Christmas Eve with Dad

Thought I'd add one more picture from my recent trip to the mainland. On Christmas Eve my sisters and I drove from St. Louis, MO to Chatham, IL (near Springfield) to see Dad, his girlfriend Leslie and her kids Graycen and Colton. I didn't have any pictures from our trip until I commandeered this one from my sister's blog...thanks Allie! :)

I am not a big road trip kind of girl.....driving is not what I'd call a good time. So, when this 2 hour jaunt turned into a 5 hour adventure, I was not excited. Katie drove the first half and when we decided that I had received BAD directions from Mapquest.....we weren't even on the right highway!....we pulled over and I started driving the rest of the way. Thankfully we realized that things were not right before we reached Indiana and crossed another state line! We called Dad and he got us turned around and going the right way. By this time we were all fighting like crazy and I was so ready to be out of the car! God knows no one can love and fight and make up like sisters. We joke that we get in a fight every 15 minutes when we are together...and really that's not too far from reality. Anyway, I started speeding and the bad thing about Illinois is that there are tons of small towns along the highways. I was going super fast when Pawnee Village popped up and the speed limit immediately dropped to 30. I slammed on my brakes, but was still clocked by a local policeman going 60. Ugh! The cop came to the window and I just broke down. I couldn't take anymore. I was tired, tired of driving and tired of all the fighting. I was sad about missing Christmas with Jeremy and Jillian and still worried about Grandma. Oh yeah, and I was PMS'ing big time.

I started sobbing and the nice guy took pity on me. Not only did he write me a warning, but he made sure that I had step-by-step directions to where we needed to go. We were 15 minutes from our destination. Seriously.

We arrive at Leslie's house and had a wonderful evening. Dad made a yummy dinner, it was great to see him and meet Leslie and her kids. The pic above is of all the kids L to R: me, Katie, Ava, Allison, Natalie, Graycen and Colton.

My evening of crying continued when Dad gave me Wendy. When I graduated high school, mom and dad gave me a mini dachshund puppy.....she was all I wanted and I begged them for months for her. Wendy stayed with my parents when I left for the Air Force and by this time she was the family's dog because we all loved her so much! She has lived the last few years with my dad and this past fall at almost 12 years old, she passed away after eating something that blocked her intestines. Dad had her cremated and gave the ashes to me. Ava, my niece, is 4 1/2 and is so precious. I told her why I was crying and she asked how Wendy died. We said she choked on something. Ava asked to see the bag so that she could see what Wendy had choked on. "Rocks" Ava said while examining the clear plastic bag. "It looks like she choked on rocks!" The vet put Wendy's ashes in a clear plastic bag and this inside a blue velvet drawstring pouch embroidered with the lovely sentiment "Until We Meet Again At The Rainbow Bridge".

Wendy came into my life and gained a permanent place in my heart. She was one of the special ones. I am better for knowing and loving her. Someday I will meet her at the Rainbow Bridge and I will hug her and kiss her and tell her thank-you.