Racecar progress

After a long awaited nice day, here are the first decals to go on. The "name " was stenciled, sprayed, and hand outlined.

Happy Leap Year

Leap Year:  A day to catch up to the sun.  

A day that people who wish for more time in their day get a whole extra 24 hours of it.  

A day that people who need an extra day in their week actually get one.  

A day that stretches the normally short February into one more work day for a few extra bucks to go towards rent.  

The question is this...does anything extra get done?  Are your floors shinier or your windows cleaner on this day? Do you pull out the silver and polish it because this is an extra day?  What about all those mending projects sitting on your sewing machine?  Are they completed at the end of the day today?  Do your kids get an extra book tonight because of this extra day? What about calling an elderly relative you've put off because you haven't had time? Or catch up on somebody's photographs, read a good book, find a new recipe, call your best friend for no reason, organize your tools, sit and talk to a stranger at the park, pick up garbage along your street, Google something for the heck of it!  

The list of extra possibilities are endless....

What are you going to do to celebrate all this extra time today?  Make it good-

The Bright Light

I opened my eyes ever-so-slightly and I saw a bright light in the darkness.  Then, flowing white robes cascading all around my blurry eyelids.  I was sure I was dying and it was beautiful, though I admit my feet were a bit cold. I closed me eyes.  

The next thing I know, it's 0600 this morning and somebody is crying.  Time to get up and get dressed.  Another school day, kids to take care of, breakfast and diapers, household chores to complete, husband to get out the door to work.  I knew it must have been a dream. Too good to be true.

Standing in the laundry room (which is catywompus to our bedroom) a few minutes after 0800, I see the white robes lying in a heap on the laundry pile. I guess the brightness last night was Al flipping on the laundry room light and the flowing white robes were not taking me to heaven but, rather, were being thrown across the room to their final resting place before the washing machine took over. 

Better luck next time, Sarah....

Blankets

Dear Eden,

At six and half years old, I think you're old enough to know the truth.  

Your baby blanket, your precious hand-made-by-Aunt-Janet Pooh bear blanket that has only once slept away from your little arms and is so soft and cuddly.... well, it fell apart somewhere along its path in this big world. 

The journey from hospital bassinet to bedside cradle to crib to toddler and then twin bed.  From Central to Western Nebraska, from it's traveling in Missouri &Arkansas and South Dakota to Wyoming, up to  Montana and back home again.  From Colorado train stations thru Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan and in your many dreams, it just kind of wore itself out.  

I tried to put it back together a little bit each day while you were at school this week.  In fact, I spent hours at the sewing machine trying to piece the shreds individually back in line, sewing one row at a time.  It worked in places. I ran out of sewing thread and bobbin twice, but to be honest, it mostly just hangs limp in rags now.  

Frankly, though, I don't think you've noticed.  You haven't mentioned anything about it all week.  And believe me, I've been holding my breath every time you've climbed into bed...waiting for you to notice that something is ever-so-slightly different.  

(Don't worry, I didn't wash it this time.  I've learned my lesson there.)

I guess, if you ever get around to reading this letter (I know how busy you are these days), just know that I tried to stop it from happening.  And I tried to make it right after the fact.  Really I did.

But I'm just a mommy.  Not a superhero.  

Sweet dreams my first baby. 

I will always love you.