Then and Now: 5 Years- Some Pancakes and a Stink and Triggers

So, a few months back we went to the Caldwell Zoo with Lisa and Jack.  (We won’t talk about all the problems with the truck that followed that trip!).  While there I “manufactured” a shot to compare Jack then and now.  I knew I wanted a similar shot of him, so I helped myself with a little gentle push of Jack.

I thought I’d share those two pics today now that I’m starting to catch up on a back log of pics that I have for editing.  (New Computer= Freeing Lightroom with some Speed!- Sorry got geeky there, didn’t I.)  As I looked at them I noticed that I also had then and now shots from the same two visits in our kitchen.

It’s amazing to me how much this kid has grown in such a short time, but then again, part of me can’t believe it’s only been five years since the 2005 shots.  Was he really that little then?  It won’t be much longer and he’ll be taller than me. . . and really not that much longer than he’s taller that Cody. . . or at least I expect he’ll get that tall.

Ok. . . Comparison #1- In with the Rhinos where it definitely stinks.  I couldn’t quite get him to make the same expression. . . .

Summer 2005:

Summer 2010

;

A side note that I find interesting: The difference in his size and my camera is fairly obvious.  But what’s not as obvious is the similarities in his shirts.  The first shirt, a humorous look at 10 things not to say on a road trip, is from a trip he took with his Nana and Papa.  The second shirt is from the trip we took with him last year. 

Comparison #2- While #1 is somewhat staged, this one certainly isn’t.  It’s something that happens everytime Jack comes up.  In fact, it even happens at the deer lease and finally happened just last week when we were at his house.

Summer 2005

Summer 2010

Back then of course, we helped him make the pancakes.  These days we just sit in the living room demanding he cook us breakfast. . . not that he isn’t a willing participant or that if he wanted us to come in there we would.  But, he can make them from start to finish on his own now- all those early mornings of getting up to help him fix pancakes are paying off now- I can be lazy now.

Comparison #3. . . so while typing this, I realized I had yet another pair of then and now shots from these two visits.  While the others show progression in size and cooking abilities, this one shows a whole other progression- one that I’m sure Uncle Cody is super proud of and one that Jack is more than happy to make. 

Summer 2005

Summer 2010

Cody had promised that Jack would get to shoot the pistols next time he came up, so they had to squeeze a little time in this trip to do so.  Jack posted one of the pics from shooting pistols on his facebook and his comment says it all “I love that gun”

Another interesting to me side note: Back then, we had introduced Jack to Johnny Horton music (is there any better road music at that age?) and so the coke cans he was shooting became the “Bloody British”.  Just last week, Cody said that a Johnny Horton song came on the TV while he was down there and Jack started singing it.

Jack Plays Basketball and About Winning

What a busy month so far.  With Cody taking on his new job, travel for his job, travel for my job- it’s been busy.  And I decided to do a Layout-A-Day Challenge this month.  But there have been some really great times this month as well.  Like seeing Jack play basketball Tuesday night.  It was most definetely worth the travel and it messing up our NCIS date night.

His team had been undefeated until Tuesday when they lost to their league’s other undefeated team.  Jack impressed me with both his speed and his persistence throughout the game.  We talked a lot about the game over Pizza Tuesday night.  Cody stayed behind and spent yesterday afternoon doing sports stuff with Jack.  When he got home tonight we talked more about Jack and what seems to be a natural ability to learn and play sports.  So, it’s only natural that when I sat down to create my layout today,  Jack was fresh on the brain.

Journaling Reads: Winning, Losing, and Performance. It was the theme of our dinner conversation Tuesday after you lost your basketball game. No one likes to lose a game, I know. When we asked about whether you had fun, you said that the football coaches you’d seen earlier in the day said it wasn’t about fun, it was about winning.  As Cody and I were talking about how well you could do in sports today, we talked about how much I wanted you to learn about winning.  Some say winning isn’t everything- some say it’s the only thing.  I lean towards it being the only thing. Only it’s not the win ming “the game” that is the only thing. I want you to learn and know that there’s more one way to measure winning or success. You win when you give it you all. You win when you give have fun. You win when you’re a great teammate and show great character.  Do you remember when David DeJesus got the triple in the 9th inning as the Royals were losing badly?  He had a smile on his face as he signed your baseball.  He knew that you can measure winning in more than one way- he hadn’t given up.  I heard Mitch Maeir talking about it just yesterday- you have to learn to control what you can control and let go of the rest.  You possess their winning traits- you give it your all and you’re always learning to be better- it’s what makes you so good.  Sure, playing sports isn’t all fun, and I want you to learn to work hard.  Losing the game is certainly not easy to take.  But, you have to look in  your heart not at the scoreboard- if you know you did the best you could do and you took some joy from the game, you’ve already won.

Jack’s Infamous Hungry Cranky Butt Incident

I scrapbooked an infamous moment in history this week. . . . I’ll share the story via copying the journaling:

“Cody and I knew better.  We’ll never forget the time we went with Jack to Brenham- the bottle warmer incident and oh how he cried.  At that time, we thought poor thing is hungry.  This time, not so much.  We had a goal in mind- for Jack to get to eat while watching the Giraffes at the Caldwel Zoo.  But, it meant we waited too long to get some food in him.  Out came hungry-cranky butt.  It didn’t help that the flies kept buzzing his head. He made us pay for making him wait to eat.  And, of course, he never really understood why- the giraffes for some strange reason weren’t out in the area that the food court overlooks.  All he knew was that he was hungry and flies wouldn’t leave him alone. After eating, petting a few animals and taking some pictures with my new DSLR camera, he was fine again. And we enjoyed the rest of our day at the zoo.  Now, we talk about the Hungry Cranky Butt episode at the zoo.  It’s been a chance to learn about how emotions and being hungry can be tied together.  In fact, we were able to laugh about it together at the Oklahoma City Zoo last year because we thought we’d be home free- their food court was indoors.  We joked about how we were eating early enough for no Hungry Cranky Butt at the zoo- especially because the flies shouldn’t bother us.  And they didn’t- most of the time.  The Caldwell Hungry Cranky Incident proves sometimes we all just lose it.”

And it probably doesn’t help that his Aunt is a scrapbooker and had the camera in his face either. . . wouldn’t you think!

Friday Night: Jim and Marie’s Small World

Friday night we were blessed with free tickets to the NWTF Banquet in town. We really wanted to go and were so thankful to get a call Friday at lunch that would change our boring plans for the evening.

They had Brenda Valentine visitng there from Tennessee. She’s a big hunting personality and on many shows. We don’t really get into the celebrity thing but we realized as we met her she just might know Cody’s Uncle Jim. She was from Tennessee after all. And if you ask us, we think Uncle Jim knows just about every one in Tennessee. . . if his wife doesn’t. Probably not, but he’s well known for his archery skills.

Sure enough, she did now Uncle Jim. And Aunt Marie. She knew Aunt Marie from her endurance horse rides. It was so great to hear a bit about how they are doing. We miss them terribly.

We talked about how Aunt Marie never stops.

And how Uncle Jim is the polar opposite. But, don’t let him fool you, he’s as into archery as Marie has been into endurance challenges. . We also talked about his taste for mayo sandwiches.

We talked about the place they used to have on the Buffalo- where Cody has some fond memories and we have some pics somewhere- not yet scanned. But, I did find these fun pictures that pre-date Cody.

We’re hoping to find a way to go visit them when the weather gets warmer.

Being Childless Sucks, Life Doesn’t

When I blogged about how being childless sucks Wednesday, I received several words of encouragement which I did appreciate. But, I guess what I failed to get across in that post, is that it was just a moment. . . They come, they go. Sure, being childless hasn’t stopped sucking. But, it’s not the only thing in my life.

I honestly didn’t share about that moment when I searched google for those that know me, but rather because I know that there may be others I don’t know who feel the same way and are looking for something to perhaps validate their feelings or just someone who understands. (OK, that’s a really bad run on sentence whith far to many “thats” in the beginning, but you know, it’s a blog not a term paper)

You see just because being childless sucks, it doesn’t mean that life does. All-in-all, I’ve got a great life. A house over my head, a loving husband who truly spoils me, time to be creative, a job, etc. (Since I just made a long list New Year’s Eve, I spare you the long version ’cause I have a feeling this post is going to be long enough.)

(OK, in proofreading this, this next part is going to seem really off topic and a rambling tangent, I promise I’ll be bringing it back around.)

Last weekend as Cody and I were celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary, we discussed a new class that I want to take. This morning as I thought about that class, I realized that my hobbies all seem to piggy back on themselves. Last year, I spent a lot of time learning more about photography and taking pictures. This year, I’ve gotten back into scrapbooking. This new class is about organizing pictures with a scrapbooking purpose (well, that’s just the surface.) One of the assignments before the class starts is to go through your digital pics and printed pics and put them in chronological order. I’m in luck since my digi pics are all in folders my month and year and named by the date and a sequence that keeps the approximately 16,000 pictures in order. . . not to mention digi pics can be sorted by date/time taken. But, our printed pics, that’s another story. The class talks about not trying to do all your pictures but a portion so that you can learn the process and then repeat with the rest later. So, I decided to just tackle the years from when Cody and I met until we went digital- Fall Semester 1994-Deer Season 2003. (Another tangent. . . Deer Season, you may be wondering, why I associated that. . . Because I got my first digi camera on the way to the Campwood and I remember taking tons of shots along the 8 hour drive there. Looking back now, I realize it was purchase and trip that would change my life.)

So this week, Cody and I have been sorting those printed pictures. We really don’t have that many. They filled two plastic shoeboxes longwise (aka short side so that the pano shots would fit). It was so much fun to remember those days. We really enjoyed looking back. We were both amazed at how young we look. . . even though we don’t feel that much older today. In many ways, despite the things we’ve gone through, we’re still like newlyweds or perhaps even those kids in college. We’re still like those two lovebirds in those pictures- two lovebirds who got married and watched as their friends got married, two lovebirds who used to eat on the floor in Etoile, two lovebirds who have watched their nephew grow-up, two lovebirds that have seen great vacations, two lovebirds that met in college, moved to Corpus Christi, and came back to that college town. We’ve been blessed. I’ve been blessed.

And, I realize just how blessed to live in the digital age! We narrowed that lot of pics down to just a little over one box. Purging a lot of awful and failed shots, I realized how much I benefit from being able to instantly see my pictures. Going through the so-so pics, I realized how much easier it is to take advantage of learning photography in a digital world. Looking at how few pictures there were compared to fewer years of digital, I realized just how glad I am that I don’t have to pay for film and processing.

Being Childless Sucks

That’s what I put into the google search engine yesterday. . . in a moment when it really was sucking. I’m not sure what I was wanting to find. I think to just see someone else feeling the same way and find some perspective. Do you know what I got? Posts about how infertility sucks- And it’s true, it does. Been there, done that. But, my being childless moved well beyond infertility sucks when we hit the brick wall that was adoption. I wanted something that caught the full gamut of how being childless (not just infertile) sucks. What else did I find? Posts about how motherhood sucks. . . and I suppose at times it sucks just as being childless sucks. But, it’s really not what I wanted to read about. And then, there were the posts by those who are childfree by choice saying that being childless doesn’t suck. That may be true when it’s by your choice, but for the rest of us who aren’t childless by choice, it does, at least at times it does. Not sure if you’re aware of it, but there’s a huge contention/movement about how being childfree is so great- it often feels like a slap in the face when you’re not childfree by choice.

So this person is for the next person who finds their self at a point when being childless just sucks and searches for something when they’re not sure what they want to find.

What brought me to that point yesterday? The dang drum in my head that is life without kids that never seems to stop beating. There isn’t a day that’s gone by when I haven’t thought about kids or the lack there of. Sometimes it’s a “positive” thought- that we won’t have to deal with a screaming kid in the middle of Wal-mart (even though we’d trade places with the parent anytime). Other times, I wonder about the kids we were so close to adopting- how they’re doing or how I feel they were taken from me. Sometimes, it’s just re-hashing old history. Or perhaps it’s the incessant, how can parents do the things they do to their kids. Other times, it’s wondering about where I go from here- the fact that I’ve not idea what the future looks like without kids.

Too many days it’s not just one thought but many thoughts. Somedays, it’s just a thought or two. Other days, it seems to be in sterio coming at you from all sides. No matter how much you try to tune it out, it beats louder and louder. You can’t turn it off; you can’t even seem to turn it down. Yesterday, when I did my little google search, was one of those times. . . when the drum beat was just too loud. Those are the moments when being childless seems to take hold of you, stir up all sorts of emotions, and wreck an otherwise good day. That’s when the word “sucks” just seems to be the best way to describe the state of being childless. Despite all the other words in my vocabulary, “sucks” is the one word that is apropros. And it sucks when “sucks” is the one word you can find that describes the moment.

All I can do is ask God for peace. I know he’ll get me out of those moments. And I hope that one day he has in store for me a day when I don’t even think about whether or not we have children.

Christmas in Pictures, Not! Christmas Without Pictures

Since I haven’t blogged in a while, you’ll have to bear with me for a short tangent.  Last Christmas, or maybe the year before, my nephew got a Wii.  We’ve been down there a few times and loved playing it.  He and his mom came up earlier this week and they brought the Wii. . . Well one thing led to another and we wound up buying a Wii ourselves. which arrived just about the time they left Wednesday taking their Wii with them . . .

I do not have any pictures from our Christmas gathering this year.  I didn’t even get my camera out.  We didn’t get into any shooting wars.  I think that’s a first for my family in many, many years.

My mother-in-law drove up and arrived on Wednesday.  My parents, brother, and his girlfriend came over Christmas Day.  I was more organized than ever with the meal.  I had to be. . . I had plans for Christmas Day and while I wanted to eat good, I did not want to spend the day in the kitchen. 

As soon as my family arrived, we let them grab a small snack and then hit them with our best shot.  Sorry, couldn’t resist that.  We created Mii’s for them and then made each of them thake the Wii Fit Body Test. . . Isn’t that just what you should do to all your houseguests and a festival (AKA feast day)?  But, that’s what we did. . .

And then the games began. . . We played the Wii Fit all day long.  We flew through the air, ski jumped, headed soccer balls, caught fish while sliding on icebergs, and had a few snowball fights despite the fact we did not have a white Christmas.   We all threw caution to the wind and made fools of ourselves.  And with a few broken no camera moments by my brother and father, there are no pictures to embarrass us with.

Before we knew it, it was time to eat.  Yum, Yum.  We had our typical Stephenson’s Restaurant and Family Recipe meal.  We started with just a doubled batch of Banana Fritters (usually, it’s banana, apple, and another flavor).  Then came the meal- ham, Grandma’s macaroni and cheese, green beans, bread, and frozen fruit salad.  Did I leave anything out. . . I don’t think so. . . we made sure we did not have any repeats of the Thanksgiving forgets.  For dessert, we had banana cake and pumpkin pie.  And a few more Wii games.  Now, I just have to keep up with the Wii to work off all that food.

Before I knew it the day was over without any pictures.  Even the clean-up was mighty easy and didn’t get any pics.  It was one of the absolute funnest Christmas’s I can remember.

Thanksgiving Dinner

We went to mom’s house yesterday for Thankgiving.  We haven’t been over there in quite some time due to my allergy to dogs.  We decided that I’d just take plenty of Benadryl and celebrate Turkey Day at Mom and Dad’s.  So glad we did.  So glad Mom hosted. 

As it turned out, I only had to fix one thing- the Chocolate Pie.  I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to eat if I didn’t have a Chocolate Pie for my Uncle.  I even got out of fixing the meringue!  Which given that I hadn’t been feeling the best and given all the benadryl in my system, was a very, very good thing.

Of course, Mom might as well have had benadryl herself. . . She messed the meringue up twice!  But, when she got it right, she got it right.

She took it all in stride!  I really like this shot of her preparing the sweet potatoes (more on those later):

So, my task for the day was to photograph and capture the day.  Well, that’s what I decided my task was. . .I wanted to get some shots of the action.  Of course, around my family, you can’t get your camera out without everyone else getting their cameras so they can hide behind them.

There’s just something wrong with my brother’s eye in this shot. . . I’m can’t figure out what he was looking at!

Of course, the turkey took all day to cook.  The guys all rested in the living room and watched some football:

I nearly fell asleep myself (benadryl was kickin’) and was glad when there was some more action to photograph.  And that my brother found the step stool for me so I could get a different angle on things. 

My Aunt Sarah made the gravy:

Cody carved the turkey:

My brother got silly

and then decided to do a little “acting” if you want to call it that. . . at least he didn’t have a camera in his face or one of his dimented faces:

(Later when it was finally dessert time, he would put the pie at his spot at the dinner table as if it was all his. . . he did share though.)

Mom was absolutely in her element in her kitchen.

And then we sat down to eat.

See anything missing????

Just before we moved onto dessert, we started talking about our traditions at Christmas vs. Thanksgiving.  I started saying that I preferred our Christmas meal. . . that I’m not a turkey person, but eat a little turkey just because you feel like you have to. . . just like I. . . “We forgot the sweet potatoes!”. . .  So we had a little helping of sweet potatoes between the meal and dessert. . . ’cause as I was going to say, I have to have a small bit of sweet potatoes- with marshmellows on top.

Flashback Friday: Tugboat Parade

I mentioned the hot muggy weather when we were in Corpus last month when I took this picture.

This is the tale of the absolute opposite weather in Corpus Christi.  Well, except that, it was as windy if not even windier.  It was the coldest day I ever remember in Corpus and Cody would agree.  I don’t think I have any pictures to mark the day- a day that would wind up a famous legend in our family.  One that has become a part of the very code we speak.

My parents, grandmother, and brother were in town for Christmas.  We’d gone to the aquarium and found out that we’re having a lighted tugboat parade.  I love watching tugboats and so this was the ticket.  I talked everyone- my husband, my family, and my mother-in-law- into going back for the Tugboat Parade.  I couldn’t wait to see the tugboats. 

We came back to the aquarium that evening to enjoy the parade.  We wandered around the aquarium as we waited for night fall. . . so the lighted tugboat parade could start.  We sat out on the lawn- right about where I took the picture above (only it’s not lawn anymore).  It was so cold and the wind blew that cold damp air off the water.  We huddled up.  We drank hot chocolate.  We took turns going inside trying to warm up.  We worried about my Grandmother but she handled it just fine.

I waited to see the tugboats.

The parade was late.  From what we gathered, the coast guard had been called out and was late for the parade.  We huddled up.  We drank hot chocolate.  We took turns going inside trying to warm up.  We worried about my Grandmother but she still seemed to be just fine.

I waited to see the tugboats.

After hours in the cold damp wind, the moment finally arrived.  The parade began- the parade which consisted of two lighted coast guard cutters and one, count them, one tugboat.

I felt horrible about convincing every one to wait for this little moment.  We couldn’t believe that we’d waited all this time for 1 tugboat in a Tugboat parade. 

The parade would go down in infamy.  Now, when we do something, we say, “I don’t know this might be a tugboat parade.”  We judge things as being worthwhile or not by comparing them to the tugboat parade.  If it wasn’t very fun or what we thought, it was a tugboat parade.  And we’re always thankful when things surpass the tugboat parade.

(Little did I know that night that while I worried about my grandmother, my husband was quite ill.  He knew I loved the tugboats and never let on that he was not feeling well.  The next morning he awoke with 104° temp.)

October Began With A Trip Down South

We were just down there in July.  But when Coralyn told us that her brother passed away, we knew we’d make another trip down to Corpus Christi.  Cody says it totally messed up his average since before July, it had been a really long time since we were there.   It didn’t matter as we knew we needed to be there.

Since I’ve become a Hotwire fan, I checked out Hotwire and found I could get a 4-star hotel in the waterside area for less than I could get a hotel out by him mom.  (So far, I’ve only hotwired 4-stars because you don’t know what hotel you’re getting and 3-stars can be a lot of different things.)  And most of our activities would be in town so the htoel would be closer.  I checked out what 4-stars were in Corpus and thought we would be across from the seawall.  NOT! We were across the Harbor Bridge- Yipee!  (And on the beach, but we’re not beach folks).  Cody did take it better than I thought he would- probably helped that we’d stayed at the hotel, under different ownership, over 10 years ago.  We had a great room and I always enjoy watching the ships and the tugs come in and out of the port. 

I counted 13 tugboats while I was there.  (Much fewer than I remember seeing in the past)

Our room was not directly overlooking the beach. . . Instead, we had a bit of an angled view- of the beach, the Lady Lex, the Corpus Skyline, the Harbor Bridge, and the Refineries.  Our balcony was excellant for some night shooting.

We had a chance to catch up with Cody’s cousins and that was really nice.  The last time we saw his second cousins, the oldest was 1. . . now 10!  And there were three we’d never met.  We also learned that their dad, Cody’s uncle, wanted to be in Coralyn’s wedding that he and his wife had a second wedding in a Catholic church.  (And that their mom had to convert from Baptist to Catholisism to do it.)  I barely knew his uncle but heard some great stories.

We also spent one late night catching up with some friends we hadn’t seen in years!  That was lots of fun. . . and it was another chance to see how quickly kids and families grow.

We managed to squeeze in some time for the Aquarium.  Literally, we had 1.5 hours Saturday, so we made a run for it. . . OK we walked.  One of the things that stuck out with us was how hot and humid it was.  And windy.  I remember the wind, but neither of us really remembered it being that nasty hot and sticky. . . in October none the less.  On our walk to the aquarium from the hotel, this is what Cody’s hair looked like.

On our way to the aquarium we really worked hard to keep the sand out of our shoes.  We really aren’t folks that enjoy sand. . . though we did take one walk along this beach.

We wound up getting a membership at the aquarium and snuck in another 1.5 hour trip on Sunday.  We always loved the aquarium.  With two trips and the fact that we had other pics of the aquarium, it was an excellant chance to practice some photography.  And a challenge in some of the darker areas.  The otter exhibit has always been one of my favorites and we spent lots of watching them- even saw a girl drop her cell phone into the otters water.  The otters pounced on it. . . a new toy.  We also arrived both days just in time to see the last dolphin show. 

One really huge ship left the port while we were at the aquarium. . . I mean really huge!

Like the distortion. . . they had a dome thing you where you could stick your head “into” the one of the tanks.

Cody took these next two shots of me. . . in the tank. . .

Just for mom:

The aquarium highlight though happened with about 10 minutes before the aquarium closed in the viewing area underneath the dolphin tank- where they held an impromptu underwater show practice.  Oh my goodness, to see the dolphins interact and their faces.  It was amazing.

All of these pics are unedited except for sharpening done when uploading.  We took over 1500 pics which of course have been edited down tremendously but I haven’t had a chance to even begin editing them. And as you can see by the number of pictures posted here. . . I’ve had a tough time narrowing down my favorites.

Dumbo, Scared-O

In the photography class that I am currently taking, someone posted a picture from the Disneyland ride, Dumbo.  It brought back a world of memories- of Disneyworld and their Dumbo ride.  My Floyd grandparents lived in Tampa when I was a growing up.  And many times, when we would go visit, we would go to Disneyworld (mind you it was much smaller and much cheaper then).

Dumbo was one of my favorite rides.  There was a button you could push and it would make you go up and down while going in circles.  Dad would let me have control over the button. . . and I suppose that really fueled my love fo this ride- as I was in control.   We would go up and down and up and down.

Then, one time, my mom decided to ride with me.  I suppose it was probably because Dad rode with my brother.  I commenced to doing my part of making the ride enjoyable. . . pushing the button and making sure we went up and down.

Problem is, my mom is a scared-e-cat when it comes to heights and rides.  She did not like it very much, not much at all.  I, of course, was promptly told to stop making our ride so “enjoyable”. 

I vowed then and there to never ride Dumbo with Mom again. . . She just wasn’t any fun.

I haven’t been to Disneyworld in ages. . . Epcot was brand new the last time we went.  But even if I get to go again- I will not ride Dumbo with my mom.  I’m not even sure I’d ride it with Cody either- I can tell you know that he most likely just would not get it.

The 3-Day and the 3rd Door

Last January, my best friend and I decided to do the Three Day Walk.  We whole heartedly went into the year raising funds and training for our 60 mile adventure.  Then, when I realized that the timing of our boys would affect our walk, the opportunity fell by the wayside.  Then, of course, we didn’t get “our” boys. 

I’ve been beating myself up about our decision not to complete the Three Day for quite some time now.  It wasn’t until last weekend when I was talking to Lisa about it that I really began to realize I had no way of knowing and needed to quit kicking myself.

You see, by the time the new year rolled around, I thought there were two paths my life would take in 2009- have kids or give up.  I was working to accept that.  Then came the boys- or at least they came back around- the chance to be chosen for them, our selection for them, some serious talking, and then saying good-bye and turning a corner.

What I realized this weekend was that in my short-sided thinking there were two doors for my life- with kids and without kids.  But, in reality, there was a third door- one that mingled the two paths together for just a short while.  Never in a million years did I think that I would be so far down one path and then plucked from it and onto another path.  I could have never prepared myself for that one.

This all seems like a real bummer post on a rainy Tuesday morning.  But, it isn’t meant to be.  I’m learning to accept what was behind the third door.  And in accepting what was behind that third door, I realize I have to give myself some slack this year.  This weekend I realized that I’ve also got to give myself that slack when it comes to our decision not to complete the 3-day.  It simply got caught in the strife of this year- the turmoil that I never expected when the year began and we started out to make our walk. 

The cool thing that remains is that we got to raise funds for breast cancer research- and I am proud of that- and all of you who helped us raise those funds.  I wanted to say thanks to those of you who did support our efforts and let you know that those funds have already gone towards breast cancer research.

Happy Birthday Lisa!

It’s my best friend Lisa’s birthday today. As with most other years since we became adults, we’re not close enough to celebrate together. But, we’ll have some fun this weekend together.

Here’s to you, Lisa, and not making the grade!  Our first year in high school, we had several classes together.  But never really talked that much until we both didn’t make the grade to stay in our Honors History class.  Half the class did not make the grade and there was no other history class that period.  So, they had to make one for us “flunkies” (Mind you, we didn’t flunk- just didn’t make the grade.)  We were the only girls in the class.  Best friends ever since. 

I hope you have a great birthday!  Can’t wait to get together this weekend!

PS- Oh dear Lisa, better bring a camera or something to hide behind.  I’m in the middle of a photography class and do plan on taking pictures this weekend.

P.S.S. I know you would call me and sing Happy Birthday to me.  I don’t want to break your phone with my singing. . .So I’ll text your son and tell him to sing it for me.

Flashback Friday: One Weekend, Just Me and Jack

November 27-29, 2003

One weekend, I took Cody to meet his hunting partner in Woodsboro.  It’s about a five hour drive from here.  On my way back, I wound up picking up Jack.  We had a great weekend just the two of us.  We mostly just hung out at the house.

I’ve always loved this picture. . . of him just barely awake watching his morning cartoons.

I did take him to Baskins where I picked him up a Camo coat.  Tell me this isn’t a miniature Cody in training- camo and the remote.

We baked cookies.  It was the first month of my first digital camera.  So, of course, I wanted to take lots of pictures. . . he wanted lots of videos.  He won out when it came to the chocolate chip cookies we made.

 Jack Making Cookies The Video

Now, he likes to bake cookies but his favorite thing to fix, as I’ve mentioned before, is Pancakes.  And looking back, I see how much I documented of the process.  By this stage in his life, he could pretty much do it on his own. . . he just needed to be told what to do.  This time, I won the picture vs. video battle.

This is about the way his hands still look today when he gets eggs on them.

Isn’t this the cutest!  Cooking in my kitchen is always fun.  No matter what kind of mess we make.  Messes clean up and memories last a lifetime.

It’s hard to believe but he no longer has to use his whole hand when measuring dry ingredients.

Men and Power Tools!  Notice the flour on his pants- this is the norm in my kitchen.

Not only can he make the best pancakes, but he can really put them away.

Lest anyone think he became his Aunt’s boy over the weekend, this is a picture of him making Cody’s favorite- Pecan Tassies.

He missed Cody so much that he insisted on riding with me all the way to Woodsboro. . . rather than dropping him off.  He rode the entire way in his new Camo coat and hat- he wanted to show them to Cody.  At the time, he loved an old tape of songs that mom gave me.  It was a tape song by her co-teacher Diane of Christian children’s songs.  Of course, just when I thought I would have some company, he fell asleep not 10 minutes into the drive. . . just after he sang the sweetest rendition of “This is the Day”. 

That’s love, ain’t it.  He was thrilled when we finally made it to Woodsboro.  He was able to give Cody the pecan tassies which he’d made.  We did at least stop at a park before we headed back to his house.  Instead of a two hour drive to his house. . . the entire trip was about 8 hours.  We see who ranked first in Jack’s book.

Flashback Friday: Balloon Races- July 2008

Last year, Cody and I went to our second balloon races in Longview.  This time we let my little brother tag along.  We’d only been there the Sunday morning races a few year back but knew we wanted to see what the balloon glow is about. It was a long weekend and I’ve got a million pictures, but I’ll try to keep it somewhat condensed.

We were there super early.  Parking fills up fast and when you’re not from around there, you want to be prepared.  We headed out just after work.  It was hot, of course- it’s July.  Dryer’s was giving out Dips- and we instantly fell in love with them as we ate them in the shade we found beside an eighteen wheeler trailer.  Who wouldn’t fall in love with ice cream on a hot July day- especially when it’s free.  There were planes to look at and I took a few shots.  We hung out in the grass for quite sometime.  . . my brother and I playing dueling cameras and sharing pictures.  Our DSLR’s were still really new at the time.  Eventually, the festivities really kicked off.  The planes flew over.

Then some of the balloons aired up and took a little flight.  Cody and I remembered how cool it was to watch them fly and my brother found out what we’d been telling him.

As the festivities turned to the actual Balloon Glow, they sang the anthem. . . and then BOOOM!  OK, that’s not quite the sound but it came with a thunderous boom.  What was it you ask. . . the sound of hot air balloons lighting up the sky. 

I can just about guarantee that Cody, Jack, and I were standing there with our mouth’s wide open in awe.  We hadn’t expected that at all.  It was a total shock.  The awe didn’t stop.  You really can’t imagine just what a balloon glow is like until your there. . . walking around all the balloons.

We got home really late. . . and got up just a few hours later. . . turned around and drove all the way back.  It’s not but a little over an hour but with very little sleep it felt like forever.  Then we waited, and waited.  The sun started to come up and we pitched our spot on the grass. . . Then we waited, and waited.  It was too windy to fly.  We were bummed but so were the balloon racers.

We were faced with another long wait. . . We wanted to see the balloon glow that evening.  Gas prices were super high and we didn’t want to drive all the way home.  We went to the “unphotographed” park I mentioned yesterday and slept in the truck.  After a while, we walked around and I did take pictures, really I promise.  Then we went to the Oil Museum.  I’d always wanted to do that but I honestly expected something a bit different.  I got some of the most awesome pictures of the old town they have set up, really I promise.  We went to Circuit City where I got a good camera bag.  We went to see Wall-E and really didn’t enjoy it.  (I think we were too tired to enjoy it. . . it seemed really slow for a kids movie.)  Then we went to Whatatburger.  We checked out the great shots that I’d taken, really I promise.  My brother had some great ones too and we enjoyed looking at them. . . But then, somehow in my exhaustion, I deleted all my pics from the day.  I was sooooooo bummmmmmed. 

But, it wasn’t long after that and I was happily snapping away again.

Now, the entire day, we were in contact with my parents trying to get them to come to the Balloon glow.  They finally did.  And, this time knowing what would happen after they played the anthem, my brother and I set up in tandem with our cameras pointed directly at my parents. 

Oh, dad had the same delayed reaction we’d all had the night before. . . the “I should be taking pictures” finally came around to him though.  (I love how these images capture the awe of the moment which we’d felt the night before and were reliving again.  But, I bet mom’s ready to ”bop me” for posting them.)

 We were as enthralled Saturday night as we’d been Sunday night.  But, boy were we tired (and hot).  Neither of which really bothered us until the lights went out.

A few months later, I booked an air conditioned screen shelter at the state park near where the Balloon races were for the traditional balloon race weekend. . . I did not want to have to make the drive back and forth and wanted to have a place to crash during the day.  I wound up having to cancel that reservation as it’s the weekend we went to Corpus Christi following my mother-in-law’s surgery. 

That reminds me. . . I need to make a to do to reserve it for next year.