Welcome Spring!

 

Oh how I’m glad to see your warm return.  We enjoyed a beautiful day at The Zoo and one of our local parks.  Cindy Lou Who is starting to let me take the occasional picture where she actually smiles at me.  I’m not a fan of posed pictures, but it would be nice to have a picture of her smiling.  It takes some work, but she let me get a few today.  Thing 1 and Thing 2 are complete hams at this point.  I never have to worry about them not wanting to take a photo, just whether or not it will be goofy. 

 

 

 

 

More pictures from our day can be viewed on my Flickr account.  Just click here.

Staycation

What was supposed to be a road trip with me and a friend ended up being a week with John and Cindy Lou Who instead. Our trip to Philly was rained out. Many of the activities that Amanda and I had planned were outdoors; the rain took care of that. We are in the process of rescheduling however. John had already put in the vacation days at work and couldn't take them back so we spent time together instead. He was going to be at home with Cindy Lou Who while I was away. Thursday and Friday were fairly uneventful days. He had homework to get done and 2 papers to write so we hung around the house and rented movies. Friday night, Thing 1 had a semi-formal birthday party to attend. It was so fun shopping for a dress and shoes. My little girl isn't so little anymore. I asked her when we arrived if she wanted me to walk her in or stay in the van. I'll let you guess which option she chose. I could see the other party-goers in the foyer of the facility. It was very refreshing to see middle school kids dressed like young men and ladies vs. what they wear to school on a daily basis. Believe me, with as much as I volunteer at school I mean daily basis!

Saturday, John and I took Cindy Lou Who to the Louisville Science Center. I had visited there a few weeks ago to see the Titanic Artifacts Exhibit. There is a Kids Space that Cindy Lou just LOVES! It is such a hands on area. No where in "Kids Space" will you hear someone say, "Don't touch that!" Her favorite part is the water play area. After our first visit, I learned what extras to pack in our bag to enjoy this part. They do provide rain jackets and dryers, but they don't provide dry socks/shoes/pants.... yeah, we got it under control now. There is so much to see and do it takes us between 4-5 hours.

We spent another fun-filled day together on Sunday. Bowling! It was Cindy Lou Who's first experience with bowling. She was 5 months old the first time she was in a bowling center. We had Thing 1 and Thing 2's birthday party at a bowling ally in 2008. So, now that she can walk, talk, and pick things up and throw them, we thought she might enjoy it. Boy oh boy did she ever! She was so excited to be able to push the ball down the lane every turn. One turn she got a little too excited and wanted to chase the ball. She got two steps onto the lane and ---- SPLAT! Right on her back. Lane oil and all, makes things slick. She tried to stand up on her own instead of waiting for John; who was trying to help her and --- SPLAT! She fell down again. From that point on, she didn't get close to the foul line again. Quick learner. We came home for a much needed nap and instead got unwanted playtime. We had dinner plans with some friends at one of our favorite places, Red Robin- Yummm! Cindy Lou was not going to make this a pleasant outing. We could already see that. Look to the sky! What's that? A bird? A plane? No! It's super GiGi coming to save the day! Literally we were preparing to walk out the door when my mom said she would keep her. Whew! We definitely dodge the bullet on that one. So, we headed off to dinner and had a great, adult only (except the baby in womb of our dear friends) time. Those are few and far between. The perfect end to a wonderful week spent together.

By the Grace of God

In January I posted about a very real, very personal issue in my life. In order to grasp the gravity of this post, you can go back and read it here. After 4 court dates and lots of worry and stress later, my Dad had another hearing scheduled for today. I posted earlier on Facebook that I had some amazing news to blog about. I do. By the Grace of God, the arresting officer and my Dad's public defender were able to agree to amend his charges. He was still charged with possession of an illegal substance, but only a misdemeanor felony charge. The lab results found that he actually had enough to be charged with a First Class Felony that carried a charge of up to 15 years. I breathe a sigh of relief that this was reduced. The officer was pleased with the fact that my Dad took it upon himself to seek and stay in treatment. So the outcome of today is conditional release. He has to stay in treatment (have no lapse) and return to court in 6 months for the judge to view his progress. As of right now, he is almost 90 days clean. In the past 3 months (almost) I have spent more time with my Dad then I had in the past 4 years. This whole experience has been the best thing that has happened to my Dad. He is thinking more clearly, enjoying time with us, and enjoying his place in life. So, while this may not be a significant day to most, it is a great day for me. We celebrated with a great lunch at Hard Rock Cafe before I had to take him to his next AA meeting. I continue to pray for his recovery every day. I can now begin to work on my own knowing that at least he is safe from prison.