Answered Prayers and Updates

I realize its been a couple of weeks since I have been on here. Most of the big news has made it on Facebook, so none of this will probably be "new," but more detailed anyway.

My last post regarded the attitude I took towards the waiting period for my fate with school: trusting God that He knew what was best for me and that it would work out according to His will, not mine. Waiting ensued for another week, but I have to say I was much less stressed during that week than I had been in the previouis 2. Other things filled my time, including packing for a weekend at camp meeting, which we had planned as a bike trip (thats another part of the story). I was getting last minute things ready to put in the saddle bags Friday, when I got a call from Kaplan. I answered, and was told that the course substitution form had been accepted, and that I was done...a graduated student! Praise the Lord! Thats allI could say the rest of the night! I was prepared to accept a positive or a negative decision, and make the best of it, an God rewarded me with a huge blessing! Amazing.

The weekend continued as we made our way up Woodford mountain on the Harley, only to ride into mist that turned into rain. As we were only 45 minutes into our trip, we decided it best to turn around and opt for the car. Boy were we glad we did. It rained the whole way to Maine. We arrived at 10:35, 2 minutes earlier than the time I predicted we'd arrive (Adam was speeding because we made a bet between who would be right on that account). Saturday was a fun day. We went to church in the youth part, getting to visit with old friends and our Pastor, who was helping to lead out. In the afternoon we spent some time on Bailey Island and then Popum Beach (sorry to the Mainer's if I spelled that wrong). Saturday evening entailed a trip to Beans and a very late meal at a pizza place, Antonia's. My wrap was delicious! All in all, very traditional for us, and uneventful....until we got back to our hotel.

We opted for a hotel this year, as it was cheaper than having my parents haul the camper up for just one weekend. Night #1 was fine. Night #2, on the other had, was a different story. We got back from the excursions of the day to find water all over our bathroom floor. Looking up, we saw it was coming from the fan. I went out and talked to the guy at the front desk who informed me that the room just above us had a toilet overflow. Yuck. I promptly threw away our toothbrushes, put my now wet clothes in a bag, and Dad and I cleaned up the floor. The guy at the desk offered to do it, but since Dad and I deal with much worse things on a regular basis, it wasn't a big deal. He assured us the leak had stopped and all would be fine. We got new towels and went to bed, looking forward to showering in the morning and forgetting the whole thing.

2:30a.m.: Drip. Drip. Drip. What was that? Am I dreaming? Nope. A trip to the bathroom proved my fear. Water was again dripping from the vent. Worse yet, I had to pee. I went back to bed, trying to sleep, but still having to pee. I became evident that I wasn't going to be able to sleep again without going in that wet bathroom. So, I got suited up, and went it, trying to lean far enough away to avoid the drips. I then went to bed, put a pillow over my head, and tried to sleep.

5:00a.m.: Drip drip. Drip drip. Oh no. Now what? Water was also coming out of the sprinkler head in the room itself. The floor was soaked, and I was pissed. That was it for me. No more sleeping. Adam woke up too, and I started packing. My parents were leaving early anyway, so I figured I'd catch them on our way out. We did, and made out way to the front desk together. We explained the situation. The guy was apologetic, but said he couldn't do anything for us in a monetary way, but that another person would call us the next day. This part of the scenario is an ongoing battle. Rather than compensate us for a whole nigth, during which I got little sleep, could not take a shower, and had to throw away toothbrushes and bag nasty wet clothes, they only wanted to give us $25 back. Out of $100! Are you kidding me?! Adam flipped, resulting in a $50 offer. The saga continues today when Adam pulls out the big guns with the operations manager. I'll post the results after that conversation.

Our trip home was otherwise uneventful until we came into Bennington, and got a call from my parents saying that Mum (Dad's mom) had fallen and broken her hip. We altered our course for the hospital. A surgery and several days later finds Mum with a partial hip replacement, and slowing getting back to her normal self. Therapy starts more today and in days following, but she is finally started to get her sense of self back, which I'm happy to see. Mom has been there every day, helping and offering company, as has Ginny. Family comes in every night to be with her. If there's one thing that illnesses do for us is show us how much we are loved. There is always a silver lining.