Tales of the Ordinary Days

As my mom so famously says when it's time wrap a FaceTime conversation... "Well, that's about it then." Total code phrase for 'time to hang up and move on'. On day 6 of a week long senior family trip that includes me and Grant representing our family, I am feeling both joy and a bit of angst as I close a long chapter in my life. And although I've experienced many lasts with my youngest over these last few years, the permanency has become very real as we close this trip. In total we had 13 recent grads with their families join our excursion. TimeHop reminded me this morning of the same trip I took with Ben and classmates, 4 years ago to the day. Those four years have flew by at a pace that is now hard for me to fathom. Zach joined us for that trip, as did many other siblings his age. We had a ball. Zach started gunsmithing school two weeks after we returned and Ben was packed and moved to Lincoln within a couple of months. The blo...

The phrase 'bloom where you are planted' keeps resonating with me. I'm not completely sure where the embedding began, but as of late, this catch phrase continually hits replay in my brain. I do feel like I am planted in a lot of different places these days. Tonight I am in Omaha. And I'm at home. Just home (9:06 p.m.). But home nonetheless. Home means many different things to me. I confuse people with pictures of Denver on my blog and social media. I also confuse people with my spotty appearances and 'going quiet' for periods of time. The new norm. "Did you move to Denver?" is a frequent question. or "I haven't seen you in ages. Why have you dropped off the face of the earth?" is another. Albeit the understandable confusion (apologies for past miscommunication and the inevitability of those in the future), I'm kind of everywhere these days. But the real answer is that most time is spent at 72nd and Center in Omaha, less tim...

The view outside my bedroom window, 8:49 pm Our windows are cracked on a beautiful May Saturday night. The only sounds are the chirping of birds from nearby trees and a distant hum of car engines. Lawns are mowed and trash bins quietly put away without a sound of human in range. Home from a movie and dinner, Garrett and I are greeted only by our happy animals. Grant is out fishing with friends without a thought of hanging out at home. We haven't seen Ben's smiling face since Thursday morning when he left for his summer job. A text this morning let me know he was safely at his dad's. A lot has changed in the fifteen years since we first inhabited this house. My recent addiction to watching home video tapes has been a stark reminder of this. Each converted DVD runs about 2 hours and I watch them from start to finish, noticing the little life details that were temporarily forgotten. December 2000 was our move in date to Elm Circle. This was right before Grant's f...