Excited

I'm enjoying some rare quiet time. Sophie is sleeping in bed with Roy and I should probably wake him up for work but I know he's tired and, frankly, I'm going to have a very busy day. I'm enjoying a rare moment, sitting at the computer in my bathrobe, wet hair in a towel, drinking my coffee without little fingers grabbing for it.

Sophie was sick yesterday - fever, throwing up - and then we discovered a top tooth peeking out. The gum looks wrecked and I'm going to have the doctor look at it this afternoon when I take her in for a follow up, but I expect that was the culprit of a lot of her ills. However, I can't take her to daycare the day after she's so bad off, so my week long vacation (due to start at 5:00 today) actually starts now!

I was chatting with my dear friend Anne about how much we love to be excited about things. Being excited might be the best feeling in the world. Today I will pack and clean the house and run to Wild Oats for snacks on the plane and pick up coffee for mom at Natasha's and probably do yet ANOTHER load of laundry in preparation for our trip to South Dakota. We'll leave around 6 to pick up Riley on our way to Louisville for an overnight stay. Our plane leaves at 6am tomorrow morning. We'll get to Sioux Falls around 10, rent a car, and drive to Freeman. I'll spend little time with the folks before heading to my much anticipated class reunion. Then it's 3 days in Freeman before hitting the road with the kids and heading to the Black Hills for a newspaper convention. I'm excited for so many reasons.

1. I get to see my family and they get to see Sophie and Riley. My brother and sister in law have never met my step-son (who is an absolute TRIP) and mom and dad have only seen Sophie 2 or 3 times since she was born. She's now so big, with 3 teeth and nearly crawling.

2. I can't remember the last time I've had a real vacation. This is such a bonus because not only do I get to see my family but I get to explore a part of the country I haven't been to in 10 years.

3. This feels like my first family vacation. We'll be traveling with a 9 month and 9 year old. Stops to pee and stretch our legs, "are we there yet" from the back seat, drool on the seats, and being annoying in the front seat while Riley turns up his Green Day filled ipod.

Ah, what energy fills the air today!

horoscope

This is my horoscope for the week:

How well are you capitalizing on this year's unique opportunities, Leo?
Now that we're almost halfway through 2007, let's take an inventory.
I'm hoping that six months from now, you'll look back and say the following:
"This was the year I learned how to play and have fun on a higher level.
I resurrected everything I knew about playing and having fun as a child,
and applied it to my life as an adult. I liberated my imagination in the
bedroom and in the workplace; I gave myself permission to seek out
amusement and delight as if they were the holiest motivations of all.
I cavorted and joked and fooled around as if my dreams depended on it."

This morning, as Sophie was wide awake and talking in bed at 4:45AM, I tried to get her to go back to sleep. Finally, at 5:45 Roy got up with her, letting me savor a final 30 minutes in bed and he made coffee and tried to appease our tired little girl. When I got up, I held her in my lap and her elephant flew around her head, landing on knees and toes and nose's and heads, NikkiBear talked to elephant about a variety of things, all of which captivated Sophie, and lots of songs were sung. I looked at Roy. "I love being a mom." After reading my horoscope, I realize that being a mom reminds me how to be a kid. I get to play make believe and be silly and wonder about things I had forgotten to wonder about.

powerful memories

This time last year I was nearly 7 months pregnant and thinking about childbirth classes. I was probably just starting to feel her move, her presence becoming real. The June weather is currently hot and dry and I can't step outside without remembering the anticipation of her arrival. It's with an almost regretful pang that I cannot relive these moments; the first kick while reading Riley a chapter out of his book in the middle of the night when he got sick; laying on the couch with a sore back and a tired body while Roy brought me glass after glass of water. Will summertime heat forever remind me of the walks to and from Lamaze class or will they be replaced by grass stained knees and sunburned faces? I suppose we'll find out, won't we?

My mom sent me this poem today. It was written by a 6th grader in Sioux Falls, SD. I have posted it at my desk, just behind my computer, as a reminder of how to be.

Step by step
I erase the insults

Step by step
The taunting words disappear

Step by step
The remarks are crushed under my feet

This is how I make peace

Step by step
I forgive the chorus of teases

Step by step
The tear making sentences dies

Step by step
My own cruel comments are silenced

That is how I make peace

Step by step
I compliment instead of insult

Step by step
I defend the hushed outcasts

Step by step
I teach others to love and cancel hate

That is how you can make peace

Step by step

-Mica Standing Bear