Long lost post... (Originally posted May 17, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL This has been such a weekend of emotions that I don’t exactly know where to begin. I suppose in this case it’s best to start at the beginning and work my way to the end. Hubby’s father is back in the hospital. We drove 2 hours north on Friday night to Hubby’s sister’s house, spent the night there, and then Hubby went to visit his dad at the hospital. He was there for a couple hours, came back to the house, ate some food, and then took Kiddo over to visit his papaw (grandfather). Hubby came back in a terrible mood, and we left for home about 30 minutes later. Hubby started out driving, but about 20 minutes into the drive, I looked over and he was very obviously not doing well. I suggested he pull over so I could drive; a suggestion which he immediately took me up on. We switched places and as we continued our way south, he spent the better part of 30 minutes releasing some of his pent-up sadness, frustration, and anger over the situation with his dad. Suffice-it-to-say it was a good thing I took over as he was not, at that time, fit to drive. We were supposed to meet our very good friend, MI, out by the airport for dinner – which is why we left Hubby’s sister’s house relatively early in the day. MI was coming into town for Little Bit’s baptism all the way from CT, and therefore we thought we’d save him a long drive after a long flight by coming to him. His flight was originally supposed to arrive at around 5PM, but due to one thing or another, his flight didn’t get in until around 6:30PM. (MI, keep me honest here – I’m not sure I’ve got the time’s right.) After Hubby had calmed down a bit, we decided to take a detour to the Lodge Cast Iron Outlet in Sevierville. We were looking for an iron skillet for SS, and a unique Mother’s Day gift for Hubby’s mom. We found exactly what we were looking for, and while we were there, MI called to say that he was delayed – which was fine – so we went to the Coleman Outlet for a while. Kiddo had a blast running around checking out all the tents they had set up for display; he decided he liked the big one the best – it even had a built-in pet door! As we continued on our way to the airport, we took another detour to look at a couple used cars. I found one I really want... I saw it there before about 3 weeks ago, and it’s still there. From what I can see, it looks to be a decent automobile – but I haven’t had the chance to drive it yet. Hubby likes this one. .oO(Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just plunk down the $$ and drive them both home...) Anyway – we finally connected with MI and went to Up The Creek for dinner. If I were a food critic, I’d give it 1.5 stars. The food itself wasn’t terrible, but the service was not great, the restaurant seemed grimy (our table was sticky and I saw a waitress “cleaning” a table with Pledge Furniture Polish and a rag), and I ran into (literally) a waitress in the women’s room who stumbled out of a stall looking very much like she was drunk or on some illegal substance. Overall, not a great dining experience – but the company couldn’t have been better! We left MI at his hotel with directions to the church for the next morning and drove 40 minutes home. When we got there, we got the kids inside and settled (Kiddo was already asleep and Little Bit hung out quietly in her bassinet) and then we brought in all our stuff from the car. Once everything was inside, it began to pour buckets of rain! I mean the time between finishing bringing everything inside to when I first noticed the sound of rain was approximately three minutes. Boy, we lucked out! Hubby had to run out to our other car (which was parked on the street); he was gone about 30 seconds and was totally drenched by the time he came back inside! The next day was Sunday and Little Bit’s day of baptism! We somehow managed to get everyone bathed, dressed and to the church by 10:30!!! We had C,M&ZD, D&LS, GS, MG, B&SG, MI, S&CS, PDD&JW, J&EB, the entire choir and countless other people I know stood up for us that day. We had so many friends and family in attendance – and we could not have felt more blessed! Thank you all for coming, being our friends, and loving us – we love you! Little Bit was so good and didn’t cry at all. She opened one eye as he put the water on her head, but she was pretty much asleep through the entire thing. Kiddo was super good, too, and only wondered aloud once at what “he” (our Pastor) was doing with that water? After the service (which we video taped, btw) we went back to S&CS’s house. They generously offered to let us use their house for the "after party" because they had leftovers from their 25th Wedding Anniversary party that they’d had on Saturday. (We were supposed to be in attendance, but SS said she didn’t want us there – meaning, "Go visit your dad!!!") It was a wonderful day, and I was so happy to spend the time with everyone. C&MD, a quick and heartfelt thank you to you both for being both Kiddo’s and Little Bit’s God Parents. It means so much to Hubby and me. We love you! Anyway – I guess that’s it for now. I feel like I’m just stopping in the middle of a good story, because I have so much more to say – but I need to stop. I’ll write more again soon and post pictures as soon as I can. Love to all! TTFN JMS PS: I had intended to post this on Monday, but somehow never got around to it so it’s a little out of date.