Hello everyone! It is a sunny day with predicted temps in the 50s today. I have a cup of coffee, a kitten on my lap, and a little boy next to me. I am trying to stay centered and present right now these days. It’s been a heavy week, hasn’t it? It’s easy to feel lost and overwhelmed, and we need to do what we can in order to keep ourselves as sane as possible. Right now, I know I have responsibilities and the biggest one is Wyatt. I keep one eye and prayers on current events, and focus on Wyatt who needs me to keep things together here.

That being said, yesterday I just did just that, I kept my ear to the ground and went about my day. I prayed, I lamented, and I also took Wyatt to therapy, where he absolutely blew his therapist and I away. She put him in a gait trainer, which is like a walker but with more support, and he took off cruising, practically running. I couldn’t even get a video because I was so shocked honestly. Neither of us have ever seen him move quite like that! We have watched him use this gait trainer for a few weeks, building back up to it after his surgery last July, with some struggles, determination, and some drama as only Wyatt can provide. Yesterday though, he did it so easily. It all clicked and came together in one boy yesterday.

I also went to yoga for the first time in forever and ever. My friend Kelly and I went to a local class held in an building downtown in our city. It was her first time ever and I was proud of her too! I had to laugh though – we have been friends over thirty years and I have never once seen her sweats and a t-shirt. She is always meticulously dressed. It was so cathartic and restful, and my body and soul needed that. As we sat there, in the old auditorium with it’s wooden floors and antique lighting along the high ceiling, I just felt such peace for a moment. It felt good to be moving my body with such purpose again, feel its strengths (and weaknesses – ugh my core!), and then the final relaxing pose on the mat at the end. I left feeling very refreshed and so did Kelly. When I asked her how she felt she told me that she felt like she really needed that, and I understood exactly what she meant. I am hoping to go every Tuesday night now.

I popped by to see my mom afterwards and she was doing so well. They changed her meds last Friday, and they told us to expect her to be very sleepy over the weekend, which she was. So I was happy to see last night a bright eyed, happy mother. She was chatty and awake, and I saw some real improvement in her. For those who don’t know, my mom had a stroke last month, and she also has moderate dementia. She has some mobility issues as well, but I am hoping with the meds change, we can get her up and out more, at least out of bed. They were really making her very weak and not doing much to help her at all. I went home feeling pretty good about my corner of the world, for at least one day. And that is where I am at these days, one day at a time.

Last week Wyatt and I took some time off for a spring break. We didn’t do too much, mostly just hung out at home and read and played and things like that, lots of art happened, but we had one day out with Mermaid Girl. All three of us are book people, so I took Mermaid Girl with us on one of our bookstore and dessert days! I picked an awesome bookstore too, Coreanders in Grosse Pointe Park. It is designed for kids and is filled with storybook murals and a tall stalk with a sun at the top in the center of the store, shelves of books and cozy reading spots. It even has an ice cream shop and a secret garden. We kicked things off with McDonalds, and then once we were at the store, we spent two hours wandering around, choosing books, chatting, having ice cream. It was so fun.

One of the coolest things about Coreanders is that it is two floors and the elevator is even a mural, all the way up. The door has a glass window and on the wall of the elevator shaft is a mural that follows the path of the elevator, so you are treated to scenes from The Hobbit as you make your up and down. It is really cool.

I didn’t get many photos this time, the weather was gray and gross and the garden has not grown yet, plus I was too busy with two kids and being in the moment, so I will share some photos from the first time I visited.

It is very cool, and it was the perfect little day off. We all left happy and with books (or for me, a journal and some bookmarks) in our hands. The kids also enjoyed ice cream, which was only 3 dollars for two giant scoops! A deal!

Afterwards Mermaid Girl came over and played with Wyatt and Mouse and Max before her dad came to get her. It was a nice time!

We also finally finished up the Gold Rush in history! We celebrated with a “Gold Rush” dinner of beans, bacon, and homemade biscuits, and we sat on the floor in our den on a buffalo plaid blanket. We all decided while the dinner itself was not bad, we certainly wouldn’t want it too often, much less for every meal! Something fun I learned about the gold rush – I mean, Wyatt learned- a bath cost $10 dollars which would have been about $419 dollars today!! Then I read randomly in the Gladys Taber book I just read, Stillmeadow Daybook, that the boomtowns had a rodent issue, so a shipload of I think 3000 cats was sent to California, where they sold to those argonauts for $10- $20 a cat! They were also often stolen from their owners, as they were in high demand!

And with that little tidbit, I will say goodbye. I hope whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!