First Day of School

Today is the first day of the Summer session of school, and I just put my son on the bus. It came 15 minutes early, so thank goodness, we were ready and already on our way down the stairs. My son was decked out in some new clothes and shoes, and a new "Thomas the Tank Engine and His Friends" backpack. He also has a new notebook with family pictures in it of our little vacation to Boston where he got to meet Thomas and go to the New England Aquarium (more about that in another post). He loves to look at pictures, and having pictures of his family at school helps him to get adjusted because he can look at us whenever he misses us.

The bus comes at 7:30, which is really early. My son comes home at 1:30, which seems really early. LOL Up here, it's in the 50's in the morning, and it doesn't get up to 80 or so until later in the afternoon, so there's no quick dips in the pool before my son gets home for me. Oh well.

My son was up until after 11 pm last night, and I thought he'd be a monster this morning, but I guess he was excited to go back to school, because he got right up, didn't fight me while getting ready, and walked right down the stairs, and got right on the bus. That's a true blessing.

Of course, a lot of it has to do with singing. Music calms the savage beast, they say, and I guess it's true. My son behaves a lot better when I sing. That means if I'm sick, and I can't sing, or I'm feeling too miserable to sing, our days are very difficult. So, we sang "I've been working on the Railroad", filling in all the names of "Thomas the Tank Engine and His Friends" for Dinah. Now I should have an hour or so before the baby wakes up (I hope), so that I can have some nice, peaceful time to do some housework. Not that I haven't been working since 6:30 anyway, getting lunches and breakfasts together, getting my husband out the door and then my son, but now I can get some other things done.
So, without further ado, I should get straight to work!

A Year of Firsts

Well, we've nearly completed a year of firsts since my father passed away. His first birthday without him, the first Christmas without him, the first anniversary of his death...it's over. The last one is the one year anniversary of his burial, but somehow, that one doesn't seem to affect me as much. I feel like it's time to start over and move on now.
Yesterday I spent the day with my Mom (and of course my kids), and we started the day with a memorial mass. Then we had lunch together, and went out to the cemetery. I had originally made a little garden after my grandfather died, but since I've moved so far away from the cemetery, I haven't been keeping it up. I passed the gardening tools on to my Mom so that she could become the new garden tender.
I had originally planted the garden mostly for my Mom, and had bought a robin to place in the garden. It was absolutely adorable. However, over time, the robin eventually flew away (i.e. someone removed him). Since then, we've been unable to find a suitable replacement. In addition, my Mom wanted to add something special for my father and her brother (who died within a week of my father last year).
So, on the way to the cemetery, I took her to the little gardening shop where I had found the original robin, and she found a new robin. This robin was so plump! It's absolutely endearing. The funny thing was that just that morning she was telling me that she had just seen the fattest robin she'd ever seen. We assumed she was "with egg". She also found an adorable turtle. My father had a pet turtle that he loved, and so this was very special.
She had planted some new items in the garden, and it looks beautiful. Someone else had also left flowers at the grave. The robin and turtle made it look cheerful, if it's possible for a grave to be cheerful. My son found a special rock and put it on top of the stone. It was a nice day of reflection.

My Dad

On this day one year ago, my father had a massive stroke. He died about 18 hours later at the hospital after my Mom found him unresponsive at home. Last night I was very sad thinking about how last year, that was the last night he was alive. That was the night my parents celebrated their anniversary, because my Mom wasn't home the day before. My Mom cooked a special dinner of leg of lamb. At 7:30 this morning, I thought about how that was about the time when my Mom found my Dad, and right about now was when we got the phone call that something was seriously wrong with my Dad.
My husband was with him when he died around 3 in the morning. I'll never, ever forget that. My Dad didn't die alone. We were all sitting vigil, taking turns, ensuring that he wouldn't die alone. We didn't expect him to make it through the night. It was supposed to be my shift, but my husband didn't want me to drive in to Jamaica, Queens alone, so he went in my place. He thinks my father didn't want to die with my Mom or any of us children, and waited for him to be there to let go.
My husband sat up with me last night rubbing my back until I fell asleep. I don't think there's a more kind and loving husband in the entire world. I love him so much, and I'm so blessed to have him in my life.

1 Peter 5:7

I have a dry erase board up in my kitchen where I copy down whatever is in my calendar for the week as well as grocery items as I run out of them. On the bottom, I write an inspirational Bible quote each week. This week's Bible quote is from 1 Peter 5:7 - "Cast your cares upon the Lord, for He cares about you."
I've been feeling very stressed lately because my daughter is teething, has reflux, and never, ever wants to be put down. She hasn't even been taking naps lately. I have even affectionately referred to her as my little screaming tumor.
Of course, I also have a 4 year old with special needs who has been sick one way or another for the past six months, as has passed on just about every single illness to me.
And, of course, there's life in general.
So, lately, I've been choosing inspirational quotes having to do with frustration, stress, and anxiety. Interestingly enough, one of the Christian radio stations I listen to has been having a series this week on just those subjects. It's been very comforting to listen to talks about remembering to trust in God, and how worrying is downright sinful because it means you don't trust that God is handling everything for your own ultimate, if not immediate, good.
Last night, the Bible quote they were discussing was the one on my dry erase board. I thought that was so neat.
I know these are things I will continue to struggle with, but it's good to know that no matter what, everything is going to be okay.

Tuesday Weigh-In

Well, I missed last week because my son and I had strep. That's why I wasn't on much last week. Then this weekend we were busy having fun. So, I'm back today. I'm down another 3.6 lbs. Total of 16.6 lbs at Weight Watchers and according to my scale at home, 46 lbs. Woo Hoo!

11th Wedding Anniversary

We celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary on Saturday. We got a babysitter and went out alone for the first time since Valentine's Day 2007. It was lovely. We went to a very nice restaurant on the Hudson River. One of the first things we did was lean back in our chairs. We never get to do that when we eat. It was sooo nice to relax during a meal and not have to rush. I started out with an aperitif of Chambord and Champagne. Yummy. Then I had Chilean Sea bass with a Parmesan crust, veggies, and the largest potato croquette I've ever seen. I've never had Chilean Sea bass before, and it was absolutely delicious. I brought most of my dinner home so that I wouldn't overeat too much...I have no idea how many points are in this meal, and I'm quite sure I wouldn't want to know.

Anyway, I needed to save room for dessert. I had creme brulee and cappuccino. Delicious.

It was a very different experience getting to lean back in our chairs, eat before feeding someone else, and just being able to eat slowly, enjoy each other's company, and have an adult conversation with one another. We talked and we laughed a lot, and after dinner, we went for a romantic stroll along the sidewalk beside the river. We looked over a peer at some ducks and ducklings, and watched the sun begin to set. It was a lovely evening.

Parades!

My son has three favorite things...drums, fire engines, and guitars (music falls in with the instruments). So, he just loves parades. I'm sure one day we'll see a guitar at a parade, but for now, just having drums and fire engines is enough. We go to as many parades as I can find, which has been about one a week for the past several weeks. On Memorial Day, my son waited for the parade to continue even though they had opened the streets to traffic. On Saturday, he decided he was going to follow the parade when the end came, so my husband indulged him. I walked back to the car, fed our daughter, then drove to meet them when the street opened. Boy, my son had a great time. My daughter likes the parades too, and so do we, but the best part is seeing the joy on my son's face as he watches and pretends to drum on anything around and points out every fire engine.
Next week there's a Hat Parade in one of the local communities. I'm not sure if there will be fire engines and drums, but we'll get to make hats and BE in the parade...that's gotta be fun too!