It has NOT been two months...

I know...I KNOW...
I have not been a negligent blogger. I have not been
ignoring the fact that it is VERY important to journal every
beautiful facet, however inconsequential, of our
short lives here so that we can hold our memories close
and so that those we love have a piece of us somewhere
to remember and comfort and spark a laugh should
we not get to live a long, lucid life.

I have been painfully aware of this small fact these
last two months AND I HAVE BEEN BOYCOTTING MY OWN BLOG.

It started with the serious illness of a blogger friend's small
child and I found that I couldn't bubbly blog on when she
was living life where she was. Thankfully, Stellan
is home now but if you wanna see what stopped
"Not Me Monday" for me and began my boycott...
See here...

It continued on when simultaneously, part of our church family
whom we love and who has been so good to us
experienced this...

Please pray for the McCracken Family.

I stopped blogging. I prayed more. I hugged my kids and
their healthy little bodies a lot. I turned inside myself for awhile.
I read more. I prayed a lot...did I say that already...hmmmm...

THEN...spring sprung and we were up to our eyeballs in travel soccer.
Our grass...beautiful, on our "little" (laugh hysterically)
1/3 of an acre GREW a foot or more a week and seemed
more like 3 acres while I PUSH MOWED and bagged for
4+ hours/week. We picked up a
strength class at the gym which was designed to make us stronger
but in the first few weeks succeeded only in sapping whatever
remaining strength I had. It's better now but seriously, as we speak,
my quads are so sore I wince painfully, quietly...and bravely
endure the pain every time I go to sit.
(yeah, right...don't you know me at all?)
I cry, sob, and dream of handicap railing in my bathroom
every time I hafta go pee...think weighted squats
with multiple plates...dang health kick. Not to mention
that I picked up a part-time teaching job at The
Early Childhood Center (yeah...I'm working)
where both our boys have
attended and add to that a nice little stomach bug
that laid waste to our house for a week and a half
(have we talked about my children's uncanny ability
to catch the stomach flu at least once a year
sometimes more WITHOUT fail? Have we talked about
their absolute giftedness at puking heartily in the
most absolutely ridiculous places? I swear...both cars
were decimated in the span of two days. It would have
been easier to set the vehicles (and the house for that
matter) ON FIRE than it was to clean all of places
where puke landed in our lives.)

All that, dear friends, and perhaps...MAYBE
you might understand my blog boycott.
Not that your lives aren't as incredibly big, real
and busy as mine. I bet you're just loads
better at managing it all.

Anyways, spring has sprung and new life abounds.
Our heads are above water again, only just and so...

Here's my favorite thing I experienced this week...

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard.
I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a
home and was well taken care of.

He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head
then he followed me into my house, slowly walked down the
hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.

An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.

The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside
and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour.

This continued off and on for several weeks...

Curious, I pinned a note to his collar, "I would like to find out
who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is
and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your
dog comes to my house for a nap."

The next day he arrived for his nap, with a
different note pinned to his collar,
"He lives in a home with 6 children
2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep.
Can I come with him tomorrow?"