Our Real Home

The house is strangely quiet without Grammy and Popa visiting. Of course, I should not complain since we got to keep them here for two extra days (thank you Mother Nature!), but I'm complaining anyway. They live too far away! It's crazy that life has changed radically in just two short generations. People used to stay near their families, not disperse the way the Sweets have.

Let's see...one of us in San Diego, one in North Carolina, one in Kansas City, one in Chicago, and one who moves around depending on where the wildfires are...and yet I would guess that all of us still consider Rapid City, South Dakota as "home." Because that's where Mom and Dad are. Because that's the place we spent our formative years, where most of our "firsts" happened. Because our roots pull us back there as strongly as if we were tethered to the earth in the Black Hills.

When I imagine "home" I visualize one particular house situated on the edge of a golf course with a crazy apple tree in the backyard and deer running through it, unaware of Dad's watchful eye and paint gun pointed in their direction... I think of the clean, slightly pine-scented fresh air, and dark sky and bright stars at night. I remember kicking shoes off at the front door, hanging out in the kitchen and checking drawers and cupboards for snacks, piling onto Mom and Dad's bed to watch the tiny TV and snuggle (or fight for space) on the bed. I imagine holidays with cousins all around, dressing up and acting crazy, inventing games and putting on "shows." All these things were the same when I was little and lived there every day, and now when I visit a couple weeks a year. We have a new batch of kids to do the crazy stuff, and now we're the adults paying admission charges, cheering on the kids' "firsts" and breaking up the inevitable fights. Mom's still taking care of everybody, only now her name is "Grammy." Dad's still staying up too late and dispensing good advice, but now he'll drop anything when he hears a little voice say "Popa!" Even with these changes, it's still home.

Of course, I have a wonderful husband and we are making our home with the boys here in Chicago. I love it here, too, but I still feel that incredible pull back to R.C. Do you feel it?

Being a Sweet means appreciating home. Let's talk about what "home" really means. Go ahead and post!

P.S. If you want to post a response, just click on the link and type away! It's not scary, just try it. xo

Snowbound

I guess it was inevitable that bad weather would strike again. The winter storm raging here in the midwest has made travel for my parents impossible, and thus, they are stuck here in Chicago with us. Hooray! (I know, I shouldn't be so happy about flight cancellations, but I am loving the extra time with them.)

Actually, the weather is completely hideous: cold, wind blowing the cristallized snowflakes sideways, shifting snowdrifts every few feet, etc. This makes driving a serious pain yet necessary in the city, and makes us just want to stay in. Good thing we stocked up at the grocery store yesterday, before the blizzard hit, and are therefore sitting pretty in terms of meals, treats and drinks to keep us happy. I don't think the delivery drivers for our favorite restaurants would be feeling very happy with us if we called them today.

The kids are thrilled they get to watch so many movies, and read piles of books, and play imagination games, and just have gobs of attention from Grammy and Popa. They did go to daycare for a few hours today so that I could do some "work." God, I love working at home and wearing fleece and slippers and no makeup. It feels decadent!

Being a Sweet means loving fleece - wearing it, being wrapped in it, buying it, every bit of it. (Dear other Sweets, don't you agree? Isn't fleece the best?)

Anticipation

We are VERY excited at our house about the impending arrival of Grammy & Popa. And by excited I mean that the kids and I are fairly bursting out of our skin with anticipation. There is nothing better in the world than having your parents (or grandparents, particularly when you're little) around! I can't believe they are actually coming today. Now, if only the weather would cooperate, because I hate worrying.

Everybody knows that winter travel sucks. There is no polite way to say it. When you live in the snowy tundra of the northern plains, it's going to be this way. Even global warming does not seem to helping. (Does this mean another ice age is on its way? Or that we are going to be living alongside the "tropical Great Lakes" here in a few generations? I need to look into this...)

Anyway, the *@#$%!! weather is already delaying my parents' flights here to Chicago. It's a gorgeous day, sunny, blue skies, no clouds, and 2 degrees F. Yes, you read that right...it's 2F/-17C, depending on your preference for F or C. My guess is that the de-icing of every plane is slowing things considerably. Well, that and de-cing the runways, and oiling all the parts with de-icing fuids, etc. I just want them to get here safely, and soon.

Have you ever noticed how disgusting road salt and sand and other chemical combinations thereof really are? They are hideous. They eat through clothing! They cover my children's winter coats and my cute black pants. They irritate my husband when they cover our car so we can't see out the windows. And yet, we need them. So... Why am I rambling about road salt? I don't know! I am just irritated that it is so freakin' cold out, and my parents are coming for a long weekend, and we are all going to be frozen and covered with salt everywhere we go. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Anyway...
Being a Sweet means being more excited to see your own family than almost anyone else in the whole world.

Musical interlude

I am not too busy at work right now, which is a miracle, so I have had time to obsession over two things I love: food and music. I have been spending time with my CD's, mp3's and and figuring out what to burn and put into the 6-CD changer for my short commutes. That is, when the kids don't dictate that we listen to Wiggleworms or Ralph's World or Justin Roberts... Who's in charge here, anyway?!?

I love modern folk and singer-songwriters with soul, and have created several crazy compilations on iTunes. I need to share these with my husband, since I am the main repository of music in our household. But anyway, I wanted to share some really great musicians with you:

Ellis Paul - the king of indy singer-songwriters, from Maine, and SO cool in person! His lyrics are stunning.

Teitur - Danish songwriter with a gentle spirit, makes me feel like I'm wrapped up in a blanket

Sufjan Stevens - from right here in Illinoise! I still can't figure out how to pronounce his name, but he's brilliant

KT Tunstall - from Wales, but went to prep school in the US, she seriously rocks

Michael Tolcher - a Georgia boy who sings about learning the hard way, something we all can relate to!

I also have a thing for the pop-y pretty boys, who get airplay for a single song (or a few more), but whose albums are even better than the singles: Josh Kelley, Jason Mraz, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, James Blunt, Gavin DeGraw and Daniel Powter. Check these guys out!!!

All of these artists are worth a listen, and I'd argue that they are writing some of the most gorgeous, poignant music out there today. They each have something to say, and they say it beautifully.

Being a Sweet means appreciating the little things in life that bring you joy, and not take those things for granted. So, today, I am grateful for great music and the ability to enjoy it every day!

Starting today

I've been thinking about this for a while.
I've said to myself...

Let's figure out a way to get some photos and stories and random memories posted for free!

Let's invent another way to procrastinate when you have a report due!

Let's find a way to fill hours in the middle of the night, both when you need sleep and when you are experiencing insomnia!

I know...
Let's start a blog!

I expect that my mom and dad will check for new postings daily, as will my sisters. Other family members might post their own thoughts. I welcome any comments you want to make!

I'm hoping that anyone who reads this blog will get a sense of what it means to be "a Sweet." I'll say right off the bat: it's pretty great. My mission isn't just to brag about how great my family is, how great my life is. It's the same as everyone else's in that your life is what you make it! But, I am incredibly fortunate to have been put on this earth as a Sweet.

Every time I post I'm going to try to conclude with something that I feel relates to being a Sweet. Since my parents are coming to visit this weekend, I'm thinking of them the most. And this is what I know about all of us:

Being a Sweet means knowing that there is no place like home.