Signs Of The Times

There are a few things that have been on my mind the past few weeks, one of those being that summer feels like it is dragging it's heels leaving:)  Some other notes for those keeping up:
Zach and Julia are doing great in school, Zachary keeps telling me how much he loves first grade, much more than kindergarten!  Julia has what I call the 'kindergarten blues'; she is doing well, but definitely a different adjustment in a new school, new teacher ect.  Brandon and I are learning how to be mommy and baby again, now that the kids are in school.  It's been a whole week and we haven't killed each other, so I guess we are doing okay :)

September 11th, came and went, but not without tears and thoughts of that day ten years ago.  I had purposed not to spend the day watching and re-watching clips of film, and listening to audio from the day of.  A few days prior to the 11th I had seen a preview for a documentary on the day that I wanted to watch, and so occupied myself with other things so I wasn't bored with the coverage by the time it got to my show in the evening.  I wasn't disappointed.  The documentary was new footage that no one had seen, last glimpses into the lives of the firemen/women who were in the world trade centers, raw footage, real emotions.  I cried when I heard the loud crashes of bodies landing on the debris 76 stories below the windows they jumped from.  Wondered in my head what was so bad up there that jumping was the better option.

I did some transcribing for Fox News last year, it was a short lived job, but worth it.  Usually you don't get to follow up on the stories that you transcribe so you can imagine my shock when I saw a person from the transcription I had done last year.  I transcribed an interview between her, her husband ( who was sick with multiple cancers ) and her husband's doctor.  Her husband was diagnosed with multiple cancers just a few years after working directly on the debris pile left from 9/11.  The interview was about the fact that we would begin seeing more people that were present at 9/11 come down with multiple cancers, even if the government didn't want to admit that the air was dangerous at ground zero.

The face of the lady that I transcribed flashed on the screen, her husband of 22 years had passed away.  I cried as if it were my loss, I felt like it was, since I had just heard him alive and fighting for life last year.  It was a touching piece of film, hard to swallow at times, but a great documentary none the less.  David and I talked about the events from that horrible day, and agreed that God truly is sovereign.  Both he and I were on lists to go to ground zero to help in the cleanup/rescue efforts, but never got the call.  We were mad, really angry, just wanting to be there, doing our part.  Looking back we realize that God was protecting us.  It seems inevitable that all who breathed that toxic dust created when two 100 story buildings and all their contents were pulverized, are doomed for some type of illness.  One man commented out of all the office furniture in those buildings, he only found a four inch piece of a phone dial pad.

On another note, I noticed that the family across the street and one house down from ours is no longer living there.  I had talked to the wife just about a month ago and she mentioned that because of financial reasons they were leaving the house and moving on.  Today I realized just how lonely the house seemed without their family there.  Yet another sign of our times, financial difficulties, abandoned homes and families torn apart.  I am not good with change, it was hard when they moved in, and it's taken me this long to get out of my shell and get to know them a little.  I like it even less now that they are gone.  :(  They are lucky that they are leaving with their family intact, hard times can often break families apart.

It makes me grateful for the life that God has given me.  My husband has a great job which he loves, my children are healthy, we have a roof over our head and food in our bellies.  We are blessed.   We work hard, and God has blessed us.  Thank you Lord.

Moving Forward

Every year the same thing happens...for some unknown reason I just get in the mood to decorate for fall.  So I dried off my box of fall decorations (which was plastic so nothing inside was ruined) and drug it upstairs.  I love my fall decorations, it is my favorite time of year after all:)

It's amazing how the house feels cozy with just a few decorations and a McIntosh Apple candle burning!!  On another note the kids went off to their first day of school today.  They were very excited, and it's hard to believe that I have a Kindergarten student and a First grader!!  Brandon is enjoying the one on one attention now that the older two are out of the house for most of the day:)

I'm glad the new school year is here.  We had an amazing summer, so blessed with family time and great vacations; more than we've ever had before!  God is good to us, He continually blesses us with good things.  Our trip to Mississippi was the highlight of our entire summer and I think we've been ready since then to head into fall.

I can't wait for all that comes with fall; corn maze, pumpkin picking, hay ride, birthdays - so much worth celebrating