Today, at long last, I FINALLY spent a day doing things that I knew would be good for me. It cost me an entire tank of gas and the biggest share of my day. Not a blooming thing got done at my house, my desk at school is still cluttered and waiting to be cleaned up, but friends, it was so worth it! I spent the day with my only daughter who I don't see near enough these days. I say to you again, IT WAS SO WORTH IT!
Better back up just a bit-I'm a 3x "blessed" mom, with two sons-Ricky (age 31) and Grahame (age 23) and a daughter, Ursela, who will turn 21 on "Boxing Day", December 26th. I was 35 when Ursela was born...."OLD" by standards of 21 years ago. Now a days, it's common to have your FIRST child at 35. I can still remember my first visit to the doctor when I learned I was pregnant with her. They took one look at my age at her conception (34) and gently told me, "You know there is a test we can run to see if anything is wrong with the baby and then you can decide what you want to do." I looked at them like they were crazy and promptly found a new doctor who never even brought the subject of my age up. Geesch-to them and their "stupid" test!
She was a c-section delivery because at an early age (in utero) she had already developed a "mind of her own" and decided to turn bottom down, breech. That little girl had NO intention of coming into this world in a normal fashion. And she's had a mind of her own ever since-thank you God!
When they delivered her and said, "It's a girl, Peggy!" I thought I had misheard what they said. Couldn't believe it-I was so sure she was my 3rd son that "his name" had already been chosen-Andrew Benjamin Christian Niilson Hemman. (specially arranged in "abc" order so I'd remember!) As it turned out, she became Ursela Catherine Roseanna Hemman. She has been surely loved ever since.
Her days of being a little girl flew by so quickly and in the half-blink of an eye she grew up. When she graduated from high school in 2009, she knew exactly what she wanted to do. At the end of the summer she left for college at the only place she ever really wanted to go-The University of Kansas-Lawrence. And friends, she never came back.
Lawrence is home to her now and as I visited with her today and spent several hours in "her world" I could see just how happy and content she really is there. I wouldn't wish for her to move back to Hutchinson for any reason now. She has a wonderful boyfriend named Wade who is working on his Master's at KU. He's a geologist from upstate New York, a small town called Goveurner. I first learned of his "existence" last Thanksgiving when Ursela told us that one of her friends (found out how special a bit later) was spending 5 weeks in Antarctica. I can remember thinking, "man, I know it's chilly in upstate New York, but this guy must be pretty strong to be able to live in Antarctica for over a month." We met him a couple of months later here in Hutch. I'm so happy for Ursela, to be dating a young man who knows how to treat women with kindness and respect.
Today's journey to Lawrence started at 6 a.m. at home. The trip took less than 3 hours to make and I had absolutely no trouble getting there. Onstar guided me most of the way, Dan Fogleberg Creedence Clearwater Revival and Loggins/Messina were playing "loud and clear" and "old lefty" actually didn't hurt at all. Could not have asked for a better trip. Ursela's apartment complex was easy to find and after she'd shown me around we decided to head out for all the fun stuff we could cram into 5 hours time.
Those of you who know Lawrence (probably better than me) know what the Merc is. It's one of my favorite places to visit when I'm there. Usually I just go in and wander around, wishing I might buy something but always "reckoning" myself to the fact that I really don't need it. Not today! I had set aside a little money that wasn't required for anything else in life and today I spent it. And I threw away the ticket, 'cause I wasn't taking them back! LOL
I treated myself to a small serving of hibiscus tea leaves, some catnip for Obie, a 2012 calendar, a pound of fresh chestnuts (you know the kind you roast on an "open fire") a book on canning and preserving and two bars of lavender goat's milk soap. I didn't have to break the bank to do it. Then we went to the WaxMan candle shop and I treated myself to a new candle from there. Then we headed to the Dusty Book Shelf to look for a book I've been meaning to find, "My Side of the Mountain." I'd never heard of it before, but some of my students had read a small excerpt from it in one of the readers I have. So I decided since they liked it, I'd get the "real thing" and we'd read together. For under $10, I found a piece of literature that 12 kids will get some enjoyment from next week at school.
Ursela and I had lunch together at the Free State Brewery on Mass. St. and it was a lot of fun! I am used to having a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, or if time allows a hamburger from Wendy's that I usually get through the drive-through and gobble down on the way back to school. It was wonderful to sit down with her, order a good meal, and enjoy conversation about life. We sat and talked for nearly an hour before we realized we needed to get a "move on". But what fun we had, what great memories were made for that lunch-time together.
The time to return home to Hutch arrived so quickly but before I left we agreed that I'd return again before the snow flies in the winter. Some nice "Indian summer" Saturday I will make the journey again to visit all the places we wanted to see today but didn't have time to. I'm very ashamed to admit it, but I hadn't seen Ursela since February and she only lives 3 hours away. I could say that we've both been busy, which we have, but that's not even close enough to a good excuse. That will happen NO MORE.....life's too short and how ever we need to arrange it, our schedules will be cleared way more often in the future. No one should be so busy~~
It's night time as I finish this-should have already been in bed by now. But I'm thinking about the day's events and realizing how blessed I am. My 3 children are alive and well, I have a good roof over my head, food enough to sustain me for days. I have a vehicle that starts every time and manages to run well...and MOST of the time I've got plenty of money to fill up the gas tank. My job will be there for me when I return to school next week, my arm is healing nicely and I couldn't ask for better friends than you all are. What else in the world could I even want? Certainly, what else would I even need? His richest blessings to you all, my friends.
FOR THE GIFT OF A DAUGHTER, DEAR LORD, I DO SO GIVE THANKS!
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