Anyway...first item to update - my house!!! They finally got the permit approved, so they have started work on it. Here is the latest picture I have taken....MUD!!!
My wonderful teacher friend that lives three doors down from my lot has been great at updating me on what is going on with my house. Apparently today they are laying the blocks down, and once this rain lets up, they should pour the concrete slab. Once that happens, it should start looking more like a house - yay!!! :) I met with my contractor, and he is a really nice guy. He says my closing date should either be late June or early July. This was such a (good!) surprise for me! Originally they told me late July or early August, which as most of my teacher friends know, can be a crazy, busy time! So hopefully all goes as planned and I can get settled before school starts back up again.
Now on to my Easter update...
Easter was spent with my wonderful boyfriend, my family, and his family. It was great! Both of our families all went to Church together, which works out because both our families belong to the same parish. Going from Crossroads back to the full-blown Catholic Mass was kind of strange. I love both Churches for different reasons. We purposefully went to the Mass that Father Graham presided, because he is my family's favorite priest. I knew going to Mass that I was going to cry! You see, every Easter he always says the same homily. It is about a family he knows out in Arizona who couldn't have a baby, so they turned to fertility treatment. They ended up getting pregnant with five babies - all boys! A "basketball team" as they called it. The priest goes on to share that the family delivered all five babies naturally, and each of the five quickly passed away. He tells of how those babies are still part of their family, and they always think of them and consider them their guardian angels. The babies' first birthday landed on Easter Sunday the following year, hence why he has turned their story into a traditional homily each Easter Sunday.
Now, this story is sad enough on its own. Plenty of people cry upon hearing it year after year. However, for my family, the story holds a special place in our hearts for another reason. My mom and dad always wanted to have a third child. Unfortunately, my mom had a miscarriage when I was in fourth grade, and then another when I was in sixth grade. The last one was supposed to be born in April. So you can imagine the pain we all felt that year when we heard this Easter homily for the very first time. I think we all cried our eyes out for those five babies that passed, as well as for our little one that was taken from us way too soon. Ever since that Easter I still cry every time I hear that homily. It reminds me of my sister that I never got to have but have always so desperately wanted. We didn't know for sure if it was a girl or boy, but my mom named her Anne Marie, so we always thought of her as a little girl. I would've taken another brother, though! :)
So you can imagine my slight embarrassment crying over this story in front of all of my boyfriend's family! Haha. Oh well. The message was good: God is with you through all of life's journeys - the good, the bad, and the in-between. There was a reason we didn't get to welcome those two babies into our lives (the reason that is still unknown to me, but I have learned to accept it), and there is a reason that family in Arizona did not get to see those five little boys grow up. There is a reason for everything, and we must all trust in His plans for us, no matter how difficult they may be.
After Mass, my family took my boyfriend's parents out to lunch at Montgomery Inn - Mmmm! That has become the Ruwe family tradition on Easter; we eat ribs and chicken instead of the traditional Easter Brunch food! Haha. After some down time, we then all headed over to my boyfriend's family's house for Easter dinner with his whole extended family. It was so nice to spend all of Easter with BOTH of our families! It is such a blessing for me that our families get along so well. It is something I have always wanted, but never really thought would happen. I can say that it makes things much easier!!! (And more fun!!!)
So overall, life is good. Spring Break is going by waaaay too quickly, but it always does. I know that before I know it, summer will be here and I will be putting my kids on their buses for the last time. So my goal is to try my best to enjoy these next few months with my class, no matter how difficult it might be with the beautiful Spring weather and the end-of-the-year-craziness that always seems to creep into my students' behavior! Life is too short, so make the most of it and savor it while you can!
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