Life as a Lewis

Twenty years ago today, I woke up to 20 dead roses in my college dorm room. Later that afternoon, my friends held a wake for me. I had fun friends who decided to make the most of the fact that I was having a minor crisis about leaving my teen years behind. Twenty years later, that seems incredibly silly (although still a fun memory). Today, I am 40 and that seems like an impossibly high number - especially since I still feel about as immature as I did back then. Well, maybe not quite. My sister and I discussed this whole aging event recently, and here's the thing. When you've been diagnosed with stage 3c ovarian cancer at 35, turning 40 is pretty much a hill you totally want to go over. And there are several more hills I'd like to climb. Turning 40 is an accomplishment to be perfectly honest. So no dead roses for me today. No complaining about being over the hill (even though my children - Rory especially - can hardly believe their mama is 40). To celebrate, I ...

Brian and the kids and I have always talked in general terms about going back to Korea for a visit. These talks picked up steam back in 2010 when we began correspondence with Camden's birth family, but after my cancer diagnosis in early 2011, the Korea trip fell to the back burner. We realized recently that the kids are 12 and 9 and the whole idea of returning to Korea was not going to happen unless we buckled down and made it happen. Realistically speaking, it will take 2-3 years to save and plan for the trip. So last night we showed the kids an envelope full of money and told them it was the start of our Korea fund.   When Camden buried his face in his hands and sobbed "this is amazing," I understood more clearly than ever before what a deep-rooted need he has for a tangible connection to Korea. It served as both a heart wrenching reminder that these precious kiddos have gone through terrible loss in their short lives as well as a strong motivator to make thi...

Reading: What Alice Forgot , the Fire and Thorns Trilogy by Rae Carson (I highly recommend reading a trilogy when all the books are complete - I've moved from one book right to the next and I love not having to wait) Watching: The Great British Baking Show - it's so light and fluffy and all things delightful. Netflix has several seasons available. Anticipating: My birthday trip to Oklahoma next week! Listening: to the Sorta Awesome podcast, This Glorious Grace by  Austin Stone Worship, and the Afternoon Acoustic playlist on Spotify  Loving: my new vacuum cleaner . Nothing like realizing how dirty your house actually is when you buy a vacuum cleaner with real suction power. Starting: to begin planning for Christmas. Rory keeps reminding me this week there are only 7 Fridays until Christmas. I haven't checked her math, but even if she's incorrect, it is quickly approaching. Finishing: I have THREE scrapbook layouts that have been in the w...

Paper football (I do not know the official word for this) has been popular in our house this week. Not only do I not know the official title for paper football, but I do not completely understand the fascination. Brian and Camden have played almost every night this week, and it cracks me up to hear them laugh and compete. Seriously, they practically giggle. Football in the evenings represents more than just father/son time. It means that Brian has finally pushed past the beginning-of-the-year hurdle, and life as a teacher is much more palatable. Not that he still isn't putting in long hours or working on weekends, but the stress is more contained at the end of October than in August. (And I'm not sorry to have him available to handle soccer practice every once and a while!) Our weekend is flat out flexible, which I'm quite excited about. We're either taking advantage of the last bits of sunshine in our forecast or shoe shopping tonight...

Rory participated in our school's talent show over the weekend. I was so proud of her; it takes a lot of bravery to stand up in front of a large group of people! I think Camden was disappointed that he chose not to participate. He's already making plans for next year, and when we left, he told us, "I could have listened to that all night long." Our weekend included: hosting a new women's group at our house, going on a lunch/shopping date with Rory, attending parent/teacher conferences, attending a friend's senior recital (college), spending 5 hours in the kitchen Saturday morning cooking and doing prep work for this week, attending the school Talent Show, editing 800 wedding photos, carving 3 pumpkins, church on Sunday (which sounds so simple, but involves a majority of the day), and attending a pumpkin carving contest/hay ride event. Why, yes, we are a bit tired heading into this week. Many families have busier schedules than this, but it sur...

Fall break flew by fast and furious. I worked regular hours, Brian pressure washed the house, porch, deck, and driveway, stained the new deck, fixed toilets (ick) and did many other little jobs around the house. We also managed to have a little fun by finally taking a trip to downtown Nashville's Cumberland Park. We still haven't been able to walk over the new pedestrian bridge since it manages to be closed every time we're in the area, but it was a great fall afternoon (pictures coming later). We introduced Camden and Rory to Edley's  BBQ nachos for supper, and they were fans. Tuesday after work we went to see Pan, and while Brian and I didn't particularly enjoy it, the kids loved it. Camden even went so far as to call it his favorite movie. Spoiler - there is a lot of very negative orphan dialogue that made me quite nervous. We kicked off the weekend with a stop at Crema for coffee and a donut (a vanilla birthday brioche donut with askinosie chocolate...