Abiding...

Mobility

I'm sure I'm not the only one who receives items in the mail that often seem like a slap in the face. There's the AARP information, the offers of Colonial Penn insurance from Alex Trebek and the advertisements for wrinkle prevention cream. I normally drop things like this directly in the trash. A couple of weeks ago the kids were home for a few days and one of them happend to retreive the mail. Wouldn't you know, it was one of those "slap in the face" mail days. The kids (and Jeff) had a lot of fun at my expense with this:

In case you're wondering, I ran 6 miles this morning. WITHOUT my scooter. I think my mobility is just fine, thank you very much.

Elated

I've made it a practice not to talk politics on this blog. My last post was a teeny-weeny bit political. In this post I'm going to make one simple statement. Tuesday night when I crawled into bed after everyone left my house in the wee hours of what was actually Wednesday morning, I was elated.

Saturday by the numbers

• Number of times the phone rang = 13

• Number of times it was someone telling me who to vote for = 10

• Number of items in the mail = 10

• Number of mail items telling me who to vote for = 9

I can't wait for this to be over.

MAMA MIA!

I had a blast last night! I saw the touring production of "MAMA MIA!"
 

Whether you're an ABBA fan or not, if you get the chance go see the show. It was a ton of fun! There is one problem though. I might as well leave work for the day. I can't concentrate on anything because every part of my brain is singing ABBA tunes.

Jeff's moment of zen

As you may recall, we have an Old English Sheepdog named, "Grace". This is Grace when we first got her:
This is a picture of Grace from last week. (Sorry it was taken with a cell phone so it's not very clear.) Jeff put this on his Facebook page and labeled it, "Moment of Zen". In case you haven't had a dog who has a lot of long hair, sometimes they need...well, help.

 

I know...disgusting.

Together

All four kids were home this past weekend which meant that my washing machine and my oven never stopped. Some other things that never stopped were smiles, conversation and laughter. It really warms my heart to see how much they enjoy us being together as a family. A couple of times they commented about how excited they are that Christmas is approaching. Their excitement has nothing to do with gifts or the extended break from college; they're simply excited about being together.

I know there are many things we could have or should have done differently as parents. Sometimes I find myself lamenting over that. I look back at the past 22 years and think, "If I could do it over there are so many things I would change." But then I stand back and look at the young adults they've become. They're not perfect by any means but they're pretty darn good. They have big hearts, sharp minds, wonderfully interesting personalities and they love each other. Not only do they love each other they LIKE each other. A lot. And I can't find one thing wrong about that.

Everything's going to be ok

To say that I've had a tough week would be a huge understatement. It's been brutal. I'd love to write about all the nasty little details but I'm sure it would bore you to tears. This afternoon I drove to a local retreat center to facilitate a two day leadership retreat. I love doing this kind of work. It energizes me and I know I'm good at it. Today though I was beat emotionally and physically. Facilitating a retreat was not something I was looking forward to. Crawling under a rock was much more appealing. And then to top it off, when I arrived at the retreat center it began to rain very hard. Blech. The participants arrived and we began the retreat. I tried to amp up my energy level but I was struggling. At one point I looked out the windows on the right side of the room. It was pouring. I turned my head and looked out the window on the left side of the room. It was beautifully sunny with no rain. And then I saw this:

All of a sudden my energy returned. There's just something about a rainbow that says, "Everything's going to be ok."

It should count

I was asked to take a short survey today. For some odd reason, I said "yes". On the survey I was asked how many children I had between the ages of 0-4, 5-8, 9-12 and 13-17. That would be 0, 0, 0 and 0. A big, fat round zero. That just doesn't seem fair now does it? I am still the mother of four children. They may not be living in my house but, I AM STILL THEIR MOTHER. (Sorry for the caps, I'm just slightly passionate about this.) I fed them, changed them, bathed them, cared for them when they were sick, kissed their boo-boos and, I loved them. I washed their clothes, cleaned their rooms, replaced tiny little teeth under their pillows with money, helped them with 13 different science projects and, I loved them. I attended concerts, football games, plays, debates, cross country meets, karate demonstrations and, I loved them. I took them to school, shopping, the movies, their grandparents, the doctor, the dentist, the orthodontist, the Department of Motor Vehicles and, I loved them. I watched them go to proms in tuxes and long dresses, walked down the aisle in caps and gowns, leave for college with suit cases full of clean clothes, come home with bags full of dirty laundry and, I love them. I always will. So to all of you survey makers out there, I am the mother of four children. Please figure out a way to allow that to count. Thank you.