All the same, God is GOOD and gracious and amazing and He is teaching us incredible things as He walks us through this storm. He is a hedge around us, protecting us from evil and providing us a peace to walk in and I am incredibly grateful that amidst all that is going on, I am able to enjoy incredibly fun days like today.
Today I hung out with my sister, who, in the last twelve months, has become one of my best friends, someone who I share my dreams and my secrets with, someone who I can giggle and be stupid with. And it's all even better because we have a lifetime of history and memories. SO great!
Anyway, the other day I realized that in the past month we have had no less than a dozen things hit us, the most minor of which would be enough to throw a lot of people off kilter for a few days.
First, there's the fact that we are in a new normal of our lives. I'm going to quit saying Alejandro is unemployed and start saying he is self-employed, because for the past several weeks his handy-man business has kept him quite busy. Only time will tell whether his self-employed status will be a short thing or if he decides to stick with it. I am INCREDIBLY PROUD of him and his work. Really really proud! All the same, it's still new for us to only know there is work for two weeks ahead at a time.
Second, we're on a road-trip half-way across the U.S. Which is going to end up stretching almost four weeks instead of the originally planned two. Again, I'm SO thanful that this is because of the work out here. But four weeks is a long time, even without a dog and a 1-year-old!
Third, last week there were two transactions erroneously drawing funds from our checking account which ultimately resulted in over a thousand dollars lost, and it will be weeks before all of those fees and funds are returned to us.
Add to these things the fact that after a certain something was five days late this week, we started to wonder if I was pregnant. (I'm not. And for now, this is a good thing.) Then Danny got sick - not teething after all - and now I've got it too. (I'm typing with kleenex stuck up my nostrils. I know, so glamorous.) Last week we got a parking ticket. Our Jeep is in the shop with the transmission torn apart and we're PRAYING it's all covered by the warranty. Abby, our sweet kitty, has a wonderful new home, but I've gotta admit I'm jealous whenever I hear about her sleeping on someone else's lap or rubbing someone else's leg - even if it IS my Dad and step-mom, who are GREAT and are giving her a wonderful home. We've had her since she was teensy, so I miss her. And then there are a couple very-normal and not-a-super-big-deal, but too-personal-to-share-just-now issues that have hit us too.
SO... (deep breath) yeah, there's a LOT on our plates right now.
I could REALLY use a day off. I feel like there's too big of a need and too much going on to take one, but I also know all too well the results of driving oneself into the ground, so a much needed day of rest is soon on it's way, and you can be sure that means lots of blogging for me.
A really fun thing is that our good friend, Matt, alerted us to an incredible deal on woot.com. Ya'll have GOT to check out this website. I am - ok ok I mean WE ARE now the proud owners of a Netbook! Yesss!! And for ONLY $179! And it actually has all the standard features. It's not my favorite brand or anything, but a Netbook it is and so I am excited. We bought our current desktop computer about 6 years ago, so it was high time for something new and portable. So like I said, ya'll have GOT to check it out!
Speaking of saying "ya'll"... Oh we weren't? Oh well. Anyway, today I insisted on heading to Walmart to pick up some groceries. I figured out later that the reason my mom and sister were giving me a screwy look was because Walmarts here don't HAVE grocery stores within them like they do in Colorado Springs. Silly me. And so you can imagine the look on the Walmart worker's face when I asked him "Do ya'll carry jalapaño Velveeta cheese?"
"Um, yeah, I think we all do," he said laughing. Then he apologized and said he hadn't heard that word since he was back home in Georgia. Oh and no, they don't. Because again, Walmarts out here do NOT have an entire grocery store in them like in Colorado. Silly them.
Apparently this California girl isn't such a California girl anymore. Oh well, I'm ok with that. I think I much prefer being a Colorado girl anyway. For now I'm gonna lay my head down and slip into dreamland so I can enjoy more sand, beach, free movies at the movie theatre my sister works at, date nights with free babysitting, hanging out with family, and walks down memory lane as we head to our favorite spots.
G'night ya'll,
Renee