Dear Grandma,
After a nonstop weekend in Omaha, I spent Sunday doing what the Lord says we're suppose to do on Sundays - I rested. If these directions included eating Ben and Jerry's by the pint, well then, I followed them perfectly. I had plans each and every minute of the weekend it seemed. I left work Friday to visit Bekka and Brian, shared a few much needed laughs with them and then left to meet some work friends for drinks and some weird Spanish appetizers. I can't get behind squid and snails, I'm sorry, no matter how classy the names are that have been given them. Saturday I ran errands until it was time to head over to the bachelorette party of my previous roomate Jessica. More appetizers, more drinks and games involving Playdo, broomsticks and rolls of toilet paper. I have some mad playdo sculpting skills, that's for sure.

I will tell you that I'm a bit discouraged. I wish petty drama wouldn't take precedence to what is more important. And above all, I wish that, for once, people would stand back and take a look at true issues and those that are maybe a minor misunderstanding. What's important is that I know you're greatest wish is for your family to get along and simply be a family. People are taken from this earth unexpectadly everyday. There's always tomorrow, we can always fix it later, so then what happens when we can't? You're right. Tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow will always be better. But tomorrow is a gift, it's not a guarantee, it's not a given right. Which is exactly why it's so important to not take advantage of today. Get over what doesn't matter, work through the things that do. Grow up. Move on. It's our responsibility to built our own support systems, God just gives us a starter kit...a family. But even a starter kit is nothing if we don't read the instuctions and follow them.

I'm not ready for the week to start. Starting at 530pm on Monday until 7am on the following Monday I have to babysit that blasted pager. Don't get me wrong, I could use a few callbacks, but I'll be ever so grateful when it's over. Then I'll have a week to recover, to catch up on sleep and I can finally head home. I haven't been there in what seems like forever and am anxious to spend time with mom, dad, Jason and Tonya, Miss Hannah and don't forget Buddy! There will be a lot of people at this wedding that I am looking forward to spending time with. A lot of people I either work with or have worked with in Omaha and it will be great to introduce them to the family they all probably feel like they already know. I hope Omaha is ready for a small town wedding. It's not like the city business they're all used to. We'll show them how to party, and they'll never be the same.

Thank you for listening, as you have always done so well. I wish you were part of my South Dakota agenda, but you know I'll keep you well informed of the details. Thank you especially for all the strength and confidence you've given me. I thought that after you were gone I'd have to find a new penpal to fill the void. You're still the best penpal I've ever had. I still get a response, just in a very different way. I hope I recieve it the way you intended me to and I hope I take it and do with it what you had in mind.

I love you,
Kristen