Tales of the Ordinary Days

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...

The thought for the day, my friends.....slow down. This theme keeps resurrecting itself amidst the chaos around me. And by the sounds of the conversations and interactions I have with my friends, I am not alone. Having a three day weekend ahead of me sounded like pure bliss. With the less than stellar weather forecast, I planned on working non-stop for the entire weekend. A time to play catch-up; both for work and household duties that have been staring at me from my carefully sketched out to-do list. Go, go, go...the current story of our lives. With hefty work goals and busy kids dominating our time, Garrett and I try to keep true our workout schedule and date nights. Neither get gold stars, but we're trying. And the kids are older. By appearances, they would seem collectively self-sufficient. But my dear friend Robbie hit the nail on the head in her explanation to me on growing kids many moons age. Although Robbie and I are the same age, Robbie's kids are 5ish year...

A fun night with long-time friends, grown-up nieces, and a sweet baby girl. Blissful and relaxing. That pretty much sums up my night. Sometimes the best things in life are often the ones that come by surprise. The last minute invitation. An unexpected open night. Laughs from memories of years back and days just past. Life has been hectic. I often forget the day of the week. Although I deem this year a 'bye year' with no graduations or major life changes for my kids, the pace of my own life makes up for it. My salvation is the mission of my work that drives me and those around me. My sanity is gained from my entertaining boys and date nights with my husband. Throw in a good girls night out and I am dreamy. Torpedoes? Not a chance. I'm golden. Ben came home from college. My initial feeling was joy. And then that excitement died down when reality sunk in. The horrors of the summer after the freshman year in college. A big torpedo. New found independence. Late nigh...

As we approach the opening date of our new healthcare clinic, I am reminded of what has inspired me to take the leap of faith in joining this great venture. Although my area is finance, what I do and what motivates me is much deeper. A Midlands Business Journal article from years ago hangs on my office wall. It articulates some bits behind this motivation. Back in 1996 I was named as one of the 'Ten Outstanding Young Omahans'. The MBJ individually interviewed and ran an article on each honoree. I was asked by the reporter how I became interested in healthcare with my background in accounting. I told the reporter the story of my grandpa who had a stroke when I was in high school. I had spent months accompanying my grandma to the hospital, 45 miles away, as a support to her as she cared for her recovering husband. While my grandpa was painfully learning how to walk and talk again, I observed from the sidelines of the rehab room. When he would rest, I would wander the hos...

Today Zach asked me to go with him to Cabela's to look at guns. "Sure" was my answer. After 22 years of boys, I am numb to answer any other way. Guns, hockey, baseball, fishing, sports trivia, action figures and action movies...I am now a pro. I would know no other way of life. When the boys were small, I used to kid them that there would be no Barbie Doll birthdays for me. Then the  gave me a Barbie as a birthday gift one year. Although they kind of missed the point, I gave them an 'A' for effort. We started our Chicago trips during their teenage years to follow our love for our Chicago teams. When my friends (moms of girls) talked about day-long, shop-til-you-drop days on the Miracle Mile...I was scoping out best tickets for the Blackhawks and Bulls. Birthday parties over the years were filled with mounds of smelly and dirty boys who closed out the sleep-over nights with pick up games of sandlot baseball and backyard football. My living room wou...

From Ben's phone The adventure has begun. Ben and Mom. Mom and Ben. A quick trip planned in a short timeline. But life is short and time, a treasure. So we are off on our adventure. The idea of a getaway began 19 days ago when Ben sent me a text at 2:51 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I quickly surmised that my middle child, who doesn't like to miss a party, was creating his own party. Coincidentally my blog post the day prior was on his brothers spending a week together in Denver without him on Grant's spring break. It was tempting. Very tempting. We hadn't seen my parents since last May at Ben's graduation. Although time is a scarcity these days, I bit. My counteroffer was that the trip would have to fall over a long weekend. An excited Ben called his grandpa the same day to seal the deal. I was just as excited. I missed my parents. Spontaneous quick trips many times hold pleasant surprises and the best memories. With a 19 day window to take off, I sec...

View on my drive to our morning run Today was an ordinary day in Omaha. Amen to that. I have missed my sleepy, but satisfying days aglow with Midwestern pleasantries. I now sit in my art room sipping on a Leinenkugel's Grapefruit Shandy as Nat King Cole croons to me from the spinning vinyl. Windows are cracked with the sound of boys playing basketball as background noise coming from the front drive. Basketball also plays on the big screen in the living room with a big and a not-so-big boy tracking their brackets. With bellies full of a take out meal of wings and chicken baskets, my two oldest have set off with friends to enjoy a Saturday spring night. Life continues to hum for us in Omaha. Home. I began my day with a run through Boy's Town with my running gal pals. Our routine of coffee complimented with shared bananas and peanut butter followed. This same routine with a varying cast of characters has gone on at the same spot for over ten years. Some years it has been...