The Guy With the Pink Backpack

Josh and the girls and I were walking home last weekend from the park and we came across a stumbling man who promptly decided to pee in the weeds next to a building. "Nuuummmmber 9!" I said with exasperation in my voice to Josh. Josh just laughed. Nine is the number of men I have seen peeing in public since we moved here. And yes that is an acurate account. The thing about this guy, though, was that he was unique! He had a bright pink backpack with him, which Josh pointed out was the first peeing guy to be toting that around. About 2 hours later I went to go pick up a friend to babysit our girls and as we pulled up in front of our house who should we see? The pink backpack guy! He had meandered his way down the street to our house and was slowly lowering himself to the ground by a light post. He then lay down on the sidewalk, fully stretched out. And that's where he stayed for a while. I was very excited to tell Josh who had come to visit us :)

And then there was Thomasina. Thomasina seemed nice.... but then again they all do. It quickly became clear to us that she was a little off her rocker when she started talking to us about how her mom got hit in the head by an apple in the projects and that she would "F" us up if our kids did that..... Thomasina had origianlly stopped Josh and I to ask us about our stroller. We get stopped almost every time we walk outside by comments on our stroller. So we offered her the name and that it's cheaper to buy used... and then she got a little wierd. She wanted our address and phone number so that she could come over and we could "help her get one of these buggies." We politely shrugged off the suggestion and somehow escaped with Aylah only hearing about 10 swear words. Someday that little girl and I are going to have a long talk about swear words and I have a feeling it will be sooner rather than later. I memorized what Thomasina looks like so when I see "Miss Tommy from the projects" as she likes to call herself, I can stear our family in the opposite direction.

Today is the first day of school here. I felt mildly sad as I drove back from my 7 am kickboxing class and patiently waited for all of the kids and the crossing guards guiding the students to school. I saw the new backpacks and the school uniforms and new shoes and I'm sure lots of new school supplies in the backpacks... it made me think of my own classroom with the gleaming clean floors and shiny folders and fresh markers and name tags on the desks (soon to be picked off but they look good for a day :) and I felt sad that I wasn't a teacher today. And then I thought of Aylah and sending her off to her first day of Kindergarten. I almost got tears in my eyes thinking about it. Good thing I don't have to say goodbye today and that she's waiting for me at home to go play at the park this morning. Maybe I'll be ready in 3 more years...

Our family is doing pretty well. Josh is gearing up for the new school year with SAT prep class starting this Saturday, 32ish new teen employees and lots of colleges to apply to with 11 Seniors. I have started my kickboxing class again and am doing my crazy diet thing to loose all of my baby weight. I'm only 1 week into the 10 week diet so we'll see how it goes.

Our girls and I went to my Mom's group yesterday for the beginning day. I am going to look forward to Wednesdays! 2 hours of a mid-week break!

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but Aylah loves to sing "God is So Good." Mostly at random times, like in Target and in the stroller and during lunchtime. But I have to say that it has been really good for me to hear her sing that. Because some days can be long and hard with the girls and I forget about our heavenly Father and the blessings the girls are to us and how it's sooooo nice that I don't have to work and that I can stay home with them. So when Aylah starts to sing, "God is so good, God is so good, God is so good He's so good to me!" it has helped me refocus and change my attitude and remember that God HAS been so good to our little family! And then she usually launches into, "God answers prayers...." and quickly followed by "Happy Birthday" sung for anyone whose birthday it has been in the past few months.... Nana, Deborah, Daddy, cousin Ella, Grandma, Uncle Jonah.... She's crazy that little girl. I even call her "Hey Crazies, come here." and she responds :)

Well, thats about it for now. I'm going to head home and take a shower and spend the day with our girls and Josh is going to work.... the usual but something that I am very thankful for.