Thanks, Times Two

YOU ALL ARE AMAZINGLY FANTASTIC AND I LOVE YOU.

Let’s start with the mundane reason first.  Remember my really sad oven racks ruined with melted plastic?

Not only did you share your own tales of melted plastic woe to cheer me up, but encouraged me to try again to get it off.  IT WORKED.  I still have some scraping to do on the oven floor, but all the plastic came off both racks!  And if it weren’t for your encouragement, I’d be out over $140 which was the ridiculously expensive cost for two more racks.  Since I still have some oven scraping to do, I’ve been getting more creative with what I can cook in our toaster oven.  Egg and cheese toaster souffles, anyone?

You can probably guess the second reason I love you all.  Your kind comments, messages, emails, texts and virtual hugs  about our nightmares lifted me up when I really needed it most.  It’s so hard to see your child in pain, whether it’s physical or emotional, and something about the 4 year anniversary of her NICU homecoming had me a mess.

Right after hitting ‘publish’, I told my husband we were going out for dinner to celebrate.  We packed the kids in the car and were on the way for a spur-of-the-moment dinner at our favorite restaurant (the fancy one, with outdoor seating, where we’ve celebrate just about every occasion including our rehearsal dinner).  With nothing but a cell-phone camera and some trains and plastic toys, we had made lemonade.

 

Then, of course, we needed ice cream at the farm down the street.

It was a picture perfect Pennsylvania night to be sure.

We talked to cows.

We ate some ice cream.

We talked to cows while we ate ice cream.

All is good in the world again.

Until next week, when I drop her off for gymnastics.  Or in two weeks, when she starts school.

But today?  Today, we have cows.