Silly Girls

Elizabeth's "friends" birthday party was tonight, and here's a picture of the silliness.

Lots and lots of silliness. This picture was taken on the floor because one of the girls was hiding under the counter. So I chased her until I got the picture I wanted.

Am I a Grownup?

I spent yesterday in the ER with my dad. He and Mom were driving in from Alabama for Elizabeth's birthday and he started having some lower right quadrant pain about 8:30. By the time he got into town, it was to the point that he couldn't wait for a regular clinic visit, so off to the hospital we went. I was thinking appendix, but it turned out to be kidney stones. He's had them before, but the pain was in a different place this time, so he didn't recognize what was going on.

Mom was shaken up (as I would have been had it been my husband and us both away from our regular healthcare resources) so I was trying to take the adult role, monitoring what was going on and advocating for him as well as I could, and it occurred to me that I'm a grownup.

I'm not sure when this happened. I don't feel particularly grown up. I don't feel much different than I did at 25. I have a husband, a kid, a house, a mortgage, a car payment, and a stack of bills to pay every month, so I have all the trappings of grownup-hood, but there's no grownup inside. I'm just as scared today as I was when I left for college. (Well, maybe not THAT scared, but close.) I even have some grownup things that aren't just grownup things: they're middle-aged-grownup things, like blood pressure medicine, acid reflux, fiber supplements, and reading glasses. I'm also going to turn 50 this year. And I have high school classmates who are now raising their grandchildren.

So why did I have to keep reminding myself that I was a grownup yesterday?

It means so much to me that Elizabeth is excited about her friends coming to our house. I remember when she was in day care and I'd hide behind the door to watch her without her knowing I was there, just to see what she was like when I wasn't around. I still get to do that ... by being the mom who drives them places, I hear all the conversations about who's dating whom, who wishes she was dating whom, which teachers are cool (Mr. Haywood, definitely) and which are not at all cool (no, I'm not going to name any names).

I keep thinking that one day she'll decide she doesn't want me around anymore, and I won't get to hide behind the door (or the steering wheel) and find out what her life is like when I'm not there. Until then, I'm just enjoying the time I have with her.

Easter Dinner

I loved my Easter Dinner at Outback ... Ribeye steak, shrimp, and scallops, baked potato, and sauteed spinach.

For supper ... three Peeps and a chocolate egg.

Happy Easter!

I guess the Easter Bunny is resting up from his journey now. I think he hit our house last, then headed straight home to bed. I know this because he didn't actually make it to our house until waaaaay after the sun came up, and Elizabeth was in the shower.

Every Easter we sing one of my favorite hymns:

Christ the Lord is risen today. Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high. Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Love's redeeming work is done. Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise. Alleluia!
Christ has opened Paradise! Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led. Alleluia!
Following our exalted head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise. Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies. Alleluia!

I always think of my goofy brother-in-law when we sing that song. He sang "following our exhausted head" one year, and my sisters and I haven't sung the song without laughing since.

UPDATE:

Okay ... I just got back from church, and WE DIDN'T SING IT! I thought there was a law against that, or something.

Oh, well. Happy Easter anyway.

Is anyone really surprised?

It's interesting to think how I would have scored in high school ... definitely more awkward, but probably much lower in History/Literature. I can't believe I actually scored above average in the Sci-Fi/Comic one. Is that just because I knew who Jar-Jar Binks was?

One Blog To Rule Them All

This is my latest attempt at combining all my blogs in one place. I've started a mommy blog and a work blog, I'm a member of two group blogs, and I have a blog for my business. The business and group blogs will stay where they are, but everything else is going to be combined.

Really. I'm serious. Stop laughing.