monday morning, and camille loves me

She is generally more clingy on Mondays because eight of her siblings have gone off to school, then the college kids leave, Daddy goes to work, and it is just her and I and Rosie and the kitties.

She is playing dollhouse right now, mostly in her own little world, but still conversing with me every little while.

The one thing I hate about having so many kids is having those panic-y moments when I don't know where someone is. Like suddenly realizing I haven't seen Jonathan in a while, then remembering he went shopping with Abigail. Sometimes I have to add it all up, like...Emily is at work -1, Abigail is at work - 2, Benjamin is in the Army - 3, Mirielle is at college -4, Joseph is sleeping -5, Aaron college -6, Mali college -7, Sam-8, Margaret -9, Kathryn -10, Evelyn -11, Suzanne-12, Sonja -13, Jonathan-14, Charlotte Claire -15, school, Camille here, 16. Phew, all accounted for.

School days are simpler, the weekends...a few at their cousin's house, a few shopping, a few at a friend's house...

Saturday evening I had the pleasure of going to Panera Bread with my sister, my sister-in-law, and a friend. I was pleasantly surpised with how much I enjoyed the food. The atmosphere was warm and cozy, and cozy, we had a great time sitting there drinking coffee and talking after we ate. I totally splurged and had not only the buttered baguette, but a carrot cupcake for dessert. I also ate my half panini, which I was not planning to do. The salad was enough, but the panini was so good! Oh well. I also thought I would just eat half the cupcake, ha! Most and filled with raisins, oh heavenly yummy, with coffee...

Kitty Kitten has food in her bowl. But she has attacked the new bag of cat food which is sitting there on the kitchen floor, until she struck gold and the food is spilling out. It must be better cat food, or maybe she thinks she fought it and won.

Or she just thought a ripped open bag with scattered cat food would go with the overall theme of the house.

Seriously, having so many people share a space...now most of us wear slippers, which most of us take off and leave by the door when we leave..."by the door" looks like a war zone already, with the shoes and boots and sandals (we have the occasionally warm day, and some kids like to slip them on to go grab the mail, ect.). Add in mittens and hats and scarves and winter coats along with all the spring jackets and sweaters...and Over By The Door is dreadful. Perhaps today I will organize and sort and tidy up over there a little bit.

Okay, here's the thing: my sister has cancer. She might kill me for writing it here, but I don't care. She has a very rare form, which showed up as a small tumor on her shoulder. When she had it removed, she thought it would possibly be a skin cancer. So...she had to have a CAT scan and a bone scan and other tests, and it has not spread anywhere else. yet. perhaps it won't. She has to have all these tests done every three months for a few years, then every four months, and after five years if it doesn't show up, she will be considered Out Of The Woods. The survival rate after five years is 50%. But she knows that God already knows all about it. He is in charge of life, and of death. It is absolutely true that these things are heartwrenching and difficult. But we want to be free from anxiety and the fear of death, right? So we need trials that test our faith. She is really learning to come into rest in this, she is fighting that good fight of faith. I think that living with the nearness of dying puts things into perspective here in our days, helps one choose the good in the situations, makes us more forgiving and more awake to see our own sin. As for me, ouch, I cannot even bear the thought of losing my sister. I will not even think about that, I will just continue to pray for her, and enjoy her company.

So pray for my sister. She is a very special lady. She has seven daughters, two of them are married. One has little Will and the new twins, and the other has Grace and is overdue to have a baby boy. Her girls are my best friends, at least from MY perspective, they do a good job of putting up with their Aunt Della. My sister has asthma, and lots of horrible arthritis in her shoulders and knees and everywhere else, so she has lived with much pain for many years now. She makes the most out of life, she is so much fun! I will not tell the story of how she and I went for coffee the other day at the Dunkin Donuts drivethrough, but we can still act like kids and laugh our heads off, in fact the hard part is that we can't seem to act like adults...

Hopefully she isn't too mad at me for writing about her, she is more private than I am about sharing life's details. But she does have my password, so she can always get on here and add to it or deny the whole thing, ha.

It is sunny out there, and the temperature is supposed to go up to the high forties today, I may just get in a walk. Yesterday I walked/ran/walked/ran...I love doing that, but my knees hate me today. I guess I shall have to respect them or they will give out on me.

And...I am out of things to say this fine morning.