I don't want to be like you

Just as quickly as I can achieve mom of the year or champion status I can come crashing right back down.

I took a lot of classes last year in my master's program. A lot. And we had one or two other things going on in our lives (transplant anyone?) so I had a really busy year. I was gone in the evenings visiting Dad at the hospital, working late, in class, or doing homework more than I would have liked. But life is like that some times.

During one particularly busy stretch toward the end of my marathon year of classes Josie was extremely upset about the amount of time I was spending at work or class. I tried to explain to her that work and school were important to me, just as family and friends are important too.

"You're always work and masters, masters and work. I don't get it!"

I took some time to explain why school and work matter to me, and that she is a large reason why those things are important. Not more important than her, but important. I told her that some day she may be a similar situation and have to balance many things that are important to her.

"But I don't want to be like you. I want to have fun too. And have time for family and friends. Being smart isn't everything."

Point taken.

While I could have pushed hard to finish my degree this spring I am instead spreading my classes out more evenly throughout the year and will be done in December. I'll also have a large portion of the summer off so hopefully we can make up for lost time at the lake last summer. Plus we have one heck of a lungiversary to celebrate in July! Graduation can wait.

3,000+

No, not 3,000+ followers of this blog. Its more like 3, so thanks Mom and Grandma. Ha!

For the first time since surgery I hit over 3,000 steps on my Fit Bit. Unfortunately I'm feeling every.single.one of them. I switched to a cane just over a week ago and while its considered a step in the right direction I kind of miss my crutch. I've hit a bit of a snag in the recovery process and am having a lot of difficulty getting my knee entirely straight. I made significant progress after 1 week of intensive physical therapy but then hit a wall again and have only moved a few degrees since. So maybe my crutch was.....a crutch.

Josie and Brent continue to take good care of me, but with Brent working nights it seems that Jo takes the brunt of the work. Yesterday the two of us braved a Target run thinking I'd ride a scooter and she could get things off the shelves for me. It was a brilliant plan until we realized that all of the scooters had zero battery charge. Apparently the scooter crowd met without me and I was late to the game.

Josie was very patient with me as we slowly moved up and down the aisles. She pushed the cart like a champ and only deviated toward the toy aisles a few times. As we were checking out she realized for the first time just how exhausting this trip was for me and was quick to help get the bags in the cart and led us out to the car. As we got the final bag in the trunk, even as she realized she was the one who would need to unload everything when we got home, she commented under her breath that "my mom is a champion". I wasn't quite sure I heard her correctly so I asked her to say it again. She gave me a big hug and said she was proud of me and that I'm a champion for making it through the store.

Given the fact that we're well into the 'tween drama these days I'll take it!

Decisions, decisions

Easy decision- NOT HAPPENING! 

You're so needy!!!!!

As I recover from knee replacement surgery Josie is reminding me of my neediness on a daily basis.


You need ice packs.
You need something brought to you.
You need pain meds.
You need a snuggle.
You need me.


Though she may complain about it I give her lots of credit because she's been a little mother hen, always watching out for me. Hopefully surgery #7 is the one that actually works!


I've also had many other mother hens keeping an eye on me. Some sent flowers, some brought food, some sent texts and e-mails, some cleaned up puke.....all has meant a lot. Brent and Josie have definitely faced the brunt of my neediness (and Mom faced the grossness of my neediness) and have handled it well.


Here's to a less painful and more active life once I'm healed!

Credit

Hide and Seek

Josie and her friend were playing hide and seek with the cats. 

The cats were deathly afraid and very good at hiding. 

I can't imagine why. 

Thumbs I tell you!

Our cats have thumbs. Seriously. 

I've written about it before but they continue to amaze us with their thumbability. 

Here is a loaf of bread that they managed to steal out of a drawer that was fully shut. 

Here is a bag of cat treats that they opened. In their defense the bag was left on the floor but in a matter of minutes they had the top torn off and were ready to dig in. 

Bread. Cat treats. Marshmallows. 

None of those items are safe in our house. 

You've been warned. 

Twenty years?

Josie has been asking (ok, begging) for me to get my old clarinet out and teach her how to play. Around this time next year she'll need to pick an instrument for 6th grade so I finally gave in a couple of weeks ago. I was pretty proud that I remembered how to put the thing together and also shocked at some of the things I found inside my clarinet case. Old band aids, a picture of my shoes (yes, shoes), a crumpled up football roster, and enough rubber bands to re-stock an office supply shelf.

Band aids? Apparently I had a cut? And apparently there were no garbage cans anywhere in sight.

Picture of shoes? No idea. None. Strange.

Football roster? Makes sense because we played at the football games.

Rubber bands? Sure, we used them to keep our sheet music in place while marching, but the sheer volume of rubber bands seemed excessive.

So I got the silly thing put together and thankfully had some brand new reeds (could you imagine trying to use a reed from 1997?? Ewww!) and was pretty quickly able to play a couple of scales. Success!

Then Josie asked me to play a song I knew from when I was in school. Pretty quickly our school fight song or the national anthem came to mind but do you think I could play either one to save my soul? Not a chance!

I was complaining about my lack of memory to a friend and she so lovingly pointed out that its been, what, 20 years since I was in band? In my mind there is no way that I've been out of high school that long. After all, I'm the baby of our group of friends.

Guess what showed up the next day? My invitation to our 20 year class reunion.

Ugh.

Time marches on

I've had some interesting conversations with Josie lately and I am often left wondering who is getting older in this relationship????

J (talking about a friend)- Well you know mom, she's an emotionally easy ticket.
Me- What did you just say?!?!?
J- I said that my friend is emotionally easy to get. You know, get upset. So boys pick on her.


Brent- What would you ladies think about moving to live on a golf course?
Me- I don't want to deal with packing, selling, and moving, so no.
J- Let's just stay here. I'll be moving out soon enough anyway.


J- Just because you can't understand the words doesn't mean that the song is bad.
Me- But I don't think anyone can understand the words!
J- No. Just old people can't.

Maybe we're both getting older. 

Make it stop! 

Certified Babysitter

Her Xmas date