Slow Sunday
Brett is working today (he worked yesterday, too, just for a little bit both days) so I tuned to the showtunes channel on my AOL radio widget on the iPod and decided to cook to get ahead for the week. (Making turkey meatballs, roasting a chicken, soaking beans, baking, etc.) I always feel calmer when dinners are planned and prepared for the week since it guarantees the evenings will be less stressful.
Brett finished painting the living room and we hung the vintage trash-picked curtains. It looks much warmer and more inviting now and slowly but surely we are taking the house away from the original owners. Getting the old guy’s energy out of here for certain has been some seriously hard work but the more we learn about him, the more we want to wrestle our house down and make it our own.
I needed the boost of the new paint. I’ve had some stuff going on that I won’t write about here (’twould not be seemly) that has been stomping all over any good mood I manage to raise up. I’m not hopeful for improvements on at least one front and that bleeds over into the optimism I’ve had on other fronts.
This Thanksgiving, I’ve been thinking about how grateful I am for my friends who have been constant supports as we’ve switched out again, sending Brett to work and me juggling work and family. Knowing that I can call on them to watch my kids or listen to me bitch and knowing that they understand why I can’t always get to the park or to the playdate or chat on the phone means a lot. It takes the pressure off me to not always have to worry that I’m neglecting them because I have a deadline and it’s a huge relief to know that my friends will still be there when I get my head back above water.
I’m not strictly a working mom and I’m not strictly a stay-at-home mom and finding folks who can roll with my crazed schedule can be challenging let alone friends who get the whole homeschooling thing. I feel very lucky to have people in my life who not only get it and support it but also like my whole family (kids and husband and all).
Honestly, I couldn’t be doing this without them right now. I started crying the other day telling my mom how much they mean to me and how much they’ve done for me in the past few months. Things have been hard this fall but it could have been so much harder if I had to do it all alone.
So thanks Abby and Kristen and Lynne! Thanks for being there for me! And if I can ever return the favor, just let me know, ok?
I am welling up!! I love you and your family too! We missed you, but you were there in spirit. We girls lost at Trivial Pursuit, and we are blaming you for not bringing the MENSA to our team! I think we are just going to meet at the movies Thursday and skip Potluck this week-OK?
Yes, movies w/out potluck sounds good to me. Do you guys want to do dinner somewhere before or after or is it too crazy? (Or dinner on our own before and ice cream or something after?)
I hope that the holidays will help raise your spirits. You never know when things might turn around.
We love you, Dawny! And you have no idea how much you give to us. *sniffle*
Dear Dawn,
For what is worth your opinions and writings have made a huge different in what I think regarding adoption and families. You have really open my eyes and my heart. warmly, ia