First Weekend of October

The first weekend of October has always been exciting, ever since 2002, when I went into labor on what is known in Louisville as St. James Day, the opening day of the St. James Court Art Fair. Now, this weekend always holds a day off for me, to be able to attend the art fair, Davey's birthday party (this year at Incredible Dave's) and, now, the past 2 years, we have the Light the Night walk on Saturday night. Davey is going with me to the art fair, a little mommy- son bonding.

The best thing about this weekend is that my parents will get to meet Jimmy, my boyfriend (how weird to be 37 and calling someone that), at the movies tomorrow night. My mom has already said, "How could we NOT like him? He makes you so happy!" I love my parents! They are so supportive of me all the time. Isn't it amazing that even as an adult I need my parents' love and validation! I think everyone will like everyone, because I have impeccable taste!

Have a great fall!!

Living in the Spirit

Not that I want to seem preachy, but a couple things happened this weekend that made me feel even more faithful, or better, faith-filled.

I watched "Fireproof", a movie that I had vaguely heard of about a year ago, but had never seen. I watched the DVD last night and was moved. I think all couples need to see it together and see what conversations it starts and what changes it makes in even the most solid relationships. Don't think you will be seeing an Oscar Award winner, though... Spielberg, it is not. It will go down as one of my "must see" movie recommendations.

Second, at church this morning, the homily was delivered by Deacon Chuck Bent, a man who went to visit David in the hospital and brought tea or coffee each time. He spoke about how he knows God is real because of what he has experienced in his life. All the opportunities that have presented themselves when he needed them, with regard to jobs, moves, guidance. I have felt the same way over the past year, thinking about the people who have come into my life and offered comfort, caring, support, even just some distraction from "real life" for a few hours. I think about how, so many years ago, when I was saying, "Do we HAVE to go to Kentucky, AGAIN?!?!?", my parents bought land here to live on in their retirement. David was being recruited for a job with Tricon in Dallas, only to end up applying for a job in Louisville, so we could be closer to my parents. David deciding after being married to me for 10 years, to go through the RCIA program and become Catholic. Little did we know that, after making it through 2 colon re-sectionings, an ostomy and a great many doctor visits, we were about to face another medical challenge and the toughest fight we could imagine. As we have heard many times, "the Lord works in mysterious ways." I believe the Spirit, God, the Lord, whatever you choose to call it, had a plan for us to be here in Louisville when we faced the diagnosis of lymphoma. We were led to be here, to be surrounded by our community in our jobs, our neighborhood, our church and being close to my parents as Davey, Max and I went into survival mode. We have come through it well, I think, at least so far. We wouldn't be doing as well as we are if it hadn't been for friends, faith and my family! God knew what we needed and, even though I questioned things along the way ("Why did we move away from everything and everyone we know to go to Kentucky for a job?"), moving here was the best thing for us. We, now I, am raising the boys in an environment that is reflective of the priorities David and I had for our children: to be kind, intelligent, caring, respectful, faith-filled young men who are mindful of others' needs, act charitably, think about the impact and influence their words and actions have on others and know how to be unselfish. This community offers the support we need as parents to do all this and more. I am surrounding myself and my boys with other families with the same priorities and I know God had control in making that happen.

I hope I haven't offended anyone, but, if I have, perhaps a little reminder of how the gifts in your life came to be there was just what you needed!

This week, we will be going on an adventure to Florida to celebrate the life of my grandmother, Maxene, with my extended family. Please send some prayer our way. Family gatherings of this size, even without the aspect of losing a loved one, can be interesting, to say the least.

May you let the Spirit work in your life this week... see where it takes YOU!!

A Little Funny Story

Tena informed me that this story was "blogworthy".... so her is a little humor, 3 year old style.

At the football game last Saturday, our first high school game, Max and Davey were playing "got your nose" and I heard off to my right,

"Got your nose!" (Davey)

"Got YOUR nose." (Max)

"Nope, got yours!" (Davey)

"Got your penis!" (Max)

This made for one embarrassed Mommy! But, also for a few laughs!

A Very Fun and Full Weekend...

Whew, we had a very busy weekend! The weather was pretty good, not humid and not hot. We spent time with friends, both new and old. We have so many awesomely supportive friends, many of whom asked for updates on our "goings on" this weekend through the many technologies available nowadays.

That being said, I had reached a point where I had to upgrade my cell plan to include texting back in May, and now have increased it to 1500 per month. I am becoming quite a fan of texting!! I know, I know, "Welcome to 2009, Jen!"

One of the highlights of our weekend was the first high school football game last night. We went to see North Oldham High play Moore High. We stayed for the first 3 quarters and Max got very wiggly and Davey got too bored. It was a fun experience even though it had been drizzling earlier and the bleachers were wet.

Today, after church, we went to lunch with a group of friends we typically join for lunch on Sunday. Then the boys wanted to go to the playground, then off to the grocery store, then home for some down time. Tonight, we took a picnic out to an area of green space in Anchorage (part of Louisville, for those who are unfamiliar) to hear a band that 3 friends from church are members of. They are called DNR. Two of the members are a couple who are both physicians, a cardiologist and a doctor of integrated medicine/ hormone therapy. I doesn't seem fair that they can be nice, musically talented AND doctors! They play music from the 190s through the 1990s, with the very occasional song from this millennium. Our picnic consisted of crab cake sandwiches, strawberries, potato chips and drinks. It was a fantastic evening.

This week holds the St. Margaret Mary Open House, my book group is meeting for dinner and, I hope, a couple of trips to the gym for me, since I found myself too busy last week to go at all!

Wishing my "bleaders" (that's Blog Readers, according to Julie Powell, author of Julie and Julia) an excellent week!

A Few Random Things....

Davey spent the last week of summer with my parents at Camp Googey and DadDad. He learned how to swim without a lifevest or floaties. I told him in June that he needed to either learn to swim or ride a 2 wheeler without training wheels before the end of summer. So, he did it!! He is so excited and proud of himself!

You may remember that Mary, David's sister, had a little girl at 28 weeks. Things seem to be going well, but please keep them both in your prayers.

I also ask for your prayers for my friend, Tena, and her family. Back in early June, her dad was diagnosed with very aggressive cancer and he has been in and out of the hospital fighting very hard. As of today, he is off the ventilator and feisty as ever.

My nephew, J.T., started kindergarten yesterday. He had a great day and wants to go back.

We went to "Meet the Teacher" day on Monday. Davey is excited about being a first grader and got the teacher he wanted. Tomorrow is the big day. I am ready for us all to be back on a schedule.

We will have to be making another (quick) trip to Florida next month for my grandmother's Celebration of Life. She was a really neat lady, as any of you all who met her will attest to. She lived life to the fullest and completed everything on her "bucket list". I hope to be able to say that when my time comes. She had her memorial service all planned out and all we have to do is make it happen, complete with jazz band on the catamaran playing the songs she chose. We will have the chance to see a lot of family that we don't see very often (some I saw last August, here in Louisville). Another chance for my boys to get to see their favorite cousin, J.T.

Every day, I am reminded of 2 things my grandmother tried to instill in me in the past couple years: "Happiness is an inside job." and "We plan, God laughs." Too true! We may THINK we are in control, and then something happens to remind us otherwise!

Well, I should get to bed, since tomorrow is a big day! Looking forward to a GREAT weekend!!

A Happy New Year... of sorts

I feel like I braced myself for a big storm and there was just a few days of heavy rain, some showers and some days of drizzle. Now that I am on the other side of the Anniversary, I can say that it was not as bad as I expected and that this August is MUCH better than last.

My parents hosted a party for many of our most supportive friends. It was fun to see so many from all areas of our lives, school, church, work, neighborhood, to name a few. We celebrated, cried, laughed and swapped David stories. Again, we are so fortunate!

I went back to work for good this morning. I have worked a total of 11 days during the summer, doing transition and First Steps meetings, attending and presenting professional development sessions... It was great to see some of my favorite coworkers, catch up from the summer, have lunch together and ease into the new school year. I will have 4 teachers that I haven't worked with before and 4 that I worked with in the past. I already know some of the kiddos on my caseload, so that makes prepping for the new year a little easier.

Davey is again at Camp Googey and DadDad. So far, they have harvested and eaten fresh produce from my dad's garden, gone swimming and done some puzzles. I can't wait to hear tomorrow about the next adventures! Weeks like this allow Max and I to have time that we don't usually have with just the 2 of us. Usually, it is Davey that I get one on one time with since he is up later. I have enjoyed getting to spend quality time with him, letting him be the center of my attention.

I am looking forward to lots of exciting things to come in the next year. I am optimistic and think there are a lot of possibilities out there. Davey and I have speculated a little in the past week or so about the new school year... new friends, new teacher, harder work, etc. Not only true in the world of first grade, but also in the real world, too.

Please continue to pray for my friend Tena and her family as they battle her dad's cancer and also for David's sister, Mary, who had a little girl a couple weeks ago- 12 weeks premature.

Have a fantastic week!!!

I got an email today from a dear friend with this in it. It is worth sharing!

"Life is too short to wake up with regrets.
Love the people who treat you right.
Forget about the ones who don't.
Believe everything happens for a reason.
If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands.
If it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy.
They just promised it would be worth it."