Spring Break, Hubby Appreciation, and Catchin' Up

Well, I've done it again. Been quite a while since getting back to The Blog. There's always so much going on. Writing always takes a backseat.
For one, it's been a busy school year. Transferring to & working at an "F" school can keep you on your toes...constantly. We've had Dept of Ed visits & loads of trainings. While Spring break this week has been awesome, I'll be even more thankful when it's Summer break. But enough about school. I'm already sick of it, and Spring break isn't a time to dwell on it.

The economy has continued on its downward spiral. And as a result of "someone wasn't paying attention" in my Hubby's biz (not him, someone else higher up), my Hubby was told he'd have to travel for three months to make up for the idiot(s) who didn't do the business correctly in the first place. So Darlin' Hubby has been gone Monday thru Friday for the last three months. I can't lie & I won't kid. It was hectic. Anything & everything having to do with the kids, home, & pets was busy, busy, busy. Appointments everywhere I turned. Between running all over the place & not being able to sleep well without Hubby by my side, it wasn't unusual for me & the kids to arrive home at 10 p.m.-ish.

While I hated his travel, I will say that it had a positive side that I'm not willing to admit to his superior. We became closer. What time we had on weekends, we cherished. We blocked out as much as we could to have time together those precious few days. We made it through, but I wouldn't want a repeat. Hubby's co-worker unfortunately did not have the same experience. On his last day of travel he was told by his wife (via phone, no less) that she wanted a divorce. Long story short, they are working on "working it out".

Sometimes you wonder what makes one marriage work & another fail under these circumstances. Love, of course. But it takes work, too. Hubby & I stayed in touch daily. Not just once, but many times throughout the day. We shared the ups & downs from both sides of the phone, & tried to keep it light when things were difficult. What else did I learn from this? How much I appreciate all that my Hubby does for me. And it's a LOT! Since he works from home, he's often made up for the shopping & appointments when he can. I really can't thank him enough for the wonderful man that he is. I've also learned to say "no" more often to things "on the outside" that suck time away. That one is hard since we're dealing with the school's "F" status & time demands. But at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And I AM getting better at "no".

This week was Spring break.
We drove to Tennessee to visit my soon-to-be 94-yr-old grandmother. She'd not met our newest adopted children, & wished to see "all the grandbabies". All told, we have ten, but five are still living at home.
So we took the kids to stay at Fall Creek Falls state park in Tennessee. If you could ask for the "perfect" Spring break, this was it! Check it out online when you get a chance. We couldn't get a rental with the cabins, so we stayed at the inn. (Probably due to the newly opened turkey season.)
My kids are "outdoorsey" kinds of kids, for the most part. So while I sat around drinking iced coffees, enjoying FIVE magazines & actually finishing TWO whole novels, Hubby & the kids took hikes, scoped out the waterfalls (& climbed down to the bottom of one & back again), and played ping-pong & pool (in the inn's game room). Hubby got some jogging in. One son took his bike & rode all over every day, while another rode his skateboard until we found out it wasn't allowed.
They also had a heated pool & horseback riding there, which we missed for a "wow" reason.

Two days after we arrived, snow flurries started..and didn't stop. Although the snow melted when it hit the ground, by the following morning, we had a winter wonderland. Since it was colder thru the night, we awoke to a picture postcard, thanks to our youngest son who couldn't contain himself or wait any longer to get out there. The lake was outside our balconies, snow blowing diagonally across it. The fishing dock, picnic tables & pine trees were coated with a blanket of snow. So was everything else within eyesight. I witnessed a squirrel come out, look around, and chatter, as if to say: "What the hell is this???" It was like Spring had sprung & Winter came back to bite him! ha! Quite a funny moment. We also saw other beautiful birds playing in the trees...what looked like chickadees & bluejays. Deer were everywhere. I literally lost count. We'd see them in groups of three to four or six almost everytime we encountered them. Our daughter made an attempt to build snowmen on the dock & tables. The best one looked like a giant white chocolate kiss. She got a kick out of that description!

Yes, we did "the usual" for Floridians. Grabbed the cameras. Got tons of pictures, especially the expected one of the kids sticking out their tongues to catch the snowflakes. Our kids thought they'd died & gone to Heaven, worth every minute of missed horseback riding. Especially to our newest children who'd never seen natural snow. The one time we took them to Maggie Valley, we had to settle for man-made snow.

Snow! What entertainment! And it's FREE!

Then just about as soon as it'd started, it was all over. The next morning was spent watching the snow melt & disappear. Some of the more mountainous areas were still sugared white. While we appreciated this, we took a drive to the Cumberland Caverns. The whole family took the tour underground. Once again, the kids loved it! Like one son said, you have to wonder what makes someone suddenly want to go into a cave & continue to follow it to who-knows-where?? One area called the Meat Grinder was so narrow that the original discoverer, literally pulled out on the other side, was all cut up & bloody (hence the name Meat Grinder). What possesses someone to want to do that, not knowing what's ahead?? It's beyond my comprehension!

We all had a restful, breathtaking vacation! We're back home now, decompressing, trying to get back into the "work" mindset that will hit full-steam tomorrow. But we made some memories for us and the kids.

And I cherish having my Hubby back again.