Cincinnati

By now, surely you know that mostly I like to be sarcastic and witty versus serious and emotional. I seriously think I am just a very shallow person. I don't like to get that emotionally involved. It tends to exhaust me.

However, since I also happen to be slightly OCD, where I might have tended to overlook this post, since I did miss the date originally, I can't keep going in chronological order and not do this. And, since I am at least slightly OCD, and I generally do have to go in chronological order, lets just get on with this, shall we? :)

The anniversary of Kari's burns happened to be the weekend of my Reunion. And while I won't say it was the busiest week of my life (thankfully, it was quite relaxing), I will say that that day we just plain ol' forgot. We had originally planned to have our traditional hamburgers and fries "meal of remembrance", but we ended up going to IHOP and then to the homecoming football game. The rest of the weekend was quick, including a 14 hour van trip home, and life got back to normal fairly quickly.

A week after our return, it was time to head back up to Cincinnati for a check up with the Shriner Burn Hospital. It has been two years since her last check up and we were just going back up to make sure that everything "fit". Thankfully, Kari is doing wonderfully. Her grafts have matured, and so far everything is going well. We will have to continue to watch her as she grows. Depending on when and where she hits growth spurts, we may have to step in to make sure everything grows and stretches at the same time. Unfortunately the massage therapy can only help that, so I continue to spend my valuable morning time breaking out the lotion and getting greasy :) (See my use of sarcasm to avoid the real issue? :)

I will forever be grateful to the Shriners who continue to ferry us up and back from Ohio, as well as providing lodging and food on the trip. While I was decently well prepared for the 12 hour trip in a van, I wasn't prepared for the emotional trip down memory lane. The majority of the trip I was fine, but as we got closer to the hospital, and I started to recognize where I was, I was quite surprised at my reactions to certain buildings. Buildings that I apparently only associate with Shriners. Overwhelming feelings of fear, anxiety, loneliness, exhaustion, uncomfortable-ness, and strangely, gratitude.

They didn't pass as quickly as I would have liked them to, but they did pass, even before we entered the building. It was a fairly quick, but somewhat painful trip down memory lane. And while I am no psychologist, it was interesting to me that the physical buildings were the link (at least this time) that brought these things back to me.

I love this little girl, who likes to wear cowboy hats to school on Hat Day, and who has a fondness for sharpening pencils.

That smile and personality and intelligence and helpfulness makes my day. And, I am grateful for all the prayers and thoughts and help of all kinds that made those days passable, as well as the continued aide we continue to receive...

Now, onto lighter topics....

Hubby had to take a day or two off work to watch Kaitlyn, while I had Kari and Dylan on the road. We figured that would be a good time to start our kitchen remodel. What were we thinking?!?! So, while we are not done, and it was, of course, a long process, that comes next in my chronological-ness.... This is approximately what I left:

This is what I came home to. Purdy, ain't it?

Stay tuned for more tales of kitchen disaster, paint chaos, and saw dust out the wazoo, filled with wit and sarcasm... Whew, all that seriousness is exhausting!