Tradition of Honor

Memorial Day was always one of my favorite days in my hometown.  Those who don't know me likely don't have a lot of reason to know or have heard of Red Oak, Iowa.  And many don't know that in WWII Red Oak suffered more casualties per capita than any city in the United States.  This lead to an amazing tribute every year when the flags of service men and women who have died are dedicated and Evergreen Cemetery is lined in honor.  It is a beautiful sight and a vivid reminder of the cost of freedom.  

When I was in high school we could participate in hanging the flags as a service project.  I remember reading some of the names and the wars they served.  Some of the flags are very old while some are bright and brand new.  Each flag represents a life which give you goose bumps and a humble heart at the thought.  

I've never taken my boys but as they get older I would like to make a point to attend the ceremony in Red Oak and walk around the cemetery.  On a sunny day nothing beats the beauty of all the flags blowing strong in the breeze.  It is a quiet part of the world - one I'm proud to call home.  

Today is cold and rainy in Chicago but I am thankful for the fact that my sons can ride their bikes around our neighborhood, play with their friends, and enjoy freedom in our amazing country.  

God bless.  

Just keep swimming - just keep swimming

I feel like I could use a Dory these days.  There is so much going on that, if I allow myself, I can become quite overwhelmed.  Work is nuts as it always is, boys have a lot going on with school, this bathroom/closet project is still underway, we are participating in our community garage sale this weekend and that's just what comes to mind.

From now until the end of June we are non-stop, topping it off with our family vacation to Croatia (countdown - 36 days).  So that's what is keeping me going.  Just get to Croatia...

When I start feeling like this I try to make myself take a step back and remind myself of the things I do well.  A funny one came to mind today.

By this point in the school year I have nailed the weekday morning routine.  My teammates still need some coaching along the way as we race the clock every morning in hopes of not missing the school bus.  Alarm goes off at 6:20 AM allowing for one snooze before we really need to move.  Cameron now has his own alarm and I enjoy hearing him stumble downstairs to get his breakfast.  By the time we are all downstairs and all have made their breakfast selections I am on to sandwich making.  PB&J for Cameron, ham and cheese for Brandon.  With minimal verbal interaction we make the side and snack selections.  Each meal is placed in it's designated pile for packing by the boys after they get dressed and groom themselves (please make sure you comb the back of your hair as well).

We each do our routines and while sometimes I sound like a drill sergeant in the final minutes, we stumble out the door and are on our way to the bus between 7:20 - 7:25 AM every day.  The actual time out the door will determine our final walking pace.

Any amount of good, bad and ugly can accompany this daily routine...misplaced library books, second try at washing mouths, missing shoe, last minute homework to be checked, check writing for some activity, Jupiter falling out of orbit in the paper mache solar system...a number of possible diversions.  But, we all function as a team and once we are out the door our day officially begins.  For the most part it works and we are good at it.

Soon we will have a break for summer then start up again in the fall.  This is one of the things that I enjoy most about my life right now, strange as that may sound.  I know it won't last forever and every year it will be a little different.  But these are the things that keep me going...simple as they may be.

A simple and lovely chat

Today is my grandma's 93rd birthday.  93 - incredible.  I had to pull out a calculator to figure out, if I live that long, what year I'll hit 93...2063.  Seems unimaginable.  But I'm sure to her living in 2013 seemed pretty unimaginable when she was my age, which was in 1963.  I love to think about everything she's seen in her life and how, for the most part, she's doing very well for her years.  

The boys and I tried calling her a few times this evening but her line was busy.  The boys said, what's busy?  In a world of call waiting and other modern features, a busy signal is something they hadn't heard.  It cracked them up.  

So once we finally got through, I said, hello Mamoo, it's Syd.  Happy Birthday - you're pretty popular based on how long it took us to get through.  

She said she'd been celebrating the better part of the week with several lunches, coffees, singing at church and dinner out last night.  She said today she pretty much stayed in and answered the phone.  It all made me very happy.  The boys each spoke to her which couldn't have been sweeter, especially Cameron who has a heart bigger than any kid I know and speaks well beyond his years.  Like one old soul to another...

This is one of my favorite pictures with Mamoo.  It's in the basement of Mamrelund, aka, Mamooland, and I was sitting with my dress draped over the back of the chair.  She was downstairs with us and I'm so glad someone snapped this pic.  It always makes me smile.  She still does this too, she thinks one shouldn't look directly into the camera when someone is taking your picture.  Many a picture of Mamoo looking elsewhere.  

I'm glad we got to chat and hope we can next April 28th as well.  Cheers to Mamoo and her long and wonderful life!

You blink and you're 90...

Been awhile since my last post - mostly due to trying to keep this juggling act I know as my life in the air.

Our baby turned 6 which resulted in about a week long celebration - hey, why not?  We had an art party at the house the weekend before his birthday, then spent the following weekend in Florida. Between painting, coloring, plenty of sweets, swimming and fun in the sun I think he enjoyed himself and is off to a great start into his next year.  I try to make a birthday video for each of the boys to commemorate their last year and to keep a record of their major milestones.  Attached is Brandon's - I cry happy tears each time I watch - and love to look back at the old ones.  For me it's always so hard to picture my boys at any other age than where they are right now.  One of the reasons I think I take so many pictures...it will help me as I continue to lose brain cells.  

The title of my post comes from one of the movies I watched on my 9 hour flight back from London yesterday.  I'm sure some of my fellow passengers were a tad annoyed at my outbursts of laughter as I watched This is 40.  This movie was just what I needed yesterday and likely not one I would have watched had I not been looking for a way to pass several hours.  One of the lines, not even the best one, but an older lady said, "Oh, you're 40.  I remember 40 but then I blinked and I was 90."  It made me think of my grandma who will turn 93 later this month.  Such true words as I think about how quickly things move and how I try every day to make a difference.  Some better than others.  So thanks to that movie for giving me some timely perspective and a stomach ache from laughing.  I may need to own this one.  

So in other news Jim and I just got back from a quick trip to London to celebrate his 45th birthday.  Jim loves London - I do as well.  We are good at London.  This trip included a few bumps but nothing we couldn't take in stride - Saturday morning it was a very slow stride, but a stride nonetheless.  To some, what we did sounds crazy.  And it probably is crazy.  But I have accepted that we are crazy so there you go.  

We spent Friday night with our friends Rich and Amelia, a low key Saturday, then went to the burbs to visit the Tinkers on Sunday.  We enjoy navigating our way around the city, figuring out the train and tube schedules and routes, finding recommended restaurants, etc.  Our friend Rich owns a production company.  We decided if Cameron is ever going to make it with his film career, it will start with Rich.  You just never know where a friendship that started on a rooftop bar in London will take you...perhaps more to come one day.  

I said to myself a few weeks ago, if i can make it to the 23rd I can get a bit of a breather.  Here I am, breathing....turning my attention back to work and starting the wheels turning for Brandon's solar system project made out of recycled materials we'll be working on this weekend.  Life is good.  

Blessings

I have many.  Inspired by Easter Sunday and the thought of starting with a fresh view.  Shedding the thoughts and things that bring me down and focusing on a fresh new season.  Giving thanks for everyone in my life and the life I've been given.

I had a very sweet surprise on Easter morning, serving as a great example of the good in my life. Saturday we were out and about as a family and we had to stop at the store before returning home.  Cameron asked me if he could look at the Easter cards.  He said he wanted to get a card for his friend.  Sure.  Clearly someone was feeling the Easter spirit - who can argue with that?  So we started to look over the cards and he picked a beautiful card but I wasn't quite sure it was the best fit for his buddy given the heavy floral content and long message.  I said, maybe we keep looking.  His was noticeably fidgety which isn't totally rare for Cameron and he said, well maybe I will get one for Rette.  I said, sure that's fine too.  Then he asked me if he could just look and dismissed me to the end of the aisle.  Watching him look and read the cards was very sweet. One he picked up and immediately put back because the inside greeting was so long.  He comes by that naturally.  

He emerged with a card and a corresponding yellow envelope and asked if I thought Dad would buy the card for him along with the other things he was buying.  I said, I'm sure he will.  

Early Easter morning I heard Cameron downstairs in the kitchen.  Jim went out for a jog and I was comfortably laying in bed for a few quiet moments before starting the day.  I heard footsteps come upstairs, go into the bathroom and started to hear the sounds of a 9 year old grooming.  He got dressed for church and went back downstairs.  When he heard me get up he came upstairs with a huge grin and told me when I was ready he had something for me downstairs.  He also said, go ahead and take your shower, no rush.  

In the meantime Jim came home and asked if I had been downstairs.  He asked if he could tell me and I agreed.  He whispered that Cameron had made breakfast for me and the card he'd picked out was for me.  It warmed my heart so much that I could have ended the day right then feeling nothing but blessed.  

I went downstairs to see my surprise and, again, the smile on Cameron's face truly lit up the room. I sat down and enjoyed my, by that time, cold toast with butter and glass of juice.  I read my beautiful card and stopped to take inventory of all that is good in my life.  Cold toast never tasted so delicious.  And I plan to keep the card forever and make a point to read it as a reminder of the beauty of childhood innocence and how we can all learn from simple acts of kindness.  I'm not sure what inspired Cameron to do this, but I am very proud of his kind gesture and hope that stays alive in him throughout his life.  

The rest of our day included going to mass - I might note I won the contest for closest guess to how long the service would last.  We went to breakfast then spent the day at home.  The boys played outside, we took our first bike ride of the season (although the cold, biting wind felt nothing like spring), we had an Easter egg hunt and ended with dinner.  

Sometimes it's easy to focus on what we wish we had or wishing things were different.  I am reminded once again there are many good things and people around me that make me happy.   

Happy spring - embrace the newness of the season!

What a week...

Not done yet, bunny...get moving.  

Which story do you prefer?

We are just back from a quick spring break trip to Phoenix.  We left Friday night and returned last night.  Kind of a whirlwind trip full of a bit of travel adventure (delayed flight, long security line, delayed bag, etc.)  Even with that we managed to escape our standard routine and were reminded how warm weather and sun feels.  We swam, floated on the lazy river, hiked up Squaw Peak and sat outside for as many hours as possible.

While we were there we also got to experience young Brandon losing his first tooth.  This thing had been nagging him for awhile and he became a bit obsessed with it.  Bottom front so it hurt to eat his bagel, pizza, any regular food - except ice cream - ice cream slid right down.  Outside of embracing a full on liquid diet I watched him become determined to get that thing out.  He wiggled it with his tongue, finger, napkin, anything that would move that little bugger.  We joked about "in the old days we tied a string to the tooth and a door knob" legends and all had a good laugh.  We reminisced about the tooth that seemed to hang by a thread in Cameron's mouth for what seemed like a good six months. Then, while sitting at dinner, Brandon just started yanking on it and didn't stop until it came out.  We celebrated, he swished with some water and we secured the tiny little tooth in my sunglass case for safe keeping.  

Discussions quickly turned to the tooth fairy - is it a he or a she?  How big is he/she?  Would the fairy find us in Phoenix?  Get the right hotel and room?  Much debate and the final decision was that the tooth would travel back to Chicago and be placed under Brandon's pillow where the fairy would know exactly where to find him for future tooth collecting.  He asked to see his tooth almost hourly and I knew that I could lose my entire purse, luggage, all electronics on our trip home but I COULD NOT LOSE THAT TOOTH!  

We arrived safely at home and soon after I heard, "Mom, I have my tooth - I'll be upstairs" at bedtime.  His grin was ear to ear as he placed the tooth under his pillow and couldn't get me out of the room quickly enough so he could fall fast asleep.  He awoke this morning to a crisp one dollar bill and was thrilled that the fairy really came like he hoped he/she would.  He believed and it worked, just as he believed.  

The subject of this post is tied to Cameron and I watching Life of Pi on our return flight yesterday. I am a bit embarrassed to say that I have never read the book so I only have the movie to reference.  A pretty amazing story which has kept me thinking.  The question, which story to you prefer? can be applied to so many circumstances.  I, personally, want to believe the animal version but critical thinking tells me that isn't possible.  Still, that's the one I want to believe.  

Then I find myself applying that question back to the tooth fairy with my kids - which do you prefer?  I even find myself applying it to my personal relationships and things that may or may not be true.  Is it ok to believe the version you want to believe is true or does critical thinking prove that isn't possible?  I could go on - we have Easter coming up, again, what's true and what's possible?  

I do know that life and perspectives change every day and how we see things can vary a great deal based on what we believe is true.  So my little boy's mouth landscape is forever changing which means he's growing up.  Just like each day, what we learn and how we change prepares us for the next day.  

Thanks to Pi and the tooth fairy for prompting this reflection.