Project 365, Week 16

It felt like a week of extremes. We marked the last day of a very difficult and accomplished tax season, followed up by a day in New York for chemo and by the end of the week we were sitting on a beach in warm, sunny Florida.

In every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God.

April 15

The. End. To varying degrees, we all pitched in this year. Avery was a champ, preparing tax returns for the first year, covering front desk at various offices for her 5th season. She was truly vital to helping  everything run. Amanda and Aiden jumped in midway when some staffing changes caused us to be short-staffed. Aiden started learning front desk and also did building maintenance every week and Amanda covered front desk at another office and helped with maintenance. A time that was so hard was made sweeter by the fact that we were together in it. Family business for the win. :)

April 15th is also Shaun's birthday. By the time we gathered together with our takeout dinner and store-bought cake, it was 9 PM and we were a very subdued crowd. Happy to be done, yes but in a what-just-happened kind of way.

Goodness, we're so thankful for this guy. He is strong and steady. He tirelessly loves and gives. With patience and intentionality he parents and leads his family. He cares for me so capably and lovingly. He's not about appearances, in fact he is at his very best behind closed doors with us. We have one of the good ones!

April 16

After a brief stop at the office, I went out with the kids for the morning. We have this boy who keeps growing and he needed some summer clothes before our trip. Within 6-8 minutes of walking into the store, he'd picked a couple items that would work and then we were out of there. My kind of shopping! And for every reason, we stopped for milkshakes. :)

And then Shaun and I were off to that bad place where they do bad things to me. But I sure did enjoy the spring sunshine while we waited for labs....

...and later, the sunset view.

April 17

No picture.

April 18

Our company-wide, end-of-season dinner and this was the cool people table.

April 19

The first lawnmower sound of the season...yay!!

We buttoned things up, packed things up and about 10 PM after Friday night youth group, we set off on our annual pilgrimage to Florida (I'll include Sat and Sun with next week).

April's 10 on 10

10 pictures on the 10th day (Wednesday) of the month! 

{Document a snapshot of your life...find beauty among the ordinary things in your day!}

We've taken a break from Old Testament and are reading through the Gospel of John. It was so good to hear/read the familiar verses and chapters of this book.

The sun was warm and glowy for our walk.

Microsoft had a pretty screen saver at work.

The phone was relentlessly ringing all day. Talking and smiling despite the chemo mouth sores that made it uncomfortable.

I ducked into Shaun's office for a few minutes to meet with my oncologist. Nothing terribly note-worthy...the usual I'm "a unique case" and she is admittedly guessing at my best treatment strategy.

On Wednesdays, this little lady has a college class at 8 AM, then she prepares tax returns at the office until 3 PM when she throws on an apron and waitresses until 9 or 10 PM. I wish she wasn't pushing so hard, but we love having her at the office with us.

We had a brief early afternoon "lull". The boys had time to wolf down some food and step outside for five minutes. These guys work hard, support each other, joke around, care deeply and are just quality men. Its a gift to be able to work alongside them. 

Special delivery from our tax boss. Whether it was a thank-you or bribery to finish out the last few days, it was happily received and promptly eaten.

At last, the candle is blown out.

 

Project 365, Week 15

I'm working on catching up on life in general, this blog included. So sweet of a long-time blogger friend to comment that they miss me in this space. I'm afraid there's not much to this week, other than gritting out the last days of tax season. 

April 8

This Monday was a blur of insanity. A full 30 minutes before the office's posted opening time, the phone calls and drop offs were coming in faster than I could handle. And the level of franticness and disorganization (and even general crankiness about our government's taxation system) of our clients was at an all-time high. I didn't mean to, but the entire day a refrain from a country song kept going through my head...God is great, beer is good and people are CRaZy.

In the midst of things happening in all directions, a friend stopped in with a bag of surprises for me and cookies for the whole office. It was such a kindness and blessed all of us. 

NCAA Tournament final. I cared about the game, but my body demanded sleep so I found out in the morning....

April 9

...UCONN won!! And without any discussion or planning, Shaun and I showed our team spirit at the office the next day.

April 10

View from my temporary office.

April 11

If I'm at all physically able to walk any distance, then I make it a point to get out in the morning. Its such life-giving time for me, even if its just 15 minutes. What an added delight to see signs of spring.

April 12

Other signs of spring, I guess you could say. A dumped over planter and muddy soccer cleats.

April 13

I brought Amanda to work early in the morning and was amazed at the vibrant shades of yellow.

Such thoughtfulness from another friend, celebrating the almost end.

April 14

My youngest sister lives in Texas and doesn't make it up very often, but on short notice she came up with a couple of her girls. Amanda, Aiden, Rocco and I met up with them and also my brother and his gang. It was a quick visit but still good to have everyone together. The girls are super sweet and loved being with their cousins.

I've been the oldest always and the shortest for most of the time, but I think I'm shrinking!

 

Project 365, Week 14

April is so, so hard and April is wonderful! For our family it means the final push of tax season and also the end and moving on of it. 

April 1

The calendar turned and I hadn't filled in the month with birthdays and appointments and practices. I was surprised that more than one kid commented. For all their life, I've posted a color-coded family calendar in the kitchen. Many foster kids articulated the comfort it brought them, knowing there was a known plan and a routine, which I thought was interesting. Its actually the things.

April 2

Awesome sister, stupid treatment. We took a break for the two procedures and I used all my powers to stretch out the break but I could hold them back no longer. Number 36.

April 3

No picture, but this one popped up a couple days earlier. Sweetness!

April 4

My view didn't change much. It was nice to have Easter flowers still around.

April 5

Aiden said, Mom did you see we're reading Hannah's story today? Aiden's middle name Samuel comes from this chapter. :)

"I asked the Lord to give me this child, and he has granted my request. 

Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.”

April 6

This girl has been working so hard, trying to balance all the things. She stopped by the office to work on some tax returns after waitressing all day. Because of changes that were made mid-season, we are often short on workstations. This evening she used her dad's computer for a bit.

Last game of the indoor season and Aiden considered it a big game because his indoor team was playing against a team made up of his high school teammates. Check out that goalie in the air making a save.

April 7

On Sundays the office is closed so the kids go over to take out garbages and clean and work on projects. It's a very important and underrated job.