Moving On

There is a reason why journal writing doesn't work for me. It has something to do with the way I look at the world. Everything is black or white (bear with me...we're speaking metaphorically, not literally). There are no other shades of anything in my world. Either I sit down and write about the entire experience I've just had complete with adjectives, thrilling verbs, and pages of detailed description supported by photographic evidence...or I don't. There is no in between. Instead of saying, "Oh, I've got a couple of minutes to remember some of the highlights of this amazing experience", I walk away and dream about how I'll describe it or review the details I hope I don't forget when I finally get around to writing. See how complicated this makes things?

So much has happened. And I've written so many wonderful entries in my head. But now my head is getting so cluttered and my mind is spinning with all the experiences I haven't recorded that I have decided to seize this moment, in between cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming the preschool crumbs, to simply list the wonders of my life.

a) Our oldest son was baptized at the end of February. I can't believe he is 8 years old. It was an amazing day and I'm so grateful for the family and friends that were able to share it with us. The gospel is true. I am eternally grateful for this gift I can share with my children and for the ways it blesses our lives.

b) JC celebrated his 8th birthday with a "Series of Unfortunate Events" birthday party. Chris made a deadly viper snake cake that was both terrifying and fabulous and we had a party full of ingenius games and activities (thanks to my 8 year old's amazing imagination!). Loads of fun, fun, fun.

c) JC and MC both performed in their annual school play. JC was an extra...villager and party goer. MC was a peasant boy named Sam. My favorite performance was the night JC came on stage having to go to the bathroom so badly that I feared there would be a puddle center stage. He danced, he held himself, he turned red in the face until finally another "villager" sent him off stage to go take care of things. I wasn't the only one giggling in the audience.

d) JC has started playing soccer and attending cub scouts. New adventures in this mom's life.

e) HB has started gymnastics. There is nothing in this world cuter than 4-year old in pink leotard.

f) Our family went to Mesa Verde National Park for spring break. It was an amazing trip...breathtaking and spectacular. Next we spent an afternoon hiking Arches National Park in a wind storm that we were afraid was going to carry our youngest child away. Then we finished the trip off by getting caught in a sudden spring snow storm in Price, UT where we decided to hunker down for the night. The next morning, while picking up some healthy donuts at Wal-Mart, JC announced that he wanted to move to Price. When I asked him why, he said it was because of the "17-star luxurious hotel accomodations and the fact that the Wal-Mart had a fun center with video games." Translation...the hotel had an indoor pool and cable TV and the Wal-Mart had some video games. It was a great vacation and I hate being back to "reality".

g) I ran a 5K last Saturday in 32:29. Then our whole family ran in a 1K fun run that ended with free popsicles and bananas. Anyone want to guess what the kid's favorite part was?

OK. I'm purged. I can now look forward to the next event without fear. I am caught up and I managed to do it without writing a huge novel and adding an entire photographic exhibit. I really do wish you could see the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde, the extremely deadly viper cake, and how handsome my son looked on his baptismal day but I will let it go. I'm embracing the gray that lurks in between the black and white. And it's not so bad.