Feeling warm sand sifting between my toes while listening to the gentle roar of the ocean. Sleeping in for four days without little ones to attend to. Getting a pedicure and manicure. Enjoying a much needed massage. Having a BBQ with my family I haven’t seen in 6 months.
Right now I am supposed to be in Southern California for an extended weekend hanging out with my sister who is also expecting her third baby, while my sweet husband kept the kids home in Western Washington. But obviously, our plans didn’t pan out the way they were supposed to.
I had this trip booked for the last two months and I have been thinking about it even longer. It was going to be my big getaway and chance at some peace, quiet and relaxation before this new little one is set to arrive. Rudy and I kept praying that things would work out, I almost think he wanted to give me this gift more than I wanted it, but apparently it wasn’t meant to be, at least for now. When push came to shove it was incredibly easy to realize that staying home with my family and supporting Rudy in this chaotic time of his schooling was way more important.
For the last 10 years we have been steadily working towards Rudy graduating with his doctorate and finally … we think … we have the last year, maybe less, in sight. As the month of April drew to a close and the month of May began, it began to look like this trip of mine was in jeopardy, even though we were doing everything we could to avoid canceling it. However, Rudy didn’t have much choice when it came time to schedule a General Exam Supervisory Committee Meeting with 5 different professors. The only time they could nail down to meet happened to interfere with travel plans.
Amazingly it was actually quite easy for me to accept the fact that this trip might have to happen in the next year or two as opposed to the next week or two. I canceled the flights and let my family in California know I was staying home. Rudy, Cory, Keri and I have actually had quite an enjoyable holiday weekend together and for the most part I haven’t been lamenting the fact that I should be gone.
However, when Rudy got an email late last night, and a couple of other ones the day or so before, I did begin to feel slightly irked. At least the feelings of resentment faded quickly.
Apparently 3 of the 5 professors on Rudy’s committee can not make it to the intended meeting they helped schedule. They irresponsibly gave Rudy incorrect information about when they were and were not available. And even though he double checked with them all at the beginning of last week to make sure the time and day really did work, they still didn’t notice their mistakes.
Needless to say, his General Exam Supervisory Committee Meeting now needs to be changed to a later date and it looks like I could have gone to sunny California after all.
Well maybe.
Deep down I still think, and so does Rudy, that there was a definite reason why I didn’t go on my intended trip. We will probably never know why we both felt this way, but that really is a moot point.
For now we will enjoy our little BBQ we will be having just the four of us and we will try and figure out the next step along this multi forked road to graduation. Our original plans were to have this meeting and his General Exam done before the baby came mid-July, but now it is looking like the General Exam will have to be taken after the little one gets here. I am sure things will somehow work out the way they are supposed to, God always has a way of making sure we are taken care of.
However, one other side lesson I have learned from this whole ordeal is to make sure, even more so than I already try to do, that I am considerate of the time and needs of others. What Rudy has been diligently working on for the past month won’t go to waste, but I still feel bad for him that these professors on his committee so carelessly responded to his scheduling emails. He did everything he could possibly do to accommodate their busy schedules, yet they didn’t show the same courtesy back.
Life and its interactions is really all about mutual respect.








