Long weekend

Oh! How I love long weekends!! Plenty of time to just chill out. We did a lot of that this weekend. We mostly hung around the house, working on odd jobs and such. I cleaned out and re-organized Ellie's closet, we ran some errands and most importantly, we just enjoyed one another. We've also been on a 'disaster preparedness mission' for several weeks now in order that should a disaster (namely an earthquake) hit, we are....well....prepared! :) Last weekend our 'to-do' list entailed strapping and securing all the furniture to the walls and this weekend was picking up the last odds and ends to finish stocking our emergency kits. I'm proud to say that we are nearly done! Almost.

Yesterday, we had Ty's mom and brother over for a late afternoon bbq, since it had been several weeks since either of them had seen the kids. Ty smoked some really yummy baby back ribs, I made mashed potatoes, and Ty's mom brought some of the best homemade baked beans I think I've ever had! Mmmmm!! Delicious! Certainly not a diet worthy dinner, but it was fantastic!!! :) They headed home pretty early and we got the kids in bed by 7:30. Whoohooo! I love early-to-bed-nights like that!!! Normally, they are settled in closer to 8:00, so last night felt much longer. Ty and I snuggled up on the couch, fireplace ablaze (it is still kinda chilly up here at night with this weird weather we've been having) and watched the movie Atonement. Have you ever seen it? Kinda weird. Slow to start and a bit disjointed in how it presents the storyline, but I still thought it was decent. It had won so many awards that my expectations were rather high, I think. And while it didn't quite meet those expectations, it still wasn't a terrible way to spend a Monday night. :)

Today has been a typical Monday, except for the fact that it is Tuesday. I worked around the house in the early morning, straightening up from the weekend tornado that always blows through our house when we are all home together and making some phone calls about our health insurance. :( In true form for our former health insurance, I was informed again this morning that we have yet another 'pending' bill from the horrific coverage we had a short time ago. And wouldn't you know it that just this morning, we mailed off what we thought was our last payment for all that mess. Go figure.

The kids and I made a Costco trip after that, but I should have read the writing on the wall before we left and known that Ellie was in no mood for a shopping trip today. I think she is getting sick, although I'm not quite sure yet. She slept late (until 9am...she is usually up at 8) and then refused her morning bottle. She nibbled on some banana before we left, but fussed quite a lot in her highchair....behavior that is not normal for her. Then at Costco, I'm pretty sure she cried from the moment we placed our first item in our cart until we got halfway home on the highway. And I'm not talking about a whiny, whimpering cry here....OH NO! I'm talking about a full, screeching wail. Ahhhh...the day had started off with such promise too! But what are you going to do? Leave?? It wasn't as though she were throwing a temper tantrum. In that case, I would leave. This was just an unhappy cry. And I had no intentions of wasting MORE time and gasoline to drive back to the store tomorrow. So I pushed on.

I hustled through my shopping list, fielding inquisitive and sometimes annoyed looks from other patrons, trying to calm Ellie down. I desperately wanted to hold her, because I know that typically calms her, but with a cart loaded down with food and Luke making a ruckus of his own beside his sister, holding her was impossible. After I checked out, and had to wait in the refund line to get a few bucks back from a coupon that they forgot to give me. With tears stinging my eyes and Ellie's cries filling my ears, a nice, elderly woman standing behind me urged "Patience, Mom. Patience. You're doing great. " I'm sure she could see the frustration in my body language, because she couldn't see my face. As I glanced back at her and mustered up as much of a smile that I could, I found a friendly, "we've all been there', knowing look on her gentle face.

As I drove home, I thought about how nearly every one of us moms have been in situations just like that, but how ironic it is that, during those moments, I feel so completely alone and isolated. Like no-one really knows what it is like to be in that precise moment. A falsehood, of-course. Of that I am certain. I just wish I could figure out how to soak up extra patience and calmness in those moments from all those around me who have 'been there and done that'. Like some supernatural emergency support system beaming those qualities right into my heart. But even as I type those words, I realize that my Father in Heaven IS that support for me. And even in the trivial, yet trying moments of this mom's life, He is there to carry me through. Thank Goodness!!