Moments in Time

We all have those historically monumental moments we will forever remember. For my generation, it was the attacks on September 11, 2001. For my parent's generation, everyone remembers when JFK was shot.

But there are personally monumental moments we will forever remember as well. Some good, some bad.

Today, five years ago, it was good. Really, really good.

I have quite a large family, 5 of us girls in all, which means 10 (with our spouses); 9 nieces and nephews, and 2 great-nieces; and that's just my dad's side of the family.

While all my family members are special to me, my sister Kate is different (ha--if you only knew). We are only 18 months apart. We went through it all together. We still go through it all together. And five years ago today, she gave birth to her first child, a girl, named Dineo Julia.

I will always remember this day. For me, it started at about 2:30 in the morning, when my sister reluctantly called from South Africa (she felt bad waking me up, though it was 8:30 am their time) to tell me they were headed for the hospital.

Oh, man. I pretended to go back to sleep, but really I just kind of laid there in bed, waiting, trying to resist the urge to call the hospital every five minutes for updates.

I went to work. I should have just stayed home, because I was useless. I just stared at my phone for hours. I took it to meetings with me. And when it rang, I grabbed my stuff, ran out of a conference room, and hijacked my boss's office, which actually had walls, so I could hear the news about my new niece or nephew without 5 coworkers in cubicles listening in.

After lots of hard labor, and an emergency c-section, my mom called to tell me it was a girl. I cried. Hard. For a long time.

I knew what it was like to have nieces and nephew (I already had 5 at this point). And in fact, I got another niece just two days later from my sister, Amy. But for some reason, it was different this time.

And no, I have no idea why I am feeling so sentimental today. Perhaps I can blame it on getting older (I am so much mushier now than I was 10 years ago). But perhaps it's just that in a busy time of life, it's nice to just slow down and celebrate the everyday miracles.

"Busyness"

Every day seems to be busy and yet I feel as though I do nothing. Sometimes I feel guilty about that. Sometimes not.

Here are some things I have been doing:

- I finished my second triathlon, coming in 12 minutes *slower* than last year. I keep trying to remind myself that not many people would even attempt a triathlon, so I should be proud of doing it in general and not worry too much about my time.

- Our good friend Cindy came and stayed two nights with my mom. We went out to eat a couple times, talked, reminisced, and laughed quite a bit. It was good to see an old friend.

- This week, I have another manuscript to edit. I'm doing a little freelance work and I'm loving it. There's still lots to learn, but I'm getting there, thanks to my fantastic editorial mentor, Andy.

- Also this week, some of Kent's extended family will be in town. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and the like. It's always a good time and I'm looking forward to seeing family we only get to see once or twice a year.

- Saturday, I went to the beach with my sister Tori. It was possibly the best beach day ever. It was hot, but with a good breeze. There were waves for playing, but not vicious waves for being bowled over. Water temperature was great and the company even better. I could go back and do that at least twice a week.

- Oh, and I do occasionally cook and clean and shop for groceries, etc. Though I haven't been cooking much because Kent is often at work and/or we have people in town/friends to go out with, etc.

Life is good.

I Have a Blog?

Apparently, I've forgotten. This has turned into the summer of laziness for me. I spend my days working, reading, training for my triathlon, and traveling to California and Colorado (apparently I need to go to Connecticut this summer to finish off my summer of C-states).

Overall, I feel like I haven't accomplished much. But I'm happy. :-)