A Musing Mother 6

I'm addicted to "The Middle." It's a sitcom on Wednesday nights where a middle age couple in a middle income socio-economic status in the middle of the country are living ordinary lives. By ordinary, I mean my life. I swear there are cameras in my house recording my quirky self and quirky family. Honestly, it just makes me feel not quite so weird. Hopefully, in comparison, my blog makes you feel better about yourself, too. Some members of my family read my blog. This makes me very careful about what I post. Some family members believe that my blog, like her little sister, is not worth her time or attention and would not deign to validate the blog nor her sister's opinion or, really, reason for living. This is not a pity party or a gripe where I need validation. This is simply an introduction to what we will refer to in years gone by as the Great Gravy Debacle of '11. Also, if you happen to catch the Thanksgiving "Middle" you'll understand. And if...

The perks of having your birthday on a holiday is that it's an afterthought. It's put in parenthesis. Happy Thanksgiving! (And, oh, yes. It's Nancy's birthday) Really bugged me when I was kid because I wanted to be queen for a day! Like that ever really happens. Now, I worked it to my advantage. There was no big party with streamers. I begged off a cake made by my husband. With all those pies, who would eat cake? The result was a couple of duets singing "Happy Birthday" in a few corners of my parents house as we were getting ready to leave. The payoff was that, without a cake, I picked out the candles closest to my real age from the cupboard. We lit them, sang, I blew them out and opened presents. AND - I got to sit at the grown-up table this year!  Yay! I mean, I sat with the grown ups and the baby! He left quite a mess in his wake but I didn't have to clean it up. It was my birthday, after all.

We grow together Choreographing life and Leaning on the other when It is too much to Stand alone I need a rest He holds me closely. Yellowstone Park in October with family we laugh, hike, drive, play Boating on Bear Lake Hold on tight, the tube is light Tumbling in the blue. I have been born of goodly parents who have seen me through some rough times They give me strength as a child afraid of the storm Their arms open wide Imminent sorrow Makes laughter that much sweeter Laugh with me, my friend.

My little tribute to my former colleague and dear friend, Robert Williams - With ever a smile on his face, when asked how is was he'd often answer, "If I was any better, I'd be twins!" Right now I wish he were - because then there would still be another of him to brighten this world. May the next world be full of sheds to build, houses to shingle, friends to meet, people to touch, and lots and lots of rainbows.  Goodbye, dear friend. How I will miss you! I have loved you like a second father. You left happiness and peace in your wake wherever you would walk. You have taught me that, after every storm and after my tears have been shed, there will always be rainbows to remind me that better times are just ahead. And I do hope the tears stop soon. I am seriously in danger of dehydration. I could use a rainbow.

Scott's in Portland this week so we've been adjusting to life with dad via telephone. Here are some lessons I've learned: By leaving the children who chose to sleep with me, I saved them the long walk from their own beds to mine. I also saved ourselves a battle. Even though Scott is not physically occupying his half the bed, the six year old still ends up on top of me. The cat is unafraid to sleep on me. Don't try to reason with a teenager. It's like talking to a wall. When frustration of said teenager gets too high, tears are pooling in her belligerent eyes, her tone is beyond sassy and all I want to do is reach out and slap her, redirect self. Reach out and pull her to my lap and give her a great big hug. Keep hugging her until the tears are spent for both her and me. The dog gets anxious when she doesn't have food. She will bark until I take food out to her bowl, pour out her old water and put in fresh water. Rather than rush to eat and drink, she will conten...

My friend, Kari, found us a dance class. We bravely enrolled in the intermediate level because we (meaning me) are somewhat delusional. Still, it felt wonderful to move my body like that again. The feeling of copying choreography, moving to music, and wondering how I look so good doing these moves (I was directly behind the teacher so I saw her reflection in the mirror, not mine) felt divine. Then common life got in the way. Dance class is held on Tuesday nights - 8:30 until 10:00. I've missed the past 6 dance classes due to the many demands of parenthood like going to the church for New Beginnings, teaching all the 12 and 13 year olds how to make Ciabatta bread, laundry, a school band thing, scouts, etc. Then there's the uncommon demands I didn't see coming. The 11 year old has been hit with a dose of hormones the size of the Pacific Ocean and has given up his carefree, witty, and making-bodily-sounds self for an extra sensitive, alarmed, anxious, and somewhat depressed te...

I was surprised by how fast time flew today at work. I had a stack of things to do and I'd barely scratched the surface when I glanced up at the clock. I needed to hurry home if I wanted to be at the house by the time the kids got home. I locked my office door and passed a colleague bringing in her lunch. I walked past the faculty room and noticed a lot of people eating lunch. Odd at the hour I was leaving. Still, I didn't have much time to consider it. I ran out to my van and pulled out of the parking lot, quickly turning onto the road. Fortunately, the state shrub of Utah is the orange construction cone which slowed me enough to think things through. I barely accomplished anything. Time seemed to fly. People were taking their lunch at 2:00 in the afternoon. I didn't trust the time on my cell phone. I couldn't remember if I'd changed the time on my car clock. I finally called Scott, the man who knows that when I call, I usually need him to put on his chain mail and...

Favorites from Yellowstone Especially the 4th pic. Don't let his expression fool you - He loves it.