Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety-Jig

Aaaahhhhhh. I can breathe again!

There is something about the amount of stress that can build up in my life that makes me feel as if I can't breathe. It's always so wonderful to go away for a brief time, and then come back breathing normally. My spirit breathes in deep, and I am refreshed.

I did in fact scream my lungs out on Friday night at the swim meet. I stood there in bare feet, soaked by splashing, in a sleeveless sweater tank and denim skirt -- still very hot and sweaty -- with a timer in one hand and a clipboard in the other. Our economically-depressed town has no money for the touchpads used in swim races, or even for a scoreboard. So we are assigned two people to a lane and we clock each race with a stopwatch. One of the two -- me, in this case, records the times on cards given to us by the individual swimmers for each event.

The great thing about this is that I got to be in Lane 3, which was the lane assigned to our team! So I was able to watch each race right from the edge of the pool. All the girls did well, as did the Marco Polos and a few other familiar faces from years past. I had a running commentary going with the guy who was my partner-in-time (heh heh heh), describing each of the kids. "Here's Bruce -- he has the attention span of a gnat, but you throw him in the water and all he does is go fast!" JB, Barbie, and Rose made up 3 of the 4 people on the 4 x 200 relay team. The other girl, AT, is now my new adopted daughter. The girls informed me of this as they were standing there waiting for the race to begin.

So much fun. These are the days I knew would come when I was struggling through potty training and wiping noses.

My good friend Diane and I made it from NC to OH in just 10 hours on Saturday. We left at 5:30AM, so Dad picked me up mid-afternoon. I got to ride in the Rocket Car. My Dad is a Ford, You-Gotta-Buy-A-Ford, No-Car-Runs-Like-A-Ford, If-It's-Not-A-Ford-It's-Junk kind of guy. So he got a brand new fancy-schmancy car and I even got to call my mom on the car phone.

IT WAS VERY COOL. There I am, just sitting in the front seat of the Rocket Car, talking out loud like I do to my Dad (who was driving) -- except I was talking to my Mom on the phone!

I especially liked the back seat warmers.

BECAUSE IT WAS FREEZING! OMGosh, I was a popsicle. My Mama has this cool sweater coat that my brother got her from Bosnia, and I wore it the entire time. And I reminded Dad to make a wood fire every night.

It was a very short visit, but Mom and I were able to get a headstart on Christmas shopping. Normally we don't even talk about it until after Thanksgiving, so we are light-years ahead of our usual schedule.

We also got to hit the really good Goodwill store near her. Oh, the projects and ideas I have!

The ride home last night was long and we hit blinding snow in the mountains of WV and VA. It was a little scary when we came upon a just-jackknifed-semi-truck blocking 3 lanes of traffic, and we only saw it from about 40 feet away. But God protected us and we got home safe by about 12:45AM.

And it was good to be home, because it's always good for me to go away from my girls and then come back. They're always glad to see me. And I like that.

Plus, I brought Kroger Eggnog, so I was the Celebrity of the Evening.

Diane and I talked a lot about the book "The Shack," which I've only just recently finished. Have you read this book? What did you think?

xox