Upside-down July!

It just occurred to me that it's July 31st, and this is only my second post in the entire month. In my 15 years blogging, I don't think I've ever written only two posts in a month. How did this happen?

July.

Was busy.

And stressful. 

Which is all the more reason I should be blogging because writing reduces stress for me, better than almost anything. And yet, this crazy, upside down month totally got away from me. So here we are on the 31st with only two posts. I will certainly try harder.

As for July, I'm not sure where to begin. My kids. Yes. Grownup kids = grownup problems. My kids are the smartest, kindest, most awesome people I know. But they are still grownup kids, which means they have grownup problems. There is no escaping this. And their grownup problems become my grownup problems, because that's just how it is when you're a mom to grownup kids. There is no escaping this. 

(And I wouldn't, even if I could.)

Between Shulamith's dog incident, Isaiah's stressful job, and Seth's dating issues, let's just say my "mom" anxiety was triggered nearly every day of July. Plus I was so, so hot! Remember how my dog broke my AC? Yeah, I didn't realize how much being overly hot would exacerbate my anxiety disorder, but the answer is A LOT! 

Since I won't be writing posts for all our July events, let me highlight them briefly here:

Kennedy's 9th birthday

She had a celebration with extended family and close family friends at our community pool, where she swam, ate pizza, and opened tons of cool presents. Then she also had a "friend party," where she invited three of her closest friends to dinner at Cheesecake Factory, followed by shopping at the mall and Target. They got to sit at their own table at dinner; then Shulamith gave them each $20 with which to shop. Pretty sure it was Kennedy's favorite birthday party ever, and possibly the favorite for the other girls as well. They managed to find matching flair jeans, and I wish I'd taken a picture of all of them trying those on, but here are the two pictures I got:

Theodore's 6th birthday

Just a couple weeks later, it was Theodore's turn. For Theodore, there is but one birthday party location: Classic Fun Center! It's a large venue with giant bounce equipment, surrounded by a track for roller skating, roller blading, and scootering. In addition, there are arcade games that produce tickets to buy things at a store, mostly dumb, cheap crap, but still coveted by every child. They serve pizza, fries, soda, and more. It's a great place for a 6-year-old's birthday, and Theodore had the best time. He is a Lego genius, so this was definitely his favorite present.

Lagoon

Lagoon is a large amusement park way up north in Farmington. Typically, we go just once a year because, although the rides are super good, it's still overpriced at $97/day. Unless you have a season pass. We've talked for several years about getting season passes, and this year, we finally did it. And suddenly, we are Lagoon rats. It's so nice not to feel like you have to ride every single ride because you won't return for a year. We've gone multiple times already; we stay till we're tired, then leave. It's great! Oh, what is my favorite ride, you want to know? It's a tie between Samari and Cannibal, but then I'm a "ride junkie," so for me, the spinnier, the loopier, the faster, the better! Here we are taking a short break between rides:

One Lagoon day, Eli, Amanda, and Jane joined us. Jane was delighted as Shulamith's kids willingly took her on the "baby" rides:

So on this hot July 31st, I apologize for not writing more this month. It's been a wild ride (not just the ones at Lagoon), and I've been exhausted trying to help everyone, while teaching six credits during summer session.

Happy mid-summer, everyone. Stay cool (both literally and figuratively). 

It was absolutely worth the wait!

We walked down a dimly lit hallway into a changing room, where we donned plush bathrobes and sandals. Soft, instrumental music played in the background as we gathered in a comfortable sitting area, sipped Diet Cokes, and talked about how excited we were to be there.

We had looked forward to this day for two months. A mini-spa day at Sanctuary. It was my Mother's Day gift to Shulamith and Amanda, but it took this long to schedule it. 

It was absolutely worth the wait.

One at a time, each of our massage therapists called us into one of the massage rooms. From that point, the experience varied somewhat depending on the therapist. Mine gently washed my feet with a lavender scented scrub, then instructed me to lie on the table face down. For the next hour, I lay like a rag doll, allowing the therapist to manipulate my limbs to the proper positions. It was glorious. Head to toe, my body fell into relaxation. 

The hour passed far too quickly, and the three of us gathered once again in the sitting room and waited for our facials. The last time I'd had a facial (the only time, actually) was 12 years ago. I remember exactly when, because it was my birthday week, and Shulamith had just found out she was pregnant with Swen. She arranged surprise facials for the two of us as part of my birthday celebration. 

This time, as with the massages, we were alone in a room with our esthetician. Mine was awesome! She asked if I wanted to diffuse some essential oil along with the steam. Why not? I chose a rose scent, which was delightful. As the rose-scented steam enveloped me, the esthetician used an assortment of luscious products on my face, massaging each into my skin. Between each product, she wrapped my head in a hot towel for a few seconds. This felt so, so good! Even though this was a facial, she also massaged my arms, hands, and fingers!

Our final indulgence was a foot treatment. This time the three of us were together in the pedicure room, where we enjoyed a 30-minute foot massage. We sipped more Diet Coke and chatted about nothing and everything, before it was time to return to the changing room, but not before we spent a few minutes in the wet steam room. I'm not a super fan of these types of things, but the wet steam was way better than a dry-heat sauna.

We were sad it was over, but we left with bodies relaxed and faces aglow. And we decided this needs to be an annual event.