Bye Bye Jack

My little buddy Jack that I've been babysitting since he was a month old had his last day with me as his babysitter. He just left a few minutes ago and it's hard to imagine my house without him. He's been around most all of Rachel's life and she asks about him a lot. Every time we pass the room where he naps, she says, "Is Jack asleep?" even if it's on a weekend day or some other time than nap time. She'll definitely miss her friend.

A lot has changed over the past couple of years.....


This little guy has been such a blessing. Mike and I were friends with his parents during the last few months of his mom, Mindy's, pregnancy with him. Mindy and I decided that I would keep Jack after she went back to work from maternity leave. I hung out with her on a Thursday night and called to leave a message Friday night and she didn't return my call. I thought that strange because she was usually very good about calling me back. I found out Saturday morning that she'd gone into labor Friday and during her labor had an amniotic fluid embolism and passed away before they could take Jack via c-section. She was one of those kinds of people that EVERYONE loved. She was the sweetest soul on earth. It was my privilege to have been friends with her. And an even bigger privilege to care for the child she never got a chance to meet. That has always been in the back of my mind where Jack has been concerned. I know that if something like that happened to me, I would want only the best caretaker for my child. I've tried to be that for Jack.

And now that he's headed to preschool next week, I can just pray that the ladies that care for him there will love him. I have no doubt they will. I'm sure we'll still see him since they live in the same town, but as we all know, it won't be the same. It's sad for me to think of not getting sweet hugs and kisses from him and hearing him FINALLY start to say things we can understand. I know ultimately this will be a good thing for him, but for today, I'm sad that my little guy has gone. And sad all over again about losing my friend.

Seminar

On Sunday, I will be leaving for Dallas to attend our Mary Kay Seminar. This is a big year end celebration and training time for us in MK. Last year was my first year to attend and from the time I got there, even checking into the hotel, my mouth gaped open in amazement at how organized everything was and the attention to detail that had been taken. It was incredible!!

This was a picture taken at one of the awards nights we have. Here, I am with my director, Norenda, and my friend and sister consultant, April. I HATE my hair in pictures when it was that short. I'll never do that again. :)

This was the dessert we had at the first awards night. Oh my - YUM! I swear I think it was the best piece of chocolate cake I've ever had.

Seminar begins on Sunday with everyone arriving and getting settled and then culminates on Wednesday with a wonderful final boost. The whole experience is like church camp in a way. You're so excited to go and so excited while you're there and the last day is always emotional because you just don't want to leave, but you're armed and ready to hit the world running when you get home. I'm excited to see what this year brings. I'm working right now on building my business even more and am really looking forward to the upcoming year.

My whole life, mediocre has been an ok thing. Coming from where I grew up, you never would have expected many people to go on to anything remotely successful in life. I graduated with 19 people. Not a lot of opportunity for many things. Just doing what you need to get by was acceptable. I have now come to a place in my life where that just isn't ok anymore. Yeah, I don't always try as hard as I know I can, but the difference now is that I recognize that and it's not acceptable. I want to be better. I want to do more. And then some.

Uneasy

I'm having one of those days where everything in my life just seems to be a little bit off. As I have shared before, I hate it when things aren't just happy with everyone and all of my relationships aren't just great. Today, that is just the case. I feel like I'm at odds with my spouse, my family, my friends. I guess that pretty well includes everyone. It's one of those days where I just think it would be so much easier to not be in this world anymore. It would be so much easier to just be with Jesus. I wouldn't have to worry about Him getting angry with me or being frustrated with me, or hating me.

I just read on something today that greatly convicted me. Unsolicited advice is criticism. Even if you're trying to be helpful, if the other person hasn't asked, you're not sending a message of helpfulness, but of criticism. God help me. And to those of you that I've sent the message of criticism lately, I beg your forgiveness.

Maybe I'm just dealing with hormones today. Still, it's like nothing is right with the world today. It's a day where I want to hide under my rock.