Everyone is cutting back during this economic downturn so I cancelled our gym membership a few months ago. I didn’t have to do it, but it seemed like the thing to do at the time. I wasn’t crazy about our fitness facility and the pool was always over-crowded with tons of screaming kids and the plastic decking smelled like… how should I say… plastic.

I found a church owned health club closer to our house that offers a yearly membership for $100. It’s only a hundred bucks a year for an almost brand new facility with cardio deck, basketball court, walking track, weight room and computer lab. The only problem is that there isn’t a pool. Living in Texas, it’s practically a necessity and I’ve become spoiled by having access to one for the past fifteen years.

I was off work today and with the temperature in the 90’s, I hatched a plan to get poolside. I called a friend who lives in an upscale apartment building (complete with gorgeous pool) and asked if I could use her pool. She said that she had to work all day but that it was fine if I wanted to go by myself. I packed my beach bag with my pastel striped beach towel, carafe of iced water, newest paperback novel and sunscreen. I already knew the access code to get in the front entrance to the apartments so I entered the code and pulled my car through the automatic gate. I pulled into a nearby parking space, got out and approached the pool. A beautiful, dark iron fence complimented the patio area like a strand of black Tahitian pearls on the neck of an unapproachable woman. The pool was deserted and as I neared the iron gate, the security key pad became visible. I tried the code that worked on the gated entrance to no avail so I slunk back to my car and called my friend at work. She said that she had never used the pool?! and had no idea what the code was. I was too embarrassed to ask her to call the office and ask for it and she never offered. She told me to just wait until someone else approached the pool and go in the gate when they did. I sat in my car another ten minutes as the temperature crept near 100 degrees in my car and I sweated all my makeup off. Fearing a loitering charge, I started up my car and slowly drove away.

Tomorrow morning Maddie is getting braces. She’s been trying to decide what color combination she wants. She can have pink alternating with aqua, fuscia on top and purple on the bottom or my favorite, rainbow colors. The orthodontist recommended that we use his website that allows kids to choose their colors by clicking and applying colors right on a handy-dandy, smiling mouth.

I’m amazed at the progress in orthodontics since I had braces in 1984. When I had braces, the top loading VCR’s had just come out and TV’s were the size of a compact car. Today, the waiting room at the orthodontist office features large plasma screens mounted on the walls for our viewing pleasure. When I had braces, my dentist put them on and the cost was about $1,500. Maddie needs an expander and hers are costing just over $6,000. When I had braces, I listened to Madonna’s Borderline on my Sony Walkman. Today, Maddie’s nano is bursting with Black Eyed Peas, Paramore and the Plain White T’s.

As much as things change, they stay the same. I’m sure tomorrow when we leave that office, Maddie will feel a little insecure. A little exposed. A little bit embarrased at the glaring, metal braces in her mouth. As a mom, I’ll try to reassure her. Comfort her. Remind her that, as with life, braces are only temporary.

Yes, I’ve risen from the dead to write another blog post. I have a delimma on my hands… A friend has asked me to go on a spontaneous trip to the city (that’s what the locals call NYC and I know this because I just read it in an Anthony Bourdain book). She is going for the weekend and told me to “just get your airfare because I already got the room”. And did I mention that the room is here? I’m a La Quinta girl. Maybe a Doubletree girl on a good day, but the Ritz?!

So what’s the problem, you say? Well, a few months ago when I first heard that No Doubt was going on tour, I bought tickets so B. and I could take Maddie to see them. We wanted to surprise her, so we haven’t told her anything about it. I guess you can follow where this is going… when I checked the dates for the impromptu trip, it’s the SAME WEEKEND!

I keep going back and forth on this decision. I always like to make lists of pros and cons when I can’t make up my mind about something, so here goes…

CONS

• I really should follow through on what I had originally planned
• It’s wasteful to buy a concert ticket and then not use it
• No Doubt COULD get in a fight and never tour together again

PROS

• B. said he doesn’t mind taking Maddie on his own and that I should go
• I’ve never been to NYC
• I will NEVER, EVER stay at the Ritz Carlton if I don’t take advantage of this offer

I can’t get enough of this Kia spot every time I’ve been to the movies lately… It just makes me happy every time I watch it and the music is by Marz in case you want to download it.

It’s a wonderful,  rainy day here at Casa de la Gable and I am sitting on the over sized chair in my cozy, living room while Kitty lounges on the back of the sofa. I have a soft blanket spread over my legs while my laptop warms my lap. I have several free hours before B. comes home and Maddie needs to be picked up from school. I have no pressing homework and nothing scheduled for the whole weekend and I think I just discovered the meaning of the word “bliss”.

When B. and I were in Dallas for our anniversary we ended up in an Anthropologie store. And by “ended up” I mean that I saw one and dragged him inside it. We made the rounds and ended up at a sale table of Voluspa candles. He liked the one that smelled like clean laundry (wishful thinking?) I just said, “I like this one– it’s called Baltic Amber.”

When I went to pay for the candle, the sales guy complimented my choice and said, “this is our best selling candle”. I’m not sure why I felt so good about my superior choice in home fragrance but I left the store with an extra spring in my step.

 I have the candle burning now, beside me, on the coffee table. It does smell of amber resin, sandlewood, cedar and vanilla  bloom but a part of me wonders, if everyone else likes it, was my choice superior or just average?

We’ve been having such great weather that I feel like it’s spring-time even though it clearly isn’t. But a part of me has spring fever anyway and I feel restless and want to travel. I was in Barnes & Noble this weekend and bought two different Fodor’s travel kits. One is for Italy and the other is for Spain. Each kit has a travel guide, 6 language CD’s, a common phrase book and one other item that I’m forgetting. If you could travel anywhere in the world at this moment, where would you go?

Did you catch the NBC interview last night with the Octuplets Mom? My mind was swirling with questions that I would ask her… What’s it been like raising 6 small children alone? Do you feel more complete now that you have the big family you always dreamed of? How are you different to your children than your own Mother was to you? But Ann Curry got right to the heart of the matter and asked, “Are you trying to look like Angelina Jolie?”

There’s something that’s been bothering me. I thought one of the known rules of the universe is that everyone likes the music from their generation the best. For example, I was a teenager in the 80’s and I, of course, love Madonna and Prince. My husband is 11 years older and likes to listen to Elton John and Peter Frampton. For more on that read this.

So, a childhood friend of mine filled out one of those “25 Random things about Me” notes and it popped up on my facebook homepage. I was happily reading about her because she and I were best friends in 6th-7th grade and then her family moved to another state so we obviously didn’t get to talk for years. She listed the fact that she really doesn’t care for 80’s music like most people her age and that Journey is the only exception!

This makes no sense at all. Everyone loves the music of their teens… it’s an expression of who we are at the core of our inner selves. I know for a fact that she used to like Janet Jackson because she sent me the Control cassette in the mail all the way from South Dakota. I don’t listen to 80’s music 24/7 but I can’t help but like it if Little Red Corvette comes on the radio. If we reject something that so represents our past, aren’t we rejecting ourselves?