Detours...

Websters defines detours as..

Okay...be honest, how many of us started at LEAST one high school or college paper that way??

I did. :)

And my High School English teacher was not amused.

Sorry Mrs. Schmeller!

Upon further review...she was not amused by anything. :)

The dictionary reference is probably a bad idea in 2013 since

they are apparently archaic now.

But, I can totally picture ours at my house when I was growing up.

It sat on the shelf right beside our circa 1965 set of World Book Encyclopedias,

that I'm pretty sure a door to door salesman convinced my mom we HAD to have if her children stood any chance of being educated and well rounded!

And I'm too lazy to do it the 2013 way and  pull up another browser to see what Wikipedia has to say...

So I'll do what the "everybody does", make my own up and post it on the internet,

then it must be factually true! ;)

Actually, let me just explain what happened to start the whole "detour" thing...

When Braden was fighting his first battle with neuroblastoma, all of his chemo was "high dose" and had to be given to him inpatient.

Basically, we lived at the hospital for about a year and a half.  We RARELY came home and when we did, it was only hours or a couple of days before he spiked a fever or the next round, or surgery, or about one out of a million other things that required us to go back and spend more days at the hospital.

We learned quickly that even if you finished chemo at 11:00 at night and the doc said you could go home or spend the night at the hospital and leave in the morning,

you chose HOME!

and slept in a bed...

I always slept in Braden's little itty bitty hospital bed with him because he wouldn't let me get far away. He had to be touching me the entire time.  Every minute of every day. It was actually really sweet!

I had to call the nurses to sit with him when I had to pee because he couldn't stand for me to leave and he would cry and cry while I was in the bathroom. Brian used to have to come up to the hospital to sit with him so I could take a shower every 100th day or so! ;)

Well...one of those nights, we left the hospital late and as Braden and I were pulling out of the hospital, we were met by a detour sign.

I wasn't happy to see it. 

It was late at night, I was tired, stinky, wrinkly, and had a son in the back seat with his feeding tube running with a limited amount of feeds to flow through with a limited battery pack and Braden was equally tired...although less stinky and wrinkly.

A detour would mean the long way around something and that would take more time.

UGHHHHHH!!!!

We followed the detour,

and it took us past an historical part of Kansas City called Crown Center.

It is filled with lights and water features.

As soon as Braden spied it, he squealed, "PRETTY WATER!"

(he has a thing for water features...it's pretty much his favorite thing in the world)

Then he yelled, "WIGHTS"!

(he has a little l/w speech thing) :)

And he was clapping his hands and screaming and laughing REALLY hard!!

Well...no one was around, I didn't see any police cars so I flipped a u-turn in the middle of this usually very busy street.

He continued to laugh and scream and clap,

except now it was even louder and happier!

SO...

I turned another u-turn

by now, I was laughing, crying, clapping and turning around to talk to Braden in the backseat.

We did a "few" u-turns...maybe 6 or 7...

or more...

maybe a LOT more...

He was sooooo happy...not many things made him laugh that hard at that time in his life...

And it was wonderful until...

I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.

I looked in that direction and saw...

a bus stop...

filled with people waiting for the bus.

When I made eye contact with them, they quickly looked away!

Whoops!!

Not as alone as I thought we were! :)

I think they were a little scared of the blonde lady in the white SUV who was spinning circles and laughing, crying and talking to the back seat...

And that is how "detours" began for us.

You never know what wonderful things can happen,

How much joy and happiness you can find,

by taking an unexpected turn (even if you weren't really looking forward to that turn).

We try to do at least ONE simple thing every day that is a detour....something to just make us laugh and giggle and enjoy our time together.

Some days it's a trip to the park,

Others popcorn and a movie at home,

family game night,

reading books together (currently it's Horton Halfpot--awesome book),

eating dessert before dinner,

the best detours are free!!

Last week, I had lunch with my friend, Christine, (that was a detour for both of us...we rarely get to spend time together!).

After lunch, I was taking her home and we realized we we had just pulled up behind another friend.

We hadn't seen her for awhile and we were excited!!

So I honked and we waved. 

Then while at a looooong stoplight, our friend sent a text to Christine that said, "Chinese fire drill?"

Never throw down a challenge to be silly....

I'm all OVER it!!

And this friend would be JUST the person to reciprocate!

SO, at the next stoplight, I threw my car into park and SPRINTED up to her car,

She opened the door and almost got out,

but we were laughing so hard and we didn't have that much time,

so, between laughs, we just gave each other a high five and blew kisses!

Then I sprinted back to my car.

Just in time to throw it in drive and make the green light...

Okay, maybe I was a "little" late for that light, but it was worth it!

We got many strange looks.

That happens to me a lot.

We're early into this blog thing, but that was probably apparent long ago. :)

Life should be filled with impromptu, silly moments,

those are detours!

Even when you are a 47 year old mom!

For me, it's what makes life worth living,

because it is living life!

Tada...detours,

definied ala Deliece.

Somehow, I don't think Webster would have the same definition. :)

Need a New Year's Resolution...

try a detour-a-day.

Free,

you can still eat chocolate,

drink wine,

and you don't have to go to the gym!

Again...Tada!!!

(oh and I have been working to try to figure this whole blog thing out and I added several really awesome links to the right). The top one is a story by JiaoJiao Shen from Kansas City's NBC Action 41 News. She is an AMAZING advocate for our children with cancer and she did a beautiful story that really sums up 5 years in 3 minutes.  You will laugh...guaranteed...my boy has SKILLS! (you'll know what I mean when you watch it)!

Hugs!

This is why the title of my blog is what it is...

On Saturday morning, my husband left to do two things,

1.  Go to the bank

2.  Get his car washed.

He called me a little while later and said,

"So...I went to the Best Buy next door to Petsmart..."

Oh shit....

(I knew where this was going.)

SIGH!!!

The very first Christmas present he ever bought me was a kitty.

We had been dating about 5 months and had NOT discussed me getting a cat.

We HAD (in our dating bliss) discussed pets and who like what kind.

I told him I used to have dogs..chows to be exact.

We showed them, and I loved my big 125 lb, fluffy, slobbery babies!

He said he was NOT a dog person and liked cats.

I said that I liked cats too.

Now before you judge.... consider this...

I was 31 years old and had been divorced and in the dating game for awhile.

Brian had all his teeth,

He had a job,

He owned a home (okay, so it was right across the cul-de-sac from the one I had just purchased (6 days before we went on our first date), which could have made a break up.....awwwwwwkward),

He was independent, nice looking, very intelligent...

And he was funny.

So if you are reading this shaking your head that I told him "I like cats too" in my bobble head blonde "I will agree with everything you say because we just started dating and you have some good qualities" voice...

You are either:

Single (that's NOT an insult),

in denial and lying to yourself that you would NEVER do that,

Never been in the dating game for awhile....

OR are in a relationship with

someone who is has less than all their teeth. :)

LOL!!

(and I actually had owned cats before...they were outdoor farm cats whose mission was to catch mice, but we owned cats nonetheless and I did like them...from afar...very afar).

So when he came to my door with a really cute black and white kitten.....

I was "very" excited (while wondering what the hell I was going to do with it.)

Turned out that "Cosmo" was my baby...he loved his "mom" and slept with his nose in my neck, purring and kneading every single night.

Brian and I got married 3 years later and we had Cosmo until about 7 years ago when he got liver disease and we had to put him to sleep.

It was awful!

We had talked about getting another cat, but "cAncer" got in the way and we just never had a life that would be conducive to having a pet.

We had recently been talking about getting another cat SOMEDAY.

Emphasis on SOMEDAY!!! 

NOT TA DAY!!!

So Brian told me it was adoption day at Petsmart (the exact same location he bought Cosmo at years before)

Then he told me about this really cute little guy.

He was all black except for a small white splotch on his chest...

And he had the most glowing golden eyes ever.

We did Facetime on our phones and the boys saw him and we were done.

Brian brought home the 5 month old kitten, a litterbox, litter, and food/bowls.

Immediately the boys were smitten!!

Zach is his best friend...he loves him and it's pretty cool that the cat seems to love him second best (to dad which we will never tell Zach...)

Zach's been in Braden's shadow for a lot of years and it's nice to see him shine!!

And Braden thinks he is funny and always walks up to us and bluntly says, "Mom...where's the cat?"

As for me...

It's a change to have a cat again.

I am a neat freak...I mean a NEAT freak!!

I love 90 degree angles and vacuum marks in the carpet.

Gone are those days.

LOL!

This crazy cat is a cry baby.

CRY BABY!!!!!!!

But,

He is a really good boy, putting up with the boys giggling, chasing, playing, picking him up and hauling him to and fro, and constantly wanting to keep him awake..no peace and quiet for that kitty!! :)

He has never scratched or attempted to bite, even in play.

He just purrs all the time, and moves constantly!

We finally arrived at a name...Indy.

THAT only took 24 hours..and it happened because I finally threw a fit and said we HAD to agree on a name.

No one else really needed him to have a name.

WTH???

Apparently, they wanted to watch and observe him forever and pick a name that perfectly fit his personality.

Just freakin pick a name people!!!!!!

So we made a list of names and voted.

He's named "Indy" after Indiana Jones because he's an explorer and adventurer.

I voted for Cry Baby. 

That idea only got the one vote.

Secretly, it's really fun to have a kitty again.

Now I have to teach him to snuggle...

if I can get him to sit still long enough! :)

And I better NEVER hear my husband complain about impulse buying again!

EVER!!

:)