From Surviving to Thriving - A Wonderfully Wild Weekend

What. A. Weekend.  

Or more accurately, what a crazy five days.  Things really got going Wednesday when Jacob had his Faith Fair and rehearsal for this weekend's Confirmation.  As I mentioned in a previous post, his Confirmation had been a bit of a struggle.  We made a pretty good comeback--though not without a lot of angst--in order to get him ready for everything.  He finished his video learning sessions a few weeks ago, last week was the final weekly gathering, he got up to around 14 hours of community service, and last weekend we got moving on his Faith Fair board.  It's sort of like a science fair, stand-up boards and all, but for faith.  We got started the previous Saturday but then he ended up getting a chance to play basketball in Erie on Sunday (and did well playing for essentially a JV team!), so we had to finish it in the evenings on Monday and Tuesday.  In the end it all came together well--I think even he was surprised when he started gluing things on the board and it looked good!

The board included his name, his assigned Bible verse, explanations of the six symbols (three personal and three spiritual) on his stole (to the right in the photo above), and six statements he had to complete based on the five G's that our church abides by - Give, Grow, Go, Gather, and Gospel - as well as one about "Next Steps".  It took a little coaching to get him there on some, but in the end he did a nice job.

Wednesday evening all of the boards got hung in the church along the windows so they were on display that night, for Sunday church, and for the service itself on Sunday.  It was neat to see everyone's boards--such variety!  One even had lights!

Obviously going through all of this masked and somewhat distanced made things much different, but the kids were troopers.  They had a lot of stuff to take in that night, to figure out how they would go up to get confirmed, to take communion, etc., all with keeping distance.  It brought back a lot of memories of my own Confirmation and first communion (oh, the awkwardness), and Jacob and I shared a few snickers about it all.  It was interesting to learn that night as they talked about communion that Jacob had something in common with the youth pastor and his wife--they're all gluten-free!

Jacob is second from the top left

Thursday was an absolutely CRAZY day.  We had an appointment for Carter in the morning, and then I had a ridiculous amount of work to do by 5pm.  In a perfect world I would have taken the afternoon off to get ready for my mom's garage sale, but the work was urgent and plentiful so I had no choice.  In the middle of it all I spent my entire lunch trying to load the van (with all the seats folded down) with everything I was taking, and it was super stressful.  I could barely fit my suitcase!  The biggest problems were the kid table and chairs, the tricycle, the crib, the wagon, and the big wheel.  Beyond that we had a lot of boxes that couldn't stack and a couple bags of soft stuff like bedding.  It was essentially the Tetris game from hell, but eventually we got it figured out.  I sped through a ton of work stuff until 5pm, when I got as close as I could get to finishing, then got going on dinner.  The boys had to leave around 6:30 for training, and I crammed in my luggage and a couple last minute items and finally took off around 6:45...only to have to turn around and come back 15 minutes later because I forgot my phone!  I was pretty demoralized at that point, just overwhelmed from a tiring day and knowing there was still a lot of work to do once I reached my destination.  I already didn't have time (or energy) to waste, so it was pretty frustrating.  All week I had felt short on time and sleep, burning the candle at both ends while keeping work afloat, everyone where they needed to be, and get the house clean and plans squared away for the weekend.  It was a very rough moment but I tried to just push through once again.  I was back on the road at 7:15, and to my parents shortly after 8:30, at which point my mom and I unloaded most of the van in the rain and tried to place whatever we could on tables, which were already nearly overflowing at that point.  We left the big stuff in and only brought it out in the morning once the rain stopped (just before we opened, thankfully).  Unfortunately, it was cold (40s) and rather windy, which made that day pretty miserable as a whole.  But at least it wasn't raining!

A lot of the stuff was my parents', but my mom had rescued some items from the leftovers of the estate sale at my late aunt and uncle's house that had some value, which added more.  My stuff definitely rounded out the variety but it also nearly got us to the point where it was hard to process what you were seeing because there was so much piled on tables.  I spent much of that day trying to stay warm, chasing down baskets as they blew out of their boxes, and rearranging items on tables to spread them out as things sold, along with a few stints as money-taker.  My aunt came to help us, and admittedly it was wonderful to be with my mom and aunt (and my dad after hours) without worrying about masks.  We were all vaccinated and outside, so it was the safest I'd felt around family in ages.  

 

We had pretty steady business all morning and parts of the afternoon on day one, and were steady pretty much all day Saturday, when almost everything was half-price and the weather was much more tolerable (still cold but sunny and far less wind).  While there were twinges of sadness as bits of my life and my kids' childhood sold off, I knew it was important and really good to clear things out so those items could find new life with someone else.  The baby bedding, the big wheel, the bubble mower, the LeapPad tablet, and a handful of other items brought back a lot of memories, but it was time.  We had visits from lots of church friends (new and old) and a couple family members (I finally got to meet my cousin's seven-month-old son!), and slowly but surely cleared things out.  We were optimistic when Friday went well despite the wind and cold, particularly knowing we had half price day coming up on Saturday.  And sure enough, Saturday we really moved a lot of stuff!  Even things like stuffed animals sold.  In the end, we did REALLY well!  It felt so good after so much craziness over the past weeks trying to gather things around my house and price them, then pack them up and transport them.   

 

When things finally ended on Saturday around 2, I stuck around to help my mom pack up the rest to donate.  There were still a good number of boxes and stand-alone larger items, but it was a small fraction of what we started with and very manageable.  I brought home the crib (darn it--need to find a Buy Nothing page here), and a box and bin of stuff.  Most of it was stuff I brought that didn't sell--but only things that I figured I could save for my sweet godson or try to sell at consignment.  I brought a few little trinkets--two ornaments and two other small Christmas items that held memories for me--and one old toy that I thought Carter might like to try.  But that was it.  And when I walked in my empty office for the first time in close to a year (between donations and things I was going to try to consign and never did), it was amazing!  Beyond that you can't see much difference in the visible part of the house, but the garage, linen closet, kitchen cabinets, toy bins, and crawl space all got a little relief.  And at my mom's house, the eventual task of downsizing (or hopefully way down the road, cleaning out the house when my parents are gone) got a lot easier.

 

I came home tired but somewhat euphoric that I had survived so much action on Thursday, all of the garage sale tasks Friday and Saturday, and made money and cleaned stuff out, all in a weekend.  But there was no rest for the weary.  Before I even finished unpacking, I was baking two round cakes for Sunday!  Obviously a big gathering still doesn't feel wise, but we figured if we pared it down to grandparents and godparents, everyone would be vaccinated, so that's what we decided to do.  And since we never got to have a proper birthday party for Carter (and he already got his gifts separately), I thought we could take this opportunity to sing to him and finally get him his special 8th birthday cake!  Don't worry, I knew Jacob wouldn't care about his thunder being stolen if it meant more cake!  He wanted cupcakes, which were easy, so it all worked out--chocolate cake for Carter and Funfetti cupcakes for Jacob!  I managed to get the two cake layers baked and mostly frosted and the cupcakes baked by the time I went to bed on Saturday night.  Oh, and in case you were wondering how I was managing to get other food together in a short period of time, well...after much thought and consideration, I decided to give myself a break and give Jacob a special treat--we did Chipotle catering!  It was comparable in price to what we'd spend on catering anywhere, and Jacob loves Chipotle.  And honestly, once you work in what you'd spend on meat, side dishes, etc., it really wasn't a prohibitive amount more.  And given the weekend I'd had, I felt quite justified--especially once the sale made more than enough to pay for it!  

Letting someone else handle the food meant I only had to decorate Carter's cake on Sunday morning, and that was doable!  Decorating actually went super smoothly--although it helped that I bought a bunch of pre-made icing packs so I didn't have to mix up frosting colors as I went.  But I have to be honest, there were so many times over the course of the weekend, at least after I forgot my phone, where I felt like God had His hand on the whole thing and was setting me up for smooth sailing.  There were so many things that could have gone wrong or been harder than they had to be, and each time, they just weren't!  I was nervous about the drive to NT because of all the stuff in the van, and despite downpours most of the way, it was fine.  I was nervous about the sale and overflowing tables and the wind and rain, and aside from a couple minor issues, it was fine.  I was worried about ending up with so much unsold stuff, or being extra sad about things we were selling, but all of that worked out in the end, too!  And when Sunday went smoothly (right down to finishing the cake with about 15 minutes to spare to get ready for church--which was still enough despite last minute bathroom cleaning!), it was such a relief and it all felt heaven-sent.

At church, we did one more photo with his Faith Fair board before taking down his stole for him to wear.

The service was nice.  It was wonderful to have a bunch of family in attendance.  Jacob did have a bit of a freakout in the middle of it because he wasn't clear that the Confirmation part and the communion part were separate.  He was worried when no one was going to the communion basket and our communication about it (quietly, through masks) was not going super well.  Eventually I got him to understand that he'd get confirmed first and then go back up for communion, and things went better from there.  Taking communion was an interesting experience.  He did not enjoy the gluten-free bread ("like a cracker without salt!") and the wine was a bit of a new flavor for him, but all went well.  It actually got a little emotional for me at times.  Seeing a video compilation of the confirmands' photos all together (particularly since they've been behind masks all along) and just thinking of the lives they have ahead of them made me think back to my own Confirmation and those I was confirmed with, some of whom I am still friends with.  Then I thought back to Jacob's baptism on that same altar almost 13 years ago, and it was a lot to take in knowing how far both of us have come over the years!

After church, I dispatched Craig to Chipotle and had my parents drive me back to the house so I could let everyone in and start getting ready for us to eat immediately!  It was so slick to have two boxes of Chipotle walk in the door about 10 minutes later, get them all set up with bowls and utensils provided, and have everyone grab food quickly and easily.  And it was SO good!  Not to mention that we've had a couple days of leftovers so far, which has been delightful during a busy week, as well!

As for the cake, we'd gone back and forth on a theme for months--from Roblox to Minecraft (again) to whatever else.  But when I was poking around on Pinterest, I found a cool Mario Kart cake, which made sense because he got the game for his birthday.  I can't remember exactly, but my search may have been prompted by seeing at Target that Hot Wheels had a Mario Kart line.  Upon further searching, I found a set that had Mario, Luigi, Dry Bones, and Donkey Kong, which was nearly perfect since the first two have to be there, and the last two are two of Carter's favorites.  Admittedly it wasn't cheap, but they'd be fun and he'd get to keep them in his Hot Wheels collection, so it still beat spending a ton of money on a gluten-free bakery cake.  I decided that since we already had cupcakes and I was using the best, fluffiest box mix out there (King Arthur is the bomb), I could get away with only doing one layer.  That meant less fuss and less frosting!  In the end, I chopped off the end of each circle to make the "8" and used the two slices to create a hill on the cake!  I made a faux tunnel (thank you Pinterest, for the tunnel inspiration), did road lines and grass, then started adding some of the obstacles and power-ups.

From the top-down: Finish line, turtle shell (right), power-up box (left), star (right), banana peel (right), walking bomb (center), and mushroom (left)

From the back

At the finish!

Better view of the bomb and banana (which I sort of got to be 3-D) and the elevation

I am kicking myself that I didn't take better pictures of all the little stuff, but it really came together nicely (and I love my new star tip that I did the base scalloping with)!  Again, every weird experimentation I did worked out so well, and it was almost fun to do instead of purely stressful!  I did almost have one car hanging off the side of the cake since that's usually me (and Craig) in the game--forever falling off cliffs and ledges!

One other complication for the day was that Jacob had a basketball tournament!  He had games the previous day (solid contributor as usual), but his game Sunday was basically right in the middle of the party.  Even worse, with transportation there and having to be there a bit early, it wouldn't even leave time to eat.  So, despite Craig's best efforts to figure out how to get him to play, I had to put my foot down and say no--Confirmation happens once and it had to take priority over one game in one of many tournaments, particularly since they were playing a team that would beat them soundly with or without Jacob (but it was also a team he loves to play because he knows all the kids).  Well...Saturday night we found out the game got moved to a venue at least 15 minutes closer, and we decided that if we let the coach know he'd get there last minute, we could make it work.  So, once we ate, we had to quickly take some pictures with us, the grandparents, and the godparents...

Always good to get a family picture!

Plus one with the cupcakes that totally DID NOT turn out like I envisioned...

I thought the gold sprinkles and yellow letters ("God Bless Jacob") would look better together, but in the end they looked more like deviled eggs (doh!)

And then we sang to Carter!

And with that, Jacob was off!  But it worked since we had plenty of time to honor him and then the birthday boy got to "take over" a bit as we enjoyed his cake.  Jacob ended up hitting two long three-pointers in a pretty rough loss, but he was happy he got to play.  My parents were the last to leave around when he got back, and that was pretty much it for the weekend.  It was a lazy rest of the evening after that, just getting up to snack once the Chipotle and cake finally digested!

Since then it's been another busy week, mostly because my work's Day of Giving was today.  Thursday's urgent work was the first round of preparations, and then it was full speed ahead doing data for about three dozen emails over the past two days and into today.  It has made for long days, and in fact, as I typed this I was waiting for 11pm to hit so I could do one last check of work emails before going to bed!  It was all worth it as we had an amazing day, but it is tiring!  It was extra hard going into this week knowing it would be a continuation of the crazy from the weekend, but here I am, almost through the worst of it!  And you know what, not only am I still standing, but I feel pretty good about it all!  I have accomplished an amazing amount of stuff over the past week, personally and professionally.  Am I tired?  Absolutely.  But rather than breaking me down like so much of the past 14 months has, I came out feeling empowered and proud and amazed at what I could accomplish.  I can't guarantee that feeling will stick, but it's been a nice distraction from the usual pandemic blahs.  And while all that was happening, today I looked at my calendar and realized that Jacob has less than a month left of school and Carter only has seven more weeks (which means only seven more days of homeschooling!).  I have no idea where this school year went, considering it seemed so endless for so long, but here we are.  And one of these days, the weather will get with the program and spring will be in full swing (aside from the flowers and trees, which already got the message).  I am really, truly hoping a better summer is ahead for all of us because we've been waiting a long time for it!  I'm trying not to wish time away, but I think we're all ready for a little more of the "good" action to return and summer is pretty key to that.  But in the meantime, I think we have just enough to keep us busy.  Now on to the next thing...

A Walk in the Park

 In case you're wondering what kind of spring it has been, last Wednesday our tree looked like this...

...and this Wednesday we likely won't even need a jacket!  It's so crazy how up and down things have been, but I can't complain--temperatures have been mostly above average for a good chunk of the spring.  We've had a couple long, cool, rainy stretches lately, but we're getting closer to consistently better spring weather.  Saturday ended up being a really beautiful day--mid-60s and sunny--and Craig and Jacob wanted to do some basketball stuff, so I managed to convince Carter to come with me to my favorite spring spot, Highland Park.  I visited twice back in 2019 during two different phases of blooms but lost my nerve last year.  I wanted to go, and outside would have seemingly been fine, but I knew there would be crowds even without the Lilac Festival, and at that point we were still trying to stay home as much as possible.  It just felt like a lot of effort without knowing whether the flowers would be worth it.  And when the deer ate the tulips because there were so few people around for a while, that pretty much sealed the deal.  So this year, I really wanted to go back.  And since the lilacs aren't quite out yet but some other things were blooming, I thought this weekend would be a good spot.  I needed some beauty and outside time, so it worked out perfectly, and Carter was oddly okay about going--probably because he knew a good playground was in it for him!

As we arrived, we encountered some busy parking but eventually found a spot pretty easily in my second choice area.  The blooming trees were the first lovely sight...

This one is always gorgeous and it falls in a really pretty stretch of the path.

The magnolias were getting to be pretty spent, but I did manage to find a couple pretty ones.

I found this gorgeous patch of daffodils (near my favorite tree that has two colors of flowers--too bad my pictures didn't turn out this time), and this picture is the lock screen on my phone now because I can't get over its perfection.

Even with spent magnolias, it was still a pretty spot.

There was one small playground as we walked through the park and I gave Carter a little time to play.  Monkey bars, climbing a giant slide, flipping on the rings...all of his favorites!  After about 15 minutes, we moved on.  After all, a bigger playground awaited later!  I decided it might be fun to go into the Lamberton Conservatory, because I thought Carter might like the little quail, the turtles and tortoises, and the cacti. And you know what?  He did!

There were gorgeous tulips outside, freshly opened! 

Apparently they were closing at 4pm and we only had 20 minutes, but it also meant we got in for free!  Last time I was there, the first room was full of coleus, which I love, but the assortment of spring flowers was SO pretty!

As I had hoped, Carter was amused by the quail, but it is a little nerve wracking walking around them!

He also found the turtles in the fountain entertaining, and almost didn't believe they were real until he saw one move.  I'm pretty sure I thought the same thing my first time there.  It's so odd how they all pile on top of each other, but they did that in the tropical room pond, as well!

It was such a beautiful space!  Every flower was just stunning!

And this kid's pretty handsome himself!

The tropical room has these giant flowers that are bigger than my hand.  There were red ones and some wilting ones that went from yellow and white on the outer edges to pink and finally a deep purple in the middle.

Carter specifically noticed these leaves.  I don't think he'd ever seen leaves with this coloring!
 

He was interested in the cacti, and which ones were sharp and which ones weren't.  I was sort of obsessed with the giant plant in the back that looked a lot like aloe.  It was HUGE!

It's not every day you see a blooming cactus around here, and this one was pretty!  I looked back in my old pictures and happened to catch a different one blooming last time.

The tortoises are cool to watch, although there's one that hangs out on the ground.  He happened to be right near the sign explaining his situation.  He scared a woman that was walking through near us, as she didn't notice him at first and he was right near her feet!

This one crawled right toward us!  I actually have video of most of his crawl, but I'll spare you the exciting footage!

Out in the courtyard there was a pond with a bunch of really orange fish!  They were practically glowing!

I told Carter that his sign that we were getting close to playground time was when we saw the tulips.  The tulip beds are right next to the conservatory, and while not all were open yet, what was out was beautiful as always!

Glad the deer didn't get them this year!  After that it was a walk back through the main part of the park to get down to the big natural wooden playground.  But on the way we had to stop by this tree!

What you can't see is the bridal party just to our right.  It was a perfect day for a wedding, and while I can't say I'd want to drag my dress through a muddy park, they must have had wonderful photos!

At long last we arrived at the playground, the natural playground full of rocks and tree trunks.

It's definitely a challenge to walk some of the narrow tree walkways and jump from tree to rock to tree, but we made our rounds.  Carter really wanted to play tag or hide-and-seek, but I had to explain to him that tag involves going fast, which is not ideal on a playground like this, and hide-and-seek could be dangerous since it involves me "losing" him and it's my job to watch him like a hawk.  So we just walked, and eventually he found this apparatus, which he was pretty much obsessed with.

He walked across it countless times and tried to master going fast.  I did it myself and it was NOT easy!  Each swing moved a lot, and I had to hold on to the top.  Carter was opting for the chains, which was so much harder.  Eventually it got close to dinner time and we had to go.  But he had a good time and complained way less than I expected he would.  Maybe he's finally found an appreciation for his outings with mom?  Hahahaha.

On the way back to the car, I did try to keep an eye out for an open lilac, and this was about as close as it got.  The next couple weeks should get them out, which is actually still a bit early.

It felt so good to get out and walk in nice weather and see amazingly beautiful stuff.  It was interesting to see the mix of maskers and non-maskers in each different setting.  We kept ours on in crowds or on the playground, but otherwise we kept our distance and kept them off.  I can't say I want to battle crowds for the Lilac Festival, but this was a nice alternative.  I was thrilled with how cooperative Carter was, that he even humored some of my educational explanations.  It was one of our least-protested trips, and it was nice to just have that time with him.  

On Sunday, Jacob and Craig jetted off to Erie, PA.  Jacob's team wasn't playing, but an old coach of his who he trains with now invited him to play with his 16U (!) team.  He could have done it Saturday, too, but between the short notice, needing to get his Confirmation stuff completed, and the general unknowns of a long trip on a much older team, he opted out.  But after talking to the coach again, on Sunday we decided it might be worth it.  It helped that he made good progress on Confirmation Saturday.  He ended up playing in two games, scored three three-pointers in one and one in another, and the team won the championship.  He held his own against much older kids and got a lot of support from his teammates, which is cool considering they're big high school kids and he's just a skinny white 7th grader!  But he really seemed to impress them, which gave him a lot of confidence.  I spent most of Sunday putting together Craig's new dresser and thinking through more garage sale stuff.  That has been a crazy, exhausting process and I can't wait to get it done and out of the house.  I have a few VERY busy days ahead, between work, home, garage sale, Confirmation, hosting something after, and getting back to a very busy work week Monday-Wednesday and maybe beyond.  I wish like heck I could take more time off to handle the endless list I'm dealing with, but the one day Friday is likely all I can risk.  I'm not sure it will all get done, but I guess I have to try.  There's some good stuff in there (namely family time), so it should all be worth it, but I am officially nervous and hoping it all miraculously falls into place.  

News & Notes, Back to School Edition

After 13 months of weird school and/or extended home time, as of last Friday, Carter is now back in school every day except Wednesdays.  It's definitely a weight off of Craig's shoulders, to know he can just be dad 6 out of 7 days now, rather than dad and teacher.  I'm probably most thrilled that he'll be doing all of his "special" classes at school, including art class, which has been a bit of a challenge to keep up with since projects can take a couple hours each.  We actually have one more to catch up on, but knowing there won't be more piling on is a relief.  As fun as it was to see his finished products most of the time, it will be good for him to get more formal training and education on that stuff than I had the energy to provide and he had the patience to sit through.  While it's going to be a challenge for his teacher to manage twice as many kids each day, especially knowing all the extra direction Carter can need, I'm hoping that maybe seeing more kids hard at work will bring in some of the positive peer pressure he needs to realize that, yes, everyone else is doing the work and you need to suck it up and do it too.  He's shed a lot of tears almost every time we've talked about going back, which I think is definitely some anxiety.  The odd thing is that whenever you ask him how school was, he usually says it was okay, so why this is giving him so much worry, it's hard to say.  I understand it's less phone time, fewer breaks (at least, ones spent to his liking), and probably a bit more disciplining, but I keep reminding him that he should have been in school all this time so he should really just try to be grateful for all the home time he had over the past year.  I really hope he finds a friend in the new batch of kids.  I'm not sure if he's exaggerating his lack of friends or if his incessant YouTube-Fortnite-Roblox-Minecraft dissertations are turning kids off.  The first couple days seem to have gone fine, though no new friends just yet.  I do worry about cramming 20 kids in a classroom with these potent variants going around, but I'm trusting the schools and CDC that what they're saying will work will work.  The good news is that the other three of us have at least some protection at this point and he's probably the least at risk if he gets it.  

Speaking of which, my vaccine got pulled last week.  Here I was, all excited to have the one-dose vaccine, and then six reports (out of 7 million vaccinations) of blood clots came out so they put it on hold.  While it's not exactly a comforting development since I take birth control and have some odd family history (my grandma had a minor stroke in her 30s and my mom had weird things happening with her carotid arteries for a while, which I swear I might have on one side now based on frequent blood pumping thumps in my right ear like she used to have), I figure it's still less of a chance than clotting seems to be if you actually get COVID.  When we need to get boosters I will likely opt for Pfizer if I can, but I'll definitely be on high alert as I finish off the highest risk period over the next few days.  I give blood Friday so I'll be interested to see if anything crops up on my blood antibody test by then.  Cases continue to rise among young people here--even worse around Buffalo--which is concerning and frustrating.  It's hard to tell how much is the variants, how much is the open bars and restaurants, how much is people letting up because some in their group are vaccinated, how much is school (supposedly not much), or more likely school-related activities where people get lax with masking, or how much is people just plain giving up.  It's depressing. 

The weather has come back down to earth, which made for a tough week or two.  Last week was mostly in the 40s and 50s with pretty much all but one day of rain and clouds.  The last two days were better, but now there's accumulating snow in the forecast for Wednesday.  I knew this would happen when we had 70s in March, but it's still frustrating.  Oddly, it was so nice prior to this stretch that all of the trees and flowers are blooming like crazy.  So it looks like spring but doesn't feel like it.  

The good news is that the cold is likely preserving a lot of the blooms, but I noticed the other day that our pear tree was starting to lose petals despite half the buds not even being open yet.  It looked fuller after two sunny days, but today petals were really starting to blow off for real, and tomorrow they'll be weighed down by super heavy snow.  I will say that all of the flowers and leaves made it a little extra challenging to strip my hanging Easter eggs off the tree and bushes this year!  

Different kind of egg hunt!

Ironically, all of the spring flowers aren't perking me up like I thought they would, and I decided yesterday morning that maybe it's a bit of a carry-over from last year where spring seemed like such a welcome relief, but ended up giving way to a mediocre summer.  Yes, we got outside time, and yes, we were able to finally gather with family outside, but it was a far cry from what we usually do.  I looked at the trees yesterday and almost felt like they were bringing false hope for a better summer.  Sad, isn't it?

We're in the midst of what should be a busy stretch of weekends--although it turns out to be a little less busy than expected.  Two weeks ago when it was still super warm, Jacob had a local tournament (three games) and Carter and I got some playground time.  It was one we've passed by a few times not too far from home but never gone to.  We picked it because it was supposed to have two full playsets, but it turns out one had been removed to be replaced sometime soon.  But the one that was left was pretty good.

At one point he lost his grip on this one and gave himself quite the brushburn down his arm. :(

Monkey bar master!

Hard to see, but he's climbing in the middle there.  At least you can see more of the structure.

This past weekend we took a quick trip to Buffalo on Saturday.  Jacob got a couple community service hours at my parents' church packing lunches for homeless people and cleaning up the property (which helps Grandpa's landscaping work there), and then all of us went to the outlets (yes, it was a bribe).  Jacob still has some Confirmation work to do, but we've been trying to cram in community service hours in between nagging him to do the rest of the tasks.  He has one week to get one more big thing done.  

I spent the rest of last weekend getting things ready for my mom's garage sale.  She's been dying to have one to get rid of a lot of extra stuff she has sitting around--either her stuff, or stuff from my grandmas' houses, or now even stuff from my late uncle's house that just got cleaned out.  What might have seemed like a good idea to keep at the time might not have been, or might have just been too good to donate.  I am all for her cleaning out what she can before it's me doing it one day alone after she's gone.  I realized when she first mentioned it that I had a LOT of stuff around my house that I could try to sell, too.  The big stuff includes the small table and chairs that were once in the boys' rooms, and a whole slew of outdoor ride-on toys.  But there's also a lot of random toys and decor items, too.  Originally we thought the sale would be this coming weekend until Jacob's schedule changed, so I panicked two Sundays ago and gathered and priced a ton of it.  I did a ton more this past weekend, including a massive cleanout of our giant linen closet (on the heels of the life-changing cleaning of one super-cluttered shelf a few weeks ago).  Over the course of the day on Sunday I gathered up a full giant garbage bag of stuffed animals, set aside a ton of extra tote bags, and pulled out even more toys.  I have cleaned out entire drawers and bins, and now have a full office again despite taking a big box and bag to my parents' on Saturday.  It's crazy.  I still have more pricing to do but I feel like I've gotten into most nooks and crannies in the house now.  It will be nice to get rid of some things and make a bit more space here and there.  I wrote a Facebook post after we moved here saying that if I ever wanted a bigger house, just tell me to get rid of stuff!  While I have legitimate issues with the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom closet space, that still holds mostly true.  We packed a ton of stuff in here with one growing kid plus an extra kid that didn't exist when we moved here.  We each inherited stuff from our parents' houses, which filled up the crawl space even more.  The kids have gone through phase after phase.  We've gotten gifts, packed away older stuff just in case, and collected lots of extras.  We simply have too much stuff.  And I do believe it will be a more comfortable house if we can get some of that stuff under control.  This sale might not do it entirely, but it will help.  After 11 years here and knowing the kids have officially passed certain phases, I've actually gotten much better about making decisions to donate, sell, or toss things we simply won't use.  My hesitance to get rid of things for years was always a fear of wasting things or needing something later, but it turns out that most of the time it ends up not getting used, and it's probably worse to waste the space than waste the item.  The guilt from staring at something unused is far worse than the one-time guilt of just getting rid of it.  That was a big deal with the linen closet.  It's about 10 times the size of the one we had at our old house, and I couldn't imagine filling it when we moved here!  Yet it was completely overstuffed!  My quality of life is shockingly better now that things aren't falling out every time I open it.  

One of the tougher toys to prepare to part with was Carter's collection of LeapFrog electronics.  We had a hand-me-down Tag Reader and Leapster video game console, but also had his LeapPad, which was a surprise Christmas gift from a rogue family Secret Santa when he was very little.  That same Secret Santa was the one who got Jacob the reconditioned Wii, which while shocking when he received it has thankfully paid many dividends!  We got a number of games for the LeapPad over the years and Carter loved playing on it.  Before I did a factory reset, I took pictures of some of the random pics that ended up on it over the years. 

My baby!

On top of the garage sale stuff, I fully changed out Carter's clothes for summer and his growing body.  I filled nearly an entire bin with the stuff he's outgrown across all seasons.  I also took down the Easter decorations, which added a bit more chaos to all the other organizing I was doing.  Craig's new dresser arrived over the weekend, too, but I haven't had the time or energy to get it together yet.  I also ordered some new lamps for our living room (since one was partly broken for a long time and I wanted to sell the non-broken partner), and the first one arrived today.  Little by little we're sprucing this place up!  

This coming weekend was supposed to be our first big travel weekend for basketball, but after countless changes, they said tonight that we're not playing at all this weekend.  It's disappointing as one of the options was Erie, where Craig went to college, and it would have been nice to get a change of scenery.  But it's safer to wait a few more weeks until we're fully vaccinated, and admittedly Jacob and I could both use the time to get more stuff done.  

Next Thursday night I plan to drive to my parents' to help my mom set up for the sale, then sit with her on Friday and Saturday while it's running.  After the sale is over, I need to rush home and start prepping for the next day, which is Jacob's Confirmation.  The service is in the early afternoon and I figure whatever family comes for it can come back for a small gathering afterward.  Most of us will be vaccinated by then, so hopefully it will be safe enough.  I need to figure out food, but hopefully nothing too fancy since I won't have a lot of time.  I also want to make Carter's birthday cake so we can finally sing to him, but obviously that will take a bit of work, too.  I think with some good planning, between that evening and the morning (if we choose to do online church) I can probably get a lot done, but I have a lot of decisions to make in the meantime.  Oh, and then that Monday I go back to work full blast toward our big Day of Giving on Wednesday.  Usually it's a long but fun day in the "war room" but I can't say I want to work that same 12-hour day at home.  It'll probably involve a lot of checking in after hours, if nothing else.  I would gladly go sit masked in a room at the office if I could.  Work has been hard lately, in part because I think people are burned out and busy and less likely to do fun Slack chatter than in the past.  Those connections have frayed a bit and it takes some of the fun and camaraderie out of it, which makes it all just a little more isolating and boring.  Sigh. 

With some of our weekends ramping up, it shouldn't surprise me that we've begun to have busy weeks, too.  We had at least one appointment per day last week--community service, allergy shot, chiropractor, dentist, pediatrician, therapy, confirmation pre-meeting, plus two basketball practices.  It was a lot to keep track of under normal circumstances, let alone when we have been used to next to nothing for months.  This week we have more community service, Carter's first therapy appointment, another chiropractor appointment, our mortgage refinance closing, and a blood donation.  All of that is on top of Carter's first four day week.  Sometimes all of these appointments make me wonder how I will ever go back to the office, which will often necessitate an extra 40 minutes of driving back and forth for appointments.  It's all a far cry from leaving the house literally once or twice a week for months a year ago.  It's still pretty mind-boggling that this has been our life for so long.  On one hand I find our resilience admirable, but on the other it makes me grateful we had no idea this is what was coming.  Mentally I'd have never survived if I knew how long things would be weird.  Of course, unlike some people that want normalcy come hell or high water, I'm perfectly fine understanding that this is all a process and it's not some assault on my rights.  I'm happy to do what I can to protect others, let alone myself.  I actually almost think I need the gradual return because we have all of these new learned behaviors from a year of being extra careful, and going out into large crowds or having even more activities on a regular basis might be quite an assault on the senses after a full year.  It's funny how sometimes activities feel really good--energizing and the good version of normal--and sometimes they're harder than they were before.  It's such a weird time, but slowly but surely we'll readjust.  

I guess that's the bulk of the happenings for now.  I was looking forward to having a trip to write about, but apparently that will have to wait!  For now we brace for a day of snow tomorrow and look toward a weekend full of garage sale pricing, Confirmation tasks, cleaning and planning for next weekend!  Yay?

The Best Medicine

On Wednesday I got my COVID vaccine.  I was fortunate to get the single shot Johnson and Johnson version, which means I will be up to full immunity much more quickly than those getting the two-dose, who need the three weeks in between plus the time after to get up to full strength.  It may come at the price of slightly less effectiveness, based on what some say, but given that I'm not high risk I think it's worth getting protection sooner for now.  If I need to get another one in six months, we'll see.  With cases rising like crazy right now, the future seems a lot less clear than it did for a while.  Stupid variants.

The good news is that my side effects were minimal.  I got very lucky.  My cousin and her fiance got the same vaccine the day before I did and were basically down for the count the whole next day.  I only had a sore arm, a dull, pounding headache, and a low-grade fever I wouldn't have known I had unless I checked it out of curiosity.  It sat around 99-100 all day, but I never had any symptoms indicating it was there.  The headache was merely annoying--it made focusing on boring work a little tougher, but it wasn't terribly painful.  I didn't want to take any medicine since they question if that can interfere with whatever work the vaccine is doing, so I just dealt with it the best I could.  The funniest part is that I kept feeling like maybe I was getting some body aches, but no, I think it was mostly that my pulled upper back from last Friday was still a bit sore and the work the chiropractor did to it on Wednesday added a couple extra twinges (though overall it definitely helped--I can sleep in whatever position I want now!).  And sure enough, like most people, I woke up this morning feeling fine, with a temperature at 98.6 right on the dot!  

By last night, though, the headache was getting to me and I really just wanted to sit and relax.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day outside--mid-70s with every tree suddenly exploding!--so after dinner I headed out to the porch with my computer.  On Easter my dad gave me a flash drive with a whole collection of family videos.  My dad's younger brother put it together, and the majority of what's on the drive involves his three daughters, but there is a solid contingent of other family videos dating back as far as the 60s.  My dad had me watch the oldest one on Easter, which also included background music of my grandpa's organ playing.  My grandpa was an amazing organ player and their house was often filled with his music.  It definitely felt a little fuddy-duddy when I was a kid, but I still had my favorites, and hearing it for the first time in many years definitely brought back memories.  It was pretty outstanding to see my dad and his siblings as kids, too, not to mention a great-grandfather I never met and other relatives far younger than I had ever seen them in a moving image.  I knew there was a lot more to discover beyond that one and I felt like maybe hearing and seeing my grandparents (as I knew them, in particular) might be a nice distraction from my pounding head.

Oh, the treasures I found!  The video of my grandpa's exasperated reaction upon seeing the limo that his kids had rented for their 50th anniversary was pretty great, and even made me a little teary because it was a perfect representation of his personality.  Bits and pieces of that party were fun to see, too--again, keeping in mind that my parents are now inexplicably about the same ages as they were then.  There were so many glimpses of relatives who have passed away--my three uncles, an aunt, my great-grandma--and it simultaneously made me so happy to see them and so brokenhearted that they're gone, some for a very long time.  My Uncle Bink was the first to go back in 1997, which seems like an eternity now.  My grandpa went a couple years later.  My grandma has been gone for over 15 years.  The videos were a little peek into a different time, when everything was just as it should have been.  I'd almost forgotten how everyone looked back then, and it was shocking to realize I'm now older than (or within a year of two of) pretty much every aunt or uncle back then.  I think I definitely look younger and cooler (and I don't think that's just my imagination), but it's insane how things evolve like that--that I'm now not only the "uncool aunt", but my kids are in the older half of their generation and my younger cousins are the ones adding babies to the mix!  

My favorite video was from Christmas 1987.  The Christmas videos perfectly capture the complete chaos in that crowded living room, and I first came across 1988 and was hopeful that was the year I got what I consider my favorite Christmas gift ever.  I was disappointed to recall that it was actually the year before, but I was thrilled to discover that year shortly after.  I frantically scanned through it and found what I was looking for--the moment I opened my desperately-wanted Hot Looks doll!  As gawky and awkward as I was in most of the family videos (my late 80s were full of bad hair, awful clothes, and braces), you can see the complete and utter joy on my nine-year-old face!  It was great.  My uncle also happened to capture the spelling bee where I came in second place (while my parents were in Las Vegas, no less).  It was horrifying to see most of that, and I honestly couldn't watch myself lose!  There was a funny video from 1986 of my uncle hanging out in his oldest daughter's completed nursery before she was born, giving the tour and talking about her impending arrival.  Amazing.   

One of the more interesting discoveries was a number of lengthy videos of basketball games--first a couple games at the K-8 school my cousins and I attended, one of which featured my cousin Kim in 5th grade and the other that had my brother in 7th and my cousin Chris in 6th--and second, my cousin Todd playing in high school.  Later on there was a high school game with my brother, too.  Jacob had a field day critiquing, especially with my brother who was the same age in the first video that Jacob is now.  And yes, Jacob's level of play is much higher, but it was definitely a different time when play was a lot more casual, three-pointers were rare, and travel basketball wasn't as widespread.  Not to mention that my brother was also a good baseball player and golfer, so not all of his energy went into perfecting his basketball skills.  I have yet to find any footage of me a few years later as a cheerleader, so that's probably a good thing!

I have so many other videos to look through, too.  I keep finding myself looking for bits and pieces that capture the essence of those relatives who have passed, or that capture a certain forgotten period of time.  One had my youngest uncle and me playing a game of Simon at my great-grandma's birthday party.  Who does that anymore?  I was amused by one video that was primarily of my parents, aunt and uncle practicing their golf swings, but had 11ish-year-old me in the background playing on the tire swing of death on the playground at my school.  The playground there was a series of wood and metal monstrosities that had a tendency to break or otherwise cause injury.  I knocked the wind out of myself falling from the giant monkey bars in first grade, but that was my own fault.  The bridge on the main climbing structure, the connectors on the tire climb, and the connection at the top of the tire swings all had moments of complete failure over the years.  The tire swings were the worst offenders but they were giant and so fun when they were functional!  I spent many a post-lunch recess defying the rules of digestion by spinning myself silly, and it was entertaining to flash back to all of the ways I used to play on that swing as I watched the background of that video.  

It may not have taken away my headache, but it did make me smile to see some of these long lost family moments.  If nothing else, it's a good reminder to savor the moments we have now (as if the past year wasn't enough of a reminder) because all too quickly time is going to pass and things will change once again.  Even five or 10 years from now they will have an entirely different significance.  Looking back, I feel lucky to have lived those moments when I did, because they were great the first time around.  Some of the time I was aware of the amazingness, and some of the time I wasn't.  But even by the time I was a young teenager, riding my bike to my grandparents' house on random summer afternoons just to hang out, I was become more aware that those days wouldn't last forever.  And sure enough, they didn't--and they're getting further and further in the rear view mirror now.  Decades, in fact.  But it's nice to have another chance to see those moments again and savor their importance once again.  Family is everything.  And mine was pretty darn amazing.