“Crazy, Crazier, Craziest Days”

I already mentioned that this weekend is the anniversary. That makes it, officially, the most emotionally demanding and draining weekend of the year, every year (followed by Shane's birthday, Corinne's birthday, Mother's Day, and Thanksgiving).

Here's what else has been piled up on this weekend, in life's attempt to drive us crazy:

• Shannon's son Richie (two and a half) and her Mom are visiting from North Carolina. Richie is staying here for the weekend. He's a delight, but he's still a two year old... and that adds a layer of craziness to an already crazy weekend.

• One of our cats, Xodus, vanished without a trace at some time on Sunday. These cats never go outside, and Xodus was just spayed a week ago Saturday. She has never tried to escape before, and has never vanished for more than a couple of hours (usually by hiding under some furniture). We're totally stumped! Of course, considering the weekend, it would have to be one of Corinne's favorite cats. Obviously.

• With family here, the Deane's have had this crazy schedule because everybody wants to see the baby and "wish them well" for what's coming tomorrow...

• The big court date is tomorrow (Tuesday). I've described it as a brick wall that we see approaching, and which we know we're going to hit. We can't avoid it, have no idea what's going to happen, but at least we had time to think and prepare for it. If only we could see what's on the other side!

• Today we took "temporary guardianship" of little Lauren Deane. The papers are filed with the probate court, and everything seems to be in order. If Mike and Shannon (God Forbid) both go to prison, at least the baby will have a loving home.

Notice that we really have very little control over most of this crazy weekend. The two biggest things (anniversary and sentencing) are totally out of our control, we wouldn't (and couldn't) keep Shannon from her family for any reason, and we agreed months ago that we'd take care of this baby if the need arose.

But wait, there's more! Last night, as we were turning the house upside down trying to find Xodus, Mike and Shannon asked us if we'd be Lauren's "godparents." Though the timing and wording were somewhat awkward, the thought they expressed — that if something ever happens to them, they want us to raise Lauren as our own — was very touching. We agreed, of course. Then we continued turning the house upside down.

With so much stress, and so many things (this weekend) that I must "accept that I can not change," I decided the best thing for me was a bike ride. So I went out for 32 miles. My speed was somewhere between molasses and cold honey.

There's nothing like the cyclist's high to help you enjoy your ride on the tornado.