I Am Home.

Yep. I am back but I am not happy about it. I had a wonderful time and would like to stay forever.
Lovey has kennel cough. Bags are unpacked. I have a new vacation video for you.... ready?

Almost!!!!

Readying to leave... tomorrow is the big day. We embark on our Hawaiian adventure. I am excited but also a bit anxious about the 8 hour flight. 8 hours... well, it beats 15 to Russia any day of the week I suppose!

Today I have to take my froggies over to my brother Dan for safe keeping. I am delivering them to his office at work- which is also RB's place of business too. Lots of guys up there to feed my beloved frogs. I stocked up their pantry yesterday with lots of yummy crickets and meal worms (ack-gag). I think those guys might actually get a kick out of frog sitting.

Our old dog Lovey and Mr. Kitty are also going to be sat. They are being boarded at the vets office. They just got back from there for the 4th of July weekend adventure and I know they are not going to be happy about this. Lovey gives me the most pitiful eyes and then puts on her donkey act- refusing to move one inch without me going too. They have to drag her to the back with her looking back at me all pitiful like. Kitty goes into psycho mode. His eyes get huge and he looks like a wild cat- literally. He hunkers down in the back of his "pet taxi" and mews and mows with great disdain and horror. I feel terrible about it but at least I know they will be safe and sound when we return. Sad. I am such a guilt ridden fool.

Kan is ALL ABOUT asking... "We going to the beach Mama?" I tell him how many more days and he is exasperated every time. "Sheesh- can we just go already?" He relaxes as soon as he sees his bag getting packed... "Yep, theres my bag- I am definitely going!" Quite the little traveler! I fixed each boy up with a goodie bag for the plane. They have a few new toys stuffed in there, some gummie bears & jelly beans, cheese crackers, colors and new coloring books, Gameboys, books, and a pillow each. I have had to fight them off so as not to ruin the "new". Kan is stoked to have his own bag of goodies to drag through the airport. I hope it can get 'em through the flight. RB and I have taken to listening to Audiobooks. Our last three trips we listened diligently! Man, that is a blast! We have had a great time. I picked us several new ones and am excited to give 'em a listen. Now, lets just hope Kan will let us listen... He has Gameboy and a Leapster so I can hope, right?

My purse... Oh MY GOSH! My purse is huge and packed full of all sorts of Traci goodies too. I have Junior mints...my favorite, books, magazines, MP3 player, camera, along with the normal purse stuff. It weighs a frigging TON! GREAT. It is big enough I can possibly crawl in and nap. I might have to cram Kan in there and tote him through the airport... okay, only kidding.

Welp... Kan just got up and has begun his morning demands... Juice, TV, HUNGRRRRY!!!!! I guess it is time for me to get to work. AYE, AYE- CAPTAIN!

Next time we speak I will either be in Hawaii or back from. Bye til then!

Another story from my past....

We are busy packing and getting ready for our big family vacation trip. Every year the kids, my parents, and RB and I head out on a big adventure. This year will be my Dad's first trip to Hawaii, my Mom, RB and the kids second trip, and my third. We have rented a house on Oahu and are set for a big beach retreat in paradise. I can't wait. Between packing, cleaning, and pet maintenance I thought I would drop in here to say hello. Yesterday I got a blast from the past with some new comers to my myspace "friend" thingy. It has me thinking about school, my teen years, and life before parenting and marriage. So... I think just for entertainment we will have a flashback into my teen years. Let's go back to Nov. 1988~~~~~~~~~~

I am 15 years old, RB is just turning 16.... Randy got his drivers license today and we are all set for our first date. Randy is a tricky one. He is shy and quiet. Not like my usual boyfriend material. I normally date, uh, well... troublemakers? Is that a good term? Maybe. Bad boys. Randy is NOT a bad boy at all. He is a clean cut, good student, athlete, and "Good Boy" in every way. WHAT AM I GONNA DO WITH THIS GUY? Well, I will tell yah, not much. He picked me up and met my parents. This was my actual first "date". While I had been in cars with boys, and even "out" with boys... I had never been formally asked on a date nor, picked up at the door like this. We were both pretty nervous- we had talked on the phone for hour upon hour but had not really had any face to face conversations. Awkward. Very awkward.

We piled into his little yellow S-10 pickup and off we went. I have no recollection of the conversation. If I did remember it it would probably be so goofy I would be embarrassed. Have you ever read a note or diary from your younger days? Isn't it just scary how ignorant and lame you were? And you thought you were cool?

I do remember stopping at our tiny little convenience store (Stop-n-Shop) to get some oil for that truck and then we made it to the next nearly non-existent town of Rosser... and that little yellow truck broke down. DAMN. Our date that was supposed to end up at a restaurant in Ennis just became I walk through Rosser in the dark. Huh. This is unexpected and a little more awkward but I made the best of it with some joking, laughing, flirting and a lot of no big deals... I do remember quite vividly sitting by Randy across from Kevin Crady's (Randy's best friend) dad while waiting for his parents to come pick us up. Even more AWKWARD!!!!! Dead silence. Just sitting there, not talking, looking at Kevin's dad. Huh, funny.

I vaguely remember being picked up in the biggest damn car I had ever seen in my life... 1976 Oldsmobile Regency. My first experience in meeting RB's dad- he was not very happy- and the night ended with no kiss, no dinner, just the thud of one HUGE car door. DANG!

Needless to say it was the end of that night but not the romance. Many more encounters and dates would follow.

My Dad, the mechanic, would spend many coming months with RB fixing that little yellow truck. RB would get that truck running, while never quite finding his inner mechanic, and we would make many a trip in that little un-air conditioned sucker. (Remember, this is Texas and hot is REALLY hot! Triple digits and humidity are our hallmark of summer!) That is the story of how Randy became a part of our family... my parents and my brother LOVED him dearly ever since, as did I. His parents did not fall in love with me so easily:-) go figure. I think I have grown on them, maybe.

It's been one heck of a long, winding road... get togethers, first kiss, first sex, breakups, get back togethers, get engaged-- call it off 1,2,3,4,5X... and now married 10 years, 2 rings and 3 boys later. Somehow, it seems we got it all right in the end. WOW...

Who'd of thunk it?

I hope you enjoyed this little meander down my memory lane. Did I tell you the story of our first kiss already????

Just a little something...

I have everything back on track. My house is running again. It is clean and the boys and all animals are happy. I have no more gotten things organized and running smoothly until we are headed out again. This time we are off to the lake for the 4th. We have a tradition of boating and fireworks. Every year we have the best time. I have the bags packed, the food is ready in a laundry basket, and we are now just awaiting the date.
I wondered into Walmart the other day... yeah I know- I said I wasn't shopping there any more. I was pissed off the second I laid eyes on the school supplies. Oh dammit- can't they just give us all a little tiny break before they start the dang next buying need. I swear the stores just constantly have to be on the next big sale. In winter we are tempted with swimsuits for the upcoming season... in summer- school supplies, fall- here comes Santa. OH MY GOSH! I feel like banning all shopping facilities. What if you actually want to buy your swimsuit in the summer? TOUGH LUCK! There is no variety, everything is picked over, and you can just forget ever finding the right size!!! SHEESH. Better ask Santa for your swimsuit.
The boys have just begun a war over what movie they will watch... I gotta go and play ref. See you guys again soon!

Cinderella

I went on a little trip. RB and I headed out on our first romantic getaway in several years. (Good Lord... why did we come back?) I was pampered and waited on for 5 days. Treated like a queen! People cooked breakfast for me and then delivered it to me. People cleaned my room and made my bed as I dressed up and ate fine dinners. People snuck in and left chocolates on my pillow and turned on soft music as I sipped wine and listened to live music. They even chauffered us around and recommened all sorts of fun things to do. Yep, it was some vacation. Now this is how life should be.

We went to North Carolina to the Biltmore Mansion. We stayed there at the Biltmore Inn. This is the most unbelievable place in the world! We experienced the "romace package" and let me just say we lived like Kings for the week. The staff was so friendly and seemed genuinely to love the place. Everybody had a story to tell and all the staff knew each other like good old friends. The property has several dining options and we found every morsel of food to be DELICIOUS. The weather was perfect, the people nice, the food fantastic, the scenery gorgeous, and the trip divine. We took tours, carriage rides, shopped, dined, tasted wine, had tea, got massages, and even took a second or two to take in the local beauty. I would certainly say go if you ever get the chance... uh, leave your diet at home though.

Getting back home- we picked up the kids. We were so happy to see there little faces and hear all their little stories. They seemed to have grown and changed so much in just those few days. Happy, happy, happy. We were so happy to see them and them us... we were happy to get home... we were happy to sleep in our own beds- Not so happy to get back to life though.

Hunter got up early and made me a birthday breakfast. I thought the sentiment was lovely but the stress of seeing him adding to the house work load to be done was hard to get past. Greasy breakfast mess... try to remain calm. He is quite the chef even grating potatoes to make hash browns. At 13 he still has some studying to do in the cleaning up department. Pancakes, sausage, eggs, and hash browns. YIKES! Did I mention how much food we ate on vacation? I gotta get back to some normalcy in my diet! Still-Sweet...he is very sweet!

With breakfast all finished, house work was first agenda for the day. YUCK. RB had gotten up early and was back to work too. Life had resumed and I was finding myself a bit depressed. The attachment for the vacuum had gone missing and I was holding back tears. Maybe it is just hormones.

I turned 34 on the drive home from NC. RB and I celebrate 10 years of marriage this September. Bitter sweet is what that is. Happy to be here. Happy to be married to a great man and have 3 beautiful sons but sad to see life zooming past at such unbelievable speed. Back to the day to day where you so easily forget what a blessing life is... you get stuck in the rut and forget to look around and "smell the roses".

Cat litter box and frog tank to clean and lots of dog and cat hair EVERYWHERE. Yep, it is easy to forget about smelling roses.

Friday- RB is done with work for this week. We have big plans to take the kids and Ma to see Wall-E. HOW CUTE! We all loved it. Kan was super happy to munch his goodies and watch his voovie (movie). When it ended he said "Mom, I watch this 2 times". Apparently good enough for an encore.

It is good to be home with these boys... cat and dog, and even frogs.

Another movie and book review for you:-)

Last night RB and I went out to see The new M. Night Shyamalan flick The Happening. As we were leaving the theatre I heard a lady say... "Hey remember when he wrote great things like Signs?" YES I DO. What in the world happened? I used to know when I went to see one of his movies that things would be strange, eerie... He would surprise and there would absolutely be some plot twisting. It was a mystery and a thriller all in one. While I would say this one is mysterious and does have some spooky moments, it was disappointing. The acting was very theatrical and the reactions by the actors to incidents in the movie were ridiculous. Definitely no oscar winning moments in here. I think perhaps he has lost his touch but I will not write him off just yet. I am giving him one or two more tries but then I am certainly going to have to throw in the towel on Mr. Shyamalan.

Today we are all planned for a trip to the lake- big surprise right? RB and I had hoped for a romantic couple getaway this weekend but Kan decided not to go to Grandmama's on Thursday as we had all planned. That kid is obstinate, opinionated, and stubborn... need I say more? He said he didn't want to go and no amount of bribery or promise of fun was gonna change his mind. Not kitties, puppies, sleeping with Grandmama, ice cream... NOTHING. Oh well, we tried. He is never going to be the same now that the whole Russia incident happened, I guess. He fears us abandoning him and thinks he must keep us in sight lest we disappear again. NEVER LEAVE YOUR CHILD FOR 4 WEEKS. Don't do it. I would never make that decision again. N E V E R. I was so naive... I had no idea. I was afraid to take such a little guy to a foreign country. What if he got sick? What if there was some emergency? What if he accidentally drank some bath water and got Giardia? VERY NAIVE. Well, live and learn right?

So, I have to tell you about this new book I am into. This one takes the cake. The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire . This guy is all in your face with his opinions. He is macheteing the government left and right and even infiltrates a TEXAS church to expose the bizarrities of the Bible belt beliefs. It has made me laugh out loud several times. This is an outsiders absolute experience in a Texas church. Trust me - I have been one many times. I have no idea what non southern churches are like at all but this guy nails the whole church thing that I know. HILARIOUS! He gives excellent insight to church and how it has become littered with government propaganda. He exploits the whole Republican/Religious affiliation and he points out just how whacked out people can become when they get too caught up in conspiracy notions... You just gotta read this one! Texans, if you can't laugh at yourselves just a little here-- you are just sad. I have also learned some stuff... I had never even heard of the AIPAC- yes, I live under a rock. I am now beginning research to find out just what all this stuff is about. Why do Christian churches preach about this and support it? What is the connection? While I have some rudiment ideas, I must delve further to find the wholeness of the reasoning. The sinister tie seems to be in the connections between AIPAC and the CUFI. CUFI is said to be sponsered by the AIPAC or perhaps more appropriately said to be receiving financial support from...Obviously, liberals are opposed to this mess and that churches are breaking their promise of being non-political for the express purpose of remaining tax exempt... I am compelled to continue to investigate. John McCain is said to be connected too so that has my name all over it.

Much to learn. Much to learn.

RB is prodding me to get going. The lake is hours away and we have much to do to get ready. I will be out goofing in the sun until Monday so I will see you guys then!

Bye!

Science and stuff.

I am ditching two of my kids today... :-) Grandmama is ready for a visit. Grandmama has been fighting off an end of the season case of bronchitis. Poor Grandmama. I am still celebrating the fact that I did not have that battle (so far) this year. HOORAY! I am looking forward to the time off. I can surely get a book or two read in the coming days. I am such a nerd.

I spent the morning with Ma watching a Discovery show about the newly found Gospels of Judas. Very interesting. I am very intrigued by all this religious stuff. I am dumbfounded at how certain texts are easily discarded by churches. What's up with that? Why do some make it and some don't? Weird. If the texts do not fit their ideal of what things are supposed to be like, well... we simply discard those. Trash. On to the next historic writings to be discovered in some obscure cave. It is also very noteworthy that any text that ever gave the common man any connection to God directly, rather than through a church, got cut SUPER QUICK. I wonder if that could be because it threatens the power of the church? Actually, no- I don't wonder about that... I see it for EXACTLY what it is.

The discovery shows really baffle me. I am completely unable to believe that we have this information and instead of it being news, it is simply put into documentary format and sold as entertainment. HUH? I think I could have been far more educated in science through the new TV programs than any of the boring crap they taught at school. I find myself completely enthralled in everything from space, military intelligence, biology related things, lost H-bombs, black holes and even Einstein's theories. Good grief- and I hated science!

Yep, I am getting to be an old nerd.

Did any of you catch the show about the lost H bomb in the ocean right off of Savanna Georgia? Sheesh. That is a bit worrisome isn't it? 100 times more powerful than the bomb used on Hiroshima... lost. Well, that will certainly make for an interesting dinner conversation. RB and I have certainly got lots to chat about during dull moments in life.

I have kids to ready for travel, a bed to make, and I need my shower. I guess that means I better get going.

Have a good day and try not to be blown up by any lost H bombs:-)