I am LIVING Surprise:) Happy Birthday Catherine!!!

Happy, HAPPY DAY and WEEKEND FOR ME!!! Friday morning I flew out of the PROVO...yes, I said PROVO airport (I may never be able to go out of Salt Lake again). Provo has ONE gate...it takes me 10 minutes...15 minutes tops to get there...you walk in, hand them your boarding pass, go through security and get on the plane. This may just be Utah Valley's best kept secret!!! Only Frontier flies out of there...but I think we should take the Light Rail straight in and go for MORE plane flagships!!!
ANYWAY...I flew out of Provo to be Catherine's LIVING birthday surprise...Michael her husband (Husband of the year I might add...I am sure many husbands are having Michael "hate" after the weekend he prepared for so many of us--this man racked up MAJOR POINTS!!!) planned it ALL. So, he picks me up at the airport and has me sitting in the front room when minutes later Catherine walks in from work and he says.."Your birthday present came a week early...it's in the front room"....she walks in and THERE I AM!!! She was truly surprised! It was SO STINKING GREAT!!! And the sweet party began right then and there! I am in LOVE with Fort Collins. Everything is so HOMEY and friendly and ecology "GREEN" :). Of course we had to start with eating! We went to this AMAZING and quaint little CHOCOLATE CAFE where we had the BEST QUICHE I have EVER had, served with homemade applesauce that will make you believe that maybe it was a REAL apple that Eve was tempted with...just cooked down to this very recipe! Kathi Tosi (other High School friend) joined us --SO SAD I don't have a pic with her! My coming was a surprise to her as well. Kathy dropped everything and joined us. Even though it was Catherine's celebration it FELT like mine! We sat in the sunshine in this CHARMING yummiful food filled place and just basked in being friends and catching up. These are my beach women from the reunion this summer. And if you remember, Catherine came to Utah to visit me this Fall.

We made ourselves leave the cafe and walked the enchanting streets of OLD TOWN (reminded me alot of downtown Boise). So many novelty shops! We tootled and bought and solved the problems of the world :) You give the three of us a little time together and we can make most anything all right:) And Tosi will have your stomach hurting from laughing. Catherine will have qualmed all your insecurities with her generous praise that feels believable. Pretty much I just want to BE them, but am SO SATISFIED to be WITH THEM. I was endeared to these college students who were just walking down the street offering their free hugs. They were GREAT hugs too! It just has a FEELING in this city!

After going home and meeting Lucy the dog (now, it seems you MUST have a HOUSE DOG to be a citizen of Fort Collins) and CAROLINE the beautiful and lovely and want to take home girl, we left for the lovely dinner Michael treated ALL of us to at Austin's (another to die for place in Old Town). Now most of you know I don't drink...but this trip has me seriously considering the possibility of it. So...the friends show up to SUPRISE Catherine AGAIN...and wine is poured and we just "visit". This whole HAPPY HOUR tradition is TRULY SO HAPPY. Michael had thought ahead and had some bubbly lime water for me...but I felt left out of the whole totally relaxed ooze that just washed across all of them. This was my first time meeting all of them, and I swear, I feel like I belong to a new Sisterhood. I LOVE THEM. And really, I could FEEL their love for me. It's like I've always known them. I can barely stand that I can't go have Happy Hour with them again and again and again. They are thicker blooded than I am though. I was freezing and had to keep my coat on...but they were WARM...I wondered if it was the wine? And the whole wine thing...SO MUCH TO KNOW and SO MANY CHOICES...so PRETTY in the goblets! We covered everyone's religion, family, in-laws, a little politics,...and there was just so much LOVE and acceptance and encouragement  and SUPPORT for one another. I was breathing air I haven't breathed before and it was as sweet as any as I have ever breathed in.  We left dinner and  stopped at yet ANOTHER wine sharing party. This one, another of their friends, Susan,  who is dealing with her husband (not yet 50) having just suffered a horrific stroke (having to relearn to talk and walk etc...)and he is coming home Monday and she will be the full time care giver. They wrapped her in love and assurance that she will not be alone...and LET ME be apart. More women I had NEVER met, and MORE new friends to miss. The COMMUNITY of it all was thicker than peanut butter and more binding than honey.

You don't get to see us (Michael, Catherine, Caroline and myself) doing Yoga. Yes, how incredibly perfect parenting that the WHOLE family goes to YOGA , right? Well...there was a little redemption that we went directly to Lucille's for a true Louisiana breakfast!! See this plate below bottom right. You are NOT mistaken...those are GRITS on that plate...smothered in butter...and that biscuit...oh my oh my oh my...ok, and pretty hard to miss how ADORABLE the actual old house is.... I think I was really in Mayberry. I am still waiting for my Barney Fife to call and say he was sorry he missed me:)
While here I got to meet Laura Reseau who is the author of the following kids books... THE RED GLASS, WHAT THE MOON SAW, THE RUBY NOTEBOOK, QUEEN OF THE WATER...and others. She is coming to Catherine and Caroline's Mother/Daughter Book Group in February. She is a family friend and her husband works with Michael. TOO COOL right?

Catherine and I then went to see the DESCENDANTS with George Clooney at this artsy fartsy tiny theater that was the size of my basement and the first few rows were couches. The ticket counter was a makeshift kitchen with crock pots full of homemade food to buy with banana bread and lemon bars, and all kinds of coffee and other drink blends. The movie was nothing like I expected and we both walked out saying WOW and grateful for the lives and children we have. Catherine is the friend you can tell anything to and she speaks her truth while pouring her love all over you. We came home and Tosi came back...and there was another minature Happy hour with snacks (I told you I REALLY like this practice). Every night, Catherine comes home, puts on James Taylor, Jack Johnson or the like, pours a glass of wine, turns on the fire, starts making dinner and waits for friends to drop in. Who is NOT going to show up for that? They light the candle on the table before starting dinner in remembrance of the LIGHT of Humanity out in the world, they pinky hold or tiger paw hold each others hands while they say thank you for the food and those who helped it get to them. And then the family love talk begins.

Since Caroline was itty bitty, after each meal she goes to Dad and taps him until he clears a space on his lap and she snuggles in until she has had her quota of Dad love. Or maybe its the other way around. There could be a movie made about these two. Watching them in action is love poetry. I wondered if Caroline will EVER know what a rare gift she has...and then I hoped with all my heart that she will never have to know.

So yeah...this is perfect Michael who gets gazillions of husband (and friend points for creating a perfect weekend). He is Celiac...and now that SAM has joined Josh in his gluten  intolerance, Michael was my hero on a whole other level this weekend. He has been dealing with his non gluten life for over a year!! HE is the baker in the house so he gave me so MANY needed tips and led me to a cookbook that I think will save these boys eating lives. He made chocolate chip cookies that YOU COULD NOT TELL were gluten free!!

This is their Unitarian Church I attended this morning. I may be a convert. I wish I had other pictures, but I loved this idea of name tags...this is a huge name tag holder so you can call people by their first names. But let me tell you what I REALLY LOVED...

the Sermon title was "Is God/Goddess Listening". I swear. GODDESS was printed in the program. THEN...the opening song was pg. 8 (I HAD to buy the hymnbook for myself) "Mother Spirit, Father Spirit"....just a few lines...
 "Mother Spirit, Father Spirit take our hearts, Take our breath and let our voices sing our parts, Take our hand and let us work to shape our art"..... :)
We closed with the hymn pg 23  "Bring many Names"...another few lines....
Strong mother God, working night and day, planning all the wonders of creation, setting each equation, genius at play: Hail and Hosanna, Strong mother God.
Warm father God, hugging every child, feeling all the strains of human living, caring, and forgiving till we're reconciled: Hail and Hosanna, Warm father God.
I cried. This is a real place.
From the title of the sermon you would think that the sermon would be on prayer. But no. It was on atheism. He said we are ALL atheist because we ALL have Gods and Goddesses we don't believe in. He said some pretty amazing things....but some of my favorites were ....after going over male and female traits saying "people, if God is a Guy, GOD HELP US ALL :)" He took the Geroge Carlin  comedy  excerpt where he says "God has 10 rules...but you best not be breakin' them or your going to spend eternity in hell fire and damnation, ---but  hey, don't forget, HE LOVES YOU!"  He never one time said THIS IS HOW IT IS...but he often had you reflect on what and how YOU feel about the things he was presenting. I could go ON and ON about how much I LOVED this morning...I am THRILLED that they have just started podcasting  his sermons. Remember the book I LOVED a year or so back called HERE IF YOU NEED ME?  She was a Unitarian. They embrace all religions. The 9th grade Sunday course of study is their youth going to visit a different denomination each week and having THAT denomination teach them about what they believe....if anyone decides to head over to that religion, ALL IS WELL...
Check out I TUNES for Justin Roth...he played his guitar and filled pretty much all of Fort Collins and most of Colorado with the Spirit.He played his song SURRENDER and introduced it by saying "this is a song about letting go and trusting  what is to come". I let go and trusted.  Afterwords, they all went to the back of the large hall where he had his Cd's for sale and a young girl had her girl scout cookies for sale and they had free trade coffe and other keep the earth green things available....AND a hymnbook...Thank you. I LOVE it. Did I tell you LEAN ON ME is one of the songs in there?
I realize that many of my Mormon friends will smile and understand that I am fully being me. But I wish you could ALL have been there....because there are no words...but with the SPIRIT that was there made it so no more were needed. GOD/GODDESS, bless the Unitarian Church at  www.foothillsuu.org.  and if you Facebook friend them you can get the Podcasts :)
Could a morning be more perfect that to end church with one of the best donuts I have ever had from a place called LAMAR's?? Or then for Cat's friend also named Catherine to come over and we take a beautiful trail run through the hills with their dogs at 50+ degrees? I saw a DOG PARK for the first time...really, a DOG PARK...this is a park JUST FOR DOGS...this is another I SWEAR its true. I wish I had pics.  By the time we spent such a lazy day it was time to head for the airport. I was sad to see it end...but so HAPPY knowing that I CAN GO BACK!!!! KNOWING that that place is IN MY WORLD! That those new friends are just right there!
And did I tell you how DELICIOUS it was to wake up in an electric blanket earlier than everyone else and just be able to snug into that warmth WIDE AWAKE and read for a half hour or more before anyone stirred...that might need to be worked into my morning routine. There is a peace and unhurriedness in that home that I covet. SO DIVINE....
I am loved. THIS IS MY LIFE!!!!