Did You Know...?

'Stewardesses' is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

'Lollipop' is the longest word typed with your right hand.

No word in the English language rhymes with month , orange, silver, or purple.

'Dreamt' is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'.

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

The sentence: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' uses every letter of the alphabet.

The words 'racecar', 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).

There are only four words in the English language which end in 'dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious.'

'Typewriter' is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

A snail can sleep for three years.

Almonds are a member of the peach family.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Babies are born without kneecaps.

They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

The cruise liner, QE 2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid .

There are more chickens than people in the world.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

Now you know more than you did before!!

Spa Night

Tonight was Spa Night/Open House hosted by the Girls Club. We don't officially resume until Sept 17th, but we wanted to reconnect with the girls during the summer and at the same time hold an open house for new girls and their moms to come and check us out.

We had a fantastic turnout tonight with several of our regular girls and some new faces too which was really exciting. One mom did nail art for them, and bless her heart, she sat there, doin' her thing for 2 1/2 hours! One of our junior leaders did mine. Purple polish with white polka dots...

See?



**Pic courtesy of Ian's iPhone**

Cool, huh?

That's me, baby.

I sat down with a couple of the girls while we ate pizza, and pretty soon we had quite a large group gathered, each of them trying to talk over one another. It was so fun to hear about how their summers were, and their excitement about returning to school.

I missed my girls! It was so good to hug them again. We have lots of great things planned for them in the months ahead.

I'm so excited at having spent the evening with them that I've given myself a headache.

:-)

Mean Mommy Monday

Hello. My name is Kate and I'm a Mean Mommy.

Or so I gather from the displeased looks on my lovely children's faces.

All.day.

It all started when I asked them to please make their beds.

GASP!

I know! How could I?

Well, I followed up that horrible request with yet another...please brush your teeth.

What kind of mother does that?

Then I thought I'd kick it up a notch and ask them to please pick up everything on their bedroom floors so that I could vacuum. I also asked them to tidy up their playroom.

That's right, pass that Worst Mother of the Year Award right this way please!

Oh friends, but it gets even worse.

They both missed their check-in times while they were playing outside. Twice. Now they are grounded for the next two days. They are welcome to play out in front of the house or in the backyard, but not at their friends houses.

What's that? I win another award for my masterful parenting?

Yay me.

Sigh.

Calgon...take me away...

Camp Night

I had been planning on taking Julie camping this summer, thus starting our First Annual Mother/Daughter Camp Night. This was our weekend to go, but the forecast was all rain.

So, when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. Right?

We pulled out the pull-out couch and ate Chinese food and microwave smores in our pjs, while watching Beverly Hills Chihuahua and High School Musical 3.

Oh I love me a High School Musical movie. I do, I do.

The best part of indoor-camping?

No bugs!

Guess we'll try again next year...

Life is Good

This week has been so good that I almost want to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming.

Ian started his new job on Wednesday and has hit the ground running. He has a lot on his plate but he's loving it.

I love seeing him in his suit and tie ;-)

Meow!

Everything is just the way I like it. It's hard not to fall into my old habit of waiting for the other shoe to drop, so I'm choosing to enjoy life the way it is, right this minute.

And life is good.

Walmart Weirdness

Last night Ian went to Walmart to pick up a bag of milk for me and this woman was standing in line in front of him.



In case you didn't notice, she is wearing pyjamas.

In public.

You may recall how I feel about pj pants in public, but this a whole other animal, don't you think?

Apparently the only thing weirder than her standing in line in her pjs was her husband next to her, wearing a heavy fall jacket. Note: we are experiencing 200 degree weather these days.

Gotta love Walmart.

Home Again

Today was Day 1 of being at home again and it was wonderful.

I woke up at 7am and after a moment's panic of "OhmygoshIoversleptandnowImgoingtobelate!!!" I relaxed and basked in the knowledge that there was nowhere I had to be today.

And it felt good.

I proceeded to lay awake for the next two hours until I could hear the children up and Sam came to get us.

This afternoon I took the children to see G-Force and Ian stayed at home with Jordan. Afterwards I picked Jordan up and we all headed over to my Mom's for a bit, then grocery shopping and home again. It felt so good to cook dinner for my family instead of being too tired/late to do so.

The last few nights we've all been playing "Buzz" on the PS3 and it's hilarious. Some of (ok, most of) the questions I have no idea as to the answers, and it kills me when the kids know them. Lots of laughs and so much better than watching a movie.

Yesterday was my last day at my placement and it was good. I felt sad about leaving, but 100x more excited. This is where I want to be and I am so thankful to be here again. Everyone signed a card for me and gave me a gift card. I was really touched.

Tomorrow is Ian's first day at his new job. He says he isn't nervous but I sure am. I hope everything goes well for him. I can't wait to see him in his suit and tie!

Garage Sale & Party Time

Today Ian had a garage sale to try to get rid of some of our un-used stuff.

Note that I said "Ian had".

At last year's garage sale Ian fired me twice before 9am. This year I just stayed out of sight and while I struggled with guilty feelings about not helping him, I had a sense that I was helping just by staying out of the way.

Sam sold some of his things and made about $47. Julie did her Lemonade/Iced Tea stand and made about $18. Not bad.

Afterwards we all headed out shopping so that I could find an outfit to wear to a party I went to tonight. I really don't have a sense of style and if it were up to me, all my clothes would be black, navy or grey.

Which, until I married Ian, they were.

Any I outfit that has colour, Ian is likely responsible for it. Anything that draws compliments...well you might as well give them to him. He is my fashion consultant.

I wandered around the store, waiting for him to show me something so I could try it on and leave. I despise shopping for clothes. I'm not sure if Julie found the outfit I eventually bought or if it was Ian, but the price was right so I tried it on. I wasn't sure about it, but Ian and the children really liked it so I bought it.

When I was showered and dressed and ready to go, Sam said "Mom, you look really, really great. I mean really." and gave me such a tight hug. Julie put her hands over her mouth and said "Oh Mom!"

Guess the outfit was a winner.

I missed my basic black.

The party was in honor of Dawn's 40th birthday. I went on my own and Ian stayed with the children. I intended to go and make an appearance, but I ended up staying for over 3 hours! I sat with Dawn's hair stylist (soon to me MY hair stylist, thankyouverymuch) and her husband and conversation and laughter flowed freely. I also met Karen who also blogs.

Dawn's mum surprised her with a trip to Vegas!

The best part? Blackjack! I won a bottle of wine for my superior Blackjack skilz!

Oh yes, Vegas here I come.

You are taking ME, right Dawn??

Update

I have to start this post with one of the most breathtaking pictures I have seen in a long while. And I am personal friends with this talented photographer.

** click on picture to view a larger image



Amazing, isn't she? Take a look at her Naturally Beautiful Photography blog to see more of her incredible work. She is so talented. One of these days I'm going to book her to take some pictures of my children.

This week has not been without entertainment.

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday training someone to take over my job. Day 1 was alright even though I didn't get the best vibe from her. Day 2 was like something from another planet. She kept leaving the reception desk for long periods of time to make personal phone calls. She expressed her displeasure at having to cover reception in addition to issuing credits, and asked if it was ok to ignore the phone.

!!!

I suggested gently that it may not be a good idea to do that, being that 50% of her job was reception after all.

She said I had "awesome conversability". When I asked what that meant she said I could speak to anyone, at any level, at any time.

Umm.... thank you?

She spotted my cell phone on the desk and asked if it was a company phone, and when would she be getting hers?

I couldn't understand half of what she said, and she would randomly say words that didn't really mean anything. I kept saying "Pardon?" and she would just look at me. Weird. I was beginning to suspect Tourette's.

She would suddenly whip out a little journal, scribble something with great fervor, then tuck it away quickly. To this very moment I want to know what she was writing about.

Poor me. I will never know.

She yawned all afternoon yesterday and kept saying she needed to speak with her father. Finally I asked her flat out, was she intending to return or was I wasting my time training her and we should just fill in time until the end of the day?

She said she was intending to return the next day, she was just waiting for her father to call her to give his permission for her to work there.

Yeah, you read that right.

Needless to say, I gave my feedback to the CFO and she did not return today.

Whew!

I did feel bad when I discovered that she left me a lovely note for me to find this morning.

A new person arrived today and I knew we were going to hit it off when she called to say she was coming but had gotten lost. (If you recall, I got lost 6 days in a row coming and going to this place) She seems like a nice young woman and is getting a good feel for what needs to be done. It's a lot of work that requires a lot of organization and it's all priority, but she seemed to feel she could handle it. I think I will only be there until Monday, maybe Tuesday.

Today was sweet. Someone gave me a bouquet of yellow daisies and someone else brought me in a plate of home baked peanut butter cookies. I won the weekly trivia contest again. (That makes three times, my friends) I went for lunch with one of my coworkers and she gave me a lovely notebook and a candle holder. I was very touched. It's nice to know that I made an impact there.

My favourite thing? My coworkers have stopped saying "Oh My God" all the time. Now they say "Oh My Gosh". Sweet.

In other news...

We are having a garage sale this Saturday. Remember last year's garage sale when Ian fired me twice before 9am? Well this year he's on his own. I thought I'd lose my mind with all the people picking over our stuff, trying to buy stuff that wasn't even for sale.

Grr!

So I am going to help Julie with her lemonade stand because she won't fire me. And then I'm going to play in the backyard with Jordan.

Saturday evening I am going to a birthday party for my friend Dawn. She will be turning 40. Never in my life have I seen someone so excited about turning 40. When it's my turn I'm going to have bloody nails from hanging on to my thirties. Just watch.

I think that covers all my news.

Catch ya later ;-)

Good Weekend

If you don't mind, I'd like to start off this post with a sigh of contentment.

SIGH.

Thank you.

My husband has a job offer and I am returning home, hopefully full time.

I am content.

And so thankful.

~~~~~~~

Friday night Ian and I went on a date. Sam and Julie went to my in laws overnight, and Jordan slept over at my mother's.

We went out for dinner.

Alone.

At a restaurant with cloth napkins.

And mood lighting.

At a table for two.

SIGH.

Afterwards we headed to the movie theatre to see GI Joe. One showing was sold out with the other filling fast. We bought tickets and headed in, only to find that there weren't two seats together anywhere. Being that we were on a date we wanted to be able to sit together so we headed back out to exchange our tickets to see The Hangover. It wasn't too bad, definitely some funny lines in it. We had a really good time.

And as much as I love my children, I was ok that they were away for the night. I've never felt that way before. I like my children under my roof at night. But this time I was ok.

~~~~~~~

Yesterday I went to pick Jordan up at my mother's and stayed to visit for the morning which I loved.

I am planning on taking Julie on our First Annual Mother/Daughter Camping Night in a couple of weeks. I've never camped on my own before but I'm not worried about it. We'll go to a family campground that lacks snakes and wild animals and, hopefully, axe murderers. Ian shared some huge doubts mild concerns about my ability to set up the tent on my own.

Disbelievinghusbandsaywhat??

I am more than a pretty face, friends, I have skillz.

Ian wanted me to do a test run on setting it up so that he could rest assured that I could do it on my own. So, he brought it to my mom's yesterday afternoon and I set it up.

In under 15 minutes.

[insert sounds of amazement, awe and appreciation here]

Was it perfect? No. But I didn't say it would be set up perfectly. I said I could set it up. And I did.

Success is so sweet.

And I packed that thing back up in probably less time, and much neater than I found it, thankyouverymuch.

~~~~~~~

Today during our church service it began to rain really hard. Ian leaned across Sam and whispered something like "If you were camping right now...there goes your tent."

But what did I hear him say?

"Your awesome tent set up was amazing and you are going to be a formidable camper. And you are extremely beautiful."

:-)

~~~~~~~

Answered Prayers

I am so excited!

Ian interviewed with a company on Friday and they offered him the position today!

I am so proud of him. I can't go into too many details as he has yet to accept the position. That will come tomorrow.

I am coming home, friends! I am so excited to be a SAHM again, and care for Ian and the children and run my home.

There are still some details to work out, but God is showing His hand, and we are so grateful.

Gotta say it again....I am so excited!!!

Zzz.....zzz...

I don't know what my problem is this weekend but I am tired.

Aside from sleeping in every morning (thanks Ian) I've had a nap every day. Last night I went to bed at 5 and woke up just after 9am this morning. Then I had a 2 hour nap this afternoon. I'm on my way to bed after this post...

I would go to the doctor to find out why I'm so tired but after having two rounds of extensive bloodwork done this year that showed nothing wrong with me, I will just have to live with it according to my doctor.

It's frustrating.

I'm really hoping that something great happens this week. I could use it.

Long Weekend

Oh how I love a long weekend.

This morning Ian let me sleep in until 10am! What a luxury.

Ian took the children to a movie this afternoon and Jordan and I stayed home and napped. Then I gave her a bath, dressed her up including bows in her hair, and we headed out to do a bit of grocery shopping. She looked so incredibly adorable and people kept stopping me to tell me what a gorgeous baby she is.

Gorgeous babies are the only kind I make, thank you very much.

We went to Mom's for Sam's birthday bbq and that was a fun time. I love spending time with my mother. My sister was there too which was nice. I don't see her very often anymore either.

Then...my favourite part. Birthday cake! Oh friends, I love me some birthday cake. We bought a small cake decorated like a piece of watermelon. Very cool.

Now I'm relaxing in my favourite recliner, sipping a steeped tea from Timmie's I got with the gift card I won this week and just feeling content.

Sweet.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Today my wonderful son turned 10.

10?

How did that happen?

Didn't he just arrive yesterday?

Oh, how the years have flown by...

Sam wanted to get up at 6am to open his gifts together so (*yawn*) that's what we did. The children climbed into our bed with us while he opened one after another until the big finale - a DSI that he had been aching for. He was beyond thrilled.

Sam chose Mc'D's for dinner and Cats & Dogs for our family movie night. He loved his Cherry Chip birthday cake, baked by yours truly.

Happy Birthday, Sam. I love you so, so much.

Alive & Kicking

Yep. That's me.

I haven't felt moved to blog lately because I haven't been feeling like myself and didn't want that to show. I feel as though I am under tremendous spiritual attack and I am tired. I don't like the way I'm feeling. My faith is being tested and and I'm failing.

More on that another time. Not today.

I won the weekly trivia contest for the second week in a row. Last week was a $15 gift card for Subway and today's prize was a $15 gift card for Tim Hortons.

Sigh.

I know. What could be sweeter??

The Bachelorette ended this week and once again I am horrifically disappointed in this show.

Say it with me, friends....

"I am never watching this show again. EVER!"

Honestly! Why on earth would Jillian pick Ed over REID!? She was almost as annoying as Bachelorette Trista. Almost.

So it's over now and I need a new show. I can't/don't want to get into Big Brother because watching a bunch of people stuck in a house together is very boring to me. Hell's Kitchen is a very angry show, so I certainly don't need that, thank you very much.

Tomorrow is Samuel's 10th birthday. How the heck did that happen?? He's such a great kid and I absolutely adore him. I just took his birthday cake out of the oven and will ice it in the morning. It'll have to be at the crack of dawn when I do it too! Sam wants to get up at 6:30am to open his gifts.

!!!

Tonight I met up with the other two Girls Club leaders to plan for our fall session. Lots of good ideas. We're going to have a Girl's Spa Day on Aug 24th and give the girls manicures and pedicures while they sip on lemon water in pretty glasses and eat pizza. "K" will prepare a devotion on what God says real beauty is, not what the world teaches us. We're going to incorporate some new things too, like a prayer box and worship time, as well as how to reach more girls with this ministry. It's going to be a great year.

I am so excited that this weekend is a long weekend. We're going to my mother's for a bbq to celebrate Sam's birthday with the family, but other than that we don't have anything going on. I'm looking forward to being with Ian and the children.

That's it for me. Over and out.

Girl's Weekend

It's just me and my beautiful girls this weekend :-)

Last night we all drove up north to the campground where Sam and Ian are camping for the weekend. The girls and I hung around while they set up camp then enjoyed a few s'mores together before heading home, leaving them to their male bonding.

The trip home should have taken us about 50 minutes.

But...

It took us about ten minutes to find our way out of the campground. We just kept driving around and around...

Then we had to stop at Dairy Queen to fortify us for the ride home. I am sure you understand the importance of such a stop.

Then there were a couple of stops to reset the dvd player so that the girls could watch another episode of Hannah Montana. (Again, I am sure you see the importance here as well)

I don't particularly enjoy driving. I don't like to drive in the dark, rain, snow, traffic, on the highways or pretty much any day ending in "y".

We made it home in about an hour and a half. Julie was waiting at the front door while I was just about to get Jordan out of her car seat when I realized I had forgotten to stop for milk for this morning.

Ahem.

We all got back into the van, went to the gas station and bought a carton of milk (which I never do because there is something about buying milk at a gas station that is about 5 kinds of wrong) and we made it back home again.

Whew!

The girls were in bed by (gulp) 11:10pm and I enjoyed a very peaceful couple of hours watching whatever I wanted to watch on tv and chatting to a friend on facebook.

But mostly I missed my boys.

(I slept on the couch so I could hear the killer when he arrived. That's right - he's not going to sneak up on ME)

Today I am taking the girls to Build A Bear and then we're going to "do lunch". Tonight we'll pull out the sofa-bed and sleep there while watching movies until we fall asleep.

Sweet.

I saw this video this morning and I loved it!



Have a great day!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am so thankful for my family and good friends who are faithfully praying for me. I haven't been myself for awhile now and I've been struggling in so many areas.

Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;
may your love and your truth always protect me.

For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.

Be pleased, O LORD, to save me;
O LORD, come quickly to help me.

Psalm 40:11-13

Keep praying for me, my loved ones. I need you now more than ever.

Four Things

My temp job has been extended for another four weeks, possibly more. They don't really know how long they will need me. But they have assured me that I will be given two weeks notice. Nice.

I met up with Jen for coffee this week. I haven't done that in two months! :-( As always it felt so good being with her again. We laughed and talked and talked (and I cried, big shock).

Today Ian and I took the children to a carnival. I'd been looking forward to it since we went last July. The day started out with a torrential downpour but the sun came out and it was a gorgeous day. I even saw my childhood friend, Marilyn. Sweet.

After two or more months of looking, I finally found a new purse. Julie helped me find it. She was so patient through all of my "it's too big/too small/hate the strap/pockets/colour/shape/I hate purse shopping/I'm never going to find one I like" etc. and produced one that I loved. $100 marked down to $25. LOVE HER. My co-worker teases me about my incredibly small budget for a purse so I can't wait to show her my formerly $100 purse on Monday.

That's about it. My urge to blog is on vacation I think!

The Art of Forgiveness

I originally posted this entry on May 26th, 2008. These days I find myself struggling with forgiveness, so I thought I'd put it out there again, if only to remind myself of what forgiveness truly means.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:21-22

Yesterday I had a conversation (a highly emotionally charged conversation!) with a close friend of mine who is struggling with people who have hurt her deeply in the past, as well as those who continue to hurt her to this day. She was struggling with the concept of forgiveness and doubted her ability and willingness to do it. I completely get where she is coming from.

That conversation really got me thinking. Forgiveness is something I struggle with. Sometimes I just don't want to do it. Flat out don't want to do it. Some things just don't deserve forgiveness, right? How can we forgive someone, let them off the hook and have them think what they did was ok? If I forgive someone, doesn't that lessen my pain?

No.

What I have come to learn is that forgiveness, more often than not, has nothing to do with the person who hurt you. It's about you. It's giving yourself permission to let go and begin to heal. It isn't saying that what that person did was ok. It's simply allowing yourself to move forward.

Ian and I had to learn the art of forgiveness under incredibly difficult circumstances but don't think for a second that it came easily. We have survived a season of heartbreak that few people (I pray) will ever know. We are left with broken pieces to pick up, and forgiveness continues to be a work in progress. I prayed for warm, fuzzy feelings of forgiveness to wash over me. But they never came. I prayed for a forgiving heart. It didn't come. Finally I asked God what He wanted me to do and He softly spoke to my heart and told me to make the choice to forgive, and to trust in Him to bring the healing. So I did it. Even though every fibre of my being was screaming at me not to do it, His voice in my heart was loudest.

Last night I was doing my nightly devotions and it was about forgiveness. The author said that “forgiveness is giving up the right to punish”. That really hit me. It SO isn’t about letting the other person off the hook for what they did, nor is it telling them that you are ok with what they did. It’s giving yourself permission to move forward. There is such relief in putting down the anger and forgiving. Its so exhausting being angry, resentful and bitter.

I have many broken areas of my life that need grace and forgiveness. I have been hurt very deeply, many times. But to be completely truthful, I have hurt others as well. Sometimes more than once by doing the same things.

Another thing I have learned is that people will reap what they sow. We may not be around to see their reaping, but I know it happens. It isn't up to us to exact punishment for what someone else has done to us.

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:17-21.

I know my day will come when I am face to face with my Redeemer and I will have to account for what I have done - both good and bad. Knowing that he took the weight of my sin onto Himself and forgave me, it is impossible for me not to extend that same grace to those who have sinned against me.

My friend is beaten down by years of being hurt. She is done with it. She has tried to fight back with kindness and love but the hurt just keeps on comin'. "Why do I even bother?" she shouted at me yesterday as she cried as though her heart would break. I told her that she "bothers" because God created her to, and He put a beautiful and loving heart inside her to help her. God created her that way. Isn't that just so beautiful?

People are going to be mean. Love them anyway. People are going to hurt you. Make the choice to forgive them and trust in our Heavenly Father to heal and restore us. He will not leave us or fail us. We can count on that.

Goodbye Shannon...

This week I learned that a woman I worked with for many years - and enjoyed a close friendship with for a time - suffered a brain aneurysm on Sunday and was on life support. Shannon was taken off of life support yesterday after tests failed to show any brain activity.

I am so, so sad.

She had a smile that lit up the room, and she had one for everyone. She had a very quick wit and a warm heart.

She had a young daughter and the thought of that little girl growing up without her mother just breaks my heart.

It amazes me that a person is here one minute and can be gone the next. It really puts life into perspective, doesn't it? Death is so final. It is really making me look at my own life, at what truly matters and what doesn't. I don't want to waste my time here.

We really need to live more intentionally, don't we? To make our short time here matter.

I wonder what kind of legacy I will leave or what people will say about me when I'm gone.

What must it be like to finally be in the presence of the Lord? To be here one moment, and then to be standing face to face with Him the next? To walk with Him, talk and laugh with Him.... to even hug Him! How totally awesome that will be.

Tomorrow night I will go to say goodbye to Shannon at her viewing. As deeply sad as I am that she is no longer here on earth, I am even more excited that she is with the Lord. How could I possibly wish her back here?

I will see her again.

Goodbye for now, Shannon... until we meet again.