It's FRIDAY - what will you do?

It's Friday, it's Friday, it's Friday. The entire weekend lay before us.

I will sleep until the sun is up instead of waking in the dark. I will take a couple of glorious, sweaty runs out of doors. I will play with the kids. I will have a date with my husband. The kids will have pizza and a movie with a sitter. I will get together with some girlfriends. I will slowly drink two cups of coffee while reading the Denver Post each morning. I may throw in a load or two of laundry. I may tidy the house a bit. I may stock the fridge for the upcoming week. We may go to the pool. I may drink a glass or two of wine. We may go to Cactus Jack's for the best burgers in Colorado. Connor will load his backpack for the first day of school. Quinn will try on her uniform for her first day of Pre-K with Ms. Summer. Connor will build Legos. Quinn will play babies and barbies. Neighbor kids will knock on the door and ask if the kids can play. Preston may mow the yard. We may light the firepit and enjoy smores. We may eat a home cooked Sunday meal OR we may get take out.

So, so many things are possible.

What will you do? Don't you wish just a tiny bit that you were part of the Barton 4? It's a pretty good place to be, especially on the weekends.

A little cushion, please.

Build cushion-room into your life. We should have a little cushion to put our feet up on at the end of a hard day, a little cushion on our backside for when we fall down with laughter and a little cushion for those we love.

Embrace the idea that a certain amount of failure is good and make allowances for it.

Fortunately, I married someone who gives me a ton of cushion. Giving people a little give is an incredible gift. Couldn't we all just use a little?

These are a few of my not so favorite things...

Untangling my ipod headphones

Mondays

grocery store tomatoes (vs garden tomatoes)

calories

meetings to discuss an upcoming meeting

whining

hangovers

blowdrying my hair

the shoulder strap on my handbag falling off my shoulder

bubble tea (it's just too weird)

Emails with a red !

chipped/chipping nail polish

traffic

mushy apples

lazy people that don't return their cart to the cart corral

scratchy sheets

dirty bathrooms

lima beans

"have-tos" that get in the way of my "want-tos"

I'm gonna be a Superstar

When you ask our children what they want to be when they grow up, Connor's answer is pretty typical (completely unattainable, but typical). He replies, "Professional soccer player, lego builder, army guy (uh, over my dead body. I'd rather buy him a motorcycle.), or insert new interest/hobby.

Quinn's reply is succinct and always the same, Superstar. For those of you that know her, this reply should come as no surprise.

And, here's our little Superstar...

I'm a glutton...

Is it more gluttonous to:

Take a bite of dark chocolate, 2 sips of wine, bite of dark chocolate, 2 sips of wine...(you get the idea)


OR


Take a sip of wine, 2 bites of dark chocolate, take a sip of wine, 2 bites of dark chocolate...

These are the things that keep me up at night.

Oh, and by the way, if I were to do it right - I'd be gluttonous with these:

Car Talk

I have some of my best conversation memories with the kids when we are in the car. I'm usually driving along, listening to music and one of the kids brings up a topic that almost has me swerving into oncoming traffic. (Not because I want to end it all, simply because I'm so thrown by what they've just said.)

The other day was one of those moments. Connor and Quinn were talking about having hair on their arms and Connor said, "Dad has a lot more hair on his arms than I do." I replied, "Yeah, well when you are a man you'll have more hair on your arms than you do now."

He thought about this and then said, "Mom, I never want to grow up and move out. I want to live with you forever." "Oh honey, you'll definitely want to move out someday and start the next phase of your life," I said with a tear in my eye picturing him moving out and not being able to check on him each night.

Then, like the true independent child she is Quinn said, "Yeah, well I'm going to move out when I'm five. I'm getting an apartment."

I just hope it's nice, because she has really high standards.

Things that make me happy

Fridays

Hitting the 5 mile mark during a run

Quinn in a swimsuit

Freshly painting fingers and toes

Red wine, dark chocolate, a good book and sleeping kiddos

Connor's lego creations

Christmas morning santa discovery with coffee at the Bartons

Waking up on the farm

Preston's grilling materpieces

ladies night

learning something new about a loved one

buying gifts

many feet under my dinner table, with excellent conversation above

a great handbag

Happy Friday to you all!