Still Here

Moving has gone well. Reuniting with Chuck after 6 weeks alone with two boys has made a world of difference in every one's attitude. Moving weekend (last Friday & Sat) was somewhat stressful. After the movers came and took all of our stuff on Tues & Wed, the boys and I moved in with my parents for a night. Nicholas didn't do so well without a crib, so I asked Chuck to call his old hotel and see if we could have rooms. We did get a very nice room with two balconies and in usual Four Seasons fashion, we were quite spoiled. However, Friday night, when Chuck & I were cleaning up our old house, Nicholas took a tumble in our hotel room that required 5 stitches and two CT scans in the ER. My parents were enjoying room service at the Four Seasons while watching the little stinker. He got his stitches out today and has been a real angel throughout the whole ordeal. So back to last Satuday.... Bentley, Nicholas & I followed Chuck, Patrick, the cats and the mistress (boat). At one point, Chuck pulled over on the side of the highway and asked me if I had seen anything fly off the trailer because it didn't "feel right". I said I hadn't and we went on our way. About 30 minutes later, I called him and told him I wanted to stop for coffee. When we turned in to McDonald's, I noticed the left wheel of the boat trailer almost spinning off. He checked it, and would you believe? It was the lug nuts that he had felt flying off the wheel! Nothing but the grace of God kept us safe, I am sure! Anyways, my parents were about 30 minutes behind us as were Chuck's mom and grandmother, so we called them and arranged a meeting at McDonald's. I took my mom, Nicholas, the cats & Bentley and Chuck, Patrick and my dad stayed behind and fixed the wheel. Nicholas had awakened from his nap when we stopped at McDonald's and then proceeded to screamed at my mom and I for the next two hours. We had to stop so many times that Chuck's mom and grandma got 45 minutes ahead of us. Finally, he did fall asleep about 30 minutes away from our new home and we all made it safely. We said a BIG prayer of thanks to God when we arrived.

Patrick is adjusting well to his new school. After we went and registered on Monday, I asked him if he was excited about his new school. He said "Yeah, I can't wait to meet all of my new friends". Ahh... through the eyes of a six year old. We should all be so positive!

So far, we absolutely love the area we are living in. The trees are awesome and the whole town is geared toward families. We feel like we made a very good choice. It has been a really exciting week. Our camera's charger is missing, so if we unpack it soon I will hopefully take pictures of the new house. Goodnight for now....

Delay

We were supposed to close on our new home tomorrow. Unfortunately, the people we are buying the house from did not come through with all of the repairs they agreed to. The main repairs yet to be done involve the pool. They have had two weeks to make these repairs. We are frustrated. The people we are buying this house from are real estate agents(the sharks is what I call them). They bought this house and flipped it, and now they do not want to spend one more dime. Ugh!!! Anyways, supposedly the pool will be worked on this weekend and we will close next Friday instead. The movers are coming on Tuesday and will be delivering Friday! I hope we have our house by then!!! On a lighter note, I am relaxing this Valentine's Day at the Four Seasons Hotel, and my room service dinner of herb crusted lamb has just arrived. There is always a silver lining.

Today

Today was the day that the world as we know it almost came to an end and hell on earth began. Today was the day of the most terrifying, heart breaking, hysterical 30 minutes of my 33 years on this earth.

Today, I was sick and needed to go to bed when Nicholas took his nap. My brother came and got Patrick and took him to my parent's house. When Nicholas and I went to pick up Patrick around 4pm, I took Bentley with us. I knew Patrick would probably be playing with my parent's neighbor's kids and that Patrick might like to show off our new dog. The kids next door go to school with Patrick and so his mom and I were talking out front while the kids were playing. My biggest mistake was not having Bentley on a leash. I told Patrick to put him in my folk's backyard and I assumed he had done so. He also said he was going to get a drink. I supposed he was inside my parent's house or the neighbor's house. When his friends came out and Patrick was not with them, I was concerned, but not worried. Surely he was out back with Bentley. I went in to ask my parents if Patrick and Bentley were out back and when they said "no", my heart sank. I left Nicholas with them and got in my car and started driving around. They live right by Patrick's school and I figured I would see Patrick chasing Bentley in the school yard. That was not the case. Ok, I thought, they made it to the park next door. I was wrong again. Terror set in. I called my parents and told them to drive around with me. I passed a policeman on a bike and told him the situation. He took a desciption of Patrick and my cell phone number and called available patrols to be on the look out. From there, I drove around nearby neigborhoods imagining the absolute worst. What if a stranger offered to help and got Patrick into his car? We have talked to him about how bad people will use candy or puppies to lure children to their cars, but I had never thought of the chasing Bentley scenerio. Patrick would follow that dog anywhere. I imagined him chasing him into the apartments across the street from the school, where 3 known sex offenders live. I saw him running after Bentley across a busy street and being hit by a car. I pictured myself having to call my husband at work and tell him the worst news of his life. I was driving aroung pleading with God to save my son. Begging for His mercy. Hating myself for being so stupid. As a parent, I have never had to worry about Patrick wandering off. He has always been careful and cautious. He has always been extremely trustworthy and responsible. Obviously, I have become to comfortable. As I was driving around, still praying, hoping against hope...Russell called. They had found Patrick and Bentley in the alley behind my parent's house. Patrick had chased Bentley around the corner onto a major road where Bentley ran out into the street, almost got hit and came back to Patrick (thankfully, Patrick did not follow him into the street). Some walkers were coming along and Bentley ran to them and they helped Patrick get Bentley to my parent's gate. Russell had looked in the alley before he and my dad had started driving around. Patrick must have been on the sidewalk of the busy street at that point. In a blink of an eye, our lives could have horrifically changed forever. In the blink of an eye, my little boy was lost. In the blink of an eye, he was found, hugged tightly, never to be let go of again. Hold your precious ones close. They are gifts from God. I will sing a song of praise to God tomorrow at church for today and for the all the days of my life.

Really? After 7 years, now this happens?

Today, while washing my car in the beautiful weather, my neighbors across the street were selling a desk to an older couple (as my 65+ neighbor said of them "they were like 100 years old-we had to load the desk for them into their Lincoln pick-up"). So, I had gone inside to go to the bathroom. When I came out, my neighbor was running down his driveway which dumps out across from our mailbox, saying "oh no, did they hit your mailbox?". Yes, yes, they did. They paid my neighbor in cash and their number was blocked on his caller ID. I have no way of contacting them for retribution. Good times.