Dibble Dibble Dop

Well, it's still raining around here.  We've been reading a lot of "Mr. Brown Can Moo" and Bean says "dop" a lot, which is part of his rain noise.  I know it hasn't been that long, but it feels like it's been raining for weeks.  I can't remember the days when we played outside all afternoon and Bean went to bed happy and tired.  It feels different around here and I'm so ready to have our yard not be a pond.

I realize though, that we are actually quite lucky.  My parents are currently stranded at their house because flood waters have blocked any exit route.  They aren't in danger of getting flooded, but they don't have power and the entire community around them is suffering.  It's difficult to see all the places of my childhood covered by water.  I haven't seen photos of the place that hubby and I got married and my hope is that means it's stayed dry.  I cannot imagine what it must be like.

I saw photos of an elementary school surrounded by water today and my heart was breaking for those teachers and kids.  I know how much of myself I put into my classroom, both through effort and money out of my own pocket.  I can't imagine how difficult it would have been to watch it all wash away.  My boxes of teaching things are currently occupying our basement, where we saw some water this last week.  I was worried that they might have been damaged and that I would have lost some things.  Now I realize that I'm lucky to have what I have, a few damaged items aren't going to be the end of the world.

And I realize that my muddy back yard isn't so bad, although I would love one day without rain just to remind me what it's like.  I could use a little something to lift the gray skies around here.  Hopefully it's right around the corner.  Until then we're going shopping to get Bean a good pair of boots.  I can't tell you how excited she is about that prospect.  All she talks about is being able to go "ashi" (which means outside) again more regularly.  I'm pretty excited about it too.  Hopefully all of you are seeing clear skies, dry basements, and sunny days ahead.

On an unrelated note, things are starting to get back to normal as far as sleep goes around here.  It took Bean a long time to get back to herself after having strep and being on that antibiotic, but she's back.  Unfortunately she's got some pretty bad teething pain, so we only had a few really good nights of sleep, but it's still much better.  So my efforts to wean are going to start this weekend.  I'll let you all know how it goes!