Not what you expected? Posted by Unknown | Friday, January 27

Doesn't this picture look like fun!  This is the "Allen Girls" my beautiful mom and sisters!  I am so blessed to have such amazing relationships with all of them. Now that we all have children the times we get to share "ALONE" are much less of course, and so I truly cherish and look forward to the times we get to be together!  

I woke up yesterday morning feeling sad and disappointed that things did not go as I expected Wednesday night! Every year the girls go to our favorite Italian restaurant Maggianos for dinner to celebrate all of our birthdays!  This is something I look forward to for the entire year, I promise.  We eat way too much, drink our favorite wine, and of course end with cappuccinos and tiramisu! Last year we were such a spectacle  laughing so loud, trying to take pictures of ourselves and not being satisfied with how they look.  Seriously, when one looked good the other had a double chin, or cross eyes, or one arm was was positioned in a way that added 10 pounds! hahahah!  If you have sisters you know what I mean.  

Well this year we have NONE! Not a one! With little ones in the house it becomes harder and harder to get ready and actually make it out of the house in time for anything.  So of course I planned to shower, which is kind of a victory right now, get ready, do my hair, and feel like the woman in the picture above!  So imagine me trying to blow dry my hair, pouring sweat, getting asked when I am leaving 100 times by my 5 year old and if she can have a snack, and put on makeup and play with her barbies in the sink, and watch Mickey Mouse... and lets not forget I have 2 adorable minis and for some reason this day they didn't want to take their morning nap, so I am running back and forth to them and back to the bathroom.  Needless to say I was supposed to leave the house at 1 and didn't get in the car until 2:10pm.  And off we go into Woodfield. Now that I have a min to breathe I realize that "oh I haven't eaten or had coffee or water," this is not good when you are nursing twins!  So we grab a starbucks and a turkey bacon sandwich and continue on. 

I started getting a head ache, you know the one you get from not eating or drinking enough. I didn't have any medication and either did my mom.  So after shopping a bit we head over to Maggianos around 7:00pm. By this time I am physically shaking and realizing quickly if i don't eat something, I will be throwing up!  I started downing bread, which is delicious by the way, dipped in olive oil and balsamic!  Well I guess when you get a migraine, it doesn't just go away with food... it gets worse, much worse, to where I literally went to a table of strangers asking for any kind of pain meds.  Haha, and it worked, but it was to late. I was now in the bathroom hoping to just throw up and get it over with.  My mom brought me a chair to sit on in the stall and I just waited, with my hands pressed tightly against my temples praying the pain would numb a bit.  Finally around 10:00pm the edge came off a bit and I felt like I could make it to the car for my mom to drive me home.  No dinner, No dessert, No little cappuccinos, No pictures, No laughing and No iced lemon half moon italian cookies they give you when it's your  birthday.  

The moral to this story is that life is not always what you expect and especially when you are raising little ones.  Their are curve balls every day, blow outs, time delays, tantrums, massive disasters to clean up, sickness, conflicts, and the list could go on for days. One of the things I have learned over the years is how to find the fun in the many unmet expectations and even disappointments we face.  If you can't change it, then how will you handle it? 

You've heard the phrase "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade" well this is exactly the choice we need to make.  In the middle of the unexpected can we somehow find the beauty, or realize we can't "change" it so how can we make it fun or just decide to surrender to the chaos, take a deep breath, and be POSITIVE! I try my best to help create a positive mindset in my kiddos.  There is nothing more deflating then a downer who seems to always find the negative and rest there.  I have to believe that in all things, from big to small, there is something for us to learn, grow from, teach others or just build faith.