overdue update

Oh boy. It's been so long. I don't know if I even remember how to do this.

So, how are you? Notice anything different? Since the last time I blogged, I developed a new skill. Which I am showing off now. I discovered that the whole "type a sentence, type a period, and add two spaces" is only for typing on typewriters, and we who use computers are supposed to only use one space. I was vehemently against this news when I heard it, but I've adjusted and actually, it is quite freeing. One space - that's all you gotta do!

Wow. This has the makings of one of the most boring posts in history.

So, life has been good, really good. It's now winter. 4th grade tackle football season ended great. My boy's team only won one game, but they played with heart and soul, and my boy had a great time playing. Basketball has begun. One and Two are both in a tri-county league. Twice/weekly practices (for each boy) started in November, and games start this coming weekend. Each boy has at least 2 games/weekend through February. I've embraced basketball and know I'm going to learn a lot.

We went on a great family vacation to Baltimore/Washington DC and then to NYC over Thanksgiving week. A definitely highlight of the week (and year) was meeting my newest little nephew, who had the good sense to be born while we were there in Baltimore. I was at the hospital and got to meet him within an hour of his birth, and I connived the way for my 2 eldest to meet their baby cousin. We had a fun time doing some light sightseeing in DC and in NYC too, but the best part was spending time with our east coast family members.

We are wrapping up what's got to be the longest winter break in history. Kids were off of school for two extra days at the beginning of break due to a huge snowstorm. Bob and I had planned to do some last minute, but essential, christmas shopping on one of those days, so we had to scramble and do it on a different day. We have entered the phase of parenting where we can leave our children home alone for a few hours, so we took advantage of that opportunity. Ah, what a difference a few years makes, and these little bursts of freedom are so, so lovely. Earlier in December, Bob and I did some other Christmas shopping, and we also went on a date one night while the kiddos were home alone.

Christmas was fun, low-key, relaxing. We hosted our regular Christmas eve party with a bunch of extended family whom we love and don't see regularly. Unfortunately, a nasty little stomach bug swept through our family during this time, but we soldiered on and still hosted our party. We had our traditional steal-a-gift game, which is always good fun. We also made true blue 1960's hippie Indian chicken curry, and the house smelled simply divine.

During our Christmas eve party, we skyped with far flung relatives (long story, but my brother is now stationed in Mongolia, of all places - read his blog), so we chatted with him, as well as his lovely bride and their new baby in Baltimore. Yes, my brother has to live in Mongolia for a few months while his wife and baby are here in the US. Actually, they are currently HERE in Madison, which has made for a very fun week. My boys have fallen head over heals in love with their sweet, teeny little cousin, and he is a star on One's Instagram page.

Christmas day was us 5 at home, happily playing with our new goodies (the big gift this year was huge flat screen tv and a mini-basement remodel, updating it from a play room to more of a hang out space). My parents came over for dinner, which was steaks on the grill, roasted sweet potatoes, and spinach salad, and it was delicious, especially since my stomach was cooperating that day.

New Years Eve was very quiet. We were anxiously awaiting our beloved Baltimorians to arrive, which happened late due to some unnamed airport delays. I ended up driving to my parents' house at around 8 pm to see them. I left a headache-y One and a tired Three home with Bob. Two scored an invite to a buddy's house for a sleepover that night. We all stayed up talking until past midnight and skyped again with Mark in Mongolia (and learned that they eat horse milk soup there - a fact which has haunted me since hearing it). I broke my own personal rule and drove on the streets after midnight on NYE; however, it was very, very quiet. People must have taken the "don't drink and drive" ad campaigns seriously - at least, they did in the neighborhoods I was in. As an OWI assessor and sober driver, I appreciated it. I sort of wondered if I would be pulled over simply for being on the roads, but no one took a second look at me.

I have worked some these past 2 weeks - 12 hours total each week. Enough to get out of the house and away from the madness. We have been a bit sloppy with childcare - Bob has stayed home with the kids one day, my parents popped in for a few hours a couple of different days, and one day we even (gasp) left them home alone for a few hours. That made me feel strange and unsettled, but a bit relieved too that they could handle themselves alone. However, when I came home and found out that the boys walked down to the bay a couple of blocks away to skate with other neighbor boys, I thought, "oh. hm. that sounds potentially dangerous and like it could become a news story awfully quickly. As in unattended-neighborhood-gaggle-of-boys-drown-in-icy-Monona-Bay." So, we have spoke a bit about safe ice vs unsafe, and we (I) have decided that the bay is unsafe, until I can observe it for myself.

We hosted a party for 2 of Baltimore's best the other night. I decided my New Years Resolution (which I'm not really into making) was to have people over more often. We used to entertain all the time. Really, before kids, early in our marriage, we'd have different groups over to play cards, play games, whatever. It was a blast. I miss that, and I've decided to try to get some of that back. So, to kick it off, we hosted a little local-relative get-to-know Baby K party the other night. Bob ended up working late into the eve out of town, so it was all on me. Other than our garbage disposal failing, it was a seamless event and fun to do. Encourages me to continue on this track.

We squeezed in a trip to Tenney Park for ice skating. (If you are local and haven't seen the new shelter yet, you must. It's gorgeous.) We have attended several basketball games (One and Two are in the tri-county league which means lots and lots of basketball, which means I'm finally learning a bit about this game). We are bracing ourselves for a rough re-entry into real-life tomorrow (first day at school since, when? December 18??). I have enjoyed the break from the homework and the schedules, but I also know it's time to get back into it. Best for these boys of mine to reconnect with their communities of friends and get some structure to their days.

I will leave you with some photos of, well... not what I was planning to post. I'm searching for photos I thought I just threw on my computer from my ipod of Baby K, but I can't find them. I did find these gems of two of my boys from years ago. Here is Two, around the age of 1 1/2, on the beach.

 And here is One (age 3 1/2) and One (age 1) and a bunch of kids in our little wading pool at our new-old house in Middleton. Wow. These pictures feel like they happened a lifetime ago.

I will sign off now, so this post isn't delayed any further. I hope to be back with pictures of what may indeed be the cutest baby in the world - my little nephew K.

October 9, 1997

First of all, thank you very much for your kind words.  Anonymous #1, I seem to recall you having pneumonia in my house, and I'd like to remind you about how easy it was (cough, cough) for you to relax and get better.  It gets a little raucous around here.  Not necessarily the quiet, rehabilitative environment one would seek out when one is recovering from an illness.

A brief update:  I am feeling better, emotionally as well as physically.  The anti-biotics seem to be doing their job.  I'm still cough cough coughing, but not nearly as badly as before and not through the night anymore.  I have a curious wheeze still, which the inhaler I've been prescribed doesn't seem to touch.  Or maybe it's that I don't know how to use an inhaler.  I'll recover fully, this I know for sure.

As far as emotionally and interpersonally, we are on the mend around here too.  My low point last weekend was when I mentioned to Bob that I wondered if we even liked each other anymore (forget about love) and he responded, a bit honestly, a bit brutally, that he wondered the same thing.  The good thing is that we've always been good at communicating - when we make time for it - and we've made a commitment to continue to work toward our shared goals and not be so petty towards each other.  At least, that's what I need to do.  I hear myself being such a nag somedays.  Ugly.

Ugh.  Enough of that.

So, my sweet brother sent me an email reaching out to me and wondered how much of my emotional fragility (my words, not his) was tied to the anniversary I just passed.  I was, still am, so appreciative that he has not forgotten the significance for me that is October 9, 1997.

15 years ago, this past Tuesday, I had what I think of as a life changing moment.  I experienced my first "real" adult death that day (other than my dog dying a few years earlier, which I did take very hard actually, but she was elderly and it was her time).  (Oh, but Tabitha - I still miss you, little doggy!)

In 1992, I started working as a child protection social worker doing "intake" (which means, we were the people who took the abuse/neglect phone calls and then went out knocking on the doors to investigate).  This was my second professional job as a social worker.  I got hired into a unit full of young, vibrant, interesting people.  I made fast and deep friendships with people I am still very close to.  This is what happens, I think, when you work in this sort of crisis work environment -- police officers, ERs in hospitals, etc.  You become very close to your co-workers because you need to.

We worked and played hard together.  We went to work conferences out of town and spent more time in the bars than in the conferences.  We spent many a Friday night at a local bar, letting off steam.  There were about 7 or so in the group - men and women, older and younger - and I love every one of them.

One of them was my friend, Marty.  He was 7 years older than me and had a wicked sense of humor.  Marty and I spent a lot of time outside of work together - sometimes with Bob (whom I was/am married to), sometimes with Marty's girlfriend, and sometimes just the two of us.  Bob was never jealous, and our friendship was strictly platonic.  I am grateful that things never felt weird that I was so close to a male friend.

Bob, Marty and I went on vacations together.  We went on bike rides around Madison.  We spent many nights playing Balderdash or other board games, which often ended with Marty and me trying to outdo each other in ridiculousness while the rest of the group tired of our antics.  We went to rock concerts together.  I was with Marty at the Memorial Union the night of OJ Simpson's slow speed Bronco chase.  He was a HUGE part of my life.  I knew that we would be life long friends.  That we would grow old together and that our children would be friends.

You can guess where this is going, I bet.  Marty had a congenital heart defect which killed his mother at an early age.  He was monitored by a doctor, but he didn't seem to take it very seriously.  He was a vegetarian and worked out regularly, but I think that was more for vanity than for good health.  On October 9, 1997, Marty went to work out on the treadmill at a local health club.  His heart stopped, and he died.

I remember vividly the details of that night, the next day, the visitation, the funeral.  I recall going into work the next morning wearing my sweatshirt and leggings, hair not brushed, feeling like I was run over by a truck.  We had a meeting that morning to debrief, and I recall feeling numb.  Not crying, not knowing what to do/how to feel.  The feeling I recall the strongest was that I just wanted to call up Marty and say, "this is so weird," and then process it for hours with him.

I knew, the moment I heard the news, that my life would be forever different.

The anniversaries of his death have been how you would expect.  Very painful, deeply difficult in the beginning.  But now?  It's more of a dull ache.  I still think about him a lot - in fact, when I returned to the workplace (not for the same agency, but a cousin agency and in the same field), I had many dreams where he visited me.  I will hear a song on the radio, and I think of him.  I still have a hard time listening to Bob Dylan (his all time favorite artist), and Bruce Springstein and Van Morrison stop me in my tracks, give me pause to think of him.

Since then, I have experienced many more deaths.  Another one in our cozy group died from brain cancer (his anniversary is also in early October).  My grandparents have all died.  My husband's beloved aunt who also was our children's grandmother passed away a couple of years ago.  Friends' husbands and neighbors and other co-workers are gone, as well as parents/siblings/grandparents of friends.  Heck, even Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson's deaths have been hard to wrap my head around.

Death is hard; doesn't get any easier the more you do it.  When I think about the potential losses I have to face (my parents, my husband, my brothers, my children God forbid) I get paralyzed, can't go there, need to move on.  Also, as I approach another revolution around the sun, I have also been thinking about MY death a bit more lately.  And then I distract myself.  I can't go there, not yet, not now.

So, to end and for the sake of distraction, here's a current favorite photo of my football warrior, Two.  I posted this on facebook already, but I just love this so.  It captures his determination and drive.  Despite the teams losing record (currently they are 0 -5), he is having a hell of a season and is so much fun to watch on the field.

feeling sorry for myself

I'm cranky.  I can't figure out how to use Photobucket (one of Two's teammates' mom's put a bunch of great photos of the team in action in photobucket and invited us to view/use them, and I can't figure it out).  Also?  Bob and I are bickering.  Also?  I still feel like shit.  Also?  I am overwhelmed with life.  Working 32 hours/week and having a husband who works probably double that and having 3 active children is a pace I am not used to.  I sort of feel like everything is falling apart around me, yet I can't lift my head to even acknowledge it.  Just gotta keep on trudging along and hope for the best.  

I am definitely in a day-by-day existence lately.  Not much planning for the future.  I have a friend who very sweetly wants to take me out for my upcoming birthday, and I can't even really entertain that right now.  I think, "yeah, yeah, let's talk again in November when maybe I will finally be feeling better and may have a chance to literally and figuratively catch my breath again."  

I am getting ready to have book club here.  Yes, I know.  Stupid of me to host book club on a night when I am feeling everything I listed in paragraph one, particularly pneumonia (which I have never had before.  Have you?  it SUCKS.).  I planned an easy menu (chili with already prepared chili sauce that I canned last year, salad, no-kneed bread, desert from Trader Joe's) and there are only 3-4 people coming, so I just want to host and get it over with.  Bob is annoyed at me for not canceling.  I understand what he says, but then again, I don't. I am realizing I don't know how to be sick.  

In this entire 3 week saga (today starts week #4) of having to drag myself through every day, I have taken one 6 hour day off.  I have cancelled my own personal plans for every Friday night that I've been sick, but other than that, I haven't really slowed down much.  Silly as it sounds, i don't know how to. Does anyone?  And I wonder what I'm teaching the kids about self-care.

I sort of just want to cry.  

Here's to hoping the antibiotic will work.  Here's to hoping my fearless "I don't need to slow down to beat this thing" attitude is right.  Here's to, finger's crossed, hoping my family and marriage gets healthier as I do.  

The Update

Still recovering from The Flu.  As in, influenza.  As in, yuck.  The doctor last week predicted it would last 7 days.  I'm on day 7 (or is it 8?) and, although I am getting better, I am not 100%.  Maybe 60%.  "I'm so sick of feeling sick," I keep muttering to myself.  And now I'm sick of talking/writing/thinking about being sick.

So, enough of that.

On Friday, my yard swelled to accomodate 3 more boys, for a grand total of 10.  It felt like so many more, as these 3 final were some high school neighborhood boys who joined in on the football game on their walk home from the bus stop.  What a thrill, to play with the high school boys!  As I watched them play together, I couldn't help but recall how I knew these kids when they were in kindergarten, first grade...  And now they are nearly driving age.  It all goes by so fast.

I do love my neighborhood so.  We are rich with boys.

Speaking of boys and football, Bob took the oldest two to the high school game on Friday night.  It was "Regent Night", which meant that all of the younger "Regent" kids, which Two is (and One used to be) attend the game with their jersey, go on the field for half time, and get a free hotdog afterwards.  I was holding court at home with Three (see first paragraph), and we had a very sweet little night filled with baths and hot showers and reading books and early bedtime.  Anyhow, the report from the gridiron was that it was fun.  And cold.  Bob rarely saw the kids, as they got absorbed into the crowd once they entered the stadium.

You may think that may be the end of my football stories for this post, but oh no.  Not even close.  We are in football mode nearly round-the-clock around here.  Two and his team played their 3rd game of the season.  They are (drumroll please) oh for three so far this season.  But who cares!  They are the little team that could - or, at least, one day they will be.  They are making great strides with each game.  The coach is awesome and positive and encouraging, and he is very pleased with their progress.

Every team they have played has had double the number of players on it, which makes a huge difference.  Most of the kids, mine included, play in every single play of the game, while these other teams can substitute out completely different groups for offense/defense.  Our boys, mine included, are pretty wiped out at the end of each game.  Doesn't help that Two gets so nervous before the game that he doesn't want to eat.

Here are some random pictures:

Two turned 9 in August.  He had a sweet little party with 5 other boys.  We went to the Goodman Pool.  They played football and capture the flag and kick the can.  We ordered our last cake from Lane's Bakery.  And then they slept over (and actually slept!).

Picnic Point - end of August

Visit to the State Capital - end of August

OK, Football - as promised  Here is my Two, injured.  This has happened to him at least in every game.  I think it is partly nerves (he is the main ball carrier, so he has a lot of his shoulders) and partly being exhausted (he is the main ball carrier, so he runs a lot).  Usually, he is down because he got tackled hard and got the wind knocked out of him.  He always gets up and gets back into the game after sitting out for a rotation.

Here he is, tackled after a looooooong run last week.

Number 20, in on the tackle.  

Another run!

I don't want to be that parent but it is really cool, I will admit, hearing other random spectators calling out my son's name, cheering him on during (another) long run.

Not Two, but his BFF, who is the other main ball carrier, getting his first TD.

He had a really good game that week.

There's the team.  

Great bunch of kids.

He's not afraid to push through the defense to get extra yards.

 Yes, I still do have two other boys.  One is saving himself for after school opportunities (that appear to be aplenty in middle school), as well as basketball (try-outs are next month).  Three is playing soccer again, which is super cute and fun in a very this-is-not-tackle-football way.

I am facing a big week.  I have a 2 day training for my extra job, which I am looking forward to, but it means that I will be working longer to get my regular hours in on my regular job.  Working 40 hours this week.  I am thankful that this is the exception, not the norm.

musings from my sick bed

I have been sick all week.  Started on Sunday with a sore throat and quickly progressed to a fever, cough, and body aches.  I didn't do the wise thing and take care of myself.  Instead, I opted to work (12 hours on Monday, 8 on Tuesday, and 6 on Wednesday).  In addition, I had other commitments, namely 3 well child checks (for my 3 healthy boys) as well as a back-to-school night at the Middle School which I was NOT going to miss.  And I didn't.  By Wednesday night, I collapsed in my bed, clutching my bottle Nyquil, and I've been mainly horizontal since.

Some thoughts:

1.  The 2 am "booster dose" of Nyquil makes waking up at 5:45 am very, very hard.

2.  My boys can be incredibly sweet.

3.  Middle school is awesome!  Teachers are great and committed and interesting.  The school has a no tolerance bullying policy which makes it (so far) as safe community.

4.  There can be too much viewing of Real Housewives.  I think I may have done permanent brain damage.

5.  My house has definitely become the house to hang out.  After school today, 4 extra children have migrated over here, which brings the grand total to 7 boys.  This makes me so happy.

I'm exhausted.  Back to horizontal.

What I did on my summer vacation

Hi,

I had the last full week of August off from work, and I had the best damn time being at home with my kids.  Reminded me about those good old days of being a stay at home mom.  Lazy mornings.  Open schedules.  Having the time to read the daily paper.  Sitting in a hot house and not wanting to turn on the a/c.  Noticing how much my children bicker with each other.  Continually picking up after them.  Making breakfast, then snack, then lunch, then snack, then hearing "I'm hungry, what's for dinner?" and then having them not eat it because "it's too hot/cold/healthy/colorful".  Hearing the sound of the tv for way more time than it should be on.  Oh, wait a minute.  I guess there are some benefits to working outside of the home.  

One thing I did do that week was take some pictures.  I have been a very negligent photographer this summer.  

We went to Babcock Hall to get ice cream.  My kids loved that name and chortled about it all afternoon.  

We then went to Picnic Point with our friends.  Kids climbed trees and played in the sand while one of my dearest mama friends and I chatted. 

 Love.  

I decided to attempt for a Christmas card photo.  What do you think?

Oh, this renegade photo is from Two's ninth birthday.  More on that in another post.  

On another day, we took a field trip to Ian's pizza for lunch and the state capital for a mini civics lesson.   We sang with the solidarity singers and risked arrest.  Afterwards, we assembled...

... and enjoyed the beautiful view.

We took two trips to Devil's Lake.  This last week of school is filled with all sorts of school obligations, such as registering children and paying gobs of fees and picking out band instruments and meeting teachers for "Ready Set Goal!" conferences and the like.  Our first trip was super short - sandwiched between some of this school stuff.  Our second trip was simply lovely.  Three did one of his favorite things and built a stone sculpture.

Decorated with an army guy he found on the beach.  

Double love.

I had decided to take the children on a mystery field trip.  It was a mystery only to the children, and simply because I didn't want to hear them complain about how awwfulllll and borrrrrrringgggggg it would be before heading there.  The only hints I gave them was that we were heading to a state we hadn't visited before, we were not staying overnight, and (best of all) it was free.

Any guesses?

Here's a hint...

Here's another one...

We drove to Dyersville, IL and went to Field of Dreams!  So fun!  So peaceful!

Except for this sick boy.  Did I mention that One was sick all week?  I had more ideas planned for the week, but we scrapped some of them.  He rallied for the mystery field trip, but ended up on the outfield in the prone position for a while.

 Another potential christmas card photo?

This one is better.

There's not much to do there, and that is certainly part of the charm.  We brought our bat, a rubber red ball that, turns out, was Dash the Dog's ball and, turns out, SQUEAKED every time we hit it (ha! dork alert!), and gloves, and we played a couple of innings in the outfield with our shoes as bases (dork alert number 2!) (other, more organized and serious groups were using the actual field).  It was really fun, and I was reminded at how much the kids enjoy the simple pleasures of their parents playing with them.  

Kids ran through the cornfields. 

And then we just laid in the grass, enjoying the peaceful vibe.  The grass was luscious.  It was simple and perfect.  Simply perfect.

On the drive home, we stopped in downtown Dubuque, Iowa along the Mississippi river.  We walked along the Riverwalk and sat and watched the river.  

There were many trains traveling on the Wisconsin side of the river.  There were wedding parties taking pictures.  Beautiful, potted flowers.  Big rocks to climb up and down.  There was a steep hill on the walk back to the parking lot, which the kids rolled down over and over.  Something came over me, and I rolled down the hill once too.  The kids laughed. I almost threw up, but it was worth it.  

Love.

We got home by sunset and watched Field of Dreams, which I had rented from the library.  It was the perfect end to a lovely day.  

We also said goodbye to the Goodman Pool for the season (so sad!) and went to Mt Olympus water park for an afternoon (so overwhelming!).  No pictures of that.  And no need to return any time soon.

We are week #2 into the school year, and re-entry has been relatively smooth.  Middle school is so far, so good.  Fingers crossed.  4th grade is great, but we knew that.  1st grade is going well too.  We seem to have once again hit the lottery with teachers, for which I am thankful.  

I will sign off.  It's my (new) typical Monday schedule, and I worked 12 hours today.  Will work 8 tomorrow.  Off to bed to recharge for morning.

summer summary

Waaaay too much to update here.  I'm overwhelmed at the task at hand.  Maybe I should summarize my summer, so far.

1.  Every Tuesday and Thursday, I bike to the neighborhood pool and swim laps from 6 - 6:30 am with a friend/neighbor.  On Wednesdays, we walk for 50 minutes of so during that six o'clock hour - because it's hard to talk and swim laps at the same time, so we have to catch up on our news together on Wednesdays.  This whole exercise with a friend concept?  It works!

2.  I have loved watching many sunrises while swimming my laps, and I have noticed my endurance really increase as the weeks have ticked away.  The last couple of weeks, I've included some olympics daydreaming during my swimming.  I pretend I'm training for Rio 2016.  hahahahaha.

3.  We had a week of vacation up in Door County (Fish Creek, WI) at our regular spot in mid July.  I made sure to charge my camera and clean up the memory card, and then I promptly forgot the camera at home next to the computer.   Doh!  I have asked for the photos from my parents but have yet to grab them.  Anyhow, if you had talked to me a week or two prior to this trip, you would have heard me complaining about the week.  Bob was not going (needed to stay home and work), nor were my younger brother/sister-in-law.  I was anticipating missing my buddies and being very lonely indeed (amidst my parents, other extended family members, and my 3 children).  Turns out the week was actually pretty fun.  We stopped by this awesomely cheap amusement park on the way up.  Kids played a bunch of euchre (our family's card game).  They made multiple trips to the Candy Store (which caused me to sing 50 Cent Candy Shop over and over and over).  We had a fun rainy day.  We went to the beach, to PC Junction, Cave Point County Park - all the favorites.  The week ended with me getting a nasty cold and driving home feeling lousy, but even that went ok.  I asked a lot of my boys since I was solo parenting, and they rose to the challenge.

4.  I have added 8 hours to my work week, so now I'm working 32 hours/week.  I work 12 hours on Mondays, but it all pays off by Thursdays at 2 pm, where I'm off until Monday morning.  My extra hours are doing new type of work - still social work, still at the same agency, just a different focus - and I really, really enjoy it.  I feel blessed to do something that I love, that I am trained in, and that is fulfilling to me.  And I dig the people I work with, so that's a nice bonus.  What's not so nice is being gone from my boys, but we are all handling it fairly well.  Our nanny this year is my cousin's adult son, and he's great.  He keeps the kids active, and they enjoy their time with him.

5.  We had too short of a visit in late June with my aforementioned brother/sister-in-law who are now on the move to Tunisia.  My brother got a position with the Peace Corps there, and although I am thrilled for him to have scored such a perfect job for him, I am sad that he is even further away than ever now.  I will visit him - I will! - so now my focus is on saving pennies here and there so that as many of us who want to make the trek can go there.  My brother is back to updating his blog, so read about his adventures there.

6.  Bob and I made the executive decision to not allow One to play tackle football, given the fact that the (self induced) pressure of that situation put him into a bit of an emotional tailspin the past 2 years.  We just took the option away from him.  "We are not paying for it," we said.  He seems relieved to be off the hook, as are we.  It's a much more peaceful August than in years' past.  Two, on the other hand, has just started playing - he of the different temperament than his older brother.  "Are you nervous?" I asked him on the drive to his first practice last week.  He looked at me quizzically, like, "should I be nervous?" and said, "nah."  What a joy to drive a kid to football practice who isn't tantrumming in the car.  What a joy and a relief.

7.  I love learning little things like that about my kids and how to better parent them.  I feel sad that I seem to learn most of those lessons on One's dime.  Those first borns really do have to forge their way, and mine, in the world.  I have a whole new respect for the uptight, anxious, type A firstborns out there.

8.  I read a great book (Gone Girl) and just downloaded another one to my kindle app on my ipad.  I feel so high tech.  Now I just hope I don't forget to read it.

9.  I said goodbye to a very dear friend's very dear mother who passed away last month.  I visited her in the hospital a few weeks before she passed, and I am so glad I got a chance to see her one last time.  The world seemed like a better, safer place with her in it.  Even though I didn't see her very often, I felt comforted knowing that she was out there, doing her thing, being her self, in the world.  I miss her a lot, and my heart hurts for my friend and her loss.

And on that note, I think I'm done.  More to add, but not tonight.