Catching Up

Hey Everyone!

The past week has been pretty busy for me. On Friday, Mark and I drove nine hours down to Virginia to attend the wedding of Mark's cousin's son, Richie. We stayed with his cousin Jerry and his wife Lu, for three nights and had a really great time. Lu made sure we were never hungry, cooking and preparing constantly and making sure we had everything we needed. We were treated like royalty and their hospitality went far and above the norm. I can't thank them enough for all the food and goodies they sent us home with, not to mention the GPS Jerry gave to Mark. Also, I have to throw in a big thank you to Garry, their oldest son, for the computer and flat screen monitor he gave us. We went down to VA for a wedding but for us, it turn out to be more like Christmas, LOL. Love you guys. After leaving Jerry and Lu's on Monday morning, we drove three hours north to PA to visit Gettysburg. We checked in at the motel, which incidentally, was at the location of General Lee's headquarters, dropped off our luggage and went sight seeing. There's a great visitor's center there where we saw a very informative movie in an amphitheater, saw the most amazing cyclorama which dated back to the 1800's and was restored and is now on display at the visitor's center. We didn't have time that day to go to the museum but our tickets were still good for the next day as well. We toured the battlefields with an auto guide map that directs you to something like, 16 different points of interest in a 26 mile radius. We couldn't fit in all the points that day since we had started late in the day and it was getting dark. Tuesday morning we were up and out by 8:00am, had breakfast and were back at the visitor's center to go to the museum. This was a truly amazing place with tons of actual artifacts and not reproductions. Afterward we left there, we finished our auto tour of the battle grounds, went to a couple of gift shops and at 2:00pm, we finally headed home. 7 and a half hours later, we pulled into our driveway safe and sound. Gettysburg was amazing, interesting and somber to say the least. We really didn't have enough time to take it all in and we would definitely be open to going there again when we don't have to rush through it. And when it's a bit warmer.

I've noticed that the crocuses have come up in our front yard. So nice to see little bits and pieces of Spring starting to show itself. Of course the grass is still dead and matted down from all the snow we had this winter but it won't be long before the new little green shoots start making their way northward. And one of the best things of all is, the birds are back and singing almost all day long. I woke up to the beautiful song of a robin calling to find a mate this morning and it was a glorious sound to hear. I'm so happy for the change of season. It's brings on such a feeling of renewal and freshness, which I feel for most of us that live in an area where wintertime seems to linger on forever, is always a welcomed change.

Well, in just a little more than a week Erika will be going back to work. Yes, it's hard to believe that her maternity leave has come to an end. As a mom, it doesn't seem fair to me that woman who have just had a baby should have to return to work in such a short amount of time. I know Erika is sick about not being able to be home with Persson but what can she do? In these hard economic times it's just to difficult to survive on one income. Just ask me, I know. As a young couple, we were very fortunate that Mark had a good paying, stable job so that I could be a stay at home mom. That's not to say it wasn't difficult financially, it was. As our children got older and were all in school, I was able, from time to time get a part time job here and there but nothing that was really paying the bills. The extra money was nice, but not very significant. After a while, my bad back situation caused me to stay at home permanently and now, I stay at home for my girls. I admit, at this moment in time, I probably should be out working, even if that means working at a department store or a fast food restaurant, but Mark and I both feel that as difficult as it is to get by these days, it's more important to go without than to see our grandchildren be put in daycare. Now don't get me wrong, I think daycare is a wonderful thing for most kids. The interaction with other children and the learning they get there is great. I just feel bad for parents and children alike, especially on a full time basis, when daycare is their only option to having to get back to work to pay the bills. I don't mind not going out to eat or having to wait to buy something if it means my grandchild can be in a home setting with their Mimi. So in a week or so when Erika goes back to work, I'll be taking baby Persson 5 days a week. I'm not exactly sure how this is all going to work out for me. I'm so used to the way things run right now with Cora and my own household duties that for a time, I know I will have to make some adjustments until we get all the kinks worked out. I'm sure there will be days that I'm tired and times when I can't wait for the day to end, but in all I'm looking at this as a new adventure. I always knew that having my own children at a young age was going to pay off, and now I am reaping the benefits of that decision. Today anyway, LOL. Ask me in a month and I may have a different opinion about that, LOL.

In closing, my friend Jim, whom I have known for many years and worked for in his physical therapy office at one time, is very very sick with prostate cancer. He is 54 years old and in the last weeks of how long the doctors said he had to live. He and his wife are very faithful Christians and have never given up on the hope of a complete healing. I saw Jim at church a couple of weeks ago. He was in pain and could not stand straight, he's thin, pale, tired, and can't eat from a swollen esophagus, but he lifted my hopes with his unfailing faith in God and positive attitude. I ask, that you would join with me in praying for Jim. That God would destroy those cancer cells and restore Jim's body to the way He intended it to be. I know for some of you reading this, that at this point in Jim's illness it may seem pointless to continue to pray for a healing, but our God is a God of love and healing and not only are there countless stories in the bible of people who were healed of dreadful diseases, but even in our own lifetime, God continues to heal. So if you would please say a prayer for Jim today and any other time you may think of it, I would truly truly appreciate it.

Until next time, I hope you are all enjoying the nice weather we've been having and hope you're having a great week.

~J~