Mother's Day and computer issues

Mother's Day.  May 8th, 2016...I was planning on posting that day except my computer had other ideas.  Like crashing.  Ugh.  Technology.

The good news is that we have Carbonite.  The bad news?  For some reason, not all of the files were backing up (think photos from 2006 until the present, all our adoption files/paperwork for both girls, anything school related of mine that I've worked on at home, etc., etc.).  The good news is that J has his IT guy "tinkering" around on the old hard drive, excited about the challenge of pulling data off a defunct piece of equipment.  The bad news--he was very upfront about the fact that sometimes he's successful and other times...not so much.

Big sigh here.

But really, it is out of our control and so getting upset and emotional and playing the blame game doesn't do anyone any good so what's the point?!

As I was driving down to J's office to give him the old hard drive so he could hand it off to the IT guy, I drove right by a man who was homeless.  Nothing like the sobering reminder of your first world problem when you're face to face with someone living under a piece of cardboard and eating from the garbage can.

That certainly pricked my heart and causes me to stop short.  I hear you Lord and I'm sorry.

So.  Mother's Day.  We enjoyed a brisk walk to church and back and then took a stroll around the 'hood.  It was breezy but the sun was out.  All the flowers were on display and the sun and blue sky were putting on a fabulous show too!  Bring it!

After stopping at two garden stores for annuals, we met Lala and Papa for brunch.  Too much food but oh so yummy!  And of course, mimosas.  What's brunch without them?!

After we finished eating we headed back to Lala and Papa's condo.  The landscaping at their condo is so beautiful at this time of year we had to get a few photos.

The only problem was that no sooner would everyone get together, then one small person would have to go potty.  We'd put the whole party on hold for 10 minutes until they'd get back and then we'd try it again.  Only to have the other little person declare that now she had to go (even though 10 minutes prior to that, she had sworn that she didn't need to go).

The rest of the afternoon we spent gardening and potting up pots.  The girls were busy hanging outside and helping out so it was the perfect end to the day.

I do have to admit that this is always a bittersweet day for me.  Anyone who has ever dealt with infertility or the loss of a child can certainly empathize.  It is also one of those days that I am always much more keenly aware that around the other side of the world, there are two mothers who are mourning the loss of their children too.  Two birth mothers who never miss a day without wondering where their daughters are and how they are doing.

Their losses made me a mother and I am forever grateful to them and for them for the difficult choices they made.