just had a minute chat here...

Let me tell ya, 43 degrees with a 20 mile an hour north wind feels like 20 degrees. For mid-April, it's just been so darn cold here. We are under a freeze warning until Monday morning. Hopefully, that will be it. Then maybe we'll get a glimspe of spring. It's a good thing I haven't planted my garden yet. I've been hesitating and I'm glad I did. Patience pays off huh? Maybe this just means summer will last until October and Fall will last until December? Wishful thinking I know. But who wouldn't wish that after going on an 8th month of winter. Sheesh. I'm pretty sure I'm going to shrivel up if some kind of warmth doesn't show up sometime soon.

So, it's for sure....come June 1st, I will officially be a stay-at-home mom. I keep telling my daughter "when summer time comes and it's warm enough to swim, I won't have to go to work anymore." (It's my response to her when she asks when do I not have to work anymore.) But I think she's got it backwards. She keeps saying "mommy, if you just stop working now, then it will be summer time." Oh baby, if only it were that easy. Her little 3 year-old mind is so precious. We went to see my grandmother last weekend and came back with an entire trashbag of more (you mean, there's more?) dress-up clothes handed down from a cousin. River was in heaven. It's as almost as if her entire world depends on when she can get dressed up. But I'm talking about the whole gammot (is that how you spell it?). Everyday when we get home, in 2 minutes flat she's taken off her clothes, put on the frilliest, laciest dress, white pearls, white gloves, high-heel strap-on sandals, a purse (full of everything any typical woman would have in her purse) and for the finishing touch adds a little sparkle lip-gloss. well, maybe more than just "a little." I'll have to get a picture. She's perfected this outfit in just one week. When she walks around the house dressed like this, it reminds me of some commercial photo you've seen in an advertisement or something of a little girl playing dress-up. She's my own little walking angel! But heaven forbid the time come at night when it's time to get UNdressed. She mopes around and slowly, but with an attitude, starts taking off piece by piece and says with a slow tone and seriously sad frown "I'm not a lady anymore." If only I could stop her growth. If only I could keep her 3 forever. I told her that one time. I said "oh please don't grow up anymore! I don't want you to grow up! Can't you just stay 3 forever?" Then she said very happily "You can't stop me!" dang it! This mom thing just keeps breakin' my heart.

Jason and I had a date night last night and she spent the night with her Mimi. That's J's mom. Riverlyn called me while on our date and asked if she could spend the night. Her little voice on the other end of the phone sounds so grown-up. So everytime we get this type of opportunity we think "oh boy, we can do something! No kids!" or "Time together! Yeah!" And this is what happens: we got our appetizer, talked about what we were going to do for the night, then we got our salads, talked some more, Then we ate the rest of the loaf of bread they bring you with all the good dippin's, talked some more. Then our meals came, took 2 bites, then asked for a box because we were so full we needed dolly's just to get out of the restaurant. Then when we got to the car we figured we'd just go home since we were too miserably full to do anything else. Yup, that's how our date goes! However, it was nice to leisurely make it home, not "tend" to anything, be as loud as I want whenever I want and then this morning I got to wake up and do what I'm doing right now. I guess we did do something productive last night. We got Jason's Crosswoods business for '08 in order. After tax time is always a good time to re-vamp and re-organize. So, that's our date night. And we enjoyed every minute of it. So, I'm going to go now, and re-fill my coffee, and then I'm going to stare outside for a little bit before getting in the shower and getting River from her Mimi's house. Maybe if I catch some sunshine now it will sustain me until spring gets here. Maybe spring will show up sometime around May or something. Later ya'll.