I was intending on blogging about the great news that my daughters' tennis team won the State 3-A tennis tournament...however...in the light of the news that I was given today, I do not think that is appropriate.

I am currently on spring break vacation with my husband and three girls. I returned from a day of shopping to find an IM from my old high school friend, Mary. I was tickled that she connected with me. Unfortunately, when I opened her message, she was asking me if I had heard about what had happened to another dear friend's daughter. Immediately, fear shot through my body. I looked to see if Mary was still on line and found out she was not. These questions NEVER bring good news. I thought I had her phone number, but found out I did not. I called a couple of other friends that I thought would know what had happened. One of the good things about growing up in a small town and maintaining those hometown relationships is that news travels fast - good or bad.

To my dismay, this was bad news. It seems that my friend Tara Storch and her husband Todd had taken their three children on a spring break ski trip to Beaver Creek, Colorado. On Sunday afternoon, their beautiful 13 year old daughter, Taylor was a new skier and was skiing an intermediate slope when she fell backwards and hit her head. She was wearing a helmet, but the blow must have been VERY hard. She was pronounced brain dead and her parents had to make the hardest decision of their lives - to take her off of life support. No parent EVER wants to make this decision or outlive their children. This is not a natural chain of events.

I have known Tara since we were in kindergarten; I only met Todd when they were married over 16 years ago. Tara was always smiling and happy. She was the "baby" sister to three brothers, who worshipped her and protected her. She never met a stranger and was always willing to help those in need. I am sure these are some of the many qualities that attracted Todd to her. I have only met their children a couple of times when they came back to Abilene and attended church. I could not pick them out of a crowd or tell you their names...what I can tell you is that knowing their parents, I am sure that all three are just as loving, caring and giving as their parents.

There have already been EIGHT facebook pages set up, with over 3,000 members, dedicated to Taylor. That says a great deal about the kind of person she was. I have read many of the posts on the sites, and they all are woven with a common thread. Great athlete, beautiful inside and out, happy and always smiling and willing to help others. The list goes on. Taylor will be missed by too many people to count.

Tara and Todd made a very unselfish decision to donate Taylor's organs. Again, this just goes to show what wonderful people they are. Could you be that unselfish? Honestly, I am not sure. I have heard that her organs have already gone to help save the lives of a 39 year old, a 1 year old and two people in Colorado. Amazing!

As I sit here composing this blog, I am in a total state of shock and disbelief. I DO NOT know how Tara & Todd feel at this point, nor will I pretend I do. All I can say to them is I ache for them and I am here to lend an ear, if they need one. I don't know how they will feel about this blog. I hope it will comfort them, in time. And to everyone reading this blog, hold your children close today and everyday. Count each day as a blessing.

Just simply,
Erin

When it rains...it POURS!

In my house...literally! Cactus & I built our house in 1993 when I was pregnant with our first daughter. It was very exciting. Pregnant...building a house...can you say "crazy"?! Will we survived! Then...eight years later, we decided to add on and do a little remodel while I was pregnant with our third daughter. I guess we thought if we did it once, we could do it again. Survival, again! Four years later, we decided to add a pool and outdoor kitchen...this time, I was NOT pregnant! This is the one that almost killed us!

So, after almost 17 years in this house, we are about to dive into the construction mode once again. This time, enlarging my kitchen. I have been waiting for this for about three years. About a year ago, we purchased the 2 acres behind our house, each with a house. Originally, we were going to fix up the houses and rent them. One was easy to fix up, the other one was NOT! So...we decided to sell the one house to someone that was willing to move it. Then, after the house was moved, Cactus was going to build his office on that lot and put in a tennis court for the girls. I know what you are thinking...isn't that a little too close for comfort? Yes! I love my husband, but I LIKE that he goes downtown to his office in the sky every morning. This will be an adjustment. We put the kitchen on hold until the office construction was going to start so that we could do it all at once.

Last Monday night, while doing the dishes, my sink became clogged. I got up the next morning, intending to call the plumber, only to discover that Cactus has tried to "fix" it. Let me just say, part of his charm is that he is neither technical nor mechanical. It was NOT good! I called the plumber and they said that they would be out after lunch, barring any emergency. Well, I suddenly became the emergency! I am sitting at the kitchen table working on the computer when I hear water dripping from somewhere around me. I look around and see it is pouring from the ceiling above me! This is coming from our master bath up on the second floor. I run up to see what the problem is. Cactus is mopping up water. I guess there is a place somewhere in the plumbing where the upstairs pipes meet up with the downstairs pipes. Since the downstairs was clogged, the water from the shower had nowhere to go but back up and then back down, via the ceiling! I called the plumber back and told them that I had suddenly became an emergency. Four hundred dollars later, no more rain in my house! The good thing about this is that I might get my new kitchen sooner. That was the second time we have had water overflow upstairs, which causes the sub-flooring to weaken and water stains on my ceiling. The bathroom floor will now have to be redone, so...we might as well do the kitchen, too...right? Right!

Keep your fingers crossed! Maybe I will have a bright, shiny, new kitchen by the time my birthday rolls around in September!

Keep Gabbin' Gigglin' Grinnin' and Moppin'
Gabbin' Gal Erin