Be Strong

In January, my parents travelled to Hawaii for two weeks.  Ahhh, the retired life.  They splurged on tons of excursions, swam with manta rays and sea turtles and ate their favorite Hawaiian treat -- shave ice -- every day.

We missed them terribly, but, at least it was a warm and sunny January here at home.

The first day they were home, they took Katie to the Treehouse Children's Museum.  The next day, my dad came over and fixed the van after a belt came loose unexpectedly and Brian was in Park City covering the Sundance Film Festival all day.

On Sunday, they invited all of their children and grandchildren to their house for dinner -- a feast of crab that my dad caught when they visited the Oregon Coast last fall.  The side dishes included the most delicious mashed potatoes.  The secret ingredient was cream cheese.

The next day, my mom came to my house to humor me while I obsessed about what curtains I should buy for the living room.  These are big decisions.  When Sophie came home and admired the fleece jacket my mom was wearing, she jumped in the car and bought one just like it to give her.

My parents spoil us.  They were only home for a week, then they were off to spend a month in San Diego where they rented a condo with my aunt and uncle.  Ahh, the retired life.

Big news came when my dad got a call asking him to do on-site metal work in Spokane, Washington right away.  My parents and aunt and uncle had reached Las Vegas when my dad decided to turn back and my mom forged ahead without him.  He has a hard time being retired sometimes.

He asked Brian to assist him on the job.  At first, I thought they would be leaving in a few days.  It was pretty crazy because there were so many loose ends to wrap up.  Like -- I didn't have a functioning sink in our main bathroom for one thing (the vanity was in the middle of being remodeled).

Luckily, the dates got pushed back by 10-days.  They leave this Friday and they might be gone for seven weeks!

I'm going to have to put on my strong-lady-independent-working-shoes to be without both of my parents and Brian . . .

In other news, I'm grateful to be getting back into the swing of full-time mothering.  Writing so many stories for the newspaper was consuming me.  I don't think I can ever go back to that.

Sometimes I forget the things that use to occupy my time, before all of the writing.  Other times, I remember.  Like Friday, when I remembered to go with all the other moms to playgroup.  It was such a beautiful sunny day (in February!) that we ended up at the park sitting on quilts on the grass while the kids played.  I love days like that.

It feels good to be more focused on my home and my children.  And, yet, I'm realizing the more energy I put into it, the more it asks of me.  Does that make sense?  Regardless of how much I work or don't work for money, this being a mom business takes everything I've got.

It always seems like I should be able to do more than I actually have time to do.

I guess it's part of the job description.  Wake up, give it everything you've got, sleep, repeat.

Today we had Brian's family over to the house for Sunday dinner and to celebrate Brian's dad's 70th Birthday.  I can't believe it.  What a milestone!

It seemed appropriate to end the evening with fireworks to really highlight the occasion.

We were also planning to invite a ton of friends over to celebrate Chinese New Year with fireworks in two weeks.  But, those plans will have to wait for now.  I'm grateful Brian has this opportunity.  I hope it all goes well.