Back to Normalcy . . . & Back to School!

I don't have a rug in my den and I still have a big pile of clothes to fold and put away, BUT I do have hot water. Hooray!!

The day of our Hot Water Heater Disaster, my mother emailed me and in closing said, "Remember, Cheryl, that joy comes in the morning." How true that is! Most people who know me will say that I'm a very positive person and that not much gets me down. I usually can find the bright spot amidst the worst of situations. There are times, though, when Life just gets me depressed--and Tuesday was one of those days. I was down in the dumps all day and night about the big ole mess downstairs. But, Mom was so right!! In the midst of the mess, I found some really joyful situations and discoveries. Like--

We were forced to clean out the utility room and, in doing so, I found some absolute treasures. Along with the smelly socks and old, mildewed sheets (yuck!), I found a box filled with Junior High School treasures. In that box were old photos, some Charlie's Angels trading cards (I had ALL of them at one time!), old comic books (when I was 12, I'd use my allowance to buy an Archie comic book, a Slush Puppy drink, and some "penny" candy), my junior high newspaper (it was a GREAT paper filled with gossip and all sorts of fun stuff; I was the co-editor, of course); old drill team and cheerleading pics; assorted notes; and my early versions of "scrapbooks" (just a place to keep pictures, movie tickets, and various mementoes).

(Margie, if you happen to be reading this--lookie, there we are in that first pic! OMG!)

I also found stuff from high school, and some PRICELESS videos from my college days. My friend, Jeff, made videos of all of our great events--I found ones from a party at the apartment I shared with Cheryl and Angela, and from a trip to Chattanooga with an Ad Federation team (TOO much fun in a hot tub, and all preserved on tape!). Watching those really took me back (I LOVED college!).

I even found this football practice jersey of Gary's from . . .oh my goodness, it must be like 1981 or 82. How bad does that age us???

(And when I said something to Gary about him being a bit big for it now, I reminded myself that I sure am glad I didn't find my old cheerleading uniform. It would be a HUGE effort to even get it up to my hips!)

And then the girls, of course, helped me keep it all in perspective. Kids will do that, you know? After Gary bought the hot water heater and the repairman got it installed, we had a big giant box just waiting to be played with. What would it become? A fort? a house? a school? Well, Delaney and Sydney decided it was a Drive Through Restaurant. (Here they are with Sydney placing an order from Delaney; btw--you "drove" around to the other side of the box to the Pick Up window. And a pic of them posing beside the box. . . ahem, restaurant. (And, oh yeah, there was even an ATM swiper on the box. Does that say something about my kids or what?)

(okay, icky--see my bare floor without a rug. I am SO going rug-shopping soon! LOL)

Another high-point of the day--Sydney got herself a tattoo to match the ones her sisters got on our vacation. McKenna and Delaney got air brush tattooes on Tybee Island and the whole time they were getting them, Sydney was saying, "I wanna tattoo, too." Of course, we weren't spending $10 on a temporary tattoo for her!! So imagine her joy (she actually SQUEALED about it!) when her sisters found a gumball machine that had temporary tattoos in it. Here is the flower tattoo she now has on her arm! She has to show it to everyone!

So, as always, life has a way of balancing back out--as Jerry Seinfeld said on one of my favorite episodes, "It always evens out!" Crappy stuff happens, then the good stuff comes back in and reminds us that it's never so bad that it can't get better! Joy does INDEED come in the morning--and thank goodness that lesson was reiterated to me again today!

Well . .. I'm writing this in the wee hour of Thursday morning . .. which means that the girls head back to school today (in about six hours!!!). It's McKenna's first day of HIGH SCHOOL, so she's a little bit freaked out (worried about finding all of her classrooms, having friends in all of her classes, wearing the right outfit, and all that good stuff!).

And it's Delaney's last year in elementary school; she's the BIG DOG on campus as a fifth grader. We had Open House and met with her teacher, Mrs. Clayton, who already knows Delaney well. I predict that it will be great year for both of them!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday. And remember--if it gets bad today, it WILL get better! I promise!!!