Hoping to catch up

Today is a day that I really hope I can catch up.  Thomas has art class this morning, Robert works a 5+ hour shift at work, and Andrew will be taking Catherine and Thomas to visit a friend this evening...but I have NO WHERE I have to be!  And I'll even have some time by myself here.  This is going to be my day to make some serious progress on the craziness that has become our home.  I am ready to tackle the stacks of mail and dust bunnies that have accumulated over the last six weeks or so.

Yesterday I could've done so as well, but I did something I almost never do.  I had handed some things for the volunteer organization, then I ran to the nearby outlets to use a coupon I had for some Christmas presents.  As I was driving home, I could tell I really needed a nap.  I  had about 90 minutes until the kids got home, and decided to close my eyes for a bit.  Usually when this happens I only sleep for 15-20 minutes, but yesterday I slept for the entire time until my kids got home.  I was even dreaming!  I know that it was my body's way of telling me I needed it, and I'm so grateful I had the opportunity.

It's still early on this Saturday morning, and I'm looking forward to a day of productivity!

October in the rear view mirror

Normally, I love October.  It is traditionally my favorite month (doesn't everyone feel that way about their birthday month?).  It is always such a beautiful month, and this year has been no exception.  I have found a great deal of comfort in the changing leaves, and know that God has painted the scenery!  This year though, October was a tough month.  In addition to my brother-in-law's illness, the passing of my two great-aunts and the illness of our cat, we have continued to deal with teenage drama on nearly a daily basis.  It is draining and exhausting.  In addition, my volunteer "job" has been ridiculous.  I understand as a stay-at-home mom I am the parent with the most time available to get things done.  However, the assumptions that I will just take care of it is getting old.  I ended up being responsible for senior night even though I wanted no part of it.  However, it isn't fair to the seniors to let it go by the wayside.  I know that by handling it the assumption that I always will is going to continue, but it's just not fair to the kids.

Anyway, enough of my whining.  While it's been stressful, it's also been a beautiful month.  However, I am ready to move out of October and into November, and I continue to pray daily for peace and harmony in our home!

The sadness and craziness continued

Yesterday continued the sadness of last week.  The funeral of Aunt Margie was lovely.  There were so many funny stories about her.  She was one stubborn woman, and that led to some comedy in life.  I have really good memories of Aunt Margie, and although I hadn't been able to see her in the last several years, we always exchanged Christmas cards, and I'll just miss knowing she is around and hearing new stories.  My heart also ached for my grandmother as we buried her sister.  Grandma has now outlived her parents, her son, all of her siblings and their spouses, her husband, and all of his siblings and spouses.  The thing is though, at 84, she is still getting around fabulously.  She is just an amazing woman, and although much quieter than Aunt Margie, just as stubborn and strong willed.

We also thought we were going to have to put our cat down yesterday.  Before Andrew left to take him to the vet, I said my good-byes and told him I loved him.  Thomas and Catherine both wanted to go along, and as always, my little guy's tender heart made me tear up.  At the same time, his strength in wanting to be there if it was the end was inspiring.  I love my three kids more than I can even put into words.  Ultimately, it turns out that the vet thinks it is just an infection and put him on antibiotics, although at age 15 we are all realistic.

In between the sadness of two family funerals, we also had continued craziness.  Robert worked literally all day Sunday while the rest of us ventured north for the visitation.  Saturday Robert ran in the final race of the season, and while he didn't set a PR, he still did well considering the conditions.  We only had a half hour from the time we returned from the race until he had to be at the high school again for his band competition, and he was a tired young man.

During all of this, one of the greatest comforts was how gorgeous it is outside right now.  We are in peak conditions with the leaves, and driving through rural farmland gave us many opportunities to witness the beauty.  It brought such a sense of peace and comfort, and I couldn't help but feel God's presence in all of it.  The colors on the leaves are just astounding!  I'm even grateful I had to spend so much time on the road, as today and tomorrow is going to bring heavy wind and rains, so that will be the end of it.

I'm looking forward to what I hope will be something of a quieter week!

It's been a sad week

Overall, this has been a pretty sad week for our family, but everyone is hanging in there.  There has been some improvement with Andrew's brother, and we are grateful.  At the same time, it just seems as though he (and his parents) have suffered so much and to be honest, it's hard to want him to continue living the life he is living.  Aunt Margie passed away Wednesday morning.  We will be going for the visitation tomorrow and then I'll go back up Monday for the funeral.  I was able to make it to my hometown for the visitation of my classmate's father, and yesterday I spent with my family at my great-aunt Pat's funeral.  These great-aunts are both on my Dad's side of the family, so that makes the emotions even tougher as we are less than a month from the two year anniversary of his passing.  Family funerals (and weddings and other gatherings as well) tend to bring out the family drama, as my aunt (and these are her aunts) decided not to attend funerals, and there are hurt feelings over that.  We are also concerned about our cat Wally, as he seems to have developed a cough, and I'm concerned his time may be near as well.  To be honest, I've been praying all week that if it is his time to go, that the good Lord take him so we don't have to make that decision....although there isn't really a decision to be made.  We would never consider keeping him alive to suffer.

All-in-all, it's been a pretty emotional week.  I've been at school all day every day for Wednesday, and Thursday, and of course the rest of our daily/weekly activities have been occurring as well.  It wasn't until I arrived at the funeral yesterday (late of course, because I had to leave a meeting early just to get there when I did) that the enormity of my emotions of the week hit me, and I just began to cry.  I couldn't stop crying for a bit.  I realized in some ways I'd just been too busy to allow myself to be sad about all of it.

There are happy things too.  For instance, Robert runs this afternoon at the cross country district meet.  We know that he and our team are not competing for anything really, but we are proud that Robert has done so well this year!

Around our house these days

There is really nothing terribly new happening in our house these days.  Aung Margie is still with us, and my heart breaks for her and her daughters.  She hasn't been very alert since Friday morning, and loved ones just aren't supposed to suffer this way.  I also learned that a childhood neighbor and former classmate lost her dad unexpectedly this weekend.  I am hoping to get to my hometown for the visitation tomorrow, but we'll have to see how life works out.

As my children grow and mature in front of my eyes each day, I just can't help but be filled with prayer.  My biggest hope in life is that my children grow to be productive members of society, and I can only hope and pray that Andrew and I can guide them in that direction.  I suppose that seems dramatic, but it honestly is my greatest hope each day.

It's a crazy week for me in terms of my volunteer responsibilities, but I don't want to wish time away.  I want to remember to be grateful for each moment of every day.  It isn't going to come around again, and we are each only blessed with so many moments over the course of our lives.  Lately, that has been all much of a reminder.

Prayers for my brother-in-law

We got a phone call this evening that made my husband cry...and I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen that.  My brother-in-law is in intensive care with congestive heart failure (and probably pneumonia).  The dialysis that he is receiving is helping, but as a diabetic things just aren't good.  He has also lost what little was left of his vision.  Because my in-laws waited three days to call us, things are actually better this evening than they were on Thursday, so they don't feel there is a need for my husband to get over there.  We've also been told that my brother-in-law's dog is not well and probably won't be around when Tim returns home.  That dog has been the number one reason my brother-in-law looks forward to each trip home from the hospital, and it's making things even more emotional.  I do believe that Tim will get through this bout, but I also know that our family has seen this before.  I am sending up many prayers for Tim, and especially for my in-laws.  No parent should ever have to watch their child suffer like this.

He came back strong

Robert was officially allowed to return to cross country practice this past Monday.  Today was the league meet.  We knew that he would be allowed to run, but we weren't really sure what to expect in terms of results.  He hadn't participated in a meet in six weeks, and had lost over four weeks of practice.  We were at approximately the half way point of the race, and we were absolutely astounded to see that he was keeping pace with our team's #1 & #2 runners.  This isn't a race that we get to see much of the runners, and we parked ourselves at the finish line to see how it was going to end.  Our first three runners had come across and I was beginning to think that Robert had fallen off, when I turned around and there he was barreling towards the finish line.  He finished fourth on our team with a time of 19:21...cutting 38 seconds off his personal best!  We were so excited, and he was absolutely thrilled!  Next weekend our team runs at districts, and only the top seven runners from our team are allowed to participate.  We weren't sure if he would still be one of the top seven, but it definitely appears that he will.  We are very proud that he continued to attend practice where he was allowed to ride the bike and still do core work, and it obviously paid off!