Weekend Wrap-Up Mother's Day

Hello friends!! I know you have been just dying to hear about our weekends in May…… I have been slack! Sorry….I blame the elephants.

The Bessette’s are living the spring and deck life here….and LOVING it! Early May is a dream in DC and even this year with a little extra early heat, we still really enjoyed this Month! So let’s pick up where we left off for weekend wrap up: Mother’s Day weekend.... here is how ours played out!

Friday was a FULL. DAY. OFF. and it was glorious. The weekend before we had spent some time focusing on how to spend time and energy, so we continue to live purposefully and amongst this conversation Danny said - it would be really great if you could just take a day off. Well the vacation gods must have heard his wish and on Monday as my coworkers and I were all planning our vaca at work (use it or lose it time) I learned that fitting in a vacation day this week would actually be preferred. SOOOO Friday was a free day!

Originally I had plans for a long run, catching up on contract work, scrubbing the house top to bottom…. lots and lots of plans, that were thrown to the wayside when we heard about the 70th Anniversary World War II antique plane fly over in DC. Danny was so so so excited for this event and I could not resist a day in the sunshine, with my boys, in the city…..so we were off! The best part of this day? It reminded me of 10 years ago when Danny and I first started dating and he made it a point to always throw off my plans, ruin my to do list, and hijack my calendar. Or as he would say “keep me smiling”. Today I smiled: planes, picnic, puppy dog (who had an especially great day with all the people around he was too distracted to get angry at surrounding dogs - #WIN)- we covered it all. We did have one additional guest, my Father in Law. But he is always happy to help with pup or carry a bag - translation: good company.

That portion of the day actually wrapped up early afternoon and we were home by 2PM. This was the perfect amount of time for me to breath, change and head back out the door! Danny had a night of Hockey Playoffs to watch and my mom and I had talked about meeting, as I help her with her Juice Plus business from time to time. But as it turns out my Aunt Tama was also flying in that night and needing a ride from the airport to my grandmother’s. So another nice afternoon of unexpected fun - a Starbucks meeting, followed by dinner with the gals (fantastic wine and food for all at Foundint Farmers), and a visit to my grandmother’s house. My Aunt Tama lives in NC, so time between her visits can span several months easily and we had some catching up on life to do. Plus with our big family, a meal where you focus on just two people is so very rare, so we soaked it up!

Saturday was a little bit of a quiet start - Danny and I slept in a bit and when we finally arose, Danny planned to go with his Dad to Dulles Airport’s museum where some of the planes from Friday could be viewed up close. During this time I hoped to work, clean the house and have down time (Question - why do tasks I know will take several hours, always sound like 15 mins when I make my to do list??)…..but ALL plans were foiled when the traffic just getting to the museum was a disaster , so the mission was quickly aborted and home they came. This worked out well for me as Danny was able to finish hanging things in my office while I cleaned the rest of the house. Both of us getting things done in the house started us down a path of Saturday clean up…. we unpacked, made more decorating plans, cleaned, packed up Easter and decorated the house for the next holiday - Playoff Hockey.

After a day of being busy little bees and a few errands, the afternoon arrived and all we wanted was a shower and to start our steak dinner. We were pleasantly distracted though by friends of ours who were in the neighborhood to visit their parents, so they popped in to see the new place. The best thing about this visit - Quinlan interacted with their 3 and 2 year old and was really, really good. They had snacks- they thought feeding him was fun - he was into it. Their visit was short but really enjoyable. Back deck sitting, soaking up the sun has yet to get old. After they headed home the Bessettes hit the showers and enjoyed a night hanging on the deck and grilling out.

Sunday started with a bang! I had to get some work hours in before a day of celebrating mothers. So I awoke bright and early and went straight to my office, after a brief hot tea pit stop. It took me a little time and a lot of caffeine to wake up….but I did and before I knew it several hours had been accomplished before I had time to even think about it. A few monkeys off my back is a great start to the day.

Sundays, for better or worse, turn into catch up and catch alls. Busy with work, distracted with week plans, laundry, cleaning, before you know it the day is over only leaving behind a feeling of loss, for another weekend come and gone. This Sunday though I was determined to be present in the moment with each of our families instead of off thinking of what I need to do. Because today is about being with family and being thankful for our moms - not to do lists, so I am not meant to be doing anything else.

After I hit mass and Starbucks we were off to Maryland for the Heppes/Flaherty celebration. A day on the patio with as many family as possible is a very common request of my grandmothers. Besides a little extra heat, we are always happy to oblige. This backyard and her patio hold a special place in my heart and the memories that make up a lifetime. We have had countless BBQs, parties, celebrations, in this very place and everywhere I turn there is a memory to be relived. What is so very odd is years later and after several rounds of re-dos I still see the yard as it was when I was kid. Not now, not seeing what actually exist, but seeing what lives in the memories of my childhood. As those moments dance by in a curious parade of sorts, I am quickly brought to the present by seeing my husband on this patio, grabbing a seat and talking with family. This place has become one of gathering and memories in his world too and to me, that means everything.

As a child I wondered about my future husband and family. We played house as kids or I watched my adult family members navigate their own marriages or child rearing- only to wonder what my future would hold. And suddenly I am here with the man who gifted me with a new last name and my puppy dog, I am all grown up and living out in the moments that I had dreamt about so many years before. In an odd way though, being here years later, still hearing the riddles of my grandmother’s funny stories, or the laughter of cousins - in so many ways everything has changed and yet we are still just a family gathering on the patio as if no time has passed at all.

After a few stories, catching up, introducing my pup to the Flaherty yard ( no dogs in the house - and I mean NO DOGS!!! He suffered the heat outdoors - and wondering why they heck we all had forgotten AC was just through a door yonder - he tried to show me a few times) - and just the yard alone, and visiting the house my uncle is renovating down the street - we packed up and headed to our next event- the Bessette’s. It is a huge blessing that we can see all of our families for each holiday …. but it also means travel times and crossing the Potomac River multiple times a day. Even still we are lucky.

Dinner at my inlaws never, ever disappoints! Quinlan loves the many doggie toys, the bar is always stocked and the food perfectly prepared. As someone how does not cook, that is always an amazing feat in my mind. We wrapped up this weekend deck sitting with them - a place Danny and I have found ourselves so often over our ten years too. WithFamily, friends, or just us two - I am in awe at how much “home” I have found in my inlaws corner of the world - and just how quickly memories start adding up for this space too. Family is everything - and we are truly blessed.

As I drove home that night and thought of the mothers in my world I realized how vastly different my life has been from them all. By the time my grandmother and mother were my age - they had been moms several times over. They stayed home and cared for the kids, took care of the house, and made suffered through (NONE - not a one - of us our cooks) meals. My life is very different as I am on a career path, share responsibilities for the home with Danny and kids is a dream of ours, but not part of the immediate agenda - and yet they could not be more supportive of me. Why I have been blessed with several woman who love unconditionally, continue to teach me important aspects of being a woman, a wife, a Catholic, and have shown me the true gift and power in sacrificial love - even if we are leading very different lives is beyond me. There is no denying I am the woman I am today, thanks to this love and their role in my life.

Hope Mother’s Day was special for you and many memories of pure love for family wove their way into your day.