I'm Back...never left...but...
I had to look back to see when I posted last...Mother's Day. That was nearly a month ago, wow! A lot has happened since then. I promise to spare you every little detail of Degnan life, just the highlights. Or in reality, what I can remember of the past month. It is a blur really.
But to start lets talk about the now. Right now it is 10:30pm on a Thursday night and we are in the midst of a classic Colorado summer thunder storm and I love it. I love the flash of light, the booming thunder and the pouring rain. I love the sounds, the smells, the darkness of the sky. Jamie, he hates lightening! Sorry babe, secrets out. Lightening starts and he heads straight the the safest place in the house...the basement. Me, I love it. I find myself standing at the front window watching, fascinated by how each blast seems better than the one before and being disappointed when things start to die down. My dream is to have a house with a wrap around, covered porch with a metal roof. That way I can sit under the shelter of the roof and hear the storm in stereo.
I know, you don't really care about how much enjoyment I get out of a summer storm. You just want to know what craziness is going on inside our house. Well, honestly not that much. School got out on the 24th of May. We ended the year with a big party, lots of food, lots of water and lots of laughs. This is a tradition for us in Berthoud. It was also Daria's first exposure to a chaotic American water fight. Have no fear...she jumped right in with both feet. She loved the water balloons but her real weapon of choice was the mega water machine gun. She went after anyone who moved without fear or caution. In the process she got her first American sunburn. I am such a bad mom, why can't I remember sunscreen? It was even in my car.
Since then the community pool has opened and between Emma and Jamie, the two little ones have been frequent visitors. It is nice to have that as an option, a way to break up the day. Besides the pool, they decided that it was a good idea to set up the sprinkler under the trampoline and then lather up the tramp with a bunch of soap. It seemed like a good idea until the next day when both of them ended up with a nasty rash all over their legs. The mom in me hated the whole soap & water thing...seemed like an emergency room visit waiting to happen. I have to admit, while I felt bad for the itchy red legs, I was relieved to get an easy way out of the whole soapy tramp thing.
The girls (all of them) have rediscovered the wii. What a funny and sometimes frustrating thing to observe. They all have their own "signature" so to speak, the way they play the game. Daria plays it safe just to preserve the number of "lives" she has. This is an annoyance to the other girls. With Mario, it is a team effort. It is funny to hear them say things like, "don't push me" or "don't go into a bubble." Most of the time it all works out, but things have gotten a bit tense from time to time.
About a week ago Daria discovered America's Funniest Home Videos on netflix. If you really think about it from an "outside the USA" standpoint, we (American) really look stupid. She thinks it is hilarious, which makes it funnier for all of us. She has also been bombarded with "Four Wedding," "Say Yes to the Dress," "Challenge," and "Chopped." Throw in a few Disney regulars and she is becoming an American girl before our eyes. She is so in a house full of girls. She is not a girlie girl, but Emma is determined to change that. She keeps trying to paint her nails...Daria's response, "no, I don't like." Today, Lily tried to get her to put a hair band in her hair, no go. It wasn't even a real hair band that you might think of. It was one of the hair bands that girls put around their head after their hair is in a pony, just to keep fly-aways back. No way, no how. But she did ask for a dress the other day.
Lily has been super busy playing softball. Which surprisingly, the whole family has gotten in the act. Her team is really good this year, they have only lost one game and are guaranteed a spot in the tournament. Daria has shocked me at how quickly she has picked up the game. She has a better understanding than a lot of American born and bread adults have. Even more than going to Lily's games, she likes going to Jamie's. He takes her to the batting cages before the game and then she sits and watches his whole game. It has become their little time together. That and helping him in the prep kitchen doing work for events. She even helped serve at church last night.
As for the other girls, we do still have three others. They continue to wow me and inspire me. Annabelle is our "go to girl." She is trying to earn money for a trip to Italy next summer with a school group. So she agreed to be the babysitter designate. She watches the "children," her words not mine, when we have weddings. In addition to that she is also helping with set up of events whenever possible. This babysitting thing is no easy task, you try watching two 10 year olds. Feeding them, making sure they are brushing their teeth, getting them to bed. No easy task. She has a little money in savings but is determined not to tap into her savings, she wants to earn her way. That's my girl. Still haven't gotten her back into the gym, she keeps reminding me that the "guns" have faded.
Emma has been busy running the race circuit. She ran the Bolder Boulder in her fasted time ever with a time of 44:42 for a 10k. That is a 7:11 mile pace. She finished 7th in her age division of 16 year old females out of 345...her gender finish was 241 out of 25,155. That was on Memorial Day, just 6 days later she ran the Berthoud Habitat for Humanity 5k. She was the number 2 overall female finisher, first in her division but a little ticked off that the only female that beat her was an incoming freshman. Now she is sporting a lovely big, black boat on her right foot...the reason, a stress fracture to her foot. Looks like no running for her for a while.
At the Berthoud Habitat race, Daria ran the kids 1k fun run. For the record, she won for the girls. Lily ran the 5k, second place in her division. Daria was a bit miffed that all she got for winning was a silly, tiny little rubber duck while Lily go an actual metal. Emma came through in true Emma fashion and gave Daria her metal. The end result, 2 first place divisional finishes, one second place divisional, one second place gender overall finish. Not a bad showing for the Degnan clan.
Lily, little Lily! Really she is little, according to her doctor visit this week she is all of 4 ft 4 in and a whopping 60lbs at 10 years of age. But let me tell you, that little thing can smack that softball. She has hit for several stand up doubles and is a regular on base batter. Today I dropped her off at camp, Camp Timberline. A mountain sport adventure camp at the base of Longs Peak, just outside of Estes Park. She gets to spend the next 6 nights in the Rocky Mountains and she couldn't have been any more excited.
As for how the adjustment is going, really I would have to give it a B+. Things are going so much better than I had prepared myself for. Daria is truly fluent with English. We haven't used google translate in weeks. She and Lily have definitely had some ups and downs. Last weekend we nearly had our first physical confrontation. But both of them showed great self control. Daria is definitely a control freak, has to be first, fasted, loudest. When on a hike, she must lead. When getting in car, she must get in first. Riding bikes, she must be faster. Going for a family walk, she can not walk with the family...always out front. This kinda drives Lily crazy but it is a good opportunity to remind her what orphanage life was like for Daria. If you aren't first you might not get anything.
To date, Daria is still not calling me anything. A few days ago we were at one of Lily's softball games, Daria wanted to play in the park. I told her that she needed to ask either using my name or mom and if she couldn't do that she would have to sit in the van. She reached for the van door when I asked her, "would you really rather sit in the van than ask me by name?" She hesitated, then asked "Tiffany, may I...." She will refer to me as mom when talking with the girls, but never, never to my face or even in ear shot. That's ok, with her "mom" is an earned title.
She seems to adore and idolize both Annabelle and Emma. She hugs and hangs on Annabelle, our "don't touch me girl." Makes me smile every time. Each hug chips away at that tough shield she has. She seems to identify with Annabelle's sense of fashion. With Emma, totally different relationship. I think Emma might be the best one with her, she teaches her stuff all the time. Yesterday it was states, she rattled off over 15 states, pointing to them on a map before bed. Ticked Lily off, "she knows more states than me." And off to bed she stomped. Emma is also good at managing B.O.B (bad orphan behavior). She is patient, clear and compassionate.
She has met most of the Colorado family by now. She has a couple of crazy uncles, some cousins, one grandma to go. She loves the cowboy papa, such a new concept that is. She met the little cousins and got a kick out of them. It was way cute watching her hold her baby cousin, Rory. Too, too cute.
Beyond all of that, she has been to the zoo, a hike in the Rockies, Walmart, an adventure in itself. Church, a wedding, the doctor, a high school graduation, a major 10k race with some 50,000 runners, a small town parade where there are nearly as many people in the parade as watching it. Eating off of the ice cream truck, thrown water balloons and shot water guns. She has eaten taco's, bbq and more than a few America hamburgers. French fries with mayo, spaghetti with mayo, taco's with mayo and grilled chicken with mayo...she likes mayo. She has played softball, thrown a football, a baseball, a frisbee. Rode a bike and a scooter. Played with sidewalk chalk, bubbles and believe it or not, even an American Girl doll.
As for the parents of these amazing girls, well we are blessed. We have 7 weddings under our belt for the 2012 wedding season...with over 20 more to go. I love my catering crew, each of them, they bless me, energize me and entertain me. I went back to work at the cafe, if you can call it that, this week. I will be working about 10 hours a week at the Lighthouse Cafe. What a crazy experience that was, going back to work. Everything has changed, except the people. That is what I have missed, the people! The obvious, Hollis, Stacy, Becky, Suzie, Melody, Brenda, Mark, Steve and all the staff at Grace Place. Then there are the customers, Harry, John, chief, the fire guys...it was the first time I have seen some of them in over 4 months. It was nice, very, very nice. I am truly a social being and I love the energy, the environment.
Jamie has been working like crazy, between his "paying" job at Meals on Wheels and catering for Origins he doesn't have a lot of time left. But he has managed to do a couple meals for Celebrate Recovery and play softball once a week. He too, ran the Bolder Boulder and finished in under one hour. Not bad for an "older" guy. Easy for me to say as I sat on the bleachers and cheered on the finishers.
Well, the storm is over and it is way, way past my bedtime. I have to say, this post is for a few of you, you know who you are...Deb in Arizona and Dawn in New Zealand. Your protests of my absence have not gone unnoticed. A little birdie tells me that Deb is coming for a visit this summer. How many years has it been? There are others who have hinted at my absences. I knew it would be difficult to keep it up once I was home. Honestly, I feel like I don't have a lot to share and I don't want to bore you all. But I will try to share a bit more frequently. We have weekly outings planned to the museum, Elitch's (amusement park), water world, mountain climbing and camping. How could there not be an entertaining story or two in all of that.
Before I go, I have to say....I has been two months now since I got home. So much has happened, we have been so busy. Yet, it never escapes my notice that I have yet to reach the time home that equals the time away. While the time away seems like a distant far away place it is still ever present in my being. It has deeply shaped me, left a lasting impression on my soul. Some folks have shared the Foot Print in the Sand poem with me, to be honest, while I know that God carried me he also forced me, and I do me FORCED me to walk every step of the Ukrainian journey. I couldn't have made it without him, but He had a requirement of me...walk, keep walking and when you feel like stopping, walk some more. He never left me, He helped me but He did not fully carry me. He required me strap on the boots and follow him. I did, and oh how thankful I am.
Thats all!
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