We all know that Minnesotans like to talk about the weather, whatever the weather, so here goes: It's monsoon season here in Minnesota. It rained all week, almost every day and I'm pretty sure every night. There has been flash flooding, states of emergency declared in some parts, National Guard members deployed. Our neighborhood is not prone to flooding so for us the greatest inconvenience has been that the grass is growing super fast while our lawn mower is broken.
The lawn mower has actually been broken for several weeks now. Since our car is not big enough to transport it, we can't take it to a repair shop until we coordinate with our parents to borrow a bigger car. Our neighbors are very happy to let us use their mower in the mean time but whenever Alex is home they are not, or when they are it's been raining. And so, the grass has not been cut since before Johnny's birthday party. Yes, that's our house with grass up to your knees. And if it doesn't get cut this weekend there will be a state of emergency declared in the Coyne household.
The lawn mower has actually been broken for several weeks now. Since our car is not big enough to transport it, we can't take it to a repair shop until we coordinate with our parents to borrow a bigger car. Our neighbors are very happy to let us use their mower in the mean time but whenever Alex is home they are not, or when they are it's been raining. And so, the grass has not been cut since before Johnny's birthday party. Yes, that's our house with grass up to your knees. And if it doesn't get cut this weekend there will be a state of emergency declared in the Coyne household.
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Thankfully the rain cleared up just in time for Back to the Fifties! For non- MN folks, Back to the Fifties is a big classic car show held at the State Fair Grounds every year the weekend after Father's Day. People drive in from all over the place in their fancy (and not so fancy) classic cars. You can see them coming into town on the interstates the whole week leading up. And you'll spot them on just about every street in St. Paul the weekend of. Snelling is the main drag, everyone drives up and down showing off their cars and checking out all the other cars. People set out lawn chairs along the boulevards and watch them all go by. My dad's office is on Snelling not too far from the fairgrounds, right in the thick of things. So every year we grill out on the front lawn and watch the cars. It's very Minnesotan, a little bit red-necked, and we love it.
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| Johnny looooves watching cars! |
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Do you like yogurt? If you do you should hop over to my friend Susanna's blog and try her slow cooker yogurt recipe. We had been using a different recipe which requires one to stand over a pot of milk with a thermometer and actively watch and wait. Susanna's recipe is great because between steps you don't have to pay any attention to it. It's easy and makes a large quantity of delicious yogurt.
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Thanks to everyone who prayed for Johnny last week. His appointment went really well! They did four x-rays, two of his neck and two of his entire spine, all done while he was seating upright. Of course babies don't sit still and hate being manipulated so getting the actual x-rays was the hardest part of the appointment. But the orthopedic surgeon determined that at this point in time, everything is stable! They will continue to monitor Johnny with x-rays every six months or so. There's always a chance that things could get worse, but at this point there's no reason for concern and it's likely that as Johnny's muscles continue to grow they will help his spine to straighten. We are very thankful for the good prognosis and continue to pray that Johnny will not need any more surgeries.
I have to brag about my friends a little bit. Remember that last blog post I wrote about how Tuesdays and Thursdays are awful because Alex has class and is gone all day and I'm alone with Johnny all day? Well, I have a couple of friends who have been there and done that when it comes to having husbands in school while working full time and one of them (you know who you are) was so kind as to have Johnny and me, and a bunch of other friends, over for dinner last night. It was so great to get out of my house and enjoy the company of good friends. And it just reaffirmed what I already believe about the importance of women supporting other women.
I am not a feminist in the typical sense, but I am a feminist of sorts in that I am very proud of my identity as a woman, I think women have unique strengths, and struggles, and I think it is beautiful when women help women. We need the support of our husbands firstly, and the support of family is very important as well, but there is something so special about women, mothers in particular, identifying with one another, commiserating together (over a bottle of wine) when things are tough, and rejoicing together (also over a bottle of wine) when we have our triumphs. I was ministered to by you, my dear friends, so thank you!
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I have to brag about my friends a little bit. Remember that last blog post I wrote about how Tuesdays and Thursdays are awful because Alex has class and is gone all day and I'm alone with Johnny all day? Well, I have a couple of friends who have been there and done that when it comes to having husbands in school while working full time and one of them (you know who you are) was so kind as to have Johnny and me, and a bunch of other friends, over for dinner last night. It was so great to get out of my house and enjoy the company of good friends. And it just reaffirmed what I already believe about the importance of women supporting other women.
I am not a feminist in the typical sense, but I am a feminist of sorts in that I am very proud of my identity as a woman, I think women have unique strengths, and struggles, and I think it is beautiful when women help women. We need the support of our husbands firstly, and the support of family is very important as well, but there is something so special about women, mothers in particular, identifying with one another, commiserating together (over a bottle of wine) when things are tough, and rejoicing together (also over a bottle of wine) when we have our triumphs. I was ministered to by you, my dear friends, so thank you!
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Alex and I have been in St. Paul for the entirety of our dating and married relationship. During that time we have had different friends move away for jobs or schooling. We've also had friends come back after being out of the state for a few years. Last week we welcomed back some very dear friends who had been in the Pittsburgh area for the last 4 years for med school, and now are happily back here for residency. It's amazing to me how quickly those 4 years went by. It's so good to have them in the same city again and we celebrated their home coming with a trip to Marvel Bar, which for those who have never been, is basically like this:
And then just today I said good bye to a very old and dear friend who is moving for Austin with her husband where they will be starting some new adventures. It's sad to see friends go, but we know from experience that time goes racing by, often without our notice. We'll see you again soon, dear friends!
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And lastly (for lack of other news) Johnny's favorite summer food: watermelon!
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