summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

simple joys

Suzanne and I are lounging in the living room on laptops. I have a cup of coffee, and am relaxed and comfy. She is not so comfy because she just threw up. Her head hurt really bad, she told me this morning. blah, poor Suze. Miss Charlotte Claire is home today too. Her "voice was scratchy" yesterday, as she kept informing us in her amazingly exaggerated scratchy voice. So I decided she must be coming down with a cold, and let her sleep in. The two little princesses are playing Mommy this morning. They each have a baby doll, all dressed in real baby clothes and wrapped in the blankets I used to wrap the two of them in not so long ago.

I am happy today! Happy and excited! I made those reservations! Paul and I are going to stay at a...hmm, a motel...an independently owned little place, the kind from the crime movies, the kind where you drive up and park right outside your own door. The reviews were good, the place is clean, the owners really nice. And, most of the other places there are already booked for the weekend we can go. So, we are in for a new experience, a deviation from the chain hotels we would usually choose from. There is no pool, wah for me, but I shall at least take a really long shower and waste lots of hot water without feeling guilty. Well, maybe a tiny little bit guilty.

I also made the reservation for this Friday night's last minute overnight escape with my friends. Yay! Since we girls don't have nearly enough time together, we will surely have alot to say. So I am prepping myself: Listen. Don't interrupt. Don't hog all the conversation time. Don't be a know-it-all. Don't get offended. It is amazing what one can find about oneself when one has a bit of self-awareness. Anyway, I am hoping this time together is meaningful and we can all come away from it more encouraged to fight our individual fights of faith. Life isn't easy, and we need to be re-energized sometimes.

My college kids are done for the semester!!! Yay! Aaron has a few weeks until he starts his summer job in the O.R., Mali starts work at the ice cream place today. Dang, I hope I can visit her without visiting the ice cream. Mirielle hasn't landed a job yet, but that's okay with me. She went to the grocery store with me yesterday, armed with coupons.

We bought the yummiest artisan bread, it was some kind of baguette. Mirielle made fresh bruchetta to go with it. I said, "go ahead and make it, but I don't eat bread." Well, I ate a small piece with butter. Just a tiny piece. Oh heaven on earth, that bread was good. So I had one more small piece with the bruchetta...I had to slap my own hand to keep from having more. My plate was already filled with good things, grilled chicken, and a huge fresh salad....but that bread, oh yum.

Oh, weight loss weekly weigh-in: down one pound from last week's weigh-in. blah. I had been down three, but gained some back. Oh well. It is what it is, and I am not giving up. I went for an extra walk after dinner last night with two of my favorite kids, Samuel -16, and Jonathan - 8. Sam is 6 foot 2 inches, and Jon is...well, Jon is 8 years old. I asked them to walk in front of me because I am mean and it drives Rosie crazy that she is so apparently not in the lead. I figure it is good for her. Anyway, walking behind that big tall boy who is so funny and kind, and who walked the whole mile in bare feet, as he talked to Jonathan and told him about interesting things....was such a treat. Then we came across a snapping turtle in the middle of the road. I asked Sam to please please move it. He scooted it over with his foot...it was really cool to see, and we were glad we went on that walk and moved that turtle so it didn't get run over.

I stayed up way way too late last night. Since Mirielle doesn't have to get up in the morning, she stays up late and sleeps in...so there I was, burning the midnight oil with Mare, solving the world's problems...(one of our girls has changed lately, made some good decisions, and the friends she is straying from are not taking it well...she has been bullied by them...she blocked them on facebook...(facebook is of the devil for teenage girls)(one of our other girls had their account hacked by probably one of these girls, and it caused some problems until she changed her password...)(Yes, I know lots of people out there don't allow their kids to use facebook, but my kids have friends that we know, and I keep pretty good tabs on them...)Anyway, Mirielle and I talked about these things and before I knew it, it was way too late...I can barely keep my eyes open today because that makes two nights of very little sleep...AND, I was hoping hoping hoping that I was really late because just maybe I was going to get another little bundle, but nah...and blah! Every month I get re-surprised at how I feel like death warmed over. I should have known, I have wanted chocolate like crazy.

I wish there was a zero calorie chocolate that one could consume mindlessly on days like today.

It is cloudy and breezy, a perfect day to stay huddled in the house and feel sorry for oneself.

But I am too dang excited about my overnight this weekend, and my weekend away with Paul...and just life itself, it is such a gift.






















2 comments:

Cindy @ Marriedtothemilitary {dot} net said...

If chocolate were 0 calories would it still be that temping??? I often wonder this :-)

Yay on the pound....a pound is a pound. I made an appt today to get a referral to a nutritionist.

16 blessings'mom said...

Yes. It would. It is so yummy and delectable and scrumptious, and has amazing abilities to pick me out of an afternoon slump. I am hoping your nutritionist can help you. Our insurance is not good, we have to pay 20% of everything after meeting a huge deductable. Hope you can get some help though. It is SO frustrating when the scale doesn't budge.