Two Weekends Apart

As mentioned before, Robert was gone last weekend helping with Faith's DNow.  Well, I was the one to be away from Robert this weekend.  Actually, it was four whole days this time.  Have two weekends in a row apart from each other was definitely less than ideal.

I left bright (actually, it was dark) and early on Thursday morning.  We woke up at 3:30, hit the road at 4:00, said goodbye at the airport at 5:00, and I flew to Detroit at 6:00.  I arrived around 8:00 and had about a 2.5 hour layover.  Then I had about a 1.5 hour flight to Scranton where my parents came and picked me up.  They had a delicious "picnic" packed for me to eat in the car.  It was great to see them even though it was under unpleasant circumstances.

We drove straight to the funeral home.  Seeing everybody was good but hard.  Obviously we all wish we were getting together for a different reason, but it was still nice to see everybody.  The two visitations were well attended.  I'd say in total there were about 450 people in attendance.  I didn't know many of the people, but it was good to see the people from Grandma and Grandpa's church that I knew, and it was also nice to meet some of Doug's friends.  The funeral was on Friday.  I had the honor of seeing You Wouldn't Cry by Mandisa.  I had many people tell me that the song meant a lot to me and they felt like they could hear Doug saying those words.  Thank you, God, for giving me the gift of song.

Jim early Saturday morning since he at a 6:00am flight.  That afternoon Mom, Dad, and I were able to watch my cousin Ryan play floor hockey.  I had never been to a floor hockey game, but it was really fun!  It was fast moving, and the kids really got into it.

Mom and Dad left early yesterday morning since they had a 6:00am flight.  I left a bit later since my flight wasn't til 12:30.  There was a one hour delay once I got to Michigan.  Ordinarily this wouldn't have seemed too bad, but since my layover was already scheduled to last 3.25 hours that extra hour made it super long.  I made it through with my phone, a magazine, and a smoothie.  What are the odds of this: On the way to Scranton from Detroit I was seated next to a lady who was hiding a dachshund under her coat.  It was weird, but the dog was calm and she stayed to herself so it was find.  When I boarded the plane to head to Detroit from Scranton I found my seat and realized I was sitting next to the exact same lady with the exact same dog again.  How does that even happen?  This time her dog was super hyper and had the world's most disgusting gas.  I seriously wondered if it had pooped on her lap.  So I ask you, are people allowed to sneak on dogs in their carry-on suitcases?  What if I had been allergic?  What would you have done?  Sucked it up?  Told the flight attendant?

My flight got in an hour late since it had been delayed.  Robert came and picked me up and we were home by 9pm.  Needless to say, it was a rather long day.  Robert had tidied up before my arrival. :)  He had some excitement of his own while I was gone: A trip to urgent care and a trip to the ER.  It was so frustrating to be separated by 8 hours and a few hundred miles during that time.  Thankfully we have great neighbors who took care of him.  Jered took him to and from the ER.  Ben and Allie had him over to eat and checked on him a couple of times as well.  He went to the ER and urgent care because he was having a ton of pain in his left hip and back.  He went to the ER when his leg went numb.  They gave him some pain medicine, muscle relaxer, and steroid.  They didn't say exactly what is wrong, but he has a doctor's appointment in an hour.  Prayers that the doctor will have great insight and will be able to diagnose the issue and come up with a practical solution.

Whirlwind

To say that the past few days have been a whirlwind would be an understatement.  Robert was gone all weekend with DNow at Faith.  I was bummed to not be able to help with DNow, but with my new job I was having to work later hours than usual and it just didn't work out.  Robert had a great time with his 6th grade boys.  Most memorable moment of the weekend: One of the boys threw up in the car and ended up throwing up 6 times before Robert could get him back home.  It was such a bizarre story.  Let me tell you.  Friday morning Robert woke up and said, "Amy you can't drive the car to work today.  I need it for DNow."  I had just woken up and wasn't prepared to create a game plan.  All I knew what that was not going to work.  Robert ended up being able to borrow Ben and Allie's second car.  I tell you what, they are such a huge blessing in our lives.  Anyway, the boy threw up 3 times in Ben's car and 3 times on the side of the road.  Robert's group was staying at the house of the director of facilities/maintenance of the church so he had plenty of cleaning supplies including a Bissell upholstery cleaner.  The seat ending up looking better than ever.  That accompanied by hours with the windows down and plenty of Febreze and they were good to go.

While Robert was gone I missed him so much.  Seriously.  I felt like such a baby.  I mean, I've spent plenty of time by myself before like when a roommate would go home for the weekend or something, but something about this just seemed different.  Hours seemed to tick by.  But I was able to get quite a bit done.  Our apartment had turned into a complete mess since it had been a busy week.  I cleaned it up and did 4 loads of laundry.  How do two people produce 4 loads of laundry in a week?!?  I also went grocery shopping.  But I also had plenty of time for fun - Sonic and a walk with Katie and hanging with my favorite 1 year old Jolie.

Could she be any cuter?

On Sunday I got a shocking call from Dad saying that his brother - Uncle Doug - had passed away suddenly.  I think the best way to describe how I felt was complete and utter shock.  The last relative of mine that passed away was my great grandmother Sweetie when I was a sophomore in high school.  Robert and I spent a long time weeping together.  And then what do you do after that?  Doing anything after that seems kind of pointless.  So we went on a walk and talked some more.  It's safe to say that I'm definitely still processing this new reality.  Mom, Dad, and Jim are flying to PA as I type.  I will fly out of Raleigh tomorrow at 6:00am.  There will be two visitations tomorrow, and the funeral will be on Friday.  I'm singing at it.  I'll be singing "You Wouldn't Cry" by Mandisa.

Double mullets

The siblings

late night thoughts with Amy

I can't sleep tonight.  I've had a rough time sleeping for about a month.  I fall asleep quickly and easily and sleep for about 30 minutes - 1 hour.  Then I wake up and can't go back to sleep because my "nap" has re-energized me.  I end up spending 30 minutes - 4 hours trying to go back to sleep.  I have petty much tried everything: writing, reading, playing a game with Robert, watching TV, crocheting, drinking tea, counting sheep.  Basically, nothing helps.

So here some random thoughts I'm having while I can't sleep:

How does our apartment get so messy so quickly?

I hate hanging up clothes.

My car always seems to be always be dirty  Maybe once it's nice out I can wash and vacuum it.

I've started watching Parks and Recreation - Good!  Have you ever seen it?

I'm so ready for spring to be here.

Monday was my first day out on my own after training.  It went really well!

I hate it when Robert has class late at night, but I'm really glad that I'm finally finished getting off work at 6:00 so at least now I can go back to seeing him after work for 30 minutes before he has to go to class.

I love putting together puzzles.  Robert just bought be one of The Wizard of Oz!

Robert has an old roommate coming to town today to visit SEBTS.  They're planning to sit together in chapel and grab some lunch together after that.  Hooray for old friends!

That's all for now.  Hopefully there won't be another addition of late night thoughts with Amy any time soon!

Three years with Robert Clark Varner

On our way to our date

Robert and I started dating on March 13, 2010.  This week we celebrated three years since we started dating.  I know we're married now, but I think we can still celebrate our dating anniversary.  I'm all about special dates - 1/2 birthdays, dating anniversary, engagement anniversary, wedding anniversary, 5/12 birthdays.  Basically anything.

Since our anniversary was on a Wednesday we decided to celebrate the weekend before.  We went out to eat at On the Border.  I'd never eater then.  It was good, but it probably won't become one of our regulars.  I did have a very unique and tasty meal:

Black beans, chicken enchilada with sour cream sauce, rice, and the most unique part - an avocado stuffed with chicken and cheese, dipped in a bit of batter, and cooked up.  It was really tasty!

Robert enjoyed his fajitas

After dinner we did some window shopping at a pet store and gardening store.  Next, we went to see Oz the Great and Powerful at Carmike's Theater.  We enjoyed it!  Our first date as official boyfriend and girlfriend was to the movie theater to see a Tim Burton movie.  It seemed fitting to celebrate our three year anniversary with a trip to the movie theater again to see another Tim Burton movie.  I would recommend the movie.  Very clean.  The only semi-scary part would be the wicked witch.  Have you seen any good movies lately?