The Hideout

I was out of town for the weekend for a concert. I stayed with friends as usual. We went to their "second" farm for the afternoon on Friday. Pastor Jack has a cabin there he calls his "hideout." I kept expecting to see a bank robber come out of the door, but alas, no fugitives were there. Dave has a hideout, too. His is called the "office."

If anyone thinks Ohio isn't beautiful, you need to visit this hilltop on a chilly but sunny first day of spring.

The fisherman is Jack. He is a great guy, and it is fun to listen to his wife, Carol, tell stories of life with this rather unique individual. My favorite quote of his is that he never let his pastoral duties interfere with his farming or his drinking. Carol and Jack give me hope that a marriage between opposites can last. They also raised three adopted children and two biological children and lived to tell the tale. I appreciate hearing wisdom from parents that have dealt with the issues of adoption first hand. All of their stories do not have happy endings, but it is still a big help to share with them. Now they have two grandchildren with a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, so we have that in common, as well.

Random thoughts

Well, I'm tempted to go back over the list of my goals for February, now that we are a third of the way through March. I didn't get them all done, but I did some of them.

The boys are okay. Dave and I still struggle to stay up with everything we need to do to be decent parents. Somehow, I'm never quite sure we can keep up, and we both get pretty frustrated with them and with each other, but we know we have to paddle this boat together. As bad as it is on the worst days, we can't imagine trying to do it alone. If we are both in the boat and both trying to kindof go the same direction, we make progress. Or at least I think we do. Isn't that a rousing endorsement of marriage as we approach the end of our 16th year together?

A dear, dear friend has cancer. She is my age, almost exactly. We have been friends for 30 years. She has to have chemo. I've not heard any details about when or how much. It is hard to imagine. She is strong and prepared for anything that comes her way, but I'm not sure I can say the same about myself. I've taken two trips out of town in the past few weeks to visit her, once at home, once in the hospital after her surgery. That stresses Dave and the boys, but I need to do it for me

The daffodils in the yard are about 4 inches tall. I must say, I'm more anxious for spring and green in the woods this year than usual.

I actually cooked this evening. First time in a week. We have eaten a lot of frozen meals. Lucky for us, Kroger had good sales on meals the boys will eat.