I'm sitting by our sliding glass doors and the wind is howling as the rain pounds and dances on the pavement outside. It feels like a night in New Jersey! People, this is soCal. Weather like this isn't what we're paying for here!!! Just kidding, of course!!!
Actually, I'm a huge fan of cloudy days (as long as I get to stay indoors!) and I really love hearing the wind and the rain. As a kid, I would get mesmerized watching rain drops on the window dripping down on the window. It's the perfect kind of weather to keep the kids home and where we can drink lots of hot tea (laced with sweetened condensed milk, of course!), read in bed (that's a luxury for any mom, right?!?), play and hang out. Notice I didn't add exercise...!!! Duh!!!
In New Jersey, it rained. A lot. On the few rainy days Krista wasn't sick at home, I would pick her up after school and we'd go to Panera Bread and have soup out of bread bowls and share an enormous mug of hot chocolate. It was our rainy day treat.
I think rain makes me nostalgic. I look at Michael at age 4 and I remember Krista at age 4. Wow, what a difference! I wish Michael had a tenth of the experiences Krista had at his age. She used to travel everywhere with me to conventions, conferences, etc. getting to meet all the different people I used to work with in the industry. She's been on stage with me emceeing Christian concerts, in interview rooms as I talked with Christian authors and artists, in limos heading to record studios, backstage, in concerts, etc. She was a well-seasoned traveler making friends with everyone she met on the plane, in the taxis, at hotels, etc.!
I'm glad I experienced that with my daughter. it was a different season of life I was in. But, I'm doubly glad I'm getting to experience life as a stay-at-home mom with Michael now. I remember wondering what it would be like to be plugged into a mom's group and hang out with other moms talking about mom stuff. I remember Krista begging me to be in the classroom because other mommies were there. I did a lot of stuff at home for the teacher but being in the classroom physically wasn't something I could do because of work. I remember her begging me to be the mom who went on field trips with the class when she was in Kindergarten and 1st grade but things never worked out with my schedule.
Now, I get to do all those things I wondered about and then some! In some ways, I feel like I've been given a second chance at doing the mom thing and it's so much fun and more rewarding than I ever could have imagined!!!
This is a season of life I find very rewarding (except for the exercising part!). Jacob recently returned from Hong Kong. The other day he called and after speaking to him briefly, I gave the phone to Michael. Apparently, while I had been on the phone, he was trying to pull the strap of my purse which was dangling down from the counter (I don't think he realized it could fall and knock him in the head!). Krista was trying to drag him away from it and he was not a happy camper. This is what I overheard him say...!
Michael: "Daddy, I want you to come and take Krista back to Hong Kong with you. Just leave the two of us here and take her with you."
Isn't that a hoot?!? He can be very articulate when he's irate! But thankfully, he was over being angry by the time we had to get in the car. Krista helped him with his seatbelt (I don't understand how he manages to twist his seat belt every single time!) and he responded by saying, "Krista, I love you you!" He was actually modeling the verse in Ephesians 4:26 (I'll be using the Amplified Bible): "When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down."
We can all learn from that, right?
In other news, I am happy to say I finally finished No Safe Haven by Kimberley Woodhouse and Kayla R. Woodhouse (I loved it!) and started two other books. One is Blood Covenant by Lisa Harris and the other is Rob Stennett's Home Made Haunting. Hopefully, by the time I blog again, I'll be able to share two other new books I'm reading! Happy Friday!!!
