And Then I Don't Feel So Bad!

Best:

Podcast club. Oh how I love being able to hang out with my walking friends from more than 20 years ago regularly! Shawna and Jenny are just the best friends and the best kind of friends. We have so much fun just catching up with each other. Shawna is married to the city manager of Mesa Arizona and has 4 grown children that I have known since they were small--I was even there in the room for the birth of the last one. She has 10 grandchildren. She works as an outreach ambassador for an orthodontist and helps take care of her widow mother who needs a lot of help. Oh, and she also serves in a stake relief society presidency. And all this is done with more positivity and love than you can imagine with a deep, deep capacity for friendship. Jenny is the outgoing (in all the ways) president of the Mesa Arizona school board and married to her stake president because he was really cute and a good kisser over 30 years ago. (He is also very smart and very, very good and a distant cousin of mine.)  She has 6 amazing children, with only the last left at home, and 5 grandchildren and also parents who all live in the same neighborhood, near the Mesa Arizona temple where she is a shift coordinator. She also teaches Institute and gathers people like she breathes--born knowing how to do it. And then we get to also talk about AMAZING ideas together like the ones found in this podcast and this one.

Temple date that WORKED OUT. We scheduled an appointment at the temple weeks ago because we knew the KC temple would be closed soon for three months. But then I had a really hard time finding a babysitter. And Griffin and Eve had a birthday party rescheduled for the same night. And friends asked me to watch their kids. And Alan was late home from work. And there was no real plan for dinner because all those other things were in the air. And ALL of everything just worked out fine. Phoebe Brous magically was still in town before going back to UCLA and available to be there for G and E taking them to and from the birthday party--which ended up much better than either Griffin or Eve thought it would. And we made it in to our session, breezing in as the last people in the room. And we even got to eat dinner--grilled sandwiches I made as people were arriving and leaving our house in a whirlwind before we left. We left the temple under the benediction of a full moon and the peace you can only find in the temple on a perfect late summer evening.

Saturday ease. Alan spoke at a cardiology conference yesterday morning, which threw our whole Saturday out of our usual rut. And that was great. It let me work on my assignment to be a "Content Manager" for the Giving Machines (whatever that means! I'm figuring it out. Lol!). It gave me time to have a hilarious game of telephone with Griffin and Eve. And I got to go on a walk with Carrie, who had a great recommendation for Willa's health. And we still got some cleaning done and got together that night and ate at the original Joe's KC BBQ (I got all crazy and had a regular Z-man) and watch the movie Matilda together.

Organizing/Cleaning/Giving. I organized my medicine cabinet and it looks 1000% better. And I got to go to The Container Store! And a bunch of things I found that we didn't need were given away to people who wanted them. I have a few pictures of the before, but I need to add a picture of the after because it is so pleasing to me. I also cleaned my house myself this week because Maria/Lupe/Mimina was sick. It made me appreciate her SO MUCH more. And I thought I appreciated her a lot already!

Swimming with a hummingbird. I found out my water classes were cancelled on Wednesday when I got to the community center and saw a sign on the door. I don't know why I didn't get the email on that! But it gave me a chance to jump around in my friend's new pool all by myself as the sun was rising in the sky behind her giant trees. And I was pretty much all alone except when Paige called and when a sweet hummingbird would dart down from the oak tree in the neighbor's yard to take sips from the feeder on the deck. What a wonderful morning!

Worst:

When we were hungry and tired. One day this week we had a truly dreadful time as I was getting the kids after school. They must not have eaten enough lunch and school ended with stuff they hated. There was violence and nasty words and tears and terribleness. As I thought about it, I realized (maybe not for the first time) that I am the absolute WORST version of myself when I am hungry and tired. As a matter of fact, I realized that probably ALL of the most terrible times I've had in my life that come to mind for me happened when I was just TOO hungry, or TOO tired. And it happens sort of regularly still even though I am 51. Luckily for Griffin and Eve, I just had to listen to them, feed them, and give them some consequences for the violence and nasty words. They had major personality changes as soon as the calories hit their bloodstreams.

The liminal space. Sometimes the in-between times, when we are waiting for the next thing to happen, are also very hard. They are especially hard when the hungry and tired are building as they happen. These also happen on the regular. 

One day Eve told me I needed to come see something right now! This light was what she wanted me to see. I love having a daughter who makes me stop and notice beautiful details still at home with me!

 

I am taking pictures to send to M'Li of the things I would like changed in my front planting beds.

Still having fun with the new haircut! 

A jumble of stuff from the medicine cabinet

Eve loves nature photography

She also loves silly selfies.

A few words about the parts of my heart that are away from me:

Wyatt is settling in to his second transfer in North Miami and seems consistently happy and good every time I talk to him. I know missionary work is not easy, but the life is good for him. He is just wonderful!

Willa saw a therapist she wasn't impressed with this week, is adjusting to school starting and new roommates and medications changing, which are all hard things. And I think she is doing such a good job at her hard things! She is amazing!

Eliza calls me regularly and sends me pictures of Juliet regularly. And this as she is learning about practicing family law, taking care of her people and life and two callings (gospel doctrine and Primary sub), hosting way too many house guests for too long, AND growing a human. I am so impressed! I keep having glowing good feelings about Evan because he was so good to me when I was staying with him and Juliet.

Mariah found a house in Mapleton that would be amazing for them to have. It sits on a gorgeous one acre lot with beautiful landscaping and has a house from the 1970's that has great bones, 7 bedrooms and a serious need for some updating. She always helps take care of her sisters and her own little family, and this week also Ellen and James. And Mac is away doing a once-in-a-lifetime kayak building trip in Maine. Oh, and she is making another person as she does all this too. I think she is completely good and great!

Wyatt! Oh, and also some other missionaries and some new converts. I'm sure they are important too.

Mariah and Eliza's babies in the tub with Ellen's baby. I have pictures of the three of these girls fresh from a shower together in swimsuits when they were in high school.

It turns out I get my two favorite things pretty much EVERY DAY!!  No WHEY!