Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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Friday 5 at the Farm: dreams last night

My hands smell like oregano and my hair smells like sunshine, in the little kid-who’s-played-outside-all-day way. And it’s not quite 10 am. Today and tomorrow, no running. Just fun with friends and loved ones, fellow runners and amazing supporters who have no clue how deeply their love is felt and appreciated. I really can’t sit still. Here are some dreams I had last night…

I dreamed that oregano was growing everywhere, prolifically. In every crevice of the farm, in every parking lot in Oklahoma City, every field around the world. Every where I went in my dream, I inhaled its peppery savory scent, and those tiny green leaves fringed every sight.

I dreamed that it was race day. Handsome and I were standing in the rain, watching thick, violent bands of lightning split apart the black sky above the Devon tower, wondering where everyone was. Wondering why it was 10:30 a.m. and no one had started the race yet. Then I realized in that awful dreamy awareness that I had gone to the wrong spot downtown and missed the entire thing. I woke up at 3:24 panting.

I dreamed that my oldest daughter was nine again and cuddled next to me in my bed. She was shining those pretty brown eyes at me, asking me for breakfast. My best friend’s beautiful daughter is turning ten this weekend, I am sure this has to do with it.

I dreamed I was wearing a cobalt blue embroidered Mexican dress. It was quite fetching but stiff, starched. The backside of the embroidered flowers cut my skin.

I dreamed I was swimming in salty, shallow water, sunshine pressing down on me hard like a weight. Handsome was watching me from the beach. I swam too far into the deep, came back, swam too far again. The water slowly lost its color was eventually as clear as glass, no blue. No salt. Just light and wet.

I have no idea what these dreams mean, if anything. I do know that I woke up having to pee so bad I barely made it the fifteen feet across our carpeted floor to the master bathroom. And after I finished my coffee this morning I filled my slow cooker with boneless chicken breasts and a big heap of fresh oregano from my herb garden, threw in some sea salt and minced garlic, and wished it well. Is oregano the new basil? Possibly.

 

Bright, warm sun, a ticklish breeze, and simple white clouds. Perfect.
Bright, warm sun, a ticklish breeze, and simple white clouds. Perfect.

 

It’s just after ten now, and M is on her way to the farm. We have yoga planned. Then a day at the Memorial Marathon Expo and waking around the Festival of the Arts in downtown Oklahoma City. We have the best friends in the world. Fingers crossed that the weather stays as drop-dead-gorgeous as it is right now! Hugs to everyone running this Sunday!

XOXOXOXO

 

 

Friday 5 at the Farm: Accidental Collecting

You guys. I have some pretty serious posts in draft, being edited by my ten-four-good-buddy M and polished by Love because it is sensitive material.

But today is also Friday. Handsome and I have worked ourselves down to the marrow this week and have one more day of such exertion on the books before launching a drop-dead gorgeous Oklahoma weekend and some equally intense romancing.

So before those serious posts come your way, how about a quick Friday 5? Here are five accidental collections we have made at the farm.

  1. Rust old milk cans
  2. Heavy cotton, mid-century tablecloths
  3. Books
  4. Lawn furniture that does not match but is awesome
  5. Llamas

 

rom diddly

llama romance

skinny dulcie

llamas guarding honey

 

And you know what else? I have a feeling we will soon be adding a fourth. Place your bets here. Again. Just like last spring.

What have you accidentally collected?

Work hard today, friends. And please have yourself an amazing weekend! Tune in soon for stories from my father in law about the Oklahoma City Bombing, the reason behind running the marathon.

“Well done is better than well said.”
~Benjamin Franklin
XOXOXOXO

Friday 5 at the Farm: Bring on the Weekend!

Do you know that feeling where you have a busy day starting any second now, and perhaps you are budgeting your minutes so carefully, and then all of a sudden you realize you don’t have to wash your hair? That is is clean and straight enough and maybe doesn’t even need to be brushed before this day gets going? I know. I love that feeling! Especially when it happens on a Friday. In fact, that feeling is why I have time to jam out this little blog post before my awesome day gets started.

 

 

Friday 5 at the Farm: Bring on the Weekend!

  • Today I am subbing at my favorite local school. And it’s jeans day. And my jeans are clean. And they fit my hips straight out of the hot dryer. BAM. Three cheers for running and not eating bread after lunchtime!
  • Tonight our world famous Oklahoma book club meets to discuss White Oleander. I love book club no matter what we’ve read, but tonight is special because we are gathering at the farm (I adore filling our rooms with these girls); we all have a lot going on in life right now and the hugs are vital; and we are discussing a book that no one else seemed to like much. I am one of only two people both locally and on Goodreads who have given it 5 enthusiastic stars, and I really can’t wait to find out why. Plus, I have a couple of games planned. *wink*

white oleander table setting 1

  • This weekend I have a 20 mile run planned. After one more next week,  maybe 20 and maybe 15, I will be tapering for the marathon. Excited? So much. Ask Handsome and our sweet friend Marci. They have put up with my running-blabber-mouthing the most.
  • We may or may not have a top secret overnight guest coming to the farm this weekend. If I told you who, I’d have to kill you. Not really, but go ahead and be jealous. And? The Apartment is already clean, fresh sheets and empty drawers and a shiny sink and everything. My messy sewing table doesn’t count, okay mystery guest? Obviously.
  • The gardens are doing so great you guys! The fruit trees and shrubs, the perennials and flowering bulbs, the herbs, the earliest veggies… Everything is thriving happily in these warm days and cool nights. The compost is even gorgeous. It’s almost too easy this year.

 

So that is a boiled down list of why I am so excited for Friday! Even more joy and reward is simmering beneath the surface. What beautiful things are happening in your neck of the woods? Why are you doing cartwheels and screaming TGIF?

 

“Who, being loved, is poor?”

~Oscar Wilde

XOXOXOXO

Friday 5 at the Farm: Cats & Llamas

Happy Friday!! Whew. I have to say, this has been a drop dead gorgeous week here at the Lazy W. The weather has been amazing. We have  been cleaning forgotten closets and burning off piles of fallen limbs. Running some, reading some, visiting with friends and loved ones, gardening, romancing… This first week of spring has been divine. And to cap it off I’d like to offer an installment of “Friday 5 at the Farm: Cats & Llamas.”

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Have you ever found yourself wondering what llamas and cats have in common? I’m here to help. We happen to have four cats and three llamas, and we study them with great acuity. By that I mean we sometimes notice stuff. And let me tell you, cats and llamas are basically the same animal.

 

Save the drama for your llama. Or your cat. I don't want it.
Save the drama for your llama. Or your cat. I don’t want it.

 

Proof That Cats & Llamas are the Same Animal

  1. Both are extremely territorial. You have no idea. They know who belongs in the area and who doesn’t, and they are not bashful about dividing the two. While a cat may hiss at an intruder, a llama will spit. Neither is happy about sharing her territory with an intruder, especially if said intruder is a chihuahua. (This happens here at the W much more than I have shared with you guys.)
  2. You can only touch them on their terms, and this includes leashes. Only very special llamas will be led on a halter (Dulcinea and Seraphine recently joined this club, but they only attend the meetings sometimes), and I dare you to put your cat on a leash and take him for a walk. Even short of that, though, both cats and llamas are extra fussy about when and how they are petted. Usually they prefer to do the petting themselves, against you, instead of the other way around. Usually. Again, this is not your call. Your wishes are not part of this equation.
  3. They are oddly discreet about their bathroom business. They only “go” in certain areas, making manure collection a breeze. I only collect llama manure, to be clear. To my knowledge cats still bury theirs. Though I would LOVE to see a llama do this. Anyway, discreet. Fussy. Both llamas and cats are these things.
  4. They fight with their front hands. You’ve seen a cat get into a vicious slap fight, right? Well, llamas do this, too, but instead of stiletto claws they use their giant, butcher knife-sharp hooves. It. Is. Terrifying. Also, both creatures pin their ears back and bulge out their eyes when they fight. Not pretty.
  5. You will never touch anything softer than a cat belly or a llama neck. Period. And amen. Of course, refer to #2 to get an idea of how special it is to touch either, right? So when it happens, soak it up. You’re cuddling a four-legged angel.

 

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Now you know!* Llamas are basically taller, more stretched out cats, with short, fluffy tails and slightly more astonishment in their faces than arrogance. Or perhaps cats are just more petite, shorter necked llamas with far less social awareness. Exactly the same animal, really.

Now on to a glorious weekend. I hope yours is filled with some of your favorite things plus at least one fantastic surprise! I am about to go run my heart out into the cotton candy sunrise, giving thanks for so many blessings this week and so much renewed energy. Life is just too beautiful sometimes.

*And knowing is half the battle.

XOXOXOXO

 

 

Friday 5 at the Farm: Birthday Lessons

Happy Friday!! This is a special Friday for yours truly, and I do not mind indulging in a little extra dose of fun. This is officially the last Friday of my thirties. Wahoo!! Tomorrow I will turn the big four-oh, a fact that is oddly thrilling and not stressful in the least. Tonight Handsome is throwing me a surprise party, and I am really really really excited. (Don’t ask me how I know about it.)

Around the Lazy W, we have lots of wonderful birthday traditions. Among them is asking the birthday person what he or she has learned this past year. Okay, only I make people suffer through this, but I just love to hear how people have grown in a year’s time.

Last year for my 39th birthday I loaded you all down with thirty nine pieces of unsolicited advice. And you were such great sports about it!! I had a blast writing all of that and appreciate everyone’s comments and love.

Unsolicited Birthday Advice 2013, #1-14

Unsolicited Birthday Advice 2013, #15-23

Unsolicited Birthday Advice 2013, #24-39

This year, I will spare you an additional forty pieces of advice and just tell you a quick five things I have learned this past year. This will serve as our Friday 5 at the Farm for my 40th birthday week:

  1. Carpe Diem is important. It means taking life one day at a time, seeing each day for the unique opportunities it brings, and making the most of it all. It means not looking back for too long nor ahead. It means being present both mentally and physically. And it makes life much, much better.
  2. Grief is a powerful force, and it is different for every person. So it’s cruelly unfair to measure love by how we express grief outwardly. And while there are lots of normal ways to grieve, some of those can be terribly destructive and hurtful to others. I guess what I’m saying is that the lesson to judge not certainly carries into this necessary chapter of life.
  3. Exercise is as good for your spirit as it is for your body, maybe even better. You really really must find some kind of physical activity that you LOVE and thoroughly enjoy to the point of craving it, then make it a part of your regular weekly routine. It’s vital. It will work magic in your life.
  4. Miracles are still very real, and prayers can be answered suddenly, in bizarre and unexpected ways. Never give up on a good hope. Trust that your prayers are already answered, even if you have yet to see the “proof.” Be patient. Allow life to surprise you with how good it is!
  5. As cliche as it sounds, life really does get better and better, despite inevitable heartache and difficulty. So does romance. And feeling comfortable in your skin is a real phenomenon that does a world of good for women, and I wish I could tell my twenty year old self all about it.

 

Life is beautiful! Treat it with that expectation. xoxo
Life is beautiful! Treat it with that expectation. xoxo

 

That’s about it! Whether your birthday is soon or not, what have you learned this past year? I would absolutely love you for sharing it in the comments!

Now… I am off to get dressed for this surprise party Handsome is throwing. I am one lucky girl.

Carpe Diem. Especially Your Fortieth Birthday.

XOXOXOXO