Learn, Adapt, Adjust...

I’m certain I was full of good intentions and boundless energy a mere 31 days ago--ready and willing to embrace the new year with gusto.  Yet as January has dragged on, I feel like it's pulled me right along with it.

• My brother wasn’t supposed to have his life turned upside down by depression.
• My nephew wasn’t supposed to be riddled with panic attacks.
• My husband wasn’t supposed to be saddled with eighty-hour work weeks for a second year in a row.
• My son’s dog wasn’t supposed to die. 

I was watching television last night and I saw an ad for a new show, The Wheel, and honest to goodness I laughed out loud.  It looks like contestants get dropped off in a hostile environment and just when they figure out how to survive the Sahara, Rainforest, Swamp, Tundra…  the wheel spins and off they go to the next extreme locale; underprepared and ill-equipped, forced to learn, adapt and adjust.  Hmm.  I hate to break it to Hollywood but I don’t think we needed a tv show for that.  Around here we’re beginning to call that type of adventure a day in the life.

What I’ve learned in the first 31 days of this new year is that life doesn’t stop to check our calendar or measure the margin in our schedule or take in to account that sometimes we just need a break.  And a nap.  The wheel spins when it spins and we have two choices...  We can jump or we can hang on for the ride.

January has been a roller coaster ride that has pushed and pulled and reshaped our family in ways we’re still discovering but we’re holding on to each other, and those we love, and we’re moving forward together.  And we're praying for a calmer February.

“When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate.  And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.”  Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet (Zondervan Press)

It's not about the coffee...

I make my son coffee every morning.  Always a bold blend.  Always black.  Always in a to-go cup so he can enjoy it as he starts his day.  It’s a little thing I like doing for him and it’s my part of our morning routine.  But our routine was thrown off this particular morning as we loaded a holiday seasons’ worth of recyclables into the truck so I could make my yearly pilgrimage to the recycling center.  I’d already maxed out my trash containers and borrowed a friends recycling bin.  My cardboard was out of hand and it had to be dealt with so today was the day.

Coffee was the collateral damage.

Half way to school we realized the kiddos’ coffee was still sitting on the counter.  We considered it, but quickly agreed we were too far to turn back.  “There’s a café at school,” the kiddo said.  “I’ll grab something there.”  Great, I though to myself.  A totally workable plan B.

Turns out the café doesn’t have coffee.  Or tea.  Or hot chocolate or juice, which leaves me wondering exactly what the word café is meant to showcase.  Turns out they have water.

The kiddo and I shared a laugh via text and I encouraged him to go with the water, reminding him that studies show that kids that take three drinks of water before a test score up to 25% higher on average.  Apparently we’re a dehydrated world I typed to which he replied our brains are wheezing for a bit of the h2o and we should get right on drinking up.  He seldom fails to make me smile.

“Sorry about your luck, buddy.  Is there else I can do for you today?”  I asked, one hundred percent sincere in my question, which is one I ask both of my guys on a fairly routine basis.

“Could you maybe bring me coffee?”

I could do that.  If I altered my schedule by twenty minutes I could take my son coffee.  Not because I had to but because I offered.  Because coffee makes the world go round and this kiddo is my world.

So our high school has a water bar.  Cool

My Peeps...

I'm surrounded by incredible people with gorgeous souls. Whether it's the clerk at the drive through who smiles when she sees me because she knows I'm going to hold up the line just a second longer while I take a sip and double check that my iced tea is unsweet.   Or maybe it's my precious friend that leaves a fun treat in my mailbox just because.  Or maybe it's my bestie and my sister and brother in law, peeps I love that are graciously taking exercise equipment off my hands without once reminding me that I could stand to use the pieces I'm offloading. My peeps make life that much sweeter and I adore them.  #blessedbeyondmeasure