Flower, Canyons, and Recovery!

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early. Actually, I woke up so early there was no bright about it...it was still pitch dark outside. I filled up my coffee cup, and set out to the Palo Duro Canyon to meet Flower and her step mom! I was so excited! I had to set my cruise control to keep from speeding to get there. I had a two hour drive in front of me to get to the Canyon, and I was alone. I turned on some praise music and turned it up pretty loudly.  I stopped on the side of the road to take this picture, right before it started to rain.

I left my window rolled down, could smell the wonderful fragrance of the rain, and was admiring the beautiful West Texas sunrise.  The beauty of the Canyon was just coming into sight.  I was singing along to the worship music, and knew I was about to see the biggest blessing God has ever given me.  I was simply overwhelmed by the awesomeness of God.

I reached the starting line of the Palo Duro Hot Dog Race, and was there just a little bit before my sweet girl got there.  When she did, we both ran over to each other.  That was the best hug I have had in a long time!  Honestly, I immediately started crying!  I was so excited to see my baby's face I couldn't help it!

Flower and I helped transport the racers to and from where they needed to be, and cheered her step-mom on as she ran the second leg of the relay (you can run the whole race, but they also have relay teams).  Then, we went up to the top of the hill known as "The Lookout" and waited at the finished line with Flower's step-mom and step-sister.  I was so amazed at how quickly some of the runners were able to finish the race.  They made it look so easy!

The hardest part of the race is the final hill to the finish point.  In that picture, we are at the finish line....don't the runner look small?  It is a pretty big hill!

Flower and I left, and went to visit my parents.  Flower is incredibly close to them, and she wanted to go see them.  We went to lunch, then killed time.  I had a surprise party planned for Flower, so we couldn't be home until 6:30!

I'm so thankful for Barb Wire Man, our bestest of friends, and my parents.  While we were out wasting time, they were at my house decorating, and setting out food for the party.  When we pulled into the driveway of our house, and she saw the "welcome home" sign, she was shocked!  She had no idea, and could hardly believe it!

Once she saw Barb Wire Man, we could hardly pry her off of him!  Then, she saw Little Man, and her best friend.  Little Man wouldn't let her out of his sight!  I think he was happier than anyone that she was home!

We had a great party, but that day was so...incredibly....long.  I ended up being awake for 21 hours.  On Sunday, Little Man woke us up around 7AM.  We came into the living room, and Flower and I fell back asleep on the couch!  Barb Wire Man came into the living room at some point, and fell back asleep on the floor!  Little Man was the only one who did not fall back asleep, so the kids ate a quick bite for lunch and he went to take a nap.  Flower and I went into my room to watch Mirror Mirror and guess what?  I fell back asleep, and so did Flower.  Barb Wire Man fell back asleep on the couch while watching Nascar!  (I'm telling you, we were all exhausted!  We woke up around 5PM, and ate supper.  By 9:00, both of the kids were already in bed, and fell asleep within minutes.  We weren't too far behind!  Our bodies apparently needed the rest!

I thank God that my baby girl is home, and my family is all together.  The sweetest thing was waking up, and being able to snuggle with both of my children on Sunday morning.  I have been blessed beyond belief.  I have an amazing family.  Nothing compares to that.  Period.

Be blessed today!

TGIF

This has been a long week!  The week started out rough, because last weekend was action-packed.  Despite laying around doing absolutely nothing last Sunday, we still were not fully recovered by Monday!

Monday and Tuesday I had my sweet daycare kiddos!  It made me so happy to have them here for those two days.  I love all of them, so it almost feels like my own children leave me for the summer.  But, I do forget how exhausting having that many little ones can be!

Our air conditioner decided to give up the ghost on Monday night.  Supper was cooking, the house was clean, Little Man was playing in the back yard, and Barb Wire Man was going to be home from work soon. I decided to seize the moment and sit and knit for a bit.  I sat down, the AC kicked on, and I noticed it sounded odd.  I didn't think too much about it until the house started filling with smoke! I flipped out, called Barb Wire Man and told him to come home!  Just turning the system off didn't work.  The fan kept running, and nasty electrical fire smell kept pouring into the house, and I finally had to switch the breakers to get it to turn off!  Thankfully, the weather this week has been cooler, so I was able to open the windows for fresh air.  Besides, I am the type of person who could totally live without an air conditioner and be just fine.  Barb Wire Man, on the other hand, is not.

Speaking of missing kids...this week has taken forever to end because I have something I'm so looking forward to tomorrow!  I get to see my Flower!!!  She has been out in South Carolina since the end of May, visiting her dad, step-mom, and sisters.  I know she has enjoyed it, but man, do I miss her!  I will be picking her up at the race I was supposed to run on Saturday morning.  I cannot wait!

The race I was supposed to run.  That makes me sad.  The Palo Duro Hot Dog is a 15K run that takes place in the Palo Duro Canyon, which is about 40 minutes or so from my house.  Erika, Mattie's step-mom and my friend, really encouraged me to start running.  So I did!  It was not something I ever thought I would really enjoy, but come to find out it was something I love to do.  I ended up hurting my ankle, and in my stubborn-ness refused to go to the doctor.  I didn't think it was a big deal, so I would just keep running each night, stopping only once my ankle was hurting so bad I wanted to cry.  I Barb Wire Man told me to go to the doctor and have it looked at.  I'm in an air cast now.  (See?  This is the reason I didn't want to go to the doctor.  I knew something was wrong with my foot.  I knew he would tell me I couldn't run, and that was unacceptable!  I asked if I could wear the cast up until a few days before the race, then take it off and go ahead and run on Saturday if I was really, really careful. The doctor's response was "Sure.  If you really really want to tear all the ligaments in your ankle, wind up having surgery, and be in pain for the rest of your life every time you run."

Well, now that you put it that way....

And so, I get to sit on the sidelines this year.  I'm so disappointed.  But, those closest to me know how hard I worked to get ready for this race.  I know that in October, when I am finally "allowed" to run again, I will come back with a vengeance and have even more time to prepare for next year's race.  And I will be at next year's race.

This year, I will be at the finish line, helping time the runners as they come in.  At least I can still participate some way, even though it isn't the way I had hoped.  Get ready, Hot Dog.  Next year, I will be there ready to go!

Be blessed, and have a wonderful weekend!!