The pendulum swings

I was just telling my friend the other day that January was a really lonely month for me. There was a lot of ice and cold and not a whole lot on our calendar. And there were painful, long, hard trials for our family that felt so heavy. The days were sort of dreary and slow for me. With all of our time stuck at home, I felt no motivation to even open a book. In fact, the only book that I have read consistently is the Bible. And I have 5 good books collecting dust on my bedside table. Maybe this month!?

But February has already proved to be something else. People are healing, my husband is not traveling, prayers are being answered in ways that we have longed for, and the days are sunnier. I look at the calendar this month and it makes me dizzy. It is amazing how fast things can change!

Last weekend was loads of fun. The children each had a friend over for playing and a night out at the nearby pizza/arcade. And Saturday I spent the entire day sanding and repainting a hutch for the farmhouse kitchen, while the kids played baseball/rode bikes at the park with Andy. And then just because we are really strange, they decided it was a good day to dissect a frog. I am so glad I missed out. That is not my cup of tea. At all.

After church and lunch on Sunday we went to a fabulous Super Bowl Party (or as Lydie says, a Fish Bowl party). It was great fun. So much fun, in fact, that I forgot to get my camera out of my purse. And here we are already to Tuesday. The weather is cold, but sunny, so between activities the kids are enjoying being reunited with the trampoline. (January was a lonely month for it, too.) Tomorrow we host a 22 little ones at our house for a Valentine party, so I'm off to cut brownie hearts and sprinkle sugar cookies. Maybe one day I will learn to enjoy being quiet and alone more. But right now, like it or not, I adore a full calendar!

" I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."

~Agatha Christie