From Chaos Comes Happiness

I have a little secret I'm about to share with you . . . . it hit me as I drove behind a motorcycle guy this weekend. I, Leanne, dream of someday being a motorcycle chick. Or, a trike chick. Or, a Harley girl. Or, whatever you want to call it. CRAZY, huh? Now, if we put aside all of the obvious concerns and safety issues with motorcycle riding, and just allow me to dream a little as if this was a perfect world, and accidents and injuries NEVER happen . . . I would just  LOVE to ride across country on a motorcycle. To really SEE the world without any barriers. To BE, on my bike. With PG riding beside me. To stop at little roadside places and swing my leg off of my bike like a regular Pinky Tuscadero . That, SERIOUSLY, would be the COOLEST thing in the world, don't you think? Friday afternoon I found myself driving behind a motorcycle guy for a few miles, and I was in absolute awe of him. Of his freedom. Of his bandana. Of the camaraderie that he had with any ...

We made it! PG is home! And life, once again, is good. We worked on an extra special banner to welcome Daddy home, and as we waited patiently for him in the baggage area at the airport, I snatched a photo of the girls holding our sign. They both were so excited to know that Daddy would be heading down the escalator at any moment. Life is Good. And when they saw him . . . it's as if time stopped . . . I know this isn't the best photo of our reunion - but I kind of love it. I love the movement all around PG and the girls - yet he is holding them so tightly, and they are holding him. My eyes were filled with tears (which is probably why the photo looked focused from my camera display.) When I got home and realized it was out of focus, I was bummed . . . but as I look at it more closely, I love it - it really shows a special moment of the girls with PG. So precious. I count my blessings every single day for this man I am married to. He is not only a wonderful husband, but he i...

Two sentences that I would have sworn would NEVER pass my lips . . . "Here Fishy Fishy! I've got some juicy WORMS for you!!!" Oh, Lord, help me now. Ok, let me start at the beginning. We are on day 24 of PG's (aka: Phil Guy, the husband, the daddy, the man of all men) 25 day business trip, and boy oh boy - I can't WAIT until tomorrow, when the girls and I will head to Midway Airport to pick up our guy! While the past 24 hours had been particularly stressful at home with the girls, I have to say that overall - we did a FANTASTIC job! We created A LOT, we laughed, we cooked, we cleaned, and we even fished . Ok, let's get to that last one, shall we? So, last night my phone rang. I answered it. And on the other end was PG's Mom, Grandma Lill, who asked if we had any plans for this morning. Since we had no plans, I said, "Nope, we're open!" "Great," she said, "I'd like to take the girls fishing!" "GREAT!...

‘Tis the season . . . yes, school is just around the corner. And today it was time to return to Target and pick up the last of Katie’s school supplies. Well, it turns out I actually had to pick up most of Katie’s school supplies, as much of what I purchased earlier last month have been opened and used during our creative projects this summer. Ah, well. I love shopping for school supplies (especially when they are on sale!) . . . and this shopping excursion today was a particularly great one. I couldn’t believe how so many of the bins at our local Target were already empty (or close to it). School does start in a little over two weeks, but I didn’t expect to have such a hard time finding things. That is, until I overheard a very Wise Young Boy as he shopped with his mom. His mom was the kind of person who likes to read her shopping list out loud – and not just once, but multiple times. “Yellow Highlighters, 2”, “Yellow Highlighters, 2” she repeated over and over. And it’s not li...

WOW. My friend Mary knows exactly how to shoot ya when your down. Yesterday I was in a tizzy over my lack of blog writing material and low and behold, Mary came through with a doozie. What was her comment from yesterday’s post? “This is the last year we will EVER be 30-something . . . discuss.” BAM! Nothing like a dear OLD ;) friend throwing reality at you, to snap you out of your “What will I write about?” woes. Come to think of it – that reminds me of another story about Mary that I forgot to share with you about the last time I saw her – but I’ll save THAT ONE for another time (how’s that, Mar! You’ve now inspired two posts for me! Thanks, dear!!) So, this morning I was checking Comcast.net news headlines, because that’s where I get all of my reputable news information of the day ;), and I noticed that Martha Stewart turned 69. HOLY COW! 69. Could you imagine? I mean, when is the right time for this lady to retire? If I were her, I think I would gladly hang up...

Have you ever hit a brick wall on your blog posts and thought, "That's it . . . I'm done. I've got nothing else to say. Nothing else to enlighten the world with. No other opinion or memory to share. No more stories to tell."? What do you do when you have spent the past year on a non-stop marathon of writing and sharing and laughing and crying with your newest BFF's in blogland, and all of a sudden you think, "Oh, dear... I got nothing left to tell them." I'm feeling that way today. All day long - in between a very very productive day at work and a non-stop action filled evening of dinner, baths, snack, Phineas and Ferb, story reading and snuggle time - I've been thinking about what I could possibly write tonight in my blog. And I've got . . .  nothing. Has this ever happened to you? What do you do? Do you ever worry that if you take a few days off, your blog friends will forget you? Or your followers will move on to other blogs...

Just a few of the things I've learned this week . . . I am still multi-creatively challenge . Seems that as I focus on creative projects involving the camera or paint, I loose all focus on writing for my blog. This makes me sad : (  . . . please hang in with me as I explore this renewed creative spirit! I promise to be back to much more thought provoking posts soon!. Being a "single" parent is the hardest role in the world. I am NOT a "single" parent - although PG is now on day 18 of his 25 day business trip. I am drained and exhausted, I'm tired of not having any "me" time (with the exception of a few hours Friday evening.) I applaud all those single parents out there who have no support - and those families who may have a parent gone for long periods of time, I say, "HATS OFF TO YOU!! YOU ARE AMAZING!!!" Having my Mom and sister over yesterday was so very helpful . . . why can't they just move in for the next week? Actually - I wo...