Snow, Hail, Sunshine...

I have been having a great few weeks! I am cautiously optimistic about this though. The last few times I got overzealous about feeling good, I crashed pretty hard soon after. I spent the first week or so tentatively feeling about my limits - can I skip a nap, walk up the hill instead of drive, get more than one chore done per day? In my flair-ups, if I tried any of these things during a good spell, I'd crash immediately after. So you can see why I was a little hesitant to push anything to far.

So far, I haven't tanked out. I have been pushing a little farther each day. I started working out at the gym, and swimming up at the pool. (I figure I should probably get myself into shape for that triathlon and bike ride...) I have been doing laundry and cleaning my house. Those are things I haven't done in months! I know you're probably getting a great mental image after that last statement, but fortunately, we've had many, many generous and wonderful people helps us out this last year. Even with the laundry and house cleaning.

So now that I have been plugging along for the last few weeks and seemingly making progress, I am upgrading myself from cautiously optimistic to hopefully excited. And that leads me to the title of this post.

We've had the wackiest weather here in the Northwest lately. Yesterday, the morning started out dark and gloomy, and at one point, it actually snowed for a bit. Not too long after that, we had a 45 minute long hail shower. It was actually kind of pretty (until you stuck your nose out in it and got frost bit!). I had the whole day pegged in my mind. It was a stay indoors and lament the loss of Spring sort of day.

But then, just when I had given up the idea of venturing outside, the sun peeked out. An hour later, the sky was the most beautiful, clear blue with a scattering of fluffy white clouds. And the best part, when you stepped outside, it wasn't cold anymore. It was that sink into your skin all the way down to your bones kind of warmth that you can only get from finding that perfect spot in the sun. The kind of warm sunniness that makes me think cats may be the smartest of us all.

So next time I do have a flair-up, and it seems like it's lasting forever, I'll remember the way that sun felt. I felt it warmer and deeper and more clearly because I was coming out of the hail and snow.

Words of Wisdom

Last evening, I walked into the dining room and interrupted a long standing ritual between my husband and my eldest son. It's certainly not the worst thing in the world, but this particular ritual I could live without. It bothers me on several levels, but mostly it's visceral. The boys apparently get a very big kick out of removing the belly button lint out of their dad's navel...

This has been going on for a while. I don't know when it started, but I suspect it had been going on for some time before I became aware. The testosterone faction of the clan knows how eeewwwwy I find some of their male bonding activities, and they try to spare me for the most part. And I can live with that.

Unfortunately for me, this time I stepped right into the middle of this age-old tradition. (Well, age-old to a seven year old...)

And this time, they caught me making my 'I can't believe I share a house and toilet with these heathens' face. I tried to stop it, but it all happened so fast. You try keeping your nostrils from flaring, your lips from twisting all funny and your tongue from sticking out at the same time you try to keep gagging noises from popping out of your mouth. It's HARD! That's a lot of concentrating!

I reacted, and instead of getting annoyed with me like they usually do when I interrupt these bizarre rituals, Big Guy turned to me and said in the voice of a Jedi master, "Mom. You have to understand the joy of the fuzz."

And then he wandered off.

So today, with all the chaos and chores and rushing around, I leave you with this. Stop what you are doing, take a deep breath, and take a moment to understand the joy of the fuzz.

Whatever that means.

But we might fall in looove!

Okay, so posting this online is the sort of thing that will get me in serious trouble when the boys start showing serious interest in girls. Well, more serious than what they show now... Ok, I guess that's not saying much Anyway, it's also the sort of thing that will have lovely blackmail points for when they start showing serious interest in girls...

hee hee hee

That warning/disclaimer/teaser out of the way, I can now relate to you the following conversation which was overheard by a mom friend of mine. My son (who will remain nameless in order to ensure equal opportunity privacy or blackmail, depending on how you look at it) was a little late for class. When Doodle Bug arrived, he was greeted so enthusiastically by his friends, one in particular, that he blurted out, "That's enough! Any more and I will just fall in looove with you! And I am WAY too young to fall in love!"

Hilarity aside, I love how they are so free to show how much they care for each other. My son consistently greets his friends with hugs and kisses, proclamations of love, and other joyous exclamations. If I were a bit more effusive with my feelings, I wonder what the response would be? Maybe I should let people know more often how much I appreciate them, miss them, love them, or what have you. Maybe I should do it without the full bodied invasion of personal space that seems to go over in my son's world though.

Any one who has been near a four year old knows exactly what I mean.

Jelly-legged quivering heap of goo! FUN!

So for all of you who don't yet know (probably all of you, knowing me), I have signed up for the Danskin Triathlon AND the 175 mile MS bike ride (not to do at the same time! I'm not totally crazy!)

I won't say I am biking to help MS like so many other people say. I would rather bike to help get RID of MS. Honestly, I think MS is getting all the help it needs all on its lonesome. It doesn't need anymore help. It needs a good, old kung fu kick to the tushy is what it needs! I want MS to feel like I'm sure I'll feel at the end of the ride.

So if you want to help MS, help it feel like a jelly-legged quivering heap of goo that is, check out my page at the MS society.

And oh yeah, support my ride!

Thanks!