Thursday, November 25, 2010

Gobble, Gobble

I -- of course -- haven't been as good about my grand return to the blogging world. Regardless, I am here with the best of intentions.
I think back on the many (and the "many" is getting exponentially bigger with each year) Thanksgiving's past. Back to the hand print turkey's that we all did in school. The Pilgrim outfits that each of you wore at some point in your fall presentations. The dioramas of the landing of the Mayflower -- and trust me, never a more sea-worthy boat was crafted than the Popsicle stick creation that I spent hours over in 3rd or 4th grade. All the way through the night-before-bar-hopping insanity that each of us enjoyed (in excess) the night before Turkey day and creating some seriously hung-over Thanksgiving mornings.
My watching of the Macy's parade while knocking out apple pies -- killer apple pies I might add -- and its my blog, so I will add.

And then of course, the exercise of what we are "thankful" for. When you are little its the simple things..
I am thankful that I have my own room
I am thankful that I don't have to walk my sister to school anymore
I am thankful my parents didn't know that we cut my friends hair behind the house
You get the idea.

And then you come around to playing like an adult. And doing all the things that you  **thought** would be cool. Like your own place (and paying rent and utilities), staying out as late as you want (and paying for a night out), wearing whatever you want (and paying for all your own clothes) and eating whenever and whatever you want (and realizing that ramen at $2.00 a pack is a heck of a deal).

Now - I am wiser, a few pounds heavier, bank account a little more stable and still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. And here is what I am thankful for this year...and there has been a lot in the last few years.
My beautiful children. I can't imagine a world that they are not a part of. And as crazy as they make me some days -- and they can push me to the teetering, edge of sanity -- my days are better with them in them.
My amazing husband (and yes, its still weird to type that). We have had our fair share of ups and downs. But I am so proud of the man he has become and the goals he is working every day to achieve. He makes me laugh, balances my type-A tendencies and keeps me sane.
My family -- the immediate and extended. Your willingness to stay on this crazy roller coaster ride we call life has been amazing. Your generosity is overwhelming, as is your invaluable support.
Our friends - we have a large and spread out group that supports us every day. Blessed. That is the only word.

And for those of us that are not here anymore -- the list grows sadly longer with the passing years. But the traditions and examples you have set continue each year and we relish the opportunity to pass them on to future generations.
I didn't think it was possible to miss my mom more than when she passed away - but I do. Now having a family of my own, there are so many conversations I always envisioned having with her. The advice that she should be able to give me when the two year old throws a fit because he can't take his fruit snacks into the bathtub with him.
And lets not kid ourselves, the buttons that she always managed to push. She was great at that too.

So make sure to take a few minutes today in the flurry of driving over the river and through the woods. As you sit across the table for what may be your 2nd or 3rd dinner, contemplating where in your stomach you are going to find room. And enjoy the moment. That is what today is all about.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Monday, November 01, 2010

Parental Physics

I am not a science person. Never have been. I mean, I have a history degree with an English minor, so that should tell you something about where my strengths lie.
So it comes as little to no surprise, that I am struggling these days to understand some pretty basic concepts.
Key among them -- time.
I mean, I am not a total momo -
60 seconds in a minute
60 minutes in an hour
24 hours in a day

I get these concepts.
But here is where my knowledge of time is being challenged lately. I mean, I used to think that time was funky - I had days at work when I swore the sun was moving backwards a day would move so slow. But now its these sorts of things...
A child screaming for only 10 minutes will feel like 10 hours
A quick 15 minute trip to the store now takes an hour with two kids and requires you to be able to dead-lift like, 100 pounds with all the crap of theirs that you have to cart around.
The hour between you getting out the shower and getting out of the door is something akin to about 5 minutes when you think about it.

And yet - through all of this, the lump sum total of these time oddities is that overall, time is moving at such an accelerated pace that yesterday it was Christmas. Today is Thanksgiving and tomorrow your kids will be celebrating their 18th birthday.
I don't get how time works.
Like, I need to call on Stephen Hawkins to explain it. Yep - in a conversation with the pre-eminent astro-physicist of the last 2 or 3 generations, it would go something like this....
"Professor Hawkins, can you explain to me why when it comes to my children small segments of time seem to move at exponential slower time frames, yet the overall time period moves faster than anything I have ever experienced?"
And he would respond with something like
"In the atomic nature of the speed of light, the time and space continuum progresses exponentially faster than a single nuclear molecule in orbit "
And what I would hear would be "blah, science, science, blah, science"
And my response would be "In all fairness Professor Hawkins, I have no idea what you just said. If you ever should want to know how to change a diaper while simultaneously breastfeeding, talking on the cell phone and making a nutritional dinner of macaroni and cheese in the microwave - then I am your girl. However, your explanation made less sense to me than my 21 month old talking to our cat."

And that is how I see any one on one time with one of the greatest minds of our times going.
This means, clearly, I have lost perspective. And with it, all sense of time.

Now Watching: Game 5 of the World Series.