The blender in my brain

Cheryl says to Dale, "It's 6:15 a.m., I want to sleep more, but I have a kink in my back, a pounding in my head, and a Randy Travis song stuck in my brain." That's how today started.

The kink and the pounding are a direct result of my crazy busy week, and the Randy Travis song was playing at a restaurant where we took the kids to breakfast the other day. That explains those things going on in my head, but there were lots of others as well. Logic tells me that maybe I can remove a little of the stuff swirling around in there if I write about it.

Life is just busy. My dear friend Heather who currently lives in Korea is in town visiting for a little while. It's been so fun to have her around. I've known her for almost 23 years now, and we still haven't run out of things to say! I enjoy great conversations and good laughs. We took her along with us to Kamas for a little barbecue time and the famous Oakley, UT, July 4th parade. It was a slice of Americana for her visit. There's something pretty great about sitting along a parade route with tons of people dressed in red, white, and blue while we watched:
- girls in sparkling jeans and sequined blouses riding horses (I gotta get Cheyenne one of those shirts)
- local businessmen throwing candy and hocking their wares
- cheerleaders riding on the top of the fire engine
- the South Summit High marching band (I especially liked the kid in the wheelchair being pushed along the route by his friend. I liked that they were dressed in denim shorts and matching t-shirts - not black wool dress uniforms as is demanded by some bands. I loved that they weren't perfect - they were a bunch of teenagers doing their best and having fun.)
- the WWII vet riding on the front of the float apparently made by his family to look like a plane to symbolize the one he flew in the war.
- the American flag go by while everyone along the route stood and put their hands on their hearts. I loved that the most.

Prior to the barbecue on the 3rd, though, we enjoyed a lot of great laughs at my sister's pool. Cathy, thanks for sharing your pool even though you weren't there. My favorite was the contest held between Dale and our friend John to see who could put their backside into a small tube and stay seated for the longest time. Oh, but there was also the contest to make the biggest splash. The model pose where Dale laid sideways while leaning his head onto his hand seemed to cause the greatest surface area connection and the greatest splash. Just so you know for your next splash contest.

The day after the fourth brought a great gathering of Dale's family for the blessing of his niece Meagan's baby. It was a beautiful summer day to sit outside under the shade of tree for lunch. After a long, rainy spring, I'm loving the summer days we've recently enjoyed. And I love catching up with all the nieces and nephews in the Hadlock gang.

This week's priority is the weekend's upcoming First Annual Non-Funeral, Non-Wedding, Female Family Reunion. Ever since my grandma died, there hasn't been a matriarch to pull the gang together so we did it ourselves! All the women on my dad's side of the family will be gathering for a great visit. I'll have aunts, mothers, cousins, and sisters there to share a couple of days with. I can't wait to write about it later, but right now the swirling thoughts are of gratitude to Dale (for help with pictures and innumerable preparations along with a willingness to let me go), gratitude for family that we can pull together, anticipation of seeing everyone, exhaustion from making preparations in the midst of making preparations for a bunch of other activities at the same time, excitement about watching family members interact in this beautiful place where we live, etc. etc. I'm sure I'll write much more about it when it's over.

Before that happens, though, we have today's schedule that includes cub scouts, horseback riding lessons, and helping a friend from Colorado make a wedding cake for her nephew who lives here.

I don't mean to simply write a record of the events of my life. I guess I didn't really do that either 'cause I left out a lot. However, I want to try in a couple of sentences or less to capture the essence of what is churning and blending in my brain. Don't attempt to interpret or understand, but if you can relate in some small way, at least you'll know you're not alone.

Gratitude (for family, friends, country, help, beauty), anticipation, anxiety, nervousness, frustration, peace, pressure, desire to do better, wishes for better outcomes, confusion, clarity, exhaustion, excitement, hunger, satisfaction, etc, etc, etc. I guess that's what it's all about. Stay tuned for my next plethora of emotion!