And life goes on

After visiting Colorado and getting snowed in for New Year's Eve, we finally returned to Kansas. My poor husband...He missed the last KC Chiefs home game. It was a great game.

After returning to Kansas, the new year got off to a busy start. All the Christmas decorations had to be taken down and stored away for another year. I am particular about being organized on put-away day because it makes it that much easier the following December when the decorating commences. Additionally, the quantity of decorations compels me to be as organized as possible. In my defense, it is not my fault. A vast amount of my mother's Christmas decorations graduated from her storage room to mine, much to my husband's dismay. It's all good because I love them and they make my home beautiful. Hopefully, one day, my grandchildren will think my house in a wondrous and magical place to come for Christmas. {I already know they'll be amazed at my house for Halloween}

Once that was all taken care off, I was off to Houston, Texas, to spend time with my sister and mother. The day I was to fly, the weather was predicted to turn ugly. Ice and snow were rapidly approaching. I was fearful that I would be grounded, so I opted to try to get on an earlier flight. My suitcase was to have been put on the 10:30 am flight. I was not able to get on that flight, but I did get on the 1:30 pm flight. It was a good thing, too because that flight was still delayed nearly an hour. The flight I was originally scheduled to take, the 3:30 pm, was delayed a few hours. Later ones were cancelled.

After sitting on the tarmac for nearly an hour and waiting through a de-icing, we were finally able to take off. Landing in Houston, I quickly discovered that my sweater was not needed. Houston was hot and muggy. My sister and mother were there waiting for me. My suitcase, however, was not. Apparently, it didn't make the 10:30 flight. It didn't make the 1:30 flight. It did make the 3:30 flight which had been delayed.

I was told it would be in around 6:30 pm and they would deliver it. After multiple telephone calls and many, many hours and many, many excuses later, I finally received my suitcase the next day. I had expected it by 8:00 pm and didn't receive it until 1:30 pm the following day. Ridiculous.

The girl's weekend was delightful. We ate, slept and shopped. We had manicures and pedicures. Mom also had a facial. We ate and slept and shopped some more. Then, we ate again. So much for diets and sound financial planning.

The weekend wasn't completely fun-time. I did have some work to do. My sister helped me cut a demo tape for audio. I really want to get into doing voice-over work and I especially want to read for audio tapes for children's books. My sister did all the editing and CD burning. I was merely the talent. After finishing my portion, I went back to sleep. I spent most of the weekend sleeping.

I returned home refreshed ready to face all the responsibilities of running a household with three teenage/adult children and three dogs and a husband.

My son, who is now an adult, opted to return to California earlier than had been expected. The morning he was to leave, he moved liked the greased lightening. I have never seen him move as fast or as motivated. He was a whirlwind of activity; up, bathed, cleaned, fed, packed, bed stripped, room tidied, and out the door. Super productive. If he could only do that on a regular basis, he could accomplish anything and I wouldn't have to worry about him and his future.

My sweet husband's brother is also in the military. He is currently stationed in Kansas but anticipates leaving for Afghanistan soon. The exact day he leaves is unknown. Even if I did know, I wouldn't be able to reveal it. OPSEC (operation security). So, the anxiety level in our house is high. Any opportunity my brother-in-law gets, he comes to our house. With his leave date approaching, his wife and children made the trip from where they are to where he is to spend as much time with him as possible. Although he has been deployed before, it doesn't ease the process any.

In the meanwhile, my husband will be responsible for taking his brother's car to Colorado. More adventures.