FGHart

I am not big on drama. I was raised in a family that did not offer up fodder for soap opera fare. How do I explain that we went to NY to visit our grandson and his Aunt (and her family) who are raising him?

He’s 3 1/2 years old and precious. We had a marvelous visit. Aunt/Mama did a great job preparing him for us. We had sent videos so he recognized us, but it was more than that. He knew us as his own grandparents.

We spent Saturday evening, all day Sunday, all day Monday together. He spent Sunday night with us in our hotel room. We were up at 5am this morning to head to the airport or we might have squeezed in one more night. What a joy!

Our daughter was apparently PO’d that we didn’t buy her a plane ticket. Too bad. I am confident that our grandson is doing very well and is better off for being on the (nearly) opposite end of the country. She can only disrupt/rock the boat at this point. It seems harsh, I know. He is so sweet and so loving. We are blessed that things are working out so well, given the circumstances.

We are where we are. I am glad we are part of his life. Hopefully we have Skype working soon so we can video-call and stay in touch better than ever.

NOTE: I would not normally post such a journal/drama but this specific situation is part of this mother’s angst.

Random note: I had totally forgotten that I was in Syracuse in ’86 for my brother’s wedding!!! What a dolt! My mom reminded me after I got home. BTW – in the spirit of confession, my life back then was probably the most soap-opera fodder the family’d had in a while.

Peace,

We’ve got our 3 1/2 year old grandson with us for the night. what a bundle of energy he is! We’re having a fabulous visit. We ventured out into the snow today. Hubby and I were huddling trying to stay out of the wind while Wes and his cousins tobogganed. I’ll load pictures later.

I’m drinking in all of the love and hugs and kisses, pouring back out and hoping we’re all left with joyful, irrepressible memories.

Blessings!

I’m describing Syracuse. Home of our grandson. He greeted us with hugs and kisses. We spent almost 2 hours visiting and I’m really looking forward to spending the next 2 days with him. And getting to know his aunt (who is raising him) and her family.

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Blessings,

Today I submitted a short story to the Austin Chronicle’s 2008 Short Story Contest.

‘nough said.

Sometimes I wonder how are actions and decisions are interpreted by our children. Sometimes I’m surprised by how they read things. In most cases, only time will tell.

Here are some decisions/activities that have gone down this week:
Monday – worked until I went to bed to pull together a strategy for my team in my new role.
Tuesday – Band concert/Subway sandwiches for late dinner.
Wednesday – Bible studies (2). Late dinner.
Thursday – Family night. Shopping & dinner out.
Friday – me home alone. Hubby at AC/DC concert. Me finishing laundry, packing, decorating Christmas tree, getting myself ready to leave in the morning for trip to Syracuse, NY. Yes, we’re finally getting to see our oldest grandson. We haven’t seen him in a year. He is more important to me than AC/DC. I had to make the decision, and it weighed on me all week. Free tickets given to us by a friend. My darling husband did call me during the last song at the AC/DC concert so I got to hear the last tune and it felt good to know he was thinking of me.

I can’t look back on my week and point at anything that I would have sacrificed in order to go to the concert. I haven’t had any goof-off time (since Sunday’s foray to the park). I try to live my life without regrets, but sometimes that requires tough choices. Accepting the consequences.

Our youngest is staying with friends from church. He isn’t able to join us in NY because he didn’t keep his grades up so he can’t afford to miss 2 days of school. Tough choices. Accepting the consequences.

Peace,

Tonight we enjoyed our time together by sharing the IKEA experience (a new experience for our youngest – and quite an adventure. He loved the cart with 360-degree wheel rotation), then dining at Steak n Shake (a new experience for all of us) and finally a shoe shopping adventure. It seems he has been wearing ill-fitting Converse which caused one of his big toes to go numb. Not acceptable. Now we have wider-width Pumas (equally trendy). Fortunately Academy is a great place to visit, so it was a fabulous evening for one and all.

Peace,

I no longer question that God is the ultimate conductor, ensuring each part is played in its own good time, with the proper tempo and crescendo, etc. Last year I enjoyed my first ever Bible study (Beth Moore’s Believing God). This year I signed up for my 2nd ever Bible Study (Priscilla Shirer’s Can We Talk). I was not happy when the schedule of sessions resulted in a 4 week hiatus between the 2nd-to-last and the last sessions. And for unrelated reasons (or maybe very related – but I won’t go into that here), attendance dropped off significantly after the time change (early nightfall). So, one month ago we met (4 of us) and tonight we met (2 of the 4 were the same, but again only 4). In the interim, I started a quasi-independent study with a friend of mine (Beth Moore’s Stepping Up).

Today, there was a convergence of thought between the 2 studies, brought together in God’s perfect timing: Be passionate about your faith! Don’t be a wuss! Say what needs to be said!

Work has been stressful, life has been stressful, I’ve grown lukewarm in my attitude. Tonight, the fire’s been relit.

Praise God!