I'm afraid this is painfully true....

Things will not always go the way you planned, but you don't 
have to let that stop you. Remind yourself that you can 
adapt, adjust, and continue doing what's important to you.

Often, the interruption itself is not what throws you off 
track. Your anger and disappointment may end up disrupting 
you longer than whatever interrupted you in the first place.

Go ahead and accept the fact that interruptions will come 
along and plans will have to be altered. Then, just make the 
adjustments and get on with life.

Some of those unplanned occurrences might actually turn out 
to contain pleasant surprises. Make the choice to live 
life's value where you find it.

Instead of seeing the interruption as an excuse, see it as 
an opportunity. Let it strengthen your resolve and provide 
you with a reason to focus even more intently on making the 
progress you have chosen to make.

Life is filled with unplanned interruptions, and getting 
upset about them won't do you a bit of good. Instead, let 
them come, let them go, and enjoy the richness of a 
positive, purposeful life no matter what.

Ralph Marston

..and sometimes we don't want to blog about the "ugly" but for the record, I must. Last Sunday found me in a HUGE INTERRUPTION....the emergency room in Folsom in excruciating pain. Too bad I read up on the wrong things and people at church were sure I had kidney stones or appendecitis....so 4 hours later and $3000.00 worth of tests, they sent me home on pain meds and said that nothing was wrong. I drugged myself up for a couple of days and was supposed to head home on an early morning flight to help with Kyle's kids while they went to Vancouver but just before leaving for the airport, I started to throw-up so I figured something was really wrong. Got dressed, went to a doctor and showed her a spot I had discovered recently on my back and she said...."that's shingles".  Oh, my....the most dreaded of dread diseases. What to do. Getting so upset and agitated just made it worse. I've been upset for a week now and it's not doing me any good...if anything, it's sending me into a fit of depression and drug overdoses (not on purpose) and putting my system totally out of whack. I've been plugging along, doing the best I can and pretending to not be sick but my insides are churning constantly and my emotions are wild....I feel like I'm going crazy but I think now that I can blog about it, I'm on the mend. I finally boarded a plane on Friday to be home where I could get some help. Spencer got me in....

...and the shingles are on the mend but the drug withdrawal is a buggar. The upside to being home and not being too disabled is all the stuff I got to see and do. I got on the anti-viral meds real soon after diagnosed so hoped I wasn't contagious but I did get to enjoy the mid-night run associated with Dixie's Homecoming....always a fun family activity. Kyle started it a few years back and we all look forward to participation. Hopefully next year I'll be more than the picture taker (I say that every year) but I'm determined to get my health back in this 65th year of mine coming up.

Pre-run activities. My family likes to show up way early and use the big college field for some fun and games.

Sporting the green tees this year.  (Middle: Yet another Seth photo bomb and a good one from The Troy)

My action shots didn't turn out well but loved the bottom left with Miller running in with his dad. He claims he ran the whole 5K but I'm betting he had a bit of shoulder action from his dad. He was a proud finisher though and before the race started he proudly proclaimed....."I was made for this race".

You know you are in Small Town, U.S.A. when there's an occasional parade. George, Emily and Evan walked with the swim team while we all took our places on the sidelines gathering the yearly Halloween Stash of candy.

I've got these a bit out of order but Tailgating is always a favorite activity. The Alumni Association throws a great party before the football games....free food, fun and games and the kids love it.

I got to take in a couple of the last flag football games....Jack and Seth played on adjacent fields. Laynee ran State Cross Country; I didn't get to go and watch but was proud of her 7th place finish along with being voted (by her many fans) as "Athlete of the Week". I don't have a picture but hope to find one for the record book. Traci and her boys were able to be there to cheer her on.

Spencer and Shana were able to stop by and visit Lauri and the kids...always fun to see family....

Traci and Lauri enjoyed a little excursion with their youngest at the zoo...It's a good thing they could all sit in the wagon. 

So glad they have each other up in the north country. Cutest kids ever......

Emily and Maycee finally got to go to Thriller....ugghhhh and scary but they look pretty happy. I'm just not a real fan of "scary". This is Kyle's birthday tradition and I didn't pay much respect for him on his birthday so I'll throw this in 'cause I'm dang proud of him.....this was in the Alumni Magazine. His new title is "Dean".

Halloween is tomorrow and our family tradition has always been to carve pumpkins the Monday before Halloween. Snapped a pic of these from Kyle's house.....there are others that I will post as I can find them.

I'm so glad to see these traditions that we enjoyed so much carried on into the families of my children. Also, a preview of Halloween costumes. Caught Matty's pre-school parade and Traci and Lauri sent me these. Traci's Rock Star theme is truly rockin' it this year.....

Here's Matty (top left) and Jake and Max ready for the school parade. Just in is Lucy and Molly....

....ready for the pre-school show. Love Molly's poofy slip....reminds me of the good ol' days and the dress-up box. Well, I think that's about it. I had taken down my blog....never to do it again, definitely the drugs speaking. I'm on the mend and today I don't really care if the Russians look at my blog so I'm up and going again. I start a new year tomorrow. Hope to get to feeling better....this past experience has taught me a lot about my mental health. I will be guarding it ever so vigilantly from now on as well as my physical well-being and would admonish anyone reading this to do the same. I hope the kiddies have a safe and fun Halloween. This would be a great place for a TBT photo but hey, I'm doing good to get this blog up and running for the history books so I'll save that for another day. For today, I'm embracing the interruption....and trying to get on with life.