Overwhelmed

Well, more has happened this week than I would ever have imagined could be packed into just one week...  I will start with this time last week:

This time last week, Andrew and I were packing our apartment.  Saturday of last week we began moving things from our apartment into our new house (which I LOVE more each time I step inside).  Sunday, some friends helped us move our larger items from our apartment into the new house.  Sunday evening, I started unpacking while Andrew napped.  And I can't say I blame him... he was pooped from all his heavy lifting earlier in the day!  I was up through all hours of the night Sunday, and into the wee hours of the morning on Monday.  After unpacking our kitchen, I had some baking to do for the Memorial Day cookout that was scheduled for the next day.

I did not want to go to said cookout, but Andrew insisted that Memorial Day was invented specifically for cookouts, and that it was un-American not to attend a cookout.  I went kicking and screaming, but I am so glad he convinced me to go.  Let me clarify, I love the people we were cooking and laying in the sun with; I just had LOTS of unpacking that was left undone.

So... when we returned home Monday night, I continued with the unpacking.  And the cleaning.  As adorable as our new house it, it is not technically new.  It is new to us, but in reality, it is still a twenty-something year old house.  And twenty-something year old houses have imperfections.  We had a handyman working in the house over the weekend who left quite the mess.  And I could not put the house together until it was clean.  Luckily, my mom and sister are a mere mile down the road now, so they were able to pop on over and help get the job done.

Let me stop there and say that I could not have made it through this past week without my family.  I thank God each day for their support, but I was extra thankful this week.

As you may recall, I am in graduate school right now.  Summer classes are only six weeks long, so my first class ends next week.  That means not only do we have a final exam next week, but we also have a final project due prior to taking the exam.  The project involves interviewing someone.

My particular "someone," who agreed to be interviewed backed out about one hour before we were scheduled to meet.  After a brief period of panic, my partner and I assessed our situation and developed a Plan B.  And if there is one thing I have learned this week, it is that life is filled with Plan B's.  I would even go so far as to say that my Plan A's almost never work out.  And in interviewing for my project, I realized that the same holds true for most others as well.  It is what we do when our Plan A's do not work out that defines our lives, and who we are as people.

On Tuesday, after panicking about the canceled interview, and developing a new plan (which actually turned out better than the original), I headed to Publix, where I purchased $65 in groceries for just under $30, thanks to coupons combined with Publix weekly sales, and all of the "buy one get one free" specials they were running.  I bought snacks for Andrew, as he complains regularly about he lack of junk food in our house.  I left the store with two different kinds of Doritos, two boxes of Ritz crackers, two jars of peanut butter, a box of cereal (that Publix was practically giving away), and much more.

Included in the "much more" category of my purchased groceries were items for my Sunday lunch menu.  Andrew and I had planned on having friends over to our new house after church, so I was going to make steak tacos.  It is a good thing that plan has changed, because our house is nowhere near ready to be seen by outsiders yet!!!

Why has the plan changed?  Well, I received a phone call Wednesday morning, just before 8am, that changed my plans for the week, and for the entire summer.  Andrew called to met me know that he received a call from Army personnel, and he needs to be in South Carolina this Saturday, and will be there until September.

Obviously, lunch of Sunday moved way down on the priority list.

And our cruise went out the window.

Well, I am still going, but Andrew will apparently not be joining the rest of the family.

Yesterday and today have been filled with getting ridiculous amounts of paperwork together that Andrew will need while he is gone, getting his Army clothing and equipment together (Thank goodness we just moved, and had to find it, or we would have had no clue where all that stuff was.  He has not used it in a year.)  And changing or canceling so many of the summer arrangements that had already been made.

Now that I have a few minutes to breathe, the situation is starting to hit me.

And I am downright sad. 

But it could be worse.

He could be going overseas.  Or he could be going away for longer than three months.

Or even worse...

As my mother would say,

"He is laying dead in a ditch now is he?"
 
So, see?

In the midst of small crises, and Plan B's, we still have so much to be thankful for!  God is still God. 

And even if Andrew were laying dead in a ditch somewhere, God would still be God!