How do you normally spend your weekends?

*I'm using writing prompts from Rustico and although I won't blog a post everyday, I will try to do it at least once a week!

Since we both still work full-time, Mark and I have only two full days each week to "go and do" together and we try to fill those days with as much exploring and relaxing as we can.  Sometimes that means we drive a bit - visiting new wineries, a brewery, or distillery and enjoy the beauty of Central Texas.  There's no one at home waiting for us and no one to tag along.  Sometimes we will meet my sister and BIL somewhere, but just as often its just us two.

Mark at Vista Brewing

When our kids were little, we had no money for such things, and weekends were a chance to catch up for the week on laundry, groceries, etc.  So we were mostly hanging out at home, though we also went to parks, the pool, and such.  When our family grew to six of us, I went on the weekend shift at work.  There was no way we could have afforded daycare for four kids in the summer.  Mark was the one shuttling them to scouting or swim team or bowling or karate or birthday parties on weekends. It  baffles me that people take kids to breweries and wineries.  With both parents drinking.  Not to be judgey, but even if we'd had the money to do that, we wouldn't have.

Highlands

Sometimes weekends are a time for hanging out at Highlands, listening to all of the "quiet" from our lounge chairs, enjoying a quiet firepit at night.  We might eat breakfast out at a favorite Mexican restaurant, or or work on some projects up there like the current barn build-out.  But mostly we recharge.  On Sunday afternoons we walk down to the swing at the far end of our drive for a view of the lake and just sit and talk about future plans.  Its very bittersweet to walk back up the hill, pack up the truck, and head back to Austin.  But we know that we have a cozy home to come home to, usually with a nice dinner.  

And since most weekends are over in a flash - we spend them like shiny new pennies!

Me, prompted

One of my favorite blogs to follow is writing her second blog, somewhat like my second blog, in which she gets to share a little bit more about her personally.

And I thought, YES, PROMPTS.  That's exactly what I want to do with It's Just Me, Gina.  Because I sometimes think that life is too messy to blog about because I run out of ideas and worry that dwelling on my negative thoughts will plow me under.  I want to journal in a way that might inform or amuse my kids someday.  And it feels creative and interesting.

So.

I'm going to find a source for those prompts and if I can't, I might just travel along with the other blogger and get some ideas for them.  Or maybe I will come up with a list of my own, entirely.  

Hopeful

These two make a cute couple and they seem to enjoy each others' company:

So I'm hopeful that
they can stay friends through whatever comes their way
that the happiness they feel today lasts a long time
that they can both see the bigger picture in life
that she can accept his faults and shortcomings, and that he will do the same for her
that her daughter will always be a priority in her life and he will respect and nurture that
and that I can stay out of their bizness and just enjoy seeing them whenever I can

 P.S.  Who knew that being a parent wouldn't get easier as your kids grew older?  What other job is there in the world that pays in happiness and worry and tears, and is constantly changing?  

And lasts literally, forever. 

Doing something new

A couple of months ago I got a wild hair after reading a blog post from one of my favorite wine websites, Texas Wine Lover. 

Infinite Monkey Theorem

Since Mark and I love to explore what's new in wineries all around us, could I maybe write a post or two for them, I wondered?  I wasn't looking for a job, just a fun way to channel some of that energy I am no longer spending on raising kids.

Red Wing Dove

So I sent the editor an email that said "do you ever let people write random posts for your blog?"  And he said  "Thanks for the email. I am always looking for good writers. It sounds like you two love traveling and visiting new wineries like us! Do you have any examples of your previous writing?"  So I sent some links to some places Mark and I went where we had fun.

Wedding Oak Winery

Then he said: 

"I pay $35 for a general blog post and $40 if it's about a winery we haven't written about yet. If I ever get to the point of breaking even with the website and even a profit, those amounts will go up. The perks are nice though when visiting wineries and you flash your TWL business card."

I see you've been a subscriber for a year now, so you probably have a good feel about how we write. Let me take a look at some of your writing and get a few other opinions too. If you decide now you're not interested, then please let me know that too. Cheers!"

Three Dudes Winery

I visited the first winery he asked me to, wrote about it, and he published it.  Then he did that four more times.  I am surely green as a bean at this reporting gig, but I think, "well, why can't I learn this something new?"  And he has shown faith in me which is no small thing, so I am determined to give it my best.  Today marks two months since that first email and he has sent me business cards and added me to the website.https://txwinelover.com/about/meet-our-team/

Augusta Vin

So I get to write about something I love: Texas wines.  Each time, I am learning a little bit more about what the website is looking for, what facts are important in the articles, and getting a little bit more excited about the possibility of WRITING, my thoughts, my ideas, my experiences, all for someone else to read.  And also getting to do something FUN.  I'm pretty happy about the possibilities of learning and doing this something new.

 

Now what?

My mother is getting on in age - 89 this year - and while we're concerned about her physical limitations sometimes, its her mental disposition that has me worried lately.  Recently I visited her, and I wasn't in the door 5 minutes before she told me to come into the living room so she could talk to me.  To make a long story short, she laid into me.  She said I yelled at her in a previous phone conversation, called her a "bore" and said I told her "I was sick of hearing" about her eye troubles. When I told her I did not say those things, she said I was either a liar or losing more than my hearing.  She said she was "quoting me" which could not have been so.  When I reminded her of the facts  - phone calls, letters, taking her for errands, bringing her lunch, cleaning, bringing her things she needs - she sneered and said "Oh yes, you are the perfect mother".  She had a lot of negatives to say about my sister Alene, too.  She told me she's been having bad dreams - could she have dreamt I said something?

I had spoken to her a couple of times that week and she seemed perfectly reasonable.  She was insistent that I had done wrong.  So I told her I would fix her a good lunch, then leave. The rest of the "visit" was awkward.  She asked me if I wanted to "come look at this quilt you're not interested in" - again, something I never said.  It was hard to turn the other cheek, but I did the best I could.  She wouldn't allow me to clean or do anything to help her around the house or take her anywhere, so after lunch I hugged her and said goodbye.  Then I went directly to meet my friend Carol at Saddlehorn a little earlier than we had planned. I'm not sure what the next step is in ensuring she has safe and happy golden years.  Now I am a little more worried about the possibility that she has some dementia.  What to do? 

A List for Parents of Things to Do

Mark about drove me to say bad words this morning as he arranged a "conference call" to a person he didn't even know at the A&M admissions office.  Without some sort of agenda for the call, it was an exercise in futility.  I get that he wants to help expedite a process, but seriously.

I think that we have to go about this the right way.  And I would much rather coach Grayson on what questions to ask rather than just take over.  Plus, if you're going to include me, which he did, maybe get my input?  Gray has had a rough week and I want him to have time to process what is going on in his personal life and get his wits about him so he can move forward.  We need to sit down and help him make a plan, not take over!.

Dream feelings #5 - Spencer

I am in a high school that looks very grungy, industrial.  Its all shades of grey and black - very dark.  I am meant to be parking in the underground garage to pick up Spencer and there are dark figures milling around in there.  I don't feel particularly safe, but I am not leaving without him.  A couple of them try to engage me - but I somehow brush them off and proceed up some concrete stairs until I reach a room where Spencer is sleeping in a bunk.  It looks like a prison.  There are a couple of other boys asleep in the room, too.  I wake him up feeling panicky that I wasn't there right when school let out.  Why is he asleep?  How long has he been waiting for me?  He is groggy, but gets up to go.  We have to find our way back down to the parking garage and locate my car.  I am ignoring sketchy people all the way down the stairwell to find my car.   The dream ends before we find the car, but I felt determined, like I had the situation, bleak as it was, well in hand.  When I woke from this dream, it made me feel very sad = had I let him down?  Spencer looked so young and lost.  Though I felt like I had to keep going until I found him and brought him out of that place,  I wasn't sure that I was going to be successful at it.  I just knew I couldn't give up.