Taking a sick day

   Chad and I bit our cheeks and bought the parts for my car. How intensely grateful I am for Chad and his handiness, it has benefited pretty much everyone we know and many who we don't, but mostly our little family that could have bought a new car with the amount of money we've thrown into our hunks of junk. On top of Chads handiness, there's his patience and determination, two traits that I'm sure if you have combined, you can do ANYTHING. He patiently tries every possible solution for the car and with extreme determination, he exhausts every turn and doesn't stop til he finds the answer.
It's a big deal.
Chad spent 2-3 hours in my parents garage replacing what we were told was the issue, sadly, to find out that it was not the problem. While he put the car back together, I gave him a hug and a kiss on his grease stained face and said "we'll try again tomorrow, you've done everything you can". While he put the car back together, I took the kids home to put them in bed...just a couple hours late. As I got out of the car, I pressed the unlock button on our car key and threw it in Matixs car seat so I could get all the bags out of the car. Matix must have pushed up against the keys because right before the door shut, I heard a click and just like that, my evenings agenda was decided for me. I would spend the next two hours watching my kids cry in a locked car, standing in my dark drive port, helpless and defeated.
  I immediately ran over to my neighbors and asked to borrow their cell to call Chad and give him a little more bad news. He hadn't finish putting the car together so even if we wanted to, he couldn't come to help til he was finished (which ended up being another 30-45 minutes). That gave me just enough time to try and talk Liam into pushing his seatbelt buttons and reaching the door handle and realize that wasn't going to happen. He did so good the first hour, even though Matix was screaming and I'm sure the noise level was highly unpleasant, he listened to my instructions and tried to do everything I asked of him. But like most 2 year olds, the isolation and baby screams got old, so he joined in and cried the saddest cry. Chad finally arrived and my dad followed shortly after.
   Something about these men just relaxes me. Chad assured me that it was an accident, he wasn't upset, and we'd get the kids out soon. And my dad gave me a hug and made me laugh which perfectly medicated my aching heart. I'm truly blessed with the best of men.
  My dad, having lots of experience with making accidents into good memories, knew that the fire department will unlock a car with babies inside for no charge and in record time (God bless firefighters for more reasons than one!). Sure enough, after our call, they arrived in under 5 minutes and had the car unlocked and in one piece in less than a minute, no joke, they know what they're doing! We were so grateful and Liam was thrilled to give all the firemen fist bumps and sit in the fire truck. Honestly, the nicest men alive.
  We went inside, got the kids in bed and I asked Chad to take the next day off. We need some time devoted to getting our lives together. He wholeheartedly agreed.
  I woke up from a very rested night of sleep (Matix slept through the night for the 1st time), but I had a massive sinus headache, itchy eyes, a swollen throat and a stuffy nose. Standing outside on our freshly cut grass for 2 hours the night before must have flared up my allergies. Chad put some oils in our humidifier, tucked me in tighter and spent the morning cleaning my house and taking care of the kids. I got out of bed at 8 (the lasted I've slept in in months) with kids fed and thrilled to be playing with dad, a husband filling out job apps and making a game plan for the day and a Claritin with a tall glass of water. I sat on the couch, took some medicine and Chad started tickling my back ( my weakness). I looked over at him and said, "Ok, what's going on, this is the best morning ever." Chad said, "You need a good day"

Guys, I lost it.
Tears.
Everywhere.
I DID need a good day and within 15 minutes, I got it. I felt, refreshed, hopeful, determined and very very happy.
I hugged my favorite man and didn't want to let go. He's truly the best part of who I am. I'm so lucky to be Chads girl, so lucky.

I'm sure this week will bring new trials and test but I'm prepared, pumped and positive that we will succeed.

On a much brighter note, I worked my booty off and after a few trial sessions I got 3 more students this week! I'm selling fruit at my dads school and working on creating a client base so I can have my sales grow each season. And Chad has a few photo booth gigs this weekend that will hopefully, collectively get us back to where we need to be financially for the month. There's something about a long hot shower and a minute to yourself that helps you see the positive twist in life's obstacles again. More of those pesky hidden blessings are starting to seem more obvious. Don't get me wrong, LOTS of bad stuff has happened but I'm remembering to look for all the good...and there is so much of it!

I'm ready for round two

"Something great is just around the corner!"- Chad