Category Archives: Uncategorized

It’s all about the journey

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Yesterday, we had a pretty chill-day.  It’s actually incredibly difficult to force down-time when there is so much to see and do, but mother nature helped us out with a rainy start and finish to our day.  Although we did manage to sneak in a walk through town and a quick walk on the river trail in-between storms.  A little driving around and napping, too.  It was good stuff.  However, even on a “chill day”, I didn’t have to try hard to get my 10,000 steps in.

This morning started out at a brisk 57degrees and cloudy; a temperature that my brain and body are still trying to compute.  The boys were planning on heading up to hike Mt. Washington and the girls and I were going to do some shorter hikes and then it just was dreary, cold and not looking so promising.  They decided to go for it anyway.  (and at this moment, have just summitted).  They will eat their weight in pizza for sure at Fabyans.

We picked an “easy” hike up Lonesome lake trail to Lonesome Lake and to check out the huts that you can stay in.  1.6 miles.  Straight, friggin’ up.  Easy?  I don’t even believe those AT trail people and their descriptions anymore.  At one point I honestly just started praying out loud the old stand-by of “Come, Holy Spirit” with a Hail Mary to round it out because our youngest daughter was so hangry that I was about to go Mommy Dearest on her.  Fortunately, prayers don’t fail and we made it to the top with our family intact. And what a view.  Hangry passed and going down was FAR EASIER than going up—although my rear end will be talking to me later today. So….. at 1:30 p.m. and 13,000 steps already, our hikes (plural) have turned into A HIKE (singular)  and now we will clean up and explore before we pick up the boys later.  And that is A-OK.

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What an amazing world we live in.

Oh, and on the way down, we passed folks heading up to stay in the huts with full backpack gear, but the most impressive was Mama toting a toddler on her back.  I told her that she was my hero, because a practically empty teensy backpack was all this Mama could do.  Awesome!!

We all need a little more good Samaritin

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In the wake of last week’s tragedies and the terrifying level of unrest and chaos that has followed, I’ve just been processing and re-processing the events but mostly just in the way we all respond.  I’ve seen several friends just step away from social media to get a break from all the negativity and turmoil.  Others spouting crazy and radical views, but most are just trying to focus on trying a little harder to love each other.

And that is hard.

But not impossible.

Sunday’s Mass gospel (Luke 10:25-37) focuses on the story of the good Samaritan, who of the 3 men who pass by a battered man on the roadway is the least likely to help…..they are different religions, races and hated by one another and yet, this is the man that lends the healing hand.  All other things are cast aside and the Good Samaritan only sees another human in need and does what he can to help the man.  This.  This is what we need in our country and neighborhoods and homes, right now.

We don’t get to choose our skin color.

We don’t choose what country we are born into.

We don’t choose our family.

We can choose what we do with our skin color, our country, our family.

We can choose how we treat one another.

A little more good Samaritan.

 

Paralysis

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That moment when you really, REALLY need to get in gear to start packing and list-making and hotel reservation making for the upcoming vacation that starts in 3 days and you are just paralyzed.  Or under water.  Moving, but ever so slowly and hoping for momentum to build to get the train started.

But the events of the last two days….so much to process and fear really wants to just take control.  To do that though, evil wins, right?  So, we just keep on movin’ on and praying and living this life.

We may just find a cave behind the waterfalls of New Hampshire and stay.  I don’t know.  The thought is quite appealing right now.

This moment I choose to break free, to keep moving forward.  And that’s all I can do.  This moment.

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.
― Mother Teresa

Summah time

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Summer is here!  Actually we are a full 12 days into summer here in our little corner of the world.  And, we have yet to really hit any kind of routine and that’s OK.  It’s summer.  That’s the beauty of it!

For Mama and Papa, summer looks like this:  wake up in the a.m.  have coffee.  enjoy quiet time.  Make sure oldest kiddo is up for work.  Make breakfast/lunch and go to work.  That’s it.  No dragging people out of bed.  No breakfast orders.  Clothing searches.  Homework retrieval.  It’s glorious!!!

As the summer marches on, our girls will each babysit for friends and neighbors throughout the summer as well as hang with friends and our oldest daughter will be working on knocking out her first part of her online course requirement for high school.

Our sons will work.  One full-time and the other part-time and juggling beach, friends and girlfriend and working on time management skillz—a dire need and constant struggle.

Vacation is less than a month away and while we are super excited, my mind is also starting to spin a little with packing and all that stuff that goes with preparing to be away from home for 2 weeks!

It’s all good, though!  All good.  Happy summer!!

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To each his own

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We have just come off of graduation season.  And we have made it through our first of 4 (God willing!) in the next few years.  I have to tell you.  It did not look like I thought it would.  While I struggled with this in the beginning, as I processed it and opened my eyes to what was happening,  I was able to embrace it.  Slowly, I was actually able to relax in this and chuckle in the reality that our plans must be so much entertainment for God.    When we do actually step back and look at the big picture, sometimes we get a little better idea of living the plan God has in mind for us rather than struggle to keep our own agenda alive.

In these 18 (almost 19) years of parenting, I am CONSTANTLY amazed at the differences in each of our children.  There are similarities to be sure, but the differences between the kids and between us as parents has me always trying to readjust my view of life based on our kid’s perception, my husband’s perception and we ALL have a different outlook.  Isn’t that the way it is in life?  So why does this frequently catch me off guard in my own family?  The struggle of being human is real, I tell you!

Any time I am able to detach my will from any given situation it’s crazy what I can learn.  Things that I view as important to take care of RIGHT!  NOW?  Not always the case.  Emotions and hormonal struggles of the teen life?   Those require a stepping back and dusting off the brain recall of that truly tough transition in life from little kid to big kid.  Raising up humans is constant motion, assess, re-assess and alter course.  There is no black or white.  That is the constant reminder to myself; we are all different and there are many, many ways to live this life.

Bearing all this in mind, when I am able to reconcile these truths the reality is that when your kiddo has a different view on school and finishes 6 months early, graduation holds no interest for him.  Appeasing his mother for graduation pictures for announcements is a compromise.  The time to sit in graduation ceremonies will come and will come on multiple occasions but for now we sit back and watch this kid grow into a young man on a path that I never would have even imagined and  yet it just feels right for him.  Once I put my own agenda down and allowed God to take control (I’m always playing tug of war with control), my eyes were opened to yet another path and truth that God truly does have this.  These little humans are HIS.  On loan to us.  And HE does a WAY better job of taking care of them than I ever could.  And THAT is awesome.

So, Jesus, I trust in you.  Take the wheel.  I’ll try not to take it back , but we both know I will.  So have patience with me and I will continue to work on that, too.