C.O.T.

C.O.T.= Commissioned Officer Training, for those of you not familiar with military lingo (Don't worry. It's new to me too!).
Garrett left Sacramento Sunday morning at 6:30am for COT in Alabama. He had an opportunity to call tonight and says that while he is exhausted, things are going well and he is excited to see how things progress. He sounds good, anxious to get the month over with and begin school, but good, none the less.
In an attempt to escape for some alone time, I rented a convertible and headed to the coast for a couple of days after dropping Garrett off at the airport. I found this great little place only a few hours from home and upon arrival, promptly tucked myself in for the evening with a glass of wine and a great book. It didn't take long for me to drift off into never never land for the entire night. I slept harder than I have slept in years! I woke up to coastal weather (it was FREEZING COLD) and jumped in the shower ready to begin a day to myself of R&R. Shortly after fixing the room up and grabbing all my "beachy" belongings my phone rang and caller i.d. showed that it was my mom. I had spoken with her in the days leading up to my intended R&R trip and didn't expect to hear from her until I returned home. I picked up the call and was sadly informed of a close neighbors death. After a very brief conversation I packed up my belongings, loaded the car, checked out and headed home.
I'm not sure if the trip was for the benefit of a single nights sleep or simply to let me fall apart for an evening by myself, but after driving the distance it took to get there and back, I was thankful to be home.
It has been one of the craziest weeks of my life. Emotions are amazing things. One minute you are completely together and making perfectly logical choices that would make sense to a completely confused person, and then the next, you are a puddle on the floor trying to figure out what type of movie you need to distract from all the insanity going on around you.
Somehow, in spite of it all, I am still functioning in a somewhat upright position. I have had some junk food consumption issues (cake, milano cookies, candie bars... etc), but outside of that, I am actually fairly impressed with my overall ability to carry on with life, in spite of the chaos.
In other (more uplifting) news, we received an update on Ella today. It appears she is doing well and her development is right on target, so that is encouraging information that has left a smile on my face all day! I am anxious to hear about our court date, but am trying not to get my hopes up for a July hearing. It appears that there are other families that have already been scheduled for that week, and having not heard anything about it, I am now reluctant to even ask our social worker. Regardless of the court date we get, our girls are being cared for, fed, and loved. That knowledge in and of itself lifts a huge burden from my heart.
The next two weeks will be filled with more difficult goodbyes and lots of hugs. Forgive me in advance for delayed entries and spastic thoughts. I will do my best, but am also trying to pace myself as life continues to move around me at a very fast rate. I'll keep you as up to date as I can, but appreciate your understanding as well.
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!