Mother's Day Emotions

Last Sunday was my second Mother's Day and we stayed in Eugene this year. We were looking forward to nice weather and hanging out as a little family, but the day got started a little off track. Sam needed to work all day Saturday to get his dissertation defense ready for Thursday. Preparing for the final hurdle to get his PhD made Sam understandably stressed out and anxious about his upcoming defense, and my emotions about leaving my job and moving started to come to the surface. We were both not very fun to be around....not a great start to Mother's Day.
But once we figured out why were being grumpy, the day ended up being terrific. We walked to our local coffee shop and had breakfast together. Later we went to Hendrick's park to see the rhododendron gardens. All the flowers were blooming and it was nice just walking around in the park. There were lots of families there celebrating their moms too. Then we got ice cream at Prince Puckler's and took Morgan to the playground that is next to it. We came home and hung out in the yard, played with Morgan, and got sushi (my favorite) for dinner. It ended up being a very nice day in Eugene, spent with my two favorite people - exactly what I was hoping for on Mother's Day.
There is a lot of stuff - wonderful stuff - on our minds these days, and it will take a while to process all that is happening. But we have so much to look forward to in the next couple months, as well as an amazing life ahead of us Portland. And as of this afternoon, that life in Portland got even closer because Sam successfully defended his dissertation! Hooray for Dr. Holloway!