Joy, week 6

We’re wrapping up a wonderful weekend.  My parents flew into town on Saturday and we’ve had such a wonderful time with them.  Because they were here, I also saw both of my brothers and my sister who live in the same state this weekend, something that rarely happens.  We watched a futsal game, impromptu piano and violin performances, helped with homework, poured a big bag of Chick-fil-a sauce on my kitchen table and watched to see how many packets it takes to feed 13 people a meal, shared stories, laughed.  We played a lot of ping pong games, talked and laughed some more.  Today we gathered with my brother-in-law’s family for a special occasion I’ll not soon forget, followed by a delicious dinner.  We watched cousins play together and make friends, talked to people we haven’t seen in a long time, oohed and aahed over my newest nephew, watched a group of girls put on a makeshift skit in the basement, played Acquire.  It was a joyful weekend, to be sure.  I’m not starting the week organized, but we’re all starting it happy.  I just hope that happiness is enough to balance out the overtired tendencies of my childrens’ bodies tomorrow.

The rest of the week?  Well, the fact that I haven’t posted once on this blog in almost a week is a statement of its own.   It was a hard week.  More appointments, more commitments, tighter schedules.  Longer hours for my husband left me with crying children every night.   On Tuesday I got hit with an ugly cold that made me feel pretty lousy for most of the week.  Let’s be honest:  crying children and a sick Mom aren’t the best combination.  I didn’t know you could mess up your neck and back from sneezing, but I’m here to tell you it’s possible.  I worked hard to keep people moving but felt like I was in a mental fog most of time.    I also chose to spend every spare minute working on housekeeping.  I made great progress in that area but lost ground in all my personal goals.  I did manage to make a birthday gift for my niece, which she’ll receive a week late, but which was enjoyable to make.

Some hard things happened this week, things that broke my heart and took a lot of restraint to handle properly.  Life is just so tough sometimes.  But you get through it and move on, and you remember that your family represents the group of people you’ll have to count on all your life; everyone else is temporary.

There were some good moments.   Once again I did really well on my weekly list.  I’m trying hard to make certain things a priority and hope that soon they’ll be habits.  A really great moment came on Wednesday night when we finished an appointment and went to get some dinner as a family.  The ten of us sat smashed around the bench in a corner booth, the table covered with drinks and food and I looked around and felt so happy to be where I was.  I was so grateful they were all mine.  The only thing that could have made it better was a camera.

So I’m walking away from the week with a lot of things undone, but also with the satisfaction of having worked hard all week long on things that matter.  I was invested in the right places this week and it feels great.  That said, I still hope next week is nothing like it, and I hope I get a lot done.

Life is good.  Have a great week!
Jennifer