NEW crack candle...Thanks, Kate!

Pizza night with the girls

It's hard to believe it's been 100 days since starting this blog. I have to admit, I had no idea what an impact it would have on my day-to-day life. But, it really has opened my eyes to the little things that make life so sweet and full. I only hope the next hundred days are as bright as the last!

Day 96: Superbowl Superness

So sorry for the delay in posting...I guess life just took priority this week!

Last Sunday, we hosted our annual Superbowl Bash. It was full of fun, food and lots of friends. Best part of the night...for the first time in five years, I actually won Squares! Wahoo!

Day 95: It's the Small Things

If nothing else, this blog has convinced me that it really is the small things that make life so much fuller. Saturday was filled with little things. Little happy things:

Grocery shopping (my nemesis) with Rick makes it much happier 

 

Tulips are back!

We came home to a spotless house after leaving Maizey out of her crate for an hour and a half test! 

Family Naps

We skipped dinner and opted for movie popcorn and Buncha Crunch!

Here's to the small things in life...they really do add up to make some big moments.

Day 94: Honestly Imperfect

As I was reading through my regular blog list, I stumbled upon this post which also led me to this. I found it strange that the theme of both of these was about revealing your imperfect self and how bloggers who "write blog posts according to what others may think, churn out watered-down versions of themselves. They misrepresent themselves." The two posts struck a chord with me because I often read blogs and think to myself, "damn, she has it all together" or "how does she do it all???" And I must remind myself that in the land of blogging, no one chooses to talk about their horrible sex life or the ten pounds they gained last month.

As I look back at my own 93 days of blogging, it's embarrassingly obvious that the happiness in which I have enjoyed writing about so much isn't truly the whole story to my life. There have been many days in which finding "the happiness" has felt like the kidney stone I passed in 2004. Today, though, happiness for me came in the form of enlightenment. It became clear to me that I really need to be honest with myself and others in the blogging world. Today is about honesty and vulnerability. Today, I choose to celebrate my imperfections and not hide behind them.

Doing this, especially so "publicly" is not something I would have ever been able to do 93 days ago. I honestly feel that this blog has opened doors for me that I never imagined possible. The power of happiness is really remarkable. So without further ado, the truth:

There are days when I don't feel like getting out of bed. I am not productive, nor cheery.
It's really best if you stay away.

My dog isn't always cute and cuddly. Sad, I know.

I look like hell in the morning. And the laundry is not always put away!
(Notice laundry basket in background)

Well hello triple chin!

The junk drawer I can't seem to keep organized or decluttered no matter how hard I try.

Two weeks worth of papers I should have graded two weeks ago.

let's 

encourage, 

inspire and 

remind 

other women 

that none of us have it all together. 

(from capturingmotherhood.blogspot.com)