No Reason to Return

In October 2010 (I left this out of the "Released" post, sorry), my dad had taken a business trip out of state. My mom and I decided we needed to leave for a fun little getaway too. So we rented a car and packed up our belongings for a week and headed up the California coast to Napa Valley. Mom and I needed this little trip so we would have something to look forward to instead of the typical day of therapy or hospital visits. We were able to talk my grandparents into coming with us as well.

However, to make the trip easier on my grandma, mom and I took off driving up the California coast a day earlier than my grandparents. We stayed in San Luis Obispo on the first night (just about half way to San Francisco).

The next day my grandparents flew to San Francisco. They spent the day in the city and we picked them up after dinner. It was a rainy night in the city and traffic was diverted in several places making navigating to my grandparents location extremely difficult. Needless to say, I was very frustrated trying to make our way through the city. I finally gave up trying to read the map in the dark. Mom had to try and find a way to zigzag her way to where they were waiting. And, a lot of the city is one-way streets making the diversions even more frustrating. All-the-while, my grandfather was calling us every few minutes to get an update on where we were so they would know when to get out into the street for their curb-side service.

We finally found a way to get to the streets we needed to, find my grandparents and we picked them up. Then, we navigated our way back through the city and across the Golden Gate Bridge heading for our hotel in Santa Rosa. We had a hard time finding a place to stay and couldn't figure out why so many hotels were so booked. We would later find out that this was the busiest time in the valley as it was "crush" season (the time where the grapes had been picked and were now being crushed for the wine making).

We had no real plan of where we would go, what winery we would go tasting at or what restaurants we would try. We were just here to see the area and just have fun doing whatever came our way. Beside, we didn't have anything pressing for us to return for. We just needed to be back home before my dad got back from his trip.

We had a great time touring around and seeing the beautiful countryside and all the vineyards. We even found a vineyard with our family name, Frazier Winery. Mom and I took our picture with the sign at the front gate, too. It was a closed winery, meaning you could only get a tour or be on the grounds if you had a scheduled appointment. We decided to drive on anyhow. We were Frazier's and had our driver's licenses to prove we belonged there. Oh what fun it was to break some rules.

It drizzled rain the whole time we were in Napa. So, even though it was dreary weather we had a blast. We also had some great food. One of our favorite restaurants was Mustards. My mistake was not getting the Mongolian Pork Chop. It was named one of Bobby Flay's "Best Food I Ever Ate" meals. I was just afraid it would be too spicy for me. So, I settled for a steak and was a little disappointed. My grandfather and mom had the duck special and were more than happy. They talked about that duck for weeks.

Grandma had so much fun this week we were gone, she still talks about our time and things we did to this day. Mom and I decided to put together a photo album for her of our trip so she could go back and reminisce about it at any time she wants.

Now, back to December 7th. Leaving the hospital after such good news, mom and I began making calls and texting the family and really close friends the good news. Everyone was elated to hear this.

Due to the hour, lunch time, mom and I stopped at a local health food store to grab some snacks and drinks for the ride home. While she was inside, I thought it was a great idea to call my former employer and tell them the good news. I made the call to the guy that had been promoted to the manager while I was away.

He and I talked for several minutes about the great news before I said I was ready to come back to work. I thought the call had dropped because of the silence I heard following my statement. But, I was wrong.

After a long silence, he spoke up and said that they had filled my position and the person had started yesterday! Man, I couldn't have had my news come in a couple of weeks earlier, could I? I could have been going back to Colorado with a job. But NO! I didn't find out until today, and I was still unemployed, and more depressed than before. Mom and I were pulling out of the parking lot of the health food store as I got the bad news. What timing all of this was.

After everything I had been through over the course of the year, this was par for the course. I was still out of a job and had no prospects for one. I seriously considered calling it quits on Colorado and moving back to California permanently. There didn't seem to be any reason for me to return.

Next..."The Next Big Thing in My Journey."

Reflection:
We don't always know what God has planned. Our planning sometimes lines up with His, but most of the time, our planning is not what God intends for our life. We have to be in tune with God to know that when He is working, we need to be patient and roll with what He has in store for our life. Getting upset doesn't usually help (I have learned this over and over again in this journey). It doesn't mean that we can't be human and have a moment of frustration or depression either. We just need to have our moment without sinning.

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand." Psalm 37:23-24

"You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11