So we get to the Y and I have just about enough time to comfortably do my four miles before I get the kids out of Kiddy Country in time for their swim lesson. I'm on the treadmill, chugging away, and my phone rings. I wouldn't be inclined to answer it while I'm running but I saw it was Kelly, a friend of mine from our small group who is an avid runner and marathoner. We just went running together for the first time last Saturday and I guess I thought it was kismet that she called while I was running. I also thought it was weird that she was calling because she and her husband and son are on vacation this week in the good old pacific northwest. Maybe I thought she was calling to complain about the drizzle to someone who'd been there. Anyway, I picked up and Kelly announced she and her husband forgot to take their passports with them (they are spending the second half of their vacation in Vancouver, BC) and asked if I could go to her house, get the passports, and overnight them to her.
And here's what I thought: Praise God!
Because any normal person who is willing to ask a big favor of someone presumably feels some comfort level with that someone. And even if she didn't feel comfortable asking me, she asked me anyway, which means she at least thinks something good about me. Which means I am making friends! Real friends, who inconvenience themselves for other people and feel good doing it. It was awesome. Really, such a great feeling to be blessed with someone trusting me with a favor. And so I said no problem, happy to do it, and I was.
So after my run the kids had their first swim lesson and that was really fun and my kids are just the super cutest and I'll have to take the camera to one of our lessons this week. Then we got all cleaned up and dressed and headed to the doctor for a confirmation that no, a cough after four weeks is not normal and yes, it's time to try antibiotics because even I, who hesitate to overmedicate, think it's not right that my girls are still having coughing fits that wrack their poor little bodies for half an hour on end. (By the way, little bodies is true, though we got to weigh the kiddos today and they are growing so big! Abigail is 29 pounds (9th percentile), Amelia is 31 pounds (23rd) and Gabriel is 35 pounds (52 percentile! I've never seen weight percentile numbers like that with them ever!) Anyway, we walked away from the doctor's office with two prescriptions in hand.
Off to Kelly's house to find the passports. I get to their house and get inside and call Kelly and it only takes us four tries to find the passports together over the phone, then I'm off to the pharmacy to drop of the prescriptions then on to the UPS store to overnight the passports. I get to UPS and give them the address Kelly gave me and the zip code and city don't match. So I call Kelly. She says she'll call the friend whose address she's using and call me right back. So I wait. And wait. And wait. And I think she must have called her friend and not reached her and maybe I could just guess at the zip code. Or leave and come back later. But neither of those seem like great options. But I'm not sure what to do because I'm sitting at the UPS store with three kids who haven't had a proper lunch and by now it's well past 2pm and Amelia and Abigail and Gabriel only have eyes for the candy machines by the door and they're begging me for quarters. I figure Kelly may still be on the phone trying to reach her friend so I call her husband. No answer. I call Kelly. No answer. I text Kelly. No answer. I call both Kelly and husband again. No answer. And now Amelia has to go to the bathroom. So I heave a sigh and take the three kids to the bathroom and begin seriously thinking I just have to leave and come back when Kelly calls and says something to the effect of, "I thought I already called you!" Um, what? I think what happened is Kelly confirmed the zip with her friend, hung up, and then meant to call me but instead called her friend right back and confirmed it again, thinking she was confirming it with me. So I'd been twiddling my thumbs at the UPS store for 25 minutes waiting to confirm an address that could have been confirmed in a few quick minutes! Ah, was I grateful for God giving me a sense of humor. I was honestly not peeved at all, but definitely thankful to finally walk out that door!
The kids were amazingly well behaved but I was truly testing their patience with all our running around today, and I was anxious to make a quick stop at the drive through pharmacy and head home. I get to the pharmacy and there was no line. Great! I drive up, ask for the meds, and then the waiting begins. Apparently our insurance company has not yet figured out that there's such a thing as multiples and that it's possible for siblings to be born on the same day. They didn't want to pay for two prescriptions for Cunnington children with the same birthday because they assumed I was filling two identical prescriptions for the same child. Thankfully I didn't have to do any of the explaining, it was the pharmacy worker who did all that, but she was on the phone with our insurance company for a good fifteen minutes convincing them Amelia and Abigail are indeed two separate people. I had to circle the drive through pharmacy to allow the line building up behind me to get through while our insurance debacle got cleared up. I got pretty tired of the whining in the car but have to admit I just wanted to join in. Thankfully after 20 minutes all told we were on our way, and we made it home to a late afternoon of playing and chores and bedtime.
Whew! Busy day. But truly such a blessing. I'm so thankful God gave me the perspective of one fortunate to, in a small way, be His hands and feet and help a friend. I'm thankful we have access to medicine that can help my girls get healthy again. I am thankful that I can be a blessing to the people around me. I am thankful.
And I think the busy-ness is just starting. For the past few weeks Garrett and I have been planning our spring and it's getting packed to the gills. This weekend Gabriel and I are headed to Dayton, OH again to visit Kim and meet her new baby boy! Ian Christopher was born March 11 and I can't wait to see his squishy little face in person, and have a weekend with my own little man. Also in April I have a 10k race I signed up for and convinced Cabell to run with me, then there's Easter and after that the possibility of my friend Michelle coming to visit again with her daughter Olivia and her new son Dexter. I'm so excited that I might get to bookend my April with new babies!
Then May is even more full, with a visit to Ben and Havilah in California when we get to see our three nephews, including the newest, Grayson Caleb, who was just born in January. Plus in California we're taking our first family trip to Disneyland! We get two days in the Magic Kingdom with the kiddos and I'm so excited! And I'm very grateful that Grandma and Grandpa, Garrett's parents, will be joining us for that portion of our trip to help us herd the little ones. We'll be in California for a week all together.
As if that weren't enough travel and excitement for one spring, just a few weeks ago I got the very exciting news that my dad is getting married! He and his bride, Gretchen, are wasting no time in getting started on their life together now that the decision has been made, and they've set the date for May 28, over Memorial Day weekend. So ten days after we fly home from California the whole family will be headed to the airport again to fly to Seattle for Papa's wedding! What a crazy and exciting month it will be! I just hope we can slow down enough in the in between times to take in all that's going on. It's funny how we started out thinking we would have a nice leisurely spring and now it seems almost every week is packed with major events. It's a little daunting, especially with the air travel and all the logistics that entails with the kids. But I'm looking forward to it too. The sun is coming out, the weather is warming up (oh so slowly), and we're on the move! God is good. God is so good.
May your spring spring you into happy action as well!
1 comments:
What a day indeed! I too am glad you were there, available and able and willing to help us out. And can't believe I left you hanging for 25 minutes at UPS when it literally could have been 2! ughh...thanks for understanding. AND, glad to hear you have meds for the girls (the 2 separate girls, that is) and am praying they get better soon!!
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