Hi

It feels like it's been forever since I've written.

I don't quite know what I have to say tonight, but it simply feels like it's been too long since I've cleared my head and documented our life on the ol' blog.

Where to start...?

Things have been a little nutty around here. 

We found out two weeks ago, quite unexpectedly, that the clinic I work at will be closing at the end of the year. As in, the end of this month. I've been granted a position elsewhere in the hospital that will start as soon as this one ends, for which I am incredibly grateful. But, it's made for a crazy two weeks at work.

Also about two weeks ago, my best friend's husband called me out of the blue and asked me if he bought me a round trip ticket, would I be willing to fly to their state and surprise her at her baby shower?? Um, YES.

So, I was in New Mexico for four days. 

It was all kinds of fun.

I got to surprise my friend and spend some much needed time with her. 

So, so, SO good for my soul. And I'd like to think hers too =).

 

But the getting there - and back- was a little stressful. 

Have I told you that I hate to fly?

Like, HATE it.

Also? I hate to leave my babies.

HATE. IT.

But who turns down a once in a lifetime opportunity like that? Not this girl.

So I prayed a lot and popped a few anti-anxiety pills and last Friday morning I boarded a plane, trusting my babies would be perfectly fine at  home with their Daddy and the pilot knew what he was doing.

I took our laptop with me, anticipating I'd take time to write or surf the web during layovers at various airports. 

Then, during my first layover, as I started to dig my laptop out of my carry on, I glanced up at the giant flat-screen TV in the waiting area and saw the headline "BREAKING NEWS...SHOOTER AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN CT".

And that was that.

My laptop never opened, and it remained shut the rest of my trip.

I knew that if I was going to remain calm and able to enjoy my trip, I could not become immersed in the tragedy unfolding. I simply could not hear or know about it while I was so far away from my own babies.

After all, I do live less than five miles from the Clackamas Town Center shooting that had happened three days before I left, so I was already on high alert anxiety-wise.

So I offered up a silent prayer for whatever was occurring in Connecticut, and thumbed through my People magazine instead.

I got home late Monday night, and spent Tuesday lovin' up on my babies. I missed them so much! It was great to have them at an age where they can tell me all about what they did while I was gone. Dave made them this "calendar" so they could keep track of their days while I was away...

Pretty cute, huh?

Which brings us to the last several days of this week...gearing up for Christmas, winding things down at the office, and simply being Still. Well, being as Still as time allows. Perhaps a more appropriate wording would be hunkering down. When tragedy occurs, such as that in Connecticut, a reverence usually follows. A sort of silent recognition for all that so many are going through right now. As well as a desire to be near my family. To be off the computer, and engaged. Grateful for the mundane tasks of folding laundry and washing dishes, as it means I am Home, and there is no tragedy occurring here.

'Night all.