Every New Beginning

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the thing that redeems this latest goodbye. It's hard to say goodbye and hello in the same sentence, but that's what we did this last weekend. It's a very unique neighborhood that we have here, so it makes sense that we'd experience a unique situation or two in the mix.

As Jenny and Aaron drove away, I wiped away my tears (and Sophia's). Then I watched a very good friend walk into that very house as the new owner. Wow. Weird. It actually makes me choke up again.

So now we begin a new chapter on the street, in which Niki and JP are the proprietors of the cute corner house. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome this part is. There could have been a high-priced lottery to determine who would be the lucky neighbors of these kind, fun and easy friends. Luckily for us, Niki has had her eye on the house before she had her eye on JP. So here we are.

Welcome to the street, guys. I considered myself lucky when I was just your friend. To be your neighbor is more than I could have hoped!

Natural Friends

I think I've mentioned in the past how my college roommate, Risha, and I struck up an immediate friendship, being basically inseparable during our college years and have maintained a close friendship beyond. It seems that friendship like this may, in fact, be hereditary.

This last weekend, we went to visit Paul, Risha, Lilly and Nora at their house. We had no sooner walked in that Sophia kicked off her shoes, turned to Lilly and they ran off together with plans and giggles. We didn't see them for more than fifteen or twenty minutes at a time for the entire twenty-four hours we were all together. I didn't have to say one thing to Sophia about behavior or kindness. It was a relaxing time for all of us.

 

I feel bad for little Nora. She wants so badly to hang with the big girls, but they were just too fast, and without our supervision, which wasn't appreciated by the big girls, she couldn't participate in their big girl games. She had fun in the sun, though.

 

We adults had a great time. Seems like we ate a lot, but that seems about right. Paul prepared some excellent kebabs for us.

 

At night, we went out to take a look at the stars through Paul's telescope. The girls just ran around some more. Then slept really well.

 

I'm just grateful for easy friendships for myself and Sophia!

It's Happening Again

We are being forced to say adieu to someone else that we care about. Because we care about them, we're happy they are moving onto something awesome. But it doesn't necessarily make it any easier, now does it?

Aaron and Jenny moved onto the street less than a year after we did. They fit in instantly with our talk, action, fun, everything. Aaron does a little too much actual work in the yard, but I'm willing to overlook that because he has other qualities. Plus, he's a doctor, which has come in handy over the duration. Jenny has the most genuinely sweet spirit of pretty much anyone I know. Now, if you're thinking that you probably have a sweeter one, then clearly you don't. All that to say it's going to be difficult to say goodbye to the Grays.

 

There is no denying that we've had some pretty awesome times together over the past three years. Last night we went out together to celebrate and mourn, although we denied most of the mourning. So glad that we have such great memories with these neighbors.

 

A Few Sophisms

 

It's been a while since I wrote down any Sophisms, so I figured I better share a couple before I forget.

This morning in the van, Sophia informed me that Barney (the purple dinosaur) is a teacher because he teaches kids things like how to hug and show each other they love each other. Then she followed it with, "But I'm already really good at love." Of course I agreed because that's a true statement. "My love reaches to people all around the world..." Impressive and admirable "...except for to people I don't know yet. But once I know them, I'll love them too." A great philosophy, Sophia.

Way back on Mother's Day, we were out to lunch with Mary. Erick and Sophia were sitting across from us in a booth, and a family was sitting behind them. Normal conversation ensued. During a lull in our conversation, Sophia said, relatively loudly, "Whose mom?" I looked at Erick, who also had a questioning (albeit guilty) look on his face, and asked if they were listening to the other table's conversation. Yep. Eavesdroppers. I tried to help Sophia understand that you only listen to conversations you're involved in. Erick was (probably rightly) more concerned about making sure she didn't ask follow up questions out loud... You just have to hope the answers come in time.

The final story is actually second hand. Last week when Sophia was hanging out at Mary's, Mary suggested they go for a walk around the block. Sophia thought about it and agreed. As they passed a couple of houses, Sophia told Mary, "I don't really like to walk, but I didn't want you to leave." Of course Mary assured her that if she had stayed home from the walk, Mary would have stayed too. "Oh, well, can we go back then? I don't want to walk."


Take what you will from these stories. She is who she is and I love her. There are plenty of other stories that I will not record for posterity because they involve her stubbornness or being disrespectful. It's a phase of extremes. I just push through, working hard for patience, waiting for the brilliance of the good moments.

Home

Today is the eighth anniversary of the day that I made the best choice of my life. The day that a lot of hard work and a little craziness paid off so we could start our brand new lives together. Little did we know it was just the tip of the hard work and craziness iceberg. (And I realize that after 8 years, we've still hardly scratched the surface.)

Regardless of the craziness and challenge of life, most days (during this season of life) I feel pure joy at the fact that I get to wake up next to Erick. Well, maybe I should use a different example, because waking up in general is hardly a joyous occasion for me. You get the point... I feel more full of life and energy knowing that I have him to share it all with and yammer on to about it. This all sounds sappy, but the strangest part is that it's true. I get as excited as Sophia when he comes home, and not just because he can give me a little relief. Just because I love to be around him!

This is a great song about a love that is all joy and memories being created right in that moment. That's how I feel about our love. We have lots of silly, sad and glorious memories, but I'm usually too busy creating more to stop and think about them. Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Catching Up

I'm a little behind on the blogging of late. I'm not exactly sure why. There has been stuff going on aplenty. I have also had the time to write it down. Just no motivation, I suppose.

There have been some kiddie pool outings. There was a movie on the driveway, which will be repeated. Two big highlights of the last week were the zoo and the visit of the Stewartsville cousins. I got pictures of the animals, but not of my nephews. Oddly enough, the animals are slower and easier to catch on film. Maybe another time. My nephews are definitely cuter.

 

Here's the funny part about the zoo visit. It was hot, and it was the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. So most people with any sense stay away. Not us. Something about a sticky swarm of people makes us giddy. There is no place more ideal for people watching like a crowded zoo where parents really don't want to be there and kids want to be anywhere in the zoo but next to their parents. We had to park about a mile away (no exaggeration). That didn't stop us. We got there around noon, so people were already leaving. As they walked past us with red, sweaty, irritated countenances, I whispered to Erick that I just bet they hated us - walking in with our cheery, hopeful and not-as-sweaty exteriors. As one family walked toward the parking lot, a girl broke free and ran toward the road. The mom just put her hands in the air and said, "Well, I'm not telling you again." Since the girl stopped short of the street and wasn't hit - I laughed. There were lots of such priceless moments from people who really should have known better than to come out on a hot, crowded day when they clearly didn't like heat... or people... or animals... Anyway, it was a great time for us.

The other highlight of the week was the removal of my stitches. Dr. Perry got it all in the Mohs procedure a couple weeks ago and insists that the scar at the end of my nose will be "the best of my wounds." It's not a lot to ask for, really. At the biopsy, he thought the final toll would be around four stitches, but the growth was bigger and faster than expected, so it was seven. Still, I'm very confident in his abilities to patch up my face. Since this one grew so quickly, I'm going to have to up my visits from annually to semi-annually or even quarterly. Kind of a downer, but at least I won't have to have large chunks removed again (hopefully!). Now I know what to look for, at least on my own skin, so that should speed along this process.

Oh yeah, and I cut Sophia's hair.

 

That's the week in a nutshell. This coming weekend, we're visiting my parents in Springfield. We're all looking forward to that. It's going to feel like it's over 100 degrees there, so we may be spending lots of time indoors. Still, everyone knows we like a hot crowded town, so you never can tell.