The last two days have been nice. My younger brother and his wife and 2 little girls came over Sunday to visit. It was nice, but around 1:00 I just hit the wall. I just got up and climbed in bed and slept VERY hard for 2 hours. Never heard the little girls! Yesterday was a bit better. I am slowly getting into the swing here. I am glad I came early so I could recoup before the onslaught of people hit.

My neices are just precious. They are sweet, shy and adorable. Well, see for yourself! They are night and day. The oldest looks just like her mother and her side of the family. The younger one looks just like me and my brother. They are both beautiful!

I have enjoyed my time with my parents. We shopped and hung out yesterday. Mom and I watched The Great Debaters. Awesome movie. Then we went to the theatre to see The Secret Lives of Bees. OMG! If you haven't read the book, see the movie. It is inspiring!!!

Today we have done some cleaning up and are getting ready go pick up Mr. M, Buddy, and Missy. I can't wait for my parents to see them. Unfortunately, my parents haven't seen my kids in 2 years!! It will be quite the surprise!!!

Till next time,

Mrs. M

Flying

I may have had one of my most enjoyable flying experiences ever yesterday. I am currently at my parents' house. But yesterday, waiting on my first plane, I ran into one of my friends who is a baseball mom. Her daughter, Elizabeth, was with her and E used to have a HUGE crush on buddy! She is only 6 years younger than him!! :-) Anyway, it turned out that the first leg of our trip was together on the same plane. So they saved me a seat and I joined them. It was so nice. We chatted the whole way and caught up entirely by the time the plane landed. Along the way, I had met a nice family that was also travelling to my final destination. She was a knitter as well and we got to talking about knitting. So the second part of my trip I shared my Sensational Knitted Socks book with her. I sat next to an older couple couple and they were really sweet, but unfortunately she sat on my right and so I had to be careful with my arm while knitting. So I had to get up repeatedly to stretch my shoulder. (My PT will be so proud to know that I did his exercises up in the air!!!) The last leg of my trip I sat next to twins who were college students. They were fun to talk to. They don't room together, so they were catching up with each other as well. Their enthusiasm was contagious. They were so excited to be coming home!

So the time seemed to fly until I landed the last time. Then it all caught up with me and I just wanted to eat and crawl into bed. But over the last two years my dad has become an even worse driver (who knew that was even remotely possible), so I drove an hour to get us home. It is nice to be here. Nice to see them. Have a feeling you will be hearing more about my family later. When the sun comes up here (I'm still on my time) I will take pics of my socks I worked on yesterday!

Note to Commenters

I need to apologize for not responding personaly to your comments. For some reason, my computer is not letting click on your email link. Some time back, I actually lost several emails so I don't have your personal one either. So I apologize. Thank you for taking the time to stop by and to comment. I know it takes a little more time to do so and I appreciate it.

Mrs. M

A Letter to my Mom

Dear Mom,

I realize you probably wish you could have gotten this letter 25-30 years ago, but I wasn't ready then. Only now do I fully comprehend the full extent of the pain I caused. So I hope the saying is true, "Better late than never."

I am sorry for the eye rolling. I am sorry for the huffing and puffing, the door slamming, the words of impatience. I am sorry for making you feel like your were stupid and "uncool". I am sorry for the time I wasted when we could have been bonding even more. I am sorry for the times when I made you dread even being around me. I am sorry for the pain I caused.

I know that you realized back then that this was part of growing up. That during our teens we begin to separate ourselves from our parents and forge our own identities. You knew that none of those actions were really personal, they were just my own clumsy way of showing you I could stand on my own two feet. I know, you know.

I still feel the need to apologize for the pain it caused. You were always so patient, and rarely lost your cool with me. You seemed to just accept this stage as you had all the others. Maybe it helped that you had little bro at home giving you lots of love still. I don't know. I do know one thing. I love you and am thankful you are my mom and my example of how to mother my teenage daughter. (but seriously, how did you keep from killing me? Cause some days.........)

Thank you, Mom. I love you and always will.


Till next time,
Mrs. M.

I sit in lots of waiting rooms. When you are chronically ill, that is a part of life. Plus I have 2 children. So, yea, I have seen lots of waiting rooms. In the pediatrician's office, you often end up talking to other parents and comparing illnesses or birth stories. You leave having been encouraged by another parent or having encouraged someone else. In general practitioner's offices, it is a bit more dicey. You never know if you should speak to the people around you or not. But in most cases it is still okay. You make eye contact with someone, or you have to sit right next to them, or they have a book you love in their lap, great conversation starters. Since I knit, I am often talked to. People want to know what I am making, or tell me about their knitting or their grandmother's knitting. Small children find it intriguing and even teens sneak peeks.



There is one waiting room where no one has EVER spoken to me or made eye contact for that matter. It is the waiting room for my daughter's therapist. That room is silent (except for the radio). Everyone shuffles in being careful to only raise their eyes up enough to prevent crashing into furniture. They quickly take a seat, and pick up a magazine. As I knit, I look around and never once has anyone returned the look. Most of the people are there weekly as I am. So we share a space for 4 hours a month and never once speak.



Today, that made me ponder why? Even in the waiting room at the hospital where parents are worried, scared, nervous, there is some chatter. We ask what are they here for? We share what why we are here and even our fears.

So, my question is, we share what ails are children physically, but not psychologically. Why?
Well, I think it stems from parental guilt. We feel we have somehow failed because our child needs help that we can't give. It is somehow our fault that our child's emotional being is not well. It is our fault that our child has an eating disorder. Basically, as far as we have come in our thoughts about mental health, we haven't come far enough. No wonder our children hide their pain. They don't want to be the "weird" one that they see portrayed on TV. They just want to be "normal", whatever that is.



It is also from our sense of privacy. I don't want to be telling my kid's secrets. That is her story. But often sitting there the pain radiates off the parent as they wait for their child. I wonder, wouldn't it feel good to talk? To say, "oh, I've been there" or "it will get better"? Wouldn't it be nice to know we are not alone? My guess is that few parents actually share with their friends what is going on. So the child is alone, and so is the parent. How tough, how huge a burden that is to carry alone.

So the secrecy continues, the shame abounds, and our culture is still far behind where it should be. Let us find ways to share the truth, assuage the guilt and further our culture.

Till next time,
Mrs. M

Fall Leaves

Yesterday didn't exactly turn out as I had planned. And if I am honest, that happens a lot. But having a plan, and knowing what needs to be done in a week, still helps me. I have learned not to get so wrapped up in my schedule or plans that I can't be spontaneous or go with the flow. I usually accomplish all the tasks for the week by Friday, except when illness creeps up. So what did I do yesterday? Well, it is COLD here today and yesterday was warmer (60's) so I chose to blow the leaves in my yard. For those of you who live in the desert or Texas and don't know what I am talking about, I have photos. Now, this is a time consuming, exhausting endeavor. I spent 4 hours yesterday just getting the front yard done.

I blew part of the leaves around the plantings in my yard, in the natural areas.

These are the leaves in front of my house waiting for the truck to come along and suck em all up! To give you some perspective, the piles are 2 feet high (to my knees) and that is about 20 ft. long. But wait, here is the kicker........

That tree is still full of leaves!!! I am telling you, this is a HUGE endeavor! I LOVE trees, but I hate their leaves!!!!

I also did a little thrift shopping. I was out.....so I decided to shop a little. I got a great little organizer that I will try to share later.

So, I am off to finish Monday's tasks so I can get on with today's!!

Till next time,

Mrs. M

It's Monday, Where is your broom?

Mondays are big days around here. This is the day I organize for the week. I clean the house according to the Flylady method, I plan my meals, I look forward to my week and plan my errands and so forth. So it is vital that I get moving on Mondays. So follow me as I go through my day:

1. Pick up the downstairs and place all children's items on the stairs to be taken up by them later. (or so I dream!!!)

2. Clean kitchen (I absolutely HATE doing this. I know it only takes about 10 to 15 minutes, but I cannot stand it!!!)

3. Dust (this I don't mind, I use a feather duster 3 of the 4 weeks of the month, so it is quick and fun)

4. Change Sheets (I love clean, crisp sheets, so this is always a joy!!!)

5. Put sheets and towels in washer (laundry, eh, the getting off task thing really affects my efficiency in this department)

6. Vacuum (love seeing the immediate clean, plus with dog hair??? UGH!!)

7. Sit down to plan menu - (not my favorite, but working on it.)

8. Sit down to check calendar and put events on big calendar

9. Put washing in the dryer.

10. Go to physical therapy!!!! (I will be so glad when this is no longer on my list for Mondays)

This is a photo of my new system. It is a dry erase board that is actually 4 parts. So I can use it as a whole month, or as I do, I have 2 weeks of dates up there, then on one section I write my menu and the 4th section I use to remind me of what needs to be done that day (trash, bake bread, vacuum hardwoods, etc.) This helps me to stay focused. I have a tendency to get off task and this helps me refocus and make sure what needs to get done, gets done.

Okay, so on to Menu Planning Monday:

Monday: Spaghetti

Salad

Tuesday: "Chicken" breast (Quorn)

Roasted potatoes

Green Beans

Wednesday: Eat at church

Thursday: Chili

Friday: Quesadillas

Guacomole

Saturday: On their own (I'm gone)

Sunday: On their own (I'm gone)