I've Got The Funk, Buxom Blonde Causes Cave In and The Island of Happiness

So, I've got the funk, or rather I had it. Not the good time Parliament or Funkadelic hip shakin', groove makin' Funk. No, I had the swampy, low down, feeling so tired and melancholy Funk. Fer no good reason, boy howdy! So, I have not been posting as I thought I might before my vacation. See, I am about to take a vacation - so what the heck am I blue about? Maybe I got the Februaries, or short-timers. Let's just say, I aint feelin' justified but, I was still feeling funky.
AND THEN...
The sun was out again yesterday, a February tease in the Northwest, just before the Daphne blooms, a hint of magic yet to come, waiting for the Crocus Pocus to arrive. The first day in the yard. Gloves on, snippers at the ready, my girl singing and digging in pink cowgirl boots and sunshine. Zen like labor for an hour or two and then such a satisfying moment of back cracking stretch and surveillance. It's an annual ritual to be followed by other rites of season. Oh, that blessed vitamin D, you do go to my head. I love the dirty nails and attention to bandaiding a blister, a feeling of accomplishment and peace with battle scars.


Speaking of rites of passage (insert awkward segue here):
As a parent you can't help but anticipate future scenarios but, for the most part you try to be in the now, live the present phase and not get too far ahead of yourself. Sometimes things just happen, sneak up on you - finding you ill prepared and stumbling. My daughter just received her first blond bombshell doll, you know the one I mean without naming names. She isn't even 4 quite yet and she was obsessed. Other little girls in her preschool were bringing them for sharing time and I watched my girl hover and be awe struck, as if she had found the Holy Grail. Then she talked about it on and on. I wasn't ready but, I caved in. She had to earn this doll, wow what motivation! I knew if I withheld this doll of glory from her, it would become more powerful in it's lure. I had them as a kid so I'm not sure what my big problem is with them - giant corporate greed, unrealistic beauty themes, manipulative marketing, cheap plastic gobby gook - perhaps. At least they have scaled back the torpedo bosom a little. My daughter is now at school happily and proudly sharing her doll. I am still a little uneasy with the whole business, I can't wait for the teenage years!


Now, I bid you all adieu for a wee bit. Yes, that vacation I mentioned. My husband and I are off to the Island of Happiness, better known as Maui. We have been saving and planning for a while now. We have never taken a vacation destination trip together. It's a pretty big deal for us. My husband has never been to the islands, I lived on Maui as a kid but, I haven't been back since. I have been to a couple of the other islands but, it has been 8 years since my last trip to the Big Island of Hawaii and that was no vacation. That last trip was a surreal and stressful journey to claim my father's body and deal with his unfinished business. This is going to be a real relaxation vacation. My brilliant mother-in-law, fancynancyjane will be watching over the bean here at home. The longest we have been away from our girl is one night, so this is going to be a kid free free for all. Whatever that means. May you all be happy, healthy and blissfully blogging on until I post again.
Aloha