Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone...

Those are some lyrics to an old Cinderella song from the 80's. Those words couldn't be more relevant in my life than right now. I (we) really miss Kevin. I don't usually take the time to realize how much he helps me around the house and with the kids, etc. Things just run like a well-oiled machine (with a few mishaps now and then). This week, it's all on me. And, it's kinda scary being the go-to person for every little thing concerning the kids and everything else. I worry that they are watching too much TV, playing too many video games, drinking too much Dr. Pepper - little things that we normally would commiserate over, but now I'm on my own to monitor everything. I am also Homeland Security for 8 days. On a typical night, if I hear a noise during the night, I don't go check it out. I wake Kevin up to ask him if he heard it, which obviously he didn't or he would be awake too. He would then go check it out. See where I'm going with this? For once, it really IS all about me!

We have only been apart for this long (8 days) one other time. I went to Hawaii in July of 2006 with my Daddy and my sister to see my brother and his wife after they had their first child. The difference between that trip and this one is that communication was not limited and sporadic. If I could talk to him every day for as long as I wanted, things would be much easier. With him being on another continent, internet is intermittent and phone calls are really few, far between and SHORT! That being said, it's probably better for his mission trip that I can't keep him on the phone for long periods of time. I want him to experience as much of God as he possibly can with this opportunity, and it sounds like he is. Like I said earlier, he is terribly missed, not just because of the things he does for our family and the decisions that we normally collaborate on, but because he is my best friend and the best dad a kid could ever be lucky enough to call his own. I married so well!!!

Speaking of Dads, my sisters and I took our Dad to eat at TaMolly's (his fav) for Father's Day. He really enjoyed it and the time together with my family was great. I am so blessed to have a Dad like him. He is always there for us and helps us in any way he possibly can. He has a heart as big as Texas and we love him dearly.

We had to do kid's church this morning without Kevin. God has blessed us with the best of friends who share our views and love us as much as we love them. Kenny had a great lesson. Jennifer came up with a fun Father's Day craft and I spent some time cleaning The Junction because the mission team had been in a hurry on Thursday night when they were eating and loading the trailer and didn't have time to clean up. I actually enjoyed that task because it made me feel like I was doing something to help them, no matter how insignificant. I told Jennifer tonight (after reflecting on how truly wonderful she and Kenny are and how blessed we are to have such good friends, who are more like family) something I've heard before that I absolutely loved. "In my Father's house are many mansions. I hope mine is next to yours." (and I really mean it)

Lastly, I was bored earlier (imagine that) and found some old word find books, which I love to do. I opened one of the books to find a puzzle that I hadn't completed yet and found something very interesting written on the first puzzle. I would deny it if it hadn't been my handwriting. I had done the puzzle and then written "Kevin sucks!". Wonder what that was all about??? But, my how feelings change. It just reminded me of the ups and downs in marriage, life, and our walk with God. If we didn't hit the lows, would we ever appreciate the highs? (Romans 5:3-4)Kevin, if you are reading this, you don't suck now.

Inspiration...Finally

I have not posted since ???. I guess I've had writer's block, but I finally found an inspiring reason to post something. I just finished reading Same Kind of Different As Me. This is an awesome true story about God and relationships. I really can't go into too much more detail than that without ruining it in my feeble attempt to describe it. It is such a powerful story. I recommend it to anyone who loves to read, and even those who don't. I can confidently say it is probably the best book I've ever read. I even hate to post this right above my last post (months ago) beaming about the Twilight series. Those books are good, but this book is in a different league. It's real and relevant and important and all kinds of adjectives like that. Okay, enough. Just read it, please!!!

Recommended Reading

Did I say that was enough for now? I just had to plug a series I read in about 3 weeks. I literally could not put it down. This series is called Twilight. The books are Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. They are written by Stephenie Meyer and she ranks up there with J.K. Rowling for me. I don't know these women as to what kind of people they are, but they are excellent storytellers. It was purely fiction since it dealt primarily with vampires and werewolves. I'm not typically a fan of this genre, but you just have to read them to know how good they are. At first I was intrigued, but then I was completely hooked.

Bonus: The first movie is coming out in November. I included a picture of the actors for the movie. I can't wait!!!

Panther Pride, already???

It's good to be back! My life has been a whirlwind since school started back on August 18. I'm posting now because I had a minute to get caught up on reading my husband's blog and it inspired me to post an entry on mine.

There's so much I could tell about school, but I really shouldn't go there. I'll focus on the kids for now. It's amazing how quickly they have adjusted to becoming Panthers after all those years as Wildcats. It's still hard for me and this is my 3rd year at NL. I graduated from PHS and at this very moment I feel some Wildcat blue coursing through my veins. Anyway, they have both adapted very well. They are making lots of really good friends. They are enjoying many school activities. They both made Honor Roll for the 1st six weeks. I'm very proud of them. The funniest thing, though, was the NL homecoming game last weekend. An outsider would have thought they had always been Panthers. I'm attaching some pictures to prove my point. I'll let this be all for now, but now that I've reopened my blog (and remembered my password) I hope to keep it more up-to-date.

Some Magic Is Good Magic!!!

Let me preface this post by saying that I am not being compensated in any way or form by Mr. Clean or any of his associates! With that being said, has anybody used this miracle of magic called the Magic Eraser??? I've heard from a person or two that it doesn't work on certain surfaces, but it must have been specifically designed to obliterate that elusive soap scum that sticks to glass shower doors like it's gettin' paid. I wet that magic sponge and just wiped it right off like I was wiping my counter tops or something. I just wanted to share. I can't keep a secret like this under wraps. I don't think Mr. Clean even knows that I'm advertising his product, so I really don't have anything to gain here. Just trying to hook a sista up! So...if it doesn't work for you, please don't expect me to refund your $$$ or anything like that! In other words, "don't get crazy". I'm gonna try it on my dry erase boards at school, so I'll let you know how that goes. Until then...

Well, I might post again before that since I don't seem to be in any hurry to get up there (as stated in a previous post).

Silver Anniversary

I mentioned in an earlier post that we had a 25th wedding anniversary dinner for my sister, Tammy, and her husband, Ed, on Saturday night while the whole family was together. They have been married 25 years! I can't believe that. Time has gone by so quickly. I still remember all the preparations leading up to that day and my dress, my shoes, my flowers, my haircut, my glasses...of course, it was all about me. It was 1983 and I was 14 years old. I had some jank glasses, a terrible body wave perm and short haircut, and the dresses...I'm sure they were stylish in 1983, but not now! They were dusty pink (I think that was the real advertised name) and long and ruffly and strappy and such. My shoes were white strappy tiny heels (that I almost killed myself on). The color of the guys' suits was dusty blue. I was a little freaked because I had to walk back up the aisle with Ed's friend, who was lots older than me. I was totally embarrassed. It really was a beautiful wedding. Tammy and Ed were both soooo happy! I'm sure Ed was thinking, "Let's get this over with so we can get on to the honeymoon", but it didn't show. He seemed to be having a good time. My brother, Bryan, was 6 years old and so cute. My sister, Terri, was looking gorgeous after having spent hours on her hair and makeup, I'm sure. My Mom and Dad were so young. It was before my Mom got sick, so she was at her Mom-as-we- knew-her-best! Beautiful and full of life. All of the people we loved and cared about were there. It was a great day! They have now had 25 years worth of days, some great and some not-so-great, as do we all.

Happy 25th Anniversary, Tammy and Ed! You are an inspiration to us all. Love you guys!

Boys of Summer

I meant to say something in my last post about my nephew, Jeff. He's an awesome baseball player. He played in an under 16 select baseball tournament this past week in McKinney. He did some great pitching, hit an out of the park home run, and won an all tournament award. Their "thrown-together" team (most of them had never played together before) won 3rd in the nation, including New Mexico (inside joke). Kudos!!!

Speaking of boys, Kevin and Carter got haircuts today. Very handsome!