"I'm so glad when daddy comes home. Glad as I can be......."

Yay!!! Dan comes home today!
Our week as we were living it seemed to take forever, but when I look back on it, it seems to have gone by so fast. Grandma and Grandpa invited us to go out to dinner and a movie with them last night, which was a wonderful and welcomed break in our routine. It was nice to have someone else to have the kids "deflect"off of. THANK YOU!! I don't know how single parents do it. I can cope for a couple of days {or a week}, but I can't imagine doing this for months or years.
To go along with my sisters "things I am thankful for"...... I am thankful for a husband; wonderful kids, who tollerate my "crazyness" when dad is gone; for family who cares and loves me...... I could go on, and on, and on, but I will stop here for now. Gotta go clean up the house.

My mind has been put at ease.......

I have been stressing because I hadn't heard from Dan to know if he made it. I had all sorts of weird fears in my head about what could happen to him { he had to have $250 in cash to buy his visa into the country and had to be bills that were printed after 2002. The bills we got were 2004, but what if they decided not to accept those because of our economy and detain him or something! I know, I know a little bit extreme.... but you never know}. I was having a hard time getting Skype to let me "on", so he could try to call. But I woke up to a nice email from him letting us know he was safe and with his parents. WHEW! So I can sort of function again and not sit by the computer just waiting for some sign of him.

"It's so hard .... to say GOODBYE" (can you tell me who sings that)

I took Dan to the airport this morning, so he could start his adventure to Africa. I hate saying goodbye to him, and this time was especially hard. Probably because he is flying WAY out of the country to go visit his parents in Nairobi, Kenya.
We were going to make this trip together, but because of how things worked out, it was better that I stay here. So instead him and his brother, Chris, decided to go since neither of their spouses could accompany them.
What a great adventure, though. They are going to go on Safari for 3 days, see the orphanage the church and his parents are helping, and getting to take in all the culture of Africa.
Even though it will be hard (since we can't really communicate with each other very well) he will experience a once in a life time trip.
Tell your parents we love them and are glad they are serving the Lord and helping spread the gospel through service and love. We love you, and will miss you tremendously. Come home safe and tell us all the cool things you got to do!

The Crazy Fanatic Lady.......

The first weekend of Nov. was the football championship game. Yes, our cool little team made it to the championship game. It was on a Sunday, which I was NOT happy about.

Here's where the story started. ...... a couple weeks before the "Big" game we found out that it was going to be played on a Sun. I was not happy, and poor Dan got an earful about it on a daily basis. So, finally he said "Honey there is NOTHING I can do about it. If it's making you this upset email the people in charge." So I did. With in about 10 min of me sending my first email Dan had multiple messages on his phone about the email I sent. Here is what the first email said (it was sent to the league pres. and the reps from Brighton)......



Hi,
I am a concerned mother of a football player and cheerleader. I was made aware that our team, Brighton White NFC 9 yr olds, will be playing on Sunday Nov. 2. Since when do we play games on Sundays?! I was under the assumption that our league plays by CHSAA rules, who DOESN'T allow their games to be played on Sundays. Now, I don't know how religious any of the board is, but our family spends our Sundays worshiping God and spending time doing activities that help us remember Him. It is the one day of the week where we try to make different than the rest. Am I now supposed to tell my children that football comes first and foremost over our worshiping Him and "keeping the Sabath Day holy"? I DO NOT appreciate how YOUR decision will now be affecting the standards that we have tried to instill in our children. This subject has put a strain on our family. We have also tried to teach our kids the importance of finishing what you start, and that they are part of a team. If this is where the league is going our family will not participate in the capacity that we have been (my husband has been coaching or on a coaching staff for 3 yrs and I was asked last minute to help coach the cheerleaders). I have heard other parents complain about this as well, but I may be the only one to keep you in the loop about how upsetting this is to at least our family.
Sincerely
my name
my email
my phone#

Needless to say, no one called me. They all called Dan to find out what was going on. It went through the league like wildfire. Apparently I managed to offend a bunch of people ( I don't think it was me as much as it was their conscience.) I won't go into the gory details. Lets just say that Dan was put into an interesting position (he totally backed me 100%, but just not the email etiquette I was lacking), I left the house in an angery rush and drove around most of the evening.
I came home, calmer and focused. The next day with the help of my etiquette adviser I wrote another email to the above mentioned people. Here is the 2nd email...........

My husband read my email last night and brought to my attention how offensive it could have been if someone had sent it to me. Let me first apologize for the way it was worded, it was never my intention to offend any of you or challenge your religious beliefs. Those who know me know that I would never intentionally offend or upset anyone.

I am concerned that the games are being played on Sundays and I wanted my concerns heard. I apologize if I didn't go through the right chanels, but I do think it's a big enough issue that it should be brought to the board's attention. I have had discussions with many other concerned parents, and I wanted to share those concerns with the board.

Again, I realize that my email I sent to each of you was tactless, and I hope you can accept my sincere apology for any offense I've caused you. I respect the time and effort you put forth volunteering to provide our kids an opportunity to participate in football and cheerleading.

Sincerely,

My name

We still played on Sun. and took second place. But hopefully the league will think about next year differently.

What are you opinions of my emails?