I am so excited today!

My sweet little girl, Flower, is almost home!!

Barb Wire Man, Little Man and I drove her down to Dallas the first part of June to fly out to South Carolina with her step-mom to visit her Dad.  While we were there, we were able to visit with Barb Wire Man's brother and his family!  I finally got to hold my adorable new nephew!

Anyhow, today, my mom and I are driving back down to Dallas to pick her up from the airport!  I'm beyond excited to get to put my arms around my baby again!  I'm also looking forward to the trip down there.  My mom and I are very close, and I could talk with her for hours.  We will be spending 6 hours in the car together, so we will have ample opportunity to chat.  It doesn't matter how old I am, how "ok" my life is, or how hard and tough I act, I still need my Mama.

Flower is so much like my mom and I.  She is incredibly close to my mom.  Flower and I also have a deep relationship.   The three of us know that when we can't talk to anyone else, we can go to each other.  The drive home is going to be full of some interesting conversation, I expect!

Back to Flower.  I know that when she is with her Dad and his family, she has a great time.  I know that she is cared for just as wonderfully as she would be at home.  Flower is blessed with a step-mom who truly loves her.  I'm very thankful that I can rest knowing that her step-mom loves and cares for her just as she does for her own daughters, and, really, considers Flower as her own.

That doesn't make me miss her any less, though!  I never feel quite right when all members of my family aren't home!  If Barb Wire Man has to spend the night in his semi, I lay awake and worry about him.  When Flower is gone, I worry about her.  I cannot wait to wrap my arms around her and get her home!

And I cannot wait to see the look on her face when she sees her newly redecorated bedroom!!  She is going to be so excited!

Having a split family like this is hard, in so many ways, on both the parents and the kids.  But, like always, we all do the best we can.  Do you send your kids to visit family for the summer?

Be blessed today!

Just Another Day in Summer

I haven't written in forever, because I typically steer clear of political posts.  But, I also generally write about the things I see and hear going on around me.  As a result, I have just kept my mouth shut lately!  That's quite a feat for me, indeed.

Flower has spent most of the summer at her dad's house out in South Carolina, but thankfully she will be home in less than a week!  I know she is having fun, but, I prefer having all my little chicks in my coop.  It has given me the opportunity to completely redo her room the way she has been begging for it to be done.  Hot pink, black, white, and music.  Barb Wire Man isn't too keen on the hot pink, but such is the life when you have a 10 year old daughter!

I've been putting a ton of energy into my garden this year, too.  If you've read much of this blog, you know that I'm cheap.  I'm cheap, and I like to make sure I have lots of food in my home all the time.  And it looks like I may be canning a ton of food soon.  This year, I have squash (which is putting out faster than a rabbit), jalapenos, radishes, carrots, beets, okra, cherry tomatoes, large tomatoes, onions, strawberries, green beans, rhubarb, and okra.  Closer to the end of summer I will also put some lettuce in.  Hopefully I'm going to be able to make lots of spaghetti sauce, salsa, some pickles, and some strawberry jam!

I know it is still a ways off, but Barb Wire Man and I are also planning our 10th anniversary!  We have about 2 years, but are planning a vow renewal ceremony.  I'm sure I will write a post on it later, but the long and short of it is, we came to the conclusion that we must spend more time focusing on us.  

That's it for today.  I'm sitting outside in 100 degree weather, watching Little Man play in the kiddie pool, and Barb Wire Man will be home soon.  I'm keeping cool with a delicious beer.  Maybe several delicious beers, but that is beside the point!

Be blessed today!

TGIF

This has been a long week!  The week started out rough, because last weekend was action-packed.  Despite laying around doing absolutely nothing last Sunday, we still were not fully recovered by Monday!

Monday and Tuesday I had my sweet daycare kiddos!  It made me so happy to have them here for those two days.  I love all of them, so it almost feels like my own children leave me for the summer.  But, I do forget how exhausting having that many little ones can be!

Our air conditioner decided to give up the ghost on Monday night.  Supper was cooking, the house was clean, Little Man was playing in the back yard, and Barb Wire Man was going to be home from work soon. I decided to seize the moment and sit and knit for a bit.  I sat down, the AC kicked on, and I noticed it sounded odd.  I didn't think too much about it until the house started filling with smoke! I flipped out, called Barb Wire Man and told him to come home!  Just turning the system off didn't work.  The fan kept running, and nasty electrical fire smell kept pouring into the house, and I finally had to switch the breakers to get it to turn off!  Thankfully, the weather this week has been cooler, so I was able to open the windows for fresh air.  Besides, I am the type of person who could totally live without an air conditioner and be just fine.  Barb Wire Man, on the other hand, is not.

Speaking of missing kids...this week has taken forever to end because I have something I'm so looking forward to tomorrow!  I get to see my Flower!!!  She has been out in South Carolina since the end of May, visiting her dad, step-mom, and sisters.  I know she has enjoyed it, but man, do I miss her!  I will be picking her up at the race I was supposed to run on Saturday morning.  I cannot wait!

The race I was supposed to run.  That makes me sad.  The Palo Duro Hot Dog is a 15K run that takes place in the Palo Duro Canyon, which is about 40 minutes or so from my house.  Erika, Mattie's step-mom and my friend, really encouraged me to start running.  So I did!  It was not something I ever thought I would really enjoy, but come to find out it was something I love to do.  I ended up hurting my ankle, and in my stubborn-ness refused to go to the doctor.  I didn't think it was a big deal, so I would just keep running each night, stopping only once my ankle was hurting so bad I wanted to cry.  I Barb Wire Man told me to go to the doctor and have it looked at.  I'm in an air cast now.  (See?  This is the reason I didn't want to go to the doctor.  I knew something was wrong with my foot.  I knew he would tell me I couldn't run, and that was unacceptable!  I asked if I could wear the cast up until a few days before the race, then take it off and go ahead and run on Saturday if I was really, really careful. The doctor's response was "Sure.  If you really really want to tear all the ligaments in your ankle, wind up having surgery, and be in pain for the rest of your life every time you run."

Well, now that you put it that way....

And so, I get to sit on the sidelines this year.  I'm so disappointed.  But, those closest to me know how hard I worked to get ready for this race.  I know that in October, when I am finally "allowed" to run again, I will come back with a vengeance and have even more time to prepare for next year's race.  And I will be at next year's race.

This year, I will be at the finish line, helping time the runners as they come in.  At least I can still participate some way, even though it isn't the way I had hoped.  Get ready, Hot Dog.  Next year, I will be there ready to go!

Be blessed, and have a wonderful weekend!!