Archives for June 2007

It’s finally true! After all of this time, I am really leaving – leaving my home, leaving my family – again! Ugh! I have been really busy today packing and cleaning and getting everything ready. And apparently, that has been good, because, when I took the dog outside and decided to relax in the lawn chair for just a minute, I immediately started bawling. Ugh. So I popped back up and got back to busy as quickly as I possibly could. And there is plenty to do. Even if I get myself and the kids and the dog all completely ready, there is plenty of housecleaning that I could be doing – between all the kids and the 100lb. dog, we’ve really trashed this place! I even have the coffee ready for in the morning, and I had that ready by noon! It felt strange to be setting up tomorrow’s coffee so early, but, I want to try to make tomorrow morning as smooth as possible.

I want to get as much ready as I possibly can, because we have a really sad vehicle situation and it is going to be stressful. We didn’t have the money to buy the trailer hitch because the damn thing cost $300!! Can you believe that?! So that means that all of Mark’s tools are actually in the vehicle with us! You don’t realize when you have a truck toolbox, just how dependent you really are on it! So we’ve got all of Mark’s tools (two of which are big thingy’s), five people, one 100lb. dog, all of the people’s stuff, all of the dog’s stuff, and Mark’s tools – in ONE MINIVAN!!! Dear God!! I do hope some of you will pray for us!

I just keep reminding myself of the time my mother, father, brothers and I took a trip from Richardson, TX to Colorado – in a Pinto!!! The middle ‘seat’ in the back wasn’t even a seat! It was a hump! And my brothers and I had to take turns sitting on the hump! And you know what? We survived – and lived to tell the tale! So I keep thinking of that and reminding myself that it is just twelve hours that we have to live through.

And anyway, I guess all of the chaos and frustration of it will keep my mind off the sadness…
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There are people in our lives along the journey that have a very strong impact on our lives. One of those people in my life was my Uncle Pat. He was just the coolest! He was the happy-go-lucky, let’s have fun guy in our family. He took us on a Florida vacation one year that was a total blast! It was the first year that Epcot opened up. Along with loving him for his “fun-ness”, I was also able later in life to connect with him through Alcoholics Anonymous. He was a recovering alcoholic, and when I was sixteen, he would go to an AA meeting, his daughter would go to Alatot, and I would go to Alateen. And then a few years later, I was going to AA meetings, too! I was working for him when I first tried to get sober, and I remember him taking me out to lunch and our having long talks together. He was very influential in my life and I cherish every memory I have of him. He went to Heaven in July 1990 and I miss him so much, but, I’m so glad that we had the special times we had together!

This is just getting crazy! Ok, now we are not leaving until Thursday!

Mark’s jobs that he is doing here are taking longer than expected, so we have to stay another day. He informed us of this when he got home from work last night. I will seriously laugh so hard if he comes home tonight and tells us there is yet another delay! Too funny!

It actually worked out nicely, though, because my brother had to go to Austin for work and might now be home until late tonight. And he went there early yesterday. So if we were leaving early tomorrow, he wouldn’t get those last days with us. Yes, we’ve been together for weeks and I’m sure he will be so glad to get his house back, but, the last day or two are kind of special and important and sad and ooey and gooey. And even though they are kind of the ‘hurting days’ – nobody really want to miss them, you know?