Our weekend started on Thursday. We traveled to my parent's house to spend Thursday night. As we cruised down the highway, we waved and honked at Madeline's exit. I knew Danielle was there and they were having a blast.
We wanted to get up and leave right after breakfast on Friday so we could get to Columbia and reconnect with everyone. Christine Yablonski and her kids Kimi and Shaun were already there, and my kids were chomping at the bit to see them. As we were getting things packed up, Max came running into the kitchen saying, "Sophie's hurt...really bad!" Oh no! They had been playing on my mom's exercise bike, Sophie's foot got caught between the peddle and the floor, and she was in pain! I took her to the emergency room, we got x-rays, and after 3 hours, we left. She had a bad sprain and could not put any weight on the foot. So, we had lunch, then left for the house concert.
In the meantime, Max had been having trouble with his DS. It was not working properly and he had just saved up to buy Animal Crossing. After several trips to Gamestop, calls to John to find his warranty info, and 2 replacement DS's later, we finally got one that worked. My mom was a bit exasperated by my going to all the trouble and basically was of the impression that Max needed to just suck it up and get over it. My dad was a bit more understanding, and really went out of his way to help Max. I decided to try to explain to my mom why it was so important to get it taken care of to Max's satisfaction. I told her it was like the brand new high def., flat screen tv they JUST bought going on the fritz and not working. I said, "Wouldn't you want to take care of it and get one that worked?" She conceded the point after that.
We finally made it and I tried to check into the wrong hotel, with Christine and co., laughing at us from across the street at the right hotel. Onward to the Lovejoy's and the party was officially underway. Kelly throws an amazing party and we all have so much fun! Ella ended up spraining her ankle on the trampoline Friday evening so I now had 2 injured kids and no husband/daddy to help :(
Saturday was a glorious, Spring-like day. We arrived at Kelly's to find her turning her compost pile. That woman is amazing! We hung out and got things ready for the concert. Duncan was the ultimate kid host, and the kids were having a great time. However, my boys got into it, in a bad way. I guess things had just been brewing for a while and the excitement, lack of sleep, etc. combined to put them over the edge. I intervened when they were on the trampoline, each grabbing the other's hair, refusing to let go. The kids very rarely get physical with each other, and we were all upset. I had the boys come with me and we sequestered ourselves in the van for at least 45 minutes. There were tears and frustration and hurt feelings that eventually led to apologies and true loving feelings emerged. It was hard to sit and be a part of that process, but oh so worth it in the end. They both left with a greater understanding of each other and what they mean to each other. Absolutely glorious outcome...I honestly couldn't believe it. And they had come up with so much of the solution on their own.
Late Saturday afternoon, I left with Christine, Sophie, and Ella to pick up the party coffee urn from Starbucks. They had forgotten about my order, so we were there for almost an hour. Eee-gads! We met a really nice older couple and had a great time chatting with them while we waited.
I was starting to notice a theme this weekend....detours, challenges, etc. kept being thrown at me. I am a person who likes control. I do not like delays. I could have chosen to get really frustrated, angry, etc. For some reason, and I still don't know why, I took everything in stride. I did not get pissed off, I did not lose my shit, I did not get angry and take it out on the people who love me most. It's my usual m.o. to do exactly that... I am so glad I did not revert to old, ineffective, hurtful ways of dealing with adversity. It felt really good. I think I was just waiting to hear Amy and her music. I have been listening to her cd's for the past few days, remembering the concert and my difficulties. I swear she wrote some of those songs to me, just for this weekend. Uncanny. Exactly, Love Me Anyway, I'm So Special, Hope, Keep On....the list goes on and on. I love Amy. She is amazing and I am glad I have been blessed to know her. Check out her lyrics...she is a great lyricist.
The final stop on my journey was to Madeline's. We stayed there Sunday night. I would have never made it all the home on Sunday. I was really worn out. We arrived and Nicolas had made an absolutely perfect squash soup and escarole salad. How did he know what I needed? After a great night of talking, eating, and drinking wine, the girls and I slept in until almost 10:00. Wow! Did I mention it had been a really hard weekend? Granted it was full of insight and growth and jubilation, but sometimes it's really hard to stretch and grow and have fun. Monday was a fabulous day filled with gorgeous crafting, yummy food, and good coffee. We stayed until 9:30pm. I kept delaying leaving because it had been so restorative being there. It took us 2.5 hours to get home. It was a really easy drive home. Very peaceful and quiet. A great end to a rather intense weekend.
My ATC trade with Gillen
The kids playing Clue on the porch
The crafting table
3 comments:
Thank you for sharing, wonderful!
Sounds like you were exactly where you needed to be :)
We loved seeing you guys again! I hope the girls are feeling better—I felt so badly for Sophie!
Let Ella know that Jules says hello.
Oh, and do tell how long it took you guys to get back to Madeline's. *eg*
I think I was where I needed to be! I couldn't have asked for a better group of people who understood what I was going through.
Danielle, Ella is still talking about Julia. What a sweetheart she is! I really hope you take us up on our offer of a place to stop on the way to Grandma's!
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