A Week without Andy

It has been a long week but only today and tomorrow left before Andy returns. I try to keep a positive attitude and not sit on the pity pot crying about missing him, which is why, I guess, I made my list of things to do while he was gone. My philosophy is to keep busy because it makes time go by a little more quickly. But as busy as I've been, the house is very quiet. Not that Andy is all that noisy (!), but there's no one here to talk to.

Andy left last Sunday/Monday in the middle of the night with 11 other people from church for a missions work trip to Guatemala. They were doing some construction work projects at a Word of Life camp there. I'm hoping he will do a post when he returns. He took the camera with him, so I'm also hoping he's taking lots of pictures.

On Monday I went to work as usual, but by about mid-morning, I started feeling bad, with a pain in my abdomen. I had help in the office, so I decided to leave work at 1:30, came home and went to bed. I actually lay under all the covers, with an extra blanket on top and all my clothes on. It was so warm and cozy and I slept for 2 hours. When I woke, I really didn't feel that much better and besides, when I got out of the bed, I was cold. So back to bed I went and slept another 2 hours. At that point, why get up since I felt better in bed than out of it, so I stayed and slept till 6:00 am Tuesday. Believe it or not, when I woke up on Tuesday, I felt fine! So I started working on my list.

Besides the usual housework I do on Tuesdays (laundry and cleaning bathrooms), I was able to clean all 3 bookshelves. The only time I regret having so many books is that they are dust collectors. But I suppose that is a small price to pay for the enrichment they bring to our lives.
Dawn and Kira came over around 5:00 and ate dinner with me. I made Dawn's favorite meal - tuna ring! She loves it but Tommy doesn't. So he stayed home and we had a girls' night.
Wednesday was another work day. When I got home, I cleaned the freezer, then the refrigerator. They weren't very dirty, but it was satisfying to be able to cross those jobs off my list.
On Thursday morning, my nose started running...and I began sneezing...ugh ugh ugh. Miserable me and I had no Andy to comfort me. Fortunately, I wasn't very busy at work this week so I was able to leave early again. I lay down when I got home, but not for long because as soon as I lay down, I perked up. Why does that happen! So back to my list. I made a carrot cake, then started a pot of barley vegetable soup. While the soup was cooking, I scrubbed the kitchen floor. Usually, I just wipe it as it needs it, but about twice a year, I get down on my hands and knees and scrub it with bleach.

While I was at work on Friday, I got a call on my cell phone. When I answered it, I was surprised to hear Grace's voice. I had been planning to drive over to Christy's on Friday after work with the cake and soup to spend dinner time with their family since it was Christy's birthday. But Grace called to ask if I would please spend the night at their house. I told her to ask her mommy if she really wanted me to come since I was sick and I was blowing my nose every 5 minutes. When Grace relayed the message, I could hear Christy in the background answer to let me know that it didn't matter, she would fix me up! I had a feeling that would be her response. So I packed up my overnight bag and off I went.

It was an entertaining evening. The whole family is involved in a musical at their church and the kids sang some of their songs for me. They also practiced some of their taekwan do moves that they're learning and their piano pieces. I was able to capture some of the show on my phone, which was funny because Aiden was singing his song so nicely while Naomi was doing her exercise moves - wild and crazy all around him. The unfortunate thing is that I can't share the video with you because it wouldn't upload from my phone. I tried nearly all day, getting advice from all 3 of my daughters thinking they might know more tricks than I, but no one was able to figure it out.

We sang happy birthday to Christy. I can't believe I have a daughter who is 34 years old. Whew. But what a lovely lady she has grown to be. It was a pleasure spending time with her. Christian put the kids to bed and I think he must have fallen asleep himself, because we never saw him again. Christy and I talked and talked and were shocked to finally look at the time and discover it was 11:00! It was very nice to have some uninterrupted time together.

I drove back home on Saturday morning. I made it in record time because it was early enough on a weekend morning - so not much traffic. I was surprised to find 2 cards on the kitchen table with Andy's handwriting. What a guy! He had planned ahead to have my birthday card and Valentine's card ready for me even though he wasn't here in person. He had asked his mom to give them to me.

Then this afternoon, Christy called and asked if I had plans for the evening and could they come down and take me out to dinner. How fun! They arrived around 5:30 and we all drove over to Chipotle, had dinner together, then came back to the house for cake. I have a little bit left to save for Andy when he gets home.

Today is my birthday. I've had lots of friends wish me well on facebook. I feel very blessed, surrounded by friends and family members who love me. It's a wonderful life! Thank you, God.