Flood Waters

From Wednesday, September 11th to Friday September 13th, Boulder County along with other counties in Colorado experience heavy rain storms which lead to massive flooding all over the city of Boulder, including our neighborhood.

Friends and neighbors experienced major flooding in their basements and crawlspaces up to a foot and 1/2 high.  Roads were washed out and schools were closed.

Above is a picture of our main road which was flooded.  To my boys' amazement, their road of 75th - a road we drive on at least 4-5 times a day, to get out of our neighborhood and go to other parts of Boulder - became a river as water flowed from the creek beside it.  A creek that swelled to about four times its size and became a rushing mass of murky water.

Over the road and onto the acres of land that run beside this main road.  As far as the eye could see covering over land that animals used to graze on.

Surreal and Amazing.

Colorado is a dry place usually with little rain.  That changed in a matter of hours.

Boulder and parts of Northern and Eastern Colorado haven't seen flooding like this in about 1,000 years they're saying.  And probably won't for another 1,000.  Ironically, we are a part of history.

This photo above of our three boys standing in front of our road  - my husband took, speaks volumes.  

I sent it to CNN/iReport and they posted it with a news note because this photo does really does say it all.   For several days, Boulder and the counties north and east, especially those in the mountains and in the Eastern plains were covered and  surrounded by water - roads washed out, homes damaged, people stranded.

We feel spared and blessed.  We had limited mobility due to flooded roads,  our basement sustained a little damage with water, but we are fine.  Our school too but it too has been cleaned up and the grounds are drying out.  Other schools didn't have it so lucky.

So over a week later, Boulder is in recovery mode - drying out - though some of our friends who live in the mountains are displaced - they won't be able to go back to their homes for about 9 months to a year which is when the county is expecting the roads to be repaired.   They are living and renting down here - starting life over, literally.

It's like that here.  A sense of disorientation and disruption in our lives for a week because of the floods and now life starting over again now that the floods are gone.  Getting back to normal - a new normal, for a lot of folks.

School is open again and soon the boys will be able to have their soccer games again - the fields are drying out.  

The sun is out nowadays - bright and shining - but as I drive I still see the residual from the floods -- small ponds and lakes in the middle of fields where there weren't any before and lots of mud and dirt across and on the side of roads where the water once covered it.   Homes with murky pools of water still standing in their front yards.

This back to Normal - this New Normal for some - it will take time.

Milestones: First Day of School Ever

My 3 year old.

The youngest - my baby.

This photo - taken two weeks ago to this day.

He was on the way to the car when Mommy told him to turn around and smile for a picture.

I needed one to mark this very special milestone.

The First Day of School for this 3 year old Ever.

To him, it was a new adventure -- school, a new teacher, new things to do, being with new people.

To me, it is the end of an era -- of having baby/toddlers in my home, hanging onto my legs, going on walks with me.

And to me, it is the beginning of a new era - having independent time alone in the mornings.  Thinking for one, instead of two - at least for two and half hours, anyway.

With busy school activities filling in a few of the mornings in the last two weeks, it may take awhile for this new independence of mine to sink in but it's there.  It's there for me to use as I see fit.

I have to confess though - I do love it when the 3 year old runs out of school, backpack on and his arms open wide, with a big grin on his face, screaming "Mommy!"

I get to have my pal back and we get to spend a few hours alone together until it's time to get the big boys.

Specialness.

Milestones

"The following information will help you prepare your preteen to come to camp." 

This is the first sentence on the Kids Camp Guidelines form.

My preteen?  Preteen?

When did I become the mother of a preteen?

I have a preteen.

And I will be sending him off to sleep away camp for the first time ever, through our church.

For him, the first time ever being away from home.

Four nights up in the mountains.

My sensitive, moody boy who believes all things in life should be fair.  Must be fair.

My train loving transit kid.  

My little engineer who has to have things exactly the way he wants them.


My heart clenches.

I want him to have a good time.  The best time ever.

To grow and make new friends.  Maybe even find the BFF he has been longing for.

It will be the first time he'll be hanging with his peers for an extended period of time this summer.  It's been mostly hang time with his younger brothers.

I'm excited for that or should I be?

How will he do?

The unknown makes me and his Dad a little anxious.

But this is good.

For him and for us.



I've got insurance though.  Yes, his Dad will be working up at the camp as a counselor.  ;-)

Far enough away from him (Dad will be with the 5th grade group), yet still nearby.

Just in case.

Summer's Upon Us

Can't believe it's been over two months since my last post.

The summer started off with a bang - less than two weeks since school ended and we were off to Toronto, Canada for a wedding and then to my hometown of New York City with the boys solo.  Stayed in the home I grew up in back in the Bronx.  It has been about 8 years since I stayed there.

The old neighborhood looked the same yet smaller.  The subway cars the same.  Tons of time riding them back and forth much to my 8 year old's delight.

2 weeks in NY and back to Boulder near the end of June.

And then fourth of July and a few sick days for me, and then summer in Boulder.

A birthday bash of a weekend for the new 6 year old - our middle boy (see photo above)

and then summer really began in Boulder.

And now it is August.

In less than three weeks the boys will have their first day of school.

The Back-to-School Commercials have begun here in Colorado.

Nope.  Not ready for that yet.



Summer.  Summer.  My favorite season of the year.

And yet in moments, it doesn't feel like summer to me.

It's been more go-go than laid-back-feet-up-resting-on-a-chair.

More urban visits and less coastal visits.

Coastal visits, ocean views, beaches give me the summer feeling and haven't had an abundance of those, so maybe that's it.

It's been all good, though.

Not ready for it to end.

Nope, not at all.

Spring

So it looks like Spring is here to stay (cross your fingers!) in this part of Colorado. 

April brought snow. 

May is bringing rain

and because of that we get to experience

a visual wonderland of beauty.  

Just several of my spring photo favorites 

from a spring that has come late this year 

(all from just last week!). 

I stepped outside my front door on a rain-washed morning 

and found these raindrops sitting atop blades of green grass. 

And outside on my back patio I marveled on the plant and what is to come 

(and the lush green grass in the background). 

On Mother's Day, took a walk down Pearl St., an outdoor promenade in downtown Boulder 

and found what I'd been longing to see these last few weeks.  

Flowers...flowers...and more flowers...

in all their orange, red and yellow glory. 

 

And down the next block, more in their purple majesty. 

The striped red and yellow flowers stood out in between, 

not wishing to be forgotten. 

And in their classic red beauty, these tulips.  

An array of beautiful colors.  

I couldn't ask for a better Mother's Day gift after all of our snow. 

I felt doubly blessed because the lens caught their vibrancy.  

No editing needed to be done.  

Sweet. 

Outside

Along with the love of photography, there is the love of writing.  

My first love.  My dream.  My career path. 

It's been good to get outside this week, parking myself at a cafe to write.  

With that, there's been lots of progress - pages of a screenplay written.  With the pages, that falling in love feeling again -- with my story, with my characters.  Though I skipped this morning's writing time, I am planning on tomorrow night's writing time outside -- possibly at the Barnes & Nobles, a mile away from home.  The goal as always is to be consistent.  Doing something for 21 days creates a habit.  That's what I'm hoping for.

Yes and sometimes the writing seems endless -- the end goal, far, but having these writing times makes me see that I can reach that end goal.  That I will finish a draft.  It is possible.

Of course, my life hovers around me -- there are only three weeks of school left -- and several school activities and events that will take up the days.  Book reviews to write, a personal business to build but I will not despair.  Despite the busyness, stress and anxiety, I will keep the faith.

I believe these voyages outside the home to write will help me with that. 

So I look forward to them in the weeks to come. 

In Search of Joy...

I realize what both my husband and I need is joy.  More joy.

To enjoy life more with the kids.  Cherish the moments instead of getting stressed out by them.

Today I had two fun, enjoyable events to go to.  I felt like I should have been more positive, more happy and yet my joy was tempered.

Tempered by what?

My husband at home sick with the three boys.

The house being a complete disaster.

The two tasks we have for church in the morning: serving breakfast and teaching the kids, the latter we are not completely prepared for.

The worry about tomorrow - will the husband be well enough to teach?  And if he is not, how will I convey the help I need? By the fact that there are several details to remember for tomorrow and I am afraid I am going to forget one of them and they are each important.

These worries are why I couldn't fully enjoy the baby shower I went to this afternoon, though I had fun.

I figured as I was driving from the baby shower, that I need to lean on God more.  Surrender.  A challenge for me and the husband since we're both by default self-reliant people.

And be 100% in the moment.

Don't worry about tomorrow.

Just focus on what's in front of me today and cherish.