Happy birthdays and other stuff

Ok, wow. It's been such a long time that I had to change my Xanga password in order to log on here. Sorry...I have to say though, that I prefer Facebook for a lot of my online interactions. Happily some of my Xanga friends are my friends there too, so I get to keep up. But occasionally I think I should blog. Why? I don't know. Just because. This is apparently one of those times.

I must say I don't much like this font. Ick.

Well, the birthday season has begun here. And this year is bringing us some pretty big birthdays. Six days ago, Rachel turned 16. And tomorrow, my very first baby turns 18.

That seems weird. I mean, I know she's growing up and all but to be a legal adult? How in the world is that possible? I don't even feel like an adult many times and here she is an adult and Rachel following close on her heels.

She is not at all happy about this milestone. In fact, she will cry if she thinks about it. She doesn't want to lose the essence of herself, I think, and she feels that growing "mature" will do that for her. I have tried to reassure her but to no avail. It must be one of those things that she just has to learn on her own.

So Rachel had her Sweet Sixteen party, Saturday a week ago. I will admit that I thought she carried it a bit overboard, but seeing as we are vastly different people, I guess that's not surprising. She had a group of kids out to bowl, then back to the house for pizza, cake, & playing. I mean, this group of teenagers colored with chalk on the driveway, climbed trees, played the piano, decorated cupcakes, and generally hung out. It was interesting. I really like these children/teenager people. I see most of them every week at our co-op and it is a pleasure for me to just sit and watch them. I never thought I'd be the person who sits and watches groups of people and just glows from the emotions they conjure, but I am.

The twins started soccer last month. Saturday was their first game. It. Was. Cold. I dragged all of the children out to watch their games (Doug was driving back from Florida and missed them.) They did ok, but neither of them is even remotely proficient. Still, they're getting exercise and enjoying themselves. And I'm getting exercise and enjoying myself, trying to get them caught up with a few skills. David's asthma really bothers him and he has no stamina whatsoever. I'm hoping that he will at least have more by the end of the season.

Abby is overwhelmed by hormones, I think. That is the only thing I can think of which would explain her moodiness and mood swings. Except for the obvious negative personality thing on which to blame it, and I'd rather not. So there she is.

And me? I'm still reading, still teaching, still trying to keep up with all my commitments. My therapy is going well. I can tell that it has helped me to attempt to not fall into the bottomless pit of despair that I have in the past. It's nice to have coping mechanisms which work.

Enough about all that, how about some photos?

Or maybe not, since I apparently don't know how to get photos transfered over here without Premium. Oh well, maybe next time. Be well!

And then they were five...

Today is the last day of summer. It also marks the last day of this year's birthday season (hallelujah!)

It's Keziah and David's 5th birthday!

We celebrated yesterday, with the dinners of choice (Keziah wanted goulash and David wanted spaghetti with meatBALLS and not meat sauce). We also had gifts to open and the cakes of choice. This year I decided to mess with fondant so the cakes were somewhat different.

Well, I've got to rock, so I'll put these pictures up here from yesterday's festivities...hope y'all have a good last day of summer!



Keziah loved the gift from her grandparents...a Bitty Baby. She has named it 'Mella'. I call it Melanoma just to irritate her. Sarah says that parents have weird senses of humor.





She also loved the ball that Sarah gave her.



David's grandparents gave him a giant articulated Spiderman. It's a little disturbing.



We got our singing school CD yesterday and couldn't resist singing some of the songs. Yes, we are dorks but we're ok with that.



They really loved the bikes we gave them for their birthdays. Good call on that one, Friend Husband!



Twins & cakes. FH asked us to sing in our room because he didn't want to move. He's going back to work today. I hope it goes ok. I think he's going to be very tired.



Keziah's High School Musical cake.



David's 3rd consecutive Spiderman cake. Spiderman's put on some weight in the last few years.

Birthdays are strange things

Hello again, it's Hank the Cowdog.

Oops, not.  Sorry.  My brain is a little fried.  Which is probably why my approach to birthdays is a little wonked this year.  Or maybe just different and fine. 

Anyway, it's my 41st birthday.  Today I am continuing to weed the garden, do laundry, and clean up the house after the deluge of mess from 2 major trips.  I also hope to continue processing pictures from the trip and before (I owe someone pictures from the end of April...yikes!).  In other words, I guess I'm not really celebrating my birthday at all.

As those of you who've been reading here a while realize, this is a large departure from previous birthdays, which I began to note at the beginning of June (my birthday MONTH).  It's not necessarily that I am not acknowledging my birthday or that I want to forget it, it's just that, with the girls and Friend Husband gone, not much is happening, so it's probably best for my mental health to acknowledge it but not to expect anything from it at all. 

Yes, we will celebrate when Friend Husband returns and yes, I gave him full and complete amnesty from guilt about the whole thing.  He wasn't the one who scheduled singing school to coincide with my birthday, after all.  But it does make for a bummer of a June 17th, which has always been my favorite day of the year.

I'm trying to remember that there are people in the world who are dying of many different, horrible causes and that, in the long run, this is not that big of a deal.  I am happy to report that I am finally becoming mature enough to allow these reflections to change my feelings about things.  I'm trying to remember that, while I am trying to figure out what I want to eat for my "birthday meal", there are people around the world who have nothing to eat and no hope for any tomorrow.  Basically, I'm spoiled and I know that and I'm trying not to be bummed about being here alone (well, with the twins) on my birthday.  Actually, it would be more fun completely alone, but we all know that's not going to happen so we may as well move on.

As I was sorting through birthday Pieces of Flair on Facebook this morning, I came across one that said something like "29 and holding".  It reminded me so much of my mother, who maintained (to my little sister) that she was 21 until I was 21 and Kimberley asked her how it could be that we were both 21.  Then she maintained that she was 29 forever after.  I resonated with that idea and then renounced the resonation.  That is not a way in which I want to resemble my mother.  I'm trying to acknowledge my age and the changes it brings and deal with the whole thing gracefully.  After all, it keeps on going until you're dead so you may as well face up to it.  While my body is going to pot, I think I'm in a better place mentally.  As I expressed to my young friend Lexi yesterday, I'm much happier now than I was when I was a teenager.  (Man, if you think I'm bad now, it's a good thing you didn't know me at 17!)  I feel more confident in myself and I get more pleasure out of living and out of who I am than I did then.  I'm more comfortable in my skin.  I love that about this time in my life.  Now if I could just adjust to the fact that my 41-year-old face does not in many ways resemble my 21-year-old face, I'd be in fine fettle.  (We won't even think about the old bod.  I don't think I'll ever get over that.)

Today is also my brother's birthday.  Happy birthday to Robert!  I tried to catch him online today to sing the traditional "Happy Birthday" song to him but couldn't.  So I hope his family sees this and tells him I at least tried.  I think I've also come to terms with the fact that he came along when I was three and stole my birthday.    Now I'm just happy to be able to spend time with him.  It's another gift of growing older that we get along and enjoy each other's company.  Plus he gave me the amazing gift of a terrific sister-in-love and nieces (finally!) who are just so wonderful to know and to be with.

Anyway, I don't guess I've really conveyed why birthdays are weird.  I just feel weird today.  Sort of like I should be expecting great things but I know I'll just end up doing laundry and housework like every other day.  I will say that God sent a gorgeous day, low humidity and cool temps.  I plan to be outside as much as possible and soak it in.  That is a gift worth appreciating.

I do appreciate the people who've come by to say "happy birthday", here, on Blogspot, and on Facebook.  Man alive, y'all're great.  I hope all of you have a happy day, on me.

Now here are some more pictures from the trip.  This is a bunch from Friend Cherylyn's house. 

Wordless Wednesday

Happy 3rd birthday, Keziah and David!

 

 

Happy birthday, Friend Husband!

Forty-five years ago tonight, my late, great mil gave birth to my beloved Friend Husband.  Of course, she wasn't late or my mil at the time nor was he my Friend Husband but you know what I mean.

FH was born in Brooklyn, NY, in the same hospital in which his own personal mother had been born, 26 years earlier.  Two days before his birth, the obstetrician had told my mil, "If you don't have him by Monday, we're going to have to do something."  Barbara was understandably disturbed by that and had a talk with Doug.  "Baby, if you don't come this weekend, they're going to do something.  So you need to come out."  Doug, ever the compliant child, did.

I adore my husband, most days.  He is a good man.  That is not something that you hear all that often these days, and it could sound like dinging with faint praise, but I mean it as the highest praise.  He is a good man.  I've known a lot of not-good men in my life and so I'm grateful that the man who chose me to be his bride is such a good one.

Doug has many positive attributes.  Above all else, he loves the Lord and seeks to obey Him as much as is in his power.  There have been times when this has driven me crazy (as some of his other positive attributes have) and he's dragged me kicking and screaming into various situations that ended up being just right.  I've learned over the past 18 years to trust him and to try to see what he is seeing in the situation before I jump to conclusion.

Doug is methodical.  He thinks through things very deliberately.  I've learned over the years to wait on him to answer me.  He's thinking and needs some time.  It is not often that his counsel is off-course.  He works hard, has a generally even temperament (a big plus in our houseful of Swedish and Irish tempers), and loves us to distraction.  He pays attention to us, even when he's tired and would much rather just veg out and read a book.

He hasn't always been this way.  When we lived in Columbia, he spent a lot of time trying to further his career and I often felt like he wasn't around for us.  He was denied tenure, got the job in Kentucky, and found a department that suited his temperament much better than Missouri had.  The thing that impressed me the most was that he didn't let my anger chase him off and he changed into the loving, involved husband and father that he is today.  As one who is always trying (often with little success) to change for the better, I truly admire that about him.

Doug supports me.  Not just in a physical sense, which he does, uncomplainingly but emotionally.  He's interested in the goofy things that I find to talk about (knitting, quilting, the internets, the children's foibles).  When I'm having a lousy day, he's always ready on the other end of a cell phone to talk me off the ledge.  He allows me time and space to pursue my interests and has always encouraged me to think beyond what my immediate plans and dreams are, to greater things that I haven't even considered.  He gives me the time and energy to get there.

He is also a hard worker in the church.  He preaches monthly in our congregation and before the twins came home and everything was topsy-turvy, he preached 2 or 3 times a month.  He humbly helps any way that he is asked and even volunteers to do things above and beyond the call of duty.  For the last several years, he's volunteered all of us to mow the church yard and clean the building in the height of summer.  He didn't have to do this.  He could have picked a month when the grass wouldn't have needed as much attention or he could have just not done it at all, but he consistently signs us up for work that month and encourages us to enjoy the experience as a family.  And we do.  I have no doubt that our children will remember that as one of the fun things we did when they were young.

Doug is an awesome dad.  Honestly, I am sometimes jealous because I wish that I'd had a dad like him.  I'm so very happy that our children have the opportunity to blossom in his presence.  He guides them, listens to them, encourages them, teaches them, and plays with them.  He is a fun dad and I know that our children adore him.

Now I'm sure it's sounding vaguely boring here...no man can be all these things.  Yes, he is.  He has his faults, as we all do, but by and large, I find myself trying to follow in his footsteps.  Not just following his leadership but trying to be like him because I like what I see.  I could do a lot worse than to be like my husband.  He's smart, funny, loving, loyal, and strong.  He is just a great good man.  And I love him more each passing day.

My prayer today was for God to bless him all the rest of his days.  And that (as well as thanksgiving for his presence in my life) will continue to be my prayer.

Happy birthday, honey!  And many happy returns of the day!

Thank God for His blessings

It finally rained here! I don't know how many weeks we've been without it but it's been at least 3. I let the twins go out and play in the gentle raindrops most of the afternoon. At first I made them stay on the porch but upon watching a lot of the neighborhood children out in it I thought, "Why not?" It wasn't thundering, the flow was gentle, and they play in the sprinkler half the summer anyway. I sat on the porch, reading and knitting and trying to recover from this irritating cold.

Friend Husband took the twins with him to work this morning to pick up some articles he has to read and evaluate for his fall classes. While they were gone, I sank into a deep sleep, certain sign that I'm sick. When I woke up I felt a lot better. At least my brain wasn't as foggy, although my body was still yucky.

We had already decided to celebrate my birthday today because we were still in recovery mode on Sunday but I told Friend Husband that if I didn't feel better, I didn't want to celebrate today. This whole birthday thing has been sort of a wash anyway. I totally see why people just ignore them. For my 30th birthday, I threw a big party for me, my mom, and my mil. They turned 50 and 60, respectively, that summer (my mil's birthday is 3 days after mine) and we also got a commemorative photo taken. We agreed to do this once a decade, have a party and take another picture. Of course, they're both gone. Barbara, my late, great mil, passed about a year and a half after the big party and Mom lasted 6 years. And here I am.

Anyway, Friend Husband, ever the loving spouse, brought home yummy Chinese food and cheesecake for my birthday dinner...wonderful! Before we ate, the girls gave me their gifts. (Doug had given me his the night before because he figured he couldn't hide it from me very easily...shows what he knows. I've been so out of it today that I'm not sure I would have noticed. He gave me 3 big hanging baskets full of flowers, so I do have a few flowers still living.) Rachel gave me some scented tarts (that you melt in a ceramic tart burner) and a bottle of rose-scented room spray (the girl knows what I love). Abigail gave me some coffee-scented tarts (yum) and a mug that she had attached a note to proclaiming it to be for "Her Royal Majesty". Sarah, with her usual wit and concern, had given me a bag upon which she'd lettered, "Motherhood survival kit: Aspirin not included". Inside was a bag of dark chocolate-almond truffles and a homemade coupon book with such coupons as "30 minutes of twin watch" and "free dinner where Mom doesn't have to do anything". I loved it, of course! My family is so very sweet.

Not much else to say (plus I can feel my brain shutting down) so I'll skedaddle. Blessings on you all tonight....

Weirdness

Currently ReadingA Winding Path (Miriam's Journal, Book 2)By Carrie Bendersee related

Well, the big 4-0 has come and gone. Sort of. Because we were so tanked from our trip to Oklahoma, we decided to postpone Father's Day and my birthday celebration. So I got a much-needed nap yesterday (keeled over cooking lunch, don't ya know) and we'll celebrate on Tuesday.

Don't exactly know where my camera is. Don't exactly know if my USB cord for it works at all since it freaked out when I used it to attach my fil's digital photo frame to it. So no pictures yet.

The red OK mud still adorns the Big Black Van. That stuff should be sold for cement.

A few casualty of our trip: the herbs I planted before we left actually leaped out of the ground, effectively committing suicide in the aridity that is Cincinnati these days; some of the flowers I planted don't look too healthy. All in all, though, I was satisfied. Of course, I haven't gone out to the vegetable garden yet. I may be sobbing in my coffee before long.

Another biggie: I talked to my cousin last night. Why is this a biggie? Because this is a cousin I've never actually met and one that I only knew of in a vague way. So she's about a year younger than I am, lives in St. Louis, and has one daughter. It was weird, talking to her. I'm sure it was the same for her. Here's this person you're related to but who you don't know at all. Actually, on my father's side, there's a lot of that. I was not allowed to know anything about his family when I was growing up and all I've gathered has been after I grew up. And now there's Shawn...weird stuff but wonderful. Life in the age of Jerry Springer.

And now I'll gird up, check the garden (bet the weeds grew despite the lack of rain) and hang up laundry. We might get a sprinkle or two tomorrow and we have loads and loads of camp laundry to process today. I love hanging laundry (getting in touch with my inner-almost-Amish, I guess) and love the scent of line-dried wash. And I need to get hold of Friend Gina and see what's up with the coupons she got for me last weekend when I was in Okie-homa.

And Friend Husband is talking to me so I'll go. Weirdness. I was gone from most technology last week and didn't miss it. But it's so easy to get back into it again. Phone on the shoulder, fingers to the keyboard. Later days, dudes.