We're Baaaack!

It has been a few weeks since I have posted. We have completed our move back home to Indiana. All 30,000 pounds of our possessions (aka crap) have made the 600 mile trek and we are all in one place. The kids have one week of their new school(s) under their belts and now they are having their Spring Break. Speaking of Spring Break, when did the trend of going to Florida or Mexico or the Caribbean over Spring Break start? I know college kids have historically gone to Florida, but just regular people? When I was a kid I was lucky to just go visit my grandparents who lived three hours south of us during the break. As a family, we never took trips during Spring Break, and we really could have because my parents were teachers and actually had the week off. One time when I was junior in high school, we went to Florida, but that is the only time we ever did any far away trip in the Spring. The new neighborhood that we have just moved to appears to be a "Richy, richy, place" to me. I think one of our neighbors went to Hawaii, and a bunch seem to have gone away too. We just don't have that kind of money, or time, for that matter. How do people do it? I totally understand why people around here want to go to warmer climes, I would sure do it if I had the energy and the funds. Anyway, we are using our Spring Break to get bedrooms situated, curtains hung, and just catch up on some sleep that was lost during all the moving time. We are sure glad to be back!

FBI Hiring Blitz, Move Here and Buy My House!

I just read that the FBI is starting a hiring blitz. This is just the news I have been waiting for! Why, you ask? Well, I happen to have a beautiful, spacious home in Loudoun County Virginia that would be perfect for an FBI worker and his or her family to move into. It is quiet and peaceful here--just what an FBI agent or worker needs after the high stress working environment in Washington, D.C. Many government workers live in this area, FBI folks included. Loudoun County is one of the wealthiest, fastest growing counties in the nation. The public high school in our town is ranked 57th in the nation. If you are an FBI employee, or soon-to-be hired employee, or anyone who is looking to move to the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountians, please consider purchasing our home. You can view our home on www.zillow.com for all the details. Come to Northern Virginia--jobs, mountains, good schools. . . what more could you want?

Not Much to Blog About

I have sort of hit a dry spell for things to write about. The school year is coming to a close, so there are lots of end-of-the-year activities like Field Day, Carnival Day, field trips and finals, so that has been what has been filling the girls' days. The weather is finally warming up, my garden is planted and showing signs of sprouts, I hired a guy (I think he was an illegal immigrant) who did some mighty fine work to help the drainage problem in our backyard and basement, and the softball season is coming to a close. All is (almost) right with the world, which means there isn't much other than the usual price of gasoline to gripe about, so my blogging has not been very active. At any rate, things are okay and there are only 425 days 11 hours 52 minutes and 46 seconds before we are free to move back to Indiana. I think I can wait that long

An Answered Prayer

So I have been lamenting about this move we made to Virginia. I have had a pretty bad attitude about the whole thing for selfish reasons: my family is all back in Indiana, all my friends are in Indiana, I don't know anyone here. . . Please notice that all of these reasons begin with the word "I". Recently, I have been thinking about how self-centered I have been about this move. Yes, we moved because my husband wanted to; that's what it boiled down to, until something else occurred to me. On three different occasions, from three completely different people, I have heard the same thing: how glad they are that our daughter Gabby has moved here. The first time I heard it was from a mother of a little girl in Gabby's class. They had invited my daughter over to play for the afternoon, and this mother said how excited she was that her daughter wanted to invite a friend over. Her daughter is painfully shy, and the family was dreading this schoolyear. Along comes our little Gabby. New to the school, new to the state of Virginia, and open to everything. She started playing with this little girl, and now they are good little friends.


The second time I heard about our Gabby was from another mother of a little girl who had invited our daughter over to play. She said that her daughter had said how nice Gabby was to everyone, and she was glad they were in the same class. The third time I heard about our daughter was from her teacher. She said that Gabby is friendly and kind to everyone and is a real asset to the class and indeed to the whole school. Well, of course every mother wants to hear how great their kid is. I am very proud that my middle daughter is such a kind and friendly person, but the more I thought about it, the more it occurred to me that this is something more.

Our daughter is the kind of kid to whom people are drawn. She looks like a chubby, sweet, cherub, has a twinkle in her eye, and has just plain nice personality. Until now, however; I never really looked at her for who she really is. She is someone who truly has a purpose here on earth. She was one of those "00ps" pregnancies that happened while I was on the Pill. We had only planned on having two children. She was a lovely baby and an easy toddler. She was popular in preschool, as well as in first grade. Second grade was a little tougher for her and friends were few and far between for some reason. She took this big move to Virginia in stride. After pondering all the why's about this move, it has become clear to me that the reason we moved may have had something to do with my husband, but it could also have been because a shy, lonely little girl living in Northern Virginia prayed every night for a friend. A friend who could accept her just the way she was. No matter that that little girl would be coming from Indiana! Maybe God is using our daughter in some small way. Maybe our daughter has become the answer to a faraway prayer. I believe that God answers prayers in unexpected ways, and Gabby may be one of those answers.