On My Mind Lately

Okay, this is a totally random post. Don't say I didn't warn you! There's so much going on, and I'm having a hard time nailing down one specific thing going on in my brain. Might be the huge Tigger mug of coffee I have already downed. The Boss made it this a.m. and I think it's safe to say, he makes his coffee stronger than I do. At least, my heart rate is saying so.

We had a pool catastrophe last week. We've been trying to clean it, repair some stuff and get it ready for swimming season and in the process of that the liner basically blew out. Ironic on several fronts: first, we were pretty excited about starting the preparations and repairs so early. Normally, we're so busy in the spring that the pool kinda gets jammed into a semi-free weekend, and other things end up being eliminated or moved around on the calendar. Secondly, we were feeling positive about the possibility of squeaking another year or two out of our liner after we researched how to take care of some of the problems we had at the end of the swimming season last fall. Finally, we've been feeling good about our finances as of late. The adoption and several other unexpected issues have made things really tight around here for a while and we were starting to see some "flexibility" coming down the pike. Not so much anymore. I submit to you the evidence.


I'm choosing to believe that this entire event will force further reliance on the provision of the Lord and trust in His ways. I've been forcing myself to "just keep praisin'" as I said in a recent F*ceb@ok status. (I sing it to myself in Dory's singsong voice. Without the swimming. Obviously.)

On a more pleasant note, spring field trips are beginning. The Boss and LadyBug are in the city today, taking in the historic sites with the whole grade. It was so precious to me that The Boss volunteered to go and was so excited about it. (Here's a close to live action shot, uploaded by The Boss just for me!) LadyBug has just been beaming all week, and assured Daddy that she would be "totally fine" with strolling down the city streets hand-in-hand with her dear ole' Dad. I'm so blessed to have such an involved, "present" and loving Daddy for my children. Next week, he heads to a local amusement park for "Physics Day" with Shaggy. I doubt that there will be much hand-holding, but sharing the day hanging upside down on roller coasters is great father-son bonding if there ever was any, don't you agree?!

I'm thinking it's pretty sacrificial of me to give these chaperoning opportunities to The Boss, don't you? I mean, I'm giving up long rides on noisy school buses, hoards of chattering little ones, and hurling jr. highers who've overdone it on roller coasters and carnival food. THAT's love, I tell ya. True love.

Li'l Empress is astounding us with her progress and her growth. She's fully into the toddler testing stages. As I've said before, she's redefining our definition of a strong-willed child. But she's so darned engaging and cute that I'm not minding it terribly much. I also suspect that the little battles mean less to me, all these years later, and I'm enjoying the stages more than I let myself (or the kids for that matter!) in years past. I'm far choosier over what battles I'll push back with her. There's lots of fun new things she says and understands. That kind of stuff deserves it's own post, so I'll work on those thoughts and share them soon.

Finally, I'm wrestling with an internal dilemma. Last night, Dr. D asked if he could just hang at home today. My immediate, fun-mom response was, "SURE! I'd love to have you home to hang out with me and Li'l Empress." Immediately on the heels of that exclamation came my little rules-follower self, whispering that it would be inappropriate to allow him to stay home for no good reason. That he's already missed a lot of school with his bout of extreme strep this winter. That it's not very honoring of the authorities over him at school to let him just "skip." He went to school. Part of me is kicking myself for not taking the opportunity to meet him where he was at. I know he's pretty burned out with the pace at school right now. But the other part of me is kicking myself for even allowing the thought that responsibilities like school could or should be ditched so easily. And a teensy weensy part of me is just plain ticked that I didn't let myself be Fun Mom, consequences be d*&#%d . . . This mothering is a tough gig.

So, there's just a tiny peek into the randomness of my life this week. The sun is FINALLY out, Elboh is singing in the family room to Li'l Empress (Oh, how I love this Elboh stage of life!), and I believe that there's another cup of coffee calling my name in the kitchen. Have a great weekend, dear readers. I know I plan to.