out in the open

i keep writing and deleting posts. for the last few months, each time i've written on here i've had at least 1 prior draft. the reason i keep deleting them and starting over with random nonsense is because the subject i keep going back to is my mom. i keep deleting them because they seem so negative and i don't want this to be a 'poor me' blog. but, since my mom has ever so prominently been on my mind since she walked out on us on july 28...i may as well just get it out in the open.

andrew and i both got texts on that wednesday afternoon from her. they said that she loved us and wanted to talk later. when i got off of work that text was followed by a phone call from my dad saying that my mom, all her things, erika, all her things, and the dog were gone. gone. all that my mother left for my dad (other than his things and the furniture) was her wedding dress and a note that said 'i can no longer live with you. i've taken erika. don't try to call or text us. leigh'

the next five days were spent with the rest of us trying to get a hold of erika (my mom had taken away her phone) or my grandparents (who said they didn't know any details but haven't talked to us since she left). five days later, erika was returned home. my mom had taken erika on what she said was a 'fun girls roadtrip.' it wasn't until they were 2 days in that my mom said that she was leaving my dad and not ever going back...which is when i got a call from a hysterical sister & we were able to figure out that they were driving to northern wisconsin.

since then my dad has been served with papers, and she wants nothing to do with the rest of us. now here's where i fight my urge to try and salvage this sad post into something more peppy, or at least nonsensical. but i'm not going to. not this time. there has been too much pain over these last 22 weeks/almost 6 months that i don't think needs to be hidden. of course there are more details, but then this would turn into a novel instead of a post.

i can see that this is a huge reason why we are here. i can't imagine not being by my family while all this was going on. it's been such a roller coaster that we're all going to have to deal with for awhile.

you'd think that after your parents have been married for 26 years she would have had the decency to at least tell him that she wasn't happy and that she wants to go live her little party life on her own. let's just say that i'm learning a lot more 'this is what not to do' things from her than you probably should from your mother.

there. it's out.

i just had a fantastic weekend. craig's parents came to visit! they flew in on sunday & stayed until tuesday night (craig's days off). we gallivanted all around the dfw metroplex and practically ate our way through the days. it had been way too long since we had seen them. i hadn't seen mike since february & jeanie since march (craig hadn't seen them since june). i feel so blessed to be a part of their family. it's always so much fun to be with them!

now, i finally found my camera & bought a new charger...and now i can't find the chord to connect to the computer. apparently my little blog isn't ever supposed to have pictures up on it. i was proud of myself for taking pictures though! i guess i'll have to update you all on what we did when i find the chord so that you can see some of them.

love.

well, it's almost 9 and i'm about to go to bed. usually i'm not this much of a grandma, but i didn't get off work until 7 tonight and i'm not going to get off until after 8 tomorrow night so i figure it's ok. my managers are all out this week on sales calls/conferences which means that i have a lot to do to make sure that everything gets done on time. i'm not sure what i was thinking by signing up to help with work holiday parties this weekend...but hey, overtime is always a happy bonus on the paycheck.

a big reason of why i am so tired is because i spent last weekend in california! my dear friends erin & courtney surprised me with a plane ticket out for our 7th annual sub hub elf party! i had so much fun with the girls at elf party and i loved spending so much time with my friends. i was also able to go to lunch with my m-i-l jeanie on sunday before flying back home. :-)

craig and i have lived in texas for almost an entire year. oh. my. gosh. time went by quickly. we're just about 3 weeks away from hitting the 1 year mark, and i'm just about 3 weeks away from hitting the 2 year mark for being a vegetarian. eek! i don't really miss meat that much anymore...i think because it messes with my stomach too much. i can eat pork & bacon though. so i guess that means that i'm not a true vegetarian, but that's ok. there's not a lot of vegetarian options in texas, so it's kind of hard to make sure that i get enough protein.

ok. enough of my random.

love.