Friday, April 20 our oldest son and #3 child married the love of his life! It was a very bittersweet time for me as his mother. I was on an emotional roller coaster for several weeks. On one hand I was so very happy that he's happy, and on the other hand I was so very sad that my little boy had another woman that would be first in his life.
He was my least likely to get married first. Goes to show that you just never know how things are going to turn out. They met over the internet. As they chatted on line they discovered so many common interests. They were both Christians, homeschooled, had a quirky sense of humor, liked Stephen King books & horror movies, played guitar, and very shy around people.
They honeymooned at a secluded rustic cabin right on a lake near Hot Springs, AR. From all accounts, they had a wonderful first week of married life. They stopped here & spent the night on their way home to south Louisiana. Since the bed & some other furniture pieces that they will need in their little cottage were here, they rented a U-Haul trailer to take it on down with them. They probably won't move into their cottage until next weekend.
I was really sick with a stomach bug the week before the wedding. Then spent the week of the wedding in a hotel tending to last minute details, dealing with extended family, & dealing with all of my emotions. We make it back home & I'm looking forward to a week with my husband. But, I get sick again! This time it's a sore throat, cough, runny nose, & generally aching all over. I haven't been sick in way over a year!
My husband started back to work early this morning & just got home at 1045 tonight. I really hate his long work hours!!! But, the bright side is that he's off 2 weeks after he works for 2 weeks. Now that the wedding is behind us, maybe we can start doing things around our own home. There's an endless list of things to be done.
We have the money to start some much needed remodeling. It needed to be done when we first moved here in 1997. Since we weren't able to do it then, it'll be a HUGE undertaking now. Whereas it would have been a simple remodel then, it will be major deconstruction followed by new construction. The hard part for me will be doing it in stages as we have the money for it. I tend to want it all done "right now".
I'm so behind in my Creative Memories business. I'm not even sure what all the new products are! That's a sad state of affairs. I haven't sold anything in months & haven't even worked on any of my personal albums. Showcase is coming up again in August. I tried to register tonight but the site declined my credit card! Have no idea why, so guess I'll have to call them tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have enough of a voice to do that.
My oldest daughter (and #1 child) & I are planning on going to the ACFW conference in Dallas in September. I thought now that I would have more free time for myself I could pick up my dream of being a writer. Haven't made a lot of progress in that direction yet. I do have several ideas, just haven't had the time or knowledge to take it to the next level. A couple of my favorite authors will be teaching at the conference. So, I'm anxious to meet & hear them!!
Some of the projects I want to get to this spring & summer are: planning & prioritizing the remodel, several sewing projects for various family members, working on my scrapbook albums (especially my album on Kent Plantation House), research for my story, actually writing the story, developing & maintaining my flower & vegetable gardens, starting an exercise program of walking every day, getting involved a little more at church, finding someone to do a Bible study with, spending quality time with each of my children & my husband, making time to visit & stay in touch with extended family more than I do. WOW! That's quite a list. No wonder I feel like I never get anything done. I feel so overwhelmed with it all I don't start any of it because I don't know where to start. For all of those years of homeschooling my children I knew exactly what we'd do each day. Now I feel lost, even though I've looked forward to having time to do the things I wanted to do.
My prayer tonight is Lord, show me how to prioritize things in my life so I can do the things that you want me to do!
