blogger mom

The boys and I are back home. We had a wonderful trip. The weather was perfect, no rain. It was extremely hot, but with the ocean breeze it really didn't matter. All three boys loved the ocean and the sand. The best surprise was that Eric flew in for four days. He was there for Riley's birthday, which made his six year old very happy. I enjoy my family so much and am so thankful that my dad has made a vacation like this possible for all of us. There was a big scare in the middle of the trip. As my mom explains it, my dad fought a wave and the wave won. My brother and I were out with him when it happened and I can't explain how terrified I was. I've never seen my dad look so helpless. It required a call to 911, a lot of tests, and a night at the hospital. But, it seems as though he is going to recover completely. He had to wear a neck brace for the second half of vacation, but he never complained and was quite a trooper. He still hung out on the beach with us, went shopping and out to dinner.

It is good to be home. I am having trouble getting settled. Life has thrown us a bit of a curve ball and I am finding that my body doesn't respond to stress very well at this point in my life. An emergency trip to the dentist this week was no fun at all. The dentist told me that I have to find a way to manage my stress before there are more serious consequences. I have been grinding my teeth and clinching my jaw to the point that I may need a root canal. Right now I'm on three medications to try and eliminate the need for one, but we'll see. My muscles are full of knots and the massage therapist I saw told me that if I'm not careful and don't find a way to settle down now I'm going to need a hip replacement eventually. So, I'm trying to be mindful during the day of my responses to stress and my breathing. I'm trying to start pilates and make a little more time in my day for myself. I called a friend this morning to see if she wanted to find time to go thrifting and I'm blogging and drinking tea right now instead of cleaning. I don't think it's just this latest curve ball that is the problem, I think it's the combination of all the curve balls over the last five years. My dental hygenist is a believer and an incredibly sweet woman. She took one look at my teeth and asked if I was dealing with a lot of stress right now. She knows that I follow Jesus as well, and asked if I wanted to talk about it. I unloaded on her and her response was so kind and empathetic. She said, "Kerri, sometimes we think we know the best plan for our lives. We think our plan makes sense and that we've figured things out. We don't understand when it doesn't work out. But, the fun part comes when we look back a few years later and see that God's hand has been working the entire time." It's amazing how God places people in your life like that at exactly the right time.

I guess that's about it for now. My tea is almost gone and I think I'll try to finish unpacking this mess. Time to get this house in order so that things run smoothly when school starts next week. Your prayers for our family would be appreciated. Your prayers for Riley, and for his mommy who is a nervous wreck, as he starts kindergarten next week would be appreciated as well.