Sometimes I Say Bad Words

Another day and another kid commented on her dad's post-workday body odor. In some ways, I'm dreading the empty nest years and his target selection. For now, there are enough other people besides me for him to pick on. 

A deer jumped in front of my car on the way home from school. I locked up the brakes and swerved to avoid contact. I narrowly missed the deer and yelled, "hey Buddy, that was not a good decision!" Ty, who was in the passenger seat took a minute to absorb what happened and later commented, "I'm really proud of how you handled that, Mom. You didn't even say bad words." Thanks Ty. I needed that win.

Erin is officially on the website now as a team member for CCAP Across the Map. She has been involved in several late night virtual meetings and is spending a significant amount of time on research for a few of their upcoming projects. The work invigorates her and keeps her busy too. We are pretty darn proud of her. 

The mornings this week have been rather difficult. I'm not sleeping well again, fighting daily headaches and simply stewing. I have not yet figured out how to let go of the things I cannot control. Sigh. I have been seeking God's peace and craving quiet. Wednesday morning He delivered a golden sky after a short rain. It was stunning and I was grateful.

Anne kidnapped me for a few hours this week. It was after a morning I failed to contain all the cuss words and told my son to get his a$$ in the car. I had a headache and he was fairly certain he had a solid argument for skipping school that day. He did not get the answer he wanted and I lost patience. I'm told it happens. I just prefer to not start my day this way. The day after, Anne called to see if my day had improved. It hadn't but I didn't have the heart to say so. I was stung by a bee between my toes and my foot swelled up like a purple foot balloon. This is not attractive or comfortable. A kid had a panic attack on the road. I had other people's children after work and there wasn't a piece of bread or fruit in the house. I literally wanted to crawl into bed and pretend I wasn't the adult in charge. The break Anne provided this week was necessary. How do we as moms get those and keep the house running? I'd like to know. 

We learned all our kids and sons-in-law will be here for one evening in early November. I am beyond excited. We haven't been together since last Thanksgiving. I started a group text to brainstorm a meal and hopefully a family photo. It quickly derailed into our typical sarcastic hilarity but everyone is on board for whatever we can squeeze into the few hours we have together. I just need to convince a few family members we aren't getting matching crocs to commemorate the occasion. My people are weird. 

Today, I took a furlough day and Erin took a personal day to run final bridal brunch errands. We are hosting an intimate gathering to celebrate Makenna in the morning. The day off together was delightful. We had breakfast, shopped and caught up in complete, uninterrupted sentences. We needed the day.