Do I cry or dance?

NO, the house has not sold yet! It may just remain in our possession for a long time, and that's okay with us, we think. We're really not sure what God is doing in that area, but we're not fretting about it. And no, those tents are not where we intend to move to. :)

I have just had a whirlwind week and half. It started on Saturday, August 16. Lauren, Emily (Lee's girlfriend), Amie (my sister-n-law) and I left Lathrop at 5:30 am, headed for Bloomington, MN and the Mall of America. It was Amie's first visit and a last road trip before school started for Em & Lauren. We had so much fun laughing, talking and shopping. We only stayed one night, headed back the next day, but it was well worth it. You can see (barely) the fun we had trying to get in the view of a camera in one of those small picture machines! Those are only meant for one or two mind you, it was quite interesting getting all four of us in there, but we had fun.

The next couple of days were packing and last minute appointments for Lauren before we headed off to Cape Girardeau. On Wednesday, she and I took off in my car and left her dad with her packed car, so that he could drive down after work. Move in was on Thursday and we went for the early bird time of 6 am. It was early, but take heed parents, it was THE smart thing to do. We had plenty of help, plenty of room, plenty of time. As the day got later, we kept thanking ourselves for giving up the sleep, as the lines got longer, the temp. got higher and the patience grew thinner.............as observed from Lauren's already set up room and made bed. Lee and Emily had joined us as well, so that big brother could check things out and give his stamp of approval!! As if that was going to change anything, but we were glad to all be together, knowing it wouldn't be the case for awhile. Leaving Lauren there was very hard, but would have been harder had we not made additional plans for the next few days.

From Cape Girardeau, Lawrence and I with Lee and Emily following, headed to a campground in Lesterville, MO. The name? Bear cat...........I would not recommend it. Very backwoods, lacking in customer service and later found out it has a BIG history with free-thinking/acting/smoking/drugging culture!! Anyway, we pitched our tents, fought the bugs, sweat like crazy and cooked hot dogs. On Friday, we rented canoes (can you believe those are up to $40 now?) and spent about 5 hours on the Black River. Once back, we closed up camp and headed off. Lee & Emily back to St. Joe and Lawrence & I to Arcadia to a B&B to celebrate our 23rd anniversary.

We stayed in a very old (1847) facility. It was a catholic girls boarding school for 100 years amongst other things, such as a hospital during the civil war, a college, a high school and a daycare. This campus is huge with a cathedral, gymnasium, classrooms, etc. The history was quite interesting, but we stayed in the Bishop's room! I had no shower, only a tub - which I hate. There was a chair and couch in the room that must have been original! When you sat down, you went clear to the floor!! No kidding. Lawrence and I had a laugh, ate some great food and enjoyed imagining what life was like there in it's hay day. On Sunday we headed home.
I realized as we headed home that what we had done after leaving Lauren was priceless. To have left her and driven 8 hours home, I would have been bawling the whole way. Instead, we kept ourselves busy and active and it truly helped prepare me for the "empty nest" we came home to. It's wierd and nice; some days I cry, some days I dance!

Lauren's first week has been a little traumatic..........but that's for another blog. Will catch you up later...........you'll need a break after reading all of this!