Needed Time to Recover before Posting Again

Last week was a stressful time for me. This was the biggest reason.

I did something terrible to my daughter before her state board practical exam last week. She had packed her stuff the day before and we put water in an insulated carafe that morning. When we were getting ready to go, I grabbed her bag and lab coat and put them in the car with my purse and camera (for the Fair - not allowed at the test). When we were about to 9 miles from home, she asked if I had her lab coat and I told her yes. We went all the way up to the city where the test was being given - 35 miles or so from here and arrived 25 minutes before she was even allowed to enter the building. Sat outside about 20 minutes and I suddenly realized I didn't have the water. She hadn't brought it either. I threw the GPS at her and told her to find a Target or Wal-Mart and I was praying - out loud part of the time. Found an Office Max first. Office Depot has them, but Office Max didn't. The clerk in there told me where a Wal-Mart was, but my daughter had found a Target and didn't want to get back on the freeway before the test. So we went to Target. Ran (literally) in, found the carafe, raced to the check out and waited in line, not patiently. Continued to pray, sometimes aloud, as we raced back to the testing center. Got there and in the door at about 1:25. Made her the last to check in, but we made it. Meanwhile, to her credit, she never got upset (I was upset enough for both of us) and said, "If I can't take the test today, it's for a reason and it's okay."

Once we got in there and got started, she was as calm as she could be. Scored a 75 our of 78 (96%). I had to go on to the car to wait for her to finish the test once I was released, and she was going to try to convince me she hadn't passed, but she couldn't keep from smiling. It was such a relief, and then I cried. If she hadn't passed it, I would have felt like a real scumbag.

Final blow - she didn't need the carafe. She was allowed to get water at will from the shampoo bowls in the room.

It has been hard to forgive myself for causing her any anguish. I know she handled it well, and that is good, but I hate to let down anyone, especially my own children.

This week included my and my husband's 29th anniversary. No big celebrating, but it's still quite a milestone for us. Last night was our state's "National Night Out". It's too hot to have that in August with the rest of the country, so ours was moved to October. It was fun, but not exciting. This is, after all, a very small town. Good hot dogs, though. Thanks to the Fire Department.

My daughter has her first event with her new company this weekend. Everything has come together well and she is ready for it. The last part was getting the "gimmes" she is going to give out and they arrived yesterday so they are ready to go today. Sure is nice to have them done ahead of time.

I have been working on my preparations for a big scrapbooking event the following weekend. My gameroom looks like a tornado tore through it, but I've made progress. Today I get to mark down items for sale. I hate doing that. It means changing the tape in the tape gun and that's hard to do. Ha! Not really hard to do, but I don't enjoy it, then I have to make a list of every item I'm marking down and the original and sale prices. It's a lot of tedious, boring work. But then it will be done. That's the last big chore except making snacks for the big day.

Guess that's about it for this time. Have a blessed day.