TheHenrichsens.com

This week Grandma Stout was in town and we all spent every minute we could with her, soaking up her attention and sometimes even fighting for it. It sure is great to have her here though and we are going to miss having her around to play with. I’m just gonna give a quick summary of the past week, seeing as I should be in bed right now. We’re trying to get ready for kindergarten by making a slight adjustment in our schedule. Right now we wake up around 8:00 am and laze around until we have to run Mark to the train–which we usually do in our pajamas. Then we eat breakfast and try to be dressed before lunch. Tomorrow we’re going to try waking everyone up at 7:00am, eating breakfast and getting dressed and then taking a little stroll to the school, right around 8:ooam. Hunter has to be at school by 8:10 at the very latest–which is going to be a challenge for us unless we start practicing right now. Soooooo–I’m going to start waking myself up around 6:00am for a little morning workout and then, I’ll pop “Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” in the cd player and whip up some PB toast and hot chocolate and wake up the troops. I’m not exactly looking forward to all of this but I knew it was going to have to happen eventually. Might as well make the best of it.

Anyway the past week. . . .

Monday: backyard swimming pool party and dinner with Mom at Bertuccis. Blueberry pie for dessert at the hotel.

Tuesday: Hunter had summer camp and I enjoyed girls’ night out with Mom, Kathy, Chris and Meg, Melanie and Devanie. We ate at LaSalsa and had DQ for dessert and hung out at the hotel for the rest of the night.

Wednesday: Picking blueberries with Mom and the boys–we got our winter’s supply. I feel like I just stepped into “Blueberries for Sal.” It’s so fun. We now have fresh/frozen strawberries and “blueberry marbles” (frozen blueberries) for those wintertime blues when we start craving homemade strawberry pudding and blueberry pie. Then we went swimming at the hotel. Hunter is officially over his fear of water and has now turned into a fish. He swims under water, does somersaults, cannon balls, dives for things, can tell you how many fingers you hold up under water, and can back float. I don’t know what happened but I guess it goes to show–when they are ready to do something, they will and if they’re not ready–there’s no use trying. Kinda like potty training. Anyway, then we hit ToysRUs and ate Boston Market for dinner. Mark and I enjoyed a date to the movies and saw “The Village.” Great movie–and yes, it made me jump!

Thursday: Gray and chilly. We were supposed to go to swim lessons but I didn’t like the idea of shivering on the beach all afternoon. So, we stayed home and Megan entertained the kids while I folded laundry and had a shower. Then we met Mom and Mel at the mall, for a little shopping. Picked Mark up and ate at Friendly’s–not in the mood to cook.

Friday: Hunter went to the park with Gwen Duchette from church and Noah, Denver and I stayed home and played “bowling.” Then we met Mom for lunch at the Mall. I stayed a little longer so I could get the kids new shoes–Hunter stepped in dog poop and I couldn’t stand the thought of cleaning them. So I thew the old pair away and figured it was okay, considering he hasn’t gotten new shoes for over a year now. He needs a new pair for school anyway. The boys had naps and then we headed for Harbor Yard Stadium for a Bridgeport Bluefish game (baseball.) It was super-duper fun! I had no idea I liked baseball so much. For $18 we took our entire family to the game and enjoyed a fireworks show afterwards. Great family outing.

Saturday: Spent the day in New York with Mom and Kathy. Mark stayed with the kids and did a fantastic job. We hit Chinatown and had some nasty white sugar cake and bean custard (thanks to Martha Stewart), bought some snappers and chinese yoyos, Kathy got some fruit and then we headed for Little Italy. Basically it’s just like Chinatown but with more streetside cafes and gelato stands. Our last stop was in SoHo where we discovered the coolest chair in the world–it’s called a “bubble chair” and it consists mainly of a stand and a yoga ball. Definitely something to add to my wishlist. We were exhausted and returned to Grand Central Station ready to sit for awhile.

Today: Church and Family dinner. The kids each tossed a box of snappers and jumped on the trampoline. We enjoyed homemade strawberry and blueberry pudding and some great company. Now I’m off to bed and ready for another new week.

“I like kickin’ back on the sofa, flippin’ through the channels just to see what’s on.

I enjoy eatin’ eggs over easy, soppin’ up with a biscuit ’til the yellow’s gone.

Ain’t nothin’ like watchin’ a bunch of young’ns run screamin’ through the sprinkler in their little bare feet.

And ain’t nothin’ like finding twenty dollars in the pocket of the britches that you wore last week.

I get into getting out on my mower in the early mornin’ hours ‘fore the sun gets hot.

And I like goin’ down to the Kroger when the carnival comes to the parkin’ lot.

Ain’t nothin’ like throwing a hula popper draggin’ it across a spot a big ‘un oughta be.

And ain’t nothin’ like having him for supper with some good hush puppies and some sweet iced tea

This old world is full of simple pleasures

They’re all good but some are better

Ain’t nothin’ like finding that woman that you know you’re gonna love for the rest of your life.

And ain’t nothin’ like knowing the Lord’s a comin’ back one day to make you want to do right.”(Brad Paisley)

I love this song–it’s so happy. It instantly puts me in a good mood. And, it goes right along with some of the things I’ve been thinking lately. With wars and rumors of wars, terrorists threats, Lori Hacking and all the bad stuff that’s out there nowadays it is difficult to see the positive that is all around us. When things get bad, like right after 9/11, I sort of downward spiral and desperately start searching for some great big fantastic miracle to renew my faith. And, most of the time, I end up disappointed. Hunter still has diabetes, we’re still poor, and I still have thunder thighs. But, I’m learning that a lot of joy can be found in the simple pleasures that are all around us. There are so many little things lately that make me feel so happy, despite this miserable world.

Like the other day, as I was driving to Kathy’s house. There was a black family outside working in their yard. The mother was in her nightgown, mowing the lawn. The grandmother was raking up something. And there were three little children sitting at the top of the deck stairs, watching them, chins resting in their hands. For some reason, the whole picture made me smile.

And then, on my way home, I passed a car with three very white haired women inside. The neat thing was–one was black, one was hispanic and the other was white. Those three little passengers renewed my faith that friendship does last and that it can bridge the gaps between race and culture.

I have an elderly neighbor that every morning sits in a lawn chair under a tree, waiting. Waiting for the senior citizen bus to come pick her up and take her to play bingo with her friends (or something else fun). And everytime that bus turns the corner, she hops out of her lawn chair and races over to the curb. She makes me happy, to know that even when we’re old, we’ll still have things to be excited about–even if it is just sitting under a tree, waiting for the senior citizen bus to come and pick us up.

The kids playing in the plastic kiddie pool. Graham crackers and frosting. Popsicles on a hot summer day. Lightning bugs. Swinging in the hammock. Watching a great big lightening and thunderstorm with Noah. Snugging the kids in the morning and late at night. Having a best friend that comes home to me every night. There may be a lot of bad stuff out there–but there are more simple pleasures and all of them are sweet.