At least it's not snowing

We're ready this time. There is nothing sitting on the floor in the basement. A. brought the few remaining boxes of books upstairs (all the rest of our books were destroyed when our basement flooded last year). We've got the dehumidifer and the wet vac ready to go. Bring on the rain! We're supposed to get about 4 inches, I think. That amount never bodes well for our basement. But I know it'll be nothing like other people on the east coast are dealing with right now.

Church was amazing today. It was "pick your own hymns" Sunday, which was fun. It was really interesting to see what other people picked as their favorites. Our pastor's sermon was so moving, and this time I wasn't the only one crying at the end! :-) He talked about how we believe in a resurrected, yet wounded Jesus - one who was God and fully human. Even though God raised him from the dead, God didn't make his body perfect again - he still had his scars and the prints of the nails. Our pastor talked about how we are all wounded, how we all have things in our lives that are so painful we can't talk about them. And, that's where we connect with Jesus the most - where God makes the most difference in us. We've been betrayed, unappreciated, unloved, let down - just like he was. No one gets through life unscarred. And it's in those dark places and times when we see what God can really do through us and for us. But what I found so moving was the connection between our humanity and His. I always do.

After church, we had a great day. We talked about going to the bookstore, but we ended up just playing trains at home. R. said, "I have a great idea!!! Let's play trains upstairs, okay, Mommy?" (The trains are kept downstairs, and we usually play in the living room.) This was a fine change with me because it means reclaiming another two square feet of space in our tiny living room. :-) We made two different tracks in his room, and he pulled out all of his trains and linked them together. He also built a really long "diesel train" out of his lego blocks. At one point, R. said to me, "This is really fun, Mommy! I love playing with you!"

Right back at you, my little love.

Nap went okay until R. had to pee, then he didn't want to lay down anymore. I told him he could play quietly in his room, which he did to my surprise. Twenty minutes later, he opened his door and called down for me to come play with him. Instead, I agreed to lay down with him in his crib. We both fell asleep until A. came to wake us up an hour and a half later. I was squished up like a pretzel (I always imagine that I'm getting a blood clot in my leg when I'm in that crib), but it was nice. After naps, we headed to this very cool trains-blocks-puzzles-etc. store in Waltham. I'm not sure how this is possible, but we managed to get out of there without buying anything!

So, 400 flights have already been cancelled because of the storm we're getting. Do you think those will be cleared up before my mom's flight on Wednesday morning? Sigh. Well, if her flight is delayed, I'll have a little more time to clean the house before she gets here. I'm totally unprepared right now. The kitchen floor is sticky, the tiles in the shower are mildewy, the house is dusty. But, hey, she's coming to be with us, not our house, right?

Tomorrow, we're heading over to our friends' house for a lunch of homemade polenta (loaded with cheese and butter) and stew. I'm drooling just thinking about it. Can't wait!

Lord, thank you for a wonderful day with my boys. Thank you for rain instead of snow and please be with everyone affected by this storm. Be with A. and A. tomorrow morning. Amen.