Countdown!

Summer is right around the corner and I CAN NOT wait!! I think I am more excited as a mom for summer to come around than I was as a student. I am really looking forward to having mornings with the boys, going swimming, visiting friends, playing outside and just having them around! This summer is very busy with their activities, but I am hoping that we can get some great down time in too. Here is a synopsis of our weekend, with a little enlightenment at the end.

Memorial weekend was a splash of everything! And it was perfect. Benjamin, Brian and I went out to dinner Friday evening, then we walked to the Hoekstras' for awhile. We walked to their house in absolutely perfect weather, and we had a chance to talk with Benjamin. He opened up about school, some of his likes and dislikes, friendships, his future....it was amazing. I was choked up when we got to their house. I wanted to keep walking because I was enjoying the conversation so much! I look forward to more opportunities to talk candidly with Benjamin!

Saturday morning Benjamin and Christian ran the Med City kids marathon. They have run it for 3 years now. They train by running 25 miles (1/2 or 1 mile at a time) leading up to the day of the final 1.2 miles. Then they run the last 1.2 with other kids in their grades. They both did a great job and made great times! I am so proud of them for doing it each year, and they really are inspirational to me! I am working on the running bit by bit. Someday, I will be able to run along side them in a race!


After the race we (Benjamin, Brian and I) went to the cities. We visited Mike at his new houseboat location in IGH, then we went to the skate park that we found last year when we went to the zoo. Here Benjamin practiced all his tricks, until he was too tired to go on. A little shopping at Half Price Books and dinner, then back to our hotel to relax. We had an absolute blast playing catch in the pool.

We tried to see how many times we could throw it back and forth w/o dropping it. But after awhile we would get too fancy and let it go...we never made it past the 40s. The water was pretty chilly starting out, but we made the best of it and after playing catch for awhile and then wrestling in the pool, we rewarded ourselves with a soak in the hot tub. It was a great way to end the evening!


The next morning after breakfast we went back to the skate park so Benjamin could practice more. Then we tried to find the little out of the way/hidden park, that Brian and I had visited years ago with my mom. We had no such luck, but after driving around for longer than we wanted we ended up in Calhoun Park. It was a gorgeous day, so we ate a quick lunch and stopped to get some drinks and a frisbee and played catch in the park! It was so fun, and easy. The weather couldn't have been better, and the buzz all around us was contagious! When we were too tired and hot to throw the frisbee anymore, we walked back to our car to head off to the Vulcan's house for the night.


We got there before Jill did with the kids (Eric was building a house in Montana) so we made dinner and I baked a cherry pie while we waited. It has been FAR too long since we have seen this family and it was just like old times. I was worried that the little ones would not remember us (in particular our Goddaughter Callie) but oh no worries! They not only remembered us, but Andrew clung to Benjamin just as he always does! It is really sweet to see him just touching Benjamin when he stands next to him.

We spent the night with the Vulcan's and the next day we went to Northfield where the kids played at the park, we watched some people fish, got some ice cream and came back to wait for our Christian to come home!

When we got back to Rochester we worked in our yard to pull weeds and mow and pull weeds. Did I mention that we pulled weeds? Ugh! And we haven't gotten them all! Remind me sometime to tell you how much I dislike this yard....that is for another day!

Christian came home and we had a wonderful dinner at home with key lime bars for dessert (they were absolutely DELISH if I do say so myself!) Then we walked up to the cemetery to visit my Grampa Thompson. We cut some fresh flowers from our gardens and took those to his grave. Our family does not make a ritual of visiting our loved ones after they have passed. I feel as though I can talk to them anytime. They are with me always, and I don't need to be standing over a headstone to talk with them. However, it has been less than a year since he passed away, and I wanted to make sure to pay our respects to him on the first Memorial Day since he has been gone. I sure do miss him

This has been a wonderful weekend. I am grateful for the time spent with Benjamin, and Brian. I enjoy those people so much. I wish I could show them how much I appreciate them.

Remember the bomb I had dropped on me a couple weeks ago? It was like being handed a snake. What do you do? If you let it go, it could bite other people, and while it isn't biting me right now, I know that it could bite me whenever it wants. And that is unsettling. I don't have peace with it. Now, imagine being told I can never set the snake down! That is how I feel! It is hard to know the things that I do, and not discuss them HOWEVER, I have been praying about it, and this is what I have come up with.

I am human. I make mistakes. I don't always make the right decisions, sometimes I even make bad ones. I don't like every person I come into contact with, I won't always agree with the things people say, I am opinionated, I can at times get ahead of myself and make impulsive decisions that sometimes backfire, sometimes I over think things and have a hard time making any decision much less an impulsive one, and I like to partake in innocent gossip with my girlfriends and husband. But! I can also tell you one thing about me. I do them all with the best of intentions. Not spitefully, and not to deliberately hurt someone. It hurt to hear the names I have been called, and the things that have been said about me (nearly all of which are untrue or misconstrued) and I really wanted to fight back. I wanted to go to these people and let them have it. I wanted to tell them what I had heard just to put them on the spot, but like I said I had to pray about it.

So I have.


And because of that praying, I am feeling peace. The things that have been said about me are untrue. And fortunately the people who matter most, wouldn't listen to such nonsense. One of the sayings that I try to teach the boys is "The people who care don't matter and the people who matter don't care." It doesn't apply to every scenario obviously, but it definitely does in this case. Unfortunately, I can not even look at these people in the eye. It makes me anxious to just be around them. I have little patience for people who preach one thing, but live another. I have NO patience for people who spread false rumors. I have no desire to be associated with it.


The point of my ramble is this. I still have hurt feelings by this. And I probably will until the truth comes out. Unfortunately, I don't know if they will ever try to right the wrongs. I don't know if they would ever come clean with the things they have said and done. I know I won't hold my breath. Walls have been built, and despite my best efforts, the lies were built on top of the walls (are you following this analogy?) Anyway! Thank you for your concern. Thank you for your prayers. I am not as weak as I used to be. I am growing more and more in my faith, and I know that HE will not leave me. He is in control, and it is not up to me to pass judgement on anyone. He will see to it that the truth comes out in due time. I just need to keep on keepin on!