On looking ahead

Last week was a tough one, you guys.

Kael was sick and missed an unprecedented 3.5 days of school in a single week, my dad was sick (on his birthday, even!), Kase is teething which means his sleeping habits go from horrible to even more horrible, my grandma fell and was lucky to come away with just a bump on her head, my sister's brother-in-law had surgery, my grandpa who recently had heart surgery is in a lot of pain and recovery hasn't been as smooth as we'd hoped...the list goes on, but all of that pales in comparison to other news we received on Friday.

A cousin to my dad, who he was very close with growing up, very unexpectedly passed away.  I knew him, but even though I didn't know him very well I can't stop thinking about him, his wife and kids.  Kids who are my age.  Who lost their father in the blink of an eye.

It makes me feel bad that I was grumping about washing wet sheets earlier in the week.  My heart is heavy and I feel like my troubles can hardly even be considered troubles anymore.  I'm often reminded of that saying...something about if we all threw our problems in a big pile we'd grab our own back out instead of taking someone else's.  My sleeplessness is fleeting.  Sick kids will get healthy.  Dads can't be brought back.

I'm staring out our window on this rainy Sunday morning and am hopeful that the week ahead will be full of good news.  Lots of great things to look forward to. Tammy finds out the baby's gender tomorrow.  She has her interview in Ankeny on Tuesday.  The kids have Valentine's parties to look forward to and Kent and I have plans to go to the Home and Garden Show today.  Alone.  And maybe even lunch out.  Like a date.

Also, stay tuned for a Kylee update.  You can always count on that girl to brighten any day.