The Sequel

Friday was a good day. The time at work was enjoyable - the party with my family was wonderful. The flowers are more beautiful than when I got them. I got phone calls from Diane and from Judith. What nice surprises! Thank you all for your kind comments!


Recently somebody did a Show and Tell on her Willow Tree collection. I commented that I had purchased the nativity set this past Christmas and would love to have more of them. My wish came true when one of my gifts was the angel called "Celebration." I just love it.

I received so many lovely cards, and a nice Visa gift card from my colleagues at work. Dwight planned a nice party - everyone brought something. Sema's contribution was the cake - turns out she works with someone who used to work for the best bakery in our town, but now she free lances. She did such a great job! And it tasted as good as it looked - half was chocolate with raspberry filling and half was vanilla with lemon filling. Notice that she even made it look like pages on the edges.

In case you're having trouble reading the light blue script, it says, "Congratulations on your retirement! Enjoy your next chapters!" There is a ribbon "bookmark" dividing the pages that says "Book on Dawn's Retirement." Note the pages are numbered 1 and 2. The second page lists what I should do now. Chapter 1 - Relax, Time for Self. The little symbols before are an umbrella, sunglasses, and weights (Sema must have told her friend that I plan to get back to the gym more often). Chapter 2 - Travel ... A Lot. Below it says Europe, Canada, and has a little cruise ship. Chapter 3 - Enjoy Life - a happy face and a sunshine. So beautiful.

It's funny. I know that I don't have to set my alarm foe 5:00 (or any other time really!) tomorrow morning. Intellectually I know it. It hasn't sunk in yet, obviously. I was watching a really good movie - The Bucket List - have you seen it? My first thought was to ask my friend at work tomorrow if she's seen it!

Yesterday DC, Kev, Sema, and Kristen went rafting on the Poudre River. The river is really roiling this year - lots of run-off from the mountains. You won't catch me within 10 miles of such an adventure - but they love it. I spent the afternoon with the 4 little girls.

The last run was the most intense. One minute Kristen was in the raft, the next second she wasn't. She and the guy on the left both landed in the river. Thank the Lord she had rented a wet suit. Otherwise, her whole body would look like her banged up knuckles do. She has a deeply bruised leg, but she's going to be okay.

My women's/mother's intuition kicked in about 6:00. They'd been gone longer than I thought they should have been. I tried to call them on their cell phones, but no answers. Of course, they couldn't have phones in the raft, so that meant they still weren't on their way home yet. I was trying to keep my tension from the girls. Kristen and DC had ridden his motorcycle up to Kev and Sema's place, so that was another scenario I was concerned about.

I decided it was finally time to get the kids something to eat, so thought I'd take them out. Care Bear started crying, missing her mommy. I tried to convince her that crying wouldn't make things any better. I finally got her mind off the situation by asking her where they'd like to eat. She got back to her own cheerful self. Feisty turned to her and said, "Care Bear, how did you stop crying so fast?" She said, "Well, you just stop making noise, wipe the tears off your face, and you're okay!" Oh, the wisdom of a 5-year-old!

When we were eating at Wendy's, she saw a wasp outside the window. We began a discussion about wasps and how they were even worse than bees when they sting. She said, "Why in the world did God create bees and wasps? They're just BAD! . . . Oh, maybe it was that other guy who made them - Satan!" She just cracks me up - this led to a great discussion about Adam and Eve and how bad things entered the world because of them.

We were very relieved to finally get the phone call that they were on their way home, just a bit worse for the wear, but alive. Kristen saw her life flash before her - I am so thankful for God's care for them.

Have a great week!