Ice, Ice, Baby

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Every so often an old plantar fasciitis injury flares up in one or both of my feet, so I try to prevent too much flare up by icing my feet after every run.  Lately, Eoin has taken to my routine.

When I walk in the door after a run he says "where's the bucket, mom?" So, we find the bucket and he takes it to the freezer where I dump some ice into it.  Then he carries it to the sink and I fill it up.  Then he says "Mommy needs a towel" and he gets me a beach towel from the mud room.

I sit in the recliner, put the towel down, put the bucket on top, pull my sock off my heel but leave it covering my toes, look at Eoin and say "Ready, 1, 2, 3, aahahahhahah" as I plunge my foot into the icy water.  Eoin joins me in the ahhhh part.

Here is a picture presentation of his participation during the 15 minute ice session.

Yes, he is eating the ice that my foot is in.  But don't worry, he has already had water from the hose.



Mother's Day

Meditate.
Live purely. Be quiet.
Do your work with mastery.
Like the moon, come out
from behind the clouds!
Shine
Buddha

Despite a 6:20 am wake up call by a very excited Erin and a not so gracious display of waking up by Mommy, Mother's Day turned out to be a good day.  Erin went to homestead gardens with our neighbors on Saturday and she picked out this flower for me, that she hid in the garage.  It was a BIG secret.  "It is not a flower mommy, and it is not in a pot, and it is not on the shelf".  In typical Erin fashion, she could not wait one more second for me to turn off the alarm so she could go in the garage and get the plant.   I told her to wake up Daddy and when she did he told her it was too early.  And in typical Jerry form he went back to sleep.  This resulted in about 5 wake ups by Erin, until I finally stomped to the kitchen and turned off the alarm and made my own dern coffee!!!  I quickly lost the grumblies and apologized to Erin for being so grumpy when I saw her little face light up when she gave me the flower she picked out all by herself.  While Mother's Day is just another day to me, to her it is a momentous, exciting, adventure.

Erin made this bracelet for me.  It says "mom".  "Mommy, we did not have any "m" beads so I used the u and the v upside down to make one m and a w upside down for the other."  I LOVE this.  This is a sign to me that she is a thinker, a problem solver, and very resourceful.  This makes my heart feel super happy!

These are a few of my favorite things.  Can you find them in the picture?

Coffee, hopscotch, biking, m-n-m's, tulips, swimming and running at the same time, AND Michael Jackson!

 Erin and McKenzie helping me with baby Bridgie

 Jerry's contribution!

Does not get any better than this.

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.  Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.  Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.  Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."
Mary Jean Iron

Who are you?

Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
'Cause I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

What's your story?

I have a story.  It's long, there are lots of people in it, there are some good times and some bad times, there are some downright evil parts, selfish parts, and lots and lots of human mistakes.

There is a time in my life I have titled: "It was the best of times, It was the worst of times."  This specific chapter of my life has been the single turning point in my life so far.  I could have easily chosen the self centered path and given up.  But I did not.  I made poor choices, I hurt lots of people, and did "bad" things.  But I made a choice.  A choice to grow up and take responsibility for my actions.  A choice to stand up and use my voice and try a better path.  In the words of a very humble, noble, and wonderful girl I know.  I "owned" those choices and those terrible paths.  I owned up to being wrong, dreadfully wrong.  Owned up to not knowing what the bleepity, bleep I was doing or where I was going.  I own this chapter, it is part of me, it motivates me to be better and to do better.

By nature, I am pretty quiet, introverted, and an observer.  These may be learned traits as I would say both of my parents are this way.  I don't like crowds, parties, or a lot of noise.  I like to be home.  I don't seek attention, friends, or the lime light.  I like to talk about things that matter (and this is relative of course).  I don't care about celebrities, tv shows, politics, fashion, or world events for that matter.  I care about the things that I can control and the things that are present in my daily life.

I am constantly trying to do better (which is a daunting task).  Trying to keep things simple around my house and with my kids.  My kids occupy almost all of my time.  Therefore, I can't carry on a conversation with you about Brangelina or the fact that Arnold and Maria split up.  I don't want to talk about Dancing with the Stars or Glee.  I would love to talk with you about how you are doing, what you may be struggling with, or things that you are excited about.  I want to talk about you, me, and how we are functioning in this crazy world.  I don't want surface, I don't want politically correct, I don't want what's easy.  I want real.

Everyone has a story and I want to know yours. 

Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
'Cause I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)