Archives for July 2015

A Letter To My Pumpkin on Her 10th Birthday

Dear Pumpkin,

Ten years ago this morning I can tell you exactly what was on television: baseball and syndicated episodes of Mork & Mindy. I’m not sure how on earth there was baseball on television – we arrived at the hospital sometime around 4 a.m. and you were born before 6 a.m. – but there was baseball. Somehow. This morning, there will be no baseball or Mork & Mindy, but there will be birthday gifts early in the morning – surprises you don’t know are coming, and tonight we’ll order Chinese food and celebrate your birthday with dumplings.

Today you are ten. Double digits. Halfway to 20.

Where on earth does the time go?

You still love dogs – more than most things, actually – and along the way you have had things that have interested you, things that you clung to but nothing nothing nothing like your love of dogs. I know it, your friends know it, your family knows it – so much dog stuff – right down to the wrapping paper on the gifts from grandma.

Your dinosaur phase never lasted so long.

You are my tender heart, my sensitive soul. You wear your heart, your emotions, they are all on display for everyone to see. And I both love that about you, and worry about it at the same time. I know that there are times I don’t understand, or times when I am not as patient as I could be, but I try, always to be gentle with your sweet heart because I know how strongly you feel everything.

You recently started taking piano which I think is very special – last week you texted me and said, “I don’t think I want to do this anymore.” The next day, you texted me after your lesson and you said to me, “I changed my mind.” I’m excited to see where this takes you. It doesn’t have to be a thing you do, but I’m glad that you’re trying it because I think music is good for kids (hey, it’s good for grownups too). I love that you’re trying something new and that you’re giving it a shot even when it was frustrating – because there are moments where life is frustrating and you have to work your way through the challenges sometimes in order to build your strength and get better.

Look, I don’t care if that thing you love is piano or if it’s something entirely different (I love that you love dogs, that you write, that you’re so creative) – I just want you to find ways to build joy into your life, to find new things and try new things, and to take the opportunities that you encounter.

This year, you’ll be going into fifth grade – our last year before middle school. I cannot believe this is our last year of elementary school. We celebrated your birthday over the weekend and you had friends come over and spend the night and you girls stayed up giggling and running around until 11:30 and oh, how exhausted we were yesterday – but I am happy to see you and your friendships and the people you surround yourself with. We had pizza and brownie sundaes and when you played Truth or Dare with your friends, you prank called your sister’s phone as if you were placing an order at the Wendy’s drive through.

Last week, you and your sister started writing a song about being sisters and I swear I felt my heart just explode into a bunch of tiny beautiful sparkly pieces because I know you argue sometimes but other times, it’s so very clear how much love you have for each other, how much love you have for your sister. It makes me insanely happy.

You won’t take the last piece of cake in case someone else wants it. You’re kind, generous and always thinking of others.

Your favorite color is turquoise.

You write imaginative stories and not just imaginative stories, but you create these well thought out concepts in your head about what you’re going to do and how and that’s pretty impressive.

You have a way of sensing when others are hurting and you are at the ready with a hug – it’s one of those things – I worry about your sensitivity sometimes, and yet one of the true benefits of it is that you can read the emotions of people around you and you respond with kindness and with love. You are tender hearted, but you show tenderness in return and that is a true blessing.

I love you so very much. You will probably always march to the beat of your own drummer – and while other people may not always truly appreciate the amazing and wonderful things that make you who you are, I will always love the wonder and the joy you bring into my days, just by being you. You being you is perfect.

Happy birthday, sweet Pumpkin. I love you so very much and I’m so lucky to be your mom.

Love,

mom.

 

Thursday Ten: Not So Silently Seething edition

1. Annoyance levels are running high, y’all. Between schmucky people being schmucky, work loads being heavy, allergies being stupid. people on Facebook being ignorant, well… Pfffffft. Not sure why it’s so complicated, getting people to act nice but y’all: Just. Act. Nice.

2. My toaster is broken and heating toaster waffles isn’t the same. It’s not very efficient either. How the heck did my toaster break?

3. I don’t care what YOU do, but you’ll never convince me to spiral up some zucchini and actually refer to it as noodles. It’s not noodles. It’s vegetables. Leave my carbs alone.

4. We’ve been on a roll trying a new restaurant every month. This month was Grand Rapids Brewing Company. Our visit coincided with the GR Grandwich competition so Chris and I both ordered the Peach Pitt – but since we were at a brewing company (and I don’t beer much!), I got a lemon thyme margarita. The sandwich? Yum. The margarita? Mine are better.
312 | 365

5. We are smack in the middle of July. Summer is half over. And 2015 is more than half over. Time spins quickly. Too. Quickly.

6. I have started a blog for my retinitis pigmentosa whosie whatsit because it just seemed that all of my feelings related to it tend to be all icky and emotional and even though I’m still me – I have a hard time with bringing all of that here. Writing all that here. Perhaps it’s silly to look at this place as a haven when I’ve been through some other ugly stuff over the past nine and a half years (yeah) that I’ve been blogging – but… you know. That’s how it is.

7. We took an adventure this past weekend and went to see The Minions at a drive-in theater! I haven’t been to a drive in since I was a kid – I remember going with my family to see “Airplane!”. It was a fun adventure to put blankets out under the stars and watch a movie outside (the girls and I eventually went to sit in the car – the sound was better via the radio and the seats were comfier!).

8. I’ve never understood anxiety about dentists. Our family dentist is hilarious and calls each of us “homegirl.” Related: the girls have to go to the dentist today.

9. I realize that the fear is legit – I’m sure some of you who are scared of dentists aren’t scared of your eye doctors, so I feel ya.

10. There’s been so much rain this summer (boo) but more perfect weather days than any summer I can recall and at least one of those is a very good thing.

Thursday Ten: It’s Been Awhile Edition

1. I haven’t posted much lately – and it’s not because I have nothing to say – it’s never because I have nothing to say. I have tons to say. I just don’t know how to say it. And sometimes I feel a bit negative. Okay, a lot of times I feel a lot negative. I’m sure that’s normal but it’s not the happiest feeling in the world and it’s hard to write about and y’know, it is what it is.

2. And so somehow we’re almost in the middle of July and how the heck did that happen? This summer is flying and before I know it, we’ll be stuck in February under three feet of snow.

3. The girls are with their dad this week – it’s always hard to adjust to the times when they’re not here. Miss them like crazy. The workweek has been absolutely bonkers so I’ve been going in early and trying to make a dent in my project list – which helps, but… I’ll be glad when they come home. It’s an adjustment – the summer schedule. I guess the good news about it being halfway through July almost is that in a month and a half, the normal schedule will be back.

4. I have hit the realization lately that I’m really bad at some of this being-a-grownup stuff. Stuff like budgeting for home renovations. I keep saying to myself, “UGH I want to get rid of this living room carpet.” If I had just started saving when I first started having that thought, I bet I’d have saved enough to actually do the freaking project. Here’s to actually setting up savings accounts and planning for all the things i want to do – things like hardwood flooring and Spain.

5. They’re FINALLY going to open a Trader Joe’s in Grand Rapids this fall and I’m kind of pretty much excited. What’s your favorite thing at TJ? (They’re also apparently opening a Chik-Fil-A and while Chris is excited, I tried it on a recent trip to Ohio and found it thoroughly underwhelming. So there’s that.)

6. After a week of “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)”, I’m wondering just how many gymnastics floor routines this season will feature the Whip. Apparently two, so far.

7. My eyebrows are in dire need of waxing.

8. For the past two days, I have had my air conditioning off and my windows open and it’s just absolute bliss. I know people are ticked because this doesn’t feel like summer, and it’s too cold for pools – to which I say TOO BAD FOR YOU! THIS IS MY BRIEF BIT OF HEAVEN.

9. Things I’ve bought this week that I love: The Skinnytaste Cookbook: Light on Calories, Big on Flavor and Joy Williams – VENUS. Neither of these is a paid or sponsored review – these are things I saw and wanted and purchased with my own moohlah. I haven’t made anything out of the cookbook yet – but there are so many great looking recipes (lots of yummy latin-inspired recipes so I’m stoked!). And Joy Williams – I know there’s quite a few bloggers doing reviews of her stuff, but I decided on my own to purchase her album because I have loved her voice and The Civil Wars and I have basically been humming the whole album for days. Good stuff.

10. The good thing about Thursday is that it’s almost Friday. Have a good one, y’all.