More turns ahead

Just when our new normal is about to feel, well, normal, things they are a changin’.

Since my last post, we have gotten real used to sharing our space and our life with little Miss. We are enjoying most of our time with her, occasional temper tantrum not withstanding. Tim is now helping to coach her U10 soccer team, the Wildcats, which I lovingly call the Bad News Bears. We are learning first hand what being soccer parents means, three practices as week and Saturday games – we are wearing out the road between our house and the pitch. But I’m happy to report that thankfully little Miss has finally adopted the Miss Lisa Everything Must Match philosophy of life and she looks great on the field in her matching pink shoes, socks, ball and jersey. The team has yet to win, okay truthfully, they have yet to score in a game, but they look so cute trying. Of course it is our kid that chooses to sit down on the field during the middle of play cause she is tired. Got to love proud parent moments like that!

Speaking of proud parent moments, little Miss is also participating in kids choir at our church and we were all excited about their spring performance a couple of weeks ago. We had the songs on CD and practiced them like crazy every time we were in the car. She knew the songs, really knew them. She was sporting a beautiful new pink polka dot dress and silver sequined bedazzled pumps. Tim and I were in our usual spot on the fourth row center anxiously awaiting the performance. The little old ladies behind us were oohing and aahing over the pretty little blond girl with the sparkly pumps on the front row of the choir twirling back and forth. I had IPhone in hand ready to record each and every nuance of the event. And we were not disappointed. She did great, sang loud, mostly in tune and had all the hand movements down, never missing a beat. I could literally feel my ego swelling when horror of all horrors, that pretty little child reaches down and scratches her hooha mid song and mid twirl. I reached over, grabbed Tim’s leg and tried to close my dropped jaw. Maybe no one else saw it. Oh but wait, she did it again. You have got to be kidding me. My kid is the one. The one that everyone sees doing the unthinkable right in front of a crowed church. Please no. But wait, holy mother of God, she does it a third time. We aren’t talking a discreet little flick of the nether region here. No, a full on Michael Jackson would be proud crotch grab followed with a hardy scratch and the necessary rearrangement of under garments to finish. And did I mention she was on the front row? Yep. Proud momma moment shot to hell. But so freaking funny, if it wasn’t our kid. The horror of the whole thing was, this was just the first performance. We had a whole other service to go through. Unfortunately Miss Lisa is IPhone video recording impaired so I don’t have a priceless video to submit to AFV for the grand prize. You will just have to take my word for it; it was classic.

Back to the changes… Little Miss’ parents have found a place to live. Just when we had given up on them, they did it. Move in day is a week from Monday. DFCS will have to inspect the apartment and approve it after they get new furniture and everything ready but I can expect in the next month, Little Miss will be heading home. I am so happy for her and her brother. They both really want to be with their family. But the sadness is there, just waiting. I will miss her something fierce. Thankfully I’ve got a few more weeks to sow into her life as much as I can. And I rest assured in the knowledge that I am sending home a child who knows a little more about appropriate family living and how important things like flushing a toilet and matching clean clothing are. Hopefully we have impacted her life in deeper ways that will put her on a different life course, one with more opportunities and a brighter future.

The timing of this is perfect. I interviewed for a job in Savannah recently and got an email from the hiring manager that I could expect an offer in the next week. We have been praying about this, moving away, for a couple of months. We have been talking about doing it for years. My prayer has been for God to workout the details. If this is meant to be, it will be.

I’ll keep you posted…