Happy Ending to January 2018
Well, January was fun! If the rest of the year goes along as January did, I'll not be sad.
Monday my youngest turned 19. While memories of the day he was born have blurred around the edges, I still remember being in the delivery room, way beyond ready to give birth to the little guy who was nearly two weeks overdue, and feeling incredible relief once the ordeal ended. This guy came into the world at ten pounds nine ounces. A big boy. My doctor had estimated him in the nine pound range before all the action began, so I decided to go with a natural childbirth since I'd delivered Funny Delightful Son naturally, and he'd weighed in at just over nine pounds. I figured I could do it again. I did, but it wasn't fun by any stretch of the imagination. Thankfully, all turned out just fine, and that big boy is now a tall, lanky young man who can't get enough to eat.
The four of us went out to eat for Angel Baby's birthday dinner. He absolutely hates going anywhere that might give me the opportunity to tell the wait staff it's his birthday and they end up singing to him. Just hates it! So much so that he initially said no to a birthday dinner out. We kept pressuring him, though, and he finally relented, choosing a place he knew had no wait staff to sing Happy Birthday to him.
From there we visited a game store downtown so he could pick out a new board game as a birthday gift. He selected Small World, which is basically a combination of D&D and Risk. When we returned home, we settled in around the table and played into the evening. The goal is to take land and make money, the one with the most money in the end wins. I focused more on invading and conquering, so I didn't make much money along the way. I did, however, enjoy amassing my Skeletons and slaughtering whoever was in my way!
Spending the entire evening with my kids has become our routine these days. Most often, whoever begins cooking dinner is like a signal that everyone should gather in the kitchen for the evening. We sit at the table, talking and sharing our days. Even after dinner, we just sit and talk, with a lot of laughter thrown in. Many evenings, I look over at the clock once we begin clearing the dishes and cleaning up, and it'll be after 9 pm. Hours have passed but it always feels like minutes.
Today marks 8 months into our year of figuring things out. Four months remain for the lease of the house, and I know in a month or so I'll have to make a decision about staying in this place or finding another. It's looking more and more like Lovely Beautiful Daughter will be heading off, most likely to a larger city which is her preference, and Funny Delightful Son will be transferring to a four-year university a few hours away. It'll be just Angel Baby, me, and Ado. We don't need the big house we're in, but I absolutely love it and the location. I really don't want to leave it, but I keep thinking I should find something smaller. The next month or so will be a lot of thinking through the best course of action.
In the meantime, I'm going to focus on spending every available moment possible with these three young people who have helped me through these past few months. Before I know it, they'll be setting off and my evenings will become much quieter. I'm not sure I'm ready for that.
Monday my youngest turned 19. While memories of the day he was born have blurred around the edges, I still remember being in the delivery room, way beyond ready to give birth to the little guy who was nearly two weeks overdue, and feeling incredible relief once the ordeal ended. This guy came into the world at ten pounds nine ounces. A big boy. My doctor had estimated him in the nine pound range before all the action began, so I decided to go with a natural childbirth since I'd delivered Funny Delightful Son naturally, and he'd weighed in at just over nine pounds. I figured I could do it again. I did, but it wasn't fun by any stretch of the imagination. Thankfully, all turned out just fine, and that big boy is now a tall, lanky young man who can't get enough to eat.
The four of us went out to eat for Angel Baby's birthday dinner. He absolutely hates going anywhere that might give me the opportunity to tell the wait staff it's his birthday and they end up singing to him. Just hates it! So much so that he initially said no to a birthday dinner out. We kept pressuring him, though, and he finally relented, choosing a place he knew had no wait staff to sing Happy Birthday to him.
From there we visited a game store downtown so he could pick out a new board game as a birthday gift. He selected Small World, which is basically a combination of D&D and Risk. When we returned home, we settled in around the table and played into the evening. The goal is to take land and make money, the one with the most money in the end wins. I focused more on invading and conquering, so I didn't make much money along the way. I did, however, enjoy amassing my Skeletons and slaughtering whoever was in my way!
Spending the entire evening with my kids has become our routine these days. Most often, whoever begins cooking dinner is like a signal that everyone should gather in the kitchen for the evening. We sit at the table, talking and sharing our days. Even after dinner, we just sit and talk, with a lot of laughter thrown in. Many evenings, I look over at the clock once we begin clearing the dishes and cleaning up, and it'll be after 9 pm. Hours have passed but it always feels like minutes.
Today marks 8 months into our year of figuring things out. Four months remain for the lease of the house, and I know in a month or so I'll have to make a decision about staying in this place or finding another. It's looking more and more like Lovely Beautiful Daughter will be heading off, most likely to a larger city which is her preference, and Funny Delightful Son will be transferring to a four-year university a few hours away. It'll be just Angel Baby, me, and Ado. We don't need the big house we're in, but I absolutely love it and the location. I really don't want to leave it, but I keep thinking I should find something smaller. The next month or so will be a lot of thinking through the best course of action.
In the meantime, I'm going to focus on spending every available moment possible with these three young people who have helped me through these past few months. Before I know it, they'll be setting off and my evenings will become much quieter. I'm not sure I'm ready for that.
Comments
"may your walls joy;
may each room hold laughter,
and may every window open to great possibility..."
The house is a little more than I want to pay in rent, but it is doable. Unless another wonderful house in a wonderful spot that is a bit cheaper comes along, I'm going to stay here.