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Most of today was spent where I love best to be: surrounded by family.
I grew up in a big, loud, happy family. I'm the third oldest of 12 siblings. You can imagine the wonderful explosion of grandchildren that come from a big family like mine.
We celebrated a new member of the family today, one to be born in about 2 weeks. The baby shower today was a good start to that collection of a 1000 tiny little socks that my brother and sister-in-law will lose and find in every odd place for the next 8 (or 18) years.
I'm still finding socks all over the place, and in places I know very well I didn't fling them after peeling them off in a rolled-up, putrid ball.
I know that because I never peel off my socks in a rolled-up, putrid ball. I believe the junior members of my family are responsible for such occurrences. The evidence is overwhelming.
After much begging from Kara, she and I made cold-brew coffee. It's a pot with a filter in the center for the grounds and a glass carafe for water. The water slowly turns to coffee as it sits.
I knew she was going to mess up her coffee with cream and sugar, I just was unprepared for how much cream and sugar she would use. It was about 2 tablespoons of coffee to 1/2 cup cream, and 3 cups of sugar.
She drank one sip and said it tastes too much like coffee. So much for that experience. I took one sip of her sugar speeder. I'm still buzzing from that.
This past week was Spring Break for the kids. We had a few fun things to do, but I mainly spent the week fighting guilt about having to work some. It's extremely hard during times like this: I want to take them out and do fun things, but I also have to work.
One fun thing we did was to go on a Sunrise Ride. We leave the house at 6:00 in the morning, stop at the doughnut shop and coffee shop, then just drive around while the sky slowly fades from dark to light.
The kids pile in the car with pillows and blankets, and our pet bunny, Leo, then just kick back to enjoy the ride.
I have no set route; I just go wherever I feel like going. This time around, I landed in two of the towns where we lived growing up. I still remember the sights in Pierceton, IN, from when I was around 4 years old: the school my oldest sister went to for 1st grade, the area by the train tracks. Those are all still there.
We also landed in Warsaw and Winona Lake. I drove past some of the old familiar sights, though much has changed into new unfamiliar sights.
The dilapidated Grand Hotel from my childhood is restored back into a grand hotel. The beach front is much more crowded out with houses and cutesy new shops that do their best to look old enough to have been there since the Charles Dickens days.
We drove past the house and school where we lived and learned. My children were less than impressed with any of my old memories.
I guess I understand now how Mom and Dad feel when they revisit some old stomping grounds. Their memories spring back to life as they walk the steps again and remember the sounds and smells.
I never could enjoy that much with them because I didn't experience those things they remember; I can only build new memories now of hearing them tell about their old experiences.
Okay, I can tell I'm off on a rabbit trail--which is funny to say when I actually have a pet rabbit. Well, it's supposed to be the kids' rabbit, and he morphed into my responsibility.
We finally meandered home from that Sunrise Ride. In reality, it was the Overcast Ride, but still was so much fun to spend time with my children.
And a bunny.
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