Mid-weekend Musings

Friday was my favourite day of the year. Well the school year anyway. I have 4 favourite days of the school year; the first day, the last day and the two report card days in between. The first and last days are the only ones that I am guaranteed everyone will be up and dressed and excited to go to school. That's gold in my books. Report card days are my favourite because I love to have the badgering, nagging, grounding, praise, pride, guilt and stationary bills that reside in the space between the first and last day validated.

The kids love to count their A's and compare their marks. I don't care about the marks, they are a simple measurement of what they know. I care about the comment section at the bottom of the page. That short paragraph is a snapshot of who they are when you aren't there to monitor them. In those few sentences you get a measurement of the person they are learning to be.

I am never disappointed and incredibly grateful on report card day.

Report card day euphoria carried my through to my Friday evening challenge. Computer programming. (I am not a computer programmer) I started at 6:00pm staring at a web page of instructions. By 6:05pm I was enlisting the help of my computer programming genius brother via Facebook chat. (he is actually a computer programmer and the reason I still have all of my hair) Even with my own personal geek in my corner by 7:15pm Michael quietly set a rye & ginger at my elbow.

By 7:35pm I was understanding why my brother doesn't particularity enjoy my company. (Besides the fact that I cannot sit on the shore beside a pile of rocks and not throw them in the water... but that's a post for another day.) We don't speak the same language, our brains process information at opposing speeds. In his brain the ballerina spins anti-clockwise, in my mine she spins on her head. Fast forward to 9:30pm two drinks on my end, we've abandoned our Facebook conversation for a telephone one instead. I'm not sure how many drinks were consumed on his end of the line. I'm sure I provided much more frustration than my project served me.

9:47pm mission accomplished! E-man can resume gaming. A hobby that is surely training his brain to view the ballerina spinning anti-clockwise.

I must express my gratitude for my brother, his patience and the good sense he had not to squash what little computer confidence I possess. It might be all I have to rely on for future computer problems. He's not answering my IM's anymore.

I was so happy to put head to pillow Friday night. There was no fear of web addresses, program names, code or file extensions swimming in my brain. Lula had the girls over for a sleepover and scary movie marathon.

I have been a mother for a while now and no matter how many of them we have I will never understand why they call them SLEEPovers. Nobody sleeps.



Saturday morning mini blizzard

 Saturday was a house day. Laundry, cleaning, plumbing repairs the domestic equivalent of a trip to the dentist but I knew it was coming. I woke up knowing that Saturday was not going to offer much to be over the moon grateful for. That was confirmed when I reached the kitchen bleary eyed and suddenly realised that I used the last of the coffee on report card day. Up 5 minutes, out of coffee and facing the prospect of instant coffee because of a mini blizzard outside. I don't go out in yuck weather for anything not even a decent cup of coffee.

Then I remembered the last time I ran out of coffee. I had resorted to opening a really poor quality grind that I had "in case of emergency" in the cupboard. Luckily I saved the remaining half of that emergency coffee in the freezer. Gratitude in a cup! Even a bad cup of brewed coffee is to be admired next to a cup of instant

Saturday progressed. Michael and I surfed through domestic chores. E-man and KJ enjoyed a day of entertaining friends and not being badgered by parents. You better believe they are grateful for that! Lula worked. KJ made plans to hang out with her sister after work at a party for one of their friends. I can't tell you how great that was to see them go out together. They are each others best friend, they just don't know it yet.

Michael surprised me with an early Valentines gift. It really was a surprise, we don't usually celebrate the occasion with much more than a card. On a good fiscal year maybe a box of chocolates. I'm sure that being the parent of teenage girls is opening both our eyes. He's always disappointed that Lula doesn't get spoiled rotten by the love of her life and I'm always disappointed that she's okay with it.

We do okay for a couple of kids who never want anything more than to wake up each morning with the other person to share the day with. Our kids see that we are comfortable and content. 25 years will bring you that. What they don't get to see is the beginning, the years when Michael went out of his way to get my attention and earn my affection. They don't see the notes I wrote and the songs he played for me. They don't see that on the worst of days he was who I turned to or that when I called nothing else was as important to him as making things right in my world. They don't see all the plans we changed at a moments notice to be there for one another. They missed the calls for no reason and the unexpected visits. They weren't there to witness the adventures. We remember them because they are the foundation of what we have now. They make the Valentine concept something we celebrate everyday.



 a gift from the man who knows my heart better than I

 There is a lot of gratitude to be expressed for a little bit of relationship bling that recaptures the spirit of those beginning days. A lot a gratitude as well for living each day with the person who carries and cares for my heart.

So the weekend is half over of there is half of the weekend left depending on your perspective. I like to think I have half of it left. There has been so much to be grateful for already that I can't wait to see what else is in store.