New Day

It's gotten easier to get through the day without losing it. Never realized how hard the death of a pet would be, but this weekend showed me. Today was actually a good day. Spent most of the day working in the church office and talking to the other ladies who are going on retreat next week. So looking forward to a weekend away to recharge my batteries!
When you are a caretaker of another human being, you need to make time for yourself away from them. I love my daughter, but I have found a weekend now and then does wonders for my attitude. I need that time for me . . .away from changing diapers, feedings, and the lifting and carrying of 80 lbs. Oh, sorry, you haven't met my daughter, Amanda.
It's been almost 25 years since she came into my life - 6 min. after her twin sister. Her twin is getting ready to receive her masters in recreational therapy. Amanda is excited that she gets to attend the state Special Olympics again this year. Apparently there's a lot of parents at her school who won't let their child go away for 3 days, as Amanda attended last year and they can only take so many "wheelchair" kids with them. Hooray for me, I get a three day break without having to pay a caretaker!
So, my daughter is in school during the day, except for those days when she doesn't have school - holidays (sometimes 2 week stretches), snow days, teacher in-service days . . . you get the picture. But when she is home, I'm the one who takes care of her. There is no dad in the picture (their father died when they were 4 and a subsequent marriage did not work out), so I'm it. When her twin is around, she helps, but she's been at school for the past 6 years - the last 2 out of state. It will be (maybe) nice to have her home this summer while she interns here, but she has her friends and life away from us, too.
I try to do things with Amanda; we go to the movies quite often in the winter (the movie doesn't always matter, sometimes it's just getting out!), the zoo is fun when the weather is nice, walks around the neighborhood - let me tell you, when I let her give me directions she can take us for some looong walks; and just hanging in the backyard, swimming. We've even attended a few concerts and a Joyce Meyer Conference. Of course, heading to the mall is a favorite destination of hers - especially if lunch is involved! So you can tell, I get her out and about. We don't like to stay cooped up if we can avoid it.
You never know what life will hand you, but it's how you handle what life throws your way that matters.