Just Catching Up {Alternately Titled: Me in My Comfy Pants}
I just want to sit down and talk like we are friends. No
formal post, no over editing, just talking: friend to friend. Not even anything
super heavy. Just catching up, you know?
Sometimes I think in my love for words, painting pictures,
and editing, I can kind of get lost back here. I am always me, and I am always
me when I write. But
sometimes, I think you need to ditch the Sunday clothes, and put on your
metaphorical comfy pants and t-shirt and just hang.
So here's me, in my comfy clothes. (Well, the writing. That's my daughter in the picture.)
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| Mustache Mantis. |
And here’s the current happenings in my life in no
particular order:
1. My husband is now a solo deputy. Training is done. Mike is
less stressed. We have a schedule, and the same one till the end of the year. He doesn’t have to be
at work quite so early, and he has to stay over less frequently. We have the
chance to sit down and eat as a family. My husband even has time to help with
baths or dishes now. Friends, it is a beautiful thing! It feels like we can
breathe again. {Deep breathe, hold it, and exhale. Ahhhh!}
2. We are starting to get the hang of homeschooling. We have
had some rough days, and sometimes it seems like we might be a little crazy for
doing this. But I love it. I get to watch my daughter learn to read, light up
with wonder when we do a project or experiment, and let all this learning flow
into our lives. I so value this time and that I get to be so apart. I also value
things like awanas and gymnastics where I get to drop her off and have a little
time to myself or with just my son.
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| Apple-picking, Pumpkin-patching with friends. |
4. My gramps passed away a month ago. It felt like I was
grieving his death, my granny’s all over again, and the sun setting on a
generation and rising on a new one. That combined with some different changes
in my life, and I just couldn’t get many words to form, like I needed silence
to grieve—silence to feel the emptiness, the things that are no more. (I think I only made a peep or two on facebook and nothing here for
three weeks straight.) I don’t know what it is about stillness and silence, but
healing seems to be there.
I got to write up my gramps’ biography with my dad. It was
just priceless to get to go through his life and learn about him, the Great
Depression, World War 2, the Korean War, his and my granny’s love story, their
many cross-country moves… I might have known who he was, but I felt like I got
a glimpse into why he was. I can’t even tell you how proud of my heritage I was
when we showed up to the funeral and the Navy had sent a few of their officers to
honor him. My aunt was given an American
flag and Taps rang out after guns were fired. I just wanted to shout, “You did
it, Gramps! You lived and breathed. You fought and you overcame. You provided
for your family. You left behind an inheritance richer than your savings
account and property. And now you are at peace. I am proud to be your
granddaughter and so very thankful.”
5. My son wanted to wear his Thomas the Train underpants five
days ago. He’s been in underpants ever since. He’s had a few pee-pee accidents,
but he’s got it. We are over the potty training hurdle. It’s so funny though, I
think I might need to invest in a magazine rack or something because the boy
really likes going to the bathroom and taking his sweet time. This morning we had the certified teacher
over to check in on us (with the charter school) and Jed decided that was the
time to go… for 20 minutes, shouting his play-by-play from the bathroom the
entire time. Your welcome CT teacher for all the TMI going on in our house this
morning.
Besides bedtime, there are no more diapers in this house. (Shout
it with me: YAY!) But for some reason that seems very strange… like I need
another baby. {My husband doesn’t agree (yet).} :)
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| Overalls on my Jed. Swoon. |
6. I am bursting at the seams with all kinds of posts I want
to share, maybe even a series or two.
October and November might have more posts than normal, folks. (Did you notice this is the 3rd post this week?! That hasn't happened in months.) And I am excited about it. I sorta love this writing thing, this
organizing of thoughts, this key-tapping word-dance between me and my Friend
Jesus.
I also love connecting with you all. I can’t even tell you
how much richer my life is because of this beautiful blogging community. Thank you!
So, what's going on with you? Chat with me in your comfy pants in the comments? :)
By Grace,
Amanda Conquers