Blather

Eggs.

Eggs, eggs, eggs. 

Maybe I've mentioned this before, but I took a creative writing class in college, which I loved. We were told to write every day. If we didn't have anything to say, we were to write about what we had for breakfast. Diana Hume George said that, "sooner or later, something will break through the eggs."

I haven't blogged lately, one, because life has been fairly status quo and, two, I have to fight with my own children to get any screen time on my own device. We've been shoveling snow. We've driven to church, karate, stores, all without incident. We've been in the Pit of Despair (AKA homework), we've been cleaning up fewer kitchen raids performed by Honey Houdini, we've been craving sunshine.

The big kids' scheduling papers for next year have come home and need returned by week's end. I can't believe we will have two Thingz in high school next year. Wow.

I had my annual well check with my general doctor and all was well. Got my flu shot and my tetanus shot and glowered at the scale. The things one does.

This week I'm set to get a haircut, haha, because I have enough hair to need trimmed. I've missed my hair this winter because the back of my neck gets so cold without it. The things one takes for granted. Yes, I have scarves. I could fix the problem, I'm just reporting. 

I'm starting to get seed/garden fever, which is right about on time for me. So many gray Ohio days leave me craving color. I'll have to assess what's left of my seeds since Honey also decided those would be fun to decorate the sunroom with. Sometimes when I walk her past the Garden of the Dead (no, that's not a cemetery, it's just that it got frigid early this year and I didn't get quite everything out of the garden in time) I can still smell the petrified basil. I'm bummed I didn't get every single tiny tomato and red currant out there. I really enjoyed them this year. Soon, soon, according to the groundhog. He clearly is unaware that the safe, frost-free day around here is like Memorial Day weekend. Early spring, indeed. My poor birdies are swarming the feeder that I keep chasing plump squirrels off. There's a gang of them and I swear they're using lookouts. I keep expecting to see them in denim vests. Darn it, he's back AGAIN!

Release the Hound!

There are currently not one but two pairs of skivvies on the floor in the Old Lady Room. I promise they will not be there for Friday Night Games, even if I have to threaten the owner with beatings. I wonder if more people would come if we changed the name to Friday Night Beatings. I bet a lot of moms I know would be in line with their offspring, haha!

Made some broccoli cheese soup the other day. Thinking Taco Tuesday tonight, never mind that the boys will want the meat, the shells, and the cheese and that's it. And ketchup. 

Just doing the things. Adulting. Putting on pants. All is well. Perhaps that's where the blessings lie, just in the every day. Is it lie or lay anyway? Whatever. Enjoy your moments. Savor the hot drinks and the cold ones. Give lots of praise for the hot running water for your shower. Brighten others' days as you can. Salt and light, and cups of coffee and conversation and real love, messes and all. 

Merry Christmas 2019

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from We5! Like you, our year was busy. January/February/March brought 7 snow days plus a smattering of two hour delays, a new fireplace and stone work, and a freshly painted library/living room which we'd originally had no intention of changing. We removed the wallpaper from the longest wall in the entire house in May and then I painted the kitchen and sunroom during the last few days of school. Remind me to never attempt any large project during the end of school again! Dada spent some time in Mexico City in March, in June the two of us spent 10 business and pleasure days in Bogota, Colombia while Pap watched the kids, and in July we joined some of my family for our annual trip to the Outer Banks, NC.

The kids started fourth, eighth, and eleventh grades in 2019 and the school year is half over already! Thing1 continues to love working at the karate academy part time and has created a niche for herself in digital art, having thousands of followers and having only started this autumn. Thing2 can be found with his nose in a book in just about every situation except the shower. He is still incredibly creative with all things Lego, to the point where we are wondering if we need an intervention. Thing3 still curls up in whatever rocking chair he is closest to despite the fact that his humungous legs and feet don't fit anymore. He is obsessed with all things Nerf and  I find blasters and foam bullets in the oddest places. The tide of Pokemon cards ebbs and flows as well, much to my dismay as I wasn't a fan 20 years ago and I can't fathom why it's still a thing. 

Honey, the Great Pyrenees we rescued in October, continues to give us a run for our money. We were told she was crate trained; she is a complete Houdini who has yet to meet the crate or the baby gate that can defeat her. Bosley, our two and a half year old shepherd/hound/whatever mix, is thrilled to have a live-in buddy to play with and is secretly pleased to be in his kennel and thus not blamed for whatever havoc Honey is wreaking from the aforementioned potato incident and Halloween candy fiasco to the Christmas Eve eve's decorating the sunroom with seeds for the garden. Damon would send her back in a heartbeat as she also most often wants to show her affection directly after having gotten a big drink and thus being adorned with strings of drool. The rest of us sense quite a bit of potential and are trying to keep calm and carry on...

Dada spent a lot of the fall traveling for work to Streator, Mexico, Canada, and Zanesville. While he's excited to be off the rest of the year, we're saying the same thing we say every year: we need to be better about taking time off throughout the year so we don't have a million days at the end! He spent quite a few early Saturday mornings joining some other guys for rucking, which is hiking with weighted backpacks or "rucksacks" but then his travel schedule got a bit crazy and that fell by the wayside. 

Our home group sort of dissolved over football season so we decided to start hosting Friday Night Games to make better use of all the board games and outdoor toys we've accumulated over the years. To be honest, we've been a bit disappointed by the turnout as we'd hoped to be another safe place for kids to come and hang out, but between football and band and kiddos going to a different parent's house for the weekend, we've ended up alone watching movies or playing games ourselves more than we anticipated. I guess that's just the way life goes sometimes. Maybe winter will provide a better turnout as people want to have something warm indoors to do, but I can also see it going the other way where people finally make it home after a long week and have no intention of leaving the house, choosing jammies instead. Time will tell. If you're around on a Friday night, come on down! We'd love your company!

Healthwise, it's been a year this week since I finished radiation and began taking Tamoxifen. I no longer get infusions of any kind having finished my year regimen of Herceptin and Perjeta in May. Once I finished those I began a single year regimen of oral Nerlynx so I'm over halfway done with that. I saw one of my oncologists right before Thanksgiving and he declared me "perfect", haha. I'll take it!

We've already had two snow days this school year, one even before Thanksgiving, and if you count weekends our Christmas break is 17 days long. It seems we don't start off the New Year with terrific weather and add more delays at least right off the bat to extend that break even longer. It gives one plenty of opportunities to practice one's resolutions of patience, if one were foolish crazy ridiculous going that route for self improvement. Heh.

We wish all of you the very best of the holidays with the friends, family, food, fellowship, and fun that you all deserve to be showered with. Please be safe and have a very merry holiday season and a fantastic 2020!

Photo credits go to the lovely Amy Fowler Shores at Seaside Topsail Photography who drove hours to come play with us while we were at the beach! Thank you so much for a terrific evening!

End of summer visitors

For those of you reaching for the pumpkin spice, you can just cut that out. Until next Sunday night, it is still officially summer. 

I was stealthy and got close to a groundhog who had his back to me, contentedly munching away on our apples out back. He wasn't quite sure what to do when he did figure out I was there, haha!

Pap came with his dog, Precious, to celebrate his 76th birthday. We love having both of them around. Pap gets into mischief with Dada while Precious helps wear Bosley out. Everybody wins! Except Pap, who then ends up in the doghouse...

I told Aunt Chris we were borrowing her monsoon. We received warnings on our home phone and cell phones about "severe weather alert" and "severe thunderstorms in your area" and sure enough, it came down pretty hard for about two minutes. 

Then the sun showed up again and I scurried outside because I just knew there'd be a great chance for a rainbow, and I was right! Woohoo!

And then it rained some more.

We decided to take off with an idea our friends Randy and Jess had success from and started Friday Night Games to kick off the fall season for small groups. We want to be a fun, safe place for kids of all ages to hang out, especially the ones who aren't interested in sitting through football games. Two families came over to play with us so we got some Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan action along with snacks and fellowship. I should have taken pictures...

Anyway, bring your favorite games to Lalaith Havens at 6:30 on Friday nights. Or you can play some of ours. Or both. Just come play with us!

Then the almost full moon came out in all its gorgeousness.

Sunday we had to almost call the fire department over Pap's candles...

We had a chuckle over Pap being the one on the smartphone while both the boys were reading actual books. Don't despair for those Generation Z kids; they're better than you hear.

Happy birthday, Pap! We're glad you came to see us and that you're home safe, too. 

Everybody enjoy your last few days of summer!