Beach Day Two

I do miss the Internet.  One might think when one's paying the big bucks for an old beach house, which is my favorite kind of beach house, well-worn, grand, and inviting, I'd wager this is one of the original ones on the beach, but having the Internet nowadays is nearly a necessity.  I'm reading news on my phone, thank you Verizon and Apple, seeing the radar showing rain at my house back there for two nights straight.  My dogs hate summer storms, likely they've panicked there without humans.

Sitting on a beach chair, watching my kids cavort, I heard the ding ding of an incoming email, only to learn that one of mine in a residential facility had been 10-13d for safety - both of her own and that of the staff - and I'm happy that no one was injured, yet my own trauma relief at not having to deal with such an irrational episode, knowing there would've been injuries to us, as well as property damage, I feel vast, all encompassing, very deep relief. Not having that occurring here, further traumatizing my children,  results in no small amount of relief for me...and for them as well.

These 12 children deserve a safe atmosphere.  I do too, yet they are my priority.

Her rages also happen in professional settings, are managed by those who know what they are doing, yet still escalate. I remember a specific one once in Dr. C's office, shocking the psychiatrist who suggested I pursue an institutional atmosphere for her.  Well, duh.

I, as a mom, with 12 kids at home, can not keep us safe from irrational rages.  Lord knows, I've tried.  

Chuy patiently fished all day long yesterday, catching nothing, breaking all his fishing string, today I'll take him to the bait shop and get a higher quality, and access some wireless by which to publish this post.  My other boys boogie boarded, swam, set out a crab pot and used floats.

Grandma cooked a big ole supper last night, Sarah's making Black Bean Chili tonight, Yolie's cupcakes were a smash hit, and Chuck had the coffee ready when I came downstairs this morning.  Honey, this is living.  A long beach walk yesterday with my darling niece Lauren, now 23 years old, and I'm one happy camper, breathing in the salt air, breathing out decades of unrelenting stress.

The beach isn't crowded this early in the season, I think I'll spend the rest of my life avoiding crowds, beach trips before Memorial Day are delightfully refreshing.  When my kids are grown, I'll take those that can get away for some mid-winter beach trips, for long walks in the sand, for refreshing one's spirit.  Vacations are Biblical, retirement is not.  One needs to work in some capacity all one's life, if only in producing one's food which is clearly my first choice of endeavors.

My sweet Daniel is right now vacationing in Florida with his soon-to-be in-laws.  A little weird for me to think of him ensconced within another family, Jesse, too, vacations with his own in-laws.

But hey, Preston and Chuck are with me instead of their moms, it all evens out in the wash, I'm just glad that there are strong happy marriages for my grown children, blessing me with some darling grandchildren.

I'm blessed, very much so.  My kids are all being wonderful, helpful, no squabbling, doing jigsaw puzzles, playing Banana Gram, Scrabble and RummiCubes.  It's been so many long, challenging years when the rages ruined everything for everyone for so very long that nowadays severe Oppositional Defiant Disorder seems like a walk in the park.  Silly JoJo demonstrating that nothing I said, using any sort of reverse psychology, would work successfully yesterday, but he is so unbelievably funny that it's easy to overlook all of his shenanigans.  

Some of my grown kids have been very emotionally needy by phone.  I have to step outside for their constant phone calls, for their own privacy as I dole out advice, suggestions or just a healthy dose of understanding.  I'm the one depending on several of them in regards to tending to my animals.  I'm blessed, y'all, so very blessed nowadays, as they all grow older and into their own interesting, very unique personalities.

Chuck's trying to study for his IT exams, a college educated Landscape Architect who has switched careers here in his 30s, my sons are fairly demanding of his attention, today Preston will arrive to take some of the fishing heat.  Jimbo will get here today too, later taking Grandma to the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC for this upcoming weekend, bringing her home to Georgia later.  What a good son to his mama.  He's Grandma's baby son.

Since I brought a trailer-load of groceries, the trailer will be empty for the ride home, right?  Nope.  The four agave plants I'd scrounged here last year from a lady's yard, plants with a story, I love it, and the plants thrived all year in our Georgia Zone 8, doubling in size.  This year I can get bigger plants since we have the utility trailer. I'm thinking either palmettos or windmill palms for my Upper Gardens?  Yeah boy, that makes me happy.  

We'd eaten our first Navajo thornless blackberries before we'd left the house last weekend, Tabby bringing me a grubby fistful of large, sweet delightful berries, grinning happily.  "Mom, when I grow up I'm gonna grow exactly everything I've seen you grow.  It's so good!" she crowed, her mouth streaked with blackberry juice.

Yep, that's what I wanna model to my kids.