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And so my vacation is over.

preparing

This has been a wild week. It seems like my charting for work never ends. And then there is home life: We are trying to get laundry caught up, the house cleaned, packed for a week of tent camping, a wedding gift to find and all of that on top of getting the shower invites out for Heather's bridal shower. My plate is spilling over and I desperately need a break.

A good laugh

My daughter met us (Her sister and I) in the cities at MOA to do a little shopping at IKEA and Motherhood maternity. She need to shop for clothes as she has outgrown most of hers. The first shirt she opened the door for us to see had our eyes popping out. Her belly looked a lot bigger in more fitted maternity clothes. She started laughing and told us it was a fake 7 month baby belly pulling up the shirt to show us. We laughed but I think she laughed harder seeing our faces with eyes huge !!

a back up blog post

7/08/2010
Reunion

This weekend we will be going to the yearly reunion. I think this is the 33rd or 34th year. In all that time I missed 1 year. When we started my oldest siblings had toddlers and most of us were not married.
My mom is expecting about 130 for noon lunch on Saturday. This is the one time of the year that the family is together without weddings or graduations or other celebrations. My folks will be spending the night at a grandson's home instead of sleeping in a tent as they have done for so many years. He just built a new house 10 minutes from the state park.
There are many who cannot be there which is ok since this year we have had 3 high school graduations and 1 wedding with 4 more to go. Total possible = 2 parents + 9 kids + 9 spouses + 49 grand kids + 18 grandkids by marriage + 31 Great-grandchildren + 3 Fiances = 121 (Is my math right?) Then add numerous girl friends and boy friends easily 130 - although we already know there are at least 18 not coming.
But then we add in extended family. My Cousin Allen and his family + 12. (My mom's sister Shirley's oldest son) they adopted our family camping trip 13 years ago when they lost their parents -this was a good way to stay connected with family. Each year they come to spend the weekend with us and usually stay an additional few days with their immediate family. Their kids hail in from Oklahoma and other parts south - I figure they stay extra days to recover from the time spent with us !!!
This year there are 3 pinatas packed with candy. We always start youngest to oldest and end with the addition of those "old Kids" newbies who have never hit a pinata. And it usually takes quite a bit of coercion to get them to take a swing at the thing. These are usually fiances or friends who have never actually hit a pinata. I see this as a kind of right of passage. Mom or dad h0lding the baby and a bat for a swing and a picture. Toddlers swinging by themselves for the first time. And on up through the years until we reach the newest "adult" arrivals - the fiances and friends.
So tonight we will pack and we will leave in the morning for a wild weekend of family togetherness. And hopefully some down time to rest and regroup.

letter to my son

Dear Nick

I need to talk to you and I can never say the things that I want to when we are with you. Mostly because you are not approachable about things you do not want to talk about. You will get louder and drown us out. You will begin to argue without listening to the other side

I am not certain what you are looking for in life but I am seeing you always looking for something. The funny thing is I do not see you looking for someone. The first person you call is Jackie. The first person you think of is Jackie. You keep telling me she is not mature enough and she has to change. And she ticks you off. But the person you want most to be with is Jackie.

You need to make a decision about marriage. If you plan to spend the rest of your lives together - playing, celebrating, sharing, raising a family, growing old together and grieving. Then do it. What are you waiting for? You are already doing all of those things with Jackie. Other people have married to be together with far less material stuff then the 2 of you have. The perfect time will be never.

But a couple cannot live together outside of marriage and pretend to be married without damaging each other in the relationship because there is never a commitment to work things out. You may say ‘we are not living together’ I say you are. You have Jackie coming regularly to be with you -sharing your life. I know you keep your door open and she sleeps on the sofa. I have been told to not be naive. Should I not trust you? You are 24 and you have been brought up to know what is right and wrong.

If you love Jackie, as I think you do, then you should be making a commitment to spend your lives together. If you do not love Jackie then you should end the relationship. She should not be sleeping under our roof 3-4 nights of each week. We need to cut our ties because this will already be more painful than I can imagine (for me) I can’t imagine how ending this relationship would effect you. I have grown to love Jackie. I will celebrate if you marry I will cry if you separate.

Marriage is scary. Not knowing what the future holds is scary. Not having everything you want or desire is unfortunate.
Being together with the person you love is priceless.


Please make time to talk with me.
I love you
Mom

Home again

We had a nice weekend with family. And it is good to be home in my own bed. I wanted to put up a few pics from our outdoor mass with Fr. Gregory. But I can only get this one to load