You went where?

"Where are you headed?"

"Bonners Ferry, Idaho."

"Where?"

"A little town in northern Idaho."

"Never heard of it. Where exactly?"

*Sigh* "Canada." :)

Joshua and I just returned from a 5 day trip to Far North Idaho--Bonners Ferry. Almost 10 years ago, I got a slip of paper in the mail that informed me my college roommates would be Joelle Knappen from Alexandria, MN and Corella Butters from Bonners Ferry, ID.

For whatever reason, I saw the "ID" and took it to mean "Indiana". It only took me a phone call or two with my soon-to-be roommate to realize I needed to work on my state abbreviation recognition. "ID" is Idaho, not Indiana. Oh, what a easier but much more boring trip Indiana would have been for Joshua and me.

I learned some things about myself--and my son--over the past week. I'd love to share so here goes: (Warning, I'm still processing these things, and at this exact moment only know of two that I'm going to list here. Let's see what comes out of me as I type ...)

1. I can live without my Blackberry. And not just survive--but enjoy it! There's no cell service where Cora and Troy live, and while I thoroughly missed being able to talk to my husband, wow was it good to glance at my BB and see no flashing red light, no tiny numbers with a red asterisk indication unread emails ... nothing. It was good for nothing but telling time and a good game of Bejeweled before bed. Beautiful.

2. Joshua can live without T.V. Because Erik and I both work from home, there are often times during a week where we need to answer an email or make a phone call, and these times seem to almost always coincide with Josh's most needy moment. Hence, baby DVDs. This week, he survived without DVDs. Yay!

3. I tend to underestimate my son. He really is a great kid, and I, as a mommy, visualize the worst possible scenarios when we are trying new things instead of giving him the benefit of the doubt. He did so great at the airports, on the planes, in the car, at a Seussical Musical, in a new environment, on a hike .... what an adaptive little guy!

4. I tend to underestimate myself. Erik and I are very much partners in the parenting endeavor. We agree that we are usually a 60/40 split. This week I was definitely 100% parent--and I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to handle it. But guess what? I'm a great Mom. I'm the perfect Mom for Joshua, and I did just fine.

5. There are a lot of minutes in the day. Eliminate TV, internet, and cell phone, and suddenly, there's a TON of time in the day! Incredible!

6. God blessed me with an incredible roommate so many years ago. Cora Butters now Roberts, where would I be without you? Who would I be? We've had so many awesome chats, lived in a couple of different rooms together, seen God do amazing things in both of our lives ... I am so honored to still be a part of your life. Thanks for welcoming me into your home and for loving my son. (And I realize you won't read this until you're back in Alaska with internet, perhaps, and even then, you'll be a brand new mom so heck--maybe you'll NEVER read this! :) )

Joshua and I traveled to Far North Idaho. It was a big trip, I was anxious about it, but we did it. And it was good.