Countdown to Summer

No, I did not drop off the face of the earth.  No, I don't really have a good reason as to why I haven't been posting...

Holy cow, how did it get to be the end of May already?

Really?

Crazy!

Honestly, I can not believe it.  I think I live my life perpetually 4 or 5 weeks behind.  C'est la vie.  I'm trying.  (Did you get that?  I'm really trying to make peace with who I am, and not give myself such a hard time anymore.  Imagine that, it feels much better.)

Jason's birthday was last Sunday.  It was wonderful.  I still cannot believe I've been a mommy for 27 years.  What a blessing.  I really love that kid.  He greeted me with, "Thanks for having me", and even though he was messing around, it resonates.  Yesterday, I heard Chelsea say she had an abortion when she was 16 because "that's what she should have done", and it made me sad all over again.  I thank God every day for the gift of Jason in our lives.  It's such a joy to see who he is, what he's become.  Sure, he's successful in his professional life, but I really love is watching his relationships--with his wife, his children, his siblings, Mark and I.  That's what really makes me feel like we did something right.  Hopefully it will be a wonderful year for him.

Jacob & Julianna have 8 more days of school.  Sometimes I wish they would cut all the fun extra stuff at the end of the year and just let them out earlier.  Jacob's set to go to a practice round of a major golf tournament with the entire fourth grade.  Does that really seem like a good idea?  There's absolutely no talking allowed, well, so the teacher says, obviously that's not going to happen.  Mark's chaperoning, should be interesting.  I'll say an extra prayer for both of them that day.

Rebekah's home in 2 weeks!  I am very excited to have her here.  I'm sure she'll have mixed emotions, but she says she's excited to come home, so that's a good sign.

I won't be working full-time this summer.    I will be watching a 2 year old one morning a week and the 8 month old 1 day a week, just to keep them in the groove of coming here, but it should feel completely different from M-F, full-time.  Not a great time financially to have our house fall apart though.  Always something, isn't it?

Here's what we'll be eating this weekend, still not a clue what we'll be doing.  Personally, I'm hoping for a very relaxing, recharging break from reality.  What?  It could happen.
Sometime this weekend I'm going to make a Sausage/egg/cheese pizza roll.  Delicious!  Loosely based on one by Food Blogga.

Thursday:  Mussels, grilled bread, salad
Friday:  Tomato & Basil Pasta
Saturday lunch: ??
Saturday night:  out
Sunday lunch:  Philly Steak Sandwiches, chips, fruit
Sunday night:  CPK Lettuce Wraps w/chicken
Monday lunch:  Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad w/Balsamic-Mustard Vinaigrette & Chipotle Buttermilk Dressing
Monday night:  Bobby Flay's Cheyenne Burgers, watermelon, onion rings, baked beans
Tuesday (piano):  Grilled Chicken, new potatoes, asparagus
Wednesday:  Pork & Shrimp Fried rice, sugar snap peas
Thursday:  PW Beef w/Peppers w/rice noodles
Friday (Matt & Lily for a sleepover):  Pizza! 

Happy Memorial Day!

Grateful

Seeing as how tomorrow is the end of the world, I thought it would be nice to spend tonight thinking about all the things I'm grateful for.  Might as well go out with a full heart and all that.  So, here they are in no particular order, things I'm feeling especially grateful for tonight.

• my hubby.  Yes, he drives me crazy sometimes, as I've been too quick to document here, but truly I think he's my best friend in the world, and I know he would do anything for me, including dishes, laundry, slaying bugs, and yardwork which makes me pretty lucky.
• my oldest.  I'm grateful for him in so many ways.  Should the world not end, Sunday will mark 27 years since I officially became a mother and my life changed exponentially for the better.  I'm grateful for the relationship we have; including one where he would knowingly choose to buy a house just around the corner.  He's very caring and loving towards us and a constant reminder that we did something right.
• my daughter-in-law.  She's a beautiful person, inside and out, and I'm grateful for her warmth and love towards us.  I'm grateful she so willingly shares her life, her husband, and her children with us, generously too; and that she also chose to buy a house just around the corner from us.
• Matthew & Lily.  They, too, are loving little people in my life and they bring us all a lot of sunshine and joy, constantly.  It doesn't get better than that.
• Rebekah.  It's hard to put this one in words.  As a mother a lot rides on your relationship with your daughter.  There's a lot of expectations, a lot of pressure.  I am so thankful and grateful for the relationship we share, I'm so proud of how she's doing in college.  I'm grateful we've been able to find a way for her to be at college and pray that will continue.  I'm grateful she opens her life, her feelings and emotions and invites me in.  I'm grateful to have her in my life.
• Jacob.  Jacob has taught me so much about love and joy.  Jacob's a pretty emotional little guy, but most of the time he's very happy.  I'm grateful for that.  I'm grateful that he finds so much joy in playing, that he follows his heart and most of the time it doesn't steer him wrong.
• Julianna.  Julianna is full of love and helpfulness.  She tells me constantly how much she loves me, she feels everything very intently.  I am so grateful that she's willing to forgive me my faults and love me unconditionally and I try so hard to be worthy of that devotion.  Even when I fall short, she's there positively loving me.  I truly never could have imagined that I would be lucky enough to have 4 children and I am extremely grateful that I was.
• my parents.  It's certainly a special blessing in life that I'm acutely and painfully aware not everyone has, to have parents that love me so much and would literally do anything for me.
• teachers.  My kids have awesome teachers that are very kind to them and have taught them a great deal this year.  It really doesn't get better than that.
• work.  Yes, I would prefer not to be working, but if I have to work, and I do, I'm grateful for the families I have, the loyalty they show, the wonderful children I get to share my days with.  I'm grateful I have found a way to still be home for my family, doing the things for them I think are important.
• I'm grateful for the home we own, even with all it's faults.  (basements, grrr.)  I love our backyard, our kitchen cabinets, my teeny-tiny but oh so lovely shower, the paint in my living/dining room, the new furnace and air conditioner that make our lives so comfortable.
• butter.  olive oil.  sugar.  'nuf said.
• my grill.  I love cooking on the grill 3/4 of the year, and I absolutely love my gas grill.
• my dog.  I'm not a big dog person, but she's a gem.  She doesn't go to the bathroom in the house (our house anyway, sorry mom and dad), she's good to the little ones here everyday, she's friendly and well-behaved and we have really lucked out.
• My minivan.  It gets me everywhere I need or want to go, in comfort, I'm very grateful for it.
• Target.  Whole Foods.  Nice stores to shop in.  I'm a shopper.  I try and deny my inner shopper, but it's there and it shines through and I'm grateful I have such wonderful places to let her out.  :)
• my bed.  I love my bed and am grateful my head gets to hit the pillow every night on such a luxurious, comfy, beautiful spot.
• appliances.  Can you imagine a washboard instead of a washer/dryer?  A coal or wood-burning stove instead of an oven?  Using ice and coolers to keep food fresh?  No, thank you.  I'm very grateful for all the conveniences I have that make my life so much easier.
• restaurants.  'Tis true.  I love to cook, but it's a wonderful feeling to let someone else do the cooking and just r-e-l-a-x.
• entertainment.  I love to be entertained.  It's true.  Books, my laptop, the tv, my sewing machine.  I'm thankful for every fun "thing" in my life.
• rain.  I know, there's been a lot lately, and it may not be what you expect to hear from someone struggling with a wet basement, but I love a good rainy day.  I love the smell of rain.  I love the coziness of a good rainy day with nowhere to go.  I love the lush, emerald green glow of everything after a rainy spell.
• blog friends.  I'm grateful for each and every person who takes the time to read what I write, thinking about me, caring.  
• freedom.  choice.  safety.  health.
• My life.  I may complain, too much, unfortunately, but really my life is pretty perfect just the way it is and I'm exceedingly grateful for it.  

I'm also pretty sure the world's not going to end tomorrow, but it never hurts to take a step back and remember all the good in my life.

Mother's Day Weekend--The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

This is definitely a rushed post, I want to get it down, get it out there, but there's really no time to do it properly, so forgive me.

Mother's Day Weekend--The Good

• Breakfast in bed.  Scrambled eggs, homemade muffins, honeydew.  Yum!  There's something just so wonderful about having young kids (and yes, my kids are older than what a lot of you think of as "young kids", but when your others are grown or mostly grown, it counts) and how excited! they get about showering you with love during special times. 
• Presents!  Jacob made me an awesome key holder and Julianna made me a Mother's Day card full of things I do for her.  I particularly enjoyed "making sure the orthodontist does a good job".  Let's just say after the first ortho appointment there's a certain technician there that will never work on her again.  Jason & Lori sent me beautiful flowers that are just breathtakingly lovely.
• Fun, but sweet card filled with confetti from my DD.  I miss her, but it was lovely to get the card, and I know she'll be home (relatively) soon.
• Phone call from my son as he waited to take off on a business trip.  Even though we had talked the day before, he still made the time to call and wish me a Happy Mother's Day at such a crazy time.  Bonus points:  it was the second phone call of the morning, I had unfortunately missed the first one, but I loved the voice mail from Matt and Lily telling me "Happy Mother's Day" and "Happy, Nana!"  
• Mark doing anything he could to make the day special, including making reservations (if you knew him, you would know what a shocking and wonderful thing that was) at our favorite restaurant.
• Spending time with my mom and dad.
• Leisurely strolling the first (?) outdoor Farmer's Market of the season with my at-home family.  It was lovely to stop at every booth, in fact it feels like we bought something at darn near every booth.  Not something we'll do every time, but it's so much fun!

Mother's Day Weekend--The Bad

• Laptop breaking.  Huge, dramatic, sad face here.  I can't complain too much though.  It was a present from my mom and dad and they awesomely included a wonderful warranty.  I'll be without it for 2-3 weeks, but I'll get it back shiny and almost-new and it won't cost me a thing.  (However, please understand when I'm not around commenting and reading as much as usual--being without it changes everything in my routine.  Maybe not good, maybe a good time to re-evaluate, but true nonetheless.)  Thank you mom and dad for generous gifts with possibly more generous warranties.
• Julianna had a horrible allergic reaction Sunday night.  Thankfully she's all right now, and even more thankfully it did not affect her breathing (a fact that shocked her doctor).  She and Jacob cleaned the winter leaves off the tramp, then jumped and played for a good 20 minutes or so.  Suddenly, her eyes started driving her crazy, then she was congested and broke out in a terrible rash.  Her eyes swelled so much it affected her vision.  She's on steroids now and doing much better, but scary while it lasted.

Mother's Day Weekend--The Ugly

• Friday, I walked down to the basement, our finished basement, which is where our family room is.  The stench that greeted me was awful.  I was beyond furious with the cat, which I assumed (and was only partially wrong) was the problem.  Unfortunately, it was bigger than that.  It seems we've had a moisture/leaking/dampness/not exactly sure what yet problem in the basement for a very long time.  In short, the carpet is ruined, drywall will need to be partially replaced, furniture is ruined.  Good times.  Life, it's never boring, is it?

Well, that's the weekend recap.  Hope you had a wonderful weekend, which, on balance, ours (mostly) was.

Clean Sweep

Here's a post to clean up some unfinished business...

The awesome candy store that we always try to stop at on our way to D.C. is located on Route 68 in Maryland, exit 22.  Jacob and Julianna highly recommend you check it out.  It truly is amazing, I think they have about every kind of candy you can imagine, all sold at bulk rates. 

WWYD Roof Edition:
Well, I did call the mom, as you all suggested, thank you.  I guess I was afraid that I would be stepping on toes, or interfering, or being judgy; when none of those things were where I was really coming from.  Thankfully, the mom seemed to understand exactly why I was calling.  More importantly, she did not know and was very happy that I had called.  Always err on the side of safety.  I know that, but it was a good reminder.

Mark.  *sigh*  Not sure what to say to this one.  Yes, he's still coughing, though maybe less than before?  Maybe?  Honestly, I'm not sure.  I guess the fact that I'm not positive indicates at least a small improvement.  He did switch medications, a medicine he was taking causes coughing in a surprisingly high number of patients.  As he's still coughing I'm not completely convinced that was the answer, but we're in a bit of a holding pattern here.  When you have insurance as awful as ours is, you tend to wait and see a lot before going for medical tests.  So, that's where we're at, we're waiting and seeing.  Thank you to those of you that have thought good thoughts for him or prayed for him.  Keep praying and thinking, please.

Well, I think that ties up my lose ends.  May's flying along around here.  Busy school days, even busier weekends, if that's possible.  I'm starting to regret signing my kids up for activities this summer.  Every summer I vow not to over-schedule, and every summer I'm afraid I teeter too close to the edge, maybe even taking a step or two over.  Jacob and Julianna are doing VBS, swim lessons, and 1 or 2 camps; we'll have a family vacation in there somewhere and Julianna's supposed to take dance classes.  Rethinking the dance classes, even though I'm obligated to pay for them, a few things have happened at the studio lately that leave me less than thrilled and a break may be just what we need.  Rebekah will be home, which will be wonderful.  I'm afraid the summer's going to pass by before we know it and school will be starting all too soon.  Ugh.  I just looked at the calendar, we don't have a "free" week until the end of July, we have a total of 3 weeks free this summer.  Luckily, the activities the kids are signed up for are all things they've asked to do and are excited about so hopefully no one will feel too pressured or scheduled.  Bright side:  there should be precious little boredom around here.

Hope you have a great Mother's Day.  I'll be missing my two kids I don't get to spend the day with, enjoying the two kids I do get to spend the day with, and extremely thankful for all four of them.

WWYD The Roof Edition

Jacob was walking to school yesterday afternoon and noticed a friend of Julianna's (age 8) and her big sister and the sister's friend up on their roof.  The girls shouted hi to him and off he went.  When he came home he told me about it, shocked and in awe that they were climbing around on the roof, the roof of their 2-story home, the slanted roof.

Now...what do I do?  Do I assume the mom knows her children go out on the roof and shut up and mind my own business?  (After reminding Julianna that under no circumstances is she allowed to go play on the roof?) or do I call the mom and let her know, in no way questioning parenting (truly) or anything else, just knowing that I would want to know if my kids were playing on the roof.

WWYD?