Mother's Day

Hey Mom,

How's it going?

Well, we survived our second Mother's Day apart. I can hardly believe we have to do this. Will it get any easier from here?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My ONLY plan for today was not to make any plans and see where the day took me.

Here is a quick recap, in case there is anything you missed.

Mike made me a remarkable breakfast in bed.
He even got gutsy and tried to make me a "pancake egg".
He knew it was a gutsy move on his part,
so he even sat and watched me take my first bites...
And guess what? It was edible!
You know yours were just about the only eggs I've ever been able to eat.
So, kudos to Mike for giving it a go!

The boys made me the sweetest cards and gifts.
The homemade things and the letters are always my favorite!

We watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

I took a little nap.

By late morning, things were going okay, so I decided to go ahead and give church a try.
I even thought to take a picture of me with my boys on our way out the door:

 (Gosh, I have the sweetest boys ever. They really do make my heart smile!)

I went to sacrament.
Bad, bad, bad idea.
I held it together for a minute.
When the primary kids sang "Mother, tell me the story", I shed a few tears.
But I did okay.
Then...the young men sang "I Often Go Walking" and immediately, it was all over.
The flood gates were open. I was crying the ugly cry. Complete with sniffing, shaking, and gulping for air.
Needless to say...I came home.

Once I was home, and after I had a good long cry, I did what any sensible woman would do: made and consumed irrational amounts of chocolate chip cookies.
I guess sometimes, drowning your sorrows in chocolate really does have its merits.
Because I swear it softened my sadness just enough. And I made it through the rest of the day.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 This is what I bought for you this year:

I couldn't bring myself to go to the cemetery this year. I'm not sure why, but I decided it must be for the best. Going there just leaves me very heavy for days, and maybe I wasn't up for it this time around.
So instead, I just had a nice, long talk with you right here in my own front room.

Thanks for the chat.

I sure hope your day was okay.

I guess today's take away lesson is:
Whether or not we want to, and regardless of what we think: we can do hard things.
We are doing hard things.
And we don't have to do this particular hard thing again for another year.
So, you know...BONUS!

Talk to you soon,
Steph