Archive for April, 2011
Solo Camping Trip
Some people just like to have some time to be alone. We are bombarded with cell phone, work obligations, pagers, and 
people who need us all week. Every great now and then, I just reach a saturation point where I know that if I don’t get some solitude, I can’t be the nice person everyone expects me to be and I want to be that person.
My family understands this about me and I appreciate that. I love them dearly but I know that I can take better care of them when I take better care of me! I have a spot in the mountains that I like to ride my bike to with a backpack. I pack a folding hammock and the barest essentials. I spend one or two days here and I come home a smelly, but happier person!
Have you ever thought of putting a hammock on your front or back porch? Depending on the porch, you may be able to put a smaller hammock at one end, hanging it up between the posts. A Brazilian hammock is a beautiful kind to put on a pretty porch because it doubles as a decorative piece also.
If you have flowers or herbs planted nearby, this makes a little piece of heaven. An idea for a fragrant herb that is also beautiful, is lavender. Just imagine, it’s early evening in the summer. You had a busy day, you’ve just had dinner. Now you want to unwind for a little while. What a perfect place!You may even stay here until the lightening bugs come out.
There is a small hammock company located in San Diego, California, called Panama Hammocks. They have a variety of 
cotton hammocks of the strong canvas material. They make great portable hammocks because there is no spreader bar. This makes them easier to pack up and take along for camping trips.
I love the bright colors in stripes and solids. I also like the way they envelop you like a cocoon, making you feel protected from the world for a while. Yet, the larger ones are strong enough to hold two people, should you wish to share your cocoon.
Raising children can be the most rewarding and also the most challenging thing we may ever do in our lives. When they are born and keep us up at night, it seems difficult, but in my opinion, it doesn’t compare with the challenges of raising a teenager. They want to be grown up and treated like one, but they aren’t.It seems we have to pull the reins harder now because their decisions they make have more of an impact on their future.
It can make for tense times. This is when I realize that parenthood is not a popularity contest. Sometimes my child won’t like me now but I know he will always love me. I know it is our job as parents to make decisions that are best for them but may not cause them to like us at that time. These are the times I need to curl up with my hubby and partner in our double hammock and he encourages me that it will all be all right, eventually. I will look forward to the day that he thanks me.
Sundays are family day in my house! This time of year, I am itching to get out for a bike ride! It has been five long months since I have ridden my bike on the bike trail. It is supposed to be 57 degrees and sunny today. I am hoping to talk the rest of the family into a little ride to get started with the biking season. No one else loves it quite as much as me, so if the weather’s a little chilly, it may take some persuading.
I will bribe them with a promise for pizza afterward from their favorite place, which is a local pizza shop. Maybe we can hang out in the early evening in our Green Eggs and Hammocks Palapa relaxation station on the patio, hanging out in hammock chairs and eating pizza. I hope so!
We work all week long, some of us crawling out of bed in the wee hours of the morning. We go to work all day and rush 
home to get a meal on the table or attend our children’s sporting events, etc. and the evenings go so fast! When the weekend comes, we need to treat ourselves to a slower pace. It’s okay to wake up when we wake up, not setting the alarm.
Sure we have some catching up to do. But don’t forget that you deserve some time for something restful. Life isn’t all about work and no play! We are happier when we treat ourselves to moments of down time just to do what we feel like doing. For some, that’s an afternoon nap, for others, an hour or two to read in a hammock under the trees. Whatever your pleasure is, make sure to treat yourself because you deserve it!
The history of April Fool’s Day or All Fool’s Day is uncertain but it is thought to date back to 1582 in France, with the reform of the calendar under the reign of Charles IX, when the Gregorian calendar was introduced. New Year’s Day, at that time, March 25-April 1, was moved to January 1. Communication was slow and some people were still mixed up and celebrated at the wrong time. They were called fools and had jokes played on them. The pranks have been going on ever since. Now, it is celebrated worldwide, but a little differently in each country.
I just think that Mother Nature has a sense of humor because she dropped snow on my house and yard this morning! The robins are hopping around appearing confused! Did we fly home too early? I am just not amused with her joke because I am so anxious to get out in my garden and backyard, working through the perennial garden, and hanging all of my fun, cool hammocks in the trees.
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