Thoughts for Today

I regularly follow a blog written by Pioneer Woman, from Oklahoma.  She is pretty close to being my hero.  A mother of 4, lives on a working cattle ranch, home schools her children, has a very big-time blog, amazing photography skills, and an awesome cook to boot! This gals got it all, and a kickin' personality to go with it.  If you have never heard of her (Gasp!) please do yourself the pleasure of checking out her blog.

All of that to say that she had some tips for blogging that I rather enjoyed yesterday.  The most relevant to me was her tip to blog often.  My intentions are there, but the fruit or results are not.  Her point was that even if it is a paragraph, instead of a novel, just write.  I intend to do more of that, more often.  I will write.

The Day has finally come.  Mike has a few (30) tests to submit online and then he will be off to the mighty USA for work on Monday (September 9).  This day has been a LONG time coming, yet I still feel unprepared.  How do you say goodbye to your Love for 6 weeks at a time? How will I explain this to Harrison? I know the burden lies with me to help him understand that Daddy HAS to go away for work. I am praying desperately that any seeds of bitterness and resentment will be crushed immediately. I will be looking to the military spouses out there to learn how they adapt when their spouse is gone long-term.  I am amazed at their strength.  It takes so much to make it through these times.  I am so proud of the men and women who make it work!

My main strategy is to stay busy and get involved.  Currently there are a few obstacles in my way, that I am going to have to work around, but I am hoping to uncover (or create!) some really great ways to pass the time.  I have been looking forward to MOPS since March only to find out they had early registration and I missed it, and now they are full (insert HUGE pout here!)  I have emailed the organizer with some suggestions to maybe run a second program, so we'll see how that goes.  MOPS is really a life line to mothers, to me.  It came at such a critical point in my life and made me realize that I am NOT alone.  I am not the only mother out there who thinks a certain way, or feels inadequate.  I really pray that there will be a way to work things out in that department.

In the meantime, Harrison, Heidi and I will all go to Stay & Play in a near-by town.  There is also story and activity time at the library, so I think we should be able to stay busy.  For now our daily excitement comes from walking up the hill to check on Grandpa's 3 new kitties and watching way more TV than I like.  Oh the joy!

We recently had a family photo shoot done by my best friend, Jill Callitz.  She is one amazing gal, and is an incredibly talented photographer. She also has the patience of a Saint!  I have already picked the photo for our Christmas card this year, hooray! She loves challenging herself to take photos of nearly everything, human and not, and is always more than willing to travel to meet all your photography needs.  I'd love to pass along her contact info if you are interested, but in the meantime here is the link to her personal blog.  I will post some photos of my triathlon and the kids once I have the proofs, and permission of course!

This is the end of my thoughts of today... I really can't move past the fact that my husband is leaving in 3-4 days.  Please pray for us, our marriage and our family during the next week or so as we all adjust.

Much Love,
Momma J