Celebrating Mother's Day

I had a nice weekend. On Saturday we drove into the foothills for a friend's party. He has a beautiful piece of land with a pond and a creek running right next to his house. It was a beautiful day connecting with friends and I'm feeling blessed to have so many sweet people in my life.

Tara.
Budai, Hotei, or otherwise known as "The Laughing Buddha" or "The Happy Buddha."
The Buddha
















My son called from Hawaii to make sure that the orchid plant he sent had arrived. It did, with 9 out of 11 buds intact. The first one blossomed on Mother's Day.
























This is Bllra, Tahoma Glacier, "Sugar Sweet." I have it sitting in the bay window in my parlor.

Wooden figurine in my bay window.
Dragonfly. One of my totem animals.
The bay window in my parlor. This is our sacred spot for dyad communication.

A dozen plus yellow roses from Jerry.
He gave me a single red rose on our very first date and now fourteen years later, he's still gifting me with flowers. I like having a sweet man in love with me.
My sweet Jerry playing with our granddaughter. She's put her pink sunglasses on him and thinks it's hilarious. This little girl loves to laugh.

My brother and his family came from out of town and we took my mom to lunch at one of our favorite childhood restaurants. Three of my kids and three grandkids showed up and all us moms were treated with flowers and gifts and hugs and all that good stuff.

My daughter-in-law came by with my granddaughter later in the afternoon. They had made me green tea chocolate chip cookies and homemade soap. My granddaughter and I eat all the cookies. Do you know how to say cookie in Japanese? I learned how today. Cookie. And there is no plural as in "cookies". It's just cookie, whether you are talking about one or a bunch. We eat a bunch. We eat all the cookie.

I'm appreciating everyone in my life--my mother, my kids, my husband, my family, my friends.

I've gone through some very difficult Mother's Days in the past. For many years I tended to depress myself on the holidays. It didn't matter which one, I always found a way to play the victim--to have someone that I loved "do me wrong." I've diligently worked to overcome this unbecoming habit. One by one, year after year, I learned to get through these special days without falling apart. Mother's Day proved to be the most difficult for me. I've mentioned before that I have lots of shame around my mothering and some big issues to overcome. Expectations can get the best of us.

I've come to understand my faulty thinking in that I need something other than what is. That is a dangerous trap, a mind game created by my "pain body" , that only brings me grief. Accepting what is not only brings peace, but also sanity. "What is" is reality. What I really need is to experience what's real in my life. I'm rather tired of losing myself in fantasy.

Today I give thanks for the ease of my relationships. These pictures reflect some of the love and beauty present in my life that I've experienced over the weekend.