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May 10, 2004
May 10, 2004
First…Happy Birthday Dad! Today is my Dear Dad’s 62nd birthday. At 32, I still fully admit to being a ‘Daddy’s Girl’.
Once again – where does the time go? I know – that is the million dollar question. If I could answer that one…well…anyway…where was I?
I am happy to say that the weather in Chicago is beautiful (although why is it that we never have spring anymore?) This past weekend it was in the 80’s and very humid. We resisted turning on the AC, but lying in bed last night, I wish we had given in!
What have we been up to?
Hmm….I’ll try to give a brief re-cap since my last entry.
First – JAKE!
He is getting so big, I can’t even describe it! He is also talking like such a little adult these days. He loves to do ANYTHING outside – riding his bike is his favorite – he learned during March to ride a two-wheeler without the training wheels – and now he’s a speed demon – I have to struggle to keep up with him at times! He also loves soccer, baseball, football, hockey, playing at the park and most recently flying his box kite.
A few weeks ago, Jake had his kindergarten physical. He had to get some shots and he wasn’t terribly happy about that. My parents had asked me if he could spend the night with them that night – I said ‘sure’ – he’d probably love to be spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa tonight. I called later (no answer at home, so I called my mom’s cell phone) to check on him and my mom told me that he was still a little sore from his shots so they were buying him a ‘little motorcycle’ (insert note: I THOUGHT she meant a toy, and although we’re trying to teach Jake that we don’t ALWAYS buy something at any store we happen to enter, I thought it was sweet that my mom and dad we’re trying to cheer him up). Jake then got on the phone and he said ‘Mom, I got THE COOLEST full face helmet to go with my motorcycle’…WHOA…PUT YOUR GRANDMOTHER ON THE PHONE. ‘Umm Mom, exactly WHAT kind of motorcycle are you buying my FIVE year old son?’ – Mom’s reply: ‘Just a little 50cc Yamaha’ Me: ‘WHAT?’ Mom: ‘He can’t go THAT fast on it’…so, you get the gist. My parents bought my son a motorcycle, well actually, a dirt bike, but Jake calls it a motorcycle.
Now, I’m not what you’d call an overprotective mom. I’m pretty easy-going most of the time. I also don’t have a problem with Jake having a motorcycle as long as he respects the power of the machine and always wears his safety gear. It just caught me off guard. That said, Jake is pretty tentative with his motorcycle (for which I’m thankful) and I know that he’ll have a ton of fun with it for years to come. It is just a cute little thing that Jake can straddle and still touch the ground with his feet. My biggest problem right now is that Mac thinks it is so great that he wants an adult size dirt bike for himself!
So – since my last entry:
March –
Jake had a great time on his trip across America with his Grandparents…I think I mentioned in my last entry that Jake, Mac and Mac’s brother were flying to Las Vegas on St. Patty’s day where they were meeting my parents who were driving back to Illinois from the California coast. Jake then drove home with my parents over the next two weeks. Those were two pretty hard weeks for me. I missed Jake terribly. The bright side is that he got to spend some great quality time with his Grandparents (my mom and dad). The memories they made on that road trip will last all of them a lifetime. I am so happy that my parents are able to really know Jake – I never really got to know any of my grandparents. I only have one grandparent living right now – my dad’s dad is 97 years old and still gets around pretty well – we were just never close.
Mac stayed in Vegas with his brother for a few days and then he flew to Nashville, TN on Saturday – meanwhile, I had driven to Tennessee from Illinois on Friday – I drove to Chattanooga, where Mac’s company is based. We were there to attend the wedding of one of Mac’s co-workers. I spent Friday night in Chattanooga by myself and then picked Mac up in Nashville on Saturday. The wedding was on top of Signal Mountain on Saturday – it was absolutely amazing. It was at a little church on top of the mountain and the wedding was followed by a reception at the Signal Mountain Country Club. During the reception, a very bad storm hit – and all I can say is that it was unnerving driving down the mountain in a storm! We spent Sunday and Monday visiting with some of Mac’s co-workers – Tres and Amy live on top of Lookout Mountain – we spent the day on Sunday at their house – it is just beautiful there – Lookout Mountain spans the border of Tennessee and Georgia – interesting to drive around on top of a mountain and cross state lines! Monday we spent a good portion of the day at Mac’s office. We were going to ‘stop by’ for a few minutes – but since they had him there, they got him into several meetings. I was just glad I had my laptop with me and could just plug in and be connected to my work from there! We finally left Chattanooga for Chicago mid-afternoon and made it home by about midnight that night. I wasn’t in great shape for work the next day!
The remainder of March was fairly uneventful. The last weekend of the month we had a wedding to attend which proved to be rather interesting – it was the wedding of the two friends that I’ve written of before. Let’s just say that the bachelor party was a few nights before the wedding and it was pretty crazy. The bride blamed Mac for it; however, we were at the ER with Jake that afternoon due to a rather bad asthma attack. When Jake and I were tucked away at home, Mac went to the party, but he arrived late and realized that the groom was in pretty bad shape, so Mac and another friend took him home at that point.
I can’t even begin to re-hash the entire wedding – suffice it to say that it wasn’t good – the bride and groom (whom we introduced to each other) wouldn’t speak to Mac or I (she and I have been friends since college) – essentially, she was mad about the bachelor party and forbid the groom from talking to either of us. She and I recently spoke for the first time since the wedding and I am guessing that our friendship is now over.
April –
April showers…never really arrived! It stayed chilly here through much of April. So it was nice that Jake and I got to spend a few days in Florida! Mac had to work through one of the weekends in April, so Jake and I decided to go to Florida to spend a few days with my mother-in-law at their villa in Venice, FL. My father-in-law was stuck working so she was alone there. My sister-in-law was able to go too – so we all had a great time. We rented a convertible - a ‘car without a lid’ as Jake puts it – and hit the pool and the beach with a vengeance! It was nice to be away for a few days.
I can’t really think of anything else exciting that happened during April – although I’m sure that I’m leaving something out!
Work –
I received an amazing opportunity relating to work (and therefore family life too) – I was first offered a job with another company that would have been working from home full time. After much thought, I decided to accept the offer based upon the impact that it would have on our family. It would be amazing for me to have more time with Jake (I commute about 3 hours per day). The problem was that I LOVE my current job. I spoke to my boss and the end result was that my current company offered me more money and the opportunity to work from home for them. I am ecstatic!!! So, currently, I am transitioning by working 2-3 days per week from home and by the time that Jake starts school in the fall, I will be at home full time. It will still mean some type of external care for Jake since I do have to work full days, but by eliminating my commute – I get so much more time with him. This will especially be helpful when Mac is traveling. I’m hoping to find a local college student to come in to stay with Jake for a few hours each day – the problem is that we won’t know until right before school starts if he’ll be in morning or afternoon kindergarten…Although, I’ve made it this far – so I think that these last details will somehow sort themselves out.
Mother’s Day –
I got up and went for a bike ride and when I got home Jake met me at the door to tell me ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ – he then led me to the family room to give me my present – he and Mac got me a cruiser style bike to ride around with Jake – it is white with pink flames on it. I’ve wanted a cruiser bike for some time now – so I am just thrilled. Jake picked it out and he is very proud of it. I am very proud of him and the wonderful person he’s become. I realize that being a mom is quite possibly one of the hardest jobs out there – but it is definitely the most rewarding as well. When Jake snuggled up on the couch with me last night to read a book, I just thanked my lucky stars for Jake, Mac, our families and the many other wonderful people that we have in our lives. I felt truly content.
Up Next –
The weekend of May 22nd, Mac and I are doing a triathlon in Galena, IL – we’re taking Jake and the wife of a friend (the friend is racing, his wife isn’t) is going to watch Jake along with her two girls – Jake adores them – during the race, and then we’ll all spend the afternoon at the after-race party. I’m looking forward to the weekend because Galena is beautiful this time of year and we always have a good time there.
Memorial Day weekend, Mac will be in Ohio with two of his friends. Jake and I have a busy weekend planned. Jake is going to do a kid’s triathlon on Saturday and I am running a 10 mile race on Sunday. My mom and dad are going to spend the weekend with us and they will watch Jake while I run. My mom is going to help me do some painting around the house and my dad is going to help me hang some blinds and curtains…I am very excited!
For anyone who is still reading – thank you! I have put my next entry on my calendar in hopes that having it on the calendar will keep me more up to date on my entries.
Take care!
Kristi
Mom to Jake
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