Headed West...

Yesterday we did our annual early summer pilgrimage to Colorado. For the past 12 years I have journeyed to the mountains in either May or June for various jobs and vacations. This year will will enjoy 2 weeks now and 2 weeks in August of hiking, reading, shopping, reflecting, and adventures. We have Internet here now, so feel free to e-mail me.

It Happened Today.

I was out to dinner at Chili's (my fav) with Thomas. David was working late, and we were killing time before music class sharing our mutual love of carbohydrates. I was wearing a sleeveless shirt (my first of the season); Thomas was wearing his train engineer hat and his "Mommy Digs Me" shirt. The waiter sat us down in a 2-man booth. Thomas was in his highchair to my right. Both of us were happily tanking up on chips and salsa when the catastrophe occurred. Thomas began to choke a little bit on a chip. He was coughing it up, and I did the typical mom thing. I reached over to pat his back until it came up. That is when I noticed it. Surely it couldn't be happening to me. As I was patting Tommy's back the bottom of my arms jiggled. And not just a little jiggle. A lot of jiggle. BAT WING JIGGLE. Yes. It is official. Today I became aware that I have bat wing arms.

I've always known about my unfortunate arm composition, however I thought what I lacked in thinness I could make up for in muscle. For years I've lifted weights to "sculpt" my upper body. Yet unfortunately it appears that even with all this work genetics have won. And you know what? I'm ready to embrace the bats. My great-grandmother Mae, who I have inherited most of my gene pool from, had bats. I remember crawling up on her wheelchair on the 4th of July and watching her arms swoosh and swash a little too close to my face. She always felt so cuddly. I felt safe tucked in beneath her squishy, large wings. These snuggle sessions occurred before I was banned from her lap for pulling her hair to see if it was a wig. My older cousin promised me a whole sheet of fuzzy feet stickers if I would check. It wasn't a wig. She had real hair, and I brought Jeff down with me when I was sent to time-out for an HOUR after my curious escapade.

And so, while some may take my observation as a kick-start to do 1000 push-ups a day, I am not going to change a thing. My husband, as you can see from the picture, digs bats both as animals and as loose skin. And when my child, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren crawl into my lap they too will feel the warm embrace of wings enveloping them.

(Title of this post in honor of Michele)

New Years Resolution Update

Thomas and I have been busy during the week going to the park. We've gone almost every day this week to a different park, and he loves it. I love being outside. Not much else is going on right now. We are waiting for David to finish up finals so we can head to the cabin for 2 weeks! Then we will be home for June and July and go back out there in August. I can't wait to smell mountain air and see my CO friends!

Here's the New Years Update 6 months in:

1. Be less judgmental about how other people spend money, especially extremely wealthy people.
Callie's wedding was a big gauge for me in this. I'm starting to realize that everyone has something they spend money on.
For some, it is travel. For my dad it is golf clubs. Home decorating, cars, school, and toys also might be options. So
basically God gave us all the money we have and we get to choose how we spend it. Just because I choose differently than
others doesn't mean I'm bad or they are bad. It's just different. I still have some work to do about my first response to not
be judgment, and I also have some work to do in giving my own money away more often and promoting justice in my own
community. I still don't know how to not judge those of us who have A LOT and don't give much away. Maybe it's just me,
but the wealthiest people in my life are the least generous. That is where I get stuck. Thoughts? I'd love to engage on this
topic.

2. Get up every week day by 6:30am.
I had a slump for a month or so when I was sleeping until Thomas woke me up, but I think I am out of that now. I like
going to the gym a few mornings a week at 5:30, so I've been trying to make that happen. I'm also realizing that I can
function pretty well on 6-7 hours of sleep instead of 8-9. That has been a mental shift for me, the girl who loves to sleep.

3. Choose not to feel guilty about adding the career piece of myself back into my life.
Classes this semester are done, and this Spring has been the best season as a mother yet. While I've loved having
something for myself, I've also realized somewhere along the way that I do not want to go back to work full-time.

4. Go on more cultural dates with my husband.
Bad here. I can't think of any interesting things we have done for the past few months. I've enjoyed my book club lately
and am excited to start reading 'The Artist's Way' this summer with a group of creative women. Hopefully David and I can
get out of suburbia together several times this summer.

5. Take pictures that help me create a story through writing.
I haven't taken that many pictures lately, but I'm kind of holding out for my friend's photography class in August. One
creative project I have been working on is a journal for Thomas. Every couple of days I write something he did or thoughts
I have. I hope to continue it throughout his childhood and give it to him when becomes an adult. David and I want to
climb a peak with him the summer after he graduates and bless him as a man. I'll probably give it to him then.

6. When I have the choice, make the more simple decision 60% of the time.
I've decided this one goes hand in hand with my confidence levels. When I am confident about the direction we want our
family to go, it is easy for me to make simple, good decisions. When I start wavering or people pleasing, I don't think
through whether a decision fits our values and desire for simplicity well.

My fruit of the spirit that I am going to focus on/read about/try to live out this year is faithfulness.
I'm still struggling here. I just don't know what this looks like as well with my role as a mom. Reading my bible, being in a
study or a MOPS group, joining our new church???

KU Victory Parade

Book Reviews

I've read two excellent books lately.

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns
This one is going on my top-10 list for sure. I liked it even better than 'The Kite Runner' because it was the story of two women. I LOVED this book. By far one of my best reads of all-time. That is all I'm going to say because you need to read it yourself.

2. Baby-Proofing Your Marriage
I really wish I would have read this book and others like it after Thomas was born. It normalized a ton of what David and I went through in those early months. Probably the best tip the authors gave was to take a time-out in your relationship from the weeks before the baby comes to the time the kid sleeps through the night. Man, I wish we would have had this perspective. It would have solved all those late night fights about nothing but the fact that we were both exhausted.