Busy, Busy, Busy

The last couple of weeks have been wildly busy, which is great for me. I've thrown myself back into my life and have been able to accomplish things long forgotten throughout months of pain. It's been catch-up time for me and for the entire family. Doctors' appointments. School functions. Fund raisers. Activities galore! It's nothing exciting, but even the routine and mundane feel enjoyable now. I don't think I'm ever going to see things like I used to. No more taking things for granted. Trying not to worry so much. Life goes on, no matter what. And I just want to join in.

So here's what's new. Dad turned 75. We had a small family celebration at one of his favorite restaurants. Quiet and dignified. Just like Dad. Isn't he a handsome fellow?

Son has continued to amaze me with his observations on life. He's been doing a lot of girl watching, evidently. Found a doodle of an unclad woman in one of his notebooks. He was embarrassed, but in my coolest mom way I told him it was okay to draw to his heart's content, but not in school notebooks. That would only get him into trouble. He seemed happy that I wasn't mad (boys will be boys, how could I be?). Then, and this might be interesting to a couple of you, I found some lingerie websites on my computer's history. Husband was away, so who to ask? Son. "Have you been looking at women in lingerie on the computer?" "Yeah." "I'm just wondering why." "I don't know. I thought guys were supposed to. I heard about it at camp." "Okay. But absolutely no porn. No going onto sites that say you must be 18. NO BUYING anything over the internet. And, I think you are too young to be looking at girls' boobs in real life." "Mom, I'd never do that, I only looked at girls in their underwear!" And that was the end of that. I think it must be today's version of when my brother used to hide Playboy magazines under his bed. It doesn't seem particularly serious, so I'm taking a wait-and-see attitude.

Son came home sick from school earlier in the week. We ended up having a very quiet lunch together. He dumped out his lunch bag onto the table and started in. I noticed that right after finishing his soup, he started on dessert. I chuckled and said, "So this is how you eat when I'm not around? You have dessert before finishing your lunch?" "No, Mom. It depends on how interesting the conversation is and how quickly I want to get back into it." He then went on to describe how long certain items take to eat and that he decides in which order he should have them based upon the conversation. Unusual logic, but I like it. I always decide by which craving is strongest or what looks best. I've never decided on the order in which I eat by the conversation. That's my boy.

Daughter has been busy as well. We had Mother/Daughter Pajama Night recently. Hair. Make-up. Nails. Dancing. Food. And it was loud. Picture seventy-five little girls with their shrill little voices, dressed in their finest PJs. Then add in seventy-five moms, most wearing robes, whose voices become equally as loud and shrill as their daughters'. It was an estrogen festival unlike any other. Now we're a quiet kind of family, so when the decibel level became extreme, daughter asked to go home. That's my girl!

Husband has been extraordinarily busy. He's still been working on that NY project but, for the time being, everything has been being fedexed back and forth so he can continue working out of the Boston office. It's been working out nicely. He also became Project Manager on a large project right in Boston. That's always good. And now he's just gotten a contract in LA, which will probably require several trips west after the New Year. Between work and all the community service stuff he does, he's a busy guy.

As for me, I've gotten back into things almost full swing. I usually stay busy with volunteer work, mostly dealing with children. This weekend is the big Holiday Bazaar fund raiser, of which I am co-chair. I was co-chair last year as well, and we made 26 percent more than any bazaar had until that point (marketing is everything -- did I just say that?). That's how I got roped into doing it again this year -- flattery will get you everywhere. The past few weeks have been crazy, finishing up odds and ends and pulling it all together. I've made it clear already that I will not be chairing this event again. I'm all for pitching in, but I've done my share. Now it's time for someone else to step up and take over. I'm still hoping to be a huge success this year, however.

The doctor gave me the AOK to return completely to my normal activities, including bending and twisting. Woooohoooo!!! Since I've already established that I'm a slut (now in the married, monogamous way), you can imagine how thrilling it was to hear. Husband was equally thrilled. And we've been making up for lost time, getting reaquainted. That's all I should say about that.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. There's sure to be lots of activity at my house. Seems we host every holiday, which is fine with me. I love entertaining, and it always puts me in a great mood.

Busy, busy, busy. Have to run to finish up for tomorrow's bazaar. Hope you're all busy, too.