Saturday, January 15, 2011

Transitions and Tribulations

It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon...Oh, wait. That line has been taken already by someone far more articulate and funny than me.

It has been a quiet week, relatively speaking. Sure, the below zero temperatures have made for some interesting adaptations in how we spend our outdoor time, but everyone seemed to adapt and so far no major meltdowns have occurred. Not even on my part. For the record, however, I did manage to saddle up The Dog and run three days this week, cold or no cold. With four weeks without snow, I think we're doing rather well.

This weather has given me a little extra time to catch up on some of my pals' blogs, one of which is authored by one of my oldest friends, D., who has 11 children. Yep, 11. Growing up two blocks from each other, we got to know each others' personalities pretty well, and when she moved to Minnesota and became mom to this crew of kiddos, I wasn't too surprised. Then they moved to Colorado Springs, and now are moving back to Minneapolis. I'm not too surprised at that, either. She has kids with special needs, and sadly Colorado ranks near Alaska in the availability of resources for the issues her children face. She was dialed in to Minnesota resources, so has decided to pack up, head out, and re-establish the roots she left deep in the prairie soil. Her blog, Urban Servant (I could never call it "Sub" Urban Servant, so I'm glad it will go back), is full of interesting tidbits of life with 11 children, a husband, and a community of needy people. She and I regularly, by turn, praise and pout about our particular lives and often wonder at how two friends could possibly have ended up raising kids so similar. Or maybe it's not so strange.

One of these days I'm going to convince her to join me in a mom-week up here in Alaska, and one of these days I'm going to take her up on her invitation to do the same in Minnesota.

One of these days.



2 comments:

Marge said...

What a small world! I read the blog of your friend with the eleven kids! My daughter is the adoptive mom of 2 special needs kids, and has connected with D in the world of FASD. Daughter works in that area here in Minnesota! We adopted a group of 4 kids back some 27 years ago, undiagnosed, but certainly fitting in that category, too! So it sure is a small world! I am anxious to read back into your blog and to get to know you better!

Daughter's blog is coffeecatharsis.blogspot.com

Natalie said...

Super admiring your snow running determination. I love running in the snow (ice is another animal entirely, of course...!) and as for Lake Wobegon, well he surely is a master but you, my dear, hold your own, and then some. :)