Since he and I rarely get any time to do anything just the two of us these days, I invited him out on a lunch date at our favorite Chinese buffet. When we got back Fresh Air and PDD came in (PDD had spent the night over at Fresh Air’s house last night) so I seized the opportunity to have Fresh Air take a picture of me and Oldest Son (also a rarity!) He never smiles openly in pictures these days because he’s got major issues with his teeth, but at least he doesn’t look like he’s pissed at the world. And I’m not going to be a choosy beggar – he agreed readily to the picture and that’s blessing enough for me!

(Have you visited my site lately? I've redecorated - come see!)

Chinese Lunch Date with Oldest Son

So, we’re gonna shut that little heffer up. How? Ha! By participating in July without SAYING I’m going to post every day about food for 31 days straight. Try a little reverse psychology on her butt…huh? Yeah, that’s the plan.

~

In other news, I HAVE MISSED YOU ALL!!! But I have good reason to be away so long: I’ve been BUSY with a capital B!

Last post, I told you all I’d been asked to write for another site. Well, not only did I accept, but I also mentioned that I had a few tips for her regarding her site (just a few tweaks here and there) and she ended up hiring me to take over the programming on her site, too! So BOTH Suzannes get to work with Yasmin at APOOO (A Place Of Our Own) Bookclub!! She asked me (the coach) to write the Motivational Monday column each week, and my first piece is up today: Every Ending Is Also a Beginning. Come by and have a look if you have the time. I’ll be there every Monday, and if you like to read and want an insider tip… Subscribe to the APOOO feed! All kinds of goodies are going to be coming to her feed subscribers, so don’t miss out! Shhhh…you didn’t hear that from me. LOL

~

Here at home, this is what we USED to have to help us deal with the crazy Oklahoma heat. (Let’s not discuss how this picture got taken by Oldest Son standing atop the 1-1/2 story insulated steel building in the backyard…no…we’ll overlook that, because it’s really such a great shot.) This is the reason I bought this house, as opposed to the myriad others I looked at. This pool saved lives and kept me out of jail, trust me.

But then comes a house fire, a year of abject poverty recovering from that and then the ice storm of December 2007, and this is what we have staring back at us when we go out the back door. In addition, you can’t see that a limb came out of the tree and broke the pump in half – literally, and the state of the filter is yet undetermined. All told, probably a $grand$ to get it back looking like the picture above.

So…..

This is our temporary, one-summer solution. LOL Yes, we’ve gone from an 18-ft by 27ft, 4ft deep oval to an 8ft by 30 inch deep circle. Quite the come-uppance for this household, I assure you. But like I told PDD, which would you rather? I spend $50 and provide you a way to get wet or save my $50 toward fixing the big pool while you sweat all through August? Suddenly, our wannabe pool will do. (Funny how that works, huh?)

~

As we wrap up the very eventful month of June here at the Suzanne Says… household, I want to tell you I am working to get my act together and not leave you hanging weeks at a time from now on. I’m sure you bloggers out there identify with this – sometimes life moves at such a pace that just keeping up with it is a trick, much less documenting it on your blog! But what I miss when I call myself too busy to come talk to you all here is a lot: my sanity, in part; talking things out with you all here helps me sort out what’s true for me, and knowing that is essential to leading a happy life, and I like my happy life and want to keep it that way!

So I may disappear for a few days, but I’m just like a boomerang – I’ll always be back!

(Have you visited my site lately? I've redecorated - come see!)

Busy With a Capital B!

Nitey nite – more details soon – I promise!

(Have you visited my site lately? I've redecorated - come see!)

A First!

PDD has been friends with this particular girl for awhile now. She’s only 6 months younger than Second Son, but she is the youngest of her family (like PDD) and when she’s with PDD, she’s finally older than somebody in her world. LOL She’s had a crush on Second Son for as long as I’ve known her (they moved into the neighborhood about 2 1/2 years ago – a few months before our fire) and I’m sure that hangin’ with PDD also gave her a better ‘view’. To her credit, she really does spend time with and pay attention to PDD, so it’s not a case of ‘putting up with’ PDD to be around Second Son.

When Second Son spent the week at University of Tulsa (6/9-6/13), she pretty much spent the week over here with PDD. We did ‘girl stuff’ that week and celebrated the absence of testosterone in the house. We watched chick flicks and one evening, she flat-ironed PDD’s hair (PDD just LOVES straight hair, of course, since hers is so dang curly) and we put a perm in my hair.

Given the situation Second Son may have gotten himself into with another girl (when I can write coherently about it, I’ll fill you all in), this girl is impressing me with a maturity not often seen in girls her age – hell, girls ANY age! She’s got a strong sense of self and I really like that. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I’m happy she and PDD are such good friends – PDD could use a good example of that in her life, particularly in one of her peers.

Another great asset this girl has, as far as I’m concerned, is she still is very much a kid. She loves to goof around and take pictures with PDD making crazy faces and is not at all embarrassed by her hair being messed up. See? Strong sense of self. Love it! She’s a much needed breath of fresh air around here, so that’s what I’ll call her around here: Fresh Air.

(Have you visited my site lately? I've redecorated - come see!)

A Breath of Fresh Air

Try not to be jealous, folks!

(Have you visited my site lately? I've redecorated - come see!)

Date With a Hottie

PDD attended Vacation Bible School with Baby Sis and Baby Nephew this week. There were 948 kids, 37 leaders, 267 volunteers (of which Baby Sis was one), and 177 teen helpers in attendance this year.

Uhhh…yeah… A big ol’ honkin’ VBS! Certainly the biggest I’ve ever witnessed!

PDD was a bit leery upon arriving the first morning. She’s not one to feel at home in a crowd of new faces, but fortunately, her teacher took a shine to her and made her aware right away that they shared the same last name, so it must be that they were ‘meant to be together at VBS’. As you can see, she was feeling quite at home with her new friends by the wrap-up program this evening.

(Have you visited my site lately? I've redecorated - come see!)

PDD Feeling at Home at VBS

These two women have known me for years and have loved me through all kinds of self-created hell. They cheer me on and encourage me. They accept me not only for who I am, but who I am becoming, and I love them right back!

(Have you visited my site lately? I've redecorated - come see!)

Home Is Who Loves Me

Did anyone bake me a cake? Nope.

Did anyone throw me a party? Nope.

Did I get any presents to open? Nope.

Did anyone cook me dinner or take me out? Nope.

So, you might be wondering, with all this ‘missing’ birthday stuff, how come today was so grand?

The day started off with flashing clocks (power outage sometime in the wee hours) and lurching awake with the phone ringing (Baby Sis in her car in front of the house trying to pick up PDD for the first day of Bible school.) It was 8:20, PDD was sawing logs and I had 30 minutes to get her up, dressed and transported across town and then 10 minutes to get back home for my first appointment of the day. AAACCCKKK! I sent Baby Sis on, and yanked PDD into her clothes, grabbed the cell phone and scurried her to the car. Through pouring rain and a driver’s-side windshield wiper on strike, we took off for the church.

We made it just in time, and I did my first appointment via cell phone on the drive back. That appointment is where the day made it’s U-turn.

Some people don’t quite understand my coaching practice – they’re not sure what exactly coaching is all about, unless you’re talking about sports. Their eyebrows knit even more tightly together when I talk about my coach. You’re a coach and you have a coach??!! Uhhh…why?

Well, my mom would tell you that I am someone who has to have the answer to my question figured out before I’m willing to even ask the question. But you know what? That’s a hard way to live. And I’m not willing to do it anymore. I have a coach for the same reasons people hire me to be their coach: to have someone whose investment in me and my life is not clouded by any emotional attachment to who they need me to be or any self-serving hidden agenda. I have someone in my corner focused on me and what I want. I have help sorting out fact from fiction and unconditional support as I discover and create the life I really want to live.

And THAT is exactly what is happening in my life today.

I have new clients in both of my businesses who value me and the difference I am making in their lives. Some of those new clients are becoming trusted and valued friends, people I feel blessed to have joined me on my path. Nancy sent me the nicest surprise via an e-card today, and Andrea and I worked out a mutually beneficial trade of skills and talents, knowing that each of us ‘has the other’s back’ and are truly making a real and tangible difference in each other’s lives. Christa and I have so much in common, it’s no surprise our paths crossed, and while yes, I am building her website, I feel honored to help her bring her contribution to the world because what she’s doing will resonate with and make a difference for so many people.

And all of this is happening because I’m giving myself permission to be ‘me’. I am saying ‘no’ to what doesn’t fit for me any longer, no matter who thinks what, and I am saying ‘yes’ to the possibilities that consistently pop up in front of me.

Happy FANTASTIC Birthday to me!

(Have you visited my site lately? I've redecorated - come see!)

Fantastic (forty) Four

No. Of course not.

But I did get some nice pictures of flowers which you’ll be seeing over the next few days. A shot of Dad and I is not the only shot I missed, either.

Get this: Pepper climbed the Mimosa tree to chase after the stray cat Mom & Dad have adopted and named Moondust! Yeah! the freakin’ dog was clean up in the tree! It was one of those moments that makes you think you should just live life with the camera on and ready at all times. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d have never believed it! But trust me, this idiot dog was way above my head. Of course, by the time I got the camera turned on and pointed her direction, she realized, “Oh shit! I’m in a tree!” and jumped back down again. Truly hilarious. The cat pretty much stays treed when we’re out there, poor thing.

Now, you know how ‘they’ say everything’s bigger in Texas? Well, I’m here to tell ya – there are some big things in Oklahoma. Mom says I’ve got these suckers at my house, that she’s seen them on my deck out back, but this is news to me. Check out these honkin’ big carpenter ants!

This is ‘life size’ too. I shit you not. These suckers are at least half an inch long, and truly could carry off not only your picnic, but your basket, too! In the ant world, these guys must be like Andre the Giant’s family or something.

So, ok, maybe I live under a rock. Maybe I spend too much time in my office and not enough outside paying attention – but still, I was pretty impressed by the size of these ants. (Not surprisingly, people are always telling me how easily entertained I can be.)

(Have you visited my site lately? I've redecorated - come see!)

Big Ants Making Themselves at Home

PDD had to feed her horses on BellaSara.com (amazing she remembers to do that but Pepper, our dog, has a hard time getting fed.) While she was sitting there, she actually asked me if she could close the window because the breeze coming in made her chilly. I told her to go put a sweatshirt on!

Yesterday’s rain gave way to sunny skies and cool breezes this morning. It was a perfect weather day today until after dinner time when it got a little muggy again. At 11:30pm, it’s 78 degrees, but the breeze is still with us, so it’s not too bad.

We here in Oklahoma have to make a big deal out of and celebrate days like this – we don’t get them very often in the summer time. So forgive my profuse goings on about the weather, please.

(Have you visited my site lately? I've redecorated - come see!)

Here Comes The Sun!