Tour in motion

Ok- so a little update. I am in Nashville, hanging with my sister and her fabulous family. Hunter is sleeping in his pack n play, I have lunch plans and after lunch plans.... life is good.

This trip has been really good- like- how could I have been nervous about this good. Hunter is an angel. Plain and simple- he rocks. He's been sleeping in a different house almost every day with the exception of maybe a two or three night stint somewhere. He has spent most of his naps in a car seat, and has eaten on the floor, in a highchair, in a restaurant, in his car seat. He allowed me to have a 2 hour breakfast with my old mentor while he entertained himself with food, waitresses and methods of moving his body. He has become good friends almost instantly with all of my friends, their friends, their parents, their parent's puppies, and of course our family that he hasn't seen in a while. When we were visiting Memaush- he smiled, laughed, and walked for her. When we had dinner with my aunt, uncle and cousins- he became so enamored with my cousin Heather that when I was holding him- he went to her! That's kind of a big deal. He is a ray of sunshine and I am SO glad we took this trip- and SO glad he's my baby (little boy!).

I have had such joy seeing friends I haven't seen in a while. It is scary how easy it was to travel from Virginia to the middle of Florida (with a few stops!). It reminds me that with a good plan- you can make almost anything work well. I am above all so glad that I made this effort to see Memaush. She is not doing well, her body is slowly dying and she is tired. I got to visit with her- talk to her, listen to her. I put lotion on her arms, shoulders, legs, feet. I brushed her hair. It was a sacred time. I said I love you and said goodbye. There is no greater gift to a relationship this meaningful than the ability to say those two things and know that it may be the last conversation you had. I am either at peace or oblivious to what will happen when Memaush does die. I really think it's peace.

ooh- Hunter's up. Don't want to wake Lucy!

more later

On the Road Again

I am about to embark on my little Tour de South. Jason and I will be in Auburn this weekend to watch a game (yea!!) and see my sister, Jessa dance (double yea!!). After that Jason will fly back home with good friends while I travel to Florida via Valdosta (yea for Cliff) to see my Memaush. Memaush (my g-mother on my Mom's side) is just not doing great. It's been a roller coaster ride for the family, especially Mom, who gives us updates on her health as she goes up and down emotionally and physically. It sounds like Memaush is tired, and maybe I'll do another post on that later. I feel like she is ready to go, and I want to see her and hug her and love her before she does. whew. SO then I am heading up to Nashville via Valdosta and Atlanta (yea Cliff and Katy!). There I am going to hang out with my sister Kelly, Jeff and little Lucy and have so so much fun. I will also get to see my dear friend Nancy and itty bitty Becca. Also super exciting.

This little tour is kind of my coming out as a stay at home mom- it says- I can leave and drive around for two weeks- woohoo! Jason will check on Grandmother and all should be well. I have good friends along the way that I'll get to see and who will break up the trip with their fabulous hospitality. I'm really really excited. IF I am good- I will take lots of pics and finally update this blog with pictures. Hunter looks so different now! Speaking of Hunter- he is up from his nap and playing independantly in the next room- hooray! We also discovered that he will tolerate playing in the pack n' play for a little while- which was very nice yesterday. Jason and I cleaned out our closets! Is anyone a size 6-8 with shorter arms and torso than I? I have some seriously beautiful clothes that do not fit at all. (and I was in a "get rid of stuff" mood- so even the maybes got tossed)

OK- just wanted to share my enthusiasm for the road trip with Hunter. Be in prayer for me as I will be doing this by myself- traveling with no pinch hitter will be interesting!

Mellowcreme Pumpkins

That is what I'm pigging out on right now. Candy-corn like mellowcreme pumpkin candy. So today my husband asked me why I was stressed out. I hate the phrase "stressed-out"- because it is used by people in school who have term papers due- it just doesn't work for me. So I said I was a little frustrated and overwhelmed. "Why?" he asked- I said...

because the house is *disgusting*, i feel fat, i have a ticket from June that i don't know how to pay, my car smells gross, we need a new car seat, my grandmother has an ear infection, the grass needs to be mowed, i am tired of hunter whining for things and me not getting it right, my other grandmother is in the hospital, i have certain organizations that I'm wondering if i should step down from, we have a garden that needs to be razed, the whole yard needs to be redone but it isn't ours so i just get to fantasize that i have enough money to spend it on something that isn't mine, there are most likely cheerios in my bra which no longer is hugely full of boobs because i finished nursing, the house is full of random crap we don't need, all the clean laundry is sitting squished in one basket which means it is no longer folded because we keep sliding things out, it's cold and i don't have my cold clothes out, we keep going out of town, Bruno sheds, the door downstairs has a gap between it and the floor, i need to roll over my retirement pay from my last job, so do you, we need to pay your tuition, for that matter- your student loans from grad school which hang over me, find the car registration because we didn't have it when i got pulled over, there is mold growing above most our showers, there is a large hole in our guest bedroom ceiling, there are 4 ladders in our back yard from a project by the church 2 years ago, the space between our fence and the fence our neighbor built 2 years ago is being filled with plants and critters, our shed is full of furniture and the remnants from our last garage sale, i need to take care of myself physically but when i think i'm doing well i gain weight, i am trying to get clearer skin, we need to plan for retirement and hunter's college, and i basically think about different ways we should be saving money every 20 minutes but we don't ever sit down and do budget things so it never happens, you have meetings nearly every night of the week, the political parties are calling my house, my grandmother gets 30 mailings a day and probably 5 phone calls a day for money, my car is about to hit 100K miles which makes me think we might need a new care in a few years which is sad because i like my car, i'm wondering when we should start trying for another baby which freaks me out because sometimes i wonder if one is enough, you need allergy shots....

it's ok if you skimmed that. all that to say- all these things (plus some) are in my head on a regular basis, and all i have the energy to do is sit, eat pumpkin candy and blog about it.

it's no wonder I'm not getting anything done and feel fat.

by the way- for all you sunshine and daisies folks: i know i have it good- but i'm still a little crazy.