a wonderful 24 hours

It’s been a wonderful 24 hours. I was so anxious to see my boys. X said they would be ready to be picked up by 6. So I got home, showered and talked to the roommates. The roommates are two great guys. Oh I should tell you. One of the roommates (who recently moved out) flooded the downstairs bathroom, which means the whole first floor flooded. That was the drama of the past month. So I’ve had to deal with insurance companies and contractors. The end result is I have new carpet, new paint, and virtually what seemed like a whole new house. Plus the new roommates have taken really good care of the house. So it seemed like I moved into a brand new house. My tenants/roommates are really taking care of it.

So I hadn’t driven my car in about 9 months. I had two flat tires, I had to take the car in for a service just in case. They were so slow at the mechanics. It turns out they took 90 minutes to do a 15 minute job. To make matters worse, my car get dying. I had to get it jump started as the battery wasn’t warmed up. I was worried I’d get a mile down the road and the car would die on me, and I would be stranded. All this anxiety swept over me as I was so anxious to get to my kids. I took a moment to pray and all the anxiety went away. I knew all this headache was a spiritual attack. After I prayed, everything was ok…and the car didn’t die again. I picked up the boys and it was if I had never left. It was wonderful. We hugged, embraced, laughed, and just enjoyed each other. I wanted to see my daughter but she didn’t want to see me. Hopefully that will change. I do love her so…but X has done a number on her unfortunately. Im hoping to see her before I leave.

The boys have their own room at my house, but both of them wanted to sleep in sleeping bags on my floor to stay in the same room with me. I love that they wanted to do that. We all talked. It was a very special time. I love those boys. Today Max and I went to breakfast while Spencer the avid cereal lover, stayed home to play wii with my roommates son. Its strange watching a 16 year old kid and an 11 year old kid bond together because they respect each other’s prowess on the video game front. The time alone with Max was special as well. I am a great dad.

We went shopping for Spencer’s birthday gifts and then went to lunch with all the housemates. We got invited over to a friend’s for swimming and a barbecue. That was very nice to see those people again. It was very inspiring and healing. We wound up the day all watching a DVD together. My roommate has 700 DVD’s in his collection and we have three big screen TV’s in the house. It’s pretty much a bachelor’s paradise. Watching the movie was the most special time. My boys and I have always had a little tradition. They all seemed to like to cuddle up while we watch movies. Even when I took all three to movie theater, by the end, they all wound up on my lap. One on the right leg, one on the left and the third in the middle on my lap. I thought with me being away for so long, they might have grown out of that. But I was glad to see that we all cuddled away and watched the movie. That was magic. I will always be their dad. They will see the truth…kids always do.