A Little Finger Pluckin' Warmth

I wish I could play the banjo to my little men but, in lieu of that, on this chilly, blizzardy night (yes, another snowstorm, rolling in) I suggest you all enjoy this video on me. I love the warm cozy house this baby is in...sweet mama with a kerchief and her strings, papa teasing from behind the camera, wood stove and quilts hung over the chairs.What a warm moment to play over and over...

Thank You Seems A Little Flat...

Really...how do you "thank" someone for: putting their life on complete hold for you, for washing all your dirty underwear, for putting up with your toddler screaming in their face, for coaching you through a four hour nighttime tantrum session, for making three meals a day from scratch and serving them to you while you sit enthroned like a queen with nothing more to do than nurse your newest subject, for praying you through contractions, for wiping up spilled drinks and any number of myriad other unspeakable acts of sacrifice and selfless love?

How does that work? That whole "Gee, thanks!" bit? I wish there was some fabulous something we could buy her besides a plane ticket home that would make her feel amazingly loved and really convey the depth of our appreciation. I wish I had daughters so that I could replicate what she's done for me for the next generation. I wish I could say something more than a teary goodbye and a lot of "I love yous" but, what in the world would it be. In lieu of that...I'm here...leaving a bloggy thank you and spreading the word through the blogosphere that just in case you all think I don't know what a spoiled little goose I am, how incredibly lucky this sort of treatment is and how very special my mom is for slowly and lovingly buffering my descent into motherhood...I know. I don't know how to ever make it up to her and I'm not really sure how to let go of her, (I never do) and peddle my own two-wheel bike down the driveway but I sure am deeply grateful. I'm a big girl but sometimes inside I still don't feel like it. And really folks, knowing that your parents are, like mine, so deeply loving and care so very much is the deepest safety net a child can have and one of the most profound kinds of goodness.

So, Mama....thanks. I owe you about five million....again.


P.S.
Extra special grateful love also goes out to my kid sister Melody and my incredibly fabulous Papa who also gave deeply and to whom I am indebted as well. This is love.

Pool Weather!

Today the thermometer hit 99 degrees and we had our first pool day! The pool here at our association is unheated and filled via garden hose so when we noticed about five days ago that they had opened it up, even though the boys were chomping at the bit to go SWIM NOW we put them off rather expertly, knowing it would be bone numbingly cold. Yeah. And then it became summer and the thermometer hit 99 and suddenly, it seemed like the best idea around. Hooray for the pool being open a little early even though its not quite Memorial Day!!!!

So, although we meant to plant out the baby tomato plants, and we still have laundry to do (don't we always) and meatballs were on the menu for tonight...instead we drank mint iced tea, made salads together, sat around in the air conditioning and talked and yeah...we swam some more in the pool.

What can we say? You'd have done the same.

Today was the last big relaxy day of enjoying my mom's visit...tomorrow we have an insane day of rushing hither and yon doing a ridiculous laundry list of errands and then we'll come home, pack Mama's bags, pour our exhausted children into their beds and get up to see her off in the early morning at La Guardia. Its been a very good run.

The air has that hazy summer quality and I'm starting to dream about all the things that are quintessential this time of year: key lime pie, lemon meringue pie, sun tea on the back porch, long drives with the windows down, country music you can sing along while said windows are down, tan lines and watermelon seed spitting contests and oh boy...sweet corn, fresh from the farmer's market...dripping with butter! Doesn't that sound divine?

Just the last little bit of May here and all of that will begin in earnest. It sure feels good to be recovering from a birth so quickly that 5 days out, I already feel semi-normal and can see life beyond Babyland. I love it when things you hope and pray for earnestly work out.