Thursday, May 28, 2009

Looking Back, Looking Forward


Cannot believe how quickly time passes. I lament over the passage of time and how even without a formal “job” can never seem to find enough hours in one full day of work. As always, my thoughts are filled with my children - these precious babies, how much they have grown, how they continue to develop and the potential they carry forward. While enjoying every possible moment - I love to pause and glance back. So grateful that they still dish out those great big snuggles without care or reservation. That is all that a loving mommy & daddy need.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Bye Bye Tiffany Blue


This house has yet to feel like a home - even after almost five years. It was cathartic to stucco over the last remaining patches of that infamous tiffany blue (the last layer of paint and paper found on our 1960s walls) and I wasn’t sad to see it go. The next and only time I’d ever like to see that color again is on a tiny little gift box, lol. Next step.....paint!!!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Rehab for the Soul


Few places in the planet restore and refresh us the way this place does. Does’ not matter whether the sand be soft or granular, super soft white powder or dark grey, gritty with rocks, does’ not matter if the water is warm like a spa or icey cold, brownish and dense, blue with white caps, green or crystal clear, has big swells or none - WE LOVE THE BEACH!!!

We love to hike and swim, splash, run, dig, roll, slide, jump, skip, float and giggle...we love to get dirty, sandy and soggy and to drive home with the small of salt air on our clothes and to feel the warmth of the sun on our cheeks!

This is our favorite place to just be together and forget all worries or cares and is our long standing reservation for all scheduled no school days. Luckily for us, school was out yesterday! Woooohoooo!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Back To Work


Well we are back to work and “in the thick of it,” quite literally with buckets of stucco, gallons of paint and ceiling popcorn, scrapers, sanders and such...a real mess all in the hopes of real progress. The kids were bummed as we held off all Spring sports (don’t feel too bad - they still have gymnastics and dance) to keep things going and get the job done at long last.

You see, we moved in about 5 years back, built a 1,200 sq ft in-law apartment from studs up for Jim’s dad and have been living upstairs on a plywood floor, with stripped walls for years while paying cash for each new project as we could afford it.

Now finally with the flooring stacked up and ready to lay down, 20 ft of center wall removed and engineered beams put into the ceiling, ceilings & walls patched, electrical and heating re-routed, and new ceiling texture in, we are now turning our attentions to walls and paint (hopefully before the yard starts to feel neglected and beyond repair).

Can’t really complain though. Out of our three homes so far, this one has been the most work, but also the most worthwhile.

Monday, May 4, 2009

A Perfect Fifth


Though our family may be like so many across our country right now and a great many are suffering in a much greater need, we are at the crossroads too, and grateful for every day that we still have this roof over our head, counting our daily blessings and never taking forgranted that without all this “stuff” we still have the precious gift of our family. While a common story, it not a simple one. Jim and I met at a precarious time in both of our lives where we had already lived two lifetimes in one and were not looking to “complicate things” any further with a relationship. Being that we were 11 years apart in age and coming from complete opposites ends of the spectrum compounded things further. We couldn’t afford not to have certain difficult conversations that couples usually wait years for.. We truly found our best friend in life and the answer to our prayers in a very unlikely place in time and space.. Just three months later, Jim proposed. At six, we discovered we were pregnant! Knowing that the only choice for us was to keep this tiny miracle, we changed course. After all, we never expected life would bring us one another and who were we to decide the order in which these gifts should come? A decade later, we stand united as a family of five, strong, beautiful, brave, creative, unique, good people. Still mourning the loss of a mother, we take in the span of our lives together so far; mending and selling of two homes and sharing a third with a disabled parent and all the nuances that brings, injuries, childbirths, child losses, illness and other ups and downs of life, two loving surrogacies and other struggles and joys. We are so humbled and appreciative for what we have and those that stand with us on this unpredictable journey.