Oh My Goodness!!!

It's spring! Finally!! In spite of last week's snowstorms!

My tulips have bloomed and my garden is ready for me to shop for plants to stick in it. My cherry bushes are in full blossom and the crab apple tree is preparing to join them. There are wild flowers all over the ridge where I run and the air feels incredibly beautiful. Today it's warm and sunny. I just want to be outside!

I have played my last recital for a few months, accompanied my last performance till fall, and the final competition of the school year for my students took place this morning (they played flawlessly--yay!). I have three tax returns to finish and will teach a few private students during the summer and a few classes on campus--but all in all, I think I have my life back. Adam will be happy because he told me I don't spend time with him anymore, which is absolutely untrue but his way of saying he hates Darrin being gone and expects me to make up the deficit--an impossibility.

Darrin's mother arrives on Monday. We're preparing mentally. The kids get anxious when she's here because she has a rather strong personality, she likes stating her opinions (bigoted and racist though they might be), and she tells me constantly not to put wood-handled utensils in my dishwasher. This will be the first time she has visited since my children were told that I'm gay-ssa-lesbian-whatever. Inevitably, the conversation will at some point morph to where she can state her views about that subject. My children have been taught to be respectful. They have also been taught to speak out when they feel something is wrong. They also love me...it could be an interesting week.

Darrin's father, two sisters, a few nephews and niece, and his aunt will be coming next Thursday. Darrin's mother had decided earlier that all the guys would stay at my house and the girls would stay in hotels. She forgot, however, to consult me about that. Given my background, having teenage boys (cousins to my children) staying in my home, is not a good situation for me. I sort of freaked. I mentioned to her that most guests ASK the home-owner before commandeering a home. I'm in the dog house. But as of today, only my mother-in-law is staying with us. Everyone else has found other lodging. I think she would like to do that, as well, but she's staying five nights, instead of only two, as the others are, and her husband doesn't like her to spend money. Does this paragraph adequately illustrate my cattiness toward my mother-in-law? Ugh, sometimes I need to learn to be nicer.

DJ graduates a week from Friday. I love that boy. He has been pure sunshine from the day he was born. I love that he likes to spend time with me. I love how he kisses me goodbye--even if we're in public or with his friends. I love his hugs. I love his sweetness and sense of humor. No, I'm not happy that he's grown up, but I love the person he's become. He is beautiful.