Just Sittin'

So I'm back.

 Can you hear my back creaking from where you are?    Here's why I ask -- my last two weeks' itinerary in a nutshell:

1) Paul's college graduation on the Western slope on the 15th, then back home on the Eastern slope by the 16th to meet the boys coming home from Omaha;
2)the long-awaited Breckenridge family reunion from the 17th to the 22nd;
3) an impromptuWestern Slope trip, just me and my three littlest girls from the 24th to the 26th;
4) a last-minute decision to make the drive with Paul and Nicole to Virginia from the 27th to the 30th;
5) yesterday, the big wedding of the eldest daughter of close family friends;
6) today Jon (19) and Dominic (17) headed off on a road trip with our good friends, (Seminarian) Carlos and Omar, headed to Spokane to visit the Sisters and priests there and to see Carlos' sister graduate.

 =sigh=

It 's been busy.  But lovely.  creak.  crack.  pop.

I've been up for an hour and I need a nap just thinking about it all.

That's the thing about getting older.  The spirit is willing, but the body is starting to fall apart.  I remember road trips back in my twenties; the only ill-effects I suffered were zits from too many french fries and a sunburnt left arm from driving in a car with no air conditioning.  But it's twenty years later and I'm forty-five going on forty-six. (Seems hard to believe sometimes!) After a full week of driving, I'm happy to say I didn't pick up any zits and (Praise God for air conditioning!) no sunburnt arm, but I have a crick in the neck, a crick under my right shoulder blade, a crick in the left lumbar, and a pound for every french fry.

Still, it's all been great.  The reunion turned out better than we could ever have planned.  I got to spend some really wonderful quality time with my little girls and had a useful and fun visit with our Sister friends.  Then I got three full days of yakking with my sweet daughter-in-law.  And I got to see the nice new apartment Paul and Nicole will be living in while they're in Virginia.  It's a good thing for a Mom to be able to picture where her children are.  And their apartment is pretty, practical, clean and safe.  I'm content.  I'm glad I got to see it. 

And now.  I'm home.  (Deep Breath)  Dan and the kids have been in charge of the house for a week.  Do I need to say any more, Moms?  God bless him, Dan has done an admirable job, especially since he's also been working from home six to eight hours a day, too. (He's a great guy, my husband.) The Littles all seem to be happy, fed, and healthy, and all the obvious surface stuff is taken care of.  Before I got here, they did tidy and sweep and wipe the counters.  But, let's face it, there are things that a Mom does that the rank-and-file wouldn't think of doing without urging.( And reminding.  And nudging.  And threatening.)  You should see the state of my pots and pans cabinet, for instance... (Picture: avalanche-waiting-to-happen)  And, let's just say everyone appears to have clean underwear, but there are no clean towels or washcloths, there's a chin-high pile of dirty clothes in the laundry room, and there are two unpacked baskets of clothes at the foot of my bed from the Breckenridge trip two weeks ago.  But, it's all good.

I already had the first big load of towels in the wash by 8 this morning and distributed the contents of one of the baskets of clothes from Breckenridge.  No sweat.  We'll have things ship-shape in no time.  But right now I'm going to pour another cup of coffee and watch The Road Runner with Gabe and William.  And then we'll read a new book I got for them about bad little monkeys.  And then we'll go outside and see what flowers are blooming in the perennial beds.  And then we'll have something healthful and low fat for lunch.

It's been a fun and exciting these last couple of weeks, but I'm glad to be back. This is the real thing.