The big 2-7

I turn twenty-seven on Saturday. I'm not devastated to find myself one year closer to the dreaded 3-0, but it does seem a bit surreal. I'm pretty sure my kids are more excited about my birthday than I am. David has already made me two birthday cards, and we're not even to the big day yet! His last card cheerfully informed me that in honor of my date of birth, he would be glad to play with me in Emily's play kitchen. All three of them have enjoyed whipping lavish dinners into imaginary being, and all I have to do is sip, slurp, nod, and rattle off food items.

After her bath tonight, Ava kept screaming heartily about something being "huck." For anyone who doesn't speak AWM, that roughly translates into "stuck." I kept saying, "What's stuck? No, you're not stuck." In the midst of Ava's hysterics, Emily pulled out pajamas and announced that she wanted to dress her baby sister. Ava was in no mood to be dressed by Emily, but the more I discouraged her, the closer Emily inched toward a complete meltdown. In one of those "enough" moments, I threw up my hands, walked out of room, and said, "Fine. Dress her. But if she gets angry and kicks your front teeth out, don't say I didn't warn you." Even after her pajamas were secured (with protests from both sides), Ava continued to wail like a lost soul. I finally grasped the situation when she ran to the bathroom, pointed at the tub, and reiterated "ih huck!" My youngest child has developed a fear of things getting stuck in the drain. When the water is let out of the tub, she bravely holds all of her toys away from the sucking, swirling monster and screams like mad if something escapes her grasp and lands in the hole. I have observed this behavior, but Johnathan has not, and as it so happens, Johnathan was the one to take Ava out of the tub tonight. Her toys...were stuck. As I scooped Ava's toys to safety, Emily ran into the bathroom, gave me a toothy grin, and declared, "I still have my teeth!"

"God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well." - Voltaire

Hmm

It would seem that I have been rather neglectful with my writing. Truthfully, I haven't wanted to write for quite some time. Putting my thoughts on the page started feeling more like a chore and less like the release it was intended to be.

I'm feeling more inspired lately, and I hope it's a sign that my scribbling strike is over. I record day to day life events elsewhere, so I hope that this can be a place for higher thought. The idea is almost laughable since I seem to exist only to eat, sleep, cook, clean, and bathe children. When is there ever a spare moment for something other than the most basic, necessary thought processes?

Time will tell.

Long time no see...

I first began writing the following passage somewhere near the beginning of last week. The timing no longer applies, but I hate going to the trouble of writing something and then not posting it, especially when I have so little time to write. I was recapping the craziness that happened during the last week of April and it reads as follows:

“The wheels in my brain are spinning in place, and I feel both mentally and physically exhausted. When we heard that bad weather was heading into the state last Wednesday evening, we packed up and headed to my Mom’s house for the night. I realize that my own humble abode has been in its rightful place for more than thirty years, but the knowledge that there is a basement under my feet provides a better sense of security. The tornado sirens first started going off before the kids ever went to bed. The first storm passed to the north of us, but when we stepped out on the porch to listen to the mournful warning, the air was ominously heavy and still. Shortly after the kids fell asleep on an air mattress in the hall, sirens began sounding once more. This time we all trooped to the basement and lugged mattresses down behind us. I clutched my new Red Cross Emergency Radio and listened to the mono-tone weatherman rattle off details. The lightning flashed incessantly and the air was no longer still. The wind whipped trees around mercilessly, and I snuggled closer to my sleeping baby for comfort. Somewhere around 11:45, I heard the sirens going off for the third time. They started a fourth run around 12:30, and I finally gave into sleep…come what may. Around 2:30, I woke to stillness. The mattress I was laying on had been losing air, and Johnathan and I were very close to sleeping on concrete. We hadn’t blown away and the house was still intact. People to the northwest of us had not fared as well. Ringgold and Trenton were slammed, and Tallapoosa, Alabama was devastated by a tornado with a path a mile wide. That same night, we got a grim call from Johnathan’s mother, telling us that his hospitalized grandfather had taken a turn for the worst. I took off work Friday, and we drove down to Guyton for the weekend. That night we rode to Savannah with Meghan and Stephen and visited Grandpa McGowan on the MIS unit. Tubes, beeping monitors, and glaring lights…it’s a wonder anyone ever manages to get well in such a harsh environment. On Saturday, he was moved to a regular room and we were able to take the kids for a visit.”

My writing stops there. We were amazed by the progress Johnathan’s grandfather made over the course of one day. He was sitting up in bed watching the Royal Wedding, and when dinner came around, he practically cleaned his plate. It was the first meal he had eaten in four days. Seeing a renewed interest in food was an encouraging sign that he was on the upward swing. Grandpa McGowan has since been sent home, and from what I have heard, is doing well. He is on oxygen and is still having a hard time moving around. There will be a definite change in way of life, but Johnathan’s aunts and parents are helping his grandmother care for him over the next few weeks.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, and I requested a trip to the Rhododendron Festival in Hiawassee in honor of the occasion. Johnathan spent four hours doing yard work this morning, and I spent four hours cleaning up after children. As soon as their beds were made, my little angels decided that they wanted to “pretend” to take naps. That would never happen if I actually WANTED them to lay down. For every step I took, they took steps in three different directions. For every mess I stopped in its tracks, two more were popping up behind my back. Johnathan is at an Atlanta Symphony concert tonight, so my house is unusually quiet. The kids and I went to Rhonda's house after dinner, and we spent most of our time chasing bubbles with Chelsea. We got home shortly after 8:00, and it took the better part of an hour for me to get all three children in bed. Since then, I have been sitting in solitude, making videos, and thinking less-than-deep thoughts. I think it's time for some warm milk and a good book.

Captain Vegetable

"Today is gone, today was fun, tomorrow is another one!" Thank you, Dr. Seuss.

Around 9:30 this morning, Meghan, Alaina, and I made our way from Guyton to Statesboro in search of a Farmer's Market. Around 10:00 a.m. we entered the market area and proceeded to purchase various and sundry items. These items include (but are not limited to) Charleston Tea (Plantation Peach Flavor), Sweet Onions, Fresh Raisin Bread, Handmade Crafts, Fried Pies, Strawberries, Shelled Garden Peas, Tomato Plants, Basil, and one Blueberry Bush.

I'd call that a successful morning.

Overall, I was pleased with prices and look forward to visiting more local markets in the future. Everything just looked so edible! It was refreshing to see clean, crisp looking vegetables instead of wilted, pre-packaged greens. And the strawberries were so red and flawless that they almost looked fake. I plan to give more support to local farmers. From what I saw today, it's better prices for better produce. I will reserve final judgment until we eat our fresh garden peas.

I feel like the biggest nerd on the face of the planet for being this excited over produce.

News Flash

The world seems to have gotten rather crazy lately, so here's a brief rundown.

Protesters have taken to the streets of Wisconsin to protest the Governor's anti-union proposals, which would strip state employees of collective bargaining rights. I'll be the first to admit that I don't get exactly what that means. I mean...I know what collective bargaining is, but the whole concept of unions is one that is lost on me. At any rate, people are pretty upset about losing their rights. Democratic senators have left the state to keep from voting on the Governor's proposals. Kind of makes me wish that I had paid more attention during political science.

Let's move to the other side of the world. Libya to be more precise. Inspired by other pro-democracy movements in the Arab world, Libya began its own protests against the dictator who has ruled the country for forty-two years. The man is eccentric. Corruption is everywhere. Fighting rages. We'll see how the U.S. gets involved as things continue.

Lastly, Charlie Sheen has flipped his lid. His TV show was canceled, he has been giving interviews left and right, and has been captured saying things like, "high priest Vatican assassin warlock." The man has entered pop culture lore.

In my own life, the most interesting things to happen this week are:

1) We flipped our living room. Everything is backwards from how it used to be.
2) I started working on writing biographies with my uncle for Haggai Institute.
3) Ava has now started referring to herself as "AA." Love it.

Laughing at life

Johnathan had a minor procedure done on Monday of this past week, and unfortunately, I’m not sure that I was cut out to be a very good nurse. …at least not where my husband is concerned. Early experience in our marriage taught me that Johnathan does not deal well with his own pain and/or illness. If he were my child, I would stand over him and spoon Gatorade into his mouth when he has a stomach bug. But given that he is a grown man, I usually just expect him to know that he should try to get some fluids. I will go as far as taking him a pack of Saltines and a bottle of Gatorade, but after that, I can do no more. …and I suppose that’s why we’ve taken two trips to the hospital for stomach bug-related dehydration in the past two years. But all in all, Johnathan’s a good sport, and I just like to give him a hard time. In fact, I felt so bad for him on Tuesday that I stopped by the store to get him Saltines, Chicken Noodle Soup, and Ginger Ale. When I got home, I started fixing supper for the kids and simultaneously fixed Johnathan some Chicken Noodle in my favorite soup bowl. When I took it to him, I pulled the coffee table over to the couch…partly so that Ava couldn’t get to it and partly so that Johnathan wouldn’t have to move. I had been thinking that perhaps I should try harder to be more mothering. Sure, he’s a grown man, but everyone likes to be babied when they don’t feel well. About that time Johnathan looked at me and sighed, “Ya know…I really have to go pee, but there’s a coffee table in my way.” In that moment, I started laughing and stopped berating myself so much…and Johnathan (also laughing) managed to move the coffee table for himself.

It's raining birds

I hope that birds falling from the sky and dead fish washing on shore aren't signs that the world is on the brink of destruction. Over the course of the week, dead birds have rained from the sky in Arkansas, Texas, Sweden, New Zealand, London, and now Italy. Fish are also washing up in astonishing numbers and as of this moment, the WWF is not sure what is causing the deaths. I didn't pay much attention to the reports to begin with, but with the numbers increasingly daily, it's becoming harder to ignore.

When I was thinking of birds, I remembered that Mom and I had an interesting bird encounter at the beginning of this week. Unlike the blackbirds and doves that have been falling from the sky, our bird was much larger and predatory in nature. It was still mostly dark when we left for work Tuesday morning and as we rounded a curve on Concord Road, Mom put on the breaks to keep from hitting a barn owl that was sitting in the middle of the road. The headlights must have blinded the poor thing, but it didn't even flinch. It stared straight at us and held its ground like it was daring us to try and steal its prey. There was a rather bloody rabbit in the owl's clutches and it must have been too heavy for the bird to fly away with. As Mom edged out of the road to go around the owl, it flapped its wings and started dragging dinner across the road. I have never seen anything quite like that and thought that it was a neat way to start the work week. With any luck, this work week will start with an excused snow day. Bring on that five to seven inches of snow!