her wisdom

We decided that Sunday was to be the day to tell Stinkerbell about The Mighty Hunter's new job.

oops! I think I forgot to mention that he has a new job.

Well, the Major Insurance Company wants him back. He will be handling catastrophe claims of all kinds. The money is close to what he made running our company. The caveat is that the job is not HERE. The work requires him to travel.

And that just plain sucks. There's not a delicate, lady-like way to express how I feel about it. So, there.

The travel is not horrible though. He will work 10 days and have 4 days off. His travel to and from home for those 4 days is paid for by the Company, and he travels on a work day. He will get lots of expenses paid by the Company (including laundry service!!) He will have earned 4 paid off days by the end of this year - hopefully he can use them at Christmas.

Yes, his schedule puts him at work the days around Christmas.

More sucking.

So, Saturday, Stinkerbell AND Lucky spent the night at my parents. Lucky had never stayed away from me for more than a few hours - without having his dad around at least. So, he stayed with them and did really well.

Sunday, we finished weeding and mulching and pruning and other horribly evil chores that I haven't done all summer. The yard looks great, by the way. My hands, however, are killing me!

After the yardwork was done, I fetched the kiddos and braced myself for the inevitable tears that would come from the news that she would soon hear.

And they came. She tried to be strong and brave. She expressed her feelings without getting terribly upset. Her daddy held her close and reassured her the only way he could. I sat on the couch and cried and tried to find some bright lining to this dark cloud.

The rest of the day wasn't filled with tears, though. We played and goofed off and ate dinner with Carl and Bev.

At bedtime, I always lie with her while she prays, then I tell her "how to go to sleep" and sing my "Mommy loves you" song. I spent a little extra time with her, just being quiet.

"Mommy, why does Daddy have to leave?"

platitudes and "God has called him to this work" and "he gets to help people" and "it will be ok."

"Mommy, will you pray for me?"

Now, she has asked me to pray for her before, meaning: "say my prayers for me, my throat hurts/I'm too tired/I like to hear you pray sometimes." But tonight, I realized she needed prayers and was aware of the fact that she needed prayers.

So, I prayed FOR her. And we both cried some more. And The Mighty Hunter came in the room and held her and talked to her until she was through crying for the night and went to sleep.