Visit from a friend

My friend Marty came to take care of me this week, in the third (and most horrible) week of the fifth (and hardest) cycle, or so I thought it would be, according to experience. 

Thanks to the incredible uplifting that I’ve experienced recently, it was not so horrible, and not so hard, and we spent a lovely Wednesday and Thursday together, watching our children play, snuggling baby Colin, setting up the GeoTrax, introducing her littlest ones to our fishies (Colin was fascinated!), and generally mothering our children together, which is an amazing experience for any two friends, and one that is especially precious to us, after our combined losses and fears, and we enjoyed the time together. 

Friday was more terrible, as I lost all energy and the bone pain tried to take over my body again, starting Thursday afternoon and continuing into Saturday night.  I slept all afternoon on Friday, leaving the parenting to Marty and my husband, home on AWS.  I woke only for dinner (which I then couldn’t eat, as the smell of meat was too much to handle).  C put the little boys to bed again, and then Marty came up to keep me company, with me propped up against the pillows, and together we addressed the Christmas cards for both our families. 

On Saturday, we took the boys to Breakfast with Santa and had their pictures taken with the big jolly guy in the red suit – a first for my kiddos, and it will be a true miracle if the pictures come out at all, given that my youngest wouldn’t even sit by the big guy without me sitting and holding him on my lap (Little Bear, not Santa).  But for an hour, we were just a couple of families enjoying the morning together, and it was an amazing break from my illness.

Then I slept all afternoon and into the evening, until it was time to dress and head over to Jean’s for a little while.  I got to introduce Marty to some of my friends from when Widget was a wee baby (having met Jean at Mom’s Club when he was 6 months old), and we played wii together, enjoying the new Wii Party game, which was pretty great.  Colin and I got tired and fussy at 7:30, and we said goodbyes and came home to sleep.

On Sunday, I fulfilled my role helping to bring the new catechumens and candidates into the church in the Rite of Acceptance.  The choreography was a little off (who knew that THREE of them would show up without sponsors?), but we pulled it together and I’m pretty sure that our earnest efforts will be acceptable to God.  Marty and her littles got on the train, helped by C, and away they went, almost at the exact moment I was reading the prayer from the pulpit. 

Overall, it was a pretty incredible week around here, even if at times it feels like all we did was sit around and help the children play nicely together while the mamas drank diet coke and caught up – just like old times. 

Except, of course, with four wonderful little boys, who are the light of our lives and the fulfillment of dreams spoken and unspoken. 

I wonder if our thirteen-year-old selves, sitting and talking late into the night just as we did on Friday, would even recognize us.

Disclosure: @Stimey is a Nintendo Enthusiast and was sent the Wii Party game to review.  I received nothing from Nintendo, but I did enjoy the party.

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