The kid with the smile

What just happened? Did I just see what I saw? Did I just hear what I heard? I think so, but Im still so confused. Im emotional. Im a tearful overjoyed stunned proud woman. Im proud of my kid. Im proud of those other kids. Im exhausted from letting him try basketball, watching him trip, watching him hurt, seeing the obvious lack of skill (that possibly comes from his mother's side). But what overshadowed ALL of that other stuff? THE SMILE. Oh geez...the smile. The smile that brought tears to my eyes. The smile that had the adults in the room in absolute awe. The smile that cheered his teammates on. The red faced little boy who wouldnt give up. The one that never made a basket. The slowest one running the drills. The kid who leaned his pain ridden body against the wall to wait for his next turn. The kid with the smile. The kid who cant stop himself from double dribbling or traveling. The kid who cant turn on a dime. The kid who doesnt have the strength. The kid with the SMILE on his face.
Walking out of the court, into the cold, limping with pure satisfaction on his face he said, "You were right mom. That was too hard on my body but Im happy I tried. The coach said I can be his helper if it's ok with you." Yes, my dear kid with the smile....that would be fine.

What a weekend!

Oh what a weekend! It has been a weird one. First of all just let me state that I STILL have this stint in the tube that runs from my kidney to my bladder and it makes all things uncomfortable and some things impossible. I pee every other minuet and the prostate medicine I am on makes me feel weird. (maybe because I dont have a prostate?) The kidney stone passed last week, but I dont get the stint out until Friday. I cant wait till Friday!
My wonderful other half got a call Friday night, just as he was pulling up late to our daughter's first basketball game of the year (he had worked crazy extra hours on that day) that the pipeline he works for had busted about 2 hours southeast of us by some horrendous machinery that some silly man was using in a field. SO...that meant Paul driving to the site in a blizzard that did end up dumping 20 inches of snow on us. He wont be home until tomorrow night at the earliest...possibly Tuesday. Now, I usually get along fine when work takes him away, but this weekend was tough...not gunna lie. This whole kidney thing has zapped a lot of energy from me, and I cant take a risk to shovel the snow in our driveway because of the strick "no bending or twisting" rule that I have to follow since I am playing host to what the kids call a "straw in my gut". So...that leaves us snowed in. The first day was fun. We went to our neighbors house and played games and the kids played with their friends and we came home around bedtime and it was very pleasant. But today, today has been..well..not as pleasant. 4 words...The Kids Are Bored!
I did shovel a path to the front door, but only so the pizza guy could deliver our supper. I also tried to make the day fun with movies and allowing the children to do as many chores as humanly possible, but they still didnt find it a very fun day. (I was SHOCKED they didnt find the chores I came up with fun!) ;) With the windchill being what it is, I couldnt in good faith let them go out to play for fear of frostbite and then I wouldnt be able to get them to the hospital! In fact at one point of the day I heard myself say to my boys, "Dont wrestle with each other because I just know this is the day that one of you will break a bone and I cant get you to the emergency room!" (my driveway lays somewhere under the snow in the picture to the right) So, I got a little cranky when the wrestling didnt stop, and the whining continued. I was frustrated when my daughter complained about doing her homework, and my extremely creative 7 year old told me that he forgot how to make a sandwich when I explained that was the option for lunch. Somehow he managed not to starve because he magically remembered how to make oatmeal in the microwave.
Tomorrow the school has officially called a 2 hour delay, but no cancellation yet, but even if they dont cancel I wont be getting out of our driveway to take them to school, so I have called it a snow day anyway. Which means we get to do today all over again. With even colder wind chills. Oh summer, I miss you!
In other news my mother thinks that Jesus has moved into the body of a middle aged foul mouthed smoker who lives in the same nursing home she does, and apparently her "therapist" is helping to get her divorce papers and moved out of the nursing home without the help of her husband or children. Of course we can always tell her that if she continues to be married to Jesus that she can be charged with polygamy. I have no idea how to spell that word, but you know....sister wives...:) Yes, schizophrenia makes an interesting parent. But more seriously, she really isnt doing well at all, and I really do fear what will happen. I dont know what the next step is in her health care. The doctors have said there is nothing else we can do. She is on the highest doses of all of the anti-psychotic meds there is available. How long can her body handle those meds? How long can her brain handle the many delusions that overtake her life? I dont know. As her daughter I feel helpless...but we all do really. Mental illness is not something I would wish on any family.
On the CMT front, Wy refused to wear his AFO's all day today, therefore our nightly routine was all messed up because he had some major pain in his legs/feet. Oh CMT, you are a challenge some days.
So let me recap...husband stuck out of town, kidney craziness, mommy craziness, and painful leg cramping in child number 2. Yeah..not a great day.
BUT...tomorrow is a new day and with each new day comes wonderful potential!