Day 94 of 365

On my way to and from town I saw tons of signs directing me to things that were happening today.

Gun show. Open House. Wine Tasting. Free Car Wash. Farmer's Market. Sign Recall Petition Here. Dozens and dozens of yard sale/garage sale signs.

I used to go to yard sales a lot. Mostly for books. I was looking for a cheap way to build my classroom library, and my daughter would tag along hoping to pick something up for herself. But then I stopped. I don't know why, but I just did. Then we only went to yard sales in Sun Valley when we had girls' weekend. But we haven't been to Sun Valley in a couple years, so we haven't been to any yard sales in a while. Honestly, in the past few years I've been so plagued with health issues I haven't had any interest in going to a yard sale, let alone leaving the house.

But every time I saw a yard sale sign today, I wondered why I'm not even considering stopping at one now. Maybe it's because I'm trying to get rid of our stuff we already have. Maybe it's because I know I don't need any more books. (We have an entire living room wall of bookshelves full of books.) I don't need any more fabric, or household items, or junk.

So after I dropped my daughter off I came straight home, skipped all yard sales, and went outside. I spent time doing what I consider to be more important than acquiring stuff. Watching the hummingbird bring more fluff for her nest. Watching the cat wander around. Checking out my flowers that are blooming.

And I watched a bee working hard in my oriental poppies. I'm not sure what the spider's role was, though. It doesn't matter since both of them are more interesting than a yard sale would have been today.

Day 93 of 365

It's been 23 years exactly.

23 years since our one and only child was born. It wasn't meant to be that way. We planned on having several kids, but things don't always work out as planned.

We tried for many years and wound up with nothing but two ectopic pregnancies that never made it past the first couple months. Then any chance to have more kids ended when I had to have a hysterectomy when I was 30. We briefly considered adoption, but my husband nixed that quickly. He had seen plenty of students in his high school classes who were adopted, struggling to find who they were and where they came from, that he had absolutely no interest in being part of that heartache.

So our one girl was all we would ever have. There's a perception that only children are spoiled. In one respect, that is true. But we learned early not to spoil her with "stuff". We never bought her a car, a cell phone, an ipod, or a computer. We spoiled her with experiences and opportunities. Museums, camps, trips and travel. Before she went to college, we had made sure she'd visited all 50 states. She's been on two cruises. She's driven on the beaches of Texas, swam in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. She's played in volleyball tournaments around Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. She's snorkeled in the waters of Alaska and hiked a volcano in Hawaii.

At 23 it's getting to the point where she'll start paying for her own experiences and opportunities. What we will continue to do, though, is make her feel special on her birthday. Special with a few presents, a good homemade barbecue dinner of her choosing (steak, grilled onions, garlic bread, and asparagus, baked potatoes, and salad). Special with a cake decorated by her mommer (me).

I didn't spend the amount of time I should in decorating it, but it'll do for the three of us. I'm taking what my horoscope said today to heart. "Don't beat yourself up for not being perfect!"

And kiddo, remember that for yourself too. Happy Birthday!

Exercise update: Today was 47 days in a row. I've been down with the flu all week so it's been difficult to exercise every day, but I did it. I cut back on the amount of time I usually bike, so the total biked this week was only a little over 15 miles.