thankful.

tonight is the last night of mike's two week-long vacation. we have had a wonderful time; restful at times, however busy predominately. i am mourning these last moments of vacation as if they were my own- but they sort of were- another set of hands makes a world of difference when you are dealing with a curious nine month old who is trying to walk and also succeeding at tasting everything. tomorrow henry and i are back on our own for the better part of the day. and the following week. and the following months; at least until mike's next vacation in september. i will miss mike's constant presence and attentiveness DEARLY. our first father's day was the perfect punctuation to these weeks of family bonding. we had yet another cookout, exactly one week past the last. i absolutely love to entertain, but twice in a mere seven days was a bit of a long-shot in the endurance department. i am a somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to my home and the institution of The Party, and i never know when to say when, when it comes time to take responsibility for hosting festivities..i.e. when to say "uncle"...when to say "mercy, please." today I felt wiped out- h was up at 5am, and i let mike sleep in for father's day. we caught an early morning at the zoo, and came home to prepare for our families to arrive. i don't think i stopped moving until now. but all in all a most wonderful day (please, please excuse the whining). the food was terrific, the company was awesome (i'm related to all of them in some way- my best friend married my brother almost five years ago, so her family is also my family- how cool is that?). my grandmother brought henry a bubble machine as a gift- i think mike and i are way more excited about this than he is. i envision many, many days filled with blessed bubbles...it was the perfect evening, as the sun was setting, and the croquet match was winding down... the shooting glow of the fireflies illuminated in hundreds of floating bubbles... like our sweet restful time, about to pop, but so worth it, and memorable just the same. tonight i rested my head in mike's lap as he gave henry his goodnight bottle in the rocking chair. as i traced my fingers along henry's toes, i felt the satisfaction of a billion happy, successful lifetimes. i a m s o t h a n k f u l.