My Getaway

Early Friday morning I caught the Amtrak in Lapeer to go and visit my good friend Gidget that lives in a suburb outside of Chicago. It was so nice to ride out there and not have to stress over sitting in construction traffice or the craziness of going through the notorious Chicago Loop. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I enjoyed some great magazines and an awesome page-turner of a book, My Abandonment. I made it there in record time, about five hours which never would have happened if I had driven. From the Union Station I caught the Metra out to the burbs. People on the train are interesting to me, there's the readers, the computer users, the ipod listeners, and the ones that are compelled to be on the phone for the entire ride. You can actually see their little brains thinking, 'who can I call now-who can I call now.' There are so many different nationalities in the city I swear I heard no less than five different languages being spoken by people on the hour ride out to the burbs. Being in the crazy, smelling union station makes me realize however why I live where I live. Gidget's she-owner picked me up from the station, we had some Chinese for lunch then headed to their house.
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Gidget is one lucky dog! She lives in a beautiful house with many artifacts that her he-owner brought back from all over the world on his travels as a corporate pilot. I couldn't even do them justice by trying to take pictures. The bedroom in the collage is my favorite in the house. I love the colors, this was not the room I stayed in, but I hope to next time. We had several wonderful dinners which included fresh vegetables from their cute little backyard garden.

Saturday I was treated by Gidget's she-owner to a massage and a pedicure at a spa near their home. Wow, what a friend, it was great. For the rest of the day we just hung out, played some frisbee, and chase games, then watched Avatar. I had never seen it before, it was awesome even without 3-D.
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Sunday I went to church with them and although the music and service was quite nice, whenever I go to other churches it makes me realize how much I love my own. After service we went downstairs so I could check out the rooms where they held their children's ministry. There were so cute! Each room had a theme, nature, space, Suessville, very well done and security was tight! I couldn't even really go in the rooms because I didn't have a card. Cool. Here's a couple shots of the hallway which impressed me tremendously.

But the best site of my entire trip was their supply room. It was unbelievably organized and from what people told me it always stays that way which means teachers are trained to put things back from whence they came. What an amazing concept.

After church we went to one of the most popular public parks in the area. Gidget's she-owner works for the county forest preserve so we pretty much entered like rock stars with our Staff pass to check out a pavilion for a party they are hosting next weekend. What a fabulous park with a great beach, playscape, biking/hiking trails, and more.

The park system there is very green concience, I was most impressed with their parking bumpers which are made out of recycled tires!! They also have rubber mulch down on the playscape, super thickly too, it feels squishy beneath your feet.

After a quick stop back at the house to get Gidget we headed out to a farm market that had a small petting zoo. Gidg got some great sniffs and had fun visiting with Macaroni the calf, and some baby goats, Dora, Boots and Swiper, and a motherly duck that takes every new arrival under its wing.

Monday morning I got a good walk in with Gidget's she-owner then after a shower, packing, and a great lunch at Olive Garden I started the reverse trip on the Metra back down to the city to catch the Amtrak back to Michigan. It was a wonderful trip with some folks I am greatly honored and humbled to call my friends. They made me feel special at a time that has been extremely troubling for me. But I continue to press through as I am buffeted, knowing I will come out stronger on the other side.

Not exactly what I planned

Much has transpired since my last post, so much I can't possibly review it all and much of it I'd like to forget. But I'll give you the general highlights. We had Alex's Open House/18th Birthday Party which went well over all with a nice turnout of friends and family and only one relatively minor incident that happened late in the evening. Thankfully I had already gone in and gone to bed by then so I only heard about it in the morning, out of respect for the individual I won't provide the gory details but I will say it had nothing to do with any of Alex's friends.

Yesterday Ethan participated in the final 3-hole "just for fun" Jr. Golf Academy Tournament. He said he was a little nervous but he did really well for being one of the youngest in this age group. He scored a 16 on the three holes they played which was the best score out of his 5 player group. He was one over par on the first two holes but botched his drive on the last hole which totally threw him off. Brookwood was a beautiful course and kudos to Mr. Simpson the golf pro who ran this summer's program. He was kind, encouraging, organized and extremely knowledgable. There were many grandpas and dads that helped with the lessons and the tourney and they were all quite helpful as well. For anyone in the area looking for Jr. Golf lessons I highly recommend this program.

One of the not so great things that transpired, although I am doing my best to find the grace to adjust is ..... that Alex dropped a huge bomb on us days before her Open House. She does not want (isn't ready to) attend Grand Valley and instead has opted to stay at home and get some general education credits under her belt at Mott Community College. We are extremely proud of her for getting accepted to GVSU and were heartbroken by the news and the timing of it all. Originally she told us she was going to move to Alpena of all places the get an apartment with a friend (who happens to be a boy) and go to community college. After a family confab with myself, Alex, her father, and grandparents we got to some of the heart of the matter and relented to let her stay in our home and go to Mott but we explained that in no way shape or form would we support the whole Alpena situation. I really was looking forward to having her out of the house and now I need to figure out how to make this work and not be treated like a doormat. Teenagers do not always realize how good they have it and that mom and dad actually do know a thing or two. Apparently my work is not done with her and she's not ready to leave the roost. God give me the grace to see this through.

So it goes without saying I feel like I've been through the fire and really got burned. It's not so much that she changed things up but how she went about presenting it. Financially it will certainly be easier on us paying community college prices, when I called GVSU to defer her enrollment they said her application will stay on file for two years and she can transfer in at anytime. As long as the class is called the same as theirs it will transfer. Alex assures me she still wants to finish a four-year degree and eventually get there but she's not ready now. All that's fine and well but she'll need to follow the rules of the house, something teenagers are not always willing to do. Honestly I'm not looking forward to what's ahead, I know there will be some head butting going on but I'm willing to try. Any prayers for this situation would be greatly appreciated.

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This week Ben is doing soccer camp in North Branch and having a great time. We should be getting a call from his AYSO coach any day now and start in the swing of practices for the fall season, which is always a good time. Ben and Ethan also attended VBS at our church this week and I helped as a group leader which was about all I could handle. It was nice not to be in charge as I have been in the past.

I am really looking forward to getting started into the new school year and I know the boys are too but will certainly continue to enjoy their last few weeks of summer. This year in addition to subbing I am planning on volunteering to run a vocal music program after school at the lower elementary and the middle school and during choice time on Fridays at the upper elementary. Plus, for myself I'm going to sing with the Lapeer Community Chorus which meets on Monday evenings at Trinity Methodist Church in Lapeer. Even if it feels like my life is being pulled apart I will continue to make a joyful noise and praise Him through the storm. Peace, out.