Symbol of the Wedding Ring

My husband came home from work for a late lunch today (we live close enough for him to do that - yay!). I had just put the girls down for their naps. The house was quiet. I was resting on my bed with faithful laptop going through emails. My Lover entered the room and said “you look pretty today.” That made my day - I'm not even wearing makeup today. “Really?” And that was BEFORE I found my wedding ring! Yay!!! I found it!

I lost my wedding ring last year in February just before I went to India (with Michelle B. and Ted H.). You can read little journal snippets of my time in India here. I actually went to India planning to purchase a gold ring to wear as my wedding ring. I found one and purchased it and wore it from then until I ended up finding my wedding ring shortly after arriving back in the states. This year I lost it on Easter. That was weeks ago by now. I didn't sense that it was gone forever but I didn't have any leads as to where it could be. I kept thinking if it was still here it would show up. I was a little disappointed that it was taking so long. Anyway... a few days ago I saw Michelle B. She told me she'd had a dream about me and in the dream I was getting married. She didn't have time to elaborate. I'm still waiting to hear details. She then called me yesterday, out of the blue for something unrelated (so I thought) and I told her I'd call her back today to let her know my answer on the matter. I called her today with my answer. As soon as I had hung up the phone my eyes landed on my wedding ring.

Now that is some kind of crazy symbolism happening in my life right now... and I have a feeling that her dream was related somehow and so is the matter she was calling me about... I suppose it's unfolding even now...

Cinco de Mayo Spinach Salad

Lunch this afternoon was a salad of this:

Raw Spinach
(cold) baked Tuna fillet w/ olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, red chili flakes, salt, pepper
dried cranberries
chopped raw pecans
canned corn
edamame
cooked brown & wild rice

Weird. Good. Colorful!
My husband came home for lunch and created this concoction from leftovers in our refrigerator. It was pretty darn good. I was glad we have such yummy leftover items in the fridge!

Proud of Myself

Today was a day for the introvert (self). Both girls at school a full day meant I was able to plan little and do much or not, of whatever fills me. I actually didn't feel (too) guilty today, either. I guess I'm learning to chill out. I dropped the girls off, had a chat with one of my dearest girl friends, headed to Target and spent two hours trying things on! TWO HOURS! In my non-chilled-out-life, I would have been (self) tortured if I spent two hours trying clothes on. But that's just what I did today. And it was great. I even BOUGHT something & felt only a tiny bit guilty (I had gift cards, so it wasn't like I was spending "real" money - maybe that's how I justified the purchases). In previous non-chilled-out-life I wouldn't have purchased anything (that would have been part of the punishment: Did you just waste two hours trying clothes on? Then no clothes for you!) Not only did I buy things for myself (not for the kids) I actually bought things that I like, not things that I thought my husband would like on me. Don't get me wrong, I think he'll like these things on me, but I took care of my likes first. Wow. I'm pretty proud of myself.

And THEN, I came home, made myself lunch and met hubby @ gym for a work out. Awesome. Then I said "ciao" to my prince and I jumped into the pool to further my workout and keep the heart rate up for another 25 minutes. And I did it all for ME, not for anyone else. WOW! I'm really liking myself these days & it's showing up! I mean, I've always really enjoyed my personality, my sense of humor, but there were things... things I couldn't quite put my finger on that I'm finally recognizing and starting to take care of now. I realized that I want my girls to learn how to take care of themselves first (before they take care of their friends emotions or whatever) and the only way they're really going to learn that is if I take care of myself. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually.

I'm really enjoying this journey that I'm on: learning to chill out. Still.

Strong Enough

There's just too much to write about... I get a little bogged down in deciding which thing(s) to write about and then... I don't end up writing ANYthing. Well, NOT TODAY friends! Not today.

Today was a glorious day and was also a ridiculously HOT day (again) for April in California. I nearly jumped into the pool @ 11am. Instead, I made lunches for the girls and hubby (who joined us for lunch) and THEN jumped into the pool. I think it was the first time I have ever had both girls in the pool by myself. I was pretty proud of myself. It was my own time with my girls – in the pool. I have never really felt strong enough/confident enough to have them together by myself (without hubby) in the pool. He was the lifeguard, not me! But today was my own time with them. I emerged victorious and confident and cooled off! I was also patting myself on the back for the added bonus of the work-out I was able to squeeze into the day on account of being in the pool. Awesome.

Introvert

Today: ~ deep, cleansing breath ~

that's exactly what today was. a deep cleansing breath.
From start to finish…

I learned (again) today that in fact I AM an introvert. Introvert here is defined as a person who recharges from being alone vs. someone (an extrovert) who recharges from being around others.
I recharged today, thus the deep cleansing breath.