Hello lovelies! How was your Friday? Mine was good! I watched some photography videos, went to dinner with Brooke and Bill, and took a nice, long walk in the cemetery with Bill afterwards. Walking in the cemetery is one of my favorite things to do! I left there with a pep in my step and a song in my heart! Basically, I left way better than I arrived, even better than how I felt in the middle! It was a great end to a good day! Ah!

What did you do today? What are your weekend plans? Are you flying solo or have plans with others? Drop me a line, I would love to know!!

Once upon a time, I had very short hair. It wasn’t all that long ago, and sometimes I miss it. Short hair took a lot less effort, while still looking good. I used less product in my hair, and I was not as hot in the August heat. My hair transformed once I cut it all off, and let it start growing again, it was so much healthier, thicker, and stronger. I felt very liberated with short hair, and this was the time of my life that I developed a love for shiny, dangly earrings. I embraced this haircut, and like I said, sometimes I miss it, like in August, I miss it. Very broken record, I know. You all hot today, or is it just me? Well anyhow, here is a picture of me with short hair.

Do you ever think of doing something drastic with your appearance, maybe to be different and have a change, maybe for convenience, or maybe for temperature control? And do you ever revisit times in your life, pulling the memories out like an internal scrapbook? Drop me a line, let me know, I want to know!!!

Have I ever mentioned that I love the changes of the seasons? Oh man, how I do, but I also love the changes within the seasons. I love feeling the shift of the summer heat building from growing season, to harvesting season. I love the shift of the sun from July humid heat to scorching hot pinnacle of August heat. And I love how the sun says “hell yeah”, to getting it’s hot on in August, right before it tips over in to less hours in the sky, a bit more muting of it’s brightness and more of a slow slide towards a fall rest and slumber. Giving myself shivers with the thought of it all!!

As a native Ross County resident, returned, it is the fair that really is the turning point of the Summer season, sending the whole warming experience off with a bang, then gearing you up for the start of school, and a return to “normalcy”. I love this transition as much as I love the changes of the sun, and I love that they work in tandem. You know what I love even more? The fact that I am closing in on having no association with either, and yet they will still make me excited for both, and what they signify seasonally.

No, I have not had a personal association with the Ross County fair for a very long time, and my kids have not had a fair association for a long time either, but I still love fair time and what it means for so many people and our community. Before too long, I won’t have any association with k-12 schooling, but I will still be excited for the new school year, and all of the excitement it brings for my friends and family. Maybe this makes me a small minded person, but I feel that the possibilities of each student is a full brimming cup for them to sip and gain knowledge from. That is also how I feel about the sun and it’s seasonal changes. So many things to discover and experience in the transitions.

Maybe I am maudlin because Avery left early this morning to head back to Miami. Maybe I am reflecting because the sun is in the sky, changing. Maybe I am happy because the fair is about to occur and that brings a lot of joy to so many people. All I know is that changes and season occur with, or without us and our consent, much like all of life. We can either embrace those things, relish in them, find the joy and bounty of it all, or we can be resistant and stuck, joyless and bitter. Heck with it, let’s celebrate, let’s embrace and revel in it all, let’s let go and live for the changes, are you with me?

Drop me a line, let me know where you are with all of this, I would love to know!

Well peeps, we only have 15 days after today. Obviously we will start another countdown when this one ends, but the point was to make the most of our summer, to savor each day, each minute, each moment. I can honestly say this summer has been illuminating in many ways, but one thing is for certain, my children are growing up in to amazing women, and I sure as hell will take full credit for that. I went about their upbringing with intention, purpose and dedicated, unwavering laser like focus. I love to watch them shine, it doesn’t dull mine, it reflects on me and makes me radiate a bit more. They are not them because of me, they are them because they have, and are learning to be themselves! They are amazing, and oh, how I love them so!

Many of us didn’t grow up with parents that were concerned with us shining, and maybe we even had parents that dulled our shine, but I have no doubt they all did their best and what they felt was right. I can honestly say I have made the best decisions I could, even when I knew that it wasn’t the best choice, but the best decision given the choices I had. I think most parents are that way, unless they are trapped in their own childhood traumas and emotions, and then you get a lot of things that hinder your shine, which is still okay because you can make decisions to let that go, if you know about it and want to let it go. You can figure out and learn to shine, all on your own, if you want to!

A large part of life is overcoming things, and dullness to our shine is one of them. Becoming who you choose to become, is another. As a parent, it is our job to care for, and to guide our offspring. Our job is not to place parameters or expectations on our adult children. Once our kids are grown and self sufficient, we have to let go, we have to watch our babies fly, and if we are fortunate, they come back to the nest and visit us. If your kids are not returning, you need to look in the mirror, odds are the answers are there. Maybe you can deal with yourself and your own stuff, and that could open a window in which your kids can attempt to talk to you, and if you think your kids are difficult, well then they probably learned that from you, or maybe it just is you. I digress, but it all goes along with shining.

I long to watch my kids soar, their happiness expands my own, their suffering becomes my own. This is not to say my happiness or unhappiness is directly connected to my kids, no. This is to say that I love these people more than life itself, more than anything else on this earth, and if they need my love and support, I will be here to give it. I have empathy for what plagues them, but I will also be the one yelling loudest, cheering hardest, laughing the most with them, celebrating wildest when they succeed, win, or learn to make themselves better, shinier. I will have my rag in hand, polishing to see them gleam and shine even brighter. I love them, and want nothing to dull their shine.

You can dull someone’s shine, or you can be the polisher of shine. If you are caught up in yourself, your own life, or your own trauma, you are just the duller, you are probably the shadow hanging over whatever they may be doing for themselves. Get out of the way, and dull your own shine. This world is full of dull folks, just check the internet, won’t be hard to find them. OR, figure out why you are dull and why you dull others. At minimum, contain your dull to your own shine, some of us want to be as bright as the sun and shadows need not apply.

So, take stock, are you a shadow, a shiner, a dull one, or do you even know? Listen to what people tell you. Stop being defensive and ask if you dull or polish the shine. Be accepting of the answers, then learn to be your own shine, no one else can do it for you…but a shining person can polish others. Drop me a line, let me know if you had to overcome a dull mentality, or if someone helped polish your shine. I would truly love to know!

Are you in alignment with your soul? Completely? This seems like a task that may not be possible to accomplish, but I think it is. I am not currently in complete alignment with my soul, but I know what I need to do to accomplish greater alignment. Am I doing it? No, but I will be taking small steps leading to greater leaps to get there. Did I go backwards? Not at all. I just placed importance on things that cause me soul misalignment. Showing myself grace in these things will help me release what doesn’t serve or help me.

Tell me, are you in alignment with your soul? Do you need some adjustments or a tune up? Perhaps you are firing on all cylinders, and absolutely are in alignment? Drop me a line, let me know what you think and how you feel about this, I would love to know.

You are, exactly as you are, where you are, as you are meant to be.

This is your Sunday reminder that each week is a fresh start. Each day is a new opportunity. Your journey is unique to you, and you have more say than you think. Make the best of it, people!

As we approach back to school time, we also approach homecoming time, and that equals dress time!! I enjoy going dress shopping with Brooke, you can always tell which dress is the one by her posture, the look on her face, the excitement radiating from her, and how she kind of hugs herself in the dress. It is a joyful thing to watch!

As you can see, this isn’t the one. The one was actually the second dress she tried on, the same one she saw online, then in the window when we pulled up, the first dress she saw in the store. You know, the one?? She looks amazing in the one, and I can’t wait to see her in it in October!

What did you do today? Did you enjoy it? Did it give you something to look forward to? Drop me a line, I’d love to know!

This week marks the end of Avery’s 10 week internship, and to celebrate her project presentation today, we are having a charcuterie board of goodies! There might be wine involved, we may have left overs, but we will have a yummy time. Let the the snackin’ begin!

Do you enjoy charcuterie fare? What is your favorite thing on the board? Personally, I always like to have chocolate on mine. This was such a nice treat for Ave(and me), but boy am I glad we don’t do this often! Tell me, have you put together your own charcuterie board, or had one already made, and which did you prefer? Drop me a line, I would love to know!

Just your daily reminder that life stops for no one. We either make the best of it, or we succumb to the tragedy of it all. If you are going to make it, make it great!