Enough

Monday after school was absolutely insane.  Tuesday, likewise.  By last night I'd just had it, but was still looking down the barrel of a third day in a row of running like a crazy woman from place to place and feeding various kids dinner at athletic field snack shacks or from a paper bag in the car as their schedules dictated.  Out of desperation, I texted the kids' piano teacher around nine last night and told her that we were in dire need of an afternoon off today!  Thing Two still had an evening baseball game, but at least the kids could come home on the school bus, do their homework at the kitchen table and eat dinner at home before heading to baseball.  All of this sounds like so little to ask, but believe me, it's not to be taken for granted when things get busy.  And things are much busier now than they EVER have been before...we made a promise and we honored it, but hell itself will freeze over before we sign up for any more baseball.  Ahem.

Good thing we had the extra free time, as it happened.  Thing Two had math homework that was tougher than usual, and I had the time to sit with him and walk through it.  Then Petunia wanted to bake cupcakes, and today I had time.  That poor kid gets dragged all over hell's half acre for her brothers' activities, so it was the least I could do to bake with her when she asked.  It's one of her favorite things to do with me.  As a side note, that child is one of the sweetest little girls to ever walk the earth.  You know the mother's curse, the one that goes "I wish you have children JUST LIKE YOU!!"  I actually said that to her today, and meant it, but in the *good* way...I really hope she does have kids just like her.  She deserves them.

Thing Two's game started poorly for the team, and that child truly can't hit a bull in the ass with a baseball bat (odd given that his hand-eye coordination is generally very good), but he managed to get himself hit by a pitch and then scored a run a few batters later, so he was happy.  The team ended up winning, too.  Himself has a theory that he needs to start teaching the kid to lean in when he bats, since he's been hit three times this season and the team has won all three times.  :)

Oh well.  Had a glass of wine when I came home, threw in some of the ever-present laundry, and started the dishwasher.  All is calm and quiet here now and I am not a lunatic tonight, for which I am profoundly grateful!  I'll take my blessings when I can find them.  'Night, y'all...
          

A Weighty Compliment

Two different people have recently told me (in the course of conversation; believe me, I didn't ask) that I am their best friend.  Both are very close friends of mine, so I guess it really shouldn't have surprised me, but I hadn't previously given it any thought.  There's enough of the guarded kid who moved around a lot in me that I always hold a small piece of myself back out of habit even now, so I think that maybe the thing that surprised me the most was that these friends would put themselves out there enough to say it in the first place?  The interesting thing is that of the three of us, I am by far the most extroverted, although by no means an extrovert per se.   The acquired defense of the peripatetic child, perhaps.

At any rate, these are both people whose real friendship is hard to earn and well worth the earning, so I'm a lucky woman.  I wonder, though: does it make me strange that the label feels like it comes with a sort of pressure??  I could just take the compliment and run with it, but clearly my brain is still working this one through.  After all, this is my hometown now.  Good or bad, I'm here for the duration, and these friends are likely here for the duration too...not at all the way I grew up, so an adjustment for me.

Oh well.  Thoughts from (as Ms. Moon would put it) the Church Of The Batshit Crazy on a rainy Sunday night.  

     

Sadly, This Is 100% True

Only the people I really like are worth the trouble of messing with them.  ;)

Spring! Spring!!

Happy dog!  It's finally warm enough to take her out hiking with me, which is her favorite thing to do in all the world.  The trails near me are remote enough that I can usually let her run off leash...she chases squirrels and dashes through every mud puddle and stream that she can find and generally wears herself out completely.  She doesn't ask for much; just food, water, love and some good runs outside.  How could I turn down that face?  And why should I try??  (Yes, there is a dog in that fourth picture down; she's just 50 feet or so ahead of me on the trail.  Pretty area, isn't it?)

Things are finally looking good in the garden, too.  The second round of flowers are blooming (daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses have been and gone already):

Irises

These peach-colored irises spontaneously showed up in a bed of yellow irises last year.  Cool, huh??

Bleeding hearts

Azaleas

More azaleas

Lilies of the valley

Pots on the deck!  Tomato, serrano pepper, jalapeño pepper, basil, and two flowers of some sort that my younger kids brought home from school for Mother's Day.

Planted the garden over the weekend as well: five more tomato plants, more peppers (sweet and hot), more basil (Thai and Italian), rosemary, cilantro, parsley, cucumbers.  Yum.  Also more azaleas and three new rosebushes--Himself is getting into the act...he's the rose guy.  Too high-maintenance for me!  (The roses, not him.)

Now I just need to mulch it all!!  Ugh.

  

Hopefully A Few Things Have Changed Since 1984

I grew up listening to the band Chicago and some of their songs bring back vivid high-school era memories even though Peter Cetera was long gone by the time I hit high school.  Was cleaning out the office the other day and found their Greatest Hits 1982-1989 CD, which I promptly stuck into the CD player in my car in a fit of nostalgia.  A couple of the songs still made me very happy (hey, no judging...I am who I am) but the lyrics of Stay The Night made me do a double-take.  I apparently wasn't paying attention back then; that's all I can figure.  What the hell??

I don't want you to misunderstand me
I just wanna say what's on my mind
No need to hit me with an attitude
Because I haven't got the time
I want you to know one thing's for certain
I surely love your company
And I won't take no if that's your answer
At least that's my philosophy
Stay the night
There's room enough here for two
Stay the night
I'd like to spend it with you
Stay the night
Why don't we call it a day?
No one can stop us
Nothing is in the way
Have some friendly conversation
And if you still don't have a clue
Unless there's something else you've got in mind
We've got better things to do
Stay the night
There's room enough here for two
Stay the night
I'd like to spend it with you
Stay the night
Why don't we call it a day?
No one can stop us
Nothing is in the way
Just to have you near me
Here by my side
Just to have you near me
And when I get next to your body
Just to have you near me
Something I can tell you
Make it perfectly clear
We're gonna have a very good time
Stay the night
There's room enough here for two
Stay the night
I'd like to spend it with you
Stay the night
Why don't we call it a day?
No one can stop us
And nothing is in the way
No one can stop us
And nothing is in the way
I don't wanna stay
Stay the night
Stay the night
Stay the night
(lyrics copied from the MetroLyrics site)

Day Is Done

It's been a good one; a long hike with the dog on a beautiful leafy trail, lots of kid activities after school, plus a Zumba class in the evening.  I can't dance to save my life, but one nice thing about hitting the ripe old age of 41 is that I no longer really care much what most people think of me, so I can just go and get in a good workout and have fun--if I'm doing some move wrong, so be it.  My next taekwondo belt test is coming (end of the month, or so I'm hearing) so I'm ramping up the cardio and push-ups accordingly--the extra exercise helps me keep from turning into a raging lunatic with the kids' ridiculous after-school schedule as well, as a fringe benefit.

Spring has sprung here: it was gloriously warm and sunny today, and everything's finally green.  Makes it a pleasure to be outside, hence the hike. My Fitbit (love that thing--got it for Christmas and wear it constantly) says I've walked about 25,000 steps today!  No wonder I'm tired...

And, As The Icing On The Cake...

Got a call from the contractor today to tell me that his invoice for the recent floor job was in my mailbox.  When I went to grab it, I saw that he had also put a First Communion card (containing $20!) addressed to Petunia in the mailbox.

So, to recap: he personally made sure that his guys finished the job in time for her party (her First Communion is tomorrow) AND got her a card.  This is a single older guy, mind you--recently divorced--so it's not like he asked his wife to do it...HE did it.  Talk about going above and beyond.  Is it any wonder why I keep having this guy do work at my house??