To celebrate that we are more in love with each other after 17 years, Jared surprised me with a fun dinner at the Clifton Inn where he arranged to have us sit at the "chef's table" which happened to be in the kitchen. We both found it fascinating as we watched the activity ebb and flow as the night wore on. And the food....oh my, words will never adequately describe the dishes. Flavors I never dreamed of introducing to each other like an appetizer of shiitake mushroom and strawberry with sorrel simply delighted our tastebuds. My main dish was grouper atop gnocchi made with garlic and croissant-like dough, totally different from traditional gnocchi, but in my opinion ten times better. I was swooning over the food and of course my soul-mate during the whole experience.
After dinner we still had an hour before picking up Caleb from his 8th grade dance, so we decided to pop in early to check things out. It was eye-opening to say the least. Most of the kids were dancing in a giant moshing spectacle while smaller groups were dancing in ways that shocked me. But what I found interesting was how the song changed the dance moves. The club songs with their droning beat lead to a lot of twerking while songs like YMCA or rock songs by Van Halen and others just lead to hands in the air and bodies jumping around, moves I was much more comfortable with. And to think how my seminary teachers railed against classic rock..... Caleb didn't see us until the very end and thank goodness I never saw him twerking as I'm not sure what I would have done, but being that I can be a bull in a china shop, it likely wouldn't have been pretty.
The week leading up to Mother's Day was exhausting. In fact, we were all so worn out that we spontaneously took off Monday, well "we" meaning everyone but Jared who unfortunately couldn't get out of work. He had spent the prior week in Chicago and then Notre Dame and flew in Friday in the nick of time for the Father's and Son's campout. While he was gone, I went through nearly two tanks of gas for all the music lessons, soccer travel tryouts, scouts, and orchestra.....and in case there was any question of whether the curse of Jared's travel was still alive, our dishwasher went out and wasn't fixed for two weeks. The boys picked out one cup that they could rinse themselves and then we were in the land of paper products and minimalist cooking. It was a long two weeks.
Mother's day came and things were moving along quite nicely until Jared leaned over on the church bench and told me that a member of the high council wanted to meet with me. I knew in my heart what was coming even before Jared told me what they wanted to talk with me about. To pretend that my anxieties didn't shoot through the roof, and that my focus wasn't suddenly usurped by the future, would not paint a picture of me in that moment. Talk about having my favorite day torpedoed! For some reason the rest of the church meetings became a glaring mirror where all my inadequacies were staring back at me. I don't cry often or easily, but I was hanging on by a thread. After church and the boys final orchestra concert (something else I couldn't really focus on unfortunately), I went home and had a little breakdown. Why did the Lord have to send this calling on the heels of an incredibly hectic two weeks. My first thought was how in the world can we do this...it already takes the two of us to manage the morning routine every week. I mean, I had just spent the week without Jared managing everything and it's too much for one person. There are hot breakfasts to be made (not necessary, but important to me), there are four packed lunches to be put together (more necessary as school lunch is...no comment), there are before school piano lessons twice a week for Liam and Caleb, and we've got into such a good rhythm with morning scripture time. And that's just the morning, not everything else that takes place every day from 2:30 onwards and not to mention the fact that my job is taking on a whole new project in the fall that I'm basically creating from the ground up. But.....but, I cannot deny the suggestion that the spirit made to me just a few days before the calling came. I was stretching after a bike ride and felt this impression pop into my mind: if you have 2 hours to ride your bike, you should be able find two hours to devote to studying the gospel. Impression noted, calling accepted, anxieties calmed after a much needed blessing from Jared. So early morning seminary here we, not I, because let's he honest, this is a family calling, come!
Finally, about turning 42. It seems old for some reason and I'm not sure why. I don't feel old, but looking at the numbers 4 and 2 together seems old and saying aloud that I'm 42 seems really old. I had a great birthday with the best gift ever: getting to sleep in on a school day and being surprised with cards and breakfast in bed. They used our scripture reading time to put it together for me and I did feel so loved. I then went on a 7.5 mile run to prove that even at 42 I can still do things like that, then headed up to Culpepper to have lunch at Chick-fil-A with my great friend Em who came down from DC. She has a 19 month old baby, so the indoor play area is the only way we can spend 2 hours together in a location that is equidistant for us both. I headed back to get G and J to swim practice which started back up this week on top of the final week of soccer and got L to violin before making it home in time to say good-bye to C and Jared before they took off for a three-day soccer tournament in Columbia, Maryland. The rest of us then had breakfast for dinner and the boys watched Doctor Who while I packed the car for L and G's soccer tournaments in Richmond. Luckily they were playing at the same complex and on neighboring fields, so I could set up and stay put for the most part of the day and watch the four games. I think what I'll remember most about those games aside from Gavin scoring and Liam playing so hard despite painful heels from Sever's disease, was that I never heard Jonah tell me he was bored the entire 8 hours we were there. He did tell me a few times he didn't know what to do or that he wanted his iPad, but when I told him no on the iPad or suggested things to do, he was content. Thank you Jonah!!
The following pictures are from my phone and they seem to fit well in this post as they give a brief snapshot of my life at 42:
Cartographer's at work:
One day I looked back and saw this: I just love when I glimpse in the boys a sense of childhood freedom.
Gavin cashing in on one of his straight-A dinners. He wanted bang-bang shrimp from Bone Fish Grill.
Nickel Creek in concert: we all agreed that it was one of the best concerts we've seen, which says a lot knowing how many live performances we have watched.
Making shadows in the early spring before this hillside was covered in grasses. It was Wednesday, cello day, where Jonah and I are buddied up for 90 minutes while Caleb and Gavin have their lessons.
Jonah's self-portrait from the van. He likes to sneak my phone whenever he can and the last time was very clever. He asked if he could use the keys to go sit in the van while we waited for a parade to start. I said sure, then about 5 minutes later was in a panic because I couldn't find my phone and I knew I had it with me earlier. When I found him in the van with the phone playing some game, he thought he was a rock start for sneaking the phone right out of my pocket!
Jonah has been telling me all about the new Minnesota flag which as far as I can tell is not the image below, but he believes that it is, so of course it went on the phone.
I start my run here a few times a week. This was the morning of my birthday run.
Finally here is a photo of where I like to walk with Jared on Sunday evenings:
