One HECKOFA Week (or two)

Its been quite a week or two in the life of Amy. Traveling for work 2 weeks ago (3 nights away from home, which I dreaded) for a new internal position I started this past week kicked off a crappy couple of weeks. Training on a database that I had no visibility to until the day I got down to NJ (versus the rest of my team who have been playing around with it since March), having to drive down on a Sunday (I thought those days were over), and driving back home on Wednesday night (did I mention I was night-blind, and when I don’t know where I am going…forgetaboutit).

Doug and I received an email that Wednesday night, about something I am not at liberty to discuss yet. I have been pre-occupied since. Hopefully, I can share soon, regardless of the outcome.

My Mom came to visit, and stay with us for a few days last weekend. I took her for her early, surprise birthday gift. A few hours at a local spa, thanks to Groupon (oh, how I am learning to love Groupon!). It was so nice to feel spoiled, and spend some time with my Mom, who needed it as much or more than I did. I had intended to take Monday off from work, so that I can continue my Christmas shopping…but….Mother Nature had other plans for us.

The snow started before we even left the spa. And then it started to come down, heavy and wet. We were all relaxing in the living room, watching some television, when the lights flickered. And flickered again. And didn’t come back on. And then we realized, they may not be coming back on. So, we waited. Luckily, we have a gas fireplace, which does a decent job at keeping our downstairs fairly warm. We located our flashlights, changed batteries, and sat together, while the kids took turns telling us stories about their life in Ethiopia. In an hour, I learned more about them, and what they were doing, and who they were living with before becoming part of our family. Thank you, Mother Nature, for giving us that time.

The power stayed out. We brought Maya, the Guinea Pig, to my Dad’s, along with a cooler full of frozen food (did I mention that we went grocery shopping the day before?), packed up the car with our 2 kids and 2 dogs, and headed to Grammy Susie’s house. School was cancelled on Sunday for Monday (and remained closed until Thursday), my work was closed on Monday, and with that, trick or treat wasn’t going to happen either. We met my brother and his family in Hingham for trick or treat on Monday night.



On Tuesday, we decided to tough it out, and head back home. I wasn’t expecting to see our lights on, and low and behold, they were back on! Off to pick up the little piggy, have dinner at my Dad’s, and get some basics at BJs (the only store that was open in our neck of the woods).

M, B and I went to see Little A on Saturday. We love hanging out together, and I love seeing the sisterly love between Little A & B. B had her fill of injera, the girls went swimming while M hung out with “the boys” (aka Little A’s Dad and big brother). And when we got home, M & B got to go trick or treating, again…..



Yup, I am exhausted.

But, I am thankful.  I am thankful that we have electricity, and that it powers our heat, and our running water.  It allows us to keep our food cold, and free from bacteria.  That it gives us the ability to cook indoors, and flush our toilets.  Electricity, I have taken you for granted.  Not anymore.  My children were happy, living in a place without modern conveniences.  And now they live in a world that relies on such conveniences.  I am thankful for my family, who all live close by, and were able to "rescue" us when we needed to be rescued.  I am thankful for my job, and a kind manager who told me to take care of my family, first, and worry about work, second.  I am thankful for the food in our fridge, the toilets that can be flushed, and my children, who are both HAPPY and HEALTHY.