Where 'It' Could Mean Anything, Really.

Today I took Katie and her friend Molly to the Pump It Up. In case you are wondering, the Pump It Up is a place where children go to contract exotic viruses run and play on lawsuits waiting to happen bouncy inflatable slides and such.

At the beginning of the school year, I envisioned that Katie and I would do all sorts of mother-daughter bonding experiences since she was my "last" baby and this would most likely be my "last" year of being unemployed unpaid unappreciated a domestic engineer. I planned for us to go to storytimes, on playdates at the park, and of course, to Pump It Up for their preschool playtime.

Well, now it's almost March, and we have done exactly none of those things; we've just spent our days eating bon-bons and watching soaps doing laundry and running errands, just like the previous eight years I've been a stay-at-home mom.

So today, even though I was swamped with the same damn housework I just did last week challenges to overcome, I decided to Carpe the Diem and pony up twelve bucks for the girls to run themselves ragged for a few hours. And a wonderful time was had by all.

However.

There was a lady at Pump It Up today wearing opaque black footless tights. And a t-shirt that came to her waist. And no other articles of clothing. And let's just say there was a lot of junk in that trunk not much left to the imagination. She was there playing with her two year old son. She was in her early 40's. Other than the tights, she seemed like a very normal and even friendly person.

Please, if you will, offer an explanation. I must have one.

The Weekend in Photos

These came from my yard and caused me great joy.
These came from a warehouse and caused me much exhaustion.
And then I was attacked by a pirate clone trooper, causing me to pretend to bleed to death.

Waiting

Spoiler Alert

This cracks me up.

BFFs

This is Katie and her best friend Molly. The two of them can be seen running around my house at least twice a week wearing princess dresses with gymnastics leotards underneath, always holding a baby doll under one arm while simultaneously having a tea party and playing Candy Land. They giggle endlessly. They fight fiercely. And they love each other dearly.

Some Lighter Thoughts

There is nothing in the world quite like the feeling of clean sheets.

I secretly love Mexican food. Not all of it, but some.

Katie pronounces 'with' like 'wiff', but 'without' is 'wifftout'.

I love to play cards with my husband. We've been playing Phase 10 lately, but it is too easy for a card genius like me. We're thinking of switching to Liverpool Rummy instead.

I used to play Liverpool Rummy tournaments with my neighbors when I was a kid, so I plan to school my husband in this game, too, and quickly.

I have a very elderly dog who can no longer see and who throws up all the time. We're not quite sure what to do with her.

One of my favorite things to eat is lemon yogurt with cherry almond granola. I drive across town to a specialty grocery store just to get it.

I get up every morning at 6 and go over to my friend Julie's house to work out. Every morning I hate it while I'm getting up and going over there, and every morning when I leave I am glad I did it.

When Grace was a toddler, she gave goodnight kisses in this order: Kiss, Hug, Shoop. A Shoop is a pretend lick, like a dog lick, complete with a slurping sound. We had to teach her to do the pretend part, for obvious reasons.

I had completely forgotten about that old bedtime routine until a few nights ago. I can't remember when she stopped doing that. She didn't remember it at all. I feel the sudden urge to go write that down in a baby book.

All of my children's baby books are blank after the first year.

If I ever get around to framing my college diploma, I am going to hang it right over the washing machine.

Any questions? Thoughts to add?

Some Thoughts

You know how, in the movies and in books, people have major problems for a little while and then by the end they are all wrapped up neatly and life is perfect? That's not real life. In real life they stick around a little longer. In real life, you think you get them solved and they come right back around again anyway.

Real life takes perseverance. It takes opening a prayer journal, leafing through the pages from a few years ago, and realizing that you are still praying for the exact same things. It takes trust in God, but not the blind, "just pray for it and you will receive it" kind of trust; but the eye-opening realization that the praying will be continuous, the questions will be unresolved, but the God is still with you, still there, still in control, kind of faith.

I'm thankful for that kind of faith. As much as I may long for the simpler, naive days when I believed that everything would always turn out fine, I am grateful for the realization even without resolution there is peace; even in the midst of a storm there is comfort and trust.

Don't worry, (Mom), I'm not in the midst of any dramatic storm right now; not a new one anyway. There is the ever-present cloud of the same old one, off in the distance, the one that drives me back to that prayer journal over and over again. The one that is teaching me and molding my faith.

I met someone who was a survivor of a similar storm, ten years farther down the road than me, and she said she was thankful for it. She was glad to have gone through it. She can praise God with a smile that He chose her for this role. I cannot say that. I cannot even imagine saying that. But I can say that God is good. His Word is true. He is faithful. He gives strength and wisdom for each day, for each situation. His mercies are new every morning. And for that I am thankful.