One of Those Days

My daughter-in-law, Kelsey, had "one of those days" on Thursday. One of those days that stretches a mother's patience and energy to the very limit. Sweetpea (who, by the way, is getting close to two years old) was testing her in a major way. I sympathized with Kelsey as I read the first part of her blog, but by the end, she had convinced herself, once again and without a doubt, that Sweetpea is a terrific kid, and that she loves, more than anything, being her full-time mama.

The year Chris was born, he was one of ten new babies born to our small church congregation of around 100 people! And we, the mothers, were a close-knit group. Since most of us were full-time moms, we all experienced days like Kelsey described on Thursday. I think days like those were what prompted us to devise a plan, whereby each one of us would have one child-free day every month. We put our names into a matrix, so that each month I, for instance, would babysit someone else's pre-school aged child(ren) for one day; and someone else would babysit mine for a day. It was up to each mother to arrange her day off. If she didn't make arrangements to use her day one month (that seldom happened), it was gone - no stockpiling. We didn't keep track of hours or number of kids. It was just a FREE DAY once a month for each mom. Not only did it give the moms a day off, but it gave the children two play days a month - one at their own home, and one at someone else's - with a variety of friends.

I wish I lived closer to Kelsey, so that I could give her a day off at least once a month. That would, indeed, be a two-way blessing!

Just look at this child. How could someone with a face like that be any trouble at all? And, by the way, have you noticed how tall she's getting?!

(Pictures by Kelsey)

When Takashi Came A-Calling

Wednesday, when I was down with this cold, someone rang the doorbell. I almost didn't answer, knowing that the house wasn't "visitor-ready" and that I looked even worse than the house! But I did answer it, and it was my sweet neighbor, Lorraine, bringing me some fruit from her backyard trees.

Every now and then drop-in guests do come to the door, and (unless I'm sick) it's a wonderful surprise. The most surprising drop-in guest we had came on a Saturday, in the Spring of 1990.

I had gone to a funeral that morning; the wife of a work colleague had passed away. Dan had not been able to attend with me, because of some prior commitment. I can't remember where Chris was, but Tim, who was 14 years old at that time, was the only one home.

Returning home, I parked the car in the garage and came through the door that led into our family room. Tim met me at the door. "Takashi just called, and he wanted to talk with you," he said. Takashi had been back home in Japan, attending college, for nearly a year by then.

"Oh, that's too bad. I'm sorry I missed his call," I said.

"He was really mad that you weren't here," added Tim.

"Well, does he expect me to stay home all the time, just in case he might call?" I responded with a little irritation in my voice.

Just then, Takashi stepped around the corner. "Hi, Mom," he said, with a big grin on his face. He and Tim had cooked up this little surprise homecoming scene just for me.

Takashi had come all the way from Japan, to spend less than 36 hours in Oregon. During the last few weeks of his year as an exchange student, he had dated a girl named Jessie. And Takashi had just crossed the Pacific to take Jessie to her senior prom! From Japan, he had called a Newberg florist to order a corsage; and he had brought a tux with him. The prom was that night; and he would be departing from the Portland Airport, returning to Japan, on Sunday evening.

After lots of hugs and laughter, I asked "Why can't you stay a little longer?" I was sad to think that we'd hardly get to see him on this brief visit. It turned out to be quite a story. He had asked his parents, who lived in another city, if he could come to Oregon for the prom, and they had told him he could not, because his college grades were not so good. But Takashi was determined that he'd somehow scrape together the money (money was seldom an issue with Takashi) and go, with or without his parents' help or approval - or knowledge . He had originally planned to come several days before the prom, since that week was a school vacation in Japan. But the day before he was to leave, who should surprise him with a visit, but his mother! (Now, don't you suppose that this visit was strategically designed, by Mother, to keep Takashi from traveling to America?) So, frustrated, he endured her visit of several days and then, with all of his vacation gone, and only a weekend left to make the trip, Takashi rushed to the airport to catch a flight to Oregon.

He did, however, make the most of his 36 hours. He spent the afternoon visiting with us, and then got ready to take Jessie to the prom. Of course, it was late when he got home, and the rest of us were sound asleep. He didn't go to bed. Instead, he stayed up the rest of the night preparing a French cuisine meal that he planned to serve us for our Sunday noon meal. He had been working a part-time job in a restaurant in Japan, and was learning from the chef how to cook continental style meals. When morning came, he got cleaned up and dressed for church. It was a warm homecoming there, as well, for he had made many good friends at church, during the previous year. After worship we came home, and Takashi put the finishing touches on the delicious meal he had prepared for us. Late in the afternoon we drove him to the Portland airport, and sent him back home to Japan. He hadn't slept a wink since he arrived on Saturday morning.

That was the first of Takashi's visits. He came back a few years later, while we were still in Oregon, and then made a third visit while we were living in Juneau. He tells me he will come see us in New Mexico sometime. I hope he'll stay more than two days; I hope we'll have a little notice that he's coming; and I hope he still likes to cook!

Keeping My Cold Germs at Home

Yesterday I woke up with a cold. It had actually been coming on for a couple days, but I had been hoping it was just fall allergies. Yesterday it felt like a cold, and I stayed home to rest and to avoid spreading my germs around the office.

I'm not normally one to complain about being bored, because I never seem to find enough time to do everything I want to do. But yesterday, when I only felt like lying on the couch, I did get bored. I tried reading, but that made me sleepy. I tried using my laptop, but it gave me a headache. I tried watching TV, but there wasn't anything worth watching. The best thing I found to do was sleep.

Speaking of watching TV, we have been selected to be a "Nielsen family." Soon to come in the mail will be our one-week diary, in which we are supposed to keep track of everything we watch. They gave us a $10 gift card (usable anywhere) as a "thank you." I'm actually really happy to do this. Our household's one little voice is insignificant, I suppose, but at least it makes me feel like someone cares enough to ask.

This morning I'm planning to go to work - still not feeling great, but at least I did get a good night's sleep. I only have to make it until 12:30, the end of my work day. So I'm off to give it a try.

On a "Mission"

We are in the market for a couple of living room chairs. We'd like to get something in a Mission style. Yesterday, after Dan got off work, we met at a store here in town, called Simply Stickley. In case you aren't familiar with Gustav Stickley, he designed houses and furniture in the mission style, back around 1900. They say he had a lot of influence on Frank Lloyd Wright. Here's a link that shows you a Stickley chair, in the style that we are hoping to buy. However, we'll probably find ours at JC Penney, not at Simply Stickley. We knew, before we went to their showroom, that each piece of their furniture is made to be an heirloom; and we aren't prepared to pay the price for an heirloom. Still, we wanted to experience the real thing - see it, sit in it, and even smell it (the aromatic scent of wood and leather permeates the store). Now it's back to Penney's (and back down to earth) for the one they have on sale, and which most certainly won't ever become an heirloom.

Visiting Simply Stickley, though, brought to mind some memorable pieces of furntiture we've owned. Here are three I thought of:

The gold couch. When I finished college, Dan and I moved to Juneau, and rented a small condo that my parents owned (they had recently moved to Anchorage). When we arrived at our new home, there was a brand new gold upholstered couch, sitting on the green carpet in the living room (green and gold - it was the '70s!). Mom and Dad had purchased it and left it for us as a house-warming gift. We'd been married two years, at that time, and the couch was our first piece of "new" furniture.

The maple rocking chair. When I was pregnant with Chris, Dan bought me a maple rocking chair, with wool tweed cushions on the back and the seat. That rocker sat in Chris' nursery, then in Tim's, and eventually in our living room. In that chair I rocked the boys to sleep, comforted them when they were sick, fed them when they were hungry, and read hundereds of story books to them.

The "lion chairs." When Dan's aunt and uncle, Lauretta and Wiley, began clearing out their home, in preparation for selling it, we inherited two wooden chairs, with lion carvings on the back and the arms. One is a rocker and the other is not. Those chairs originally belonged to Dan's mother's dear friends in Seattle, the Phillips, when Dan was a small child; and they hold good memories for Dan. I'm proud to have them here.

What I found interesting, in this mental exercise, was that the pieces of furniture that were most meaningful to me were not necessarily the most beautiful or expensive ones. But they were memorable because they represented, to me, the love of some very special people in my life.

[Below are some pictures of one of the lion chairs. I think they're very unusual, and thought you might enjoy seeing one of them.]