Sunday, March 7, 2010

Packed Full of Fun

Our weekend - sigh. It was full, but it was full of good things. We spent our Saturday moving my grandma into my parents' house. You know, it was a deep life change for her, for my parents, and really for us. She is my last living grandparent and we are cherishing every moment we have with her. This kind of event in a family is so full of emotion, both good and heart-wrenching and, under normal circumstances, I would expound on this a little further. I like to work out my heart-things here on this blog, but as I said a while back, I'm just not feeling wordy. I'm feeling quiet. And maybe we can chat some more about this another time.
Know that my sister-in-law and I took her most special decorations and, at her request, set up and decorated her cozy little room in the back corner of my mom's house. I got to set out a vase that my dad bought for her when he was "courting" my mom. I put out grandma's favorite picture of Grandpa. Mindy and I arranged snapshots in coordinating frames and covered the wall by her bed with the faces of all her babies. From what I hear, she loves the room and that makes me so happy.

We are getting back into the routine of Sunday morning church again. We have, as many of you know, been home church pastors for several years now. And, again, I haven't said much about this hugely emotional transition, but our time in that lifestyle seems to have come to an end. There has been no upheaval, no bitterness, no regret - it's just come to an organic and peaceful close. We weren't sure if we would be able to fit into the church culture again (We have to sit through a sermon? There's no open, group discussion? Ugh!). But we seem to have found a place that suits us pretty well. The kids are happy, there is community to be found and good work to be done. This is another whole-post topic, but I will keep it brief here.

But Sunday morning church leads to being out on a Sunday morning after church and this was such a beautiful day to be out. Emma has tons of make-up work to complete, since she was out of school all last week (!), but we brought it in the car with us and did a little driving in the rural areas of our city. We ran a few errands and I picked up a new set of knitting needles in hopes of casting on a hat pattern I've been waiting to start.
Then we decided to take advantage of the weather and build a fire in our fire bowl. Chris built up the kindling (he was a Boy Scout, for crying out loud!) and I watered and fed the garden (c'mon tomatoes...you can do it!). We roasted hot dogs and Emma plucked a few wobbly notes on her toy guitar and the dog wandered amongst the snow pea seedlings.







Satisfying, relaxing, and just what the doctor ordered - everything a weekend should be.

Daily Bliss: the sort of overwhelming optimism that only Spring weather can bring
Wake-up Playlist: Script, Breakeven

6 comments:

claibornes corner said...

Sounds like a great weekend - can't wait to see you and do some "learning" knitting. Andrew looks soooooooooooooooooooooo grown up - did I make that clear??????? Wow

Christy said...

I know! I was a little freaked out when I looked at the photos and noticed the same thing!

Amy Button said...

I love Mamie's moppy top! She's so sweet.

It sounds like a completely perfect weekend. I'm glad you've found a church that you feel part of. I think a lot of people need time away from organized church. For us at least, it helped us to realize what was really important to us and what we wanted to be part of. That's such a big discussion though :)

frabjouspoet said...

I was thinking the same thing about Andrew. How does that sort of transition really seem to happen overnight?

Mary said...

I'm so glad you had such a good weekend. I can imagine that moving your grandmother had it's "restless" side to it, but it sounds like you all made the best of it. Good for you, and good for your family for being there for one another. It's beautiful even from here. It also brings back so many happy memories of all of us pitching in with my Grandma. Good, good stuff.

I also imagine, that in all of the upheaval that your life is adjusting to, "wordy" will come when you feel a bit more settled. Take your time and get comfortable.

mindy said...

i had such a great time decorating g-ma's room with you. it has such a cozy feel about it and it makes my heart glad to know she loves it so much.

loving the fire pit photos....i'm getting hungry just thinking about our last hot dog roast/smore-making-shindig in your backyard....yum!!