now breathing a lot easier

Just another quick update!

Yesterday about 4:00 life became so much less stressful, it was like a switch had been thrown.  Ahhhhhhh, so much better!

--First, the book-making party was over.  Four hours of setting up and guiding kids and moms in our art project (illustrations for the book we are making together) and cleaning up.  Oh, and that was after getting Merry and Happy going on their art (so we would have samples to show) and helping Sunny revise her poem all before breakfast.  (Which actually, consisted of bananas, french bread, and giant peanut butter and chocolate cookies eaten in the car on the way to the event, which goes to nicely counter Jessica's overly generous "supermom" comment yesterday.  Thank you for the kind words, friend--I need the encouragement as much as the laugh! ; )

I love doing the book project every year--don't get me wrong!  And it seemed like the moms who were there feel the same and really wanted their kids to participate, and the poetry itself the kids came up with was so cute, and they seemed to enjoy making the art, so all in all a good use of 4 hours.  But, WHEW. 

The project is nowhere near done, since I'll be helping my dear Becky's girls with their pages when they get back from a trip, and my girls want to do more poems and art.  And some of the other kids in our homeschool group have not finished their art, so I have to wait until next week to actually put the book together.  We have one more week, since the Author's Fair is the 5th, but we are also working on a couple other book projects we hope to finish. . .  .

But ANYWAY, stress over book project done for this week at least!  I can wait to stress more about until Monday. : )

--Second, got two phone calls yesterday afternoon that took off SO much stress.  Now I have a minute to explain:

Remember Dear Husband's sister "Auntie N" who married an Indian gentleman, "Uncle S," and then had a daughter prematurely?  (So much more than that, but there's the gist.)  Well, they have been living in Colorado (instead of going back to India) because their daughter, whom I nicknamed "Sweetness" for this blog, is still medically fragile--a robust, adorable, energetic little 18 month old girl who has underdeveloped lungs and who could be in dire jeopardy from catching a cold.  So Auntie N has basically been a recluse for the past 18 months, and while they take Sweetness out into nature as much as they can, they do NOT take her around other kids, and they don't take her to public places like groccery stores or church.  She is just so cute that strangers can't keep their hands off of her, not knowing how dangerous germs are for her.  And of course she is at the age when she is putting everything in her mouth, touching everything, crawling, etc.  So we do not blame Auntie N and Uncle S for how they are choosing to isolate and raise Sweetness--it is for her own safety--but it means no one from DH's extended family has met Sweetness.  Only his parents have been out to CO, to help care for their daughter and grand-daughter a few times while Uncle S had to travel to India for extended work trips.  (Well, DH and I met Sweetness when she was a month old, but she was an extreme preemie in an incubator the whole time, so we did not actually interact with her.)   

Now Uncle S is going to India for another long trip, and this time they decided to bring Auntie N and Sweetness to DH's parents in Chico for the duration!  So now we get to see Sweetness in person!  Her health safety is still a  big issue, so we will probably not really be indoors with them, but the weather has really turned into Spring out here in CA, so we should have plenty of time outdoors to spend with Auntie N and her little family.  Very excited about this, as you can imagine.  I really like DH's sister, a very gentle God-seeking woman who loves to read and talk about God and other deep things and who drinks tea. ; )  And her husband is like the male Indian version of her in temperment and personality!  He is so so sweet and kind, and has a heart for truth and justice and all manner of things close to my heart too.

But here is where the stress part comes in!  We found out Weds. that they were on the road heading to Chico, but they were not sure if they would stay up there for the weekend or come down here for a visit!  But the motorhome that DH's parents have had sitting in our front yard for  going on a year is not currently usable, as his dad had to remove the water pump and the interior doors (i.e. toilet and shower) for repairs last time he visited.  So, it is now a motorhome with no running water and no doors on certain important rooms.  Plans were just all so up in the air the past few days.  Were they coming?  Would we go up there to see them instead?   Should I focus on cleaning or packing?  If they came here, where would they sleep?  Do we give them our  home, and our family move into the motorhome, since no water and no interior doors wouldn't make my family bat an eye?  (take out the double-negative of that sentence to get a chuckle.) But then even if I cleaned everything top to bottom, would they feel comfortable living in our spaces, because of the inevitable germs?  Are MIL and FIL coming too?!  How could I possibly get the whole house AND the motorhome clean and respectible enough to meet the health needs of Sweetness and the keen eye of MIL in less than three days (esp. when we have so many school things going on this week, and for weeks I have been really sick or really busy and the house has been such A WRECK, and so many home repair problems are cropping up all over I'm thinking we will have to downgrade our house status from "cabin" to "hovel.")

Can you feel the stress?

BUT then the two phone calls:

1) My dear friend Rosa, who knew the situation and needs, called and said she had received permission for us to borrow a 3 bedroom cabin in Mount Hermon (Santa Cruz mountain community centered around a large Christian camp) for the weekend for free!  BLESSING. 

2) I texted Auntie N with the great news, and later that afternoon heard from her--they are coming here, but they very much would prefer to stay in the Mt. Hermon cabin and feel safe from our family germs ; )  so are grateful for that offer.  And MIL and FIL are NOT coming along too!  This means not only that we will actually get to relax and be completely ourselves this weekend and have a good bonding time with DH's sister and her little family (we don't really get to talk interpersonally with them when we are with DH's parents, because of busyness and other family dynamics), but also that while I will still clean, in case one parent comes over to hang out in the evening while the other stays with their sleeping baby, I no longer have to obsess about all those spaces that guests only see if they are living with you, like the shower and the inside of the fridge!  And if they do come over, Auntie N has seen our house before and so won't be freaked out by it's "imperfections," and Uncle S is from India, for heaven's sake, so has a much more global perspective on housing anyway--I won't feel judged by either one. BLESSINGS GALORE.

I gotta tell you, the stress just melted away.  When I got that last call, I was eating my first real meal of the day (Thank the Lord for that cookie in the car.  Can we say low blood sugar?  I was running on pure adrenalin all day) during a late but much needed quiet time.  So after finding out I could stop stressing for the day, I just got to sit, eat, relax, mentally escape at the computer for a little bit, and breathe.  Ahhhhhhhhhh. 

And then, lo and behold, when quiet time was over and I was instructing kids again, I was actually a good and patient mommy, who handled temper flare-ups with grace and who actually bonded with her kids through momentary conflict.  BLESSING.  I had not realized how much I was grim and lean mommy this week until I felt that flood of calm take over my parenting there late in the day. 

Now, today, Auntie N called with a question and woke me up before 8--but the sun was STREAMING into the windows, and it was just so beautiful and calm I was so glad to be awake.  I made my tea and read my Bible, and then read my blogs--oh, beautiful and meaningful stuff happening out there in my blog world, which I would love to share with you sometime, but which has been growing my heart and compassion and giving me Perspective over and over in the past several weeks--and my family has slept in, and in fact are STILL sleeping, and the sun is moving to new windows and the birds are chirping and while I need to get cleaning I still have a good 6 hours or more before they come, plenty of time now, so glad to let the kids get the rest they need and DH the rare treat of sleeping in so late. 

BLESSING.

I pray you all have a beautiful, peaceful, love-filled weekend-full of blessings!