WhimsyME

Have you ever lost anything precious to you?  Maybe it was your wedding ring.  I’ve done that.  It was my first ring.  The one Scotty had made for me.  The one he put on my ring the day we said our vows in front of all our family and friends.  I still get teary eyed when I think of that missing ring.  But, it’s just a ring.  It’s replaceable. Still, I remember when I went to put it on and first realized it wasn’t where I left it.  My heart started beating really fast, my knees got weak, I frantically searched the house looking in every nook and cranny.  Then the tears came.  The realization that my ring was gone hit me!  I would never have it again.

Well today I lost something more precious than diamonds. Something irreplaceable.  I lost my daughter.  Scotty was working in the bathroom with his cousin and I was in Ethan’s bedroom with him.  Scotty got ready to leave for a minute and started looking for Maddie.  He came to me to ask where she was.  I didn’t know. How do you not know where your child is?  We looked all around the house.  We have dozens of people around our house right now b/c we are getting a new roof.  This thought scared me even more.  I don’t know these people.  But, Maddie was no where to be found.  Scotty is frantic, running the streets.  I’m running up and down the alley way (in my pajamas.)  And I notice Ethan’s scooter at our neighbor’s back door and her gate was open.  I knocked on her back door and Scotty was standing at her front door.  There sat Maddie on their sofa.  I grabbed her up and told her to go to her room until I calmed down enough to talk to her.

And when I finally went in there to talk to her I asked her how she felt when she lost something precious to her.  I cried.  Have you ever cried while disciplining your child?  I did today.  I told her that she is my most precious possession and if I lost her, if someone took her from me I would never forgive myself.  She said she told her daddy where she was going.  But, she didn’t ask permission.  She didn’t make sure we heard her.  I think we are clear on this now.  We were both busy and she took advantage of that to do what she wanted to do.  This has never happened before.  I’ve never lost one of my children.  It’s an awful feeling.  Ethan was in there when I was talking to her.  I hope he learned something from it, too.

I took the opportunity to tell her about another little Madeleine that would never see her parents again b/c someone took her from them.  I told her that there are mean people in this world and we can’t trust everyone.  I explained that her daddy and I were scared b/c we have strangers working on our house and they may or may not be good people.  She was crying.  She understood how scared I was.  And she has been pretty clingy all day.

It’s been an eye opening experience.  A reminder of how fast it can happen.  The what ifs haunt me.  And I realize that I’m pretty darn lucky.  Even if she was gone for only a few minutes, a lot can happen in a few minutes.  It’s a lesson to me to never assume that Scotty has an eye on them or knows where they are.  I still need to be sure I know where both of them are at all times.

I’m 31 years old.  I’ve been married 10.5 years.  There are things that I’m simply not good at.  I could name a hundred things I excel in. Okay, maybe not a hundred. Probably just a handful if I were to be completely honest.  But, I try to be the best in everything I do.  There are things I simply lurve to do.  There are things that give me such total satisfaction when I complete them.  Cleaning is not one of these things, m’kay.  I hate hate hate to clean.  Hate it.  Did I say hate?  Hate.  I love to cook.  I’m a great cook.  I love to be creative and do fun things like paint.  I’ll paint the walls in my house, even.  It relaxes me.  But tell me to clean my house and it sends me into a rage.  I kid you not.  It’s ugly.  Like green eyed, three headed monster ugly.  I’ve tried to pretend I enjoy it.  I’ve tried, thru the years to be the good wife and keep my home clean for my neat freak husband. Oh boy he is such a neat freak!!  I’ve done everything short of hypnosis to get myself to enjoy cleaning.  Unfortunately my committment issues keep me from sticking with a plan.  I failed miserably.  I’m not a good housekeeper.  There.  I’ve said it.

Last night while catching up on one of my shows my dear dear husband was slaving away in the kitchen, organizing the pantry and mopping floors.  He’s one of those people who are constantly cleaning.  When we go to dinner at someone’s house he’s the one doing the dishes after dinner while I socialize.  It just doesn’t occur to me.  I’m one of those people.  I will cook dinner for people all night long…I just don’t want to clean up after them.  I guess that’s fair.  I know people who had rather clean than cook.  Not only do my housekeeping skills leave a lot to be desired, my organizational skills and time management skills are worse.  Perhaps this has a lot to do with not having a job for 7.5 years?  I’m not a therapist, I’m not about to diagnose my own mental problems, but I do wonder if this is something that can be improved upon?

So, Scotty is in the kitchen cleaning up the mess and organizing the pantry (all labels facing forward.) When he finally comes into the study to sit down I look at him (in all seriousness, I might add) and say “Well, after 10 years of marriage I have to tell you something.”  He kind of gets the deer in the headlight look and cautiously asks me what is on my mind.   I continue, “I’m not and will never be a good housekeeper.  It’s not in me, I hate it and no matter how hard I try, I will never be good at it.  I hope you don’t expect too much b/c it just ain’t gonna happen.”  He burst into laughter.  What was I to expect, really?  The man knows me better than I know myself.  He just replied with “Am I supposed to be surprised?”

It’s one of those things that no matter how hard I try, I will never live up to  his standards of cleanliness.  I’m actually jealous of the people who can manage to keep their house clean and they can do it without their head spinning and green stuff spewing from their mouth.  But, I’ve accepted that I’m not one of those people.  I admit it and I accept it.  It’s so freeing.  It’s not an excuse to not clean.  I will still clean my house.  I don’t have to enjoy it, though.  And I don’t have to be so hard on myself from now on.  Letting my husband know that I’m aware of this and saying it out loud was so therapeutic!

I’m getting to be such a big girl!!

So what if I had to wait 8 years for a Mother’s Day this wonderful!  It was totally worth the wait!!!  Scotty never has been big on occassions of any kind.  But he changed his tune this year and has gone all out.  I’m really enjoying it and I’m not afraid to admit that. *smirky smile*

He rented this amazing, secluded log cabin surrounded by the tallest pines.  It was so serene and relaxing.  The added bonus was that it rained while we were there so we got to open all the blinds and snuggle on the sofa bed and watch it pour.  The kids preferred the Jungle Book over the rain, but it was enjoyable nonetheless, just to take the opportunity to be close as a family.  It was certainly a nice change over our fast paced lives in the city.

The kids had so.much.fun.  There was so much nature to keep them busy that they never got bored.  Scotty rented a boat on Saturday.  It was overcast, but perfect.  There wasn’t much traffic on the lake.  We took a cooler and ate our lunch on the boat, while gently rocking on the water in the boat.  The mountains were the perfect backdrop.  The scenery is breathtaking in that area.  Other than the marina and the lodging in the state park, the lake is untouched by humanity.  No houses on the lake or electricity poles littering the view.  Just beautiful.  Gorgeous.  When we got back to the cabin we relaxed in the hot tub.  This was possibly the kids favorite part.  Although the boat was really their surprise, they didn’t know what to think.  And it was cold.  Silly me forgot to pack long sleeves and long pants. We’ve had such warm weather here I didn’t consider it to be colder on the boat, but alas a cold front blew in.  Luckily we had beach towels and we used those to wrap up in while the boat was moving.  While we were sitting in the little coves the wind couldn’t get to us and we could feel the sun.  It was perfect.

We made the decision to cook every meal in the cabin and I’m so glad we did that.  Well, Scotty cooked.  I didn’t lift a finger all weekend.  Awesome, I tell ya!!!  I even took naps and slept in!!

When I woke up on Sunday morning, Scotty and the kids had prepared breakfast tacos and the sweetest little paper sack, tied with the prettiest ribbon was sitting there with 2 cards.  One from my sweet husband and one from my beautiful kids.  Inside the paper sack was a painted box with some magazine clippings of my favorite things mod podged on it.  It’s all Maddie has talked about for a week.  She was so thrilled to give it to me.  I will cherish it forever.  She also colored a pretty picture for me.  I put it inside the little box.

I love my family.  I have an amazing husband and 2 wonderful kids.  They are all so full of love for me and I’m so lucky that they are mine.  I’m blessed.  I don’t know what I did to deserve it, but I am grateful.

I’ll leave you with some of my favorite quotes from the weekend….(one of these days I will figure out how to embed pics on here)

“This is the fanciest vacation I’ve ever been on!!!”-Maddie

And my favorite….

While on a walk one night Ethan lifted his arms to the sky and proclaimed, “Now Maddie, This is Heaven.”

Mother’s Day is upon us.  I’m really looking forward to it, too.  You see, DH lost his job yesterday.  It’s not a big deal.  Really, we are fine.  He hasn’t been happy there in awhile.  The job was supposed to be temporary anyway and he’s been looking for something else for quite some time.  And he has something else lined up.  3 somethings, actually.  He just needs to meet with them again and make up his mind.  So, if you think about it, pray for us…that God shows us where He wants us.

In the meantime, Scotty has taken this time to rejuvenate and relax with his family.  I’m glad for that.  And so are the kids.  Since losing his dad a little over a month ago he has been under tremendous stress and has been complaining of chest pain and his arm tingling.  Which totally freaked me out.  I’m glad he’s home right now.  He says he’s at peace.

So, why am I excited about this weekend you might ask?  Because we are leaving this town behind for a more remote and serene location in the woods.  Just for a couple of days.  The kids don’t know and they will be so excited Friday afternoon when we pick them up from school and tell them where we are going.  Saturday they will be even more excited b/c we rented a pontoon boat to go out on the lake for a few hours and have a picnic on the water.  Remind me to take my dramamine would ya?  This will be their first time in a boat and this is GREAT b/c Ethan is currently obsessed with boats!!  Sunday we drove out to a nearby lake and had dinner on a patio overlooking the lake, watching the boats.  It was a great day.  This weekend will be even better.  I’m so excited!  What a great Mother’s Day, huh?