Where have you been?

I am going to try to update this blog every day. I feel like so much happens and I will forget it. It astounds me that 23 years ago I met Russell and began dating him. It shocks me that we have been married for 20 years. It doesn't seem possible that Noah is 11 1/2, Madeline is 9, and John-Michael is 6. Why does time speed up as you get older? It is a fact. Shouldn't it really just be October? It certainly feels like it. And ...on top of all of that ...I will be 40 in a couple of months. How is this possible? I feel like I am in my 20's, except when I see the wrinkles and gray hair. :)

Enough of that... I am thankful that God is creating in me a go with the flow attitude. I don't easily get ruffled. I couldn't always say that. Want proof? Thursday I decided to go get my nephews from middle Georgia to give my parents a break as they raise them. I arrive in Byron, get my nephews, leave Madeline with Grandmama to spend the night (Russell's mom)..and head back towards Atlanta. I make it to Forsyth, GA (45 minutes down the road) when Noah says he is going to puke. I quickly stop at a Hardee's and he runs in and he gets sick. I ask if he thinks something salty would help. He thinks so, so I drive thru McDonald's and I order fries with extra salt so he can just lick the fries. He doesn't make it and while I am waiting in the drive thru, he gets out of the car and runs in to McDonald's bathroom. I drive around and park. As I am waiting for Noah to come to the van, I get a call from my mother in law. Madeline has never vomited, not even spit up as a baby. Never. Until.... that day...in the middle of Kohl's. I guess if you are going to vomit for the first time, you might as well do it in a department store, just to make it memorable. She asks me to drive back and get Madeline. I drive back the 40 minutes or so .....all the while Noah is still sick. We wait for 15 minutes or so at Grandma's while I gather 30+ bags and two buckets (one for Noah and one for Madeline). I re-enter the van with two brave nephews (they still want to come to Atlanta, who am I to say no) and my 3 children (two of which are puking). Off we go to a 2 hour drive. Not only does Noah and Madeline continue to get sick, one of my nephews appears to be a sympathetic vomiter. So...I have a child in the front of the van, a child in the middle of the van, and a child in the back of the van ...all sick. ..in rush hour traffic. It is now about 5:00 in the evening and Atlanta traffic in thick. This causes our 2 hour drive to take near 3 hours. In all of this, I really did thank God for the plastic bags, windows that open, and for 2 children in the car that are not sick. I thank God for being so good to me. I have so many blessing, really....who am I to complain? Now, a few days out... I can look back and see that is one memory in the days that are zooooooming by that I won't forget.

So, where have you been?