Thursday, I left for Chicago and arrived without incident although the flight was a bit choppy. I was picked up by my future daughter-in-love's parents...(what does that make us??) I met up with Lauren and we went to surprise 'Shua. All went well until he burst into tears at the sight of me...I took this as a good sign and we had a fun filled evening of catching up and shooting pool...which I somehow managed to win! His two brothers also came to see me and one of them kept me up with tales of bad behavior since my move until 1:30 am.
Friday, my sisters came to see me and we hung out and chatted after my parents took me out for breakfast...yummy omelets and better chatter! At 3, I left with Lauren to go wedding dress shopping...which would have been comical if poor Lauren hadn't been so horrified. She is about the shyest person ever and some strange women putting her in and out of dresses with the dressing room door open was just about too much for her to take. On the good side, we did find a dress she fell in love with and it is probably going to be "the ONE." We went out to dinner and then I went back to my house to find more teenagers wanting to see me. I actually sent them away for a while as I had another stop to make. I have a friend that is in an abusive relationship and I havent' been able to contact her for about 8 months so I decided to throw caution to the wind, ask God to protect me and I headed over to see if she was still around. She was and after I helped her get her 4 little ones tucked in for the night, we shared 3 wonderful hours of girl talk, husband talk and how God has been blessing us Meyer's out in the wilds of NM...it was a rather bitter sweet time...not sure when or if I'll see her again on this side, if ya catch my meaning. After that, it was back to spend hours chatting with 'Shua's best friend Alec...we had a ball together! He left about 1:30 also...let me repeat, I am WAY too old for this!! LOL!
Saturday was the graduation, my sister's came to hang out for the AM and then I went ot the actual graduation for my 'Shua. As most of you have figured out by now, I am a tough old bird and not much touches me, but I admit to choking up a time or two. After that, I spent the afternoon hanging around and taking a short nap to make up for the sleep I was losing every night...LOL! My best friend Elizabeth picked me up at 5 and we went out ot one of my favorite restaraunts to a yummy soup and salad combo. Then we drove around for aloing time trying to figure out what to do next...we are SOOO cool! We finally decided where to go for dessert and headed there for the biggiest brownie ala mode you've ever seen and way too much coffee. Then we drove back to my parents where we chatted until 3 AM...again, WAY too old for this...what does she think, I'm 17 again? But, we probably haven't have that much uninterrupted chatting time since the arrival of her first child who is 11, so it was great and I don't care about the dark circles under my eyes!! It was a sweet time of fellowship for the both of us.
Sunday, I barely got my eyes open in time to leave for church...wonder why! My younger sister took me and it was hilarious to see the rumor that I was there circle the church since only one person knew I was coming. The lady that has been playing the piano dragged me straight to the piano and insisted that I play so she could watch...it was funny! Then so much sweet visiting time after the service...GLORIOUS!! Then off to my sisier's baby shower where we had a great time catching up with people that have known my parents even before I was born. Later, the dreaded teenagers came back and kept me up late again...seriously, do I look like I never need sleep or what??
Monday was just a visisting day...anyone and everyone that wanted to see me before I left came over...hordes of people came and went...my Mother fed 19 people pot roast with veggies. My older sister's mother in law even wandered over. My mother in law came after work and spent the night so we could visit longer, but again the teenagers outlasted her and I finally kicked them out at 12:30...do you notice a pattern here??
Monday was hard...I went up to the County Clerk's office to replace my marriage record so the kids and I can have insurance down here and then the hordes came over...al the boys, my sisters and kids, my mother in law left for work, my parents came home, we played pool and shot baskets, visited over coffee and took silly pictures...then they all left one by one as I worked harder to keep a stiff upper lip...LOL! I kept telling myself that I would be back soon for the huge graduation party and the birth of my youngest sister's baby and then to bring her and the kids back to live with me...so it's all good. The flight back here was smooth except for the last 15 minutes or so and obviously, that wokred out alright in the end...LOL! So here I am...glad to be home but also supremely thankful for the time I spent in IL...it was a huge blessing. I really needed the break and the refreshing! Thanks for listening to my ramblings! And now, for some pictures...
My boy is a high school graduate...when did that happen?!?
My soon to be daughter in love Lauren and a few of my goofy neices and nephews...Opal Jo, James and Mikey.
My older sister Kelly ..me and my younger sister Jodi ...ain't we pretty? Yes, I do realise that I look adopted...hee hee!
'Shua, Me, Ricky (Josh's older biological brother) and his best friend Alec.
That's about all, I suppose...thanks for your interest!
Blessings,
Kristy
PS. By the by, I copied this from my Cafemom journal so if it seems to be written rather impersonally, thayt's why. I didn't want to type it all over again with a few perspective changes...hope you all don't mind!
