The older I get, the more I realize how important my female friendships are. There is nothing that compares to being with friends who know you and love you anyway. Two of these photos were taken last summer on a "girls only" weekend to Napa (missed you Julie F.!). We were there to celebrate a birthday, but more importantly to celebrate being women together. After a hot, smoke filled drive (that was the summer most of California was on fire) we ended up in Calistoga. After mud baths, massages, and two bottles of wine we stumbled our way into town for dinner and margaritas (I think we had dinner....). 
With or without the alcohol, with these women I laugh and become the self I wish I was everyday. When we all lived on the same street we would often have what, affectionately, used to be known as "White Trash Friday's". It's hot here in the summer, 105 is normal, and we all become housebound during the hottest part of the day. But as the sun would go down on Friday the lawn chairs, with the requiste price tag still attached, would be drug out to someones driveway where we would eat whatever food happened to come out and drink whatever happened to be handy. I loved those hot summer nights, sitting with friends, laughing and telling stories while the "street kids" made their way outside to shoot hoop or ride bikes by the light of the street lamps. Good Times. One of these dear women lives in Washington now and we are limited to visits a couple of times a year. The other moved one town over but with work and kids and life, getting together isn't something that just happens like it used to when we were altogether here on The Rock; it requires planning now. I loved having these two women in my life every day. We're planning a trip up to Washington in March when our other compadre will be able to join us and we will once again be a "party of 4".
Because, really, without our friends, who are we?
This past weekend, The Husband took both sons and a friend up to Truckee for the weekend. As always they were missed, but there is something just wonderful about having the king size bed all to oneself. Ok, I did have to share it with one cat and a dog who insisted on sleeping with his head on "Daddy's" pillow. Just stay to your own side, buster....With the rain over the weekend the creeks that run through our development were, well, running. The temptation proved simply too great for Mulligan Stew and instead of walking home with my clean, just bathed last week dog I, instead, walked home with the Swamp Monster. I had not realized that when he went in he would sink 2 feet down into the swamp muck. Only one of us was truly unhappy about this. The smell was atrocious and the dog was beyond ecstatic. If only life were this simple for everyone.
I am, once again, reminded that we each find happiness in our own way.
I dislike resolutions. Let's face it, am I really going to commit to exercising 5 times a week just because it's January 1? Whatever happened to "Today is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life?"; I can resolve to do anything on any day of the year. That being said, I have, over the past few weeks, been exploring my Intentions To Do Better in the coming year. I like the sound of that better than "resolution". So in an attempt to hold myself publicly accountable, below is a list of some things I plan to do in the coming year:
1). I will learn something new. This one may be easy. The Husband and I are taking a cruise (yippee! no kids!) this summer with Grand Cayman being one of the stops. I am looking into scuba lessons in my area so that I can be certified prior to departure. I'd also like to take a few days to actually read the manual that came with my camera. That, or just take a class through Parks & Rec. Whatever. But trying to dredge up Photography 101 principles from high school just isn't cutting it any longer.
2). I will pick three, and only three, charities to donate money to this year. I'm certain that I'm not the only one who is solicited by: The World Wildlife Fund, The Ocean Conservancy, The Marine Mammal Society, Feed The Children, Oxfam, Care, Doctors Without Borders, National Resource Defense Council, The Sierra Club, Samaritan's Purse, and The Arbor Day Foundation, just to name a few. They send their note pads and address labels in the hopes of guilting you into sending them a few dollars ("a contribution of this amount will really help"). And so, each month I send a check in for $10 here, $25 there. (Love it when they send back those canvas grocery bags!) And yet, I have to ask myself, how much good am I really doing sending in $10? I recently finished a book titled, "A Year of Living Biblically", in which the author, A.J. Jacobs, attempts to live his life for one year according to the rules and guidelines of both the Old and New Testaments. In the book, Mr. Jacobs addresses charitable donations, as this is a biblical requirement whether you're Jewish or Christian. He, like myself, was in a quandary: How do you do it so that it is effective? He determined that rather than making a multitude of small donations, he would pick three, and only three, for the year and donate consistently to them. Address labels be damned! I already donate to America's Second Harvest Food Bank through a monthly credit card deduction and have determined that for the rest of the year I will donate monthly to the Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund. Of course this doesn't prevent me from sending a check to the Salvation Army so a few inner city kids can go to camp this summer. But I hope that by doing this, I'll feel more connected to the charities I support.
3). I will learn to Let Go. Sounds easy enough. HA! I am a collector: of people, of things, of stuff. I understand why I collect stuff. We didn't have much in the way of material goods growing up and having Stuff around makes me feel content, safe. Unfortunately, having "stuff" doesn't always equate to having stuff put away and in its place. I've been mentally preparing for weeks now Clean Out Day. On this day, ok, really it will take me about a month, I will go through my closet (Oprah says if you haven't worn it in 6 months you're not going to. Six Months? Are you kidding me? I have things in my closet I haven't worn in 6 years.....) and remove the items that should have gone to Goodwill years ago. I will go through the attic and clean out the boxes of junk and toys that I have allowed my kids to keep. Everything from my sister's and my childhood is gone: Barbie's, doll houses, books, stuffed animals. I hate that I have nothing and have, instead, allowed my boys to keep everything. But, I ask myself, how attached are they to that McDonalds Happy Meal toy floating around broken in the bottom of the box? Probably not so much...I will triumph, once again, over the Harry Potter Cupboard Under the Stairs and make it safe to enter without tripping over the boxes and blankets and other assorted items that get haphazardly tossed in without concern. I wanted to make this space my own "hidden room", a place I could put a bean bag and a light and go curl up with a book. Instead it's getting cleaned out for easier access to the vacuum cleaner....Such is life.
As the saying goes, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". I know this to be true as I've driven to hell on my own good intentions on more than one occasion. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
