The plan for the day was pretty straight-forward. On Saturdays, the new AM routine is for me to
watch the kids while tackling all the housework and laundry for the weekend,
AND Dave gets a good 3-4 hour stretch of marking done while he’s bright and
fresh. Then, the work is just done and we can enjoy the weekend more. After this little Saturday am spree of productivity, Dave will take the kids out for an hour or two for the purpose of
a)
BONDING with the kids
b)
to give me a little break
After lunch and naps, we do something nice as a family
before supper and bed. Today, the after
nap plan was to:
1)
Crack open a pomegranate and beat the crap out
of it with a wooden spoon to quickly release all the seeds. This is going to be our kick off the
pre-holiday season tradition. ( I saw a you tube video going around demonstrating
this, and I tested it. And it works!
2)
Put on
the Christmas music and set up the tree and other decor
3)
Enjoy some hot chocolate after all the magic is
complete.
Well, the first few hours of the day went as planned. I was pretty pooped by 10 after tackling so
much laundry and chores WHILE hanging with the kids. I was going to run to do groceries with them,
but flopped onto the bed in despair as Dave was marking, and lamented the task
ahead. I just didn’t feel like running
around in the cold with all 3 kids to get groceries. Like any wonderful husband, he offered to do
it with them before they went to the park.
Like any skeptical wife, I questioned his ability to get all the correct
sale items while juggling the 3 kids on a busy Saturday. But, he grinned and told me he had full
confidence in himself. I proceeded to
draw a overhead map of the grocery store with letters A-Z , and an accompanying
legend which showed which items would be in THAT location and the proper price. This was my attempt to make it easier for him
and thus alleviate my guilt of dumping this task on him. Plus, it was kind of fun to make. Sometimes my love and need for organization
scares me!
I helped bundle the kids up and off they went. I spent the first hour bustling around
finishing a few house items, some emails, and finally sat down to breath deeply
and enjoy some down time. Some snow had started to really come down, and I thought about how the kids would be loving the park, Dave would be loving driving in the magic white, and it would be perfect as we decorated our tree. Minutes later
the phone rang. It was Dave, “Hi
Chrissy. It’s Dave. The kids and I have been in a minor car accident. Everyone is ok. The van is just stuck in a ditch off
greenbank and fallowfield. Can you call
some of the guys to come and pick us up?”
“The guys”
I am so
thankful that Dave and I have a group of
“guys” (and their wives) that we can
call up, no matter what the situation, and know help will arrive. After about ten minutes that involved me
choking back tears while sending a few texts/calls/email/ and a facebook shout
out, I had help on the way! I say, “I”, but really, it was God looking after us in
all of this.
First off, as I found out later, there had been a bad
accident a few cars ahead of Dave on this horrible stretch called the
greenbelt. It is just 2 very narrow lanes
of traffic, the speed limit is 80, and
some people fly through their going 100.
It is open and windy, and gusty, and narrow and horrible. In fact, when I was just 5 months pregnant
with Jesse, I drove my car into the ditch in the EXACT same place as Dave, when
an oncoming van lost control and swerved into my lane. Anyways, an accident happened a few cars
ahead due to ice on the roads, causing cars behind to slam on their
brakes. All Dave saw was the car ahead
of him swerve onto the shoulder of the road, with another car stopped on the
middle of the road. When Dave jammed on
his breaks- they just slid on the ice,
and so he had to either hit the car in front of him, on crash into the car on
the shoulder of the road, or veer hard right and take the deeper ditch. So,
that’s what he did. He not only missed
the cars, but somehow missed the fence and poles down in the ditch too. The van
didn’t roll or crunch... simply bashed downward into the ditch and scraped
itself along the fence while coming to a stop.
I guess the girls were ok because they didn’t know what was going
on. But Jesse was screaming and crying
and hyperventilating asking Dave why there was big bangs and bumps and WHY he
was not on the road! I am just so
thankful this was not worse than what it could have been.
The tow trucks were all tied up dealing with accidents all
over the city on this first real snowy day in Ottawa, and since friends were on
the way, the police recommended waiting until later in the day, and calling for
a tow then. Small group guy, Stevie, arrived first on the
scene, and since he has a baby exactly Robyn’s age, a car seat was all set, and
he picked her up and brought her home to mama(being the more tired and hungry
one of them all). He also brought home
our groceries. Steph arrived a bit
later after leaving her own 2 kids with her mom, and picked up Jesse, Janna,
and Dave (2 car seats all set in HER van) and dropped them off safe and sound
to my front door step. She had even
thought to take some snacks with her, as it was past lunch and nap times, and
everyone was likely a bit moody. I didn’t
arrange any of this seating plan! Stevie was the
first person to come and had a car seat for Robyn. Steph was the next person, and had enough
seats for the others. I just feel
overwhelmed that God works out even these little details.
While waiting for everyone to get home, I had several calls, texts, and Katie even
came by to make sure I was ok. I kept
breaking into tears when people asked how I was, because I felt SO guilty that
I hadn’t done the grocery trip earlier in the day as planned. I know these things happen, and Dave, was in
the same boat feeling so responsible for not being more vigilant on the
roads. I guess I am just trying to leave
the guilt at the door, and be thankful and rejoice in all things!
Anyways, everyone arrived home safely and I had grill cheese
(comfort food) all set to go. Kids were
SOOOO tired and hungry as it was past 2, but it was so nice to see them. Jesse told me he hated the snow now because
it made him bump off the road for a long, long, while. And has also been lamenting how he misses the
van!
Needing to get the van towed and checked out, Dave called
another guy who is good with cars from our small group, to see if he might take
a look at it to assess the damage before committing it to the shop. Well, dear Paul, not only agreed, but found a
friend who has a 4 by 4 and offered to try and pull it out of the ditch and
look at it himself. They got er’ done
this afternoon, and the van seems ok!
Scratched, missing some plastic off the bumper....but running just
fine. Dave drove it home, and we just
JUST enough time to get the tree up before supper and bed.
And right now, I am just reflecting about how God is so
good, and in control, and taking care of us.
And these bumps in the road, and messes in our days, are such opportunities
for him to show His Power and goodness through others. Praise God.
And, thank you for the wonderful friends you have blessed us with here
in Otown.
On that same note, I am feeling really down because 2 members
from our small group, and really our best friends since the day I moved here,
are moving out of Ottawa very soon L
I met Seth and Rebekah just 2 days after coming back here
happily married to Dave. Rebekah would
know the exact day, because she remembers incredible things. But, I am going to guess it was May 19, 2007. We
met at Eggspectations, a breakfast place downtown, and I immediately loved
Rebekah. She was a combo of people I
knew, and had that friendly maritime vibe, with a few loveable quirks. As did her husband, Seth. Seth and Dave had been friends all year at
Carleton University. Dave and I have this horrible habit of categorizing
everyone’s personality. You’re either very
Ontario, Ontario, maritime-ish, or SUCH a Mari timer. And
being from there... it is just cozy and awesome to us! I
probably shouldn’t have confessed that...
Anyways, they were my
first friends here, and we spent a lot of time together that first summer. We would play Mario party and eat popcorn out
of our apartment for hours on end, and if we were really being fancy, we’d make
sausages. WE were so broke! They also had us over to Seth’s place and we
watched a lot of the Sens action with them the year they were in the play
offs. They rejoiced with us when we got
Cooper, and asked if they could come over immediately to see him!
I should mention they were just engaged when we met, and so that first year in Ottawa we enjoyed getting ready for Seth and Reb's wedding. Showers, and tux fittings, and decorating and the like. Even though busy, they always made time for fun and hang outs. They enjoyed board games and hot drinks with us, and if you would have told us that in 5 years we would have gone from 4 to 10... I’m not sure we’d have believed you!
Rebekah and I got pregnant just a few months apart, and they
were the first visitors to come and see Jesse.
Bringing dinner of course. We
were so sad when we found out that summer during our trip to the Maritimes that Rebekah’s mom had passed away
from a hard fought battle with cancer. And not only that, but just weeks before their first little girl, Naomi entered the
world. We visited them in the hospital, and tried to
share our limited tips on nursing and slings and babies in those first few
months.
Jesse and Naomi
They helped us move to our townhome when Jesse was shy on 1,
right around the time they moved into their new town home just 10 minutes
away. When I headed back to work that
September, Rebekah was the one who watched Jesse for me, and then our second
babies were born just one month shy of each other a few months later. Jonah and Janna. We didn’t plan it, or the names, but it’s
been so fun, having kids the same age in each others lives.
Later that year, we invited Seth and Rebekah
into our small group from church, and got to know them on a much deeper and
more spiritual and intimate level through weekly meetings involving prayer,
bible study, encouragement, investment, and accountability....
baby dedication... lots of babies from the small group
Their third baby, Gideon, came about half a year before ours, and it
didn’t stop them from being so generous with their time and possessions and
energy. Despite having 3 kids under 3, these
are people who are always up for spontaneous visits, grabbing our kids to give
us a short break here and there, dropping off unidentified cards with money ( I
KNOW IT’S BEEN YOU GUYS!) They have been
so generous, and gifted us with their dishwasher when we needed one, an air
conditioner, and have offered us countless things like these! My
favorite picture frame on the wall....
Mostly, they are just such KIND and loving people. Always up for anything, always smiling, and
honest about who they are, and where they are in life. They have been through a lot of loss in
various ways, and yet have persevered by God’s grace. In just 5 plus years of marriage they have
produced 3 kids, moved around Ottawa several times, lost loved ones, switched
jobs, finished schools, had their
families move away to Russia/Australia, etc.
And now, they are the ones moving...at pretty much the same time they are expecting baby 4!!!
We were very excited to hear about little Potter 4 this past
summer. Due February 2014. We were also pumped to hear Seth
had gotten into training for a GREAT job.
However, it involved completing 4 months of intensive training a few
hours outside of Ottawa. This was exciting
for them, but it’s been hard on pregnant Rebekah, who remained in Ottawa, with
her 3 kids under the age of 4. We’ve
done our best as a small group to surround her with meals and company and help with
the kids and babysitting dates, but nothing really replaces the loneliness for
your spouse. Seth has made it home on
weekends, but they go by so fast, and then Rebekah has, yet another, week to
tackle on her own. In circumstances
where I have done a week or 2 without Dave, I just about went crazy. It’s the doing dinner and bed time on your own
each day that is the worst, I think. Rebekah has done 16 of these weeks!!! Four to
go!
Today, was “posting” day. The job would require relocation somewhere of
several posts in Canada. Seth was in the
middle of the picking order in a huge class of trainees, and had a top 10 list
made carefully with Rebekah. They’d been doing their research on various areas
available, decided on priorities, and consulted me asking info about Woodstock,
NB. It was one of the choices, and growing up just
10 minutes away, I was able to give them lots of details. It made it onto their top 10 list, and when
Seth had his turn to choose today, it was available, and so he chose it!
The Potters are moving to Woodstock!!!! I am so excited for them. I think they will like the maritime vibe once
they get used to it. I am a bit
jealous. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to raise
our kids in New Brunswick, to smell the piney trees every day, to breathe in
the fresh and OPEN air. Seriously.
The biggest feeling today, though, is that I am just sad. They have been with Dave and I
along our entire Ottawa adventure! Not just as witnesses, but been so involved in it. I will miss them SO dearly,
but am thrilled we’ll be able to see them every summer, and happy for this new job and great little town for them.
Seth and Rebkeah have never lived outside of Ottawa. They have never been to Woodstock. They have no family, and NO connections
there. They are moving, likely, in the
dead of winter just a month before she is due with a new baby. It’s a new job, it’s a new world. I know many of my readers are from NB. IF any of your are in that area and want some
lovely friends with 4 lively kids, DO get a hold of me, and I”ll give you their
digits. I’m sure some friendly faces and
visitors would be such a blessing in their new adventure. Plus, they are going to NEED SOMEONE to come
watch their kids while she gives birth to baby 4! I bet they’d even pay you ;)
Well, I should be on my merry way. Going to sit by the tree, and take those moments to breathe and be thankful. Thanks for reading. I'm out.
