I really dislike when people say they are going to give more details on something...and then not get around to it for a few days!! It's like putting a book down right at the climax, and not getting around to picking it back up for a while. So I figured that before any more time passes, and before I am too crazy busy to post, I would take a few minutes to say that I am breathing and that I still cannot believe we got that call.

The End.

Of course, you know I'm kidding! I couldn't end a post with only 87 words!
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So anyway - you deduced from the earlier post that we did, in fact, get a call... THE call, actually, which was wonderful & totally unexpected! My co-workers would not normally have been in there...but here's the story (quick version, I hope...though when one can never tell with me, whether the story will end up short or long)...

M, the girl who handles our case, hasn't had a vacation in years. She has been due a vacation, and so she is taking it. From last Thursday until next Wednesday. We were talking on the phone before she left, and she was giving me the contact info for the person who would be handling our case while M was gone. I (jokingly) told her about our real estate agent...this lady worked with us for YEARS. When we got ready to buy a house, something crazy would happen - like a job relocation, or another contract would win out. We just got to the point that - whenever we felt ready to start househunting again - we actually felt guilty for calling her. We were afraid she'd think we were 'crying wolf.' Well, it just so happened that we finally got to a point where our lease was almost up and we REALLY wanted to buy a house. We were pretty rooted in this area, and it felt right. She helped us look for a little bit, and then it came time for her to take a long overdue vacation. She handed our file over to another real estate agent, who was to take care of us while she was on vacation. Do you see where this is going? Yeah, we found & bought a house, all before the first real estate agent came back from vacation.

But I digress... (yeah, I can see this getting long)

So I told M that story. And I said, "wouldn't it be funny, if - while you are on vacation - we get some sort of news? Then someone else will get to deliver it." She said, "don't worry, Melissa. If THAT kind of news comes in, I will call you from vacation." But our dossier had only been in the court for around a week at that point (maybe a little bit less, actually) and I honestly thought that it would be another few weeks before we heard anything.

But Tuesday rolled around. My co-worker, K, was in my office, talking to me...and my office phone rang. I seriously considered letting it roll over to voicemail & returning the call - but I decided to go ahead & pick up. I excused myself from the conversation I was having and picked up my phone.

Me: "This is Melissa"

Voice I immediately recognized: "Hi, Melissa, this is M"

Me: "Ummmm.......hi?" (I was trying to play it cool, but at this point, K said my face just totally changed - and evidently, she wasn't sure if it was for the good or bad)

M: "How are you?"

Me: "Ummmm...fine? Ummmm...how are you?"

M: "Oh doing great, I have some good news for you! You've got a court date!"

Me: "Well, that is good....but ummm...(tears streaming down my face and breathing really fast)...you know what, I think I might throw up. I can't throw up in my office. That would not be good. A court date, huh?" (I must be a trip for her, because who tells someone - when they get the call - that they are going to throw up?? I wish I'd said something, at least a little more eloquent!)

And then we went on to get the details - even as I could not write - my hand was shaking so hard. K kept thinking that the lead in my pencil kept breaking. She kept handing me pencils, but the reality was that my brain was not communicating properly with my hand! It was pretty funny.

Then K disappeared and reappeared with her cell phone camera. Then I looked up and there were 5 other happy faces peering in my office at me...in addition to the cell phone camera, one had a digital camera. It's not often that one has pictures of this very moment. And they are definitely candid pictures - so candid that I'm not going to share the rest of them with the world. I'm not a pretty sight when I cry!

But it was a special - albeit totally unexpected - moment, and it was nice to have friends there with me.

When I hung up with M, everyone just kept standing there. And then they said, "CALL NATHAN!" So I did just that.

And not only did my fingers not work with the pencil...they also could not dial a phone! After a couple tries, I got Nathan & told him the good news. From there, we called our parents & siblings...and the word traveled fast. My Aunt, Cheryl, was chomping at the bit to send out a public congratulations (you should've seen the huge-font email she sent me!! :) so I decided to post to the blog really quick. That's why you got a short, quick post.

So there you have it. The story of "The Call #2" (not too long, eh?)

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The past 2 days have been really quite busy. I went shopping to get some last minute necessities, because I'm just not sure what the next week is going to look like. I started packing up Little I's suitcase - and am really not feeling nearly as stressed as I did for Trip 1. Give me time, though, give me time.

And this is the part of the story where I must end quickly, and promise to write more later. The oven timer went off. The ham casserole I made for dinner is finished cooking. Which is wonderful because we are starving. But...I just realized that my mom would probably enjoy dining with us tonight, because - in fact - our ham casserole is hamless. Maybe the stress is getting to me...if not in one way, then in another. Because who forgets to put ham in a ham casserole?