THANK YOU!

Sigh...just cleared out the last box today, and have sent John over to the garage with the empties. It has been a crazy 10 days since I last posted, but smooth sailing lies just ahead!

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who helped us out...couldn't have managed without every one's help!

We are having some trouble adjusting to the traffic noise after living in the country or a dead end street for the past 11 years. I figure that we will get accustomed to it after awhile, and then it will seem TOO quiet out on Poplar Ridge in a few months! Apartment living otherwise does seem to be a manageable, tiny version of life on the hill. L was snuggled up next to me this week and stated "I like this house!" I'm so glad to hear it!

J's birthday party went very well this weekend. I think it made up for totally ignoring her Birthday on the actual day last week. She is very happily playing with all her new things while L snoozes.

One day, I'll have the Elaine's over for tea...

T

What a Great Bunch of Folks!

Once again we greatly enjoyed the company of the Elaines et al!

Good food, good company...what more could one ask for?

Even the little ones found plenty to do!

We all passed around Baby B.

Just wish I got some pictures of the men playing!

Until next time,

T

A Respite from the Chaos

This dove built her nest on my grandparents' wall hanging...you can see one chick's head!

We have returned from Central PA...rolled up our hill at about 1 AM this morning and carried the sleeping children to their waiting beds. It was a crazy visit. I stayed behind in houses that were not L-proofed, trying to control 2 wild children while Daddy slipped away to doze in mindless conferences most of each day. L broke a different nick-knack in each home we stayed.

I actually did not have as much time alone as I had anticipated. My sister-in-law took half a day off to visit on Thursday. She took us to see the idyllic Camphill Village where she works. We watched the free range chickens and one big turkey, laughed at the antics of the piglets, and admired the woven goods made of recycled jeans and homespun wool from the village's sheep.



One of my dear college friends drove the girls and I to the Hands on House in Lancaster, where my girls and her boys loaded coal on trucks, picked corn to feed the pigs, ran a grocery store, sang on stage and built "thing-a-ma-giggles" in a factory.



My parents and we took dinner to my Grandparents, both in their 90's. J entertained us with a violin concert. My Grandma recited some of the many poems and stories she memorized many years ago. My Grandfather showed us his latest carvings.



We enjoyed singing along to the musical, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in Reading, and played in the crabapple petals afterward.



We drove home in the dark to piles of laundry and a marathon 3 hour violin recital this afternoon. At last, in a church pew, I was able to relax while the children played incredible music and L napped in the van with Daddy.

So now I feel deflated. Thankfully husband has a couple more days off from work, perhaps I can get caught up with life again. An Elaines meeting would benefit...(here, some night this week?)

T

Sweet Tooth Continues, Used for Good Cause

MORE SUGAH!

Wednesday was baking day at the Cockroft house. I spent almost the entire day on my feet in the kitchen, baking up a triple recipe of cake and another triple recipe of cookies. The cupcakes are by far the most fun as one gets to decorate them with tasty chocolate creamcheese icing after they finish baking. I just pipe the icing out of a ziplock bag. I sent a large bulk of the bounty with Martin for his students to consume after their poetry reading, but there were plenty of leftovers--of course. I always plan ahead for leftovers. So last night found me drinking fizzy juice and eating two cupcakes (hey, it's not every month you get to weigh almost exactly the same as your husband does--may as well whoop it up while the going's good) while watching side-splitting episodes of "Waiting for God--" the funniest show I've seen in a very long time. Incredibly clever.

And here's a little treat from months past: two little lovely ladies on their way to a play:

Aren't they just gorgeous, dahlin?

Do I need to be medicated?

Last week I had a really bad day. The kind where one unpleasant thing after another transpires and is enough to drive any semi-sane person off the deep end. My husband happened to call while I was in the midst of a childish tirade, and during all of my tears, he asked "Do you need to be medicated again?"

Let me back up. I have a history of depression, in fact the mental illness gene seems to be pervasive in my family. I have been on several different anti-depressants in the past, with varying levels of success and side effects. The last time I was taking something was before my 5 year old daughter was born. Yes, it is true. Lately I have been feeling lonely and worth the most as the caretaker of my family, not as an individual.

So, after vehemently denying the need for medication to my husband, I thought long and hard about that possibility for the rest of the day. I have always had a very short temper, and to my dismay, I yell at my children more than I should. Recently this seems to be a trait that I can not control...it just happens. For this reason, the children's book by Mem Fox, called Harriet, You'll Drive me Wild! has been a special favorite of mine. (Read it...it is both convicting and forgiving!) Does this mean that medication may help me?

I still, after several days of pondering, haven't decided one way or another. I also haven't made an appointment with my Doctor to discuss it with her. I have, however, spent time with some of my friends. It seems to be amazingly therapeutic! Of course, with friends that will write such wonderful things about a person (see previous post), how could friendship fail to be helpful in such situations? In addition, my parents came to visit, and my mother baked me the most delicious ooey, gooey chocolate desert in lieu of birthday cake. We all know that chocolate cures any number of conditions!

Do I need to be medicated? Well, I've filed the possibility a little closer to the front of my motherhood-addled brain, but for now I plan to take the dark, cold winter one day at a time and remember that such impossible days will teach me something about myself.