Week in My Life: Day 4, Thursday

This week,  I’m participating in the “Week in My Life” series. You can read Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to get all caught up on the shenanigans.

Alarm at 0600, get out of bed time 0630. Not bad. Tomorrow is workout day. Last night I made a “grab and go” breakfast, poppy seed muffins, because it’s school Mass day. The kids have to be out the door early. And, because John Paul’s class was the host class, he had to be there even earlier. Fortunately, Luke’s school had a late start this morning so I was able to attend Mass. It usually conflicts, so this morning was a rare, but lovely, treat!

Wouldn’t you smile if this guy was holding open your door?

I never regret making the effort to attend Daily Mass. Luke was crazy good (he had a sweet playmate seated next to us) and I heard all the readings and homily. Do I see a corner turning ahead? After Mass, it was time for school dropoff and my hour of prayer.

Some of you know that I signed up to volunteer with the 40 Days for Life project here in Austin. It was a tough decision to make, but one that I felt called to do. So here I am. Every week, from October 4 to November 1, I pledged to pray an hour in front of one of our abortion clinics in town. And, as I type that I pray that all my readers know one very important thing about me:  I stand there with a heart FULL of love. There is no judgment. We worked so damn hard to keep our fifth child alive during pregnancy and even harder during his first, very difficult year of preemie life. He is the reason I stand there because I know how devastating a prenatal diagnosis of “unexplained abnormalities” can be. And I also know how much our cup runneth over because of his sweet life.

After my hour, I was off to do normal momma stuff:  grocery store (for the third time this week, sheez!), the office supply store and the voting booth. Early voting started Monday in Texas. I never ever, ever wait until election day. For a person who hates to stand in line, early voting is right up my alley. No matter your political affiliation, go do your American duty and vote! Then, it was off to pickup Luke from school, nap, work and head to carline. Story. Of. My. Life.

For once this week we did not have a single durn thing after school. And the heavens rejoiced. The kids enjoyed a snack, some playtime upstairs while Will and I banged out some work on the office computers. Our weather here in Texas is supposed to go from 80 and sunny to freezing and 55 tomorrow, so I shuttled everybody outside to enjoy the sunshine and mosquitos? Scott arrived home just as I was peeling the last of two pounds of shrimp. He rallied the troops and got them going on pickup and showers while I got dinner going.

What I failed to mention is during all that there was a time out, some sibling “love” (sarcasm font) and a tweet from me about selling my 7-year-old. So, it’s not all rainbows and kittens over here, folks.

In the middle of the chaos, my brother called and we did a little Facetime. Hey, we just yelled over the dull roar. I caught snippets here and there and we called it a conversation. He’s been my brother for over 30 years, he knows how we roll. Then, it was time for dinner, “best and “worst,” books, prayers and bed.

Momma got a glass of wine. I would’ve taken a photo, but it’s already gone. I wrapped up today’s post and then beelined for the couch to enjoy the rest of, say it with me in a British accent, Harry Potter.

Tomorrow we celebrate a sweet little boy’s birthday with a mom who loves parties as much as me (yes, there are two of us in this world!) and head to Luke’s pre-surgery visit with his cardiologist. Pray ’em if you got ’em, folks. It’s a big Friday around here.