Horrific Hairbows, Bad-Lookin' Bees, Flying Dogs, Sweaty Swimmin', and Chocobliss

Once upon a time, there was a moderately seasoned school teacher. For the first time in well, forever, she was faced with a summer vacation in which she:
1. did not have to pack up and move her house

2. did not have to pack up and move her office/classroom

3. did not have to run back and forth to doctor visits

4. did not have to work a part-time job

So, what was this lady of leisure to do? How WOULD she fill her 2 months of summer vacay?



First, she tried her hand at making hair bows. She quickly decided that she should leave this to the professionals and continue to pay a good chunk of change for a nicely made, proportionate hair accessory.

Lopsided ugly and obnoxious bow

Then, she attempted to make a chocolate pie...from scratch! What in tar nation was she thinking? Her only solace...the kid liked it...a lot. And has been bouncing off the walls ever since.

Next, she decided to get up before daybreak and take a walk down to the park with her 2 year old hoping to avoid the 103 degree temps. She did not realize that by 8:15, it is so hot you cannot breathe. With sweat dripping like a rushing river, she ran into an ugly swarm of these:



CICADA KILLER (AKA One stupid scary lookin' bee)

And since this gal watches "Billy the Exterminator," she knew precisely what THESE were. It is her secret shame that she enjoys watching this ridiculous reality show, so please do not hold it against her.



Very fortunately, this cutie pie bug did not run into those BIG bugs before she could scoop her out of the playground area.

Then, the lady of leisure decided to create a backyard water park retreat. So, with the help of a 20 dollah swimmin' pool, a 99 cent bag of water balloons, a $179 fan from Lowe's, a $10 mosquito repelling lamp, 2 cans of sunscreen, a sack of toys for the Dollar Tree, and a water hose sprayer with 8 settings (yes, 8 fantastic settings), Backyard Splash Town came to be.

Refreshing and Relaxing (big girl in front of fan not pictured)

But, probably, the best thing about her summer was the fact that this adorable dog came into Sydney's life.

Her name is Belle and was a gift to Syd's GiGi and Popo.

She flies. Seriously.. and has super sonic hearing.

So when she's not flitting around with those ears, she is hearing something 12 miles away...and barking to tell you about it.

What, you don't like my ginormous butterfly-like ears?
Awww...shucks..

After all of this adventure, the lady of leisure is looking for more activities to fill her days. Right after she takes a LONG nap.

Near Misses

The month of June has been a little frightening.

I have had 3 near misses.

Apparently the sign above means NOTHING to some people.

During the first week of June, I was nearly hit by a SUV at an intersection that I cross several times a day. They were FLYING and just ignored the stop sign. I had to gun the accelerator just to escape a terrible wreck. I was thankful for my V6 engine. If I had not beeng paying attention, the vehicle would have hit Sydney's door and Sydney was in the car.

Last week, I was driving in my own neighborhood and a red Honda FLEW through the intersection in front of me, completely disregarding the stop sign. I had to slam on the brakes this time and they barely missed me. They stopped in the middle of the intersection, threw up their hands as if to say, "What?" The vehicle on the other side of the intersection who witnessed this were in shock. I could see their mouths hanging open.

Yesterday, I was in a parking lot, and it happened again. A truck pulled out in front of me, pretending the stop sign wasn't there. He wasn't going very fast, but it just blew my mind that they didn't stop.

Now, I don't know why people ignore road signs. Are they too busy on the phone? Too busy texting? Too preoccupied, or just full of the devil and refusing to obey the law?

Whatever the reason, I have thanked God over and over again for his traveling graces, protecting angels, and mercy. Those accidents could've been tragic.

This is just my opinion, but I believe the Lord lifts the veil, so to speak, and allows us to see his protection every once in a while just to remind us that his angels are constantly watching over us. We feel "invincible" sometimes and lose sight of how fragile are lives really are.

Psalm 91:11-13 "For God commands the angels to guard you in all your ways. [12] With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone. [13] You shall tread upon the asp and the viper, trample the lion and the dragon."

Exodus 23:20-23 "See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared."

We may never see all of the "near misses." We may never realize how many times God intervenes in our daily lives to protect us from harm.

Give Him thanks today, for all of the events that DID not happen.

...and...drive safely.

 

Missing Him

I have been a single parent for the last 3 days.

Let me first say hats off to all you folks that are doing this alone. No matter what the reason, if you are a woman raising kid(s) by yourself ... you are amazing and made of steel. I salute you.

My husband went on a solo trip. Just him and the motorcycle.

Sometimes he just needs to get away. He needs time to think and recalibrate, reenergize, recognize, and reflect.

But now, I just want him to RETURN.

It's weird having to batten down the hatches at night in the house by yourself. I'm a big girl. I can take care of me and mine. It's just strange to me, though. It's too...quiet. It's eerie.

It makes me have thoughts like, "This is what it would be like without him, only worse." And then I shake my head in an attempt to forever forget those thoughts.

I went to a wedding this evening and all of my wedding memories flooded back. I looked at the bride and groom and saw the stars in their eyes.

And it made me realize that I need my man back.

And it made me miss him even more.

We.Need.Rain.

Enjoy this picture with me as I close my eyes and imagine water...

I've lived in Texas 26 years.

And in those 26 years I have NEVER seen a drought like the one we are experiencing. It is only the second week of June and we see triple digits real temps EVERYDAY...I don't even want to think about heat index. It is even too hot to go swimming. Yikes.

Everyday it seems like a new wildfire has cropped up around us, threatening homes, acres of beautiful pineywoods forests, and lives.

The grass crunches under your feet like dry cheerios on pavement.

The heat radiates off the ground and resembles sticking my face in the oven to check the temperature.

The trees are drooping down and turning brown. Now, I've seen grass turn brown from drought, but huge trees?

Pray that the Lord would send refreshing rain, both spiritually and physically to our dry and thirsty land. It gives new meaning to the scripture: Acts 14:17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.


Languishing in the Sahara,

Swimming Lessons Survival!

Syd took swim lessons last year at Swim Gym...the *Mommy and Me* version.  It was not pleasant the first week. Feel free to read all about it here.

I had high hopes for this year. She was raring to go. We talked it up and talked it up, but then I did a very stupid thing. I enrolled her in a different mini-swim lessons with a friend (a week before Swim Gym)and it did not turn out so well and I will not go into detail about our experience. Let's just say, too many kids, not enough helpers, trauma ensued.

The first day at our official Swim Gym lessons was filled with water...all coming from Sydney's eyes. She cried every second she was there. I hung my head in shame. "What have I done?" I asked myself. What little confidence she had has been shattered. Is she scared...or just stubborn?

Day 2 was much better.

Day 3 was even better.

Day 4 was tear free (and she literally ran to the pool)

Day 5 was tear free (she squealed with joy when we pulled up to the lessons)

Day 6 was tear free (she told me, "thank you!" profusely when we left)

Day 7 was tear free (she giggled when I told her to get ready for swim lessons)

Day 8 was tear free (she dove into the water)

Day 9 was.....teary...what? What happened to my pattern here?

Day 10 was...a little teary...until she got to go down the big slide.

There she is... my little stubborn swimmer.

God love her.

You Are My Sunshine

My only sunshine

you make me happy

when skies are gray

you'll never know dear

how much I love you

please don't take my sunshine 

away.

I love you, Sunshine.

Hugs,

Mama

Goin to the Chapel - 10 Year Flashback

It is going to take some getting used to...answering the question, "How long you two been married?" and responding, "10 years."

10 Years.

Really?

Has it really been ten years since some kookoo things happened on June 9, 2001?

This was the day I got married...and..

when 2 people threw up BEFORE/DURING my wedding.
(My mother-n-law was deathly ill that day and barely made it to the ceremony and missed the reception completely, bless her heart)
(My ring bearer got sick DURING the ceremony and had enough good sense to RUN off the platform, accidentally hitting a huge candelabra sending it spinning around like a fiery wheel of death but fortunately not falling to the ground while he made it in record time to the bathroom in the back of the church)

This was the day that...

ON THE WAY to the church, the song, "Goin' to the Chapel" began playing on the radio. Ironic?

This was the day that...

Tropical Storm Allison hit East Texas

This was the day that..

my husband was on the phone with our photographer for 6 consecutive hours trying to help him maneuver the flood waters of Houston to get to our little town and hopefully capture the once-in-a-lifetime moments of our wedding day...he made it to the church at 1:50 (the wedding was at 2:00)

This was the day that I was stressing over:

1. Did I pick the right kind of flowers?
2. Are these dresses ugly?
3. Will the candles drip wax on the church carpet?
4. Does my face look shiny?
5. Is it going to rain on my wedding day? (Answer: yes)
6. Will we have enough cake? (answer: yes, plenty, refer to #5)

10 Years later...

3 city-to-city moves later...

1 duplex, 1 town home, a one 3 bedroom house later...

7 years of infertility later...

1 two-year-old later...

2 Dearly departed grandmothers later...

1 blessed business later,

2 dead cats later,

25 pounds later,

I sit in my warm bed, laptop glowing in my face, listening to the sound of my husband snoring to my right and my miracle baby snoring to my left (in the monitor - cause over my dead body will she sleep WITH us), giving God thanks and glory.

My husband and I don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of stuff, heck we don't see ear-to-ear, or shoulder-to-shoulder for that matter, but we do share one thing. Love for each other. Puzzle pieces fit together perfectly to make a beautiful scene, but they have to be opposites in order to complete each other. That describes our 10 year marriage relationship to a tee. And I would do it all over again.

because I'd rather fight with him than love anybody else.