We made it!

Happiness all around as our travelers arrived back home in the wee hours of the morning Thursday. It took 3 vehicles, 12 cheeseburgers, 12 fries, sodas, water, and who knows what else to get us all home awake (well, at least the drivers!). Everyone seems to be in working order and happy to be here. Vicky's sister and her family will be leaving here to return home to Phoenix tomorrow, and all will be a memory for this trip.

Coming Home!

Three weeks ago tomorrow night I travelled to O'Hare airport driving a van filled with 5 travelers headed to Guatemala; two weeks ago tomorrow night I travelled to O'Hare airport driving a car with a traveler and a passenger - traveler going to Guatemala. Tomorrow night I will once again make the familiar trek to O'Hare by myself (other drivers in 2 other vehicles to convoy with me!) to retrieve 5 of the travelers returning from Guatemala. I'm sure they will have so many stories and pictures and hugs and kisses to give us. My children have grown and part of them live away from my actual home now, but it's still "different" when someone is out of the "nest"; i.e., out of the central Illinois area. Just always feels a little better when everyone is back where they came from, safe and sound. Traveling to a place like Guatemala reminds me again of how blessed we are here in America. Simple things we take for granted are luxuries for them. We should be very thankful for the life we live here.

Be Happy!

It's a choice - being happy no matter what your circumstances. I don't mean in a flippant, goofy sort of way - I mean truly counting your blessings even when life isn't exactly the way you want it to be - not the way you always pictured it would turn out. Don't we all have a story like that to tell? I'm sure we all could find something in our lives that didn't quite end up being the way we'd hoped or dreamed it would. In my journey to find some truth about our lives and why they end up the way they do, I am convinced there is a connection between what we truly deep down believe and what things meander around in our lives. Make a choice today to be happy - just for one day - no matter what and see if that doesn't effect (or is it affect - I always was confused on that one?) the outcome of your day. Let me know your thoughts - I'm doing research on this subject!

Remember...

Here's a couple pictures from two winters ago when I still lived in Tremont. Remember that ice storm we had? That's the one where my feet went one way and my bod another and I did the "scoot down the front porch stairs on your rear" thing! I just was thinking about this the other day. Now when it's so horribly hot and humid and everyone's been complaining and miserable, I thought, hmmm.....do we always want what we don't have? Or is it just the extremes that cause us so much grief and disharmony? It seems to me that in our whole lives, whether we recognize it or not, we crave balance. I tell people in my work all the time - your body needs balance. You do need exercise, but don't obsess and do it non-stop. You do need rest, but that's not a reason to be lazy and do nothing physical. Anything to the extreme is not good for us - not physically, not emotionally, not spiritually. I believe that we were made to live in that state of homeostasis (as we call it in the alternative medicine world) - where everything is intricately held in that balance that allows all things to work together efficiently. Now if we could just get central Illinois weather to believe that fact!

Cousins dinner!

Some of our cousins who are, apparently, braver than those of us who still live here in farm country because they live in fun, exotic places, are here in town to visit for just a few days. Tonight as many of us as were able got together for dinner at Monical's. We were missing a few, but those of us who were there ate pizza, laughed, and generally caught up on the current happenings of our lives, our children's lives, and yes, for some of us, even our children's children's lives! We visited for a couple hours, then all went our separate ways, promising to see each other again soon when it hit me - these are the people who know me. They know where I've been as we all grew up getting together for family dinners or school clothes shopping or corn freezing or later on at church gatherings. These are the people who share my heritage and my history. These people were around when my dad was alive, when our grandparents were alive. These are the people who make up who I am. I see most of them very rarely - yet these are the people who are biologically and historically connected to me. I made myself a promise this evening - somehow, some way, these are the people I don't want to lose touch with. These are the people I want to be a part of upcoming important events in my life and my children's lives, and yes, someday even my children's children's lives, because we are family and somehow as I get older, that's where I keep wanting to go back to - my family.

Journaling!

I have always believed that journaling was a great idea. It is simply the process of writing down your thoughts about a certain subject, whatever happened during the day, a certain topic you have new and fresh ideas about, or even what the weather is like each day. In a nutshell, journalling can be whatever you would like it to be. I love to delve into analyzing what I did and felt and why and all that. I then find it particularly fun (and sometimes enlightening) to go back and read my old journals. Sometimes I find I've progressed along in my journey and sometimes I find myself shaking my head, saying, "I'm still working on that one!" At any rate, I am currently and for approximately the next two weeks, recording a different journal. I am recording a journal of what all happens each and every day with me and anyone I know for Mal. She's gone to Guatemala where we can't converse and catch her up on the goings on here, so I decided I would write each night in a journal for her to read when she gets home about what happened here while she was gone. That way, all the fun little details that I LOVE to dwell upon (and you know it's true if you've ever been told a story by me!) will not be forgotten in the time she's gone - they'll be preserved on paper for her to peruse over at her leisure, for her information and entertainment when she arrives home. Pretty clever, if I do say so myself. I hope she enjoys it. It also helps me feel like I'm communicating with her, because I do miss her, and as you probably already have figured out, the place where she is now, phones are used as emergency conveyors of information, not "chit-chat" machines, so when she does get to call...it's not me she's calling! There's a young gentleman who usually is the recepient of those calls!

Adventure time!

Remember this? From when I travelled to Guatemala almost 2 years ago? Well, today Mallory left to visit for two weeks there. She will join Vicky, their 4 kids, Vicky's sister and brother in law and their 4 kids from here, then Vicky's parents, other sister and her 2 boys, and miscellaneous humongoid numbers of cousins, etc. who live there. It will be quite a cultural change for Mal, yet I'm sure she will come home with some of the same thoughts of gratitude that I did - we sometimes take for granted all the amenities we enjoy here in America. Of course, there's always the slight raise in my anxiety level when one of my children does something like this. I know they're grown adults and can handle themselves now, but, (and if you have children you know what I mean), I've spent most of my adult life worrying, praying, sacrificing, adjusting - doing all I can to contribute as much as I can to their lives - just out of my sheer love for them. It's weird (and a little difficult) to back off now and let them be on their own. My hope is just that they always know how much I love them and how important they are to me. Have a great trip, Mal - can't wait to hear all your stories!

New hobby?

Last weekend, after deciding that there has to be more to life than working and cleaning and cooking, my friend and I took a couple of short jewelry making classes, where we made the above pictured necklace and earrings. May I just say, first of all, that they aren't kidding when they say the eyes are one of the first things to go! When did those pieces become so small? Oh my! We plan to practice some and then take a longer class the end of the month that will teach us to "wire wrap" pendants or stones for our own necklaces. I thought they might make nice gifts, but after my first two attempts, I'm going to advise you not to hold your breath for a handmade necklace from me. But it was fun to exercise my brain a little and try to be a little creative. We'll see where it goes. Sometimes I think we just have to try something new to keep everyday life a little interesting.

Family on the 4th of July (Part 2)

Emma and Juan Carlos playing in the playhouse.

And again.

Maria with her cupcake under the tree, staying cool.

More wheelchair rides.

The young lovebirds.

Family on the 4th of July (part 1)

Mom and Vicky's sis, Flora.

Vicky's brother in law, Freddie, Tanner, and Steve.

Apollo after he fell down with his chocolate cupcake.

Tanner giving Emma and Apollo "wheelchair" rides.

Vicky, Flora, Vicky's niece Joseline, Freddie, Freddie Jr., Jim.

Vicky's sister and her family arrived yesterday for a few days together before all of them travel to Guatemala to visit their parents and other sister. They will be gone for three weeks. Mal is joining them next week for 2 weeks before they all come back on the 28th together. This will be the first time Vicky's parents have had all ten of their grandchildren together - they are uber excited!

Sadness

It is with a heavy, concerned heart that I attempt to pen my feelings in this blog tonight. In the last several days there has been news of so much sadness in the lives of people I know: a friend diagnosed with a horrible disease; a friend/customer (single mom with a daughter in 1st grade) fired from her job; another customer (single mom with 3 small children) laid off from her job; trouble between some family members; re-organization at a big business leaving several without their jobs - the list could go on and on. It makes me sad to think that all of this is going on around us all the time. My world is small and limited - these are just a few examples of what's happening everyday in much larger proportions. Normally, I would try to find the "silver lining" and say all the cliche things that are supposed to make everyone feel better. But tonight, I just want to ask God's mercy on all of these situations and allow myself to feel disconcerted for the trouble befalling those I care about.

Band

Maria and Apollo came over to play today. We ate french fries, we had squirt gun fights, we had parades, we played drums, we watched somebody Wubzy, and when Patrick came over after work, we (Maria) made him play the guitar and sing, because "if you're any good, you can be in my band". What a hoot she is. They had a ball singing, playing drums, and making up songs with Patrick. I found it very comical that she was so confident in "her band" that she made Patrick try out. Oh, to think like a child again!