Family Time

This past weekend, my husband and I packed up our daughters and drove four hours through Illinois corn and soybean fields to Otter Lake.  Meeting us there were my dad and stepmom, my sister Lindsey, my brother Brandon and his son, and my brother Kyle, his wife and two sons.  It was the first time our whole family had been together since my other brother Brent's funeral in December.

This was a weekend long in the making.  No family is without drama, even mine, but after Brent's sudden death just before Christmas, we all decided it was time to put differences in the past and bring our families together.  I'm so glad  we decided to do this.

My girls were loving being on the boats and in the water.  They got to fish with their Uncle Kyle and Grandpa Lou, and boy were the fish biting!  One after another, the bluegill popped out of the air, only to be removed from the hooks and (most of the time) released back into the water.  The fun was in the catching!

I reveled in the fact that we were all getting along, that laughter was ringing through the air, and that all of our kids were healthy and thriving.

Brent's absence was obvious, though as I thought about it, I realized that he was there in the smiles and laughter of his nieces and nephews.

Growing Up

Earlier this week, my almost-10-year-old daughter started asking me about various ways to style her hair.  She has an American Girl book called Hair:  Styling Tips and Tricks for Girls that she's been reading quite a bit lately.  My girl has been growing her hair out since she first saw Pocahantas and decided she wanted her hair to blow in the wind just like the Disney princess.  A few months ago she mentioned that she'd like to donate her hair to an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients.

My girl's hair is incredibly thick - when wet it's nearly impossible to get a ponytail elastic around it.  It's beautiful brown hair that flows down her back.  It's also incredibly hot.  With the Chicago area heatwave in full force, she decided enough was enough; it was time to cut the hair.

I made an appointment for both of us to get our hair cut by my stylist this afternoon.  The girl decided she would go second so she could think about how exactly she wanted her hair cut.  Her eyes were a little teary, and I could tell she was beginning to feel unsure about the big cut-your-hair plan, so as she climbed into the chair and began to tell Mikel about her dream hairstyle, I breathed a sigh of relief.

So now it's done.  My baby made her SECOND grown-up decision today (the first was getting her ears pierced), and I couldn't be more proud of her.  She looks fabulous, but also older than I'd like her to look.  I know her hair will grow out, and I know I'll get used to to the new 'do, but I know I'll also miss the little girl she used to be.

Hot summer days...

It's HOT here in Chicago today.  It's going to be even hotter tomorrow.  These hot summer days have got me thinking about summers I spent as a kid, growing up in southern Illinois. 

Here are some things I remember...

• riding my bike all over town
• running crazily through sprinklers, either our own or the one belonging to whichever neighbor was watering his lawn at that particular moment
• swimming at my grandmother's country club and signing my aunt's name to the charges
• camping with my dad's parents and family at Clearwater Lake in Piedmont, Missouri, and taking the boat on long rides up the river to a spot where the water was so clear I could see all the way to the bottom and so cold it almost hurt to swim in it
• "camping" with my mom's parents and family at Anthony Acres Resort in Effingham, Illinois, and playing shuffleboard on the playground
• waterskiing until my hands hurt so badly I could no longer hold on to the rope
• playing with my friends until the sun went down, whatever time that was
• catching fireflies
• reading under a tree
• hanging out at a different small-town homecoming every weekend while my dad worked at the beer stand (my grandfather owned a beer and liquor distributorship, and my dad was one of his managers).  My mom would hand me a handful of ride tickets and off my brother and I would run.  We would only return to get MORE ride tickets, or perhaps fifty cents for a corn dog or some cotton candy.

I DON'T remember...

• sitting inside watching TV
• being bored
• having my days planned out for me
• feeling hot!

I think about how my childhood summers are so different from those of my own daughters.  I know times have changed, and I'm sure I was bored AND hot quite a bit during the summers (nostalgia makes even summer look perfect).  I hope that while the experiences are different, my kids will look back and think "Wow.  Those were the days."

Learning Curve

Yesterday afternoon my highly coveted smart phone arrived at my house via UPS.  Of course, I was at school, and then I had to drive down to the Loop for a meeting.  By the time I got home last night it was 9, and I just couldn't wait to activate it and start playing.

By the time I got off the phone with the customer care person, it was almost 1l.  I quickly discovered that although I'm pretty tech savvy, there were just things I couldn't figure out (like um... how to make a call?). 

I know that as I have time to sit and play with my phone and poke around, I'll get the hang of how the phone works, but until then, I guess I'll let my 6 year old have a crack at it.  I'm sure she'll figure it out in five minutes.

Cheesy

Some nights I make the perfect dinner to suit the weather and mood of the day.  Today was one of those days.  It was a cold, gray, rainy day in the Chicago area, and all day I felt tired and lethargic.  All I wanted to do was go home and take a nap; I certainly wasn't interested in cooking an elaborate dinner!

I thought about what I had in my freezer or pantry that I could whip up while my oldest was at dance class, and I remembered a bag of frozen ravioli.  Mmmmm..... ravioli!  Know what makes ravioli taste even better?  Baking it in the oven with cheese on top.  There's something about the red sauce, the pasta, and that bubbly cheese that is immensely satisfying.  It's warm and comforting and that kind of stick-to-your-ribs meal that makes a cold, icky day a little less icky.

Ouch!

Today my six-year-old daughter wiped out on her bike.  It was the first fall of the season, and her first serious fall since she started riding a two wheeler late last summer.

I was getting dinner ready and my husband was watching her from the front window when she fell.  I heard him go running through the front door and my older daughter yell.  By the time I got myself to the door, he was bringing Abby in.  The first thing I noticed was all the blood.

As a mom, I know I have to appear calm and collected when one of my girls is injured, but inside, I panicked.  Holy cow!  There was blood on her face and blood on her knees.  From the first glance, I couldn't tell where the blood on her face was coming from.  I do remember thinking, "Thank goodness she hasn't lost any teeth yet.  If one is knocked loose, another will just come in!"  Does that make me an unfeeling mom?

Turns out she was fine, just a scraped knee and chin and a fat lip.  We'll make her get back on that bike before the week is out, and hopefully she'll escape unscarred, both physically and emotionally.

Abby with scraped chin and fat lip.  Thankfully no stitches needed!

Fun

Over the course of the past few days, I've had more fun than I've had in a really long time.  The last half of 2010 was an incredibly stressful, sad time for me and the family on my dad's side.  It seemed that things kept happening, tragedies stacking up, and I never felt fully recovered from any of it.

Then I traveled to Springfield with colleagues to a conference, and we spent much of the 3 days together laughing.  It felt so good to just BE, to not think about all of the stresses that seem to take over my life. 

Last night I went with my husband to a local bar to see a friend's band play.  It was the first time we'd been out together in a while, and we had some time to talk and reconnect before the band started.  It was a nice way to celebrate my return home and just hang out and hear some music.  I sang, I clapped, I danced, I had a beer (or two), and again, just enjoyed the night.  No worries, no thinking about deadlines, nothing.

Sometimes I wonder if I keep myself from having fun by being the designated worrier for planet Earth.  I need to remember that FUN is FUNdamental!