Take Five Friday

1. I have had three people in the past two days ask me what is up with my blog, why I haven't been updating. I apologize. And trust me when I say I am doing you a favor: Do you REALLY want to hear me say, "It's really hot and dry here and we don't really like it so far..." every single day? I didn't think so!

2. It HAS been really hot and dry here. Like 100 and up for a month. We have cabin fever, only in the summer instead of the winter. We have only had one vehicle since we have been here, which has presented some logistical issues.

3. We live five miles off base, but then Chuck has another 10 miles across base to his actual work place. Not all that easy to zip home if we need the car, and the prospect of getting up at 0500 to take him wasn't all that appealing, either. If, you look up the definition of "morning person" in the dictionary, MY picture will NOT be there!

So, this week, we finally got a second vehicle. It's a pretty nice little pick-up, a 2000 Ford Ranger, super cab, that will do well on gas AND haul our camping stuff. We're all pretty exicted. Me especially since, "I got my car back! I. got. my. car. back!" I sing as I do my happy dance.

4. Chuck and I FINALLY went on a date last Saturday. We went to lunch and movie and had uninterrupted adult conversation! It was REALLY nice. Between trying to get settled and his work schedule, this was a much needed respite. AND we found a sitter that actually interacted with the boys, played games, the house wasn't trashed when we got home and the boys loved her. THAT is a big bonus!

5. We went to a membership appreciation dinner at the club on base and they were giving away FREE (nice) backpacks loaded with school supplies to the kids. I was SO excited...that stuff adds up! I jokingly say that we spend their college tuition on school supplies, events, fund raisers and projects, so I am NOT too proud to take anything free!

Take Five Fridays

May Day! May Day! It is finally May! While April is a "short" month, it seemed as though it went on and on and on! Even with a holiday, April was a very. long. month. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I knew, that on May 1st, I could finally say, "Chuck will be home in ONE month!" Not that it's been a long year or anything, no, not at all...

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Speaking of Chuck, it would be remiss to not mention that today is the feast day of St. Josephy the Worker. Chuck's patron saint is St. Joseph, and the two are both so alike in work ethic and loyalty and love to family. But the way that I think Chuck is the most like Joseph is the spirit of humility and generosity in which he goes through life. Happy St. Joseph's Day!

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And now that we're in May, Monday will start the countdown of 4 weeks until he is home. Four weeks left to get the house purged, organized and ready for packers. I've gotten some of it done, but I prefer to wait until later (like the boys' bedrooms), otherwise I have to do it all over again. In the craziness that is our life, Chuck will be home June 1, pack out 3-5 AND have the house inspection clean for our deposit on the evening of the 5th so that we can be on the road to our next assignment in CA on the 6th.(God willing, we still don't have packers officially through the Air Force, and they don't always check in with God!) 2300 miles... in the car, with the boys, and the dog and the cat. Someone is going to end up like Aunt Edna on Vacation duct taped to the top of the car before we get there. Chuck admits that, "Yes, this WILL be a long hard road trip, but eventually, maybe after a week or two, we'll all start talking to each other again!"

*****

I really, really love the four seasons that Ohio has to offer. It has been 25 years since I have lived somewhere that offers the real beauty and colors of four normal seasons.

It was great last summer when it didn't get so hot that no one could even go outside. The boys really enjoyed being out and hanging with friends vs. the sweat-bath sauna summers that Turkey and NC had to offer.

Fall was SO beautiful. While I am excited to move to our next place and be together as a family again, I am going to miss a real northern fall, with all the colors that offers. Well, here's a description in an essay that was published over at Catholic Exchange.

We liked the snow, for about the first two snowfalls, and then realized that with snow come shovels, and people that have to use them. Of course we had 28" above normal this year. Boy do I know that, I shoveled every inch! We did enjoy the three weeks Chuck could be home for the holidays and the maple sugaring we went to in February.

Now we have an intense and bright green that spring offers. The trees in our neighborhood create a canopy of hope, while our inner little world is speckled with violet and yellow daffodils and red tulips and misty rains and thunderstorms and the laughter of children playing outside in the warmth of sunshine.

Yes, I am going to miss four seasons. But I miss Chuck more.

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Yesterday when I picked up Jaden after school it was raining. When he came running to the car, the look on his face was one of pure joy and happiness that can only be found on a boy who is content to live in the moment and celebrate the splashing of warm rain on his arms and face. How many adults feel that same gleeful exuberance when we have to go out in the rain? Our kids are little reminders that happiness is often a choice in how we look at things. We can meet life's rains with grumbling and umbrellas, or we can embrace them and celebrate what it offers right now, in this very moment.