June 18, 2008
Rising Moon
La Luna
Forgive me dear readers, for I have sinned. I haven’t had the desire to blog in several days. Many, many things are happening in my life that appear to take precedence over blogging, and I fear that you may begin to believe that I have abandoned you. Let me assure you, this is not the case. I’ve just been swimming in chaos without a life preserver and it’s sucking the breath right out of me.
Perhaps because it’s summer, I’m spending more time with Doug and Dawson and our cute little dog, Murphy. We have been going on long bike rides everyday, attending church picnics, making vacation plans and making obligatory appearances at graduation, birthday and anniversary parties.
My house hasn’t been cleaned, really cleaned, in weeks. Dawson’s room is a tornado of toys strewn across every inch of the floor. My craft area is a pile of scraps, newspaper clippings, photos, stickers, unopened mail and other miscellaneous paper items. It has become a catch-all for everything that doesn’t have a place in this house. The clutter. It shall kill me.
My dear husband pretends it doesn’t bother him, but I know it does. I believe he isn’t saying a word because he knows how hard I’m working both online and off, bringing in a paycheck to pay our bills (and catch up on old ones), as well as save for my BlogHer trip in a month.
As I type this, Dawson is pulling on Murphy’s ears, I’m trying not to yell — instead I politely, calmly say, “Please, don’t pull his ears. Don’t chase the dog. Don’t pull on his collar. Leave Murphy alone. Please, Dawson, leave the dog alone.”
And that little devil glares at me, then says, “But Mommy, I love him. I just wanna hug him.” Uh-huh. Sure you do. No wonder Murphy hides in his kennel on the days you’re home with me. He fears for his life.
Doug is leaving tonight for a fishing trip with his pal. They are heading north to Fifield, Wisconsin to my in-laws cabin for five blissful days of beer drinking, boating, carp shooting and all-around nothingness sans children. I can understand why Doug’s friend is looking to get away. He’s a father to three girls. All that estrogen is sure to drive a man crazy. I tried to convince my husband to take Dawson along. They could make it a boys’ weekend. I’m told that 4-year-olds can’t exactly appreciate “boys’ weekends” at such a young age. Point taken.
Friday morning, Dawson and I will be leaving for a trip to Milwaukee with my parents and my younger brother. We have tickets to a Brewer game, and then Saturday we will be attending Milwaukee Polish Fest. It’s a tradition in this family to attend Polka Festivals. It’s what we do. Not only that, we really love polka music.
I’m excited to get away, and Milwaukee is one of my favorite cities to visit. Dawson and I were there last month for a little vacay. It was a great time. Going now with my dad along is more fun. He knows that city better than most people because of his many years of truck driving. He’s like a personal tour guide. Many trip details, funny stories and photos will follow, I’m sure of it.
One sad note, however. My dad’s friend Dick was supposed to come along with us to Milwaukee this weekend, but Sunday morning he suffered a stroke or seizure of some sort. Doctors aren’t sure what happened, but his brain was without oxygen for some time and he is currently in a comatose state at the hospital. The outlook is not good. They are doing a 72-hour observation to see if he shows signs of recovering, but if not, his family will need to make decisions, as he is on life support and unable to breathe without a machine.
It’s tragic and it makes me cry. Dick is a good guy. Always smiling and telling jokes. He loves to joke and humorously ape his friends, especially about politics.
Dick’s son Steve and I went to high school together and I can’t imagine what Steve is going through right now. If it were my father lying in that hospital bed, I wouldn’t be able to control my emotions.
My mother and father went to the hospital to see what the status was and she said Steve was there and that she could tell he was using all of his might to keep it together. My heart goes out to that family. I continue to pray for a miracle.
So that’s pretty much what I’ve been up to. Surviving, yet struggling. Trying to keep my life in order through all the insanity. Last night I decided to photograph the moon from my back yard. And as the pie in the sky rose over the clouds, I prayed that I would be able to rise above the chaos in my life.
I’m certain that I can. I have no choice.
Posted by Dana @ 10:00 am • The Mommy Files
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June 18th, 2008 at 1:18 pm, Headless Mom Says:
The photo is beautiful.
Hang in there. I know for me that when life looks like this prayer helps. I’m glad that you have a few different getaways planned. Time away is very cleansing!
Headless Moms last blog post..Works for me Wednesday- Summer Dessert
June 18th, 2008 at 2:47 pm, Wisconsin Mommy Says:
I hope Dick will be on the mend soon. One of my closest friends just lost her dad in March. It hits home when it is your contemporaries losing parents. It seems like we are still too young for that.
Wisconsin Mommys last blog post..Cherry pits can double as a weapon.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:29 pm, Liz Says:
I’m sorry to hear about your dad’s friend - I’ll keep him in my prayers, tonight - just remember to close your eyes, still your heart and breath. Have a safe trip and enjoy your family in Milwaukee!
June 18th, 2008 at 8:17 pm, Nicole (SAHM Ramblings) Says:
What sad news about Dick. I hope it turns out well but my prayers are with your family and his either way.
Congrats on your upcoming trip to BlogHer. I’m jealous. DH told me that I should look into it but since I’m a casual blogger, I just couldn’t convince myself of it. At least not this year.
As for some of your other chaos, hang in there. Things will work out. I finally posted about my story. Thanks for encouraging me to do it… it was very therapeutic.
And enjoy your vacation to Milwaukee!
Nicole (SAHM Ramblings)s last blog post..My Long Road to Motherhood
June 19th, 2008 at 10:44 pm, The Dana Files » We’re Going to Miss You, Mr. Jones Says:
[...] “He had a living will, the team from Madison is coming up for his viable organs, they will be taking him off life support because his chance of recovery is less than 1%.” [...]