The Last Few Days

I have some funny pictures on my camera that need getting off, so here goes a travelogue of the past few days.

Friday:

Not a good day. There was no motivation to do anything good for me and mothering seemed above and beyond anything I was capable of doing. As a result, when I came downstairs after letting my kids just "be" for well over an hour, this was what I found.

Henry found the Ovaltine. And he dumped it.

I think my kids are programmed to get upset when they do something naughty, independing of me getting upset or not. I actually found this mess amusing...didn't scream...didn't yell. Just got out my camera and then cleaned up the mess. But, you could never tell that from Henry's reaction upon being caught.

Saturday:

We spent our early morning bustling about because the whole fam-damily was going to Race For The Cure. I've been wanting to sign up for one of these races ever since my sister-in-law, Patty, was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. I watched her humbly and serenely recover from a mastectomy and bone-marrow transplant in her 30s and always wanted to participate in this cause. Every city we've lived in, however, has scheduled the race on Sunday, and I follow Jay's lead (he being the professional and all) who has always chosen to abstain from racing on that day. Utah provided the opportunity for a Saturday race and we took it.

They really should change the name to Mosey For The Cure, because mosey is all that's possible if you are anywhere but the front of the pack. I had my semi-truck double stroller to maneuver, which was close to impossible (at least without scuffing up several people's calves with my honkin' front tire as I tried to get around them) so we gave up trying to actually move quickly and enjoyed our stroll. Jay ran the race quickly, as he got there early and was on the starting line, but once he passed the finish line just kept going and caught up to us and walked the 5K again with us. I'm glad we did it, because it's nice to get going on a Saturday and do something productive, but I doubt we'd do it again. Unless they do some major reorganization. It's just not good crowd control.

Seth and Sam taking a turn pushing. This didn't last long after they ran into several people in a row.

If you can believe it, it felt even more than crowded than it looks.

The finish line was insane. People everywhere. I wanted proof that we were there, and then we we quickly left. Notice, my bangs are still dry. I'm a head sweater, so this 5K didn't really give me a good workout, but after three hours of my morning dedicated to it, it was going to have to count.

Jay was on call the rest of the weekend and that left me on my own both evenings. Saturday night, Maureen and I took the boys to Training Table for dinner and then went back to my house to watch T.V. and a little La Femme Nikita. I love having people that are willing to watch it with me.

Sunday:

Mother's Day. I thought about writing a post for my mother but with choir practice, church and then Jay being gone at the hospital, the mood never struck. Sorry mom. I do think you are the wind beneath my wings. And I'll make sure and dedicate my next time singing it during karaoke for you. I made taco soup for dinner and Maureen came over to hang out with me and the boys. I did receive a few blessed gifts, thanks to a thoughtful elementary school teacher, a primary teacher who probably needed some time to kill, and a thoughtful husband who gets stressed about gifts, but did just fine this time.

Sammy gave this to me after church. The tall person in the middle is me. The short person is him. I have a flower and he is giving me another one. The scribbled blog on the side apparently started out as me, but when he messed up, he changed the interpretation into, "President Hinckley dying. See? He's melting". I know it's not really the most respectful drawing, and maybe I should have just kept Sammy's picture to myself, but it shows how a 5 year old mind thinks. At least at church.

Seth made me this clay bowl at school. It's awesome. Jagged and lumpy and all eight year-old created.

Jay got me a shuffle (because I like random order of songs, but get frustrated using his because there are so many songs I don't like to work out with)

A poem from Seth. I have a hunch there was a list of words on the board for them to use. I don't think he'd think of butterfly on his own.

Seth made me these adorable bookmarks at computer lab. Aren't they perfect? Look at the piano one. I think it's so sweet. And the baby was because we all still think of Henry as a baby. As for the squirrel, I'm thinking maybe he meant for it to be a raccoon??

That night, as I walked into my bedroom for the evening, I got sick of tripping over the four loads of clean laundry I kept dumping onto the floor with a promise to fold "tomorrow". I really normally avoid folding laundry on the Sabbath, especially on Mother's Day, but sometimes the only way to rest is to take care of a mess. Luckily, I had a whole other disc of La Femme Nikita, so the night was enjoyable.

It gets kind of spread out when you're looking for one particular thing.

But wait? What's that I spy?

Bring on the laundry!

The enjoyable night came to a crashing halt when the torrential wind started shortly after midnight. I thought my windows were going to blow out with all the noise they were making. I got up to look out the window and saw trees straining against the gale forces and my heart started racing. I really, really hate wind. It affects me. I ended up sleeping in henry's room, where there is a guest bed, because the noise wasn't as intense in there. I was glad the weather had calmed by the morning.

Monday:

Jay had the day off so we got a lot done. New library books, uninterrupted work-outs and a clean house are all a testament to the joys of Jay being home. Our friend, Rochelle, came over at 6:30 and we headed downtown with my sisters, Maureen and Sarah, to the opera Don Giovanni. I haven't been to an opera in ages, but used to go to all the ones that came to Bozeman when I was in high school. The lyric soprano singing the part of Donna Anna was exquisite. The rest were talented enough, but her voice had me rethinking my review of the book Bel Canto. Maybe a good lyric soprano really is all we need for world peace.

Jay leaned over to me and said, "I wonder if I'm the only guy here who has watched NASCAR and an opera during the same week?" Probably, Jay. Definitely the only one who checked his fantasy NASCAR team before going.

Before the opera started, I wanted to get a self portrait of Jay and me. I'll just tell the story as I go.

This was the first one. Actually, I think Sarah, who was sitting beside me, took it. Of course, not wanting to have a picture with three chins and a stump of a neck, I requested a redo from the other side.

Jay took this one. Clearly a novice at the whole SP thing, we were left with a clear shot up the nose.

Listening to tips from me about making sure the chin was down and then Sarah's last second admonition to "look like you're having fun!" we got this unusual-for-Jay face that had me in fits.

I can't even type anything right now without laughing. Oh my goodness. Wow. Atta boy! Thank you, Jay, for letting me post these. I'll treasure them forever.

Today:

It's been a good day. I worked out. I went to the mall without kids to get them some summer clothes (because yesterday, I swapped out the winter clothes for summer clothes and realized that Henry has one short sleeved shirt and Seth has about eight pairs of shorts but two shirts) and then to Harmons, the friendly grocers, to get food for the week. I'm used to expensive grocery trips, because ever since we've gone gluten free for the house, our food simply costs more. But even our expensive grocery bills are getting more expensive. It's really not fun to spend $200 at the grocery store...for a week!

I had Kelly's kids this afternoon and Sarah is on her way over with Cafe Rio because Jay is working again tonight. The sun is shining. My house is still clean. I found time to blog.

Life is good.