Monday Musings

I'm going to do it if it's the last thing I do today!  It's Monday and Muse I must.  It has been a doozy of a day.  I think the dishwasher was run three times and the washing machine was continuous.  The camper all cleaned out and wiped down and driven back to storage.  Plus for a little added fun I cooked for the family and baked up four large pans of caramel-pecan rolls for some friends and family.

Anyway!  I'm back!  Yes I was away for our annual camping venture.  I had the privilege of driving myself up to Door County all on my own.  I had a near-miss accident on the way up (whew!) with a guy coming into my lane and I aimed for the ditch.  I enjoyed to be alone in my thoughts for the 3.5 hours there and then again on the return.  I sang along to many sad, country songs with the free satellite radio that was in the car.  And I relished in silence and the good thoughts that only silence brings.

And so I met up with my dear family (minus the surgery patient) and many. many friends.  Someone counted 60 of us together so I won't argue with that tidy number.  It was pretty much exactly the same as the previous years.  Good weather.  Good company.  Good plays.  And of course good food.  But the friends are what make it super-special.  We had lots of funny, serious, and in-between visits here and there and around a campfire.

One of my favorite aspects of camping with a lot of our friends is the time we get to spend with teenagers from other families without their parents.  We see a true reflection of who they are being raised by, yet see a beautiful person blossoming before us.  I love how they love to sit and talk to us adults.  Eat our food.  And share some wonderful and distressing parts of their lives.  Yes, sometimes it takes a village to raise these young people.  And I'm really grateful to the others that tend and love on ours as well.  There camping and elsewhere.

Our baby robins grew from bald, ugly babies to robins in just days.  They still seem pretty ignorant about life and mom and dad keep coming in with worms and other delicacies and the big old things just open their mouths and wait for dinner.  Yes, I'm still fascinated with them.

So the foot surgery recovery has been very, very long.  The podiatrist saw her last Thursday and thought two open wounds were slightly alarming and he gave us some new medicine to try.  Again, our dear patient has been very patient.  But it's grueling and sometimes lonely to be 17 and spending most of the summer with your mom (I'm exciting, but not that exciting!) and within the four walls of home.  We see light on the horizon but won't get too excited as of yet.  Today we were talking and I said, 'this has been very grueling on both of us.  I give you 90% credit and I think I deserve 10% for getting through this.'  She said, 'Mom?  I think you deserve 15%'.  Awe.  Thanks my sweet.

We've been considering future family trips since our oldest is going to be a senior and we want to do what we can while we can.  We are thinking something fun, yet affordable.  I see someone has lots of different windows open on the computer checking lodging and flights to Bora Bora.  Please tell her this isn't possible.  I don't want to break the news to her.

So this is probably enough Muse for today.  I still marvel you come by to read.  And I still find it somewhat odd that I'm feverishly typing up something to share on a Monday and some of you read it on a Wednesday or Friday night and it still almost makes some sort of sense.  Or not.

Here's a few pics for you!  Sorry nothing funny tonight!  I hope to glean something off the worldwide web for next Muse! Happy rest of the week.