Didn't see that comin'

The day didn't start out quite as I had planned, but that is because I am a compulsive "planner".  IF we have something to do, I make a plan for that day I will work out the details from time to get up, what needs to be done, time to leave and expected time of arrival.  Is that so out of the ordinary?  I guess it is to my family... While I had planned the morning out the night before, planned out the day before that, and went over the plan with the family, asked for any questions, comments or suggestions No ONE spoke up, so to me the plan was a "Go"! 
Friday, was the last day of school, so the plan was to get the kids off to school, go up to the school to wrap up PTA things, hand out 'gifts' that weren't delivered the day before, pick up John Luc at 2:40, take him to get his haircut, pick up Shae-Lyn & Coulson go home change, clean up and be ready to leave for Rachels graduation by 4:45...no later than 5.  We had almost 2 hr drive (counting stopping to fill up with gas) and had to be there on time to get our seats.  Over slept for the last day of school... headed to school, forgot the gifts that had to be delivered, got the paperwork done, wrapped things up, left to pick up John Luc, thinking, while he is getting his haircut I will got get the gifts, drop them at the school pick up the 2 kids, go back pick up John Luc and we won't be too far behind.  Hair stylist calls, she's running 15 minutes late... NOT a big deal, I will pick up the gifts, after I pick up John Luc he can help me deliver them, I will have the 2 kids walk to moms.  See!! I am Flexible!!  Got the haircut done, picked up the kids, got home, told the kids...Get ready to go!  I jumped in the shower, got out at 4:35ish, still no husband.  I will go with the natural look with the hair, put make up on in the car.  4:50 no husband, 4:55 nothing.  "Someone call Dad".  No answer.  5:04 pm, he finally contacts homebase and tells us to pick him up at work!  What!?!  Okay, jump in the car and let get going.  We jump on the turnpike and head that way, pick him up around 5:20, stop get gas, on the road headed west 5:35.  Finally after detours due to road construction we arrive in Fairfax... only about 5 minutes late.  Not bad.  It's okay, I would have just balled my eyes out watching Rachel walk down the aisle, Pom and Circumstance always makes me cry.  Good thing is when I am taking photos I don't get so emotional.  I walked down the aisle toward the front as the graduates came off the stage to hand out white roses to their parents.  I watched Rachel to try to get a picture, but by the time I realized she was handing a rose to her Mom I was weeping... all the past thing didn't matter anymore.  She was beautiful, intelligent, she accomplished the first goal in her life that will take her on the path of her adult life.  Before we know it she will be getting married, and having children (not too soon!), but it all comes before we realize it.  Then I followed her as she went to her Dad and gave him a rose, didn't get a picture of it... then she came to me.  I was so surprised, shock doesn't even touch on it. Touched, honored... I wept, really touched my heart. 

One of those moments that I wouldn't have seen coming and will NEVER forget.   A few weeks before that her brother, Jack said something to me on facebook and it was also one of those moments I will never forget.  After giving him a little advice, nothing he asked for directly, but me being me, gave it to him anyway... he replied back and said, "Thanks Debbie, you always know the right thing to say."  This was from my 16 yr old stepson.... he doesn't know how much that meant to me.   Another one I sure didn't see coming... and will not soon forget. 

So as I we were driving home I went over Plan A, Plan B... went with Plan A, everyone seemd to be in agreement.  Not so much when it was time to implement the plan..... 

Got started later than planned due to not sticking to the plan.  Got everyone where they needed to be, on time, reasonably speaking.  Headed to the ballfields for John Luc to play baseball first time in weeks. 

Did I mention that Shae-Lyn had her dance recital today as well... oh yes and originally she was dancing the Act I which was perfect with my busy day, John Lucs baseball schedule was an early game and a late game... which meant if I could make arrrangements to get her to rehearsal that morning I could go to John Lucs first game... get done with the game pick her up take her to the hair stylist to get her hair put up, watch her dance take her after she is done performing we could head to the baseball fields, again and all watch John Luc play at 6:15.  Whew!!  That was too easy----------------------

Get to rehearsal at 9 am; her group is now dancing in Act II... which will be about the time John Lucs game is starting if I am lucky.   I almost cried, how do I choose between my 2 children and watching them do the things the love so much!  It will work out, it will work out.  So off I go to drive Gerald to work. On the way to the baseball game my brother happens to come to mind, IF Curtis is going to the late game, maybe he could get John Luc out there for me and then Shae and I will head out that way as soon as she is done dancing.  YES! Curtis can... it is all coming together.  I knew it would just wasn't sure how it would....

We arrive at the correct ballfields all is going well.  Looking forward to working on my ballpark tan...ah the joy of baseball.  It's a bit windy, ah who am I kidding it is very windy.  But it is afterall, Oklahoma!

The game begins, not winning but not bad.... John Luc pitched, ah ok..not great.  He was hitting well, this has been a good year for him especially with hitting the ball.  He's having fun with this group... I am so grateful, you really do not know unless you've had a child who LOVES something, it's his passion it has been since before he was ever on a team, he use to dress up as a little boy and tell me he was ready to go play ball.  He would say my coach called mom...he didn't have a coach or a team.  Not in reality... but in his dreams he did, he always gives 110%, his heart is so big for the game, he is a coaches dream to coach-I have had coaches tell me that.  Nonetheless his first broken heart was from a coach... so to have him on this team who believes in him, embraces him and encourages him... what an answer to prayer.  Anyway, so he was playing 2nd base, the ball was bouncing all over the place on these fields.  Seemed to hit the ground and go a bit crazy... it had gotten past him a few times, this time it didn't get past him.  It hit him on the nose!  Down he went.  Calmly I got up to show I was a concerned parent.  As I heard the coaches yell we need rags... and a coach looked at me said, "His nose is bleeding a bit, Mom".  I figured as much... I really wasn't worried.  So, loaded up his bag, they called the game walked down to the car, loaded up got in and he broken down... "It hurts Mommy!"  When your 14 yr old son, who is as tall as you and his voice is deeper says Mommy it takes you spinning back to when he was 2... Calmly I said I understand son, let get going, get some ice.. and access after that.  I called my brother and told him what was going on so he could set my Mom up for what may lie ahead.  We get to Moms, and his nose was so swollen, his eye looked a bit black and while the bleeding has slowed down it wasn't done. So, I decided it was off to the ER we go. 
WAIT!!  Shae-Lyn... her hair appointment was at 2, it was 1:25... I looked at her and said, I have to take your brother to the ER, (I just knew she'd fall apart, just knew she wouldn't want to go to the recital without me while this was going on with her brother)... she said, well go ahead and I will get ready for my recital.  I explained I wasn't sure how long it would take and she said she understood... My little girl has really grown up.  She was calm and mature, not angry, or disappointed.  She rose to the occasion and followed through on her committment to her class.  Everyday I thank God my Mom is around, available and able to help me with my kids.  Today, if it weren't for her Shae-Lyn would have had to miss her recital.

We arrived at the ER...

Of course there is a wait... we are watching the clock, me to see if we are going to make Shae-Lyns recital, John Luc was itching to get back to the ballfields... After about an hour my brother and his family stop by, he was still in taking John Luc to the baseball game mode.  After sitting there for an hour with 4 patients in front of us; John Luc still in some pain, and still a bit of blood coming from his nose we are all thinking if we make it he won't be playing...

So, while I am sitting there... trying to keep from being inpatient I am facebooking (thank the Lord for technology!)... texting... people are praying for John Luc.  And those that know that Shae-Lyn is preparing for her recital without her support group with her, I know they were saying a prayer for her. To be honest I was praying for her and Mema more than I was John Luc, I suppose because he was sitting there with me, she was not. 

About 5:30 pm they call John Luc back, they say, "We have opened our Fast Track up to help get some of you out of here, sorry for your long wait".  [Here is my thinking... its an ER, people are there for help, you never know how many people are going to be coming in... I am not frustrated, annoyed, or irritable.  Not worried, knowing that someone bigger than me is in control because I have given HIM control].  They sit John Luc down, it's not broken...(hoorah) they go into more details...explaining what to do... good thing they write it all down because right now I can't tell you much they said, except by 5:38 pm they were telling us the news by 5:45 they were signing paperwork and we were in the car, by 6 pm we were at the recital, waiting for Shae-Lyn to come on stage... by 6:27 she was on stage, graceful, beautiful, elegant... she is transformed when she in in ballet mode.  She appears so different... she is a ballerina. 

I was able to get down by the stage and take a few pictures, she looked over and saw me.  I am not sure how it made her feel to see I was there... but it sure made me feel good to be able to see her dance.  She honestly, didn't look surprised... it was like she knew I would be there, or she just had peace, confidence.  She's always exuding confidence that exceeds my imagination.  From Kindergarten on... from time to time I see pieces of her confidence be challenged but she seems to be like lizard when the lose a piece of their tail it grows back.  When someone chips away at her confidence, it always seems to come back...  She is beautiful... everytime I look at my children I an struck by the awe factor that they are MY children... really they are God's, I can not take much credit for who they are, really.  I am such a flawed person, so far from the amazing people they already are, it is not possible for them to be WHO they are without God guiding them, directing me. 

The day ended with joy, peace, a very grateful heart on my part.  Exhausted... but truly with a smile on my face and in my heart.

We woke up and started the day with John Luc saying he was in no pain, so off to baseball we went, called his coach and said he was feeling good.  We got there and God blessed us again by an outpouring of generousity of love and support by the people HE has placed in our lives...

John Luc played well, again, hit well... a bit timid when he played 2nd... but he did well, his team played well.  He had a good time with is new friends, who I believe God sent to us for a reason, as He always does.  They won a game and lost a game, which sent us home to relax and get back into our day to day life and outside of our baseball world...

I certainly didn't see alot of that comin', and I didn't look forward to see it go, it was a good weekend, full of love, peace and joy... I guess what I've learned is that when I trust Him, it doesn't matter what is comin' I don't see it but He does and He is in control of my life, and all of those who come into my life.

Happy Hippos Batman!!

As a small child I loved Batman.  Not, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, or even easy on the eyes George Clooney... but the old "Bam, Pow, Bang" Batman.  I was a small toddler and my Mom tells me I would sit there and watch it over and over, infact so much so that one of my first words was Batman.   I wonder now if my cousin Brian watched it and I joined in.
I will never forget the home we lived in with my grandmother, Ruth Soderboom.  My father had been sent to VIetnam, he worked with rescue helicopters.  My Mom a new mother, and I a baby spent quite some time with my Grandma in Rockford, lived in a 2-story gray house.  We lived upstairs and Arte Johnson and his wife lived downstairs... a swedish man, small in stature, very big in heart.  I can not recall his wifes name, but I do recall things.  I can remember the stairs that led to our home, the dark wood, with black runner made of plastic or rubber.  I recall walking up the stairs to the door that lead into the home.  I remember the creeking sounds the old wood made.  Most of all I remember the smell.  A dark, warm odor, probably (since I am not a big drinker) from the liquor that was consumed by the adults. 
I have fond memories of love, joy... time with my cousin and my Grandmother that we lost a few years later.    I still have one of the Christmas gifts I received at that home on my first Christmas; I also have a doll bed that Arte built for me. 
Life is beautiful... life is something to cherish... to relish in ever moment... soak up each event and the love that you feel.  As a young child I learned that, early on in my life I learned that you do not know what the next moment is going to hold for you.  I think it gave me a different insight  for the people in my life... to really SEE them in my life and appreciate that they were put in my life for a reason, even if at that moment I do not know or possibly they do not know why.  No matter how big or small they have contributed to my life just as each breathe I take is important to my survival, each person who I have known has given to my life and helped me become there person I am... and will continue to be... I trust that I will continue to learn, grow, and become a better Christian, mother, wife, daugther, sister, cousin, aunt, friend a dominant contributor to this world we live in---through the strength and wisdom of my Lord and Savior!