Oh summer, where did you go?

It is with much sadness that I say I have to go to work NEXT week. In seven days. How did the summer go so fast, where did the time go??? I am very blessed to have gotten the job I wanted and to have a job to go to, but even after being off since Dec. when we arrived here, I have yet to have a day at home with nothing to do. As a matter of fact, I still have stuff I intended to get done before returning to work. I really never understood that stay at home moms could have so much to do. I thought surely I would get bored. I didn't. My days of sleeping till 8 a.m., having quiet time before the girls get up at 10ish, mid-day movies, swimming, etc are at an end.
I am looking forward to being in a school again and meeting new people. But until then, we are going to the water park tomorrow and trying to cram in a few more fun filled days off. One other perk, I can have a housekeeper again if I go to work. It may be worth it!

Counting my blessings

My neighbor down the street is a good friend. She has been wonderful to us since we have moved here. Her husband died in Sept. last year and she works, has 4 kids at home and does foster care also. It continually amazes me at how she can do it all. Last night I called just to talk and when I asked what she was doing she said "sitting in the grass crying... I can't get the lawn mower to start... I can't get the fire lit in the grill... I just need R back".
It is one of the only times I have ever heard her complain. My heart just broke for her.
I have felt a little disconnected to my husband this summer. He is working a lot and traveling quite a bit so I have felt like we moved to a new area only to never have him at home. This served as a reminder to be thankful for him and that we are a complete family right now and that God has provided well for us. It is hard to be thankful about moving to a new area but I'm getting there.

Mamma Mia

Today the girls and I went and saw Mamma Mia! Oh, the fun! If you love a good musical go see it! It's my middle age 'Grease' I think. We're now home downloading the soundtrack and all dancing and singing! My kids didn't even shush me when I sang in the movie! It is a little sad that my girls referred to Meryl Streep as 'the old lady' when discussing it...
Must go join the 'dancing queen' parade in the game room!

Family, you've got to love them, I think...

The girls and I went to Ark. to see my Aunt Effie for her 90th birthday. She is my mom's older sister and the only one of them left living. Funny that the oldest out lived them all. She has aged beautifully and is still as sharp as a tack! She doesn't seem any different to me than when I was young. She was glad to see us and seemed to enjoy her day. I love her and grew up very close to her. The fun part is that every time I'm around her we have to discuss my weight and the weight of all the family memebers. She said I wasn't loosing much weight, I told her how much I had lost just so she could go on to tell me I must have been 'huge'. I know she loves us but I dread these conversations every time I see her. To top it all off, her son, my cousin is married to a Russian woman who I've met maybe three times. She offered me some nutrition information if I needed it as I was leaving... She's lucky I was feeling nice that day!!! Seriously people, can we discuss boundaries? And after all the talk of weight, Aunt Effie had fixed a ham, wonderful chicken salad and fresh butter beans!

The girls and I got to spend good cousin time. We picked up a friend of the big girl on our way home for a visit. Glad to be home. Ready to stay home for a little bit...but I'm already missing the butter beans...

A good time was had by all....

Balmorhea was a relaxing, calm, sit on a float in the sun kind of weekend. We grilled, played, watched prairie dogs play, napped, snorkeled, and swam with fish... The little one jumped off of the low diving board at least 200 times. We drove up to McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mt's. We saw huge deer, a skunk by our car and a few stars and a lot of clouds with big telescopes. It was quite the adventure. We enjoyed the time with our friends. Tomorrow we leave for Ark. As much as we have gone this summer we could have had one great vacation for the same price... We've only gone to country, remote or family areas this summer. Not too exotic but hopefully great memories for my girls.

Going again...

It feels like we have been on the run all summer. Tomorrow the girls and I are meeting some friends in Balmorhea, Tx at the state park. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/balmorhea/ It is an artesian spring in the middle of the dessert that has a huge pool from the spring. I've discovered today that we really don't need to go, we just needed snorkel, mask and fins for our 'white trash pool'. The kids have been testing out the equipment for an hour now.
We are also going to the McDonald observatory in the Davis Mt's. The McDonald observatory is the darkest area in the U.S. and we are going to the star watching party (even though the little girl doesn't "like science") but knowing that it is the darkest place around I'm a little concerned about the drive out of those mountains...
We are meeting friends from the Dallas area, we have known them forever but our families are very different. My friend isn't a Christian. She and her family go to a Unitarian church. We have discussed religion often and she knows how strongly I feel about the subject. I love them, I hope we are a good witness to them and I pray faithfully for them. I hope one day we make a difference in their beliefs.

On a different note, today is 1 year and 78 lb. since my lap band surgery!

Have I mentioned it is dusty here???

I seem to have the worst vacuum cleaner luck lately. I have gone through three vacuums in the last two years. The latest one is 4 months old and today I had to take it apart to get it to working again... this afternoon I ran across the Like a warm cup of coffee blog and if you too are having vacuum issues you can register to win this one... thought this was a wonderful give away...

Bedtime

On Big Mama blog today she discussed her sheets and her bedtime issues... then I got my daily email from Home Sanctuary and her small thing for the day was making bedtime good - changing the sheets, pillow spray, etc to make tonight's bedtime great...So all day I've been reminded to think about bedtime. I love my bed. I have the good sheets on, have the pillow spray, took a hot bath even... and then, the little girl somehow talked me into letting her sleep in my bed with her dad. He's been out of town and she is quite the Daddy's girl so I had a hard time saying no... so, now my bedtime I've waited all day for involves sleeping in the bed I didn't change the sheets on, possibly with crumbs in it if I had to guess and with a lot of stuffed animals...
I guess my good bedtime was meant for someone else tonight. I did however decide to stay up later though and use the quiet time to catch up on Bible study I'm behind on.
Sleep tight internet.

Wasted time and Chuck E Cheese

Today my children talked me into taking them to Chuck E Cheese. I really thought that was somewhere we were no longer going since they are 8 and 12... but no, we went and visited Chuck E. Oh, the fun. That was some expensive pizza when you add in all the tokens they needed... Maybe that's the last trip...




When we came home the internet wasn't working... I called the cable co. and got them to help and soon the internet was back up, BUT I couldn't get on wireless on my laptop... the cable company punted me to the company who makes the router. I spent 1 hr and 5 minutes on the phone with "Sandra" who I believe was in India. Sandra was able to tell the the router was working and the internet was there, it must be a connection problem... so I've been on the Microsoft web site trying to trouble shoot since calling them is a minimum of $59. I have wasted 3 hours total on this internet/computer issue today... really, should it be this hard??? I really need a computer smart friend...

Post weekend blahs...

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! Jennifer was here with her dog so we had the fun of three dogs in the house. Her dog wasn't excited about our addition of a small dog, I think she thinks that is her position and she had been replaced. She quickly took up her spot in Mike's lap for the weekend though and all was well. My sister and brother-in-law were in town also. On the 4th we sat in the street in front of our house and could see firework shows in two different directions. We ate a lot, we laid in the pool, we did some shopping, a crafty project and even took in a double feature at the drive-in last night!

I'm always sad after everyone is gone.
And I didn't have to be lonesome for Jennifer for long... she missed an exit and went on to take the tour around Lubbock. We got to spend a bit of time on the phone while she toured Lubbock to get back to the right area...

I just realized we had a great time but didn't take a single picture...

I love family time...

Oklahoma, a.k.a. Mobile-homa

One of my closest friends, Jennifer, moved to Muskogee Oklahoma a while back.

Someone else I know who is from Oklahoma calls Oklahoma MOBILE-HOMA... I shared this bit of of info with my friend who lives there and she went on to share it with all of her girlfriends/church friends there in Muskogee. Recently while driving to camp we stopped in Muskogee and spent one night with my friend Jennifer. While we were there her friends stopped by to visit...
A mini van comes flying up into her yard, not the driveway but the middle of the yard, honking the whole time... then out of this mini van about a dozen kids start getting out... boys with no shirts on, all bare foot, a baby in a diaper, and everyone of them yelling! Then the mom's start getting out... I was so taken aback by the kids and the number of people getting out of the car that it took me a minute to notice the mom's attire...

I wish the picture had captured the feet also, one had on lovely high heels with many ankle bracelets and another had on her husbands hiking boots.

They were so friendly and introducing themselves to me and I was trying to keep my mouth from hanging open... about this time I realize my friend Jennifer is laughing hysterically and trying to explain to me that this is all a show for me since I called their state "trailer-homa"....

Only a good friend goes to this much trouble for you! I'm blessed to have such a friend and glad that she has great new friends there, even if they are from Mobile-homa....

We are not meant to be boat people

well, we made it home from the 'fishing resort' in Del Rio. We drove through the middle of no where... I've always heard about the middle of no where but now I've seen it! Somewhere in that area we had a flat on the boat trailer. This is the first time we have realized our boat trailer didn't come with a spare tire and the stuff to get the tire of your car doesn't fit to use on the boat tires... so we drove back to the tiny town we had just passed and found a gas station that resembled the one from 'Andy Griffith' but this guy wasn't near as friendly as Gomer... after he finished fixing the two teenagers bike tires an hour later, then he was able to assist us... I am just thankful there was a tire shop there and a Dairy Queen... think we are going to sell the boat now...Thank you God!
Today our favorite family member,niece, BFF, Jennifer is coming to town... later in the week followed by my sister and family... and of course on the day company is coming the dog throws up in multiple spots on the carpet! Other than eating I don't know what we'll do for entertainment with the sister and brother-in-law... its hot, and they aren't very adventurous, lets just hope everyone is on their nice medicine! Wonder what there is to do in Lubbock on the 4th of July???