Back in a Groove

We're back to work, back to school and pretty much back in the groove of a scheduled life.  It feels good to get back into a routine, though the kids have been difficult to get up on the morning.  Ella has growled at me a lot when I wake her up, throws the covers over her head...I can't imagine what she's going to be like as a teen.  It's like she's trying to make up for all that sleeping she wouldn't do when she was a baby.

We got to see our friends, the Bulls, this past week.  It was great to see them "live" and not just online.  The kids got to watch movies and play Wii together. Gavin taught us a few words in Japanese :)

Ella has been on a reading kick...she brought a chapter book home from school this week, and instead of asking me to read it with her, she grabbed a reading chair and blanket and snuggled in.  I love it.  It reminds me of me when I was a kid.  I was all about the Nancy Drew books (which are all still in a box in the basement).  The problem is that she sits and reads the entire chapter book in an evening and doesn't want to stop for dinner, bath, bed, etc.

As for myself, I've been putting a  lot of thought into what I really want to get accomplished in this YOSP (Year of Significant Progress in case you forgot). I could probably list about 50 things that I'd like to do...but I'm trying to keep it realistic and have chosen the areas of highest priority to concentrate on:

1. Get in better shape financially.  This has been a goal for a long time and we've gotten better.  But not good enough.  This also includes things like update will, take care of necessary estate planning type stuff, etc.  I don't want to have to worry about this kind of stuff if a crisis hits.

2. Get the house organized. I love our house, but the clutter and lack of "a place for everything" is killing me.  My goal is to get the basement cleared out, finished space for our offices and a place for the kids (and adults) to hang out.  It also includes moving the laundry room to the basement and making the 1st floor laundry room more of a "mudroom" for coats, shoes, book bags, and some extra pantry room area. This is a tall order but a top priority for 2011!

3. Health and fitness...get into better shape! This has been needed for awhile now.  Over the last couple years I had totally stopped making time for regular exercise. So, regular exercise, watching what I eat and drink more closely and participating in events (like the Warrior Dash and some 5k's) to keep me motivated.  I also want to get new tires for my bike that hasn't been touched in the last 5+ years!

4. Do more family activities. This is partly related to #3.  We had so much fun ice skating over break and going to the zoo and to see the Globetrotters and The Nutcracker.  I want to make sure we're doing this type of stuff more often. A variety of healthy activities, fun, church, volunteer, cultural, travel...exposure to much more for the kids.

5. Spend more time on our interests and hobbies. For me, this is photography, blogging and reading.  I want to work on my photography skills more this year.  I didn't do much in this regard last year.  Blogging is also really important to me.  When Grandpa J passed away and I saw all the family papers and pictures that he had held on to...that was cool. But very unorganized.  Blogging is my journaling and scrapbooking rolled into one.  It's important to me that I have it to look back on and more importantly, that the kids can look back at this and remember what our daily family life was like in these captured moments.  Part of this goal is also to finally start making an annual book out of the blog.

6. Decrease my anxiety about death, dying and cancer. It's everywhere and it's all part of life, so I had better get  used to that.  The last 3+ years have been bad news after bad news on the cancer front. It has consumed my thoughts sporadically in an unhealthy way. Fear. Fear that another loved one, or my kids or even I would be next. I'd love to think and believe that the worst is over, but who knows?  So I had better learn to deal with it.

7. Spend more time with my husband. I am very blessed to have a husband that I love and adore and love to spent time with.  Over the last few months we've gotten to sneak out for a dinner or shopping, just the two of us (thanks to Mason who doesn't mind staying home with the little ones from time to time).  It's great to connect as husband and wife, and not just as parents.  I'd like to do that more.

7b. No more kids, so I have to watch just how much time I'm spending with my husband. This one has been kinda tough for me to swallow.  When we tried last year for a 4th and then miscarried, it really left me longing for one more beautiful babe.  But when we look at where we are now, where our kids are at now (and how old I am now!), it just makes more sense to let the fat lady sing. I know without a doubt that I will always wish we had had one more.  But when I look at goals 1-7 above, I know it's the right decision for our family. As my wise friend, DZ, told me...You gotta be done sometime...I just need to learn to accept that now!

So this year...I/we had better make some progress on all these fronts. Significant progress!!  It can be overwhelming to look at this list and wonder where I will find the time to make these things happen but my mind keeps coming  back to this quote from Storypeople:

"Everything changed the day she figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in her life."

(A long winded) Bye-Bye Bulls

Wow, was it really 5 years ago that I nervously watched out my front window, checking out the people that were coming to see our house for sale across the street? Peeking out through the blinds I saw the young couple getting out of the car and getting their infant out of the backseat. I instantly picked up the phone to call Justin and then my sister to say "Yep, them - that is who I want to buy the house!"  They were fun looking, they had a kid and (Hallelujah!) they would take over the mortgage payment after 2 or 3 months of double payments!
But it was a tough thing to think about who would move in, who would redecorate, who would make fun of our paint colors, who would love that house as much as we had??  How could they?  This house had been a labor of love and hard work for us - the building process, the work equity, the landscaping from the dirt up, turning the closets (master and 1st floor) into bathrooms, finishing the basement...we had moved in as "kids" and grown into a family there.
I saw this video recently and the lyrics struck me...



1st thought - the house that I grew up in and 2nd - almost just as immediately - 2878. The "house that built me" is also that house where I grew into myself. Where I grew my family, learned to garden, learned to cook (kinda), experienced infertility and what hard times can teach you about yourself and your relationships. It was the house that brought me to some of my closest friends...

(1997)

I never should have worried a bit about someone loving that house as much as we did. It was obvious from day one that this house quickly became a home and would be coddled - the lawn and landscaping always immaculate, the improvements and upkeep full of pride. And most importantly, the abundance of love within those walls...for each other, friends and the new local "family".
  
Bulls...in this house your family has grown, you have built a foundation of love, support, tradition, fun,  achievement and Doctorhood (!!) while here. You learned to be a Buckeye (as long as we weren't playing Penn State). And it's been a wonderful pleasure to watch (and sometimes photograph :) this happen over that 5 years.

 

(2006)

And to watch our kids play, grow, learn and enjoy what childhood is meant to be...

(Ella and Gavin in 2006)

You have definitely touched many, many lives while you've been here -the neighborhood, the hospital, the preschool, wives club, the stamping group...bringing so many people together in so many ways.

As the old Irish Blessing says...
May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.  And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand. 

God Bless you on your journey to Japan and all the places you go in life as you leave Buckeye Country

- you will be VERY MISSED around here!