BST's Blog

Here's a small sample of the weekend (which, other than a couple of moments like this, was really good).

Setting: BST and the girls are together for the weekend while Mommy was in Dallas at Emily Trice's wedding. My cell phone is broken--I can receive calls but can't hear them. Our minivan is in the shop for brake work. We're still living in the hotel while our house is repaired from the fire.

Saturday morning we were up and at 'em with a bang. Ella was up by 6:30, Maddie by 7. We went over for the free breakfast and had Belgian waffles, eggs, biscuits, fruit and yogurt. We even took some to go. We got back to the room and I put the girls in the bath. We all got ready to leave and were out of the door by 9:15. I was really feelin' good.

I had told the girls we'd go see Alice in Wonderland at the downtown public library. It's a live show on the weekends in their really cool theater. We rolled down the windows on the way and played "roller coaster" (Mommy's invention for sanity). The girls were pumped.

We got to the library and went up to the 2nd floor to the theater. We got settled and out came Alice. It was a great show--a little long for young kids though. Midway through the show my cell phone vibrated and I could see the mechanic calling me. (Remember I can't answer my phone since it's impossible to hear anyone on it--so I have to let it go to voicemail and then check it from a different phone. Completely annoying.) After the show, Maddie & Ella got to hug Alice and then we were off to find a pay phone. By the way, since when did pay phones start costing 50 cents?? For the love!

We found a pay phone and I called my cell to check the message. The mechanic was talking when all of a sudden... click. I looked and Maddie had pressed down the receiver. ARGH! I said, "Maddie!! Don't do that!" I dug for more change. Whew--50 cents. My last 50 cents. I had heard enough to call Sheryl and tell her what he said and in the middle of our conversation... click. ARGH!!!! "Maddie, I already told you not to do that!!" (small swat here)

Maddie: "WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Ella: "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, MOMMYYEEEEEEEEEEE"
ME: "Excuse me, (to a concerned bystander) do you happen to have another 50 cents I can borrow?"

So, I called Sheryl back, she agreed to take it from there and I gathered up my melted children and tried to recover. There was no recovery. I think I all but ran out of the library. Bless us all.

Having said that, once we got back to the "home-tel" they settled a bit. I took 3 doses of lithium and then gathered myself. (I'm kidding, of course--but if it had been there, I might have divided it up for everyone!!!)

Sheryl arrived yesterday--glory hallelujah. Has anyone heard the country song they've been playing by Lonestar-- "Mr. Mom"? We actually recorded several of our ZOE projects in the home if one of the Lonestar guys. Anyway--that song is perfect. Men, our wives have SUCH patience and such a gift of being wife and mommy. We need to keep telling them how much we appreciate them. They don't get the strokes from bosses or co-workers like we might. It's up to us to continue to blanket them with kudos.

This afternoon, we are home--I mean HOME. The girls are sleeping in their beds, Sheryl's at the dentist, and I am thankful to be back. I don't even want to think about our downstairs which still looks like a disaster area with furniture and appliances and toilets everywhere. I'm just grateful it's done and we can begin to get back to normal. Life is good. Family is good. It really doesn't matter where you are.

One last thing--our prayer service last night was amazing. Those of you who know Clarissa would have marveled at Julianne singing Shout to the Lord while ZOE accompanied her with ooh's. It was wonderful! Caleb Carney praying--what's better? That sweet little voice asking that God give us bigger dreams for the future? I could have just died. It was a wonderful night. You know, family really does come in all forms. We are so blessed!