Today

Well today has been a fairly peaceful day. Paul is in Texas with his family--the funeral is tomorrow. All the kids made it to school today--with only minimal crying and sorrow. Ryan is happy at home and enjoying the time with me (well and Blake, when Cheryl and Blake were here for a little while). My mom left today to go up to spend some time with her brother and my sister in Seattle. It has been a lovely couple of days with her--although very hectic. Here is an example of the crazyness: Yesterday, we took Bren and Jen to school, then took Ryan to school, came home and did hair and makeup, then drove the car to Boring to the mechanic, then stopped by the house to pick up Paul and his suitcases, then drove him to the airport, then went to Costco, then ran to Ryan's school to read, then to Burgerville to eat a hamburger, then back to pick up Ryan then quickly home before Bren and Jen got home. We were home for an hour before we jumped back in the van to go pick up the car from the mechanics, out to dinner, and then to Borders and Joann Fabrics. By the time we got home I felt liked dropping to the floor and never getting up again.

Mom and I spent the evening watching "As Time Goes By", a British Comedy that she and I both adore. I bought us a bottle of Bosenberry Dessert Wine, thinking we would enjoy that after our day. Well the only problem was that the bottle opener bent the first time I tried to use it. I spent the next hour trying to get the cork out. I tried my teeth, a knife, and eventually decided on Paul's drill thinking I could drill in and then drill out, bringing the cork with it--well that didn't work out very well. It just filled the bottle with "cork crumbs"--so when I finally did get the cork out I had to use a tea strainer on it before we could drink it. So I guess I will be buying another corkscrew! The wine was good though! And worth the work. :)

Random Ryanism: Ryan just informed me that when I die he wants my van and that Brendan can have Kodi. :) That is very helpful.

Tonight I am going to sit and cuddle with the kids, I have a new book to read to them it is called "I, Freddie". It is the story of a hamster that decides he doesn't want to live like a hamster any more. We will see how it is. It sounds cute.

Today I rode the bike at the gym for 30 minutes. I need to ride for a couple of hours after the couple of days I have had eating out with my mother! But I start over today with my plan. I have been on Weight Watchers now for 3 weeks and have lost 14 pounds so far. I lost 10 pounds the first week, which I was told is mainly water weight and is expected. But I am happy with 2 pounds a week. I feel like if it comes off slowly that it will have a better chance of staying off. I am thinking of this not as a diet, but have tried to change the way I think about eating in general. I am trying to find other things than food (or shopping) to comfort, and have found that I have a lot of peace about the timing and this decision overall. I am excited and encouraged.

I find that all day today I have been praying and hurting for Janice and Preston and all of the family there. My heart is hurting with them even though I am miles away.