for my aunt...

Only an aunt can give hugs like a mother,

keep secrets like a sister

and share love like a friend.

Happy Birthday Aunt Lisa!!

a little ray of sunshine.

This is the only bit of "sunshine" we're going to see for a while. It's supposed to start raining tomorrow...although the skies are looking like they could offer some rain sooner.

I'm fine with that.

Can you believe it's already Thursday? The week sure has gone by fast.

I'm not really fine with that.

I wish time would slow down a bit...it's going entirely too fast.

I dropped my son off in front of our house yesterday evening...he was going in to eat dinner and I was heading off to get gas. I caught a glimpse of him in my side view mirror...looking so big and grown...mature...thoughtful, but in a deeper kinda way. And before I knew it I thought, "Oh my gosh...I am going to miss him SO MUCH when he goes off to college."

Then I cried. A lot. I had to pull myself together before getting out of the car to pump gas.

(Yes. I realize he's just a junior and that I have another year to go. But as fast as time is going...he will be heading off to live his life before I know it. And I am already sad about it. I want my babies to be 5 and 3 forever.)

I always thought I was going to handle my kids leaving the nest just fine. I have always thought that I'd be ready. I guess because I have plenty of interests of my own...I don't rely solely on my kids to provide me with my activities...or my worth.

But that's not the point, is it? No matter how busy I may keep myself...no matter how much I prepare myself for them to fly...I will never be ready.

I was created to be a mom...to be their mom. And no matter what...they will always be my babies.

Wednesday in the Word.

¹ Praise the LORD.

How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

² The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
³ He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
⁴ He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
⁵ Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.
⁶ The LORD sustains the humble
but casts the wicked to the ground.

⁷ Sing to the LORD with grateful praise;
make music to our God on the harp.

⁸ He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.
⁹ He provides food for the cattle
and for the young ravens when they call.

Psalm 147:1-9

It's Monday.

Again.

Already.

That's all I have to say about that.

another Sunday...

We watched a movie this morning, The Way by Emilio Estevez. So good...SO good. Beautifully written...amazing cinematography. And the music is beautiful, too. Makes me want to make the pilgrimage...someday.

Yesterday felt like Sunday all day...so today is kinda like a bonus. Although time seems to be slipping through my fingers...it's already so late in the day.

Ian is finally better. Still a little foggy, maybe...from being cooped up for a week. Poor guy. He'll be doing makeup work today...not his favorite way to spend a sunny (but cold) Sunday. Yeah...the rain stopped. For now anyway...forecast says more around Tuesday.

But...for today. Sunshine. And time.

Does time ever trip you out? I know that's a weird term..."trip you out". But sometimes, if I think about time too much, I do trip out. Time is such a strange concept. We're always wanting to know what time it is...running our days by the clock...wake up, get to work, eat lunch, eat dinner, go to bed...all at a regular time most days. Time is a funny thing...and cruel really. And no matter what we want or need or do or think...time just ticks on and on. There's never enough of it. And yet we waste it so willingly. Maybe these are the thoughts we begin to have as we age? And as we lose loved ones? Or as our children grow and the reality of them leaving the safety of where we are sinks in?

Hmm...somewhat serious today, aren't I?
That's OK...sometimes it's good to be serious.

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

green.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. I'm actually wearing green. Don't wanna get pinched, ya know! Remember that? In school? Oh, I hated that.

I have to admit, I'm not a big "secondary" holiday person. I made up that "secondary" thing...but you know what I mean. I am more of a BIG holiday person. I will gladly celebrate Easter and Christmas and Thanksgiving. But these others? The smaller ones? Yeah...I don't make a big deal of them.

Party pooper...I know.

I did buy corned beef, though. And cabbage. And potatoes. I'm going to prepare it like an old friend's mom did when we were in high school. Simmer the meat per the directions. Then toward the end add in peeled potatoes...simmer a while...add in carrots...simmer a bit more...then the cabbage. And then it's done in just a few more minutes.

What I loved about how my friend's mom prepared it was that she left the potatoes whole and just quartered the cabbage. So everything was in big hunks...including the tender meat that would just fall apart when it was done. Then when you served all that deliciousness onto your plate you'd gently mash the potato a bit and top with butter, salt and pepper to taste. I always added extra pepper. Oh my...was it ever good.

(Would it be rude to let you know that I'm salivating?)

I'm watching The Pioneer Woman on Food Network. She's making a warm spinach salad and olive cheese bread and it looks so good. I may need to make that sometime soon...

(Hmm...I think I may be hungry. I'm salivating again.)

Okie dokie...I'm going to get this Saturday started. I need to wash bedding and the bathroom and the kitchen floor. I may even dust. And in a while, I'm going to get that corned beef a simmerin'...can't wait!

sick bay.

I've been spending a LOT of time at the kitchen sink this week. Washing hands. Washing dishes. Washing hands. Preparing meals. Washing hands. Dosing medicine. Getting glasses of water and juice and powerade. And coffee (for me). And washing hands. (I don't want to get sick!) But really...I spend a lot of time at the kitchen sink every day. Don't we all?

I've been home with Ian this whole week...he's still sick...it is a doozy. His temperature got up to 102.2 yesterday afternoon so I called the dr. back as she advised. Getting worse instead of better is not an option. She went ahead and called in an antibiotic.

When I took Ian to the dr. the other day he told me he is "anti medicine". Yeah. Me too. But sometimes...we have to be grateful for it, even though we know that we have to take the bad with the good sometimes. (Like the "abdominal pain" he experienced, likely from the super dose of antibiotics.) He didn't want to take his cough medicine with codeine last night...I didn't really want him to take it either. He noted that he had already taken Ibuprofen and two strong antibiotic pills. He didn't want more... But it did help him get some sleep the night before...so...

I don't blame him. When I was dealing with asthma last year around this time I didn't like taking the inhalers. Did I need it? Yes. I needed it. It helped. And I was grateful for it. But I didn't like it. I didn't like tasting the chemicals every time I coughed.

So anyway...we've been at home all week. Ian has been stuck on the couch...all week. Yesterday I dragged him to the Starbuck's drive-thru...latte for me, strawberries and cream for him. Then we took a drive in the rain down one of our favorite country roads snapping random photos (none of which turned out...but that's ok, it's always a gamble when you just point and shoot as you're driving). It was a good break from looking at the same four walls.

Today marks Day 4 calling in sick to work. I hate that. But I would hate even more not being able to be with him. So I'm grateful for understanding coworkers.

He is still asleep. I'm going to give credit to the humidifier. I love that thing. I think it's the miracle cure for so many things. I can't believe I forgot to run it for him until last night. So unlike me! I run that thing every time one of the boys is sick. Always have since they were tiny guys. How did I forget?

Either way...I ran it last night. And it seems he's sleeping better.

So today is another home day in the sick bay. The timing is good with the rain and all. Although I do need to run out and get some milk...and a few other small items. And I may go to the post office...we'll see how crowded it is. (I have a bit of an aversion to the post office.)

xo