TGIF

I am so happy it's Friday.  It's been a stressful week.

Yesterday I had a 16 hour migraine. I woke up with one at 5 am and it finally broke at about 9pm last night. Thankfully I did not wake up with on, just that exhausted tired feeling, which I call the migraine hangover.

Work has been stressful. Lots of it and over demanding clients. I shouldn't say too much more.

We had to buy a new car this week.  My husband's 13 year old Dodge Dakota finally bit the dust.  It was good to us.  After 157,000 and lots of rust, the engine finally died.  We got a 2013 Toyota Tacoma and a hefty car payment to go with it. So, now I'm glad I have work to be stressed about to help me pay for that new monthly bill!

Soccer has started.  Two kids, three teams, 5 practices and 3 games a week is enough to put me over the edge.  Then one kid has karate on top of it each week.  And 5th grade homework.  WOW.  That was 1.5 hours of H.E.L.L. last night - and that was just math.  That didn't include studying for a science quiz today. Granted, this was advanced math. But wow.  5th grade took a  sharp turn that we were not prepared for.

Oh, and tomorrow I start the last year of my 30s. Wow. 39. It's a little scary.  I know it's just a number, but you remember being a kid and when someone was 40 they were OLD.  That's me soon. Oh, but the day of celebrating will be soccer games, school picnic and sending my husband off for his week long convention for work!  Happy birthday to me! Such is the life of being a mom and wife!

But as I sit here and complain about the week, I think about the day before my birthday - which would have been my grandparents 66th wedding anniversary. I tear up missing my grandma, nearly six weeks after her death, but I also smile remembering their 50th wedding anniversary celebration and remember all the fun we had and how lucky we were to have the opportunity to celebrate their 50th! Here we all are with my grandma and grandpa right in the middle of their wonderful family with their royal blue shirts on!

That was indeed a beautiful day!

Today starts an emotional weekend for our family.
Tomorrow we will celebrate the life of my grandmother who passed away on July 21.
Born on January 10, 1923, she lived a long, remarkable 90 years.

Many people don't even get the chance to get to know their grandparents, or even meet them.

I was blessed to have her in my life for the past 38 years.
My husband felt lucky when he came into my family - he got to have grandparents again (his all passed away when he was young).

We were a close family - having lived near her, or with her, our entire lives.
She was a sweet, gentle, kind, loving woman who loved roses and the colors pink and purple.
In honor of her love for those colors, the family is wearing pink and purple to her memorial tomorrow.

I know that my grandfather, who passed away in 2002, was happy to (finally) see her after all these years.
I can hear him saying when she arrived "Lorraine, what took you so long?"
Oh, the stories she has for him.
Since he passed, 7 great grand children were born and 5 grandchildren got married - and many more family weddings and births!!
She recently said to me, she never thought she'd live to be 90, but boy was she glad she did! "Think of all the things I would have missed," she said.

Last summer we celebrated her 90th birthday - almost the entire family was here. We had a professional photographer take tons and tons of pictures - we are so blessed and will be displaying those pictures tomorrow.

At that celebration, my grandmother had me design this saying in the shape of a circle, with a heart in the center - everyone has it framed to forever remember the celebration and her:

Our family is a circle of strength and love
With every birth and every union the circle grows
Every joy started adds more love
Every crisis faced together makes the circle stronger
May our circle always be strong


As hard as the weekend will be, and I will shed many tears, I know she is free of pain, happy to be reunited with my grandpa (and her dog) and the sun will be shining down on us tomorrow helping make it a beautiful day to honor her long life and the family she created.


Love ya Grandma and I miss you already.


http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailyherald/obituary.aspx?n=lorraine-agnes-pfursich&pid=166292995#fbLoggedOut

15 days....

Yes I am counting down to the end of summer!  It has gone fast.  We have had a ball.  But it's time for it to be over.

It's not me, it's them (I swear!).  My boys are driving each other crazy.  They are sick of each other. They are missing their schedules, their friends, their learning (my oldest who will be in 5th grade didn't know how many hours it was from 11:30 to 1:30....he said 3!)  Time to go back to school.

And I only have 15 days to get them back on a good sleep schedule.  Gone are the nights that they stay up until 10 or 11 pm and sleep until 9 or 10 am....oh dear.

Luckily my oldest has art camp next week which starts at 9am each day, so it will be early to bed and early to rise which will help.

But as always, it's a beautiful day and I am thankful that I am able to enjoy the summer with them while I work from home.  I get up early (6am) and work for a few hours before we go do fun summer activities each day.  And there have been plenty of lazy days where we haven't even gotten out of our pajamas (and dare I say I just let them play on electronics all day which I surfed the net!?)

But the fighting, bickering and wrestling has got to stop.  I am looking forward to routines, schedules, soccer practice, piano lessons and after school clubs!

Wait, it's really 14 days and 17 hours! Ahh...it IS a beautiful day!

Love this!!

"How to Make a Beautiful Life"

Love yourself.
Make peace with who you are
And where you are
At this moment in time.
Listen to your heart.
If you can’t hear what it’s saying
In this noisy world,
Make time for yourself.
Enjoy your own company.
Let you mind wander among the stars.
Try.
Take chances.
Make mistakes.
Life can be messy
And confusing at times,
But it’s also full of surprises.
The next rock in your path
Might be a stepping stone.
Be happy.
When you don’t have what you want,
Want what you have.
Make do
That’s a well-kept secret of contentment.
There aren’t any shortcuts to tomorrow.
You have to make your own way.
To know where you are going
Is only part of it.
You need to know where you’ve been, too.
And if you ever get lost, don’t worry.
The people who love you will find you.
Count on it.
Life isn’t days and years.
It’s what you do with time
And with all the goodness and grace
That’s inside you.
Make a Beautiful life…
The kind of life you deserve.

~Unknown