My Apologies

Hello All!

I want to apologize to you. Many people have been inquiring and wondering why I have posted anything in a while, especially since my mom and dad came to visit us for Christmas last week. One reason is that I am not sure where my cord to upload my pictures of that precious time is and I am a very visual person and to me a blog without pictures is pretty boring. So is it really worth it? Of course it is! But the other reason is that while I was with my parents last week I didn't want to take time away from just relishing in their presence and this week I started back to my teaching position at Calvary and therefore was extremely busy over the weekend and the beginning of this week to even think about posting the happenings of the Sutherland family.

So you may wonder why I have time all of a sudden on Wednesday morning and that is a good question. Well, it so happens that my lovely daughter gets up for her 4 a.m. feeding and by the time she is done it is about a quarter till 5 and I normally get up at 5:45 a.m. to get ready for the day anyway. I tried going back to sleep yesterday and did, but when I got up an hour later it felt like a Mack truck had slammed into me. I was thoroughly exhausted, so since I feel pretty good and decent after Maia's feeding I have decided that I should probably just go with it and stay up for the day. I might need to rearrange my schedule at night time to compensate, but this definitely gives me more time to start my day off right with devotions and then maybe some extra time to prep for school and of course the most important duty...Blog. Hee hee

My time with my parents was wonderful. They got in at noontime the Saturday after Christmas, taking their time on the way up to stop and rest at a hotel the night before. They stayed until the next Friday, the day of New Year's. We had a great time of just fellowshipping and being with each other. I was trying to prepare emotionally for seeing my mom without any hair in person. I had seen the picture, but I wasn't sure how I was going to react to seeing her right in front of me in all her "chemo reality". When she arrived she had the cutest chique wig on, but later that night she got all comfy and took off the wig. You know what? It was great! She really is really cute with no hair. I might need to convince her to "Sinead" it after the chemo is done. She really has a good complementary noggin to her face. LOL Of course, Gideon had to try on the wig and he looked like a Rock Star. He got out his green guitar he got for Christmas and gave us a little rock concert in the livingroom with his new hair doo (sp?). It was too funny. We were all cracking up.

I have gotten some really cute photos of the grandkids with their Papa and Grams (as she is now officially called after this visit). I am not sure how that one started. I'll have to ask Kenny when he gets up in a little bit.

Papa, while he was up in this neck of the woods, decided to travel on Tuesday up to his side of the family in Berlin, Connecticut. It is ony a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive on a good day if the traffic isn't horrendous around NYC area. He visited with family and of course his real intent was to get in the UCONN girls' basketball game on Wednesday. He rang in the New Year up in Connecticut and came back on Thursday morning. It was good to see him back. I am glad he got that opportunity and I know he felt like they were imposing since we live in a two bedroom apartment, but I was very glad he was back and enviously wished he hadn't gone up to CT in the first place. I relished every moment I had with my parents, knowing it might be a while before we get to see them again.

I hope my mom didn't think I was slacking on my motherly duties while she was here. I don't think that was the case, but I just wanted her to have every opportunity she could get to hold, cuddle, and give tenderloving care to her new granddaughter. When family is visiting from KY, I know that they only have a little time to be with my family and I don't mind if they monopolize my kids. I love being with my kids and some mothers might find it hard to give up holding and even feeding their little one for long periods of the daytime, but I absolutely loved watching my mom and dad holding Maia and showering her with kisses and hugs.

I am going to wrap up now, because I actually do need to get ready for the day. School this week has been much better than I thought it was going to be. Thanks go out to those who have been lifting me up, knowing that I was going to face this tough transition this week. I have felt the Lord giving me His peace and joy during these past few days. I am already anticipating different learning experiences I can shower on my students for the new year and I am truly excited to be here. I'll write more later about Maia's doctor's appointments as of late and other Sutherland happenings. Maybe I'll even get to it tomorrow morning at 4:30 a.m.! Yikes!

Love You All!

Oh! And by the way...if there are typos in this posting I am purposely not going to spend time correcting my errors. Too early and so little time! Hee hee . Take Care!