High Points and Low Points

In life, doesn't it seem like the good and bad are inseparable? Joy and sorrow go hand in hand; success and defeat are never too far apart; ease and difficulty are close companions. Highs are closely followed by lows which are (hopefully quickly) followed by highs again. When I keep a positive attitude about things, I realize that the lows only serve to make me appreciate the highs more...but to tell the truth, I don't always have such a positive attitude!

Here are a few examples I have noticed recently of this cycle of highs and lows...

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High:
Tobin has been doing GREAT with giving me eye contact and smiles! If you read my last post, you can imagine how greatly relieved I am about this!!!

Low:
Much of this wonderful eye contact has come in the middle of the night when Tobin thinks it's great fun to wake up, drink some milk, then look at me--just look. I'm flattered that he thinks my bedhead is so attractive; but really, I'd gotten used to the sleeping-through-the-night thing and wouldn't mind returning to that! So, Tobin, my boy, could you save the tender look-me-in-the-eye moments for--oh, say, the middle-of-the-morning feeding when I'm actually awake? :)

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High:
Thanks to the generosity of some friends who gave us a gift certificate to Applebee's when Tobin was born (what a smart idea for a baby gift!!!)....and thanks to the generosity of my parents who kept the boys for us last evening...Jeff and I had a date! It was wonderful!!!

Low:
We returned to a sick boy. Josiah was sitting at the dinner table at my parents' house, had hardly eaten a bite, told his doctor grandpa that his head hurt, took a spoonful of pain medicine, announced that he was going to throw up, then promptly did just that, filling a bowl that my dad had the quick thinking to grab and shove under Josiah's mouth. It's a wonder that my parents even agree to babysit for us anymore, since this isn't the first time this has happened (i.e. the night Tobin was born when David was the one throwing up)! After we returned from our date, Jeff brought Josiah up the hill to our house and gave him a bath, which worked well to get him sweet-smelling again before he threw up two more times. Josiah HATES to throw up and shrieks and carries on like he's dying. In the words of my mother after her first-hand observation of Josiah's vomiting fit, "I have never seen a child do that." Sigh. From romance to vomit. Sometimes it's hard to wear the hats of wife (or husband) AND mother (or father).

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High:
Today we had a lovely family outing through the mountains of West Virginia. The boys--all of them--were happy little men. Jeff and I had a chance to spend time talking in the car (the best part of road trips, I think). :) We ate at a new-to-us local restaurant to which we'll return in the future, I'm sure. We got to see that area at a different time of year and, without all the leaves present, were able to notice the shape of the trees, the bark, the moss, etc. Wonderful!

Low:
Our reason for going was to look at a piece of property that we were considering buying. A long-time dream of ours has been to own a bit of wooded land and have a small cabin on it to which we could go for family get-aways and which we could share with friends and family. Some friends from San Diego, Jerry and Terry Jordan, had such a cabin; and we have delightful memories of being there. Their generosity has been an inspiration to us!

Through the barbershop, Jeff has learned to know a local contractor who owns some land in West Virginia. He offered to sell us this piece of land (10.5 acres) for a FANTASTIC price, so we went to take a look at it today. Now we know why it was so cheap. It's virtually impossible to build on it! Why? Well, it's a very long, very narrow piece of land that goes straight up the side of the mountain and is basically inaccessible. To build a driveway to the top (where a cabin could be built and would have an incredible view) would require numerous switchbacks and would essentially result in a 2 mile long driveway at a 10 percent grade. Virtually impossible (for other reasons as well). So...sigh...our dream is still off in the future (which is not a big deal because, really, we had no money to build on it in the near future--say, the next 20 years!). But it was fun to dream a little and feel hopeful about taking the first step. Only, we fell off the ladder before we could even reach the first rung.

High:
Here's another high point that occurred though. After Jeff and his friend, Mr. Thompson, looked over the land, Jeff asked Mr. Thompson for his recommendation of a restaurant; and he told us about the place where we ended up eating. Then he said goodbye and went off to visit some old friends in the area. As we were sitting in the restaurant, partially through our meal, who should come in but Mr. Thompson! He asked the waitress for some decaf coffee, chatted a little with Jeff while she was getting the coffee ready, and then left. When we were getting ready to pay our bill, the waitress said, "It's already been covered." Apparently Mr. Thompson had, completely unnoticed by us, arranged with the waitress to cover the food we ate there, the tip, AND a whole pie that we brought home with us. Wow, what an unexpected act of kindness! On the way over the mountains to look at the land, Jeff had told me what a genuinely nice person this guy is. Now we had proof! Wish we had some way to pay it back to him. Maybe we'll just "pay it forward!"

~ Mr. Thompson and Jeff at the base of the property

~ a pretty little stream across the road from the property~ David, asleep in the car, sucking his thumb and clutching a new "Mickey Monkey" that Jeff was given at the MDA fundraiser today...the name "Mickey Monkey" comes from the stories that Grandpa tells the boys

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One more thing about highs and lows: I've thought of something that has no lows. Easter. The real meaning of Easter. The resurrection! Yep, that has no lows--only high, high, highs!!! Thank God for that!!!!!