Credit Where Credit is Due....Carol Here's To You!

Today is the first day of the rest of my life!!!! Okay....actually.....today is the first day after Memorial Day which actually starts my summer. It starts my kids being home daily, my work schedule changing and hopefully a revised and revived attitude! Last summer sucked!!!! I tried to think of a better way to describe it....but there just isn't one. Last summer I was working for the first time in a couple of summers, David was having almost constant seizures, I was going through a long list of non-English speaking (okay very little English speaking) day care/respite care workers for David......and my pool wouldn't clear up. Almost every weekend we were either in the ER or admitted to the hospital, David was having so many seizures and his body was so weak and tired that he was barely able to crawl across the room and I stayed in a constant state of guilt and nervous exhaustion constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was literal hell for all of us and not a time that any of us wants to have to relive. I have great hopes that this summer is going to be vastly different and oh so much more happy and enjoyable. So far.....it hasn't started out too shabby. The trip was just what the dr. ordered to get this party started!

I actually slept horribly last night. I think I might have been just too tired to sleep. I kept having strange dreams that startled me awake and then along about 2ish, 3ish storms hit and the temperature changed. I had to get up and shut windows and try to drift back to sleep. By 6ish I was done trying and just got up. Suprisingly.....I don't feel too bad now. Wait til about noon though and I am sure it will hit me. Hopefully tonight will be a better night!

While I probably wasn't as well behaved on my trip as I should have been (must learn to control my mouth and my attitude) I always get inspired going to my mother in laws. She has more energy than three 20 year olds and she goes from dusk til dawn. She is one of these multi-taskers who just does everything right. Of course....there is a certain amount of perfectism that goes along with this.....but over the years.....I have come to understand that that form of OCDness (new word....you like?) may not be such a bad thing. She is a collector/coupon shopper/deal getter kind of person. Because of this you never have to take anything but yourself and a change of clothes to her house. She has enough toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, face wash, hair products, nail products and bath stuff to revival Walmart....and in vast variety and it is always better than anything I buy. She always seems to have extra clothes for the kids, extra towels for me to bring home and a pantry stocked so well that it would make any chef sob with joy. The funny thing is.....with all of this stuff....her house and yard are immaculate. I have marveled at this woman and her ability to both shop and store for years. I think it may have even dipped over into a bit of hero worship. Really it is hard to find fault as she pretty much can do it all. She will be 70 next year and you could never tell it. She mows her five acres, her neighbors yards and an older woman's yard who she oversees and takes care of. She can squeeze at least a buck fifty out of every dollar, she has an enormous green thumb and has a knack for landscaping that is amazing. She cooks like a dream and every year has a beautiful garden and either cans or freezes everything she grows. Her house is always clean (although she never thinks it is) and in her spare time....she works at the local senior center, cleans house for the older woman I spoke of, babysits her great grand kids, and shops at thrift stores. She puts more into one day than most people put in a whole week! Again there is a certain amount of OCDness that goes with all of this.....but I have learned (and need to keep remembering) that this all apart of who she is and how she makes it all work.

For all the years I have known her......when I come home from her house....I try to make her tips and tricks work at my house. Some things I actually have been able to implement....but alas, most of her abilities far exceed any talent or ability I have. Her energy alone is a wonder and after running with her for just a couple of hours.....I need a nap.....and she keeps on going. Perhaps it is my naps that hinder me?! That and the whole being me thing.....which is definitely not her! I would truly love it if she just came out to my house for a week and did a boot camp type training on my house and my life. Of course I would have to clean for a month before she came.....and she would want to kill me in the first day and half she was here.....so it probably ain't ever gonna happen! But I think I could live with a little bit of OCD if it meant organization in my life. Again....I think!

Honestly.....I was not on my best behavior and I should have done a lot more biting my tongue and letting things slide (after all...her house her rules) I was a bit of a __________ (go ahead....you fill in the blank!) Honestly....the day I became part of her world and her family I was blessed. She and I have butted heads a time or two (or six) over the years, but she has always been very good to our little family. Since Tim has been gone she has never lost touch nor has she ever emotionally moved away from us and since I lost my own mother.....she has often stepped in as a surrogate. For all of her quirks (and we all have them) her heart is always in the right place and she loves her grand kids with a fierceness only a mother lion could match. She has had a tough life losing both a husband and a son and often she is probably not given credit where credit is due.

Today.....I feel that I must give credit where credit is due. I give her credit for picking herself up after great emotional as well as physical losses and moving on. I give her credit for always giving when she can and loving the way she knows best. Kudos for her well stocked pantries and her ability to stretch a dollar. My hats off to her for her green thumb and her amazing skill in the kitchen. Most of all...I want to thank her for all she does and continues to do....even when it isn't always as appreciated as it maybe should be. I want to thank her for her kindness to me and her support when the bottom fell out of my world. I want to thank her for her humor, her laughter and for always leaving the door open at Elam East for all who wish to enter. And finally Carol....thank you for being you, because even through all the craziness and chaos....the world would be a whole lot less green, organized, landscaped, yummy or loved.....without you in it!

So today ends May and starts us on our way to summer. Please keep your fingers crossed that it is a happy and healthy one for all of us....and maybe that just a smidge of Carol rubbed off on me....so that I can get my house in order. P.S. Thanks to Thiry who came in and cleaned my house while I was gone. I am pretty sure I am going to owe her a "major" night out for that one! Here's hoping that your Tuesday is a great one and to get this summer started I leave you with Kid Rock and All Summer Long!