44 and counting....

My brother Ronald called with a very lovely "Happy Birthday" song that made me a little weepy and longing for the time, when all my brothers and sister were around the kitchen table singing the song in person. As is the normal normal for my family, he then said... "So I"m thinking you are 42...43... no wait, You're 44 years old!" As if gravity hadn't already made me aware I was well into my 40's. It's comforting to know that some things....like my family's sense of humor, never changes. I've definitely entered the stage of life where we only celebrate the "big ones", which at this point are the increments of five, so I wasn't prepared to have such a fun birthday.

Anyone who really knows me, knows that food is my favorite form of fun, making it or eating, I just love food. I ate all day, no seriously ....... all day and it was all wonderful food and lots of fun with family. We started the day with Sunday Brunch at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. If you've never gone....go, it's totally worth the price. Given that I still only eat very small meals, it did take me over two hours to get a taste of 95% of the offerings. I'm a team player and so were Oscar, Justin, Suzanne, Winter and Elise, they sat patiently while I ate and then rested before the next round!

Otto and Mimi & Papi had decided to forego the Queen Mary brunch with us and  so we headed over to their place to visit for a bit. Upon arrival it quickly became apparent that some where along the line there was a mis-communication, my mother-in-law had made a very lovely (and very large) lunch for us! She made my favorite  Arroz con Camarones  (Shrimp & Rice) and a salad that she had obviously put a lot of time into, the problem was that I was full! Not a little full but the kind of full that happens after a Thanksgiving meal, the kind that requires you to lay down on the couch for a nap! I stalled the serving of the meal for about 30 minutes because she really is a good cook, she does Arroz con "anything" better than some great chefs I had the opportunity to sample.  Then I ate.... again... it was just to yummy to pass up! And there was a birthday cake... I cheated on this one, I asked Winter to "share" my piece... I had a bite and then Winter ate the rest. Made me kind of sad because it was good but I was max out on tummy space.

I finally got that badly needed nap while Oscar was driving us home from Long Beach and continued the nap on the couch for an hour. Then it was time for one last celebration. Earlier in the week, having no idea that I was going to have a full brunch AND a yummy lunch, my family made plans to come over for a pizza dinner. Richard, Flora, Sam and Papa Bob came by for Pizza and salad. Part of Richards gift this year was one of those DVD that give you all the cultural and news worthy happens during the year of your birth, which we watched while we ate dinner. At first I was excited.... then realized all the newsreel footage was in black & white! I'm that old! Apollo One was on the launch pad that year.... Insane. I'm actually that old, I"m actually 44 years old.... it's a whole generation. Sigh.

The house was empty of guests by 7:30, Oscar & I cleaned up the last of the dinner mess and figured we would relax and watch a movie together. The best gift of the day walked in my door around 8pm, Becca had driven 8 hours (8 hours from sac to LA? That's a whole different adventure that needs a post of it's own) to celebrate my birthday in person! Yes of course we had a little something to eat!?! She just spent hours in a car, gotta do the food thing, poor starving kid! The three of us ended up watching a funny movie, going to bed late but it was the perfect ending to a fantastic birthday celebration!

The only thing better than describing all this food fun would be pictures! Alas I was to busy eating all day to take any, so let your imagination run wild and I'll get some next year.... I'll be 45 and that's one of the "Big Ones", so the food should be awesome!

Shades of Lucille Ball

On Saturday Winter performed in her very first major dance recital, there were 100+ people watching their children perform. I love the little ones in their sparkly dance tutu's.

The video was taken with our camera and is fairly  low quality(we purchased the professional one and will post that in a few weeks) but it captures the fun Winter had doing her dance. It's dark for the first few moments because the house lights were down while they set the little dancers in their place. You hear the audience talking to the dancers and then you here Suzy & Winter exchange "I love You's", the really funny part was that after the audience started laughing, you can hear Winter laughing along with the audience.

After I watched this video a few times, it started to feel like I was watching an episode of "I Love Lucy". Remember how hard you laughed at those shows....... It's obvious that Winter will have fun no matter what she is doing.

Here's a refresher look at her last performance in Oct 2010 at a local Church Fiesta, she had only been in dance class a few months when she performed here.

 Hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

  

Catching up......

I realized today that once again I've let far to much time lapse between blog posts, I think 6 months could accurately be described as "far to much time"! So I logged in and read my post of 6 months ago and was pleasantly surprised that I've made so much progress since then.

I ditched the concept of having a word for this year and went with a saying... "Put your big girl panties on and deal with it". It fits my life and the choices or roads ahead of me, it really is a perfect saying for me.

So are you wondering what's next for Paige or are you just here to see what Winter Elizabeth is up to?

For me...

In my professional world, I've made a move back to Keller Williams but continue to work only with Buyer's. My new website will go live later this month so you can see all the cool things going on. I've also finally committed to a Broker Exam date in early October. It's time to stop talking the talk and walk the walk in this area so, "Yay Me!"

In my personal life, I'm going back to school. I always wanted to finish that AA degree and now I'm going to. My million excuses ran out this Fall so it's back to education I go. This year definitely has a "tie up all the loose ends" feeling to it.

A post with all the catch up info as my original intent but I've decided you will all catch on to the craziness that is Paige's World, if I just post more frequently. A quick snapshot so you aren't blind-sided when I do start posting... Jonathan is getting married October, 9th 2011 to Miss Elise Makowsky in San Diego, CA. Becca is graduating December 17th, 2011 from Sacramento State. Justin & Suzy are expecting a little sister for Winter Elizabeth on December 12th, 2011. Needless to say between family and profession... I'm going to be a busy busy lady for the next 6 months!

For Winter Elizabeth.....
She had her annual dance recital today and of course was the star of the show, no seriously it's not just a "YiaYia" thing. While standing outside and taking pictures, a lady walked by and said Winter was her favorite dancer of the whole show.  She was a wonderful blend of her dancing mother and social outgoing ham of a father. She was in her own little world up there, a video will be posted later...when I get it from Suzy's camera! Until then enjoy the pictures of her and her best buddy Eva... they had a great time!

A new year already....

I thought seriously about a 'word" that will summarize my desire for personal growth and illuminate my goals for 2011 and I haven't felt good about any of them yet. I've heard "Grace" is being used by one friend and  another is feeling the word "trust" move her... Even Becca girl has a word.... although I didn't ask to share it so I can't, I will say it has to do with a more positive outlook on life.

Thing is... I can't settle on a word and the only phrase that is even a close consideration is "life's not fair". Which appears at first glance to be very negative but not the way I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking along the lines of we all 'know' life isn't' fair, so what is the next best move? You know life's not fair and you just need to figure out how to make things work....

a work in progress I guess......