you're sick? again?, dishes, and gratitude

is it just me?

Augustus whippin' up the multi-grains in the midst of madness

the mystery of whistle straws

the definition of best friends

can you tell Augustus loves Henry?

I've been hearing that question, "Are you sick, again?" so often lately I want to say, no I'm not sick I was just rockin' out at the Pixies show all night and smoked 8 packs of cigarettes, why, do I sound horse? Sigh. Moving on, though, right? After my sad sad midweek last week, all I wanted was my mom so to the rescue she came, doing laundry, picking up the house, and reading to the kids so I could sleep on Thursday. Jeanna took all the kids to our regular Friday library gig, then Saturday I slept while they played at the beach, and Sunday, that incredible Auntie Jeanna, aka Tita, took the kids to the greatest park around and my mom sent in dinner so after all that rest yes I say! I am finally feeling better. Thank Heaven, God, Mary, Jesus, Buddha, Darhma, karma, Krishna, Shiva, Kuan Yin, babaganoush and Ganeesh.

So let me ask you, does your kitchen ever look like the one on top? And I need to say, it's not only when I'm down and out sick that it looks like this, it's other times also. Granted, Augustus cooking the multi-grain flapjacks does add some panache to the scene, it's still a bit of a disaster. I just didn't get the fast gene, or I guess the "I care" gene. No, it's not that, because I do care. It just doesn't' seem to get done. Or, if it does, I'm certainly not blogging! Jeanna says it's because I have different priorities, and she says that like it's a good thing. I'm just going to have to take her word for that one, and recommit to not going to bed till the dishes are done. At least, when I'm all better I'll recommit to that one.

Have I properly raved about my/our homeschool co-op that is becoming the light of my life, dream of my dreams, that thing which I never dared say out loud lest I jinx it? Oh the mamas in my life, oh the babies, oh the big kids. Of them I cannot say enough. The sheer bounty of it, the abundance, the fabulous-ness, the love, the love the love. The group is ever changing, ever growing, ever evolving and the specifics are hard to pin down, but the flow is so...well, flowing and groove is so groovy and the moms are all so bright and gorgeous and different and talented and creative, it is such a blessing to be counted among them. Not to mention that each one of them have stepped up in the last six weeks at least once, most of them twice, to pick up my kids and take them to co-op or the library or something.

And really, for it all, I am grateful for each and every spec of it. This Lent our family has gotten together almost every Friday evening for some kind of seafood feast and it has been so wonderful. My brother Anthony, aka Tito Chuchi is forever on the floor with the kids either reading or playing or being a de facto climbing jungle gym for them to romp over and on. My sister-in-law Suzanne, Aunt Su-su, made "dirty shrimp" for one of the Fridays and the only thing that was dirty really was the front of my shirt. We've been at David and Jeanna and Frida's new house or my mom's house hanging out a lot lately, all of us together, and it really is the sweetest life. Here, with my man and my babies, and the rest of my family to share it with. And that is all I have to say about gratitude right now.