One more day!

Only one more day of the institute. I just finished my PowerPoint presentation for tomorrow. It's kind of crappy, but we really haven't had much time to do the "real" research. We've learned so much about the process and the technology out there. Karen said she knew we had been extremely busy with the other stuff, so she isn't concerned about the quality--just that we have an idea of all that's available. I'll have about 3 1/2 hours in the morning, so I'll do some "tweaking." I just wanted to get something done so I didn't feel rushed tomorrow.

We'll be finished about 3:30 tomorrow, and I'll be heading to the lake! I talked to John just a little while ago. He's hoping he can get an early start, so maybe they won't be too busy at the hospital. I need a HUGE hug and kiss! Like I said in my last post, this is the second full week we've been apart in the last three weeks. It will be the LAST time for a long while, too. Now that I've said that, he'll probably have to go to some conference in Michigan in a couple of weeks. hahahaha

I got a text from Mom a while ago, too. She said they are back in the states. I may try to give her a quick call in just a bit. They'll be flying home tomorrow. I'm not sure about what time she'll be home, but if Dad has gotten back from picking her up when I get to Oakman, I'll stop by to visit for a bit.

This gal is dead tired, so I'm gonna go crash! I won't post next week, so everybody have a great week and a FANTASTIC Fourth of July! Unless something has changed, the "kids" are supposed to come to the lake. :)

Talk about overload!

This will be short and sweet because I am exhausted! We've finished day 2 of the institute, and I have learned more in those two days than I have in a long time. It is still overwhelming, but it is really good information that will make teaching research better.

I miss John and the pups like crazy. This is the second week in three weeks that I've been away from John. I'm so glad we can and do trust each other 100%. I cannot imagine being in a relationship where I had to wonder where he was or who he was with.

I'm calling it a night. We have another 12 hour day tomorrow, and it will be here before I know it.

Unconscious Mutterings

I say ... and you think ... ?

Purchase :: clothes
Squeaky clean :: ahhhh
Blended :: whiskey (don't ask why this popped into my head!)
Wednesday :: hump day
Function :: job
Look down :: why?
July? :: HOT
Raspberry :: yuck
Assertive :: forceful
Cracker :: Jacks

Just "stuff"

Just a few random musings...

Mom and several members from Woodland Trace Church of Christ in Jasper are leaving tomorrow for their mission trip to Mexico. She loves these trips so much, and she always receives so many spiritual blessings from her participation in them. I've lost track of the number of times she's been, but I always fear that one of these days she's going to call to say she isn't coming back home. lol She didn't go on the trip in March because it was during the same time that Sam was due. I think they were scheduled to fly out either the day he was born or the day after. Maybe even the day before. Please keep these wonderful men and women in your thoughts and prayers.

The dining room is painted. Well, we still have to put on a second coat, but with John and me both painting, it will only take about 30 minutes, if even that. I cannot tell you how much better both the living room and dining room look! We aren't going to put the furniture back in the dining room yet. I've got a call in to the guy who will be refinishing the floors so we can schedule that. No sense in moving the furniture back in just to have to move it back out...and then BACK in...in a couple of weeks. We're really excited about getting the floors done. It's something we've talked about for the 14 1/2 years we've lived here. (Yep, only 7 months until the house is paid for!)

Linda was asking last weekend about us doing all this painting and stuff if we're talking about trying to sell in the (near, I hope) future. I'm taking the advice of all the home improvement gurus on DIY and HGTV that for every dollar you put in, you'll get something out. If that's the case, I've added a few hundred to the value of our house. "A few hundred," you say. "Why, that's not even worth it." My opinion is a few hundred is better than nothing. :)

Speaking of Linda...she had Amy's 4D pictures of Sally last weekend. Oh. My. Goodness! She is going to be one more beautiful baby! BTW, Sally is Will's choice for her name. He has the Dick and Jane books, and since Sally is the little sister in them, he thinks his little sister should be named Sally, too. It's kind of grown on all of us. Will was with Amy and Allen when they went to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl. He was a little disappointed to find out he wasn't having a sister. He kept asking the tech if she was sure. Finally, he asked, "Are you sure it doesn't have a goober?" (Amy, I hope you don't mind me putting that story on here. If you do, I'll take it off, but it is just too funny!!) Will is our little comedian, but he doesn't say things to BE funny--they just are.

There won't be too much relaxation at the lake this weekend. We still have a long, hard day's work to get the rest of the debris cleaned up. When Katy and Jessi were little, John would pay them to pick up sticks in the yard. They could've made a killing with this clean-up. Heck, they may have been able to retire and live the good life. hahahaha

I'll be in Tuscaloosa next week for the SUPER Teacher Institute. I got the agenda yesterday. Wow. Not much free time at all. The sessions start at 8:30 and last all day and into the night. Every day. Except Friday when we'll finish up about 4. I still feel overwhelmed by it. Others must have felt the same way in the past because in the email, we are told that if we feel overwhelmed, we should talk to the Master Teacher so she can help us. I've always been told that when you are doing something new, it's good to have some feelings of anxiety because then you know that it is something important to you.

I'll leave from Tuscaloosa and head to the lake for our week of vacation. This WILL be a week of vacation, too. To repeat myself from a previous post---anyone who says that weekenders "vacation" at the lake has no clue what he or she is talking about. Last weekend and this weekend are evidence of that! Linda and I were talking last weekend as we hauled limbs about how people who don't have a lake place often think it's like going to the beach. HA!

I guess that's about it. I'm sure some of you reading this have been put to sleep, but that's quite all right, dear. I'm more than happy to assist you with your insomnia. :)

Back in the "real" world

At least for a few days. For the most part, I had a fabulous week of relaxation and doing pretty much nothing. When I got to the lake last Friday, the air conditioner wasn't working, so when John got there, he figured out what the problem was and fixed it. (I LOVE being married to a Mr. Fix-it!) It never did really cool as well as it had been, though. The rest of his weekend was an easy, relaxing one.

On Monday morning, the pups and I walked over to Danny and Linda's to visit for a while. Danny, Linda, and I were sitting on the porch enjoying the quiet, and Ali and Bama were out sniffing stuff.
Ali came back up to the porch a little later, and I noticed that something had stung or bitten her right above her right eye. Within about a minute, her eyelid had swollen up and her eye was completely swollen shut. I panicked! Linda got some water to pour over her eye to wash out anything that might have been in it, and I called my mom to get the number of her vet. I ended up giving her a quarter of a Benadryl tablet, and in about an hour and a half, the swelling was almost all gone. Poor Ali was zonked, though! She slept for the rest of the day. About 8:00 that night, she woke up enough to pester Bama. Baby Benadryl is on my list of things to take back to the lake.

After that excitement, everything was calm for the rest of the week. (Until Saturday, but I'll get to that later.) I spent several hours in the sun. I finished reading one book, read A Year of Fog and Step on a Crack (not one of J. Patterson's "sappy" books, but I love a good tear-jerker, too.) By Tuesday, I had NOTHING to read. I didn't think about the fact that I wouldn't be distracted with laundry, reading the newspaper, etc. when I took just two books.

John got back up about 6 on Friday. I don't know if the pups or I were more excited to see him! It would be a pretty close call. Bama hardly left John's side Friday evening. After we ate dinner, we went to Cullman to get a new air conditioner. After about 10 minutes, John knew he'd be miserable with the old a/c not cooling any better than it was.

Unfortunately, because of the rain we'd had Thursday night and Friday afternoon, the ground was pretty wet, and the truck got stuck. I moved my car so that John would have more operating room in getting the truck unstuck. Got that taken care of and went to Lowe's. When we got back, he decided to park behind Danny's to avoid getting stuck again.

Fast forward to 4:30 Saturday morning. We were jarred from a sound sleep by a tree falling. Talk about jumping out of bed in a hurry! A huge oak tree had fallen and taken out three other trees. They landed exactly where our vehicles had been parked less than 12 hours earlier. Had we not moved them, I'd be dealing with the insurance company this morning because both would've probably been totaled. After we walked outside, we realized that if the tree had fallen about 20 feet to the right, it would have landed right on us while we slept. Talk about a wake-up! If that had happened, our families could've been visiting us in the hospital, or worse case, attending our funerals. No doubt about it--God's hand was protecting us!

So, how did John get to spend his Father's Day weekend? Cleaning up trees. Thank goodness for family, though! Tim and Danny brought their chainsaws. While Tim cut trees, John, Linda, Danny, and I pulled the debris to the ditch. We owe the other Vests a dinner at The Angler, and even that won't come close to showing how much we appreciate them pitching in!!

We did go by to see Katy, Phillip, Sam, and Jessi on our way home yesterday. Katy and Phillip's house is the perfect place for them. Phillip is only about 10 minutes from work (and that will be a huge benefit with gas as high as it is!!) Poppa John got lots of time with Sam. They talked about fishing and bear hunting and all those fun things a little boy does with his granddad. Then I got to snuggle with him while he napped and then give him his bottle when he woke up. The only time he got fussy at all was right before he went to sleep and right when he woke up and wanted his bottle. He laughed and smiled the whole time otherwise. He is one more gorgeous baby, but anybody can look at his parents and know that the child had no other choice than to be gorgeous!

Well, this has been a LONG post, but it has been over a week since I posted. I'm on my way to Opelika to The Home Depot to get stuff so I can get started on the dining room painting tomorrow. John is taking off tomorrow, and Rodney is coming over to do some work on the boat (oh yeah--we got a BOAT!!) Maybe after Rodney has gone, John can help me paint. :)

Have a great day.

Father's Day

Since I did a post for Mother's Day, it is only right that I do one for Father's Day for both of my dads.

It's kind of hard to know where to start with my dad. I guess my first thought for him is THANKS! He and my mom married when I was not quite two, and then he adopted me. While he isn't my biological father, he is my daddy. I'm sure it was interesting to suddenly have a two year old running around. :) My dad has never been the "mushy" type. I can probably count on one hand the number of times he has actually said "I love you" to me. Some of you reading this may not understand that, but it all goes back to how he was raised. He wasn't raised in a family that did those kinds of things, so that's just how he is. There is and never has been any doubt in my mind that he did love me though. He just showed it instead of saying it, and as the old saying goes, "Actions speak louder than words." You know, people say that girls always marry someone like their dad. For years I've said that John and my dad are nothing alike, but while I was painting, I did a lot of thinking about these two important men in my life. True, personality wise they are nothing alike, but when I think about the kind of men they are, I see so many similarities. My dad believes in hard work, he knows the value of a dollar, he is true and honest, and when he says something, you better listen! John is the same way. With Dad, we didn't get things just because we wanted it. We got what we needed, but if it we wanted something just because everyone else had it, we had to work for it and save our money. Dad is a pretty quiet man, so when he speaks, what he has to say has been thought out very carefully. My dad is also an extremely good judge of character, so you aren't going to pull the wool over his eyes by pretending to be what you aren't!! Thanks, Dad, for everything. I love you!!

Next, I have to give honor to Carl, my late father-in-law. Carl was the first of John's family that I met. I was at John's house in Jasper one day, and Carl came by to visit. They were going to dinner, and Carl was insistent that I go with them. We went to Uncle Mort's, and we all got the ham steak and baked potato. Carl talked about that ham steak until the day he died. lol I learned that day that he and I liked our baked potatoes the same way--lots of butter and sour cream. Everybody talks about what a "booger" he was, and Connie and I have talked many times about how our dads mellowed as they aged, but I can honestly say I never say the "booger" everyone talks about. (I guess I was his favorite since I always got the "good" side. Just kidding Linda and Tisha. hahaha) I will never forget one of the times we went to Hartselle when we had Katy and Jessi with us. They wanted to get something to eat. I think we were just going to go to Dari Delite, but Carl insisted that we go to Teresa's, a restaurant in town, so we did. The waitress came over and got our drink orders and then came back to get the food orders. We all went around and placed our order. When she got to Carl, she asked "Mr. Carl" what he was having. His reply? "I've already eaten." He didn't want to go there to eat--he just hadn't been by that day! He had his circuit that he'd make every day--Dot's (now Mr. Henry's), Hardee's, Teresa's...Carl was such a funny man, and I see him in John every day. I was so blessed to have him as a part of my life. He welcomed me into the family, and he treated me just like he treated his children. I loved him as much as I do my own dad. I love you and miss you, Carl, but you live on in your son!

To all the other father's out there, I hope you have a wonderful Father's Day!!

(In case you're wondering...Since I'm at the lake, I took care of writing this post earlier. I love the scheduled posting option.)

Last post for a few days

I just wanted to make a quick post to say that I'll be out of touch until the 15th. I'm taking a week to enjoy the lake. John will be there for the weekends, but it will be just the pups and me the rest of the time. I'll miss John like crazy, but we're having a phone put in Monday, so we'll be able to talk every night without me having to drive to the top of the hill to get cell phone service.

Several people have asked if it won't be scary being there by myself. Honestly, I don't think it will be. I will have a phone on Monday, so help will always be just a call away, plus the dogs are very good about letting us know when someone is coming down the hill before we hear or see vehicles. Unless someone has a key to the gate, the only other way in is to walk. Even though it is downhill, it's still a nice little hike. And then there is the walk back UP the hill.

To all my loyal readers...you know who you are...I'll be back soon, and then you'll get to hear all about Painting Project #2!

TaTa!

Join the club!

My mom and I were talking today about starting a new club. Not everyone can join, though, because it's going to be The Stepwives' Club. She and I both are a "stepwife," as are many others out there. As a matter of fact, many of my good friends are stepwives. I'm sure the meetings will be quite entertaining and informative. :)

The term stepwife has grown on me. I don't see it as being a derogatory, negative, or belittling title. Actually, I take a great amount of pride in the fact that my husband and I have a very sound, happy, fulfilling life together, even if it meant he had to experience divorce. I had a very good example growing up because my parents also have a very sound, happy, fulfilling life.

I have to insert a funny, but somewhat sad, story here. About 3 years ago, my mom and dad went to Texas to visit his granddaughters. On the wall in my dad's ex-wife's house was the wedding picture from when she and my dad married in 1962. I guess she realized she had let a good thing go.

Wife-in-law is another term I like. My aunt uses this to refer to her ex-husband's mistress who later became his wife. I guess that would be another club altogether, though.

My Sex in the City personality

Who's Your Sex and the City Match?

My Result: Miranda

Pessimistic? You? No way! You might come off that way occasionally but you can't fool us. Under that hard shell lives a soft heart and someone who would do just about anything for friends (and family, sure, but mostly friends). With strong opinions and the rare ability say what's on your mind, you are truly one of a kind.

When things get tough, you're usually the one your friends turn to for inspiration and support — and a little tough love to boot. But you're also one of the most independent people around. Not one for superficial relationships, you might not win the prize for having the most friends, but the ones you do have are real — and just what you need.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=sexandthecityogt&c=50652

Mutterings

While randomly surfing through some other blogs, I came across a link for Unconscious Mutterings. It seems like fun, so I thought I'd post my Unconscious Mutterings. :)

I say ... and you think ... ?

Gossipping :: Old bitty
Misplaced :: Lost
Spaceship :: Enterprise
Ignore :: Ignorance
Bodily :: Function
Tweezers :: Ouch
Goodnight :: John Boy
Curls :: Shirley Temple
Faucet :: Drip
Right? :: Wrong

The link to Unconscious Mutterings is http://subliminal.lunanina.com