mmm, pie...

Things have been so hectic lately! This girl usually thrives on the craziness. I feel useless without being insanely busy.

However, last week everything was a little overwhelming. Things were fine until I was cornered at the end of a very hectic day and criticized for my method of doing things for a particular event. I am not one to get easily offended, but this attack hit me to the core. My life was so full of tasks to accomplish and I was doing my best at each individual task. Not really the best time to point out what you think I'm doing wrong...

So, I decided to take a much deserved break. Calls were made to everyone that could help. Delegations were set in place for the rest of the week. (thank you everyone that helped me!!!) Off to the beach house. I was planning on taking off all by myself, but had a strong feeling to bring Kaitlin with me. Yeah, that didn't work out as planned. She was so sick that it was hard to concentrate on taking care of myself while wiping her nose and holding her. The frustration was starting to take over. Plus, on top of it all, I was getting sick! ARGH!

I was forced to cancel the one event I was REALLY looking forward to! In the midst of all my self pity, I stopped to realize this: even though I complained the whole trip and afterward, I really did have a good time. It was so nice to spend time doing something spontaneous. I love my family. I love being busy. I am done complaining to my friends and on this blog (for the time being).

This time, lemonade was not the result of my life's hastily thrown lemons. Instead, I made lemon chiffon pie. The difference? Well, lemonade is easy enough- with a sweet, yet simple result. When making lemon chiffon pie, one must work hard, wait for oven time and clean up the mess (gosh, I hate baking)... may be more of a hassle than the lemonade, but the result is so much more worth the effort.

Here are the results of my recent baking:

Here we are at Natural Bridges park. We walked down the planks to the monarch butterfly migration stop. On warm days, they flutter like magic. My childhood field trips were spent watching the butterflies at this park. I loved that we were able to go see the little house I grew up in and my elementary school. Kaitlin did not believe that I used to actually go to school.

This pose was by no prompting of my own. Kaitlin insisted I take this shot... What a ham!!!

Just a couple of pictures of the butterflies. It was warm, so they kept fluttering away. I love when three or four butterflies dance around your head for a moment and disappear in the next. The inability to take a picture because of such erratic flight underlines the sacredness of being in a butterfly's presence. Childhood seems to seep back in the smell of eucalyptus, the creaking of wooden planks and the sweet flutter of monarch wings.