Back to Life on the Homestead

We came home Saturday ~ one day early from vacation. I think Brandon had a mix of discomfort with his ear and also a touch of homesickness. I could not stand to be the only parent of a fussy child any longer. When Brandon was crying in pain from his ear, I felt so helpless and was set on taking him to after hours care! But once we got home, Scott went out and bought him some drops and between the drops, ibuprofen and being with Daddy, Brandon was feeling better. I tried to get him in to his Dr on Monday but he was booked up. I will be taking him later this morning after I get off work. I am glad we came home early. Our unit at the resort was nice but it didn't have any Christmas in it! It's a Christmas wonderland in my house:) Plus I missed my husband. It was nice that we got the chance to "miss" each other.

Yesterday - Monday - I was an emotional roller coaster. Very expensive things keep breaking in our house. We are still trying to dig ourselves out of the hole from replacing our AC unit in August. Man those things are expensive. Now we have to replace our sump pump and that's pretty important so we cannot put it off. There is some light friction between the adult siblings on my side of the family. I guess half of us can afford to exchange gifts and half of us cannot. It has made me feel stressed, angry and sad all at once. Thinking about it again makes me want to cry. I do not want my focus to be taken off of the real reason for the season. I have a neighbor who mentioned buying my son a gift. That makes me feel bad too. I don't want anyone to buy us anything. That's what I want for Christmas - NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All these little petty things that have been weighing on me - home repairs, money, health issues, family issues, and the fact that my promised date of making a huge change in my life is approaching super fast... all these things are small and not worthy of mentioning. I should be and AM ashamed of feeling bad about them or complaining. It suddenly occurred to me on Monday evening when I watched my kids giggle and play little games like "I got your nose!", how truly blessed I am to have happy healthy kids. To have a wonderful husband. A roof over our heads. Wonderful parents. Wonderful sisters. Wonderful friendships. And above all else, GOD in my life. It must have been God who reminded me on Monday evening about the 3 local families who have each lost a child recently. A drowning, a suicide and an illness. I don't have any real problems. But I could in a blink of an eye! Bad things happen. I need to appreciate what I have when I have it. Hug and squeeze my family tight and let each of them know how much I love them!!!