Once Upon a Time...

As a former junior high English teacher, I have a fondness for the written word, particularly quality children's literature. It seems that many of life's most valuable lessons are so eloquently and succinctly shared on the pages of children's books. That's why I was so thrilled to stumble upon Amy Gash's What the Dormouse Said: Lessons for Grown-ups from Children's Books. It's a true treasure, and I refer to it often. As Amy writes, "The ability to get to the essence in just a few lines, as authors for young people with short attention spans must do, is the mark of a gifted writer for an audience of any age."

With the birth of my "bonus baby" a little more than three years ago, I have had the pleasure of rediscovering some of my favorite children's books along with uncovering some new tales with my older two. I truly enjoy reading these books and discovering wonderful nuggets of wisdom. I'm planning on sharing some of those insightful gems in this blog, especially when I find one that perfectly fits with whatever meandering musing I might be blogging about.

Children's author Judith Viorst summed up my thoughts exactly when she wrote that those bits of wisdom shared in children's books..."remind us that we should never grow so old, or change so much, that we cannot find room in our hearts for the wisdom of children's books." On that note, I'm off to read a bedtime story to Bonus Baby and look forward to what life lesson we might learn tonight.

I Think I Can...

With the new year right around the corner, I'm thinking/hoping that 2008 is the year I get my act together--follow through on things I start--like this blog. Oh, I had high hopes for it when I started, then life got in the way, and I got sidetracked which seems to happen frequently. Anyway, when tickledpinkandgreen left a comment on my blog (which at that point had only 3 entries with the last one back in Sept.) I felt truly inspired. I love her blog and to think that she had actually read mine and left a comment was all the prompting I needed to make another go at this blogging thing. So in the words of that famous Little Red Engine, "I think I can...I think I can...I think I can" So here I go again...

A Little About Me...

While this isn't a "100 Things about Me" list, it is a tidy description of "what I love"

I'm in love with...
my husband of 18 years; my 3 kids (big sis-13; big brother-10; bonus baby-3)

I love to wear & carry...
anything madras; Lilly Pulitzer; Vera Bradley; my Nike running shoes; Crocs; David Yurman; Angela Moore; J. Crew; Spring Flowers by Creed; Coach; monogrammed everything; Vineyard Vines;

I love to play...
tennis; Harry Connick Jr.; hide and seek with bonus baby; Motown music; in the garden; on the beach; my iPod

I love to spend time...
reading historical fiction; writing letters; perusing Marshall's & TJ Maxx; shopping on eBay; collecting quotes; hunting for antiques; learning Photoshop; skimming US & People; volunteering at school

I love to visit...
Kiawah; Disneyworld; the Greenbrier; historical sites; old cemeteries; Barnes & Noble; fun blogs; my son at lunch; friends; outlet malls; NYC; Tuesday Morning

I love to dream about...
completing a marathon; writing a book; redecorating my house; my children's' futures; starting a business; moving to a quaint New England town

Just for the record, here are few things that I despise...
laundry; liars; being late; traffic; hypocrites; pushy parents; winning at all costs; rudeness; bad grammar; over-scheduling; humidity

That about sums it up...

I love a good word. When I find one that so perfectly describes something that I'm trying to communicate, I can't help but smile. While writing the little tagline for this blog, I found one of those perfect words -- it seems to sum up much of what I do and who I am -- "meander" (I even like the way it sounds). When I looked up its definition, here's what I found:

meander (noun) - a winding path or course -What could better describe the life of a mother of three? Not to mention this is the perfect analogy for my ADD brain (which I love, by the way:)

meander (verb) - to move in a leisurely way, especially for pleasure. There is no better way to witness this word in action than to watch me shop at TJ MAXX or Marshalls (without kids). It's where I do my best meandering. I can also be found meandering in -- Barnes & Noble; antique stores; flea markets; my chintz-covered chaise where my daydreams are filled with meandering thoughts. Now, my goal is to incorporate meandering into all those crazy, harried daily aspects of my life so that I truly don't forget to "stop and smell the roses..."

I'll warn you now this blog will meander a lot as it follows the winding path of the life of a 40-something stay-at-home mom with many wandering thoughts and ideas. I'm sure I'll be sharing about my latest bargain finds to my training for a half-marathon to who knows what. I do hope that if you read my blog, you'll meander through it -- moving in a leisurely way, especially for pleasure!

Let's Give It A Try...

Hi and welcome to my blog. I'm not sure if anyone will ever read this or find anything of interest, but on a "dare" I decided to try. Since discovering this amazing blogging world several months ago, I am continually in awe of how much I have in common with people I have never met or talked to in person. I find myself nodding in agreement and wanting to shout, "me, too!!" Or, heading straight to Amazon.com to order a book someone has recommended or buying something so totally adorable from a fun website that a favorite blogger led me to. So, when a friend dared me to write my own blog, I thought, "Well, what the heck.. Maybe, I could share a little about my life and make some new friends along the way."

So here goes.........