Andrea O. Freeman

Rounding out the dental cleanings for the Freeman family this year is me, and so thankful to hear our dentist say this morning, “Excellent checkup!” I am thankful for no surprises there. We’ve had enough surprises this year, thank you very much. Life is like that though, completely unpredictable. You can plan your whole life for your education, your career, your marriage and family, thinking when you meet and accomplish each goal you’ve got it made. So when something doesn’t go the way you expected, how do you handle the train suddenly being de-railed? How do you handle it when your train is de-railed for awhile, perhaps years? You are left with no choice but to pack up what you can carry for the journey, and walk on. I feel like in some ways Ryan and I are still doing just that, walking on. Our train hasn’t quite gotten back on the tracks but we are rebuilding it and preparing it for the day we can see the restoration complete and the train start rolling once again. I am fin...

Is anyone else as stunned as I am that September has come and gone? How can that be? October is here and inevitably you know that means the holidays are going to come barreling toward us at a very fast pace. School began, our schedule is just a bit trickier this year as if having one vehicle wasn’t challenging enough. Just to give you an idea of what the typical week is like for me, well, here is it in a nutshell: 5:30am My alarm goes off and I hit the snooze button typically an average of 3 times. Somewhere between 6:00-6:10 am I drag myself out of bed and stumble to the restroom. 6:45am the older two kiddos are heading out the door to catch the bus for the middle/high school. Coffee is on by now, and I’m well into my morning prep routine for the work day. 7:00ish am—Ryan gets Chloe up and dressed, and she rolls over back to sleep in our bed, and next is getting AJ out of bed and ready for the day. Hopefully by 7:05am he is up and eating some breakfast. Hopefully. 7:20...