Pay it Forward

So, now the ball is in our court...A couple of weekends ago we were strolling down the sidewalk at The District and decided to get some pizza at Balboa's. We'd hardly made it to getting our drinks and Cole was all over the place. We'd given up on dinning out with a two-year-old, but thought we'd take a chance and it was proving to be a bad idea. The place was busy with several other families dinning near us. When our waiter came to take our order we decided to get an appetizer to hold Cole over a bit. The waiter came back with our appetizer and said as he was leaving something about someone paying for us. We didn't really hear him so we carried on with our meal. When we asked for the check and the waiter said again, "really, someone already picked up your bill." "Who?" "The family that was behind you," he said.

Greg and I were taken back. "Really?" My back had been to the table the waiter had gestured to, so I asked Greg, "Who was sitting behind us? Did you know them?" Just as shocked Greg said, "No. I don't really remember too much about them. It was a family with two boys a few years older than Cole, an older man and a younger lady." We both just sat there for a moment with goofy smiles on our faces.

As we packed up our stuff and got ready to leave, I kept looking around for the secret do-gooders, but I had no idea who I was looking for. Greg and I felt special. Sounds corny, but we did. Nothing like this had ever happened to us and we felt special that someone had gone out of their way to do something nice for people they didn't even know. We wondered if they'd seen us struggling with Cole and remembered those days...and maybe that prompted them to do a kind deed...We both agreed we needed to pay the kind deed forward. We are still not sure what or when we will, but when the opportunity strikes we'll do it.

The Story Goes On
The following Monday when my co-workers asked how my weekend was I relayed the story and told them how cool it was. That evening my friend Cate was shopping at Fresh & Easy when one of the staff offered her a bouquet of flowers. It made her night and she told me that it reminded her of my experience that weekend.

See, so it really does pay to be kind. If you've had a "pay it forward" experience chime in. I'd love to hear...

No More Sun

Right about now every year, summer in Las Vegas gets a bit old. We are going into our third month of 100 degree temps and we're ready for a break. How 'bout you?

This morning we all got up at 5:30 a.m. so we could play outside for a while before it got too hot. After about a half hour Cole said, "no more sun, mommy." And I agreed, at 6:30 a.m. it was already getting way too hot.

My boss always says, "It's hot and then it's Christmas." That phrase always cracks me up, because while it may seem like an exaggeration, it is pretty close to the truth. We won't start dropping temp. until Oct.

So, here's to another Sat. afternoon staying cool in the a.c.

Stress is a nasty little thing

It creeps up on you when you aren't looking. On occasion it has even jumped me from behind. One time it came at me head on, I ran, but it caught up to me and wrestled me to the ground. And, that's just been this week.

Now that I feel somewhat in a sane place again, my rant seems a bit dramatic...but even tho it's Friday and I'm taking off the afternoon and going on a date tonight I can still feel its ugly grip waiting to take hold again.

This is why I've become anti-social. Really, when I'm home, I'm recovering or at least trying to. Sometimes being home throws me into another kind of stress...the why can't I keep up with the laundry, prepare a nice meal, play with my child more, pay attention to my dh kind of stress.

Alas, I found myself wishing I could escape this morning, go to the temple and have some quiet time, just me. I've planned some time in a little bit...so I'll just hang on till I get there.

The Perfect Smokey Eye

It always seems to happen when I'm trying to get out the door in the morning: Cole gets curious and creative.

Today, while I was making his PB&J for lunch, Cole was upstairs putting the finishing touches on his eye makeup. It was a all too quiet, so I went to the bottom of the stairs, with knife in hand, and yelled "What are you doing Cole? Come downstairs, it's time to go."

Cole came tromping down the stairs with a huge proud grin. I asked him if he'd been in my makeup and he smiled and made the motion of putting mascara on. He even screwed up his face a little (just like I do...well all women really..when they put on their mascara). I had to laugh.

So, I looked at the clock, realized that I was hopelessly going to be late again, put Cole up on the kitchen island, grabbed the wash cloth to wipe mascara off, but instead managed to smear it into his lash line and create the perfect smokey eye...on a two year old! What else could I do...so I grabbed my camera and snapped this pic. I tried to scrub a little more, but gave up and headed out the door.