Regular Stuff

I would say, we are slightly getting back to normal. But I'm not sure what "normal" typically is for our family, and I think even that is off the table for the near future due to the upcoming move.

I was out of town for four days last week, attending a conference in Wilmington and then checking out a few homes in our upcoming city. Either right before I left or the moment I got to Wilmington, I caught some terrible cold germs - Monday evening I started feeling poorly and that continued all day on Tuesday. As I was heading back last Thursday, this giant wave of fatigue hit me hard, and I ended up checking into a motel for a couple of hours to take a nap. (Not really, but) this felt like some sort of personal failure. I mean really, paying $60 to take a nap because I couldn't stay awake? But it was necessary; there was no other way to be safe. Whatever virus or whatever it is, is still hanging around - I skipped church and Simon's soccer game on Sunday, and laid low all day yesterday because I felt basically terrible. Today is a better day, and I'm going to get out and about in the sunshine some.


I'm also hoping to get lots of business done today - calling my insurance company to see if it's even worth getting my car fixed before trading it in, perhaps buying a new car via my insurance website, being trained to proctor end-of-grade tests at Simon's school. The senior pastor at our new church sent us a helpful e-mail with several names of folks at the church who are in real estate and education, so I hope to set up at least a few viewings for this weekend.

Non-complaining wonderfulness: 

On Saturday, Matt and I had a really great morning with David. It's unusual for us both to have one-on-one time with an individual boy - it's usually either all four of us together or a divide-and-conquer approach. But Simon slept really late, and ... David was just so darned cute. I told him if he wanted to ask for a toy or something now would be the time - we'd get him anything he wanted. He was in a great mood, which isn't too common in the morning these days.  He was making some wonderful smiley faces and all kinds of general cuteness.

Once Simon was up and ready, we headed over to our (empty) church parking lot to try out Simon's birthday present from his Papa Robert (my dad), a remote control race car that can go 35+ mph. There's a "training mode" at 50% power, and at this point I really cannot imagine going 100% - it's taking awhile to get used to to it at half-power. The helpful (!) catalogue that came in the box featured one car that goes over 100 mph, but it costs $1,100 so I'm not too worried about that one. I can't wait to rig up some ramps for this one, but this is definitely a "high level of supervision" toy. The next time the boys are with their grandparents, Matt and I are going to sneak out and try the 75 and 100% modes.

The rest of the day was a pretty typical Saturday - we visit the library every week, and today Matt and Simon watched Star Wars Episode 3 while David and I napped. Then I made supper and decorated Matt's birthday cake - the state of North Carolina with various little embellishments depicting our time in the mountains, other important points, and our upcoming place.

The birthday isn't until Monday, but we decided to go ahead and do the cake part. This will mark the end of our family's "birthday season," with all four in a six week-period, and I think this'll help me focus more on the upcoming move. We've moved a good bit over the years - well, Matt and I have; Simon's just had the one move from DC to NC right after his first birthday, and we've been in one spot for David. Matt and I have moved about five additional times; this will be the most complicated in terms of "number of mammals moved" and "all the additional crap we have accumulated since Simon was a baby."

Yes, this is The Dude from The Big Lebowski,
associated with Duke Divinity School, which Matt
did not go to. He went to Wesley Theological
Seminary in Washington DC, and I contend this is
because he wrote about The Big Lebowski in his
Duke admission application.
As a work that influenced his
individual spirituality. Yes. 

Not complaining, just observing:

It didn't bother me too much to be sick on Mothers' Day, since I generally pay little to no attention to it. I began hating Mother's Day after my Mom died when I was in college, and that hasn't changed since having my own kids. Like Valentine's Day and other such occasions, it's a fine idea that's been taken over by retail, and I get that all the commercials are simply trying to sell the most amount of stuff to the highest number of people. But yeah - I can't call my Mom long-distance using AT&T, I can't take her out to lunch at Outback Steakhouse, I can't order roses from 1-800-FLOWERS. Yes, I could use the opportunity to revel in the happy memories from when my Mom was alive, but I do that all the time anyway and all this day does is remind me she's not around. Yeah, glad it's over.