Our Spring

Wowza! The last few months have flown by! So much has happened that I have struggled to keep in touch with everyone.

At the end of February I chopped off all of my hair. Taylor has always been very attached to her hair and I wanted to show her that hair not only grows back, but that it doesn’t define who you are. After I got my hair cut SUPER short, I came home and my sweet 10 year old bawled while refusing to tell me what she thought of my new hairstyle. She cried and cried saying that she didn’t even recognize me anymore. This made me chuckle because at 10 years old, if she could not recognize me as her mother  – then I have failed as a parent. After a few days and allowing her to play with my messy spiky short doo, she came around and said it was ‘okay’, but that she missed my long hair.

In April we celebrated my inlaws 40th Anniversary and enjoyed Easter with Taylor’s cousin Boston.

I had a fantastic, yet impulsive trip to visit family in New Hampshire! I caused lots of trouble and my sister even snipped off more of my hair giving me a sassy pixie!

For Spring break, Taylor went on her first vacation without me. My mom took her to Florida. They hit up Disney World, Epcot,  Animal Kingdom, Seaworld and Universal Studios. It was strange having her in a different state and also so very quiet while she was away.

Fast forward to the beginning of May and we were going to get Taylor a ‘little trim’ before her dance recital at the end of the year and she decided instead that she would like to get an angled bob. Unfortunately with I had made an appointment with a random local hairdresser since it was supposed to be a trim -simple and straightforward. That was a big mistake since she decided to get a real haircut. The lady did not blend it and boy was it choppy. However, Taylor could not tell from the front and loved it. So I ran with it instead of asking the stylist for a second time to correct it because I didn’t want Taylor to be self conscious. We were able to donated her hair to Children With Hair Loss which Tay thought was pretty awesome.

After studying this Spring, on May 13th I passed my exam and now have the Foundation Level Certification in Software Testing from the ISTQB. We planted our garden and I pulled out one giant black yard waste bag full of dandelions from our yard! This did cause my wrist/forearm to swell up and be very painful for two weeks, but was so worth it.  We also sanded and sealed our deck stairs. They look so much nicer now!

We spent time with family while we remembered and celebrated the life of Nick’s Grandfather Larry near Duluth Minnesota.

There was an afternoon that we were able to sneak in lunch with Taylor’s Great-Grandfather Pete.

One thing that I have not been doing is taking pictures or really using my camera at all. Aside from a few family shots, I have not touched my camera since November. Some of this has to do with the holidays, work, and studying for my certification. The majority of it has to do with my confidence and dealing with it on an emotional level. By this I mean; while taking pictures of large objects, that are relatively stationary, at a reasonable distance, I am doing pretty well. However, taking pictures of anything that moves is becoming more challenging. I have a slight tremor or shake to my hands that is generally not noticeable in my day-to-day activities. Anything that needs a steady hand and to be fine tuned like taking a picture that is in focus, is impacted. I not only get frustrated, angry and sad, but I also feeling adequate and like I’m wasting the few precious moments that I don’t have doing something that I’m not going to succeed at. I would like to take time to practice and figure out new strategies to use while taking pictures on the fly. Or maybe just realize that I am not able to take detailed shots without a tripod, even while balancing on a table, railing or car. I do know that I will not give up or quit.

Another thing I keep thinking about is our busy summer ahead. When scheduling camps for the Summer I wanted to make sure that Taylor enough activities to be entertained and not be disruptive and interrupt my work since I am work from home . However, after her camps, a work trip for me, two camping trips, and a couple weddings were on the calendar it looks like we have very few free days or weekends. I hope that we have not over committed ourselves this summer; even though there are quite a few exciting things coming up that will be a great deal of fun. Seeing Cheap Trick in concert and various local bands on the roof of the Monona Terrace in Madison Wisconsin is always a highlight of our Summer.