Coffee Break–Vol. 4

A weekly list of things accomplished, enjoyed, tried and remembered.

1.Sledding. This week President’s Day just happened to coincide with a delightful snowfall the night before.  Since my boys already had the day off from school–we packed up and headed out for a great morning of sledding.

2. The Secret Garden. This book was absolutely delightful! I don’t know how I went so long without ever having read it–I highly recommend it.  It’s about a rather spoiled sickly girl who discovers that there is a garden in her new home that has been closed up for years.  The story is just precious and it makes me want to go out and breathe fresh air and plant some sort of garden just so I can watch it grow.  The only problem is–I am usually an unintentional plant murderer.

3. Beauty Time. Every 6-8 weeks I get to go see this beautiful, sweet, caring, kind, encouraging (there really isn’t enough adjectives to describe her) gal, Carrie.  She has been cutting and coloring (shh, don’t tell anyone) my hair for well over 20 years.  Not only that–she is a dear friend.  I feel like I never pay her enough, because she not only turns my rats nest of hair into sleek beauty that I can’t EVER achieve, she is also a great encourager in my life, a good listener and advice giver, and an absolute delight to be around.  Seeing her regularly over these past 2 decades has saved me a bundle in therapy sessions.  I am so proud of her for the work she does (making all of her clients look radiant) and she makes such a positive impact on every life she encounters.  If you are local and need a very gifted hair stylist–you can find her at Twisted Bohemian Salon.

This is Beautiful Carrie:

Me–Before (shudder):

In progress:

After (What a difference!):

4.Harry Potter. My boys have reached the age where they are heavily influenced by what their friends at school are doing.  A lot of things we have to say no to. There are many video games, movies and television shows being targeted toward kids that we just don’t feel our boys are ready for.  Last year, my younger son, Grayson, got invited to a Harry Potter themed birthday party.  He had a GREAT time and has been begging to see the movies ever since.  I’ve seen most of the movies, but just felt that there were some scary things that might give he and his older brother nightmares. Middle of the night wake ups because of bad dreams are not fun for any of us. We decided this past week to give them a go.  So far, so good.  I’ve really enjoyed seeing them again and the boys have loved them.  And yes, I plan to get the books for them to read too.

5.Our spot. Many,many, MANY years ago when Super Rockstar and I got to do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted to do it–we used to go fly fishing a lot.  We had a favorite spot about an hour and a half from town that we went to every chance we got.  Since having our boys–going fishing has involved going to small mud ponds stocked with fish so that they can experience the joy of catching a fish.  This usually involves Super Rockstar mumbling curse words under his breath as he has to constantly go back and forth unhooking things that accidentally got snagged, pulling off tiny fish and praying they survive (most do not–I’m so sorry to say) and helping us “have fun” fishing.

This week, I had felt the “call of the wild” to go back to our old spot.  We didn’t go to fish, but just to be there, enjoy the beauty, look longingly at the lucky souls out in the river casting their lines, and reminisce about our more care free days.  The boys had a blast skipping rocks and stomping through the snow.  Even Barney got a nice snort full of fresh things to sniff and was in high heaven.

If you are local–this is a GREAT day trip destination.  Deckers, Colorado is about a half an hour north of Woodland Park.  It’s a scenic drive and the “town” of Deckers does include a gas station, fly shop and even a small restaurant/coffee shop.  We’ve never tried out their campgrounds, but I imagine they get booked pretty quickly.  There are miles and miles of the South Platte River to explore and fish, and you can’t beat the scenery.