Life Will Getcha!

Well, I haven't blogged in a million years, but I've been busy having a life. I don't worry, this blog is more like a private diary with a lock on it, since no one reads it anyway! I make sure to hide my computer under my bed each night, so no one can read this "diary"! LOL!

You know in high school when you don't know what you want to do with your life, you are approaching graduation, maybe, and your parents are getting nervous? Nervous that you will be sleeping in your pink bedroom full of dolls and posters of your favorite hearthobs until you are 30? Well, my nervous mom thought it would be a good idea to give me an aptitude test to see what careers would best suit me. The careers that came up were things like teacher, social worker, and nurse. Well, I couldn't see myself in any of those jobs. However, as life has happened, I've ended up performing all of those jobs without the college degrees or the paychecks.

Summer of 2008, I went for another summer to help my mom through another surgery. Am I thinking about nursing school? NO WAY! To all the nurses, aides, orderlies, and Hospice workers, I salute you! Caring for someone who has had surgery, who is sick, or who is dying is a labor of love. To be able to care for strangers makes you angelic. It is an emotional, intimate situation. It is terrible to watch someone you love in pain. It is worse to have to cause them more pain by doing what needs to be done to aid in their recovery. I'm not glad that my mom has had to go through these experiences, but I am glad that they drew us closer. We cried, we laughed, we were exhausted, she recovered, and I was rewarded-spiritually-by the experiences.

While I was at my mom's house, my husband informed me that, out of the blue, he got promoted. His promotion would require that he go away for some training, and, as soon as he returned, we would be moving. Yikes! I needed to get home and start preparing for the move-alone. Ok-I'm not good at this sort of thing, but I got good at it quick! Funny how we convince ourselves that we can't do things, only to find out that we can when we have no choice in the matter. So, all alone, I set up the move, found a new house and secured it, etc, etc, etc. My husband had seven weeks of training. He returned and in less than a week, our stuff was packed and moved, we cleaned the old place, went to his aunt's house for Thanksgiving, and moved into the new place. WHEW! What a whirlwind! Then came Christmas.

So, with furniture out of place and boxes everywhere, we set up the Christmas tree, decorated it, put the wreath on the door, and lights up outside. If I hadn't hurried and put up the Christmas tree, I would have probably forgotten to shop. Christmas went by fast a furiously. I shopped some online and some locally and got it all done. We attended a neighborhood Christmas party. We enjoyed the day. My husband and I made chicken enchiladas for Christmas.

WOW! I really picked a great neighborhood to move into. The neighbors welcomed our family with brownies, fruit baskets, and open arms. We were invited to a neighborhood Christmas party, where we were treated like family, and given gifts from people who had never met us. It was amazing! It was so great that it seemed unreal, like a dream. I kinda felt like I was watching it in black and white, waiting for Andy and Barney to come through the door. Well, Andy and Barney couldn't make it, but as I sat talking with this really eclectic group of people who genuinely accepted each other , (and us), so lovingly, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I felt like our family had finally been released from the belly of the whale! God had deemed it neccessary to take us to a place of isolation and lonliness, so that He could teach us about truth. We met so many people who spoke out both sides of their mouths, wounding, telling lies, using the Bible to stand on as they promoted their soap box themes. I thought that this neighborhood welcome would be grand and then wane as people got on with their lives. That isn't the case. People stop by to chat or ask if you need something from the store. On Saturday, there will be a yard full of neighbors, chatting, catching up on the week, or politics, and you know they want you to come join in. Our life has truly turned a corner in this community of kind, loving souls.

Well, I can say we are mostly unpacked, but not yet settled totally. Our lives have taken off since the new year. We have lots of oppurtunities for my son, that we are taking full advantage of. I had to buy a second slow cooker to keep us fed because I often don't have time to cook. We run, run, run, but it is finally nice to have activities.

Well, I'm off to grab my sneakers, again!