School's Out, House Hunting, Surgery

Where do I start?

In the silent days since I sat down to write, we've lived much.

The girls had their last week of school, which was a happy, intense, full, beautiful week. It was loaded with emotion and things to do and good times with friends. It was also exhausting. I'm so thankful for the way the Lord has worked out the timing of daily life so that each of us has had special time to be with dear ones a little extra.

Let me start by saying how proud I am of the girls, their hard work, their growth, how responsible they are. What a great school year they each had! I praise God for bringing us through the year of school. This one has been marked by increasing stability and health (emotional, mental) for our family, for which I'm also thanking Him.

After the crazy last week of school, it was a whirlwind weekend of cleaning up and grocery shopping and I don't know what else in order to get ready to be gone for a week, househunting in our new town.

Our wonderful friends offered to come stay with the kids while we flew away for five days to shop for a house. We were hoping to find a place quickly and spend most of the week quietly together, just breathing and being.

That was not God's plan. It turned out to be a rather grueling week, emotionally and mentally. We arrived exhausted. There just weren't that many homes from which to choose. We slept poorly. And I think that the pause to our normal day-to-day living opened a (needed) opportunity for processing this whole enormous change. Processing is not always a pleasant experience. It can be painful and confusing and can muddy your rational thinking at a time when you feel so desperately that clear-thinking is a requirement.

And we looked at houses. But not in a crazy-frenetic way. There just weren't that many and our real-estate guy wasn't a go-go kind of person. Both facts proved to be a blessing, because if there's one thing a person needs in order to process thoughts and emotions, it's time, and God gave us that. We had slow mornings, no hurrying, just the two of us. We jogged together (something we've never done before), and even went to a movie at a place with fancy recliner seats, and ate popcorn and Junior Mints. These are rare treats, extra blessings.

By the last day of our trip, we had one home as a possibility, and went to see another house the morning we left town. That one turned out to be a great option, so we left with two possibilities, but no for-sure anything yet.

We are total nerds when it comes to food and pictures. This was cinnamon French toast, y'all. And I pretty much cleaned my plate. Yum.

We arrived home, spent, to very happy children who'd spent the week adventuring with their temporary parents.

Thankfully, we had a quiet weekend as a family, and it was nice to face Monday with no school for the kids. BB is almost there, himself - with only 4 weeks to go till graduation!

But life does keep clicking along: Monday was some sweet time with my good friend D, then off to pick up glasses for AH. Tuesday brought two repairmen in the house and multiple phone calls regarding CJ's surgery, and 5 haircut appointments.

And, as I write, I'm looking at a sleeping CJ, who has just come out of her surgery successfully. Praise God for His protection and the blessing of good healthcare. She's now adenoid- and tonsil-free and has ear tubes.

We are aiming for a mid-June moving date, but still do not have a specific schedule.

Oh, and how could I forget: in the middle of yesterday's living, we got word that the very last house we viewed is to be our new home. It's exciting to think of having a home ready for us and to start planning and arranging it, at least mentally. 

God is good.