Spring Break!

Spring break can sure go by in a hurry! We loved having Gillian and Darcey for all the fun, but they are now on their way back to Round Rock and Mom, Dad, Grace, and Annabel are on their way home.

I am enjoying a few minutes of quiet. I love my deck and watching as everything comes to life for spring.

I ended up having to go to work this morning as a reporter for the Dallas Morning News wanted to do a story on our line dancing classes. The instructor introduced a new dance called the Obama Hustle. I am so glad so many will come, despite their aches and pains, and do something so beneficial for themselves. If it ends up in the news, I will put a link later.

When Gillian and Darcey got here Sunday, Darcey was still recovering from a bad cold/sinus/bronchitis, not really sure. I don't think Grace could have caught it from her that quickly, but now Grace is so sick. She coughs in spite of the amount of cough syrup I put down her, and sneezes, and blows her nose. Just overall feeling like yuck. But that has not slowed her down but a little bit.

This morning as I left, Annabel had convinced Darcey to attach the jump rope to the scooter, and pull her down the sidewalk. Those 2 are something else! I hope Annabel will start growing soon or Darcey is going to pass her.

Gillian was helping her grandfather vacuum out the car, plant some flowers, steam press his pants. She just does not stop. She made 2 kinds of cookies yesterday. She also fixed meat loaf and several other things while here. She loves to cook, but has little opportunity at home. She is becoming more like her mother every day. I told her we did not have to miss Jana, because we had her in Gillian. Thanks to all the ladies who prayed fervently for Jana to get pregnant. I don't know how we would have handled this loss without having Gillian.

My Grace was keeping her grandmother company on the swing and trying really hard to feel well enough to make the drive to Waco to drop the girls off.

Last night was karate and I tried to convince Grace not to go, but she was adamant.

For some unknown reason, I did not think about karate being about fighting.

Last night proved me wrong.

The instructor had invited another black belt, an older man, to come and "spar" with the students.

I thought he would just do it with those who had been there for a while.

We soon found out that EVERYONE would have a turn, whether they wanted to or not.

Gillian, Darcey, and I sat there in a panic, watching, waiting, breathless of when the girls would be called up. Darcey kept covering her eyes with my hand.

Annabel was up first and she went after him. She did her kicks and hits the correct way, so he started "fighting" back. Pretty quickly though it was no longer fun to her and she froze and I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. I know this is what happens at school. It happened a few times when we first got home when she and I would knock heads.

I did not know what to do. My first instinct was just jump up, hit the instructor and wrap my arms around Annabel.

But I know they cannot always have me there to defend themselves and that is the purpose of the class in some ways, so I just sat there, trying to discretely get her attention and give her a thumbs up for trying so hard.

Grace's turn came and we all froze again!

The instructor took some time explaining what she needed to do and she got him pretty good.

I wanted Annabel to have another turn to work out her bottled up anger, fears, emotions, but of course that didn't happen.

I wish I knew what had happened in those first 11 years that make her shut down and not fight back. I don't really want her to fight, but she does need to find a way to express her emotions, especially anger. I keep trying to decide if some counseling would help, but maybe later.

Yesterday morning, Marcie and Drew volunteered to take the kids to the zoo. We picked them up and were at the zoo within 5 minutes of it opening. It was a good thing, because by the time I dropped them off, even the back parking lot was full.

I took advantage of the time and actually thought I was going to go trade cars. OK, you can quit laughing now. I know I couldn't do it that quickly, but I really hoped to find a car that would bring down our monthly payments. The doctor and hospital bills are keeping me awake at night as they continue to pile up, and mine haven't even started yet. It seems like if the economy is so bad, car dealers would love to just get the cars off their lots. Not really. The 3 I visited are getting to keep all of theirs.

I had to work on Wednesday, so Mom and Dad took all 4 girls shoe shopping. I have done it way too many times and know how CRAZY that can be. Only 3 out of 4 found shoes and I again want to cuss the people who squeezed Grace's feet into so tiny shoes that it is almost impossible to find shoes that fit.

Mom reported she almost had a nervous breakdown from the experience. All 4 love to try on the higher heels and make you look at each pair. And when the 4 are together in a tight spot, they just get really loud! I am so sorry I missed the fun.

I can't even remember Tuesday right now and my battery is almost dead. I do have the pictures and will add them later.