Happy Mother's Day to All the Mom's Out There!

We celebrate all weekend, what fun! Today we got up early, got some plants from a plant swap, and then did yard work with Marti. Mike and Chris played t-ball, as Chris practiced hitting and even tried to hit left-handed. I love how he likes to play outside and that he likes to play with Mike so much.

I took a nap, which was welcomed and long overdue, but especially appreciated today. Feeling more than a little uncomfortable and exhausted, due to cramps I woke up feeling so much better. Mike then went to the store and picked up a charcoal grill and cooked steaks, asparagus, and portabello mushrooms, as potatoes with onions and garlic baked in olive oil in the oven. Christopher stayed outside with Mike while he was cooking, and we all enjoyed talking and hanging out around the grill and having dinner. Chris said he was a little cold, so he got a blanket and wrapped it around himself while he was waiting patiently. After dinner, he asked me if he could cuddle up in my lap, which made my heart sing. I have come to realize that I can no longer pick him up and carry him around, as he's gotten too big...it makes me happy how he's growing, but sad how I have to let go of one more "baby" thing. He often sits next to me to cuddle, but it was extra special that he wanted to get in my lap while we were outside. And then, he fell asleep. Awww. That almost never happens these days, that he falls asleep before being sent to bed. How nice it happened this way for my weekend with the guys. Truly makes my heart sing!

Chris made me something at school for Mother's Day, but he's been very good a keeping his secret after his initial disclosure this week. We have a rule in the family: "there are no secrets in our family" and since he is "Literal Man" he almost let the cat out of the bad earlier. I had asked him how his day went, and what did he do in school, so he told me that his class made something for all the moms. "It's a ...." he started to say, so I told him that he's supposed to tell me that it's a secret, which is when he reminded me about how we have no secrets in our house. So, there I was explaining to him the difference between a secret for a surprise, vs. a secret that is inappropriate. I tell you, every day is a learning experience with this little guy, I love it!

After we sat outside and talked for awhile, listening to music, Mike took him and put him in his top bunk. He was able to say most of his evening prayers before he drifted back to his solid slumber. Before he fell asleep earlier, he asked me where his backpack was, because he wanted to be sure to get his special present out first thing in the morning. I'm not even going to peek in his backpack! What fun it will be in the morning!

As for this weekend being a special day, I have to say, it's nice to have a day of our own, but it's really not just "our" day. There are so many levels of relationships out there, so many women who deserve to be honored, so many who have had an impact on each of us...how can we squish it all into one day? We celebrate for the whole weekend, and we make it a family even in our house. I also like to call several others to tell them Happy Mother's Day...my grandmothers, a couple of friends, my sisters, and several others.

Besides feeling emotional all week due to PMS (sorry, guys, I know this subject is considered TMI, but dammit, it hurts, it's uncomfortable, it's predictable, it makes some of us crazy), it's also the 3rd year without Mom in person. I know she's still around me, I know I can talk to her, but I do really miss her some days so much it makes me emotional and then I remember the good times. It's easier to meet the milestone days, birthday holidays and anniversary days, especially with a growing appreciation of all that is and all that will be...but it still hurts. Sigh.
And now, time for bed so I can sleep in tomorrow and continue this awesome weekend.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!
And to all the Mom's out there!

More Serendipity, Lovin' It!

A wonderful anniversary...Adoption Day!

Our little guy is quite the flirt, and he found this beauty walking around at the courthouse, waiting for her turn for her legal adoption. Before we knew it, he had grabbed her hand and wanted to walk her up and down the hallway for quite awhile. That's her mom on the left, and his attorney, Sheila, on the right. He had just learned to walk a month or so before, and was quite good at it, but he had on his new cowboy boots and had a hard time not slipping in them on the tiled floor. Otherwise, we are convinced he would have been walking with his new friend without any adult support, lol!

So, we celebrated our little guy's adoption day by taking him to the only Mexican restaurant in town, and he loved it! We do something special with him each year, and will likely make it bigger each year as he understands more and more how much he means to us and how we love having him in our family.

When we got home, Mike put on his nightly show, Jeopardy, from a recording earlier. It's celebrity week, so some of the questions are a little easier for the rest of us non-fast thinkers. Well, on this special day, we had several personal references from the answers on Jeopardy tonight, including:

Senator Diane Feinstein of California is the aunt of the judge who signed our adoption papers, Judge Feinstein! On the day of his adoption, we had commented on her relationship to the senator, and used that as our way to remember the name of the judge who helped change our lives on this monumental, ceremonial day.

under the category of "yellow" was the New Mexico flag -- where we have lived the longest with our son (4 yrs for him, 15 for us)

Neil Patrick Harris was one of the contestants, a native of NM, and he is the one who answered the flag question

We've been talking about and picking one of my favorite local flowers....the buttercup. In fact, I just gave a bunch of buttercups to both Mike and Chris about a week ago. Not only was the picture of the buttercup easily identified by Chris, but it was not correctly answered by any of the 2 contestants

Now, we don't live our lives according to what happens on Jeopardy, that would be dumb. It is rather odd and amusing, since we do watch the show every day, that on two particular days in the past month, the answers on the show are randomly and yet very closely related to something not as pertinent to the day as it was by showing up today.

It was a good day!

Science in Schools

This, fresh in from Facebook. A recent entry by my sister-in-law's 8th grade daughter, Bailey:

"Today was so cool in science! We got to disect owl throw up. My partner saw animal bones like shrews and birds and that kind of stuff. It felt wierd to touch the bones. So gross!"

What can I say (besides "eww!") but that's some funny, funny stuff....

A Serendipitous Day

Perhaps it happens more than we notice, but a Serendipitous Day is just a fun day, no matter how you look at it. It happened mostly around me, but I was glad to get to be a witness to the fun.

Here we go:

Last night I was flipping through a book about the Amish community, and came across a picture of a group of folks who were watching the filming of the movie "Witness" -- in a town called "Intercourse, PA". I just thought it amusing to see all the folks, a combination of Amish and non-Amish, looking on in a town with such an unusual name. Particularly since the Amish are known for their simple living, a contradiction to the name of the town. I turned to show the picture to Mike, and read the description to him. He was putting away his cell phone, plugging it in before we went to sleep, when he noticed he had received a message from a friend who had just visited us on Sunday from San Diego, CA. Ira was now in Pennsylvania and had sent Mike a picture message -- with the town sign of "Intercourse, PA" and "Intercourse Community Park". How Funny and what odd timing. In all these years, I don't think I ever noticed there was a town called Intercourse, and yet here it appeared 2x, from 2 separate sources, in less than a minute apart.

Next,
In the morning, Mike woke up to tell me that he had just had "really weird dreams last night." He said he dreamed about The Beatles, except Paul McCartney was the only one missing. They were all just jamming to music. He rarely tells me about his dreams, as he says he usually doesn't remember them in the morning. Mike was headed to Waldorf for a class he currently teaches. After that, he headed to the Leonardtown HS to hopefully pickup books for a home teaching student. When he arrived at the counselor's office...he found her walls covered with posters of The Beatles!

Mike and Chris went home before me, and I stopped by the grocery store to get something for dinner and a few other items. He asked me to get something to go in the oven, preferably a pizza or two. The store I was in had limited options, so I picked up a DiGiornio, as well as two other smaller pizzas, labeled "Mystic Pizza". My cousin at the checkout line mentioned the movie by Julia Roberts called "Mystic Pizza", but I don't remember ever seeing it. It's a movie from the early 80's. Well, while we were sitting down enjoying the first pizza, Mike also mentioned the movie and insisted that I've seen it before. Despite how I can't always remember the names of movies I have seen, that one did not sound familiar. So, he did a search on the cable system, and found that the movie was playing AT the Moment we were discussing it, it had just started about 15 minutes before.

Finally,
When I put the first and second pizzas in the oven, I had asked Mike to set his timer on his phone. His phone allows him to choose various ring tones, so he chose the lyrics from Prince's song "1999" as the alarm. Well, on Jeopardy, there was a category for interesting or odd Prime numbers...where the answer to one of the questions was the same selection of lyrics that Mike had chosen for the alarm, just a mere 10 or so minutes prior to the viewing of Jeopardy.

Now, I'd have to say that this has been one heck of a Serendipitous Day, if I ever saw one!
Too cool!

New Days, new beginnings

Everyday brings new surprises.
Much of the past two years...more junk than good.
But, Finally...a breath of fresh air!

Here's to good choices, good people, good days, the best of everything.
I'm optimistic, and I know in my heart that things are finally turning around.

It's about time.

You're Be-autiful!

Today, I had about 45 "free" minutes to myself...so I splurged and went to Starbucks! Splurged...cause it just costs too dang much for the drinks there. And, I don't drink coffee (don't like it, never have, in fact -- never even drank a cup of it my entire life!), so what the heck! Truth is, they have this awesome Chai Tea Frappachino that I really, really like. So much so, that I think I've finally figured out how to duplicate it at home. Use evaporated milk, honey not sugar, brewed chai tea, and ice, all in the blender. Or just iced. Topped with cinnamon, and whipped cream, if you have it.

After I ordered my drink, I went to wash my hands. Okay, besides just wanting clean hands, I'd spent the previous several hours with little guys in elementary school. Hmmm, sticky hands all over mine. Fun kids, but sticky little kindergartners!

On my way out of the single-room restroom at Starbucks, when I was greeted by a little 4-yr old girl and her 10-ish yr old sister. The little one looked up at me and smiled big, and said, "You're Be-autiful!" What could I say? I had to laugh and smiled back at her and tole her that she was beautiful, and have a fun day. Now, you gotta laugh. I'm not fishing here, and I'm not going to "go there" but I will say that this was the first time ever in my life to have had this unique and spontaneous experience by such a young child. Her smile was so bright, how could it not just make my day!

And I have to say...I kind of needed something nice to happen.
This was just perfect!

Message from Mom

Okay, I do believe that those who go before us can and do communicate with us. And one of the ways they can use is through electricity (anything electric), including the telephone. I had one other incident in 2006 where this happened after the death of a friend, a triple occurrence with my cell phone that time (trust me, it was an odd enough incident that never happened prior, and never since, accompanied that weekend by 3 other very odd occurrences. I'll write about them sometime).

This time...

I got a voice message from my google telephone number. Any calls to this number generate two types of messages: a voice message that is saved in my email mailbox, and a text message that attempts to transcribe the message.

Here is what I got from a Virginia area code phone number on Tuesday:

"Hi. This is Mom. We're here. I was just calling to find out what channel lifetime is on. That's it."

Now, I was able to figure out where the call was coming from, later on that evening, and it was from my brother's home phone, and the caller was his mother-in-law. In the 10+ years that he has known these really nice folks, Mrs. Gehman has never once had a reason or occasion to call me at my home, and likely does not have the number. He did try calling me over last weekend from his home, but this week he is out of town and the in-laws are at Liz & Darryl's house to help out with the kids. I'm guessing she somehow did a re-dial to me by accident.

But, I'm sorry...the timing of this particular message, at this particular time, after my posting the night before...all I have to say is, Thanks, Mom!

And Pat, and Gramps, and all the other loved ones she's up there hanging out with.
It's a beautiful thing!