Since When Is 92 a Break in a Heatwave?

Ans:  When you have suffered through several triple digit days.

The weather has been hot, hot, hot. I'm talking triple digit hot, 110 degrees hot. However, today we have a break, it's only 92.

We dropped Rick off at the airport this morning. He is flying to his parents in Florida then tomorrow he and his dad are driving over to Daytona Beach to pick up the motorhome Rick and I bought. It's a used motorhome--couldn't see spending a quarter of a mil on a new one--but the interior was redone a few years ago. Rick has not seen the motorhome in person yet, so the deal could still be called off especially if Rick considers it mechanically unsafe. We're crossing our fingers that it is up to Rick's expectations and then we get to pray he makes it home safely.

Guess what fun thing we got to do as a family Memorial Day weekend? We got a stomach bug! It started with Katie on Sunday. Yesterday, Rick and I were both down. However, Katie did not have it as severe as Rick and I did. I feel relatively good today, but I tell you I have never gotten sick so much now that we have Katie. She's a germ magnet.

I am slowly getting all of my flowers in the ground and in the containers. Because of the heat, I can't plant during the day or morning and have to plant at night. (It's easier on the flowers.) I hope to finish bloomifying this evening.

That's about it for now.

Goats, Llamas and a Dog or Two

This past Wednesday Katie and I went to our MOPS group's play date at May Farm. May Farm is a petting farm with oodles of goats, donkeys, chickens, roosters, cats, rabbits, beefalos, etc. This is the fourth year that we have gone and Katie always enjoys herself. When we were there this time I was reminiscing about our first time. Katie was just a little doodlebug and I was scared the goats, which you can feed, were going to snap her fingers off. But she made it with all digits intact.

 As soon as we arrived at May Farm, Katie made a beeline for the dog. Yes, there were goats and llamas and donkeys, but she wanted her picture taken with the dog.

 Katie and her friend McKenzie. "Pet animals?! No. We'd rather play in the sand."

 Waiting in line to ride the horse. They have to use the picnic table so they can get on him.

 II wanted to take a picture of Katie and McKenzie, but when McKenzie figured out what I was doing she absolutely refused to smile.

 Katie and her friend Zoey. McKenzie had changed her mind at last minute and did not want to ride the horse with anyone else. Zoey, bless her little heart, was happy to ride with Katie. That little girl has such a good heart and I see it on a regular basis when she and Katie play.

 Katie, Zoey, Miss May and the horse.

 Katie feeding a llama.

Here's Mr. Photogenic. I remember this ham from last time we were at May Farm.

Last night we had some friends over for steaks on the grill. I discovered this wonderful marinade that works on steak, chicken and pork. It is Jack Daniels Honey Teriyaki and it comes in a zip lock bag, which allows you to marinade your meat without using a bowl. Unfortunately when I was in Wal-Mart the other day, they stopped carrying that particular flavor of Jack Daniels marinade. Of course. I guarantee if I really like something, be it perfume, lotion, candle scent, nail polish, mascara, etc., it will be discontinued. I guess that means I have unique taste (unique=crappy). Back to last night. Our friends, who are a husband and wife, currently have five children. They do foster care for medically needy children. Over the last few years, they have had 10 different children in their home. They have adopted two boys who are now 6 and 4 and currently have three foster babies ages 18 months, 9 months and 4 months. As mentioned, the five little boys are labeled medically needy because they suffer the effects of drug-abusing mothers. The number of illegal drugs and illegally gained prescription drugs that were consumed by these pregnant women had me going, "What the hell." The two older boys have made progress, but all three babies have neurological damage (just to name one issue of the many) with two of them having various vision problems including being legally blind. Here's a kicker. The piece-of-shit woman who gave birth to the 9 month old is pregnant again. Can you say forced sterilization? Anyway, you look at those little faces and you would never guess how rough life has been for them from the moment that they were born. Our friends obviously have incredibly big hearts. Going to the endless therapy appointments, doctor appointments, case worker appointments and legal appointments is a full-time job. Shortly after the 18 month old's birth, he started going through withdrawals and almost died. How could anybody care that little about a human life? It's is no different than murder albeit slower. The father of the 18 month old is trying to get custody of the boy and let me tell you the biological father is as bad of an addict as the biological mother. Furthermore he doesn't believe there is anything wrong with the child. If the bio. father is in denial he will never seek help for his son, such as physical and occupational therapy. Anyway, we had a very nice evening minus the horror stories of the boys.

On to more uplifting subjects. I took pictures of Katie yesterday and I thought I would share. Be warned that the color and clarity in the pictures are off.

 Katie and Cody. Both are growing so much.

 Outdoor ballet recital

Our little doodlebug.

Today I went into Abilene to buy flowers from Lowe's. Katie remained home with Rick and it was so nice to actually take my time and look at things. It was like a mini, mini vacation. Anyway, it just so happened that Lowe's just clearanced out flats of petunias. I got four flats and some other types of flowers. I have to wait to plant them since we have had double digit temperatures (105--111 degrees) the last two days. My mother-in-law warned me if I plant in the heat of the day, the flowers will wilt and it will take about 3 weeks for them to recover. She advised me to plant in the evening that way they have at least one night to get used to their new home before the sun bakes them. I look forward to the yard, outdoor living area and fairy garden blooming with color.

Got to go. Dinner will be kielbasa kebobs on the grill. I know I am forgetting to tell you something of interest . . .hmmmm.

Ballet Rehearsal and Recital

This is going to be a long post. Katie had her ballet dress rehearsal Friday night and the recital Saturday night. I have a few pictures to share, so hang tight.

First I would like to share a Katie-ism. Rick got a keyboard for Katie. It is a Yamaha and is actually for adults not kids, but Rick wants Katie to learn to play the piano. The keyboard has several instrumental songs built into it. Katie likes to listen to those songs and dance around the living room. One day Rick was working in the office and Katie came racing down the hallway and barged in the office.

"Daddy, Daddy. They're playing the Knuckle Cracker."
"The knuckle cracker?" It finally dawned on Rick that she meant the Nutcracker.

Below are the pictures that I took from the dress rehearsal. I am glad I decided to take my camera with me because the night of the recital, I had no time to take pictures of Katie.

Katie outside of the Paramount Theater, the very first theater in which she has performed. The Paramount is an old style, stage theater that is quite ornate. It reminds me of the Calumet Theater in my home town.

Before the rehearsal Katie practicing on stage.

The rehearsal of Supercalifragilicious.

She really did a great job and seemed to be more into it than her fellow dancers.

The part of the routine where they join hands and dance in a circle.

After rehearsal sitting in a chair in the Paramount's lobby.

At the actual recital we did not get pictures of her dancing on stage. I was operating the video camera and Rick had the Canon. We were not allowed to use a flash, so the pictures that Rick did take (after the camera was taken off of timer mode) were blurry. However, we did take pictures before and after.

Katie practicing back stage. She is actually standing in the tunnel that runs underneath the stage.

 Curtain call. Of course our daughter chose to wave and blow kisses.

 Just in awe of all the faces looking her way.

Rick and I got her roses which we gave her after her performance. Side note:  As we were walking out of the theater, one little girl was in tears because her mom forgot to get her flowers. Aside, Rick asked Katie if she would give one of her flowers to the little girl, which Katie was very happy to do. The little girl was thankful, as was the mother. Later outside the theater we discovered that the mom had an older daughter too and when they stopped to thank us, Katie asked if the older girl wanted  flower, which the girl did, so Katie shared another. Katie has such an incredibly big heart.

 Kate and I outside on Cypress street in front of a business that was next to the theater.

Katie and her daddy

Rick made a very true statement last night. "If there were 50,000 in the audience Katie would have no qualms about going on stage to perform a solo." How very true. Katie has absolutely, none, zero, zippo stage fright. She lives to be on stage and was so very excited and proud to be able to go back on stage for the curtain call.

As for me, I was busy because we arrived an hour before the recital as required and I had to change Katie into her costume. I did her makeup and hair at home, so it wasn't so bad. Then Katie and I had to wait and wait and wait with the other 50 moms until the coordinator came to get her group. If you suffer from claustrophobia you would not have been able to last in that hallway underneath the stage. After I handed Katie over to the coordinator, I was able to take my seat with Rick. After Katie's performance, I had to high-tail it back to the dressing room to retrieve Katie; however, I could not find her. I saw several of her dance mates and their moms, but no Katie. I was told they saw her walking this way or that way. I was up on the second floor of the theater and she was seen there also. I went back down to the dressing rooms and there she was looking for me. Anyway, I had to change Katie into street clothes and we returned to watch the recital. We had to get back down to the dressing room about five songs before the curtain call. I had to change Katie back into her costume, leave her with the coordinator and head back to my seat in the audience. It was a lot of running around. I now see why some moms choose to watch the whole rehearsal the night before because you really miss a lot navigating in and out of the bowels of the theater.

Katie did a splendid job. Katie is in one of the four 3s &4s classes and each class was funny to watch. At that age the little girls had trouble remembering their dance or which way to turn, etc. Katie knew what she was supposed to do and executed her moves very well. The only thing is that at times she forgot to smile.

It was a great night and a first of many more to come. I am so relieved that she loves the stage. One little girl in Katie's group refused to go on stage the night of the rehearsal. The girl cried, kicked and screamed; however, she was on stage for the recital and looked deathly afraid the whole time.

Goober

Look how big Goober is getting.

If you click on the picture and enlarge it you will see evidence of one of Cody's past times, tooth marked dog tags. I don't know he manages to get them into his mouth, but he does and his rabies vaccination tag is now illegible. So glad I spent all that money on toys for him! Next time I will just get him a piece of metal and attach it to his collar. Tonight I gave Cody an old cardboard wrapping paper tube. Best toy ever. It kept him busy for about an hour as I finished cleaning the house. I wish I would have gotten a picture of him carrying his 3' tube around. He had a hard time walking through doorways. Of course I laughed when he couldn't figure out how to get himself and his tube through the passage. Like I have said before, he is not the brightest crayon in the box.

Bathroom Etiquette

Word to the wise:  When you decide to throw a Scrubbing Bubbles blue toilet tablet in the tank of said toilet for the very first time advise the rest of your family. If you don't, you'll freak out your family members because for a split second they think that the blue is from them. And I am not just talking about the 4 year old member of the family.

Novelette

A new post has been a long time coming, so here goes the novelette . . . 

Last week my in-laws visited us for a week. They had a miniature show in Dallas at which my mother-in-law sold her handcrafted flowers, as well as other miniature items. Katie was filled with joyful anticipation as she sat at the end of the driveway waiting for their white van to come into sight. So you can imagine that when they left she was pretty blue. The only thing that saved us from an all out dramatic cry was that Katie and I had to leave the house before they did because we had a MOPS meeting. Of course while GaGa and PopPop were here, Katie was gifted with more toys. She received a wrapped present (or two) each day. My mother-in-law's defense is that they live so far away and do not get to spoil her on a regular basis. And let me state for the record that is the only reason why I am thankful we do not live closer to them. It would be a constant spoil fest. With that being said, I sincerely wish that they lived down the street. Y'all that have family near you do not know how lucky you are. Matter of fact, right now you should pop over to their house and relay your thanks. Anyway, the week went quickly and as always we enjoyed their visit.

Katie with her GaGa

My mother-in-law wanted to take a picture/video of Katie saying her bedtime prayers. It then occurred to me that I do not have any pictures of Katie praying.

In other news, I got a new cell phone. Previously I had a Go Phone from AT&T which worked great for me. For the most part, I am not a phone talker. I think it is because in my former life as a work-a-holic I spent a lot of time on the phone and the aversion still remains. Last week I broke down and got an Apple iPhone with a monthly plan. It should work out better for Rick. I have a nasty habit of not turning on my cell phone, which is a pet peeve with Rick. Hopefully the iPhone will correct that since I will probably have it turned on to enjoy the other features of the phone. As for text messaging, I did not get it. Matter of fact I had texting blocked on my phone. I do not text; have never texted and don't plan to in the near future. I have an aversion to texting because of how people hold a text in higher esteem than a live person in front of them. I cannot tell you how many meetings that I have been in where there was always one yahoo that was madly typing away. Whether you are sitting at a boardroom table or your kitchen table, you need to be 100% present. Anything less is rude. I don't care if you are a multitasking champion, there is no way you can text and fully capture what another person is saying. Which brings up a thought. Multitasking is treated as a work place asset; however, multitasking just means you can do a bunch of things okay but not one thing great. (Stepping off of my soap box now.)

We have now toured the two local elementary schools, Stamford and Anson, so that we can make an informed decision on where to send Katie for school. Today we visited Anson's elementary school and my preconceived opinion of Anson has proved to be wrong, at least for the first five grades. The principal gave us an in depth tour of the school and we spoke with various teachers. Both Rick and I were impressed. Anson also would be logistically easier when we factor in Taekwondo lessons. Both Anson's and Stamford's elementary schools seem to be above par; however, I worry about what the middle and high schools are like. I need to do some more investigating about the higher grade levels because I don't want to have Katie change schools in the middle of her education.

Katie and I watched the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate, er sorry, Catherine. We didn't watch it live (just wasn't going to do the 5 am thing) but we enjoyed it all the same. Katie was in awe of the carriages, the tiara, the Prince, etc. (You know all of those things Disney shoves down little girls' throats. So of course we are taking Katie to Disney for her birthday! More on that in another post.) As for me, I found myself slightly melancholy as I watched the wedding. One reason is that I remember the Prince and Princess' of Wales wedding. The media touted it as a "fairy tale" for months and months. They sold it and I bought it until non-fairy tale tidbits began appearing in the press. Then I felt lied to because the reality was it was an arranged marriage instigated by their grandmothers. Love didn't seem to factor into why they walked down the aisle. I recall the look on the Prince's and Princess' face as they stood in St. Pauls. The Prince looked like a defeated man wearing shakles and the Princess' expression was that of a person walking to the electric chair, a dead man walking. It is sad to recall how that marriage exploded. I was also melancholy because I remember when Prince William was born and then I turn around and he is a man (and a balding man at that!) How time marches on continually makes me catch my breath. When I think back to 30 years ago, the person that I was at that time; the events I experienced at that time and the life I was living at that time all seem like I am remembering another person.  I feel very disconnected from the earlier years of my life. I get  melancholy when I realize how very short the years really are and how they seem to shorten more with each passing one. I am reminded of this daily with Katie. Watching William and Kate, er sorry, Catherine's wedding reminded me that life goes on. Despite Princess Diana being a megawatt star on the world stage and known by everyone but a tribe of pygmies that live in seclusion in the jungle, life went on, life goes on. She was just a blip on the screen as we all are.

I had another thought the other day that stopped me in my tracks. I was thinking of some of the choices that I have made in the past. I was questioning some of those choices, but not in a rueful or regretful way. I was just being point blank honest with myself . Anyway, in every day life, you often say, "Next time . . ." when you are recounting a mundane experience such as "Next time I will leave earlier for Abilene." or "Next time I will take a longer cruise." or "Next time I will do natural child birth." The thought struck me is that there is no next time for me to do things differently. There are no other teen years; no other years in my twenties; no second chances; no next time, no do-overs. We get one shot at life. This is it. I wish I understood that when I was younger, but sometimes the details of life steal all of your attention from the big picture. It can be a sad thought if you think about it long enough, which I did so I found myself melancholy once again. In conclusion, you get one ride on this merry-go-round and boy does it spin around quickly. Grab this moment because it will never happen again.

On to lighter things. Here are a few more pictures.

Cody is growing by leaps and bounds; however, as the picture notes he still does his superman puppy pose.

Side note: When my in-laws were here, Cody just fell in love with my father-in-law and was always concerned about where Richard was. I took to calling my father-in-law Cody's best friend. Also, I do admit to considering to hide Cody in their van and hoping that they won't notice him until they got home.  It's not that I don't like the dog, but he had just ate my oven mitt.

Another Side Note: A few years ago we actually put Katie in their van as we were saying our good byes in the driveway, but she made her presence known before my in-laws even got out of the driveway so she was handed back to us. So close, so very close.

We had visitors to the base last week. The three gentlemen on the right were part of the 42nd MMS (Military Munitions Squaron).  These are the guys that maintained the warheads ("nukes") on top of the missiles back in the early 60's.   They assembled the warheads at Dyess Air Force base, then transported the warheads to each of the missile launching facilities (like ours), then mated the warheads on top of the missiles while the missiles were in the silos.  They were also responsible for demating, removal, maintenance and remating of the warheads during the entire service life of the HGM16F weapons system (military designation for the ATLAS-F) from 1961 to 1965.  They asked to visit the base because they are having a reunion and wanted to come out to do an advance recon prior to the reunion since the reunion will include a tour of the local missile bases (including ours) in June. Rick graciously complied and he learned even more about the Atlas F missile. (I didn't think it was possible because Rick knows a such an incredible amount about ICBMs that you would think he was a missileer.)

The next pictures are of Katie. Yesterday I dolled her up with my hair fall and make-up. Katie picked out the dress. Once again, she excelled at striking a pose like a professional model.

That's it for now. I'll type at you later.

Sleeping Beauties

Oh how exciting when GaGa and Pop Pop visit. The nonstop attention, coloring, games and general happiness certainly wipes a girl out. It looks like it also wipes out Pop Pop.