Break out the feather duster...

Been awhile since I've been to this place!  Had to dust off the password, and get the cobwebs off the sign-in screen.

It's been an emotional roller coaster couple of weeks, and honestly, blogging has been the furthest thing from my mind.  But as I sit in an absolutely silent house, trying not to fall asleep, I figured I should hop on here and let it be known that I was still alive.

A week ago, I traveled with 2 friends, to Michigan, to attend the funeral of a very dear friends 9 year old daughter.  She passed 2 days before her 10th birthday, in a terrible accident.  I can't begin to fathom the pain her parents are feeling, but as a mother, and their friend, my heart breaks for them.  I hate to attend funerals as it is, but to have it be one of a child who has had her life taken far too soon, is just unfair.  I will never know the reason why she was taken, but must find peace that she was needed somewhere else even more than here.  I was glad to be able to be there with her parents, and to spend quite a bit of time with them after the funeral.  Being able to laugh, and talk about other things later in the day, certainly helped ease some of the pain we were all feeling.

The following day, we did an "all girls geocache run".  It was an INCREDIBLY therapeutic trip, and I am SO glad we decided not to cancel it, despite everything going on in everyones lives recently.  (I have several friends dealing with difficult situations right now)  I didn't get home until 2AM, and had to be back up for work at 6AM.  Needless to say, I got about 1.5 hours of sleep.  It was a rough day, but it was worth it for the amount of fun we had.  It was great to be able to laugh that hard, all day long!

Next weekend is our first camping trip of the year.  We are going to Pokagon State Park, which is my favorite Indiana State Park.  When I first moved to Indiana to be with Brad, he worked there, and we spent a LOT of time there.  The kids and I are going with several of our friends, and their families.  I am SO looking forward to it, AND...I get to try out the new tent!  It's supposed to get REALLY cold at night, one night below freezing.  We will pack extra heaters, and pray we don't blow out the electric boxes!   My friend Katies step-mom is doing most of the cooking, so that will certainly make camping more enjoyable for the rest of us...lol.  ;o) But the kids and I will be providing stuff for Mexican Smores one night.  They are delicious, and I am craving them as I write this!

One of the people I work with (there are only 3 of us in kennels) is leaving the clinic.  So that means my boss and I both have to pick up all of his shifts until a new person can be hired and trained.  It's going to be a crazy busy couple of weeks, so again, blogging will probably be scarce.  However, I will *try* to be a bit better about it.  Hope everyone is doing well...

how much more?

This weekend, and even into today, have been some of the hardest days of my life.  I have several friends and family members who are struggling through very difficult situations right now.  Nothing that is going on in my life compares, but when I combine them all together onto my shoulders, I've become to feel a bit overwhelmed.  I keep reminding myself that it could always be worse for me, and that I need to continue to be strong for those that need me.  But I honestly just want to break down.  I'm sure my time will come.

What is hurting me the most is that my group of friends is fairly spread out.  I want so bad to be able to run to them and just sit up all night and talk through the situations, but I can't.  I feel like this is a time that our "family of friends" really needs to be together, and draw from each others strength.  I know it will happen with time.

What I am struggling with the most is that a couple in our "group" has suffered the loss of their daughter.  We have all gotten so close over the past few years, that it feels like we have all lost a child.  Someone in our group is hurting and that hurts us all.  We have all experienced a wave of emotions the last few days, and I am so glad that we have been able to draw from each other, and talk our ways through this.

In addition to this tragedy, there are several other things going on.  I won't even get into those right now. I'm lost in emotions that I don't understand right now, and so  I really just needed something to make me smile tonight.  So I pulled out my "Jingle Bells" cross stitch pattern and worked on it a bit.  It dawned on me that my snowman needed a face, and so I finished out the night with giving him a smile.  He's just so darn cute that it was the little extra "warm fuzzy" that I needed tonight.  Here is a picture of his grin:

R.I.P. Violet Rose.  And may your mom and dad find strength in their wonderful memories of you.