I feel the need, the need for PINK!

Thursday brought an exciting morning as the kids woke up to find that Peter had come home. There was much hugging and kissing and jumping around while yelling “Daddy!!” Daddy arrived with roses for me and sweet valentines for each of the kids, which may bring on the idea that every time dad sweeps through the door he’ll be bringing presents. Our own personal Santa.

We went out for Valentine’s dinner with the kids, who better to spend our day of love with…than the products of all that love!

Friday brought a fun evening thanks to the Children’s Cancer Center. We’ve been so blessed to meet tremendous cancer kids through our time in treatment and the survivors that we get to know are not just walking examples of hope but full of a special kind of compassion for the little ones going through the treatment now. They bring a kind of love that can’t be explained or replaced. They know, they understand, they’ve been there and they’ve walked that path. So, it’s always a wonderful thing to see these kids giving back and making an impact on the little ones. Molly is a lymphoma survivor, her mother is the program director for our fantastic Little Tales program that Peyton and I so enjoy every Tuesday morning. Molly’s classmates came in to give the kids of the CCC a rocking good time, including a DJ, much dancing and laughter galore.

The parents were treated to free time to do WHATEVER! Some went home to do chores and get caught up, others went to run errands. We chose to meet up with some friends and sit around a table of food and gab and laugh ourselves silly. It was wonderful, a great opportunity to catch up with some of those we don’t get to see as often and a nice night for Pete to be with friends he hasn’t seen in a long time. It made us both a little sad on the way back to think about what leaving those friends will feel like.

I sure wish doing the right thing was easy, without heartache and without internal struggle. But we aren’t those people. No no no. We like to overanalyze everything, we talk an issue to death, resuscitate it and give it another go. In our hearts we know that this move is the right choice, God just opened up too many doors and kick-started us when we’d balk for us not to know that. It still hurts my heart to think of leaving behind the awesome friends we’ve made, this family we’ve become part of.

Today was a nice and easy day. We started out at the mall where I had to restructure our cell phone plans, getting new ones, transferring service to a new carrier, reassuring my mother in law (who’s part of our family plan) that it’s really not THAT big a change. I got my workout today prying Peter off the display counter where the siren call of shiny new electronics were proving too strong for any mortal man. The sales guy was nice enough not to feed the savage beast inside Peter that requires a regular sacrifice of gadgets and stuff with LCD screens and buttons. We managed to get away from the kiosk with just barely more than our initial intent….which, for us was an accomplishment on par with climbing Mt. Everest.

The girls asked for one quick jaunt into Claire’s. So we left Pete and Nathaniel on their way to the bookstore. At one farthest end of the mall. Just minutes later I get a text message from Pete…they’re at Radio Shack, which is the polar opposite end of the bookstore…and they’re on the hunt for a Wii. Remember that savage electrical beast I was telling you about??

We got out of the mall with a couple obnoxious eye shadows for Rachael, a princess game for Peyton, a book for Nathaniel and the new phones….and nothing else!! It is a landmark day in the Mayhew house.

I do have to share that my sweet friends from the CCC were so sympathetic about my truck door handle issue. In fact, they were so wonderfully compassionate that they managed to not spit in my face while laughing themselves into hysterics….that’s love. It’s only really bad when put in the full context that the truck has a driver’s side door handle that’s broken, a passenger side window that won’t open unless you break a finger pushing on the button, and the radio speakers only work in the front. There are three rows of seats, and they can’t hear the music from the back so it’s blaring like a ghetto-mobile.

Tomorrow is a sad day as Peter will be heading back to his apartment in AL. He’ll be back in March for the PCF Fashion Funds the Cure fashion show that Peyton’s going to be in. But it’s a long three weeks until then and our kids will be devastated when he walks out the door tomorrow.

Oh, poor Peyton. Being at school has brought on some new issues for her, nothing serious, but I hear them in the things she says. I had gotten her the cutest little denim jumpsuit, with little pink bows on the sleeves and a belt of pink ribbon. Cute as a button and it looked adorable on her. She walked out of the room and came back in with the saddest look on her face.

“I look like a boy.”

She didn’t, she looked so girly it was ridiculous to think she looked boyish. But to her, someone had told her she looked like a boy and she thought her outfit just sealed the deal. I’m a little heartbroken that the things that the kids say to her, not meaning anything or even trying to be mean, are affecting the way she sees herself at 4 years old. But it must be hard to be in an environment where all the girls have long hair and she has her short pixie cut, especially when she’s spent the last year and half buffered by little girlfriends who look just like her. Now, she really does stand out and she’s noticing it.

So, we changed that outfit. She put on her white dress with bright pink polka dot straps, a bright pink bow clipped in her hair and sparkly shoes. She left the house feeling confident in her girliness and I think we all need days like that.

f.r.o.G.
–Anissa