Fast Car

May 01, 2017

Fast Car

Currently, we are under a tornado watch!

Eli is on my lap typing away and I keep backspacing the letters here.

Actually, let me allow him to get it out of his system...

rtrrjjkp[njvvihuhjuo n9nn9 hyu5tr56vfttrmu89oo0kijuhjun nj uiyty;dtr785ro0'ki90nvbn /m

kokjktrffjkdejiuirhjdhfvfhcvhbhcdhxcbhbhxgh,

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Alright.. He spotted a box of colored clay, grabbed it and blew out of the bedroom faster than a roadrunner. I think we are good now.

Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely week. I have been listening to a lot of John Denver and playing a lot of John Denver tunes to the kids on the guitar in the afternoon. I love that he was just as much of a poet as he was a musician.

I also reintroduced myself to Tracy Chapman's music. Remember Fast Car? I love the girl she sings about in the song. She stays so strong, self-less and filled with hope even though her life has been such a struggle. I don't know exactly who she was singing about... but I'm sure she exists somewhere. And where ever she may be... I hope she knows she makes me want to be a better person.

Bits and pieces from our past week-

The swing set broke last week. All at once! The chains of the swing broke right in the middle and the glider broke off as Josie was swinging on it! It was well loved. I'll miss seeing it. It's meant a lot to the kids and provided hours of fun for them and their friends.

Enjoying the fresh air!

I felt someone staring at me.

Always the center of attention.

Always catching up on the latest flicks

Always drawing.

Park day!

Spring bike riding is the best, isn't it?

Yearly physical. Taking it like a champ. He just loves the paper gown.

First icecream stop of the season!

The faces.

Sleepy afternoon.

More from our week...

My brother, Jim.

We actually haven't seen him in a few years. Maybe four. A lot of things have happened since our dad died that made everything an absolute mess.

My way to survive everything happening in our family was to eventually shut down and save what energy I had and put it into the kids. Really, it was the only way I could get through it and find peace. Everything felt so crazy and out of control for so long. I slowly began to feel like maybe being apart from the family was the only thing I could do to stop it all. My heart was sad. I couldn't take the anxiety it all gave me. So, I stepped away.

Anyway. Fast forward.

It was good to hug him and laugh with him again. Watching the kids play together on his new farm.

Some good memories I share with Jim: fishing, pitched tents in the backyard, rollerblading in the house when mom and dad were gone, sledding behind the restaurant, getting candy and Ben and Jerrys icecream at the store, bowling, Halloween, snow forts, video games, cool music, comic book stores, sleepovers, card games, the best Christmas presents and wrapping paper, Christmas shopping, laughing until we couldn't breathe.

I always felt so cool to have older siblings. I knew what was cool before all the other kids knew what was cool because of them. I had older siblings that took me to fun places and loved me in all my awkwardness. They had a lot of great friends and they let me join in on some of the fun things that they did. I know they didn't have to do that. I am so grateful they did.

I think the cool thing about love is that its strong enough to fight through the most difficult of times. No matter how angry I had been in the past or how confused I was... that love never changed. and it never will.

Really, I love him. and his mean little dog too. ;)

We are team Starbucks in a Dunkin Donuts vs Starbucks world.

We found this awesome mug yesterday for our dear friend, Claude. He's coming home from the hospital today (praise God!) but please keep him in your prayers! He was diagnosed with mrsa on Saturday and admitted to the hospital. He's such a good person but has had a rough year thus far to say the least. We are praying for you, Claude!