Choice Words

~ Saturday ~

I am feeling a bit under the weather (Whatever that means...feeling less than sunshine-y? Definitely!) and am spending the weekend as a soccer mom. Game One of tournament play ended, at least officially, in a loss. The girls, however, played extraordinarily well. That is what matters. My daughter was in the game with maximum effort. Little girls, like butterflies, need no excuse.  ~Robert A. Heinlein  For lunch we shared conversation (my, she is really growing into a little lady) and laughs. She ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, while I enjoyed New Orleans Tilapia topped with shrimp. Fish on fish. Delicious. And I learned something new: according to Ally, Red Velvet Cupcakes taste better with sprinkles on the cream cheese frosting. I'll trust her judgment. I skipped dessert ~ sort of.  My treat involved a bit of shopping. I've been holding on to a gift card since Christmas.  Although the gift card remains in my purse, I did find a sweet deal on a pair of shoes.  New shoes on my feet = happiness.  Always.

*      *      *

Ally at Mizzou's Columns

Little girls are the nicest things that happen to people. They are born with a little bit of angelshine about them, and though it wears thin sometimes there is always enough left to lasso your heart. ~Alan Beck

Meanwhile, Daughter #1 was reveling over a successful turkey hunt.  Hers did not rival the 26-pounder that her little sister took during Youth Season (a fact that Ally will let no one forget...ever).  Nevertheless, it was a nice, beautiful bird and provided an apt dinner.

She's the one all the boys loved because she lit up the room, and she's the one all the girls hated for the very same reason.

~S. Brewer

What I wanted most for my daughter was that she be able to soar confidently in her own sky, whatever that may be.

~Helen Claes

It is a cool evening as I type this into my phone, to be e-mailed to Blogger for publishing. (I love technology!) This afternoon, between games, my daughter and I spent some time on the University of Missouri campus. It was a beautiful day on the Quadrangle. At the Columns, I saw a former first grade student, now a freshman in another school district. She hugged me and said, "I thought that was you!" I still remember what she wore on her first day of first grade. She is still as lovely.

*     *     *

~ Sunday ~

After a bright and early soccer game in semi-final play this morning, the spring soccer season has come to a close and I am preparing for a nap. As much as I'll enjoy the extra free nights to keep up with laundry and homework, I'll miss cheering from the sidelines. There is so much joy in celebrating the endeavors of your children.  The most important gift anyone can give a girl is a belief in her own power as an individual, her value without reference to gender, her respect as a person with potential. ~Emilie Buchwald

The week ahead, I hope, will be a productive one.  Daughter #1 is slowly bringing things home from her dorm room for the summer and preparing for her overseas adventures.  Daughter #2 awaits summer, church camp, and friendships that might [or might not] last a lifetime.  And Daughter #3 is counting down the days until kindergarten.  Time passes quickly by...which I hope proves true as I embark on this terminal degree.  One week to go...then years of study, research, and writing.  I am so very, very excited.  (!!!)

When you educate a man, you educate an individual, but when you educate a woman, you educate a nation.

~Johnetta B. Cole

If nothing else, my girls can say, "My mom did it.  So can I." 
xo, ~S.