Three weeks ago our pastor challenged everyone to a 21 day fast. Facebook was one of the things that I gave up during that time. This was a challenge, and I missed Facebook interactions. So, I tried to keep a mental list of events that took place during the last three weeks- I know everyone was chomping at the bit to know what was going on in my life- like you didn't have anything better to do- hahaha :)
The biggest event was the celebration of Zach's 11th birthday. I can't believe the little boy that rocked my world (and continues to make it very interesting) is on his way to adolescence (cringe....I am not ready for teenage years)! Those of you who know Zach know that he is a bundle of energy that never stops, and at times sends me as close as possible to a nervous breakdown as I could get without going over the edge...I can't imagine life without him. He is loud, rambunctious, and often times difficult...but, has a heart so tender and sweet that it will bring you to tears when he shows it. So, Happy Birthday (again) to Zachary James!
Our saddest event during the last three weeks was the loss of our beloved pet, Patches. She was about as agreeable as a rabid bobcat (haha), but we managed to get along for about 13 years (as long as we knew where we stood- she was in charge). Patches came into our family as a 6-week old kitten when Joseph was around 4/5. She had been with us through many moves, and even though she wasn't a touchy-feely kind of cat, we liked having her around. During week two she started acting funny, and by that Saturday she could not stand up on here own. So Scott and me loaded her up and took her to the UT Vet Emergency Room on a Saturday night where we spent close to $500 only to say good-bye to her. I didn't think that I even liked her that much (it was her sole desire to see how early in the morning she could make me get up to let her either out or into the garage), but I could not turn off the tears as we made the choice to let her go. Turned out she had an aggressive form of lymphoma that we couldn't have dine anything about had we had unlimited resources to try to cure her. RIP Patches - I hope animals are in heaven :)
The last biggest event that I will mention is that I started my PhD classes. WOW- can it be that they are as difficult yet not as bad as I thought all at once???? I love the interaction with my classmates (although I feel very intimidated at times- they are SOOO smart), but find it hard to keep up with all of the reading....good thing I love to read, and leadership is a passion of mine. Johnson University has really impressed me with the quality of the program, and how genuine the staff is. While I loved some of the work that I did at Liberty (and was thankful for the opportunity to complete my MA with them), sometimes the atmosphere was stifling, with a small amount of pretension. The atmosphere at Johnson has been completely different, and I am really looking forward to what I am going to learn on this journey.
That's all for now- but stay tuned :)
