Life

You know those days when you've been under so much stress and it finally gives somewhere.  That is how my day has been today.  I feel like I just want to let my tears go and wash all of the remainder of my stress away.  But for some reason I continue to hold onto some of it.  I read a friends blog and it brought the tears quickly.  I guess it's because I know I'm not going through this life alone.  Her problems are much different than mine.  Her children are small and she is the wife of a husband that serves in his community at all hours.  But yet when I read her words I feel a connection.

My girls are doing well.  Maddi will be released from the hospital today and I will have her and the baby for a couple of weeks.  A different kind of stress is relieved and a new type begins.  I was so worried about her.  They took a fragment of disc out of her back that was the size of a quarter.  It had been pushing on her nerves to where she couldn't feel her leg or foot.  Hopefully the damage will heal quickly.  Now I hope I can give her the care that she so needs.  I want to be the best mom that I can.  They baby will be here and I hope that I can remember everything that I need to so that she enjoys her grandma.  It's been so long. 

My youngest son is getting married soon and we are working on an open house here for that.  I want it to be what he desires it to be.  He is marrying such as sweet, young woman.  We love her already. 

Work fits somewhere in between all of this.  No wonder I am gray and I do tend to stress eat.  But I am grateful to know there are others out there living life everyday in their own quiet way.  Going around doing good and helping others, whether it is just by sharing a thought or a smile.  I am grateful and blessed this day because someone shared her life!!

My Girls

This past week my youngest daughter had to get her wisdom teeth out.  Her top teeth were right up against her sinuses, so we had to have them taken out by an Oral Surgeon.  He was so good.  He had those babies out in 20 minutes.  So she has been down the past couple of days.  And as her mom it is my obligation to spoil her while she's down. 

This week, my oldest daughter will be having back surgery.  The day before Christmas she obliterated a disk in her back (that's what her MRI report said).  She finally went to a neurosurgeon last week and he had an MRI done and wanted to get her right in.  She had been on Ibuprofen and so had to wait a week for the surgery.  So this week she will have that done and will be living with us again so we can help take care of the baby while she recovers.  The doctors said she has to be down to 2 weeks and then 6 weeks on low-to-moderate activity.  Again, as her mom this let's me spoil.  I'm sad that both of the girls had to go through these procedures, but I'm so happy that I can spoil them again.  It isn't very often I get to do this anymore and I've missed it.

I also get to spoil my grandbaby while she's here.  I think that is the part I look forward to the most.  I love my girls and fell blessed to be their mom and grandma!!

ROAD TRIP!!

So this last week was a whirlwind adventure week.  I've been looking at newer cars for the past couple of years - yearning for something a little larger than my Toyota Corolla.  I've written before on how I'm a car gal and I really like to pick out what it is I want.  I don't leave these things up to my husband, well because his attitude is that a car needs to get you from point A to point B.  I agree with that, but I think you need to do it in comfort and if you also include the "Cool" factor then you need something more, definitely much, much more!!

So this past week, I found a car on Autotrader that was for sale in Reading, PA.  It was about 6K less than I could get it anywhere around here (Utah).  So, I showed it to my husband and he decided that it was a good deal and that we should go ahead and get it.  Crazy I know.  It's clear across the country!  And the adventure began.

We talked to the dealership on Friday and then again on Monday.  We took at chance and ordered plane tickets on Friday (that was scary) not know if we would really get to purchase the car, but having faith.  We put a deposit down on it on Monday and it was going to be ours.  So on Thursday night we flew to AZ and then on to PA.  We arrived in PA at 6 a.m.  A sweet older gentleman that works part-time for the dealership picked us up from the airport and took us to breakfast.  He was so nice.  And everyone else at the dealership was so courteous and kind.  I'd do business with them anytime!!  So those of you out east might think about stopping by Tom Masano Ford in Reading, PA they're great to work with.  Anywho, by the time we drove to the dealership it was about 9 a.m.  We filled out the paperwork and were on our way by around 10:30.

So we finally got out of PA around 2:00 p.m. and made it almost half way through Missouri by 1:00 a.m. the next morning.  We stopped and slept for about 5 hours and then conitnued on.  We passed through some of the most beautiful country.  Granted it was stark and dry due to being winter, but it was beautiful nonetheless.  Pennsylvania was rolling hills with trees everywhere.  I would never have imagined that.  Ohio was full of trees and gently rolling hills as well.  There were less hills in Indiana and even less the closer we got to Nebraska.  Then when we hit Wyoming there were the Rocky Mountains that we love so much.  We started on I-70 and at Kansas City headed north to I-80.  The weather was perfect and we didn't hit any bad weather.  It had snowed a little in Nebraska near Lincoln.  Then all through Wyoming it had snowed, but the roads were clear. We finally made it home Sunday at 4 a.m.  It was a quick trip, but such an adventure.  We traveled 2250 miles, and I got to do it all with my sweet husband.  What a wonderful traveling companion he is.  He was such a good sport about everything.

So now my sweet husband is driving my Toyota to work and I am driving a new-to-me Ford Edge.  It doesn't get quite the same gas mileage, but I feel safer on the road and I really like the car.  It's very comfortable and I plan on gettting a lot of use out of it for many years to come.  It was a whirlwind weekend, but so, so much fun!!  Thanks to a wonderful husband, many kind people and beautiful country!!