16 Going on 17

Ok, so it was more like 33 going on 34, but who is counting? (Besides Crys!)

I had a GREAT birthday! Hubby and I actually celebrated last Saturday. We went to eat at MELT in Cleveland! Yum! We ran a few errands, shopped and ended up going for ice cream at Mary Coyle's. It's an honest to goodness old-school ice cream parlor. Loved it!

I got breakfast on the morning of my birthday (hubby made omelets and toast) and he made homemade pizza for dinner. Holla!  I ate a free lunch at First Watch and I bought myself a new skirt and top. I had a very unexpected visit from a special friend of mine who stayed for dinner.

About a bazillion people called, text me, or messaged me on Facebook. I felt very loved and blessed.

As I reflected on the past year, I realized a lot has changed. I lost my job in Cairo. I got married. I moved to Ohio. I've watched my mom fight cancer. I was diagnosed with MS. (I've done a ton of craft projects.) I have laughed and cried - sometimes within 5 minutes of each other. It has been an 'emotional roller coaster' sort of year. I have made new friends and mourned the fact that I can't see old friends as often as I would like to. In the end, 33 was a HUGE year in my life and I'm sad about some things coming to an end, but excited about all of the new things. 33 was bittersweet. I'm sure 34 has a lot in store and I've decided that I just want it to be a year where I ultimately spend time investing in people and in what God has for me. Here's to another year!

I'll Be Home For Christmas (and the week after)

If you are expecting pictures - move on. We all know I own a camera, but just so it can sit in my bag and look pretty. Hello!

So, last week Precious worked 4-10 hour days so that we could leave on Friday morning and head to Illinois. It takes all day to drive. All. Day. Precious can't seem to decide if he wants me to sleep while he drives (because sometimes he wants to talk - or wants directions - difference? nope.) or be awake. However, if I am awake there are things I must do:
-not talk...unless he needs directions (not gonna happen. he says I'm like a 5 year old in the car and he's totally right. I talk to stay awake and because I'm bored!)
-stop talking (hmm...still not happening!)

Well, that's pretty much the entire list. And I admit it's bad. I try to read a little - listen to my ipod (book on CD) - Sudoku, but it's 9 hours. N.I.N.E. HOURS. I am pretty sure I suffer from ADD!

However, we made it safe and sound. We went to have chili with his parents and met a new addition to the family - Dotty, their new puppy. She's something and she HATES the lil brother (who just got engaged - Hooray! Congrats to you and Nutmeg). Too funny!

Christmas Eve - got to spend time with some of my family, went on a little shopping trip with my mom, and spent the evening with Precious' family. A house full of people is anything but dull. 4 little boys with new Lego sets, a game of Dirty Santa, lots of food and a few good rounds of Dutch Blitz made for a super fun night.

Christmas Day was a whirlwind. Early morning with the in-laws (and a dirty trick played by mom-in-law on pop-in-law - it was CLASSIC and she deserves and Oscar for her performance!), lunch with my parents, a visit with one of my favorite kids, and back to be with Precious' family.

Are you sensing a theme? We've been able to spend times with lots of people and it's been so great!

Monday: shopping, lunch with friends, Precious' new iPhone up and running, dinner at a local pizza joint.

Tuesday: Sleep. Hooray! Errands with my momma. Dinner with some of my former students (WHAT A BLAST! Miss you guys!).

Today? Breakfast at my favorite local eatery (Lynda's - DUH!). Time with mom and dad in Cape. Lunch with Precious. We came home and took down Christmas deco outside and the whole time I kept thinking of Taylor at The Lumberjack's Wife. She has a child who thinks she hates Christmas because she took down the decorations.

It's been busy few days, but SO WONDERFUL! I am so thankful for the time we have had and can't wait for the next few days! (except for this dumb weather! REALLY? 55 degrees at the end of December? What have we done to deserve this?)

I come home to....

I left last Tuesday to drive to Illinois. I spent several days there with my parents. I'm going to be very vague here simply to protect privacy, but it wasn't the sort of trip people look forward to. However, I am so grateful that I was able to spend 5 days there. I'm not currently working (which is driving me nuts), so it wasn't a huge deal to take off and go.

Can I just go on a little rant for a minute? I understand that God has purposes in everything, but sheesh some things are just almost unbearable. I really want to be the one who doesn't ask "Why?". I would rather be the one who says, "Ok, what now?" But days like today just leave me feeling more like screaming my head off. I just want to skip the questions and go straight to the fit pitching.

But just as I am mid kicking and screaming like a kid in the cereal aisle who didn't get the box she wanted, God reminds me of my many blessings. Today, they revolved around my family and my husband - my husband who had done all of the laundry, cleaned the kitchen, made the bed and bought me flowers which were on the table in vase when I got home from Illinois (that and some chart on the fridge about why the heat in our apartment rarely kicks on - too much time on his hands). I am very blessed.

No Hodgepodge - Just Flood Waters

It's been a frustrating week. We haven't been to school because of water (oh and we have PLENTY of water!). Cairo sits at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers at the bottom of the state of Illinois and is currently in a desperate situation. Voluntary evacuations began on Tuesday. Mandatory could come tomorrow from what I hear. Many people refuse to leave because they see no danger.

It's hard to watch this struggle. Currently, there is an argument about whether or not to intentionally breech the Birds Point Levee. It actually sits in Missouri. I don't know a lot about it, but from what I understand, this levee was built in the late 1920s in case something like this were to happen - it was designed for this very reason. I know that it would flood hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, depositing sand which would impact that land for decades. There are 2 sides to this coin and I don't like either of them and I'm upset with the people who can only seem to see one side - their side. It really frustrates me when people do not consider how others will be affected by doing things 'their way'.

There is a LOT of pressure on the levee at Cairo.I think the Corp of Engineers' biggest concern is not water coming over the flood wall (but as you can see, the level is incredibly high - that's the flood wall and a barge - crazy), but rather, the levee breaking under the pressure of the river.

My biggest fear? The levee will break and many people will have failed to heed the warning to get out. While I was at the flood wall today I saw one of my students in the truck with his dad who said, "that water has a ways to go before it spills over that wall - I don't know what all this fuss is about". Do they not know that if the levee breaks the water will rise so quickly that they will not have time to get out. I just want to scream, "PEOPLE, GET OUT!!!!"

Even if the levee holds and they blow a hole in the Birds Point Levee, I don't think anyone is considering what effect it will have on the backwaters (which are rising faster than the river). As the river recedes, that water has to go somewhere...it just pushes to other places.

SO. FRUSTRATING.

I don't know what is going to happen over the next few days. Please keep flood victims in your prayers. There are some cities that are already flooded. People are loosing their homes and business because it won't stop raining! A local home center had this as their sign:

I firmly believe that God is in control and that He has a purpose in all of this, but it most certainly doesn't make it any less frustrating!