My Day "Off"

Sadie is enrolled in a little day camp at our church one day a week this summer.  It gives her an opportunity to socialize with children her own age and be away from me for a while (I'm sure she gets bored being with me 24/7), and it gives me an opportunity to get some things done that I don't normally get to do.  Like run errands.

So we get up this morning, I make breakfast for Sadie and daddy, I pack lunches, I pack bags, I get everyone out the door.  Well, sort of.  Sent Kris on his way easily enough, but as Sadie and I are getting ready to leave, I hear a squeal/cry.  She comes walking out of my bedroom, and she's soaking wet.  She had obviously been playing in the dogs' water bowl in my bathroom.  aaaahhhhh!!!   And she looked so cute in her little purple octopus shirt with plaid shorts.  We had to make a quick change and head to church!

Before coming back home, I made a stop at the grocery store.  Drop off groceries, grab a bite to eat, and out the door again.  Granted, my next stop was to get a pedicure.  A much-needed pedicure.  No, I don't spend all my days off luxuriously being pampered.  Today was an exception.  I needed to make a few stops before coming home to get some things done around the house.  However, I developed a splitting headache and came home before accomplishing all that was on my to-do list.  I thought that maybe I could lie down for a few minutes to give the Advil time to kick in, so I changed into comfy clothes, got my phone to set the alarm in case I dozed off, and saw that I had a message.....

Hi, Mrs. Westbrook, this is Miss --- from the Chicks class at church.  Has Sadie been to the doctor lately?  I think she has pinkeye.  Great.

Clothes back on, back into the heat, call the doc's office on my way to church, make an appointment.  Pick up Sadie, we have a little time before the appointment....maybe we can run into Target as long as she doesn't touch anyone and I sterilize the shopping cart before and after.  To the doc, yep, pink eye.  Lovely.  Antibiotic drops, 3x a day, 5 days.  Wow, perfect timing since Kris and I are leaving early Friday morning for a weekend away.  Sorry, TyTy, you're going to have to play doctor!

Next stop, Walgreens.  They said they didn't have the prescription.  Yes, the doctor sent it in.  I was there.  Hhhmmm....let me look again.  Oh yeah, there it is.  Forty minutes later (WAY too long to spend in Walgreens with a sleepy one year old!) the pharmacist said - ok, your two prescriptions are ready.  Two?  Yes, eye drops and lidocaine.  Lidocaine?  Yes, for her mouth.  What's wrong with her mouth?   The lesions.  Uhm, she has no lesions and I'm not giving her lidocaine, you can put that back!  So, we came home with eye drops.  And this, my friends, is what $83 looks like:

Back home, do the dishes that were left behind this morning, clean up the dog food that Sadie has played in, try to get Sadie to nap since she hasn't napped, try to do something to get my headache to go away, beg Kris to come home ASAP.

Aaaahhhhh.....there's nothing more relaxing than a day off!!  (but I wouldn't have it any other way - how thankful I am to be able to run around with my baby girl when needed!)

Worth the Wait

I used to consider myself a fairly patient person.  As I got older, though, my patience grew thin.  I was ready for life to begin.  I wanted to date and get married and start a family.  That's all I ever wanted.  However, it just wasn't happening as quickly as I wanted it to.

I graduated from college, started teaching, and would go home and sit alone each night.  Yes, I could have been proactive and tried to do something about it, but my personality isn't one to go out and mingle.  And since the majority of my friends were already occupied with boyfriends, husbands, and children, it's not like I had many people to go out with.  So, I waited.  And waited.  I was set up many times, had many interesting dates, and even met some great guys.  On the Not So Great Guys list, there was the one who told me at the end of the date that he was hungry.  He asked if I was also.  When I said no, he told me it was because I ate more than he did at dinner earlier in the evening.  Uhm, excuse me?  I was the one taking home leftovers, not him!  Then there was the one who reminded me of Lord Farquaad from Shrek.  Remember the scene where he rides up on a horse looking so valiant, but when he got off the horse he was really short?  Well, I met him at a restaurant, he was waiting for me on a bar stool.  He seemed fine when I first saw him....until he jumped off the stool and was a little runt.  Yeah, that's not going to work!  I could go on, but for the sake of your boredom, I won't.

It was actually my mom who told me to try online dating.  The first service I tried was eHarmony.  That has a national database, right?  OK, so what does it say about me when out of all the participants nationally, they could only match me with three people?  Sad, huh?  Only one of those three actually contacted me, and he was one weird dude.  We never met, but I had no desire to meet.

Then came the next dating site.  A few dates that didn't work out, and then....bingo!  I met Kris.  I knew I liked him on our very first date.  It wasn't long until I knew that he was THE one.  However, the timeline in his mind didn't exactly match mine.  So, I waited.  Well, I didn't have to wait too long.  We dated for a year before getting engaged.  And then six months later, we were married.  Tomorrow, we celebrate our fifth anniversary.  These past five years have been the very best ever!  He was definitely worth the wait.

So, what's next?  I didn't want to wait too long before having children, but I also wanted to enjoy married life for a bit too.  And obviously, God wanted me to enjoy it a while too.  Because when we felt we were ready, God felt otherwise.  So we waited.  And waited.  And went to doctors.  And more doctors.  Then it happened.  We were blessed with Sadie, who turned one last Saturday.  Believe me, she was definitely worth the wait.  What a treasure she is!

The point of all this......God always blesses.  In His time.  The things/people He chooses to give you are always worth the wait.  Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Galatians 6:9  That verse was my lifeline for several years.  I had to keep trusting that I would reap a harvest at the proper time (not necessarily MY time) if I didn't give up.  So, I waited.  And it was worth it!!