How Do I Love Thee...

Sometimes, when hubby drives me crazy, I think of all the reasons why I love him. Here's today's list:

• he tells me he loves me everyday (many many times)
• he calls me everyday at work just to say "hi"
• he emails me first thing in the morning asking how my morning went
• he's very handsome
• he's got nice eyes
• I love his arms
• he's got a very cute bum (sorry honey, but it's true)
• he's a good gardener
• he vaccuums
• he cleans bathrooms
• he cooks
• he keeps the kitty litter box clean even though he's not a "cat" person
• he feeds the cat even though he's not a "cat" person
• he makes sure I get up in the morning (actually, I don't particularly like this, but...)
• he gives me lots of time for my "retreats" and actually encourages it
• he picks up doggy doo
• he gases up my vehicle when it's low on gas (Marcie, that one's for you!)
• he picks up the kids when I need him to
• he gets the homework done
• he goes out to get me my Tim's on Sunday mornings before church
• he takes the kids for bike rides in the Summer
• he takes us to the hockey games in the Winter
• he loves taking us on vacation and he always invites my dad to come along... just because

Just For Today

I always look SO forward to vacation. In fact, so much so, that I'm consumed with the anticipation of it to the exclusion of everything else. We leave on Thursday by the way!

I tend to forget about today, and what a blessed day it is. I awake every morning (there's 1 blessing) to see my husband and children alive and well, if not always awake (there's 3 more blessings). Each day is a day to celebrate and be thankful for, and I find I'm always looking toward the next day or the next week or the next vacation. Why is it so difficult to "live for today" and to "live each day as if it was your last". Why isn't today "good enough"?

I know that before I know it my kids will be grown and gone... and it will happen fast. I want to focus on each day and the joy that my family gives me... the simple joys that each day brings ... a good cup of Tim's coffee (with just the right amount of cream and sugar), the sunshine in the sky, the hug and the kiss and the "I love you mom" that I get before school (THAT'S the best), the dog who just wants to lick me even though he's been confined to his kennel all night, my favorite song on the radio, a good news story, a superpoke from a friend on Facebook... I could go on and on. I need to stop worrying about tomorrow or waiting for tomorrow and just focus on this day that I've been blessed with. That's it! That's all I have to say. Now I just have to figure out how to do that.

A New Chapter

Well, I just got the word that hubby got "packaged out". Sigh. Not sure how I feel about it yet. There are pros and cons to it. Maybe I should list them... okay, here goes:

Pros

1. He won't have to drive all the way to the other side of the city everyday
2. He won't have to go to a job that he dislikes
3. He won't have to go to a job that causes him a lot of stress, which in turn, causes the rest of the family a lot of stress
4. He can get the kids off to school in the morning
5. He can pick the kids up from the bus - they'll love that!
6. Much needed repairs around the house might get done - or maybe not
7. We really need to paint
8. He can go for lunch with my Dad every once in a while
9. He can walk the dog more often
10. Maybe he'll clean the house
11. Maybe he'll have dinner ready when I get home
12. He can have an afternoon snooze - once in a while!
13. It's almost Spring, what better time to lose your job
14. Summer.... he'll get to take it off

Cons

1. There's no salary coming in
2. We won't be able to take 4 vacations a year (hee hee). Maybe only 1 or 2
3. He'll be stressed about not having a job, which in turn, will stress out the rest of the family

Well, there you have it. Definitely more pros than cons, although I think a few more cons may creep in as the time goes by.

For now we shall focus on faith. God will provide. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Mat 6:34)

Ouch!

My step-son, Andrew was in an accident at work on Thursday, February 26th. He had his arm broken - actually more like "crushed". It was (is) pretty bad! The doctors have said that it couldn't have been any worse. Andrew is now 23 (he celebrated his birthday on March 1st in a hospital bed) and he's a airline maintenance engineer. He was working about five hours north of Prince George, it was dark and late and he was moving equipment on a snowmobile when it hit some ice and flipped. Andrew managed to jump off, but his arm was crushed. He was bleeding pretty badly and thankfully someone was standing outside the lodge where he was working and heard him screaming. There was a doctor at the lodge that managed to stop the bleeding which is a blessing. Had no-one noticed him, he probably would have bled to death. They flew him to the hospital in Prince George (a $10,000 ride - WOW).

Bruce (hubby) flew out the day after it happened. Andrew still hadn't had surgery... we're talking almost 20 hours now. He had surgery on Friday afternoon after Bruce arrived. The surgeon thought it would take 2 hours - it took 3 1/2 hours. In the end, he ended up with 22 screws in his arm - ouch!

He was released from the hospital on Tuesday and is now back home in Langley. His mom and step-dad are now with him. The doctors have told him that the pain will be unbearable. He'd been on 3 different pain medications, one through the epidural that went right to his shoulder and then morphine and some other stuff. The doctors have told Andrew that it's going to be a very tough recovery, but they are hoping, with a lot of work on Andrew's part, that he will get full range of motion back.

Nothing like getting a call from a hospital telling you your son has been in an accident. It was pretty traumatic for all of us.

One shining light is Christopher's (my 11-year old) take on the situation. The night it happened, I was downstairs booking flights and hotel for Bruce when Christopher came downstairs and said "I guess you're gonna pray for Andrew tonight?". I replied "You bet! But you can pray for him too". Christopher then said, and I love this... "I already did". It's amazing to see God working in his life... sometimes I don't think he "gets" it, but then he'll say something like this and it makes me even more proud to be his Mom!

You're Gonna Miss This

OK, I'm new at this. OK, I'm nervous about this. I want to have the "perfect" blog - perfect for me anyway.

I've been keeping a journal since my son was born in 1997, so I think I'll be pretty good at this blogging thing. I love capturing funny moments from my children's lives, and when I look back and read what I wrote, it always provides me with joy and comfort. It's so easy to forget all those "little things" that your kids do, the funny sayings, and the big milestones.

These days, life is hectic and sometimes overwhelming. I always wish for the "next stage", but I know I'm going miss this. There's a song on the radio right now by Trace Adkins called "You're Gonna Miss This" and everytime I hear it I always think "yep, I'm gonna miss this". Here's some of the lyrics:

...Five years later there's a plumber workin' on the water heater
Dog's barkin', phone's ringin'
One kid's cryin', one kid's screamin'
She keeps apologizin'
He says They don't bother me.
I've got 2 babies of my own.
One's 36, one's 23.
Huh, it's hard to believe, but

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These Are Some Good Times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this