Double GRR!

It's snowing. GRR! And this morning it was raining (inside and out). Double GRR!. Like Tigger says when spelling his name right after he pounces on Pooh Bear. This just about sums up a day in the life of this mommy, wife, assistant, blog author. 

I say GRR because I am by no means ready for snow. My cold toes prove it. Now that the office is set to a toasty 72 degrees my fingers aren't freezing and I can remove my scarf. But you better believe I am layering up the clothes with leggings under my black dress pants. I am starting to think I need my own personal electric blanket. I might even tote it around like Linus on Charlie Brown. 

I know, I'm full of it today. One can't help but joke when the morning was nothing short of chaos. We literally turned the house upside down in a frantic attempt to locate the car keys! Yes, we lost them. Or actually, I lost them, which doesn't happen very often believe it or not. Turns out I put a Kleenex box on top of them. Please, don't ask why. I'm blaming it on the stuffy nose and my bubble head. (No not bobble head....go ahead, laugh!) Now I feel bad accusing Grandma D and E of walking off with them. I was so sure E stashed them in her toy basket. And R was convinced he left them in a pair of pants or threw them away in the garbage that went out a few minutes prior to the crisis. But, low and behold it was me. 

Oh, calamity. 

So, I was late. For the first time, which deserves another GRR! Because I dislike being late more than I dislike snow and rain. What a tense way to start a week. I am going to make sure it is no indication of what the rest of the week will be. 

However, the day has moved on with a few minor hiccups along the way. 

Keep Loving.

Calamity and Heartbreak

Laying on the pullout sofa bad at my parents I watch my husbands chest rise and fall as he steadily inhaled and exhaled. It's 10:00 AM and he still sleeps. But my body won't let me sleep anymore. It's our third morning at my parent's home and my ear is stiff from an overused pillow, my neck and back are kinked and soar. We are ready to be at our apartment in Grand Haven. We are ready for home.

But as I lay here reflecting on the past week and how dark and disasterous it seems I'm not sad or mad. Nor do I look at the future in dispair. Last week Ryan's Great Grandma passed away and a couple days later we lost Maddi's Great Granny to cancer. Both woman were loving, caring and amazing individuals. They both lived lives that anyone that new them would call fulfilling. And all though the ones they left behind know these things it doesn't stop us from wondering and not understanding why they are gone. I can only pray they are in heaven and that family will heal and honor their memories.

Our third calamity came in the way of vehicular misfortune. On the way to Pentwater we found ourselves on the side of the road after the car began chugging and then shut off. A huge dent in the bank account, a few tears on my part (ofcourse), a stressed out husband and two days of waiting we are hoping to be home with enough time for me to go to work today.

Our time here has Ryan and I agree that we could definitely do without the rude awakening my little brother and his three friends gave us at 3 AM this morning (a video game party we were very unaware of), the disagreements between my sisters who are always add odds, the crick in our necks, and the 3 day old socks on our feet. But we can't do without the memories we have made while we've been here.

I have to take note of this much needed time with my parents and Ryan. Enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning and dinner in the evening with them has been enjoyable. I like listening to my dad's never ending stories and words of wisdom from my mom. Her homemade cooking is definitely a plus. We've had fresh baked bread all weekend.

Making peanut butter rice krispy treats that lasted about 5 minutes, hearing my sister Keisha laughing at random weird things, going to trivia night downtown (even though we were late), finding humor in my brothers sarcasm are all things I couldn't live without.

I am so fortunate I still have all these irreplaceable things to be thankful for. It's not every morning I wake up with my husband still by my side. And it's definitely not everyday I can see my parent's faces as we catch up on the latest.

Calamities and heartbreaks are more than just sad speed bumps in my life. They are my wake up calls.

Keep loving. And appreciating what you do have.

KLM