Today...

...I am thankful for...

H and M's morning cuddle
checking off another day of no diet coke
seeing everyone so busy at work but always, (usually) hearing laughter
beautiful white flowers on the trees on the way home from work
avocado and tomato salad lunch
(although sadly at the wake of a "forever friend's" dad) seeing "forever friends" who knew and loved me as a kid and who now know and love my kids
emailing besties as if we are in the same room
not having any laundry to do
having a friend to whom I don't hesitate asking "hey, can you take my kids for a while this afternoon?"
watching H and M play with "The Boys" - true love
knowing that one of my best friends is blissfully, unquestionably, breathlessly, madly happily in love
homemade sauce
catching up with a great friend, even if only for a few minutes
sending G the link for the gift I want for Mother's Day so I know I'll get just what I want.  Thank you.
a freshly cut lawn
watching M and H navigate a computer
our Four Family walk around the neighborhood after dinner
Adam Levine (I don't think we'll ever fall out of love.)

it's never a "perfect" day, but if you pay attention, there are always little things sure make you smile

Fr. Tom

This morning, I sang and played at a funeral for a man who worked at our church for many years.  When I picked up the program at the doors of the church, my breath was taken away.  The priest celebrating this morning's mass is a man who served as our parish's pastor for a number of years. He sends us a Christmas card every year but other than that, we've not seen him for years as he is serving in another (very lucky) parish.  He is a man that G and I talk about a lot.  He is a man who truly has had an impact on our lives like no one else.  

I have often said (both in this blog and in "real life") that we are very blessed to have a crazy amount of people in our lives to whom we owe much gratitude and respect. They have helped to direct us, comfort us and shape us in to who we are today.  We feel the same love for many in H and M's lives.  It is not something that we take for granted or lightly. 

Well, this priest, is above and beyond anyone else in our lives in the way of a special person.  As G has said many times, "this guy is something special.  You can't explain it.  You can't necessarily understand but you feel it." 

While he was still serving in our church, I talked to him about things that I've not talked to anyone about.  (Thank goodness for G who suggested that I have a heart to heart with him one afternoon.)  The sadness and despair I was feeling was unspeakable and it was only he who was able to get me through it.  Many, many tried and, for that, I will be eternally greatful.  But it was him and only him that said the words that I needed to hear.  He knew just what I needed.

He is a "real" person who just happens to "get God" too. 

When I saw him this morning I, of course, went right up him.  He asked immediately about G, H and M and we chatted for a few minutes.  (He also said that I look the same as I did our wedding day...he apparently is failing in his eyesight, but other than that, he's doing great.) 

Anyway, I walked away and I cried as I was walking up to the choir loft.  Say what you want about the Catholic Church (believe me, G and I have said it ourselves a lot) but this guy, well, he is an amazing person and one that both G and I truly feel blessed to have in our lives.

The Babe

I recognize that attending a prom is pretty common.  Most of us have done it.  Most of our children will do it.  As an adult, I know that it's really not "that big of a deal" but I understand the importance of it as a teen.

I knew this day was coming.  I'm not talking specifically about the actual "Prom" event.  I'm just talking, I guess, about the fact that she's old enough, mature enough, no-longer-two-years-old enough to go to such an event.

Wasn't it "just yesterday" that she'd run down the hallway to my office at FSPA, jump up on my lap and chat with me with her pacifier (aka nug) hanging from her mouth?

I can still see her re-inacting "The Nutcracker" in five minutes or less in the Pink Room.  She never missed a single part.

I can hear her playing "Jingle Bells" on the recorder at her Kindermusik graduation.  She may not remember her one-of-a-kind performance, but the rest of us do and we remind her of it often, much to her dismay.  (She may not find it funny, but believe me, it really is.)

How much time did we spend teaching her how to skip?  How many hours did we spend laughing as she'd run in, what she thought was a straight line, but really it was a perfect circle with her little arm flailing back and forth, back and forth?  How long before she was able to speak without fear of getting lipstick on her teeth during a Spring Concert performance? 

When did she stop calling me "Kimmy" and start calling me "Kim"?

It's not that I thought she wasn't go to go to her prom.  It's not that I thought she was going to be three forever.  It's just that I can't quite believe we are here.

"We", I say.  I know it's not my prom.  But rarely, do you have the opportunity to say that you've seen someone nearly every day of his or her life (even if some days it was just for a few seconds) unless it's (as my dad would say) a "legit legit" family member.  She's not "family"...but really she is.

She has literally grown up before my eyes.  And I am prouder than words can say of her, for what she believes in, for what she doesn't believe in and for the person she is and will continue to be.

H and M have many, MANY amazing people in their lives.  People who they look up to and people that I can say without reservation, "I hope you learn this-and-that from so-and-so".

Well, I have to say, this so-and-so has always and will always have a special place in my heart and in our family.  She is, if I may, simply put, The Babe.  And, as much as it pains her, she will always be that in my heart.

Love you, A Funk.

Ahhhh...

We are heading down to the cape this weekend for our first trip in 2013. 

Just thinking of being there is good for the soul. Real good.

Agreed

I have been accused (or more accurately teased) of being "too happy" and "too positive." 

Looks like I'm not the only one.

I like it.



Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Yesterday, in class, I asked my eight and nine year olds if they knew who Mr. Rogers was.  They, not surprisingly, had no idea. 
I almost started to cry.  Honestly. 
I can't help but think (and pardon me, as I sound as if I'm 95) about how much simpler our world was when we were kids.  I'm not saying that he could solve all the problems in the world.  I'm just saying that it would be a start.

Today

I spent that past week in NYC and DC.  H, M and I visited The Big Apple with friends for three days and then our Four Family spent four days in our Nation’s Capital.  To say that this was a strange week to be away from home would be an understatement. 

We tried to keep up with what was happening at home but it was difficult.  It also, I have to admit, was nice to have a break from the madness, which I’m sure we’d not have had had we been home.  It felt weird to be going about our daily lives – on vacation, no less – when there were (and still are) so many people suffering.  Like you, I can’t even wrap my arms around what has happened. 

In both of these cities, there are flags flying every time you turn the corner.  To see all of these flags at half-mast nearly took my breath away each and every time I saw it.  I saw Boston Marathon jackets on a lot of folks.  Not all of them were from this year’s race, but most were.  I am amazed at their resilience.  If I had run the race, I’m not sure I’d have felt comfortable leaving my couch. 

Hearing that NYC and DC were on heightened alert did make my heart skip a beat, as you can imagine.  It did make me question whether or not we should go.  For more than a few moments of time, I thought it was a bad idea.  But then, I said to myself, that we can’t let something like this make us live in fear.  I also prayed (a lot) and I know that a friend on this side o’ Heaven was putting in some special words for us in our travels.  All kidding aside, it was only after I contacted him that I felt profoundly better about heading out for the week.  (Thank you.)

I felt selfish continuing to pack our bags on Monday afternoon but we went and I'm glad we did. It was the right thing to do.  For our family.

It’s a crazy world we live in.  I am so thankful for it. And at the same time, it scares me silly.

Packed

My parents (who rock every inch of this universe) are taking the kids to the movies today.  While there, I will run around like a maniac, shopping and packing for our trip to NYC and DC.  These two crazy kids have been complaining for months that they are "the only kids in their whole school who aren't going away this week".  Well, joke's on them.  The three of us are leaving bright and early for NYC with one of their bestest buds and her mom for a few days.  (Their bud has known since January about this trip and has kept it a secret since then.  She sees them numerous times each week, has had countless sleepovers and has not uttered a word.  In fact, a few days ago, she looked them both dead in the eye and totally and completely lied about what she was doing tomorrow.  It freaked me out.  She's amazing.  I told her that I'll have to kiss her right on the lips when I see her next!)  The three girls will surely have more fun than three kids should.  I think we could stay in the hotel bathroom for the entire time and they'd be thrilled.  My goal is to navigate the city without (much of) G's assistance.  Hmmmm...we'll see how that goes...  I'm sure I'll keep y'all posted (as if you care.)

Then, the three of us will continue on to DC where we will meet G.  H and M have been wanting to visit DC for a while and we thought this is the perfect year to do it.  We really have no specific plans.  We're going to kind of just wing it.  G and I are looking forward to some great Four Family Time, sprinkled with some friend and cousin time as well.  Love.  In a perfect world, they will not know that we are in DC until we get there.  I have the perfect plan of how to make that happen in my mind but I'm not sure if it can be pulled off.  I'm such a dork.

H and M proclaimed a year or so ago that they really like to be surprised when they go on trips.  So, because I'm a complete and total loser, I feed in to the madness.  Their bud, A, is making a "get ready 'cuz we're picking you up in 30 minutes" video.   I will wake them up tomorrow at the ass-crack of dawn and show them the video.  I can't wait to see their reactions.  I think H won't believe me.  I think M will start to cry because we are spending money.  (She has in her mind that we are one step away from food stamps.)

Anyway to be continued ...

Gotta go.  Front runners just ran their first mile for Boston in 5:09.  That's frickin' nuts!

It Takes a Village

Yesterday.  A third grader, two fourth graders, two fifth graders and a seventh grader.
 
"Facetiming" their "big kid" FSPA friends who are spending the week performing and taking classes in DisneyWorld.

The "big kids" were in EPCOT, saw a call coming in from them and took the time to pick up and chat.  That's ridiculous.  It really is.  And I will be sure to take the time and thank them when they get home.

A few minutes after I took this picture, I got a phonecall from a mom who is looking to hire "another big kid" this summer as a nanny.  As a reference, I am a bit concerned that this mom thought that all the ridiculously good things I said about her can't possibly be true.  (I really WOULD trust her to raise my children if G and I get run over by a mack truck.  Well, I didn't say exactly that but I mean it.)

Later this week, we will meet up with some more "big kids" who are very busy with their college-selves, but are taking the time to spend some of their day with us and our knuckleheads as we visit their home away from home at college.  Love.

I am eternally thankful for all the "big kids" in our crazy kids' lives.  However, it puts a lot of pressure on G and me.  If H and M end up complete and total disasters, I think we'll have no one to blame but ourselves...they couldn't possibly have a better village.

Yes, Please.

It's always obvious when a vacation is in my near future.  

Today's purchase.  

Yippee!

Maybe one day, I'll dress as an adult.  But until then...LOVE.

Music To My Ears

This reminded me of a conversation we had on our ride to school this morning.  I was flipping through the radio stations and bumped in to a current pop hurts-your-ears-it's-so-bad-lyrics-are-so-repetitive-I-could-cry-and-the-person-probably-can't-really-sing-but-they-have-computers-to-hide-that song.  (I recognize that I sound, and am, middle aged by making that statement but it's true.)

Anywho...I overheard H and M talking in the backseat about how much they don't like Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, One Direction, blah blah blah.  THEY love to listen to "all the songs Mumma and Daddy like, like Stevie Wonder, 'that lady that sings "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, 'that Crazy Train song by the guy with the weird eyes' and 'all those songs on the 1960's and 1970's music station on tv that they listen to when their friends come over." 

Brain washing.  It's working well.

The Gang

H and M are working on a master weekend plan.  They'd like two friends to sleep over on Friday night and then have two more friends join them on Saturday for the day.

They've not even heard back from everyone yet and they are already coming up with a long list of "Things To Do" that could last weeks, let alone 24 hours.  (Lord knows, they've had plenty of friends over in their day.  For some reason, the idea of this particularly union, is making them crazed with glee.)

This depicts the energy level in our house right now.

No joke. 

Crash, Boom, Bang

It's like I have a teenager in our house. I'm not much looking forward to having teenagers in here when we have no choice.  (I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.)  To have a mid-life crisis teenager suddenly and unexpectedly in the mix is definitely more than I bargained for.  (Especially a teenager that plays the drums.)

I called G's cell last night to see if was home and able to meet us out for dinner.  He didn't answer. 

Oh, right. He was practicing the drums and couldn't hear the phone ring.

On the good news front (and to his credit), I totally recognized the song he was practicing as I came in to the house.  (This was great once I got home and learned that he wasn't, in fact, dead on the side of the road). 

Plus, he was learning a song by (one of) my (many) boyfriends, Adam Levine.  Well, really it's Maroon 5 but who cares about the other guys, right?...

And we did go out for a yummy dinner with our Four Family, so it all worked out just fine.  (Plus, I'm loving this public forum of teasing him.)  Win, win, win, win.

Recessional

Unlike yesterday's horribly sad funeral (yes, still thinking too much about it), today I played and sang at a funeral for an 87 year old woman. 

Her only request was that a recording of her favorite polka be played as people excited the church. 

Everyone left smiling. 

Now that's the way to do it, folks.

Choices

This morning, I sang and played at a funeral for a 23 year old boy from Franklin who died of a drug overdose. 

I knew a few folks in the very full congregation and, of course, know many people who are (as he very likely was) just out off college, trying to figure out the whole "life" thing.

Although I didn't know this kid, I had a very difficult time getting through the mass.  It was all I could do to not start bawling uncontrollably, thinking about the many "kids" in my life and I said a special prayer for them.  If I could have wrapped them all in my arms at that moment, I would have, just to know that they were safe. Right then.

And then, of course, I thought of H and M.  Right now, when they make a "bad" or "unfortunate" choice, it amounts to hip checking her sister as she walks up the steps or not studying as well as she should have for a math test and brings home a 86 instead of a 96. 

These choices, I can live with. 

But as a parent, how do you do it when you kid (who's surely a great kid) just makes some choices that he shouldn't make.  Choices that you know aren't the right ones.  Choices that affect his life forever.

Sometimes I think the parenting thing (whether we are parenting our own children or ones that we love like our own) is so damn scary. 

I think I'll be on the verge of crying all day.  Ugh.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

There's just something about it. 
No matter the wins or losses.
To watch a game or even just to hear it in the background as you go about your day - it means that Spring is officially here.
Especially in this neck o' the woods.

Go Sox.