5 Friday Favorites: July 15, 2022

 It's time for my Friday link up with  A Little Bit of Everything and Momfessionals. 

On Fridays I share things that made me happy from the week - a photo, a song, a quote, a beauty product, a recipe, a pair of cute shoes, etc. If it's a product, sometimes it's something I actually own and sometimes something I just saw online that gave me a smile. Sometimes it's serious and sometimes it's silly. I suppose I believe that God is in the simple details of life and yes, I can even find Him in a tube of lipstick.

Well, I'm back from watching baseball on the surface of the sun in Atlanta for a week only to find out that it turns out Virginia has the same sun. Let's not talk about it. Because apparently our Texas friends saw 108 degrees the other day, so it's downright frigid here in comparison. 

We returned home sometime around 2 am on Wednesday morning, so I've spent the last couple of days feeling like my favorite things are my bed, my shower, and my towels. My older two boys held down the fort while we were away. While the house wasn't quite at Frat House level, I still had quite a bit of re-entry clean-up to do. The dog and the boys were alive, so I suppose there isn't much to complain about.

We'll be here for about a week minus a couple of day trips for baseball and then we're gone for another five days in Philly. 

Let's look at some favorite things from the week before I have to scoot out of here again.

1. Two Dresses for Practically Nothing 

We had a game canceled while we were gone due to weather which left me an entire Sunday to either sit at the Fairfield Inn & Suites or find something to do. Obviously, that left me no choice, but to go to Target. This dress costs TWELVE dollars!!! It was cool and comfortable and I might wear it every day until October.

This one is only $20. It comes in this white/black floral print that is so cute, but they didn't have my size. I got the black. It feels like you're wearing nothing which is one of my wardrobe goals lately. I wore it yesterday and all my guys kept asking me why I was so dressed up as if it was Prom night or something. Alas, I was going to the grocery store and to get an oil change.

2. Smithfield Marinated Pork Tenderloin

I know this is completely random, but I'm just being real. Since Mama was finally home Wednesday night - despite the fact that I had to unpack and clean up the Frat House and all - the people really wanted someone to cook them an actual meal. These marinated pork tenderloins are the easiest things in the whole wide world. 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Done. I got the Roasted Garlic and Cracked Black Pepper and my people loved it! #heromom

3. A Couple of Places to Eat in Marietta, GA

Baseball friends who find themselves in the Atlanta area this week: go to Red Eyed Mule Biscuits and Burgers for breakfast and Stockyard Burgers & Bones for dinner on Marietta Square. I do not recommend doing this in the same day, unless you're a 17 year old athlete who works out all the darn time. If you are, you can eat the biscuits, gravy, eggs and bacon with a side of hash browns at Red Eyed Mule for breakfast and apparently be hungry enough to head to Chipotle a few hours later. And then, don't mind if you do, you'll crush the burger with smoked gouda mac and cheese, bbq sauce and bacon. Also recommended: the Pimento Patty Melt on Texas Toast. You're welcome. Also, if you aren't said 17 year old, just be sure you are wearing one of the dresses above because the heat isn't the only reason you'll need some flowy, stretchy fabrics. 

4. CODA

I know I'm the very last person on the planet to recommend this movie, but if you haven't seen this yet, you have to see it. It is one of the best movies I've seen in the last five years at least. Also, I cried so much my people might have been a little concerned. It's a beautiful movie. 

5. Loosen Your Grip

Listen, I'm tired. I'm not sure this rambling will make any sense, but I was looking at this picture this morning and thinking about what's been on my mind since I got home. I don't know if you notice, but it looks like I'm about to strangle that kid. So here's what the Lord is speaking to me this week: 

I don't know if I mentioned once or 75 times, but this is my last kid's last summer of tournament baseball. I have been border-line obsessed with being sure I don't miss a single inning going forward. This, as it turns out, might be a little unhealthy. 

I blame us. The moms. We put so much pressure on ourselves with the "soak in every second" mantras we shout at each other. I've done it myself so many darn times. 

"You'll miss it," I've warned moms of littles. "Someday they won't want to hang out with you anymore! Someday they'll be off to college! Someday the laundry baskets won't be full! Don't blink!"

I know this is all said with love and encouragement and it's true. Still it is a heck of a lot of pressure to put on a mom and it's also very misleading. I wrote a bit about it here in regard to looking backward. 

This summer I'm finding that I'm doing a similar thing. Rather than looking backward, though, I keep imagining all the sadness and emptiness I'll feel when this particular season is over so much so that it's becoming exhausting. I'm gripping so tightly to the schedule and pushing myself so hard to "not blink", that my shoulders are tensed and my eyes are blurred. Let me tell you how much a kid wants to hang out with a psycho like that.

Not much. 

 

I looked at the baseball travel calendar at the beginning of the month and I saw: Annapolis, MD, Washington, DC, College Park, MD, Atlanta, GA -  plus six different suburbs of Atlanta, GA - Harrisonburg, VA, Scranton, PA, Philadelphia, PA, Richmond, Virginia, and Long Island, New York. 

Now whether this is healthy for the kid is a whole 'nother conversation, but for me? I really, really doubt it.

Will I look back in two years or twenty years and regret that I missed the second game in a week taking place in Annapolis, MD that required a 5:30 am departure? Come on, girl. I doubt it. I can tell you for certain that the boy won't remember.

I'm still planning to be at everything I can. But I'm trying to loosen my grip a bit on my effort to hold time so tightly. I have a lot of friends whose children are in their senior year or whose kids are about to leave for college. I have experience in watching kids go away, managing "emptier" nests, communication by face time, and trying to wean myself off of Life 360. I've seen how beautiful these new seasons can be. How exciting and energizing. How hopeful and sweet. I've also seen how the stars can align and you suddenly find yourself with the whole mess of them back under one roof again - laundry full, kitchen in chaos, 42 pairs of shoes in the doorway, constant smack talking over the dinner table, and ESPN blaring on every tv.

So for today and hopefully for the next six weeks of summer, I'm going to replace "Don't Blink" with this: 

Be in the present. Be alert to the moment. Appreciate the busy-ness. But, hold these moments loosely, lest your hands start to cramp. Don't fear the future. The plans He has for you and yours are good whether you know the details of those plans right now or not. You've seen Him prove that twice already. He's never let you down before and He ain't starting now. 

In other words, I'm taking the boy's most frequent advice to his mama, "Bruh, you gotta chill." 

Happy Weekend, Friends. Hope it's chill.