What I enjoy

 My recent writing for my May writing club - 

As the mother of two boys, life has never been boring.  There have been some interesting discoveries along the way from finding frogs in my sink, dead fish in my bedroom, turtles in my basement, baby ducks that I once had to pick up at my local post office in the early morning hours on my 41st birthday. The animal finds only touch the surface.  There was the time Jay stuffed Nick in a trash can and hid him out in our woods.  Thankfully he was found quickly by none other than the one and only - me.  Then just last week Nick broke his leg four wheeling.   Oftentimes I hear other women say their sons are “momma’s boys.”  I don’t even understand that concept - not that I find anything wrong with it.  It’s just that neither of my boys are momma’s boys.  They are 100% their fathers sons. Another phrase I’ve heard that I find absolutely ridiculous is “Oh as a mom in an all male household, you must feel like a queen.”  Maybe a queen much like Anne Boleyn, just trying to survive and keep her head from being cut off. Back when I was a younger mother once a year I would breakaway and go scrapbooking with my sister for an entire 24 hours.  We would cut and paste pictures of our family as a way to document what was going on in our lives.  When the 24 hours were over we were sure we had gained 5 lbs from eating too much and our cheekbones would hurt from laughing so hard.  Those once a year scrapbooking weekends were something I looked forward to and enjoyed, a much needed break for a tired and run down mom.   

Scrapbooking weekends with my sister gave me a taste of the importance of female kinship.  I’m now 47 years old.  I’m “middle aged” and my boys are 15 and 19. I stopped scrapbooking years ago and switched gears to blogging about my family shenanigans which suits me better. I’ve never been very artsy or creative. When my oldest son turned 16 three years ago I discovered I had a little more free time.  I wasn’t spending hours in the car driving the boys to activities.  It was at that time my mom pitched the idea of taking a girls trip to Texas.  It ended up being one of the most memorable trips I’ve ever taken.  I spent seven days with my mom, my dear friends, Mary and Shannon and Shannon’s mom, five of us women.  We went to Magnolia Silos in Waco, then travelled to Austin where we ate delicious food and ended the trip in San Antonio where we experienced the beautiful river walk. I sometimes hear people joke about how drama can ensue when you put a bunch of women together.  I say if that's the case then you’re  hanging out with the wrong group of women. That Texas trip was pure bliss. It was that trip wherein I promised myself I would attempt every year to take a trip with girlfriends.  I discovered it is good for my soul.  I am convinced it makes me a better mother and wife. I came home from my Texas trip refreshed and validated because my friends continually reminded me of my strengths  and they bring out the best in me.  My family can bring the best out in me but let's just say some days…..it’s a stretch.  

After my Texas trip I had no idea at the time that our dear friends would end up relocating to Dallas.  Mike and I and our boys fly to Texas at least once a year but I try to fly to see Jenny twice a year which counts as a girls trip.  My next girls trip to Texas will be centered around taking a trip to Pawhuska to see Pioneer Woman’s Mercantile store and restaurant.  

I’ve had the pleasure of taking cousin trips to Galena, weekend trips to Florida with my sister and trips to TN spent on a porch swing for an entire weekend.  Talk about experiencing a little piece of heaven.      

Who knew that my scrapbooking weekends would ignite such a fondness for female kinship but they did.  Even through job losses, job changes, crazy schedules and life in general I'm intentional in finding ways to take one, two and yes sometimes three girl trips a year.  My philosophy as I age is the more the merrier - girls trips that is.    

Something else I enjoy - Part 2 

January 2009 - my first blog post. As I mentioned for years I scrapbooked but in 2009 I transitioned to  blogging and I’ve never stopped.  I absolutely love to blog. My favorite pastime is Saturday mornings after a walk with my computer out while the sun shines through the windows with my first cup of coffee.  It’s a time when I feel that I can reflect and focus on what I want to write about for that particular week. I enjoy writing and I am positive that if I hadn't blogged about my family for all these years there are so many things I would have forgotten by now.  When I started blogging I just wanted to write about what crazy things my boys were doing but as time went along I got more creative in my blogs which enhanced my writing. As the years have gone by I’ve watched myself morph into a more confident writer because of my blog.  As my boys have aged many of my blog posts now center around what I’m doing and what I think of things - more of a let me introduce you to Amy versus being Jay and Nick’s mom.  

Through my blog I’ve been able to write about raising boys, the beauty of female friendships and yes I’ve written about all my girls trips.  I’ve blogged about leaving State Farm nearly ten years ago and what it’s been like to work from home.  I’ve written about the hard stuff too from my dad’s death, my mom’s strokes and losing our life long friends to the lonestar state. These days I’m slowly but surely coming into another season of life which is right on the cusp of empty nest and middle age. I am confident that I’ll find blogging therapeutic through the next season of life just as I have found it so enjoyable from my past seasons of life.