When I was in college, my grandfather sent me a check every month.  In the memo line he always scrawled “For the Roses.”  It was his short hand way of calling attention to a much longer message he’d imparted many times, “don’t forget to stop and smell the roses.”  In other words… take a moment to enjoy your life.  A pretty tall order for an overcommitted, overachieving,  type-a college student.  

And yet, I am nothing if not a conscientious rule follower.  So, I found little ways to step outside of my usual serious and focused demeanor to seek out “fun.”  Midnight trips with a friend to the grocery store for chocolate covered donuts. Elaborate holiday decorations in my dorm hallways each December.  A road trip now and then.  I cannot sit here today and account for every penny I received.  However, I can tell you that little by little, I did begin to shed some of my linear thinking about getting THINGS done. If you are like me, you know what I mean by THINGS.  And if not - don’t worry, I’ll get to them in another post. 

Speaking of future posts, let me clarify my intent for this blog.  Sadly, sometime between college graduation and now (has it really been 13 years??) , I lost sight of those roses. Most of the time, I’ve either forgotten that they exist or have decided that they don’t matter.  If I’m honest about it, I think I stopped paying attention altogether about 18 months ago. And along with them, bits and pieces of myself that I really used to like.  So, I’ve decided to rekindle my relationship with these metaphorical roses and see where they take me (and blog about it on the way). 

A few disclosures: 

1) I’m a mom so you can expect me to tell stories and share the occasional picture or video of my little guy. 

2) I’m not the funniest person you’ll ever meet, but I try and I’m usually more successful at humor when I’m writing.

3) This is only my second attempt at a blog - - the first was written when I was pregnant and had a heck of a lot more time on my hands.  So please - go easy on me!

4) I actually really don’t like roses all that much… more on that later too.