A Quiet Life

I once heard a story of an elderly lady commenting, on the saying  "God doesn't give us more than we can stand" with the reply, "Nope, but sometimes He sure can bend ya double."  I had a good chuckle and didn't give it further thought.

While I don't want this blog (still dislike that word) to become a place of moaning and groaning, I feel  I must share recent events as a cautionary tale.

Due to my husband's crazy work schedule we had H & R Block do our taxes this year.  They were wonderful to work with and I highly recommend them based on the service they rendered us.  We scheduled a time to come in and sign everything and have our taxes electronically filed....all went well.  However, there was one little question  needing to be  answered and it was recommended  we call the IRS directly.  I still feel ill just thinking about that phone call.

As expected, my husband had to go through a verification process before the IRS agent would speak to him.  It was during this process that we discovered our identity had been stolen.....and the people who stole it had filed our taxes back in March!  I immediately felt sick.  What information did they have?  Obviously, Paul's social security number, but did they have mine?  What about my children's?  Our oldest will be 18 this December, would he have pre-made debt waiting for him?  I'm so careful with our information, how could this happen?

We filed an affidavit with the IRS, a police report in our hometown, filed reports with all three credit reporting agencies, filed a report with our bank and credit card company, etc...  Now we sit here and wait.  The waiting is the hardest part, but I know there is nothing I can do at this time.  How could this have happened?  I never give out personal information, I shred everything, and  we keep the security updated on our computers.  We don't know how they got our information, but they got it nonetheless.

I wish I had words of wisdom for this situation.  I have nothing; nothing, but a desire to return to a quiet life.

Prayer by George Frederic Watts (1817-1904)

"Mid all the traffic of the way,

Turmoil without, within;

Make of my heart a quiet place, 

And come and dwell therein."

~ Unknown

Let's Catch Up

I'm positive it appears I've fallen off the face of the earth, but I merely went to the edge.  Let's catch up, shall we?

Last year was a growing time for our family.  We had decided it would be best for myself and the children to return to Kentucky, while my husband remained at his job in Georgia.  Of course, tongues started wagging and I hadn't the energy to explain our choice to everyone I met.  I laugh now at how I once ended every discussion of my husband not living with us with "....but, we're very happily married."

I am the first to admit that it was a hard year....a year of broken washing machines, broken garage doors, broken bones....there is a pattern starting here.  For a time, it felt as if the moment his tail lights disappeared something would break and I would have to wait until his next return trip home for it to be fixed. We coped.  We missed one another. We adapted. And, we grew.

In January, our prayers were answered....sort of.  A new job was offered to my husband; a job with a competitive salary, good benefits, and a lot of travel.  With much discussion, we decided we could handle the amount of travel, after all, with working in Georgia he was gone almost 100% of the time as it was. How bad could it be?  Not too bad for the first three days...

Tuesday and Thursday nights I have the luxury of two uninterrupted hours to myself.  My daughter sings in the cathedral choir and on those nights I sneak off to the Brides Room for my time.  I read, I write, I listen to the beautiful sounds drifting from the choir room and I enjoy every quiet moment.  I love this time.

On March 8th, I sat in that upstairs room working on a writing project when I noticed that time had gotten away from me.  I usually meet Madeline in the downstairs hallways and she would be there soon.  I gathered my belongings, turned off the lights and headed out the door.  The hallway light was on....the stairwell light was not.  I really thought I could see well enough, but my last thought was of how this could be dangerous (for someone else).  I believe I missed the last two steps, not enough to really hurt you, right?  I immediately knew I was in trouble.  I tried calling for help, but no one was in that wing of the church at that hour.  I gathered my strewn belongings, found my phone, and tried to call the security man at the front desk.  I was so rattled I couldn't figure out how to use my phone and, once I calmed myself enough to push the correct buttons, I realized I did not have the church's number programmed into my phone.  Thank God for Google!  The call went straight to an answering machine informing me that if I had an emergency I should call the clergy on duty at ###-####.  Yes, even now I can't even begin to remember that number and of all times to not have a pen and paper.  By this time I'm talking to myself....


"You can't call Paul, he's in Chicago"


"Okay, just call Madeline and she'll get the security man."  Fail.  She must turn her phone off during practice.


"Okay, just call Paine (my 17 year old son) and he can drive to the church and take me to the hospital."  Fail. He had gone to a movie with friends....turning off his phone.

In the end, thirty minutes after the fall,  it was a dear friend"s husband who rescued me.

I won't bore you with the details of the ER visit.  Well, just maybe one little story.... My neighbors, upon hearing of my accident, gathered my two sons and met us at the hospital.
While I was having my foot x-ray, Hayden (the youngest) asked Madeline, "Was she crying a lot?"
"No", she replied.
After thinking about it for a bit, he asked, "Well, was she cussin' a lot?"
Evidently, the waiting room audience found this pretty funny and leaves me wondering if I need to watch my language.  LOL

In the end, the prognosis is too gory detailed to go into, but it suffices to say I messed my entire foot up.  A compression cast for two weeks was followed by an air cast for three and this Friday's appointment will inform me of my future.  I long to burn my crutches!

So, I did not fall off the face of the earth, I merely went to the edge (of my sanity).
I've been here, in my chair, with my impatience, looking at this.....

P.S. I promise to write more often, if you promise to visit more often.  Deal?

P.S.S. My lovely husband has managed to miss most of this drama.  He did come home for a couple of days, to assure himself I would live, before leaving for .......... Germany!  Some people have all the luck.