We've just returned from Lighthouse Family Retreat. It's an amazing experience, to say the least. I loved it. I wish I could work for Lighthouse and be there every week.. okay, maybe not every week. I think perhaps I would be exhausted beyond repair then. I'm pretty tired now and we had people doing everything for us the entire time we were there. Everything but sleep, that is.
I love being that close to the ocean. It calms me and amazes me. To me, the ocean is a reminder to let go. Some things we just can't control no matter how hard we try. It's a reminder that God is in control and there are things that are greater and more powerful than we can ever hope to be.
Lighthouse reminds me that I want to be a better wife. That I want to show Britt that not only do I admire and respect him, but that I am so proud of him. I am thankful that he is such a great dad and a husband that i can be proud to call mine. I have to say there were a few husbands at the retreat that I genuinely felt sorry for their wives. Perhaps I judge too much. I just think I'm pretty blessed in that department.
So the week started with me having the worst kidney infection I can remember in a long time. I was miserable. I went to the doctor before we left and got some antibiotics which seemed to work wonderfully. A few days after we were there, I was horsing around with Hannah and I fell backwards off a very short ladder and broke a shelf in our beach house. ouch. I still hurt (I think I pinched a nerve - guess that's what I get, right?) Then the sore throat starts.. sore throat, runny nose, watery eyes.. YUCK. You aren't supposed to be sick at the beach! I'm still fighting this summer cold. I think if I could sleep for a couple of days, I would be better. I just want to sleep.
So.. time to start working on my bucket list, after I quit coughing and sneezing.
sleep
Busy Days
I think my "to do" list is a mile long today. How am I getting it all done? I am blogging! Go me! I had to go to Elijah's school and pick up Hobo and all of Elijah's things this morning. He desperately wanted to say good bye to Mrs. Faulkenberry. We may have to track her down this summer and let him see her. He's had the best luck with teachers at Jefferson Elementary. I am already stressing over who he will have for 5th grade. We are praying for Mrs. Baranek. She's new and supposed to be awesome. We like awesome! i am going to wait til Summer is over and then I will stress over middle school. Elijah wants to go to public school but I think the public school is too large and fear that he will be teased and bullied. He's quite the spitfire, but gets his feelings hurt easily if he thinks he's being made fun of or singled out. Kids can be wonderful and kids can be mean. You just never know what you are going to get. We can't really swing private school but have heard that several have scholarship opportunities so we may look in to that. I'd like to keep him with his friends, but some of them are going off to private school too. hmmmmmm
Elijah is gone to camp right now. It's quiet around the house. No music playing, no computer games in the background, no tv. I just hear birds and the occasional car drive by. I may have to turn on some music while I clean to avoid talking to myself. (Who am I kidding? Music will NOT keep me from talking to myself)
Hannah is all graduated now. She's busy working at her summer job before school starts in the fall. I'm so proud of her! I can't believe she is so grown up.
Not much else going on with me. I am no longer working at the church, which I must say has been great for my stress level. I don't worry about messing things up or forgetting things all the time. I just work at the hospital and when my shift is over, I come home. It's nice. I am working more now than I was when I was at the church and recently got a raise at the hospital, so I am making a bit more money than before. Always an added bonus!
We are getting ready to head to Lighthouse Family Retreat on Sunday!!! I can't tell you how ready I am for this trip. I can't wait to hear the ocean again. We snuck a quick trip to Atlantic City about a month ago when we were in Philly. We didn't spend any money on anything or do much but walk on the beach and the boardwalk. It did my soul good to hear the waves. Why is that such a soothing and powerful sound? To me, the ocean is a symbol of God's power and a reminder that there are some things that are just mightier than I am: things that I can not control. I love it.
I would like to start blogging more. I would really like to write a book. there was a mom in the lobby of the hospital the other day that had written a book called "NICU Mom". I could totally do that. "Onco Mom".. That's me. It sounds like a superhero name though, and I am totally no super hero. Maybe that's what my book should be about: that you don't have to be a super hero just because you have a kid with cancer. You just have to be a mom.