Friday, April 12, 2013

Last Day of Spring Break (sort of)

After being stuck in a blizzard trying to fly out of Colorado, this downpour of rain isn't so bad. Nathan had his practice cancelled, so I had some extra time to put food in the crockpot, clean the kitchen and work on my bible study. I have to prep for the high school lit class I am teaching next week, but, like the kids, it's been hard to get motivated. I've been pretty tired since getting back from our trip, so I guess it's okay for me to use this extra time to recover. The kids and I will probably regret the lack of work that was accomplished in the past couple of days...or not. Sometimes a time of refreshment away from the workload provides just the energy needed to be more productive when we do jump back in. We all hope so!

I ran into my friend Lori at Costco today. She was diagnosed with breast cancer over four years ago. We've been in contact since my diagnosis, but this is the first time I've seen her. It was the second time I've run into her at Costco. I complemented her on her beautiful, shoulder length hair. She smiled and said she's proof hair grows back. I told her I'm enjoying that, too, and am very glad it's not growing back in the tight corkscrew curls she described with her hair. We talked about the importance of living in the today, especially the further away from treatment we get, but it's a good lesson to learn for everyone.

I certainly enjoyed spending time with my family on our trip. I told Becca that even though it was a tiring trip, and we had to battle the weather and long shuttle drives, it was so worth investing in the people in our lives. She was thankful to spend time with her grandpa, aunts, uncle, cousins, and second cousins. Of course, she was a bit overwhelmed when she saw all the extended family converge on our condo the first night. With my Aunt Enie's gift of playing games and a horseback ride to connect with the girls she didn't know, Becca was soon fitting right in. She  was sad to see everyone leave for the airport as our time together came to an end. One nice blessing of having our early morning plane cancelled was we were able to get on the same plane in the afternoon with Nicole. We were the last three to leave the hotel and then the airport. We had time  to connect with my dad and help him get to the right gate that had changed after he checked in. We helped him navigate the way Southwest organizes passengers for boarding and received one final hug from him before he left for Arizona. Since that was also our gate for our flight an ninety minutes later, we were able to enjoy a leisurely lunch and play one of the card games Aunt Enie taught Becca.  Nicole, who had an earlier boarding position than we had, was able to save two seats in her row for us. Such a blessing to have a smooth trip home after the chaos of the day before. It was a great trip, and I am thankful for all the great talks, hugs, memories, songs and laughs we shared during those four days in Colorado.

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