It’s -35C today and the schools were closed for a cold day.
The girl and I were watching a show from the 90s that referenced Y2K and she had no idea what that was.
When I described it to her, and tried to explain to her how freaked out everyone was she laughed and laughed. She couldn’t fathom computers not being able to flip over into the new millennium.
It’s amazing sometimes to think how many changes (digitally and in other ways) our world has seen in the last 20 years.
The boy and I had some alone time in the car doing errands today. He started quizzing me about my favorite sushi restaurants in all the places we lived.
Then he went through his sushi stories – memories of our favorite places and what he enjoyed most about them.
Apparently one of his favorite childhood memories comes from a day I took him out for a surprise sushi lunch.
The small moments.
We have been Patriots fans since our time in Rhode Island which has made the super bowl fun to watch in recent years.
This one, although being kind of a weird game in general, didn’t disappoint.
The boy watched with some friends – something he doesn’t do enough- and the girl and I watched with my cousin and family.
It’s been a good weekend filled with family things. My heart is full.
My aunt and uncle had us over for a make your own pizza party tonight. Actually, what usually happens is the grandkids are invited over to make pizza and us adults have to stay home and make our own suppers, but this time we were all invited and the kids made us all pizza.
These moments are so fantastic and I’m so grateful that my kids (and me, and my sister and her family) have been included in these nights.
I remember sitting at grandmas table having cinnamon toast and tea, and our kids will remember being at Nona’s and making pizza. They are memories you cherish for a lifetime.
I ate so much I may never be hungry again, but my heart is so full and happy.
I was standing at then check out line at Costco this afternoon with my cart filled to the brim. I looked behind me and there was a man with a flat trolley with a toilet on it. I thought to myself that’s either good or bad. He’s either renovating or he’s had some awful explosion in the house.
I thought of offering that he go ahead of me but my cart had 4 huge water bottles and it was kind of difficult to maneuver, I was already running a little late, and I really wasn’t sure I felt like doing an extra kindness.
I got to the till and started unloading my things and I was thinking how selfish that had been of me. Like really, it would have cost me 2 minutes but saved him at least 5 to go ahead of me.
A man who worked there came and grabbed his trolley and said it would be waiting for him on the other side of the till and he could just wait in line without having to deal with the toilet.
And I thought this is my chance to make it up.
I offered he go ahead of me. He thanked me profusely and was saying how he appreciated it, when the store worker stopped everyone and said isn’t it nice to see there are still kind people in the world. That was so nice of you to let him go ahead.
I was kind of embarrassed but I smiled and thanked him. I know I helped that other customer out, but I think I left feeling even better than he did.
My take away lesson from this is that often I ask God for a second chance to get stuff, but I usually forget to ask for a second chance to give.
We had a meeting this morning with a few of the men in our community to gather history and information about our community hall. I was fascinated by their stories, and astounded by how accurate their memories are. I couldn’t remember what I did yesterday, but they could remember what happened in 1942 or 1968 at the hall. It was amazing.
It made me feel really happy to hear how much the hall was used in my parents’ and grandparents’ generations. It really was the hub of the community, and I feel like even with the bright lights of the city to tempt us, there are a lot of us who are feeling the pull for that sort of community gathering again.
I am always grateful for the fact that we live in a really unique community that has granted us a strong and supportive tribe, but moments like today really solidify that for me.
I had a wonderful surprise visit from my niece today. Usually when she’s around so is my daughter and the girls take off and I never see them. But today I had this girl all to myself (until the boy showed up).
We sat and had tea and visited about life, school, travels, food, and our pets.
Then jasmine the crazy kitten showed herself and the rest of our visit was spent terrorizing our little black ball of terror.
Laughter in the small moments.
The girl is experiencing some of what seems to be regular girl drama at school. It’s all pretty much what I remember myself from being in grade 8 with a few exceptions.
Texting changed everything. We used to leave school at school but now everyone has constant access to each other.
She’s way more mature and level headed than I remember being.
But for me the most touching part is that she sits down and talks to me about what is going on in her life.
It’s priceless.
We went to my cousin’s tonight to celebrate her son’s 19th, my somethingth and the girl’s 14th birthdays. After an amazing meal (osso bucco omg so good) and super yummy cheesecake made by my aunt, we started talking about birthdays. I mentioned how I missed the little boy who used to know all the names and numbers of the Thomas the Tank Engine trains. My niece ran to the back room and returned with a giant box of all of his Thomas trains and we immediately set them up on the table reminiscing about each train (and it’s tender if it had one). Some of my happiest little kid moments are of that kid and my boy playing Thomas – they were obsessed.
And I have to say, us adults got pretty obsessed too. We played waaaaay longer this evening with those trains than I ever would have expected – and it was so much fun.
Further proof that you can have a really good time doing really simple things – as long as you’re with people you love.
