My days are usually filled with
tasks, travels, and sometimes surprises. Today was no different.
It began with finding clothes to
wear, a task that has become less than encouraging of late. After that, Kalina,
Byron, and I made a hasty exodus from the garage—in the car, that is; Byron
arrived on the scene last, as his backpack had been removed from a recliner and
“hidden” from his immediate view, causing him to spend extra time looking for
it (he could’ve just asked his wife to begin with, right?).
After dropping Kalina at school, we
continued on to Chemeketa Community College (where Byron sort of lives these
days)—this morning it seemed so far
away. Byron kissed me from the sidewalk as I stood by the curb and made some
joke about whether I liked much taller men. Then it was my turn to get in the
driver’s seat—which I always have to scoot forward, followed by readjusting the
rearview mirror.
I was tired (not to mention grumpy) this morning from self-induced
sleep deprivation and honestly had a very difficult time keeping my eyes open
on some stretches of the road. I think I looked a bit like this cat.
I arrived home safely, where Josiah was still sleeping—and I had the “pleasure”
of waking him so he could get ready for a doctor’s appointment. Not an easy task this morning. Amidst
lunch-making, dishwasher loading and unloading, and thinking ahead to whether
or not Josiah would have time to eat some kind of a breakfast (it was pretty
quickly clear that he wouldn’t) before leaving the house, I had to keep
hounding this teenage boy to get moving so we would not be late. Admittedly,
that made me feel a bit grumpier than I already was.
Next stop—Silverton. We have gone to Dr. Larson
for about fourteen years and love the care and personal connection he provides—otherwise,
Silverton is stinkin’ far away! The
appointment was at 9:40. We pulled into the parking lot at 9:37. Nothing like
living on the edge (but at least it was the right side of the edge this time).
All was well, and less than an hour
later—after a brief stop at DQ for a free cup of ice water for the boy who
claimed to be dying of thirst—we were
on our way back to [larger] civilization. And this meant heading south—to Turner,
where Josiah attends Crosshill Christian School (with many of the same kids he’s
known since preschool, I might add).
Before leaving this morning, I had
put a copy of what we were hoping would be approved by his Language Arts
teacher as “dramatic reading” material for the upcoming in-house speech meet
(to qualify for the larger ACSI meet). Our first attempt hadn’t met muster, and
time was running short. Since Josiah had already missed Language Arts, he didn’t
know when he’d see the teacher, so I assured him I’d get the material to her,
which of course I did. It met with her approval; the question remained—how long would it take to read? But I
estimated it had to be pretty on-the-mark for the required three- to
five-minute time frame.
Before leaving the school, I got a call from Kristiana, who was in a chatty mood. Getting on the road could certainly wait a few minutes. This girl needed to talk, and I was delighted to pause for a bit and listen to what she had to say. (These are the moments we look back on and are always glad about.)
En route to home I received a text
message from Byron saying he was done for the day (Thursday is lab day, so it
always depends). So back to Chemeketa I went. I’ve begun to feel like I should
be getting some kind of special treatment for frequenting the place so much—honorary
studenthood or something. Or my own parking spot!
Byron began telling me things about
his class—which mostly went up in smoke somewhere above my already foggy and
disgruntled brain. I tried to rest my eyes a bit on the ride home, but that’s
always hard for me when Byron’s driving—just a fact.
After Byron hit the road for work, I
had some lunch, checked Facebook messages, and took my Lexulous turns. I exchanged some texts with Kalina and
my friend Amy. And I felt so tired. But
I knew Josiah was going to probably want certain clothes for his Jesus Culture
conference trip—so I made myself do laundry. (And I also took medicine for a
headache I had developed.) Finally, I figured I may be able to sleep for close
to an hour before Josiah got home (he receives a ride most afternoons from the
Garland family—such a blessing, considering our one-car family limitations),
certainly not an everyday occurrence but very much needed on this day.
I was in the middle of a dream in which
people were dancing, and I’m pretty sure I
was actually twirling around in some kind of fancy get-up when a voice cut
through that didn’t seem to match the venue—“Mom? Mom, where are you?” It was
Josiah, of course—and his searching tone snapped me back to reality. I had
turned the alarm off ten minutes or so beforehand, thinking I’d just lie there
a few more minutes—but I had fallen asleep again—and quite soundly so, I might
add.
I got myself in gear (with a much
better mood than before), checking in with Jos regarding his day, timing the
speech (which we found needed to be somewhat edited, in the abbreviatory sense—yes, I just made that word up), and
proceeding with laundry duties. After Kalina got home, about twenty minutes
later, pinochle became the top priority. We played a game (which I won), and
then Kalina decided to completely rearrange, clean, and reorganize her room—right
down to sending stuff to Goodwill. Josiah, who loves organizing for people, got
involved with helping her. He was in his element—packing for his trip would
have to wait.
While the kids were busy, I was
busy too—folding laundry, sorting recycling
stuff, re-sorting Kalina’s stuff (to
see if any items would be good candidates for our church clothing ministry),
and beginning dinner. I had decided earlier that tonight would be easy-peasy,
Marie Callender’s lasagna and Pepperidge Farm five-cheese Texas toast.
Packing began around 7:30 and officially
ended just before 10:00. And this is the first real chance—or at least “functional
brain” opportunity—I’ve had to write today.
One thing I tend to do throughout
the day—and today was no exception—is pray. I also tend to think…a lot. And
sometimes those thoughts actually come out of my mouth. I often think to
myself, I sound like a crazy person.
But it’s just me being me and processing my thoughts. And I think a great deal
about the people I love.
Of course, I’ve left out a few
details—like feeding cats, answering the phone (to the voice of some bill
collector-type individual who was looking for someone I’ve never heard of in my
life), reading part of my Bible Study Fellowship notes while waiting for Byron
to emerge from his school building, and taking out trash. Many of my thoughts
today bounced around what I should be
doing, or things I’ve been putting off yet very much intending to do. Such is the story of my life.
At the end of each day, I try to
review in my mind some important things I’ve accomplished. Today, I’d say that
spending time with my kids was paramount—and along with that, encouraging
Josiah about the fun that awaits him at Jesus Culture, in spite of the massive
amount of people attending (a prospect that doesn’t thrill him; but he seems to
be taking it in stride).
As I looked around my house today
in the course of my tasks, I saw projects waiting to happen and kept checking
my mental box that says “that’ll have to wait.” Yes, the back burner gets
pretty crowded sometimes, but I feel good about my front burner efforts today,
seeing to the needs of the children God has blessed me with. And I encourage
you to take a similar accounting.
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