The Great Escape 2010

Robert on the outdoor side of the indoor/outdoor pool at our hotel. Yes, it was 24 degrees out there.

Vacation wears a person out, we got in the habit of "afternoon naps".

Spaghetti Factory, one of my favorite places!

Guys at the Spaghetti Factory

The entry way of the Fox.

Cirque Dreams Holidaze, they allowed non-flash photography but I didn't get any really great pictures. It was amazing though!

Tuesday morning at the Science Center, another one of our favorite places.

Lunch at Joe's Crab Shack

Relaxing in our room

At the Blues Game



Blues win!!! Over the Stanley Cup winners, The Chicago Blackhawks. 3-1. It was really a good game; fights and all!



Getting Ready for a Fresh Start

I try to live life without regrets. I have failed miserably at that at two particular areas in my life lately....my scrapbooking and my blogging. Last year, when it was time to do the annual "Browning Christmas Letter", I turned to my trusty blog as an outline for all that was in important in our lives. This year, when that time came, I saw just how bad my blogging was this year.  I am sad, especially since I have also had a problem picking up the camera when I should and things that I should have and wished I had pictures of I don't. That can't be changed.

In turn, that makes Scrapbooking the last year of our lives a little hard. It has been so long since I have scrapbooked. I miss it dearly too. I sat down and made Christmas gift tags and place names and realized that too, was something that needed attention.

I can blame it on being too busy, I can blame it on being too tired, which with the medical conditions, is actually true but it doesn't matter, I can't get it back. So. I am going to work myself up to getting all of these things back where they belong. I get to thinking why bother blogging, I don't think that many people even read it anymore, nobody ever comments and I feel we lost that little "kindred clique" we had going on back in the days before facebook. But lately I have realized that deep down, I blogged for myself, to lay out all the things in my life that I am blessed with and if someone else finds a little joy in it, all the better.

I have had phone calls at work before from people who have said, "You probably don't really know me, but I read your blog," I thought it was hilarious, and I did, in fact, know who the people were, through my network of friends.

Anyway, tomorrow is a new opportunity. We leave in the morning for our mini-vacation to St. Louis. Tomorrow night, Cirque Holidaze Dreams at the Fox, I have 7th row seats. Of course, I can't take pictures inside the Fox, but I will outside. Tuesday we are going to the Blues vs. Blackhawks game. There will be plenty of pics there. Thursday, Andrew and I are going to start tag-teaming getting the walls done in the back bathroom, more chances to record those memories.

So, I am not even waiting until New Years to make this resolution. Starting now, I am going to give more time to my blogging and my scrapping. Something else will have to wait.

My dad always told me nobody knows when they get up in the morning if they will be alive to eat dinner that evening. Enjoying every minute of the life God has given me IS important and it IS important to ME that I preserve it.

The week, in a nutshell, a very big nutshell.

I think the emotions that this week has brought are about to the limit of what I can handle. I don't remember a time when life has been this stressful. The work stress, I really don't mind, I don't like it but I know it's part of a job that I love, and the fast-paced, "gotta get it done or someone suffers" is expected. The underlying personal stress this week has added a level I am not used to, nor will I ever be comfortable with.

Five and a half years ago, when we moved here, Robert made friends quickly. One of his first friends was Logan Andrews. Logan was the first one to invite Robert to spend the night in Newton.Consequently, it didn't take long for Logan's parents, Tim and Vaneta, to become friends with me and Andrew. For the last four years, we have spent every fall together, sitting on bleachers, watching with pride as our only sons marched. This year, it was hard because our two boys did the solos and Tim was not able to be there every time, and though it took a lot of finagling, Vaneta made it to each of Logan's competitions. Monday night, Tim went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. On Monday, as I had texted Vaneta and knew what was happening, one of my friends said, "Exactly what emotion are you feeling?" I said there was so many I couldn't sort them out. One of my best friends is losing her husband, one of my son's best friends is losing his dad, we are losing a friend ourselves. Tim  worked in fields that paralleled my job, we always had a lot to talk about when we got together. Vaneta's job is also in the social services so we totally understand when stresses get high around budgets and cuts and job security ( or lack thereof).  Tonight is the visitation, tomorrow the funeral. Though it will be hard to say goodbye, this is truly one person who I know is in Heaven, his testimony was great. He has had many health battles over the years and, as far as I ever saw, never used them as an handicap. I believe Tim was ecstatic with the life and family that the Lord had given him and though I know it was hard for him to leave them, I can see Jesus holding Tim in his arms and hear God saying "Well done, my good and faithful servant" for Tim truly was.

We have also spent the week worrying about Robert Fryman; Patty, his wife works with us. Robert had 4 aneurysms in his brain, one that was especially worrisome as the doctors were afraid it would burst before it could be fixed. On Tuesday, they did brain surgery and tried to take them out. They were able to get two, including the high risk one, two they had to leave though. Don't know what they will decide about them in the future. They were all very scared, I can't imagine. The last I had heard though, he is doing well.

Work has been a real bear this week too, my IT plate was piled high. We changed all of our email and webhosting this week which is scary when we are an agency that relies heavily on email. The transition went well, the website is back up and running, I have to make some tweaks to it but all the info is still there and that is a plus. We have had some intermittent problems in the building and though it has mainly been with one person, it is the person who is sending our grants to Springfield, so it is imperative that it gets fixed. The day before Thanksgiving, we struggled with it all day. I was hoping the changeover would fix the problems. You can imagine my disappointment when it didn't. The bright side is I called the Calvary in Wednesday evening. MASS was there for 2 and a half hours and couldn't find the problem either. At least it wasn't something stupidly simple that I am just overlooking. I am about to blame it on wiring. We shall see.

Then, the little icing on the cake was the All-state announcement came, Robert doesn't get to go this year. He is good with it, he is glad he got to go once but I know he is a little disappointed that he didn't get to go back. He has been busy working on his truck though and I am probably more disappointed for him than he is.

So, today is our Christmas party at work, I am hoping and praying that by the time we are supposed to leave for it, we have the final two emails that HAVE to be in Springfield sent. I am truly looking forward to a better, calmer week next week.