July

I recently met with a friend and mentioned the character building vehicle we bought Ty. We wandered down memory lane as we both recalled quirky, not so safe cars from our youth. Her passenger door also flew open so she held a rope across her lap to pull the door closed during turns. She also had a boom box on the passenger seat because her radio did not work. She flipped cassette tapes while driving as a teen. Imagine allowing a young driver to cruise in these conditions now. Law enforcement would absolutely be involved. Then we remembered calling the radio station to request songs we wanted to record on our boom box. Those poor DJ's of the 80's had to hate us; all of us. 😂 The quality of those tapes was never in question. It was all about timing and getting the whole song recorded. We then launched into memories of tapes we spent hours curating only to have someone else tape over them. In recounting this conversation to Greg before he once again tore Ty's car door completely apart, he laughed, "and they wonder why Gen X is so resilient." No kidding. Our parents weren't concerned with our whereabouts, the safety of the vehicle we drove, what we ate any given day, how unfair a teacher might be or even how we spent our summers. Brilliant. They were absolutely brilliant.

We finally made it out to celebrate our 32nd anniversary with a shared sundae and quiet drive. This last year has been full of challenges and the quiet acknowledgement was about all we could muster this year. Even that arrived days later than our actual anniversary. It is what it is. 

Kate has started wedding planning and I have only cried once. This deserves an award. She has fallen for a dress and selected a venue. She will finalize plans in the coming months for a January 2028 ceremony. Her winter vision is stunning. I'm praying Mother Nature cooperates. 

I am feeling pretty short these days.

Ty turned 17 while everyone else was at work. He ordered Taco Bell via Door Dash and relished the peace and quiet. A perfect birthday for Ty is one spent in solitude. He prefers this. Never the less, I took him and Elijah to Top Golf on a different afternoon and he was also reluctantly celebrated the following weekend with the family. We then went back-to-school shopping at Boot Barn, which was a first for me. He is all set with work boots, jeans, dark tee shirts and hoodies. He looks the part of a diesel mechanic. 

Ya'll pray for Oliver. He is so stressed. 😂

Diesel too. It really is a "ruff" life.

I learned my Immediate Care Center is being closed to make space for more primary care doctors. I have wavered between anger, grief and resolve. The way human resources handled themselves was inauthentic and insulting but my team is united with all of us wanting to stick with our direct managers until our final shift. I'm job searching and disappointed to be doing so. I had the perfect schedule with a lot of flexibility and loved what I did for patients and my team.  So far, I am not seeing leads for positions within Norton that are going to be the right fit and have applied outside the organization. I have until September to work out next steps and for that alone, I am grateful.

6:30 am weekend commute: the fuzzy photo not quite doing the scene justice but I just had to capture it from the interstate.

Very rarely, Obi chooses to rest with me but when he does, Diesel has big feelings. 

Ty is now a licensed driver providing his own work transportation. I love and hate this season. New drivers make me a nervous wreck for months; however, hours spent chauffeuring them is also exhausting. He is the last one I have to add to our insurance policy, thank goodness. Holy premiums, Batman. I promised him I was as uptight about his sisters on the road alone and to not take my anxiety personally. I am just really bad at this part of letting go. Other drivers regularly demonstrate how reckless people can be and my child learning how to navigate around their risks terrifies me. Why can't we just put our babies behind the wheel of a tank?

Greg's cousin, Fred and his wife, Jen stopped by for dinner on their way through town. Diesel loved them as much as we do but he was a little more expressive in his love. Greg and I did not kiss anyone or lay our heads on their laps. We hope they understand. 

Kate and Kenna attended a wedding together after Makenna applied the wedding party makeup. Kate lamented the lack of dancing music at the reception and warned me how much she loves to dance at weddings. Apparently there will be moves I am not fully prepared to see at her upcoming nuptials. I have not decided if I appreciate the heads-up.

A rowdy brunch for fifteen family members celebrated Makenna's 26th and Ty's 17th birthdays. I made red velvet cake cookies for her and his favorite Lemon Ricotta Cake. It was a carb heavy brunch but there were no complaints.

Despite Ty's efforts to protect his new favorite cookies, there were no leftovers.

Realizing we were nearing the end of summer break already, I requested a day with Austin to finally check out some locations featured in our annual cultural pass. We explored fossil beds and two museums. One taught about local climate and how the Ohio River was formed. The other explored New Albany's role in abolishing slavery. Austin had a lot of thoughts as we ate a late lunch at home together afterwards. He is growing up so fast and I love any opportunity to spend time listening to his running narrative.

Makenna spent her birthday weekend celebrating with friends using a throwback to Y2K theme. They had a blast. The following Monday she had her wisdom teeth pulled and text me she was putting them under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy. I reminded her that there were significant fairy service failures when she resided under my roof so to not anticipate a return on her investment. Her life is full of disappointment. 

The final weekend of July had Greg in Ohio helping clear his parent's home and barn for closing while I worked. The property has officially changed hands. The experience was challenging in that he felt like he was taking and selling belongings while his parents were just down the road. Reconciling the situation was at moments, tough. He brought home boxes of photos, his adoption paperwork and a few small mementos for the kids to sort through. But overall, most everything was sold because no one in the family has memories associated with anything in their latest house. The log cabin sold with all it's belongings six years ago, taking with it, all the memories we associated with tangible items in their home. Greg visited his parents before hitting the road for home and quietly acknowledged his mom's silent tears. She has weathered some pretty major life changes this year. 

I leave you with my favorite image of the month, taken by Makenna of Fred. He was bewildered by her bath and backed up on his hind legs while she roared with laughter. I'm so glad she captured the moment because it cracks me up every time I look at it.