marathon of life

I spoke with one of my many pregnant friends this past weekend. She lives in Colorado with her husband and is well into her third trimester of pregnancy. She was sharing how last week she was in the hospital for a couple of days, when after a routine checkup, the fetal monitor showed that she was contracting—pretty strongly. She was feeling fine, in no pain at all, but obviously the situation was worrisome since her due date is not for at least another month. She was back home when I spoke to her, still feeling fine, but restricted to light activity and bored out of her mind. I encouraged her to take this time for herself (as this is going to be her first baby)—and enjoy every second of it!

Four years ago, my best friend was pregnant with her first child. Our relationship is one in which that we are so close (and she also is a nurse) that I often literally felt as though I was pregnant right along with her. We still joke that I gained all of the same pregnancy weight with her! This is also why I so often feel that William is the little “son” of my heart.

Now, I literally have four girlfriends who are currently pregnant. They are spread out over the country (Colorado, California, Oregon, & Michigan). I cannot begin to describe how happy I am for all of them—and the fact that I’ll be an aunt four times over—but, I discovered this weekend in talking to the one in Colorado, that it’s hard for me to get overly excited about these babies. Don’t get me wrong—I can’t wait to hear stories and see pictures, etc., but with the majority of them so far away, I think I have to protect my own heart a bit from the sadness of not being able to be involved the way I was with William…

My own busy life doesn’t help the situation either. Before Jason was in my life, I found that singleness suited me well. I could be a part of my friends’ lives in a way that allowed me to be physically and emotionally vested in a way that satisfied me. Now, with most of my friends married and entering parenthood, I joked recently that in the marathon called life, I’m feeling a bit behind. I hope that as I approach the marriage “marker,” there will be a few people left around to cheer me on!

I jest, because I know my friends are ones that will stick with me and share in my joy. Just as I completely and totally share in their joy of being parents. This is why I will always have a phone with nationwide long distance availability, and why I always will know what the exact time differences are between here and the west coast. :)

summer of '07!

Summer is quickly approaching…and as the end of the school year is a week away, I’ve started looking ahead to the fun things I have planned.

For a couple of weeks I’ll be working at YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin. I’ve been the nurse there for three years now, and even though I can’t commit to the whole summer this year, I was willing to help things get up and running in the infirmary.

Then, at the end of June I get to go to Washington DC for a work related conference. I’m really excited about this as I’ve always wanted to visit, but have never had the opportunity. Now I get to go—all expenses paid! I’m even extending my trip by a couple of days to give myself some more time to explore and sightsee…suggestions are welcome!

A week after I come home from DC, I get back on a plane and head to Alaska! I won’t go into the long, boring details about how excited I am about that… ;)

Bring on the summer of 2007!

May heat wave

Time to once again comment on the weather in Michigan…previously I was wishing for warm days in which to drive with the sunroof open, plant flowers, and mow the lawn. Well, that time has come! And rather quickly, I might add. I’ve succumbed to turning the central AC on in my home—and it’s only May! The weather has been beautiful for the most part, but when temperatures go above 80 with humidity making it feel like close to 90, and it’s not even summer yet—you know you live in Michigan.

I seriously am not complaining though. I will always choose to be more warm than cold. I would much rather sit in front of a fan with some crystal light, than put on ten million layers and still have cold fingers.

And, yes, I’ve already gone for a bike ride. ;)

Memorial Day weekend

I camped at a new state park this past weekend. I always thought it would be fun to say that I’ve been to all the state parks in Michigan—a lofty goal, I know—but I can add a new park to my list now.

South Higgins Lake State Park is just north of Houghton Lake in Michigan. Jason & I decided to be brave and even take Harley on his first camping adventure. The car was quite loaded down with camping gear to begin with—but then we had to leave space for the 130-pound pup! We also took our bikes and on Saturday had a great time riding and hiking. The weather was beautiful (although the mosquitoes were a little annoying) and it only rained for awhile on Saturday evening. The rest of the time was beautiful blue skies and about 70 degrees!

Harley was the hit of the park—he was so well-behaved. He never barked and people were constantly trying to guess what kind of dog he is (“he’s so big!”) The funniest story of the weekend was due to Harley’s training. He is trained to not poop on while on a leash (Jason never liked the idea of carrying a poop bag around on a walk), so Harley literally did not poop all weekend. By Sunday night, he was acting a little uncomfortable, so after dark, Jason took him over by the beach area, let him off his leash, and within less than a minute, Harley was feeling much better…he came back to the campsite all happy, bouncy, and playful. A good time was then had by all… ;)

Apparently Higgins Lake was named by National Geographic as the sixth most beautiful lake in the world. It definitely is a beautiful lake—also known for its great fishing. Jason forgot his poles, but we’ve decided we will go back someday, and that time we’re bringing a boat.

Cedar Point

So I visited Cedar Point for the first time in over a decade last weekend. I went with friends from church—a small choral group I sing in—after we decided we needed a good teambuilding experience together. And what an experience it was!

We left town late Wednesday night and arrived at our hotel at about 2AM. After sleeping for maybe five hours, we were up by 8 to be in the park at 9AM, where we could be first in line for the Millennium Force. After two consecutive rides on that, we headed over to Top Thrill Dragster, where we got one ride in before it broke down for a bit.

We also hit the Magnum a couple of times in a row (benefits of going in May—no lines!) I was a little anxious about going on this ride as my one memory was riding it with my father when I was about 10 years old. I remember being so terrified that at the end of the ride that the blood had left my hands from gripping the bar so tightly. After this time around, however, I have to say it was one of my most favorite rides of the day. At the end of the day though, I decided my most favorite was Millennium Force. I rode it four times!

I have never done that well on roller coasters. Typically, I can last about a half a day, and then I need to take a break from the adrenaline surges and stomach-churning. So, when I went on a total of about 20 + rides all day—I was pretty proud of myself! Especially since I really haven’t been on a roller coaster in at least five years. I’m now considering it another accomplishment during this my 30th year.

Our weather was perfect all day—maybe a touch warm—but perfect roller coaster riding weather. We left the park at the 8PM closing time—only after a couple people in the group rode the Raptor a record five times in a row! Overall, we had an awesome time together and are already planning next year’s trip.

birthday!

I took my “nephew” William out for his birthday to the Impressions 5 children’s museum in Lansing. It had been years since I had been there—it was much smaller than I remember. But William loved it—particularly the water room where he spent 45 minutes pouring water, floating boats, and making waves. But what cracked me up was how we had just spent two hours playing with every science experiment there, and the one thing he reports to his mom when we arrived home was the last three minutes on the backhoe where he got to pick up balls with the scooper.

And of course, the trip wouldn’t have been complete without a visit to the “chicken nugget store” (this is McDonalds to the lay person).

Happy birthday to the best four year old around!

tulips!

Yesterday Jason & I decided to embrace our Dutch heritage. We spent some time amongst the tulips of the famous Holland Tulip Time Festival. Funny how I’m thirty years old and have never been to this festival, but visiting the Veldheer Tulip Farm was quite a learning experience! I literally took two rolls of pictures—yes, a past time for me that I actually had fun with.

Not only was there a variety of flowers (mainly tulips) but also a variety of people. Jason & I joked that we were probably the only two Dutch thoroughbreds there! They should’ve put us on a display somewhere at Festival. Label reading: “The last of the Dutch line native to Holland, Michigan. Circa 2007.” People could stand with us to have their picture taken.

Craziness. Who would’ve thought that a tulip could be a tourist attraction? Apparently us Dutch people are easily entertained. ;)