My Heart's at Home

As I write this, my house is silent, except for the plugging along of the air conditioners. There are no children in the house for the first time in weeks. (Ok, so Mom did take them camping for a couple days last week). Ian left on his flight at nine this morning, after only a slight panic attack when he lost his boarding pass. Molly and Doogie are at their dad's until the weekend, and Mom just picked up Mia for some time together. I can't help but revel in the quiet. Give me thirty minutes and I'll miss them all like mad (Ian too), but for now it's feels good.

Molly, Mia and I went school shopping. Talk about sticker shock! I found some great deals, but it still cost both arms and one leg to get them outifitted for school, and I still have to shop for Doogie!

Camping last week was fun. We got to see the otter several times, including when he was eating. The beach was terrific. The zoo was the standout best time. The picture above is an albino raccoon. Apparently, they appear at a rate of 1 in 750,000 and don't live long in the wild. I'll be posting other cute pics from the zoo in my next posts. The second best time was a ride we took with the kids into town. The kids were a little edgy after spending four days together, so we took our four and drove to a gas station. I popped in the soundtrack to Madagascar and soon everyone in the car was singing to I Like to Move It, Move It. They fell on the snacks in the store like it had been weeks since they'd last seen junk food. The ride back to camp was accompanied by munching between singing to What a Wonderful World. Amen to that!

My Heart's at Home by Jill Savage is a terrific devotional for moms. It's about being an intentional parent rather than always parenting by the seat of your pants (like I do). The book is set up in sections like Home as Museum, Home as Church, Home as Pep Rally with each giving great ideas on how to make your home a loving, nurturing environment for the entire family. The chapters are short and easy to read, and Savage writes in a very conversational tone. She quickly admits her own shortcomings and gives advice for trying to rise above them. Some of the advice is common sense, but it's stuff that needs to be said again and again until it sticks. I like the idea of planning rather than always dealing with the situation of the moment. Savage looks at every occasion in life as an opportunity to teach her children and show how much she loves them. It doesn't get much better than that!

BTW, the new med at the larger dose seems to be working so far. My pain level is down, and I'm not feeling the exhaustion I was at the lower dosage. Plus, I'm down to 5 mg of prednisone for six days, and I'm tolerating it pretty well.