Hi all, I just wanted to check in. As you can imagine we enjoyed a very exciting KU Jayhawk basketball season ending the best way possible! Brad was very much missed in all the excitement but we knew he was enjoying it all from heaven. It seems so strange that he was at the Final Four in 2008 and then in heaven for the next one in 2022. I’m sure I never could have, in a million years, imagine back in 2008 when I was at home with the kids….just like I was this year…that he’d be gone. I was so sick feeling on the Monday of the championship game. I could barely eat, kept hydrating…it felt like one of the awful Mondays the weeks after he left. Almost like a reminder that he wasn’t here but I powered through my very busy day and enjoyed the game with good friends and the boys. Whitney was working at The Hawk in Lawrence among the big crowd of her friends and her boyfriend, Jagger. Good for her, she saw the game with friends and profited from the excitement.

Russell has been so busy with soccer and made the high school golf team in February PLUS got promoted to the ECNL team in our club. So…that means a lot of Sports Ubering for me. A typical day is me driving up to the golf course, 5 minutes from our house, at 2:40 to deliver his golf clothes and clubs…going back home to work…then go back to pick him up at 4:20 with his soccer stuff. We either go to the facility 20 minutes away or 2-3 times a week to the facility 40 minutes away. It is a big fat hustle but I don’t complain because my time is limited with him in the passenger seat and there will be a day when he does all that driving on his own. I’ve already lived through that with Whitney and the daily dance driving. MAYBE when I retire from being a sports uber I’ll actually be able to get myself in shape.

Speaking of that, it has been so cold in KC so I haven’t been able to get out and walk with my big girl Suzy like I would like to do. However, I have been doing really well taking care of myself, eating great food, taking vitamins and just trying to put myself back together. This includes starting an online therapy called Betterhelp.com. I’ve heard it advertised over and over daily on the podcasts I listen to. It is super convenient and affordable. Much better than the one time I went to an in-person therapist. I hope to work on all parts of me, mind, body and spirit as I develop my new normal. I still have a lot of PTSD from the weeks of hospice and some really crazy things that happened. I pray a lot for the ability to forgive and “forget” but relying on the professionals to help me. I’m very at peace with Brad’s suffering being over. It was really hard, especially hard the last year. Only Russell and I know how hard and we are enjoying the peace, the simplicity and time together. I realized that when it was Brad, me and Russell it was always the two of us in the front and Russell in the back on his phone listening to music. Now we listen to his music together which is pretty remarkable. He loves Fleetwood Mac, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beatles and some really crazy songs that I have no idea where he found except for the ones he attributes the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Look up “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” by Ray Ayers Ubiquity. This is the kind of stuff that is in his playlists! So funny! We decided in his previous life he was born in 1940. His latest project is hooking up Brad’s record player. I think that will be a focus this Summer when he has more time. Anyway, I’ve really enjoyed my time with him in the co-pilot position talking about music, sports, life and all sorts of things. This is a little reminder…remember to include the kids in the backseat.

My whole year was made having all the kids plus Makenzie and Jagger here for a long weekend at Easter. Seriously how did I get this lucky? Even better, Jagger’s brother, Justice, joined us on Sunday for some furniture assembly and a steak dinner. Being a single mom now means I can make whatever I want on the holidays. I kind of like the freedom to buck the traditional stuff to make what we actually all are craving. Guess what…there is no leftover ham to throw away, everyone ate the whole meal!

Russell has been to Vegas to golf with friends, Orlando and Austin for soccer, Jacksonville for Spring Break, soccer in Wichita and St. Louis this weekend and at least one more time in June, hopefully two weekends for State Cup. We will also go to Chicago in June with Whitney and Jagger for Regionals and we are waiting to see if San Diego and Denver will make the list. I have so many trips on my bucket list but Big Russ is my priority so I’ll have to pause on the extra until we know what his teams earn. He’s riding high and having fun! He is counting the days until he turns 16 on July 17th. It will be bitter sweet for me no doubt!

Not sure if this will work on here but this is a highlight video from our soccer game in Wichita, he’s number 8 https://fb.watch/cwt5-lYWaZ/

Besides all of that we’ve been living in a construction zone. I’ll post pics another time but my bedroom and bathroom are going to be a literal oasis! Even with stuff still undone it feels like the most peaceful place on the planet. I’m so happy we have been able to shore up some unstable situations behind the walls and create a beautiful place for me…and the dogs to rest our heads.

God Bless you all, I pray your Spring and Summer is filled with adventure and good weather…..we are impatiently waiting for the warm weather to come to Kansas City!!!