A Nice Start to Summer......All Blue Skies Ahead

So I really should be doing homework right now but I've been going all day and don't feel like starting a paper quite yet! So I figured that I would write a little here just to avoid homework and just rethink the day.  Mondays are nice.  Yes, that is a complete sentence for me because I always have Monday off.  So the day started off by sleeping in which was cut short as I got a pillow thrown at me.  This is not unusual at our house.  Most mornings whoever wakes up first, they get the joy of annoying the other two people enough so that we all are up shortly.  I must admit that I love to wake up and start the day like this even if I was the one who got clocked with the pillow this morning because the kids show no remorse to me like I do to them.  Nothing starts the day better than the laughter and the begging to "please stop tickling or I'm going to pee".  Start your day with a smile at least, this has become the motto in the Maier household.  Next up is breakfast which leads to discussion about what we are going to do for the day.  My kids actually like staying home so I granted them that wish because I had many things to do at home.  Most days I'll have four or five different things going on at once, not because I have ADD or anything but that is just how I do it, multitasking seems to work best for me.  So I got the house cleaned up, dishes done, laundry going and started putting together the bench I've been wanting to build for the back patio.  The problem with the bench though is that my saw that I needed to finish up the legs of the bench was at my sister's house in Seneca.  So I got the kids downstairs and ready for a short road trip.  The weather is great today so we had the windows rolled down, sunroof open and we were on our way.  All three of us had carried over our goofy mood from this morning and it was about to get even more goofy.  Madison got to choose the first song for us to listen to, so I started going through all the K artists on my player to find Katy Perry because I know her so well.  Sure enough, she picked the song Firework.  So as we pull up to the stoplight with that song blaring, I could tell we were already being looked at.  Not a big deal because we are use to it and it actually makes us laugh, sing, and act even crazier.  Next was Kobe's song, Real Gone from the movie Cars.  Now Kobe has joined in on the madness of singing, and it is always fun to look back and see that Kobe has fully joined the party.  My turn next, so I picked the song Blue Skies by Uncle Kracker which fit the day so perfect, just driving down the road with no need to rush, no where really to be.  Days like this are the moments where you stop and look at life, and you put everything in check.  The breeze blowing, the joy of having fun doing absolutely nothing.....these are the days where you sit back and realize that your life is almost so perfect, and that great things are coming in the summer months ahead.  Life is all about what you make it, the people you share it with, and the ability to take life's simple pleasures and realize that they may be small or simple but they are the important things.  Life is good, and of course there are a couple things that would really make life better but they will come in time and then everything will be perfect.  I already have so much to be thankful for but that doesn't stop me from wanting to have everything I want.  It is such an amazing trip to be on and to even be in this state compared to where I was last year at this time shows me that I have grown as a person, that I have come to realize what things in life truly matter, and that the best is yet to come.  We all go through our trials, our hard times where we hit the bottom.  We are being tested to see if we are ready for great things.  It is because of the tests that I've gone through that I know that I am ready.  I know that I have used my time wisely and that I have bettered myself.  It is an exciting time.  I think that this is why I love this time of year.  Spring is all about finding ourselves and renewing who we are and using what we've learned to blossom into the person we really want to become.  When you feel that way, it spreads to everyone around you and you have reached your potential, you've become the person you are meant to be.

Stay Strong and Never Give Up

One thing I have learned in the last couple years is that life will always have a curve ball in store for you when life seems to be going great.  I don't know how many times people felt the need to tell me how things go and that I was either wasting my time or that I would not be satisfied with the end result.  I was one of those people a while ago but I learned that the key to life is how you approach things.  People come and go in life.  Some you let go, so leave, and others you fight to keep. 

We all face trials and adversity on a daily basis.  We are in our own little world most of the time so our problems seem larger than anyone else's.  People always forget to slow it down and take a look at what they have instead of what they are chasing.  With everything I went through for the past two years I have learned to do exactly that.  I started over basically with nothing.  I had my car, my personal belongings and well, that was it.  I rented an apartment that had nothing in it so I sit here almost two years to the day later and look around where I live now.  I remember coming home from work and just not feeling like doing anything.  I was in some sort of depression which is understandable when you go from being with your kids every day to not being able to see them much.  No matter how bad it was I never questioned if I had made the right choice.  I kept trying to think of the big picture and when things seemed hopeless or bad I kept thinking that when this is all over that is when I'll be able to sit back and relax and know that I fought a hard fight and it was worth it.

It kills me as I've watched a couple of my friends go through the same fight that I did.  I tried to be there for them as much as I could because I know that the more support you have the less you question yourself and wonder if you are doing the best you can.  I am often reminded of a system that my daughter was using when learning how to read called chunking.  You have to take the same approach with any problem.  You have to break it down so that it doesn't overpower you.  You have to not let it eat at you and command your focus otherwise you close yourself off from life and what else is going on around you.  Many people will take the approach that what happens happens and if it is meant to be it will be.  I don't like that.  I like to think that we have control over our fate.  I'm not saying that those people who feel that way are wrong, I'm just saying that it isn't the way for me to go.  The more you go through the stronger you become, the smarter you get, and the more prepared you become to find what you want and take it and run with it when you find it. 

Busy Busy......but still taking the time to smell the roses

It is easy to get caught up in life.  Being a single parent is such a hard job yet at the same time a job that any of us would never give up.  We all have had that middle of the night wake up, where either our kid can't sleep or they are sick.  So we do what we can and we comfort our kids.  Sure the next day we are tired and yawning all day and we put up with our co-workers or friend's stupid jokes about "well you must have been up late wink wink" Yeah, it is called having kids! So between all that, making school lunches, checking to see if they really brushed their teeth by seeing if they have figured out the trick of wetting the toothbrush, and many other parental duties we still have to work.  In my case I also have papers to write for school.  Sometimes we feel like we are being pulled in 20 different directions and we need to take a break and put it all to the side.  Today was one of those days for me and the kids.  I woke up and hit the snooze alarm on my phone and as I lay there I started wondering what to do today.  First thing:  check the weather, no rain, so we have a green light for outdoor activity which is nice since it is spring like weather in June still.  We had talked about going to the zoo and my mom originally was going to go with but couldn't afterall, but I had already told the kids that we were going to the zoo.  This basically meant that either we still go to the zoo or I have to come up with something quick that is better than the zoo.  I started thinking.  There are 4 zoos all within an hour or hour and a half of home.  Do I head west to Rock Island?  What about south to Bloomington? Both of those zoos are nice but very small and once you are done there you are stuck in the middle of nowhere so I decided to scratch those off the list.  So I got up and figured let's head to Chicago because there is always plenty to do, there are two zoos to chose from and we like going up there.  Who doesn't like going into the heart of Chicago where you can people watch, hear free music in the park, and drive by that hideously ugly stadium where the Bears now play.  So we hit the road with no time table, no schedule, and no place to really be.  These are the days that I know I remember because of the memories we make.  It is great to take the kids into the city because they see so much there that they can't see at home.  We watched an amazing girl playing the violin outside of the Art Institute, a guy wearing a Superman cape for no reason at all, and a tattooed pale goth guy who made Marylin Manson look like a Sunday school teacher.  Madison saw a man laying in the grass sleeping and asked me if he was homeless......so I taught her to pay attention to detail by pointing out his fancy shoes and his Starbucks coffee, letting her know that just because someone is snoozing in the grass it doesn't mean that they have to be.  It is fun to watch her little wheels turn in her head and for her to start to understand that individuality is a good thing and that being comfortable doing what you like is the way to be.  Once we left the Silver Bean we got to see the Chicago staple, the little black kid playing the upside down bucket.  That kid was amazing had attracted quite the crowd.  Then we made it to Buckingham Fountain where the lesson of why there is a rainbow by the fountain occurred and made this dad feel smart! As I stood there watching my kids take everything in I wondered if in twenty years they would be standing where I was watching their own children and if I was starting something that they would do with their children to show them the world.  It has always been important to me to show the kids different things and take them different place.  We have sat on the dock in South Beach Miami watching a storm roll in.  We have seen Canada as we stood in awe of Niagra Falls.  We've seen Mexico and a storm ravaged South Padre Island in Texas.  They've already seen more and been to more states than many people. 
So today was about just going out there and doing whatever we wanted.  Sometimes it is hard doing all this alone simply because I spend the whole day being who they need me to be but who do I turn to when I need days like this for me, so I can keep it together and keep moving ahead? I know that day is coming where I'll be able to have adult conversations while walking through the zoo.....not that I don't enjoy the level they are now but I need that balance.  I don't want to be the only "adult" acting goofy and getting funny looks from people as we pass them, it would be nice to have that partner in crime.  So basically I guess the whole point of writing this is just to emphasize that more people need to have these types of days.  Do I think that paying $25 to park for an hour is highway robbery????  You bet it is but I can tell you this much, the smiles and laughter that I heard and saw in that hour was worth so much more than what I paid to park.  A month from now where our trip today randomly comes up in conversation I will know that we permanently made some great memories that last.  And maybe someday Madison and Kobe we finally realize why I take so many pictures and make them act like they like each other in them as they put their own kids through the same thing.  Nothing bonds family together like days like today.  And if you want your little flowers to grow up strong and beautiful you have to nurture them every chance you get.