Life As A Fire Wife

Happy Friday! If today was an episode of Sesame Street it would be brought to you by the letter B. B is for burp, butt, butt-head, butt-eater(that’s a new one), BOYS! Just another day in my life!

The sun was shining again today and it was gorgeous outside!  We got out for some walks around the neighborhood and I was able to work a bit more on the flower beds. I love the way it is looking with the weeds gone and I’m looking forward to learning more about gardening and doing some planting. Nature was a great classroom for Logan today as he helped me pull weeds he got to watch a worm tunnel beneath the soil, we turned over a huge stone and discovered a crazy amount of ants and one itty bitty inch worm underneath it, and we found some snails too. I have one plant that is gorgeous when it blooms but it has gotten so big and over grown that it has burst forth from the pot that it is in. I tried to pick it up to move it over the last few days only to discover today that the roots grew right through the hole in the bottom of the pot and planted itself into the ground. I should have played M.C. Hammer because as Logan and I put on our thinking caps to problem solve this, all I could think was, “Stop! Hammer Time!” Logan was thrilled when I gave him a hammer and some glasses to protect his eyes and let him smash the pot to free the plant! Christopher joined us. Unfortunately once the plant was free, we could not dig deep enough underneath to get the rest of the plant in the ground so I think tomorrow I will work on transplanting it to another spot in the yard. On another note, a problem with giving children garden tools and walking away, is that you just don’t know what’s going to happen. Before I went inside for Logan’s piano lesson on zoom, I had a rose bush and a trellis, when I came back out 30 minutes later, I did not. This rose bush was a major pain in my butt, it always grew so wild and I could never take proper care of it, but I was not quite ready to say goodbye. The chimney looks so naked now. Oh well! The roots were not dug out so that sucker will be back next year and I think I will just let Christopher be surprised!

Tonight Evan asked to make dinner for the second time this week. My plan was just some frozen pizzas but I did teach him how to make potatoes in the cast iron skillet. Neither one of us lost any fingers so I would say this cooking lesson was a success.

As Evan and I chopped potatoes I grabbed the Armageddon soundtrack to listen to. I don’t even remember ever seeing that movie, but the music brought me back to the early days of when Kenny and I started dating. When we first started dating I was living in NY and he was in MA and we would spend hours on the phone at night and it was so hard to hang up, and I remembered as I listened to Aerosmith tonight that we used to say, “I don’t want to close my eyes, I don’t want to fall asleep cause I’d miss you baby, and I don’t want to miss a thing. Cause even when I dream of you, the sweetest dream will never do, cause I’d miss you baby and I don’t want to miss a thing.” Towards the end of the CD, we were finishing up the potatoes and I had to stop and turn the volume up, as I heard the beginning notes of, “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” I could so clearly see us standing in the Burger King parking lot by the highway, and I put this song on in my car, and we would both get sad, as Chantal Kreviazuk sang, “So kiss me and smile for me. Tell me that you’ll wait for me. Hold me like you’ll never let me go. Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane, I don’t know when I’ll be back again, oh babe, I hate to go.” And then I’d get in my car to drive away and listen to this song and cry. And while Kenny is on shift today and I sang those words in my kitchen, I didn’t cry, but it brought all those same feelings back again, as I think about all these days of uncertainties and not knowing what he will come across while he’s on shift or even when he will be home some days. A better way for me to focus is on the memories of our simple life back then and how God brought us together and gifted us with this beautiful life together with our 3 amazing kids. We are so blessed, and even though these days are stressful and scary, they have also been filled with the most wonderful moments so far. Like playing Connect 4 at the kitchen table this morning when we finished school early on account of sunshine, or watching these 3 nuts actually get along and help one another, or better yet, singing in the kitchen while we cook together and sharing memories of mom’s and dad’s early days of dating. On a regularly scheduled day, these things might not happen or I might not appreciate them like I am at this very moment because my mind would be occupied with the next thing. But right now, right in this moment, the next thing doesn’t matter so much, all that really matters in this moment, is this very moment, so I’m going to appreciate it for what it is.

Be well.