I love how my kids manage to bring the silliness out of me. They are masters of the silly. They can be silly as hell without even trying to be.They make me laugh like I never really laughed before. It's this laugh that comes from my heart. It's like half true love and half belly laugh.
Don't get me wrong, it's not all smiles all the time. No, they do a good job of making me crazy too and, in that moment, I am for sure not laughing. It's funny though how it always seems that they get me laughing at some of the most stressful times. It's like they know that I'm at the end of my rope and need a good laugh. This is exactly what happened the other day at lunch. It started with Finnian, my silliest child, letting me take crazy pictures of him.
And then, Sayer and his friend Joel lightened my day just by being 7 and loving (so completely) the milkshakes we bought them.
My previously dark and frustrated mood was washed away by a few of life's most simple pleasures, including my own chocolate malt. I'm glad I was willing to let my tension go and roll with the moment and embrace the silly.
Christopher Brown says:
Great pictures and a better message. Chocolate milkshakes and the ones you love help you to enjoy the moments happening right now. Thanks Farrah.
(07.23.10 @ 08:16 AM)
I love them so much. I'm speaking of my boys of course. It's like nothing I have ever experienced. Steven and I marvel at it sometimes. It truly is like looking through rose colored glasses. They are so beautiful, unique and special. I see all of them- every little vulnerability. The universe really did give me a gift when it gave me them. I'm learning how powerful love can really be and I'm thankful for it everyday. I'm trying my best to afford myself and Steven the same space and love that I give them but that is a much harder task.
Today I looked across the aisle of the plane and saw Sayer. The way the light skimmed his face was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. This quick shot doesn't do it justice. Try as I might, the camera doesn't see him quite like I do.
Can it really be (gasp!) 26 years since I was a freshman in high school? I don't feel much older than 26 myself! It's true though, I started high school in 1984. On the very first day of school I met one of my longest and dearest friends. It happened simply...I walked into the auditorium for the welcome speech and orientation and saw an empty spot near a girl who I thought looked interesting. It still floors me that Kristen and I are still friends. It's been a rocky road at times and our paths have not always been side by side but, despite all, we keep coming back together.
Today this dear friend of mine and I went shopping. It wasn't just any ordinary shopping though. It was a little more special because she was helping me pick out my costume for the birthday party of another one of my longest and best friends. I'm sitting here sorting through the finds from the day and smiling to myself at how lucky I am. I'm so grateful for my friends. I love being around people who really know me. It takes the pressure off. I'm just me and they are just them and it's effortless. We screw up and say the wrong things. We say the right things too. We're in it for the long haul so there's nothing to prove. It's just about being there and fighting the fight together.
This weekend I'll be hanging out with some of my best girls from way back (and some new ones too!). The party has an 80's theme and everyone is dressing up. Come Saturday we'll be flashing back to our younger days, hanging out and celebrating a huge milestone. And In case you haven't noticed, the 80's is kind of back in style again. So, as they say in the world of fashion, "everything old is new again". I think that applies to friendship too.
Today this dear friend of mine and I went shopping. It wasn't just any ordinary shopping though. It was a little more special because she was helping me pick out my costume for the birthday party of another one of my longest and best friends. I'm sitting here sorting through the finds from the day and smiling to myself at how lucky I am. I'm so grateful for my friends. I love being around people who really know me. It takes the pressure off. I'm just me and they are just them and it's effortless. We screw up and say the wrong things. We say the right things too. We're in it for the long haul so there's nothing to prove. It's just about being there and fighting the fight together.
This weekend I'll be hanging out with some of my best girls from way back (and some new ones too!). The party has an 80's theme and everyone is dressing up. Come Saturday we'll be flashing back to our younger days, hanging out and celebrating a huge milestone. And In case you haven't noticed, the 80's is kind of back in style again. So, as they say in the world of fashion, "everything old is new again". I think that applies to friendship too.
Kristen Matelske says:
Rocky or smooth ,thick or thin, young or old, we really are lucky. Just for the record, sometimes just getting ready to go out and getting our "look" for the night just right, was in fact the best part of the 80's. Of course you will rock this look, however I will never forget the infamous bullet belt paired with the white granny nightie and magenta hair to match, what a night THAT was 20 somethin' years ago. love always, K
(06.04.10 @ 05:25 PM)
I love this image. I've been photographing these girls for years and they are as sweet as they look. I don't have a big sister but I am a big sister. I was the first born and my brother and I are about 3 years apart. I never really thought about birth order until I had my second son. Even as a tiny baby, he would look at his older brother with complete love. He adored him and would smile when he saw him. For the first child there was a life without a sibling. For the little sisters and brothers, life was always shared.
Finnian is fiercely protective over all of us and especially his big brother. I'll never forget the day he raced across a playground at Disney and, with a swift one arm move, grabbed a big kid off of Sayer who was pushing him down. I wish Sayer could see what I see. The looks of admiration and the tender hurt look when Sayer is insensitive or critical. When I see that, I think back to my days as the big sister to a younger little brother and I wonder if I was sensitive or nurturing. Did I make him feel bad? I wish I knew then what I know and see so clearly now.
On this Love Thursday, I am loving my brother and appreciating him in new ways. I am loving my sons. I'm hoping that my boys will be close friends as adults and that Sayer will one day appreciate how much his little brother loves him.
Happy Love Thursday my friends!
Anonymous says:
Thanks Farrah for taking the time to write this, it is something I've been thinking of a lot lately watching my own boys. My brother is 7 years older than me and I've always adored him,but I always think about our family dynamic.
(05.06.10 @ 11:43 PM)
Farrah Braniff says:
Thanks Kelly! Anonymous- glad you enjoyed it :)
(05.07.10 @ 11:56 PM)
Does this lake look scary to you? What if I told you that you had to swim around it? If neither of those questions are a yes, then you are braver than I. This was my challenge today. I am training for a triathlon and have never swam in open water like this. Sure, I've jumped off big rocks into Canyon Lake (a personal fave) and floated around lots of lakes (usually with a beer in hand) but actually swimming in a lake is another thing entirely. It's terrifying actually.
It didn't start particularly well. The guy who you check in with and hand over your $7 to looked at me and said, "You have a wetsuit right?". When I said no, he just sort of smiled and chuckled. He asked me if I had ever swam in open water and I said no. He smiled again and told me about how it's not shallow and most everywhere I would be swimming would be the deep parts. Then he handed me a detailed release that I had to sign in multiple places before getting in the water. So, needless to say, I was feeling less than confident.
I suck it up and start wading in and it was COLD! Now I don't mean cold like winter time cold but it did take the breath right out of me when I first went under. Losing your breath at the beginning before you even start swimming takes the wind out of your sails a little bit. I took a few minutes to adjust and started going.
I have a very overactive imagination, which does not serve me well in situations like this. When I get anxious, my imagination kicks into full gear and I can dream up all sorts of irrational scenarios. In this specific case, it was alligators, snakes and dead bodies. I have a feeling that the more rational of you are thinking I'm crazy. It's just a lake after all. Yes, perhaps, but it felt a hell of a lot scarier to me than just a lake, especially because I had to swim around it and out into the "deep parts".
The good news? I did it! I swam around it, albeit slowly and with lots of stops along to way. One of the hardest things about the actual swimming is trying figure out where you're going. You can't see much because the water is murky and who wants to look anyway? If I didn't look that much I thought I certainly had less of a chance of seeing alligators, dead bodies and the like. Even when I did look, I kept finding myself swimming off slightly in the wrong direction. In the end I made it back to the shore having kept up my crawl stroke most of the way. I never found myself clinging to a buoy for dear life either. I did not see any dead bodies, alligators or snakes. At one point, though, something sort of stingy and scratchy touched my hand and about gave me a heart attack. I'm guessing it was probably something benign like grass.
Now that I am back at my desk after a hot shower, I feel happy. I am loving that I challenged myself today. I love it when I muster up the strength to do stuff that scares me. For the rest of today I think I'll happily stay in my comfort zone. I also feel very certain that a cold beer is in my near future.
Bren says:
Congrats! Yes . . . I have done a few open water swims and yes, they are so scary. I can't stand it. One of them was in Boerne Lake (while training for the Danskin Tri) and I swore that I swam over a snake. Congrats! You did a brave thing!
(04.22.10 @ 05:51 PM)
Leslie says:
Ata girl, TRI GIRL!!!!!
(04.22.10 @ 05:58 PM)
Farrah Braniff says:
Brene- swam over a SNAKE?! Holy moly...
(04.22.10 @ 09:58 PM)
Farrah Braniff says:
Thanks Leslie! Kely, I am training for the Tri Girl sports one on May 9 and Cap Tx in late May.
(04.22.10 @ 09:59 PM)
Christina Sizemore says:
Hey I heard you on the PPA webinar last night, decided to check out your blog and website this afternoon. My good friend is doing the same triathlon!! I'll be there saturday morning with my black lab cheering her on. She did the pre swim as well and she said it was SUPER scary. So you weren't alone. Good luck saturday!!
(04.28.10 @ 10:06 AM)