I hardly know what to say tonight as it seems like the week held so much and yet so little. With Memorial Day upon us tomorrow I glanced at my list of things I planned to do before now, things like having a great Memorial Day barbeque menu planned and prepped, things I intended to have organized and planned before school is out, baby gifts that should have been finished and delivered long ago, yardwork that hasn’t been touched. All good things, but none of them essential. I mentioned to my husband the other day that I feel like I’m running out of time to “figure out my life”, and he was no help at all! He merely scoffed, “Figure your life out? Who does that ? Parts of your life, maybe, but nobody has their life figured out.” So that day-dreamy picture of my life figured out, complete with organization and menus and so forth will continue to live in my dreams while we carry on with real life. The good thing is that once upon a time I used that day-dreamy picture to judge myself by, while tonight I just shrug my shoulders. A few hours ago I got to watch my children laugh joyfully as they scampered up and down hills when we visited the cemetery my grandparents are buried at. As they laughed and played and my sister and brother-in-law joked about all the grass stains that were coming home with us, we all smiled and I told them, “Really, though, look at this. I’m so lucky!” And indeed, I am. I’m busy raising children. The other stuff will come someday, or not at all.
It was an interesting week, kind of all over the place. I’m going to just make a list of things that brought joy to my heart this week and we’ll leave it at that.
– A trip to Farm country with my three youngest kids, complete with a massive tantrum from my two year old when she didn’t get to ride on the BIGGEST horse for her pony ride, a lost wallet, some stress, a found wallet and much relief/gratitude that everything was still in it. Talk about an answered prayer!
– A soccer tryout that went well, as in the best possible scenario was what we ended with. Hooray!
– A surprise visit from a friend, whom I caught leaving food on my front porch. Humbling, but also very touching. I don’t deserve the blessing of knowing such incredible women, but I’m thankful for it every day.
– A piano recital that went well. I believe it was the first time we didn’t have to take a noisy baby/toddler out to calm down.
– Trips in the rain to get Slurpees for my kids. A fun memory.
– A conversation with a good friend. She’s moving soon, which makes me sad, but again… I’m so lucky to have friends!
– A conversation with my sister on her birthday. Love that gal!
– My first night of sleeping for six hours without being awakened by pain in my jaw/head. Antibiotics are a good thing!
– Several projects/major assignments that were completed and turned in at school. I don’t know who’s more relieved to have them done with, me or the kids.
– A clean toy room.
– The antics of my two year old who is — I’m not kidding here — as busy as three toddlers combined. Oh, I should have a running recording of the things that comes out of that girl’s mouth, and a camera of her dancing and waving her arms around as she talks to herself ALL. DAY. LONG. And I’m totally in love with her pig tails.
– Errands with the youngest three, who were remarkably cheerful and sweet that afternoon.
– Drawing pictures of my four year old in one of her notebooks at least once every 30 minutes today. She always wants her hair to be curly even though it’s not. So cute!
– A trip to the cemetery to visit the graves of ancestors on my father’s side of the family. A beautiful afternoon.
– The look on my sister’s face when she opened her birthday present this afternoon. More on that soon.
And last but not least would be the feeling of total calm that I have tonight for the simple reason that I don’t have to get everyone off to school in the morning. Oh happy day!
Have a great week!
Jennifer
