The End of 2016 – And The Start of 2017

I wrote another post this week. It was long and eloquent. The words in it spewed wisdom in a solemn manner while still giving hope. And then I trashed it, partly because I just googled how to spell solemn, but also because this place is anything but eloquent.  This is a place where the run-on sentence thrives and laughter is precedent over seriousness.   All that to say: I’m baaaack!  As Mr. Byrd said the other day, “I feel like I have my wife back after that second surgery”.  I don’t know if you should feel happy for him or send him sympathy cards for getting this piece of work back but do as you wish and I support you either way.  The second surgery took longer than I thought to recover from. It took about a full two weeks to get back to an active state, which means that from the day I first got sick until I was up and going full speed again was two months exactly.  Two months. Wow.  After two months of being a lump that moved between my couch and bed with occasional school pickup and grocery store online ordering (I love Kroger Click List), I owed my kids. So even though I could have blogged last week, I spent the week with my family.  We painted Southeast Texas red. More of a maroon shade actually because after our day trip to Texas ATM campus in College Station, our kids want to be Aggies.  While we were there we also visited the George H. Bush Presidential Library which was amazing. We learned so much about George Bush and his lifelong dedication to public service. It doesn’t matter how you feel about certain presidents or political parties, if there is a Presidential Library in driving distance to you, go! (They are not actual libraries – yes they do have a library portion – but they are actually more of a museum.) This was our second Presidential Library to visit in 2016.  One was a Democrat and one was a Republican. Never before have I felt so unified and hopeful for our country than when I visited those libraries.  We hear so much about the bad or the things we don’t agree with but seldom stop just to learn about the people and get to know their heart and reasons for doing what they did.  It changes your perspective and are truly interesting places.  One of my favorite things about the George H. Bush library was seeing a piece of the Berlin Wall in person. It was on my bucket list but I didn’t realized there was a piece of the wall there until we rounded a corner and it stood before us. I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture. One side, the communist side, was spotless. It was so clean. The other side was spray painted and well worn. It was amazing to stand with our kids and learn more about that time of history. The next day we decided to keep the adventure going and head to the Natural Science Museum in Houston. But the line to get anywhere near the museum was so long that we decided to find something else to do, which led us to Rice University Campus. We decided to walk around the beautiful and pristine campus for awhile. It was fun (and spotless). I almost wanted to ask my kids to carry tiny little brooms and sweep the sidewalk behind them as we went. But one of the best parts was when we rounded a building heading back to our car and there stood another piece of the Berlin Wall.  The very best part of that day however came as we were climbing into the car to head to our next stop, the asian grocery store. One of our daughters leaned over to our exchange student and said, “This is what mom is like. This is how she was before she got sick.”  It made my heart burst because it showed me my legacy with my kids – one of adventure and exploration.  In a year that I lost my grandfather, my hero, and spent two months mimicking a sloth, that was the ending that saved it all. 2016 was a great year and I am extremely blessed, even if there were a few bumps and bruises along the way.  In my blessings, I include our dog Snoopy.  He’s been there for the entire 13 years of our marriage. He had the bark of a wild animal, which scared away many salesmen, and the body of a legless miniature horse. His dalmatian coat, basset hound legs, and dachshund pointy nose / floppy ears combo made a funny looking creature. However his heart was the biggest and gentlest that you might have ever had the pleasure to meet.  We celebrated the second day of 2017 with a trip to Petco, tacos for lunch with him and then a stroll off the leash at our local park where for the first time in a month he perked up and truly enjoyed himself. Then we said goodbye because 13.5 years when you are carrying a full size body on little tiny legs is just too much.  (He loved our kids so much)  I am beyond thankful for him and the 13 years that he was part of our family.  And I am really thankful that I got to start 2017 with him by my side, even if it was just for two great days.  If you want to see more of Snoopy and the rest of our pets check out the hashtag #byrdzoo on instagram.  In 933 words in 2017 I have caught you up to all the goings on in the Clumsy Crafter family.  Onward and upward and back to our glue guns!