Trying times

In true Oregon fashion, when the sun starts to shine a little, the dark clouds roll right back on in. Such a perfect metaphor for our family life these days. There have been little sun breaks of happiness, but altogether too much rain. I remind myself that of course, it could always be worse. I'm just in a bit of a holding pattern while I wait for things to feel "normal" again. That, and I'm trying to remember to count my blessings. There's just so much going on right now....

Adam is buried, swamped, and totally overwhelmed at work. It's never been this bad. He is a stranger around here for the most part, and I feel so very sorry for him. He's working so hard to keep his head above water. It's very rare to see him stressed out (he's a pretty even keeled kind of guy). I just hope and pray for his sake that things will get better soon. The blessing here is that he has a job. I'm certainly very grateful for that! (BTW--I LOVE this website! Check out the demotivators.) :-(

Kira has had some challenges with her friends at school this year. It's been so hard to see her confused, frustrated, and hurting. For the moment, things are good--for the moment. I'm very grateful for the guidance counselor at her school who has intervened and met with Kira and some of her peers to help them sort things out. It appears that bullying is beginning earlier than they're used to seeing it. (Apparently, 3rd grade is usually the onset--yikes.) Kira's school hosted a parent education night this past week. A local author, Trudy Ludwig, came and spoke about bullying. She was fantastic! Kira and I have read two of her children's books. My Secret Bully which addresses the way in which girls often pick on one another (excluding, gossiping, etc.) and Just Kidding which is more geared toward boys. The school counselor recommended them to me, and I borrowed them from the library. I highly recommend them as well. Trudy has a new book coming out in May called, Trouble Talk. I can't wait.

We did manage to make some family time last Saturday and go to the zoo. Kira is pretty much obsessed with polar bears, and has been studying them since Christmas time. (She received a Webkinz polar bear from Santa, and a Lil' Kinz for Valentine's.) On Saturday it was "Polar Bear Day" at the zoo, and the keepers gave the three resident bears a bunch of "enrichment" items. It was lots of fun to see them busting open a trash can sized block of ice to get to the goodies inside. Adam and I agree that polar bears remind us of dogs. It was loads o' fun watching this one swim. So cute, so cuddly, so utterly deadly. We took a friend along, dodged rain showers, and had a yummy lunch at the Cascade Grill. I've missed the zoo. Looking forward to more outings there this summer.

Summer...oh, how I'm looking forward to warm, sunny days and time with my girl! We've been planning her birthday party this past week, which is admittedly kind of crazy since her birthday isn't until June. However, it looks like I'll be having surgery on my sinuses (again) right after Memorial Day--before Kira gets out of school. I'll be recovering in the weeks prior to her special day, so I probably won't be up to doing much party planning--or any of the other little projects I had planned for those glorious weeks when I'll be out of school but she won't. Rats. I could put it off 'til later in the summer, but I think the heat and dry air would make my recovery more painful that it's already going to be. (I had surgery on one side in November of '02. NOT FUN.) I'm looking forward to (hopefully) regaining my senses of smell, taste, and hearing. Wouldn't that be nice! My tinnitus is pretty darn annoying, but it's looking like it may be nerve damage from Chinese New Year (see previous post) so it probably won't go away. Time will tell.

Also in June, my sister-in-law Rachel & her husband Jeff are expecting their first baby! (She's due on the 15th.) I'm really hoping that Kira and I can go visit them in Idaho and meet our new niece or nephew. They don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl--Kira's really, really hoping it's a girl, as she has four young boy cousins and is the only girl. Their summer is going to be off to an exciting start! I hope we can be a part of it.

These days, music has been helping me stay sane. One album I'm totally hooked on is Built to Spill's Keep It Like a Secret. Adam discovered this band and man, we both really dig them. He's always making fun of my "white girl" music (i.e. Crowded House). Anyway, this album is particularly rad. We have four of their albums, and I'm looking forward to acquiring more of their tunes.

Via Tara Whitney's blog I discovered The Swell Season. Yeah, I probably live under a rock--I missed the Oscars and these folks won for best song (Falling Slowly). I watched this video and it brought tears to my eyes. So sweet and tender. Glen Hansard's voice reminds me of Cat Stevens. Tara also posted the clip from the Academy Awards where they totally cut off their acceptance speeches after Glen spoke. Jon Stewart brought Marketa Irglova back out so she could have her say. That was just so cool. She had such wonderful inspiring words to share, and they just seem so gosh darn deserving. I'm just bummed that their show here in Portland is sold out for later this month.

Alright, that's enough cyber-babbling for now. Time to brace myself for Daylight Savings Time. Oh, joy. Happy weekend.