New life

Ok, so it seems that "normal" may never be the right word for me, but with another week under my belt, I'm starting to settle back into a routine that resembles my former life. I'm still pretty exhausted but Sara & Danielle (a special thank you to both of you...) have pushed me from thinking about doing the Mother's Day breast cancer run to actually starting to run (thinking about running is always so much less sweaty and demanding...). I seem to almost be myself first thing in the morning (which has always been my best time of day) but by mid-day I'm pretty well packing it in. I get so exhausted and can't even recover with a few back-to-back episodes of Law & Order. ha ha. Hopefully that will continue to fade as time goes on.

Shawna & I had a great weekend with our friends from Lancaster (see the pic...). We spent hours perusing the Strip in a way that I haven't done for years (usually if we go these days it is in and out!) and a lot of time just talking (and eating all of the fun stuff that we picked up while wandering...). So many thanks to husbands and grandparents and friends who work hard to make these times happen for us! And so much love to friends with whom it seems like time hasn't even passed since we were last together. Those are bonds that I will cherish forever!

These days we are back out in the cul de sacs playing hockey, riding bikes and running amok with light sabers (ok, that's just Parker...). Spring is in the air and everyone is ready to get outside. And with all of this return to real life stuff, comes Audrey's inevitable departure. She drove away early Thursday morning and it was hard. We have grown very accustomed to having family nearby - which is something that neither Darin or I have experienced since we left for college at 18. So, there have been some tears and the sad proclamation that we "have no grandparents anywhere nearby", but no doubt she will be back to visit! I wish that I could put into words what her selflessness has meant to us in the past 10 months but that would likely only serve to embarrass her and it couldn't even begin to explain our gratitude. While we know that wild horses couldn't have kept her away, it doesn't mean that it has been easy for her to be uprooted, inconvenienced and constantly on-call away from any and all adult friends (besides us... and truthfully, we haven't really been the best company in the past year!). Although we will miss her being here on a regular basis, we are so happy that we are at the point where we don't need daily help to get through this anymore. While there are still a lot of appointments and such - and we are incredibly grateful to all of the friends who are still stepping up to help us out with childcare - it is good to finally be getting back on our own "two" feet. I think that it has pained my parents a little that they haven't been able to be as readily available, but that doesn't diminish their role in caring for us in so many ways. It is just the way that God orchestrated things and I think that He knows what He is doing and why. We are finally making our first trip in their direction (for the much ballyhooed Lego store extravaganza... it can't come soon enough for me. I'm not sure that I can take any more detailed trips through the Lego catalog deciphering what they will get and why!) in longer than I can remember. In fact, Heidi asked me when we were last in Lancaster and if I look at my calendar it seems to not have been since December 2008!! wow... talk about overdue!

Today we are gearing up for our first very quiet weekend in quite a while and truly looking forward to it! Although, that is usually the perfect recipe for last minute fun plans... too bad that the weather doesn't look to be cooperating for a big Dad-filled cul de sac hockey game tonight. We'll keep plugging along and looking forward to what God's latest plans are for us in this new phase!