Sunday, April 6, 2008

Took a Break

So, no Miracle Monday post recapping our journey here today. I am taking a much needed break from reliving the painful first part of our journey with Brian's brain tumor. The journey has been difficult enough living it daily in the present. Reliving the past has been just too draining. Brian has not been feeling great and results are this Wednesday, so I wanted to live in the moment. I even took several days off my computer time altogether allowing Grant to play Webkinz and Brian to load his new IPOD. I missed my blog and my bloggers and my comments, so tonight I spent two hours chipping away at my unread blogs on Google Reader. And I got to ZERO. ZERO UNREAD. In the time I have typed this, I am back up to 5. Have you people nothing else to do? This google reader is like laundry - it is never truly finished.

So, I took a break and spent the last 4 days actually enjoying my real life - the one with kids and a house and a yard and family. I weeded, I cooked, I entertained, I ate and drank, I played, I exercized, I grocery shopped, I cleaned (a tiny bit anyway) and I laughed. We had Brian's family for dinner on Saturday night. There is nothing like being with the ones that love and know you best to encourage you, humble you, delight you and remind you that you are still the same human being despite the hardship and illness facing you. Makes you forget and actually feel normal for a while.

I did my Tae-Bo work out on Saturday morning. Does anyone still do Billy Blanks and Tae-bo? I love it regardless, and I do it in the comfort and privacy of my own basement so I don't really care. Although, now that Gavin and Grant have opinions and are keenly aware of their surroundings, they inform me I am doing it wrong or too slowly. I may have to start doing this workout in my locked bedroom soon in hopes of retaining my last shreds of dignity. Anyway, I can barely walk today. Honestly, I was reaching down on the ground at church this morning for one of the 73 pieces of paper we acquire between our programs & handouts, and the boys crafts & handouts and thought I may stay frozen in that position for a week. It would have felt better than it did when I returned to upright. OUCH!

The boys played outside ALL. WEEKEND. LONG. Friday afternoon and evening, they played outside with friends until dark. Saturday, they were outside from 10:30 am with friends until 9:30 pm with cousins playing nonstop. I do not know how they do it. I jumped on the trampoline for about 3-1/2 minutes and thought my quads would make a great accompaniment for the peanut butter sandwiches the boys took a 20 minute break for earlier. Sunday, they spent 6 hours playing outside with more friends. They are having a great time, but I have to start throwing down some serious rules about roaming the neighborhood. They travel in packs, so it is getting harder. I think I need to read Lord of the Flies again soon to give me perspective on what even the most refined boys are capable of when unsupervised and unstructured. Just kidding, I love seeing kids just be kids. Plus, I don't read anything but blogs these days.

Brian did work on the house. He put up a decorative cap on a stairway railing (hard to explain, but the top part of the halfwall leading downstairs.) He and his dad and brother also finally put up the basketball goal Aunt Deb and Uncle Paul gave us over Christmas. So, the boys can ignore that with the rest of their toys and tick us off and we can idly threaten, again, to give their toys away. Gavin is getting smart about this empty threat and has suggested he sell his toys for money, instead, so he can buy a Wii.

We ended the weekend with a visitation for a family friend. That sucked as a way to end an otherwise stellar weekend. Yes, I just said stellar. Wanna see my Bon Jovi paraphanalia to prove I am age appropriate to say stellar?

So we had such a great weekend just being regular that I didn't even take a picture. NOT ONE SINGLE PHOTO of my kids playing, of our family visiting, of Brian working and and playing and interacting. No video either, so you are just gonna have to trust me on this one.


Can you tell I am writing like I would talk instead of how I would write? That doesn't even make any sense I realize, but you know what I mean, anyway, don't you? Scary.

KEEP BELIEVING

17 comments:

  1. Regular, real life is awesome. My butt has grown tentacles to this chair in front of my computer lately. I'm sure you could do without that visual, huh?
    Glad you had a peaceful and restorative weekend.
    And yes, I could tell that you were writing like you would talk, instead of writing. I get it.
    And it's stellar! hee hee

    Hey, I once gave away my Bon Jovi tickets so I could go compete in my district track meet...hoping to make it to regionals. I didn't make it. That SUCKED!

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  2. There's a Rumer Godden book where she talks about a group of children flitting and swarming about about as if in a flock; I love that image--in the book and in real life.

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  3. You said no Miracle Monday post? What do you think this is? It's purely and simply the miracle of normalcy. The miracle that even with everything you have been through, you can still find joy and peace. You make me smile. Thank you.

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  4. Sounds like a truly wonderful weekend!

    I am praying for good results on Wednesday!

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  5. The weekend was fantastic, wasn't it? Here's a tip on the toy thing... when my daughters were younger and their room was a disaster area, they were warned, and warned to clean it - finally, we said, "If you don't clean your room before you leave, we'll clean it and we're throwing away all the toys you left on the floor." They picked up the ones most important to them, then left the mess. Mommy knows how much a Barbie costs, so the toys went into the shed in a garbage bag - meant to be brought out after a week of the room staying clean. 5 years later one of the girls found the bag of toys... We forgot all about them!

    Eventually the room, still a mess, had this rule - "pay no attention to anything snapping under your feet - in fact, we don't even look to see what it is... if it were really important, we wouldn't leave it there."

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  6. It gives me a lot of joy to hear that you had such a wonderful few days. :)

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  7. Sounds like a perfectly normal adn fun weekend to me. While I miss your Miracle Monday post I completly understand needing to take a break. I laughed at your comment about paper at church. I jsut cleaned out our "Church bag" (Bag of toys and such to keep them entertained) and I think i had an entire tree in there. Crazy. Have a good day!!

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  8. I agree, Angie. I'm actually enjoying real life. Cleaning & all! :)

    That's awesome that you still do Tae-Bo. I think I was able to keep it up for all of about 3 weeks. lol

    I continue praying for your family. Let the test results be good...

    Big Hugs!

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  9. I totally know what you mean when you are writing like you talk.. actually that is normally how I post because I suck at "real writing".

    I have to agree with you that stepping back and enjoying what is real and in front of you is refreshing. I did not touch my computer once on vacation, or when I returned because I knew I would overwhelmed.. and I was, but it is really nice to step back for a bit to get a clear picture.

    Kudos to you Angie!! And I too will be praying for good results for your husband on Wednesday.

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  10. I saw a group of boys this weekend, and one had talked another into standing on his bike (a two-wheeler, sans kick-stand), balancing on the seat, grabbing the rim of the nearby basketball hoop, and then dangling from that. Miraculously, he did not fall. I thought to myself, that is why I don't let the boys out of the house without me. John insists I am overprotective.

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  11. Fun to read you writing like you talk. Glad you had a great weekend - it does sound like it was great!! SEe you soon - Kellan

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  12. So glad you had a chance to spend time outside the virtual world :) Sounds like you had a 'stellar' weekend indeed. Praying for you all for Wednesday.

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  13. Every day life is a miracle in itself, so technically you did contribute to Miracle Monday :)

    PS

    Thanks for your comment on my last post, I appreciate it.

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  14. I am so glad that you had a wonderful weekend living in the moment.

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  15. Ciao Angie. I'll pray for tomorrow results. we follow you and Brian with a fine and great affection. Have a peacefully brak!! A big hug.

    Emanuele and Claudia Plasmati from Alba - Italy
    manuplasmati@tiscalinet.it

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  16. ha! i love that--reading the latest posts is like laundry-'it is never truly finished'!

    i enjoyed your Miracle Monday posting. very refreshing. praying for you all as you get your results tommorow.

    i would like your mailing address if it's ok w/ ya. i have an email link on my 'about me' page that you can send it through.

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