October 29

Sarah did a lot of floating by herself in her swim lesson! She is now officially a Minnow! Amy has been a minnow for a while but they were letting her stay in Sarah’s Starfish class time because that was so much easier for us. Now we have to move to a different time slot so my fingers are crossed that we can make it work to leave immediately when Amy gets home from school on Fridays. If that doesn’t work then we will have to find another day.  There are lots of options if I’m willing to change our location and teacher but I’m going to do all I can to stay with the same teacher.

I went to Philly on Thursday to hear one of my favorite authors speak. Glennon Doyle, formerly Glennon Doyle Melton, has written Carry On, Warrior and Love Warrior, and both books are beautiful and raw and honest and amazing works of heart. There were other women also speaking. Most of it was super wonderful and beautiful and inspiring. And then there was a tiny bit that was generalized, meant-to-be-inspirational, you-should-speak-up, you-can-change-the-world stuff that actually didn’t work so well for me. Sometimes that just has me feeling like a bad person for not doing more, more, more or being a different person, even though their whole point was to be our true and beautiful selves. I love my life. As it is. I have already been following my truest and most beautiful path as well as I can. I feel like I do good work in the world in my small way and I hope it has ripples. I am so happy and so blessed so much of the time. I don’t feel like I need to push myself in some new way. Not that they were necessarily saying I should, and even if they were, what then? I am the one interpreting all of their words for me, so maybe this just shows me where I still pressure and judge myself. Anyway, the most inspiring and beautiful parts of the presentation were when the women told their specific stories. Thus, onward with my specific stories.

It was lovely to have another short trip on my own. I got to see all four of my parents, my brother, and a family friend. I also got to sleep in. When I woke Friday morning and saw 9:30 on the clock I thought something must be wrong. I never sleep in that late! My mom went with me to the show and we went to French Creek the next day. French Creek is a beautiful state park. I used to camp there when I was little, and I will always be on the lookout for a small Annie doll that I lost there. The most peculiar thing this time was how much smaller some of the park features were. The dam wall was really much smaller than it used to be! The other strange thing was that we saw three dead moles, each in a different location. Not eaten but definitely dead. Any thoughts as to what would make this happen? Anyway, I was originally to return today but when the airline contacted me to offer a free change in plans due to the inclement weather expected in Philly today, I took their offer and came home yesterday. This worked perfectly so I could attend some Halloween parties. 

The funny thing with one of the parties that I so much wanted to attend is that I really just spent the whole time shadowing Sarah. I didn't interact much with that many other people. And yet, it still means a lot to be able to go and to facilitate Sarah being there. I probably could be less attentive, but I want to make sure she doesn’t double dip her pita in the hummus, for example. I want to be sure she doesn’t accidentally have something with dairy. And perhaps old habits die hard. She didn’t interact with the other kids much, which is not new, but she did have a good time. Amy joined the other kids for activities and also had a good time. So a good time was had by all. I let them stay past their bedtime and when I said it was time to go they only resisted for about 10 seconds. Then they very easily went home and got into bed. Costumed for the party, Amy went as a witch, Sarah as a business woman, and I was UnBeelievably Fabulous, wearing what we call “the bee suit,” which is a full-body yellow and black extravaganza that I found at a thrift store while in college. Carl was unfortunately home sick in bed.

Earlier in the week Amy wrote me the most adorable note. It said, “I am sree for being a  grup,” meaning “I am sorry for being a grump.” When I showed it to Carl he asked if Amy had been a grump earlier in the day. I said, “Well, as you know, the ladies of this house tend to have grumpy moments every day…” That is true. I’m glad we also express our love abundantly. Carl and the girls surprised me at the airport yesterday when I landed, and Amy climbed all over me. Sarah was grumpy about having to stop riding the escalator at the airport so first she had to get her grump out and then later she gave me hugs about being home. Olivia was also excited to have me home because she slept next to me in bed, which she usually doesn’t do.

Love to you all.