Lemonade

As exhausting as this particular season of my life is, I really like my life. There are so many wonderful things about it. I worked so hard today and had such a long day, and for a long time after school I was having BAD Braxton Hicks contractions at my desk while trying frantically to finish all the millions of things I needed to get done and get all the piles of my desk. But ya know what, there is something that feels so good about working so hard at something you love and find meaningful. (I dislike that I have used the word "so" as an adjective here, when that is really not the appropriate use of the word, but it just feels so colloquially right here... see?).

It didn't all get finished, but most of it did. I had decided that my lesson plan for the next two days needed to be very much revamped, but was not feeling pleased with any of my ideas, so I eventually decided I needed to just pack up and head home anyway for the sake of my sanity and my family's need to eat dinner.

I stopped at the store and picked up more lemons because I suddenly have this obsession with homemade lemonade. It is like the only thing I find thirst quenching, and I am crazy thirsty lately. I found a super simple recipe that doesn't require owning a juicer, so I have been making it myself and drinking like a pitcher a day. Okay, Marc and Vinny are DEFINITELY helping with that pitcher a day, so it is not all me.

Marc and Vinny got home shortly after me, and Marc headed outside to start grilling the turkey dogs. (I have made this fantastic discovery that, despite his total lack of desire to cook, all I have to do is plan something that needs to be grilled for dinner and Marc will totally do that portion of the dinner. Pretty cool, huh? As you can imagine, we have been eating a lot of barbecue lately). As I stood in the kitchen crushing lemons in a pitcher, I watched Vinny gleefully swinging on his swings while Daddy grilled hot dogs nearby, and it just overwhelmed me with gratitude for my life. I have such an awesome family. My fantastic son said, "Thank you for the hot dog, Mommy," as I put his dinner down on his plate. My husband now cleans up dinner every night since my tummy now gets in the way of the sink, and I have a beautiful extra bedroom ready for my beautiful new daughter who will be here very soon. :-)

Just a side note of cuteness... Vinny loves to talk to the baby. He puts is mouth up really close to my tummy, and one of his favorite things to say is, "Tiana, you're pretty!" I think sometimes we all need to take a lesson from a preschooler to remember that beauty is not always something you can see.