Back From The Beach!

We are back from our short(2 night) trip to the beach. Althought time on the beach itself was short, only a couple of hours, we still had a lot of fun. The place we stayed was very nice, it had recently been updated and was very clean. We were in a one bedroom condo at Port Royal at Port Aransas. It was definitely not cheap but very nice. They were doing construction on one of the pool areas so we did not get to used the water slides and had to make do with only three pool areas (I know, I know, poor us!) The condo had a full kitchen, nicely stocked and a full size washer and dryer (so I did not have to haul home a bunch of sandy stuff)

I wish our condo had been a little further away from the elevators, it was right outside our bedroom window so it got a little noisy. The weather did not totally cooperate, it rained some and was very, very windy. Darling Daughter got to swim quite a bit in the pools and play on the beach for a few hours, so she is a happy camper. Hubby cut his foot while we were there but fortunately it did not turn out to be as bad as we originally thought and he still had a good time too! The place was very pretty. The pool area was nicely landscaped with lots of hybiscus and other tropical plants and flowers. Everyone was pleasant and helpful. Even the 4 bus loads of high schoolers were reasonably well behaved. Most of the other guest were like us, parents with kids. We would definitely go back, it was great!

Back to work and school now. We have about 4 more weeks of school, it sure has flown by as I am sure the summer will too. Hope you all had a great weekend and have a wonderful week too!

It's Official

The deposit has been paid, the plans are made: Hubby and I are going to Hawaii! Our plans have changed a little since the other post but not much. The hotel in Maui is going to be the Kaanapali Shores instead of Kaanapali Beach. We will still spend two nights in Oahu and then 5 days in Maui. Darling Daughter has her nose bent out of shape because she is not going. Too Bad, So Sad! I don't even remember going on a vacation until I was 10 or 12 and that was just to Six Flags. We usually did not have the money for big vacations. She will have more fun if she stays with her Granny and Papa (and so will her parents)! I can't even imagine what it is going to be like to have 7 days of just the two of us. We will miss the little princess but it is going to be great to reconnect with Hubby. What better place to reconnect than Hawaii!

Hawaii, Watch Out Here We Come! (okay, so you have a few months to prepare for our arrival!!!!)

Saturday

I wasn't at all sure what type of day it was going to be. I did not get much sleep last night, I had trouble going to sleep (too much Disney planning) and then toss and turned and had lots of dreams. So I was not a terribly "happy camper" when my daughter woke me up this morning in a rather obnoxious way! However, I did get up and get a shower which helped my mood tremendously and off we went to drive some elementary school kids to a Kids For Christ Rally, they said they did not need us to stay, just to drive and pick up, so that meant 4 glorious hours alone with my hubby!

It was great! We went to Starbucks and had coffee (Toffee Nut Latte for me!, plain Latte for him!) and a blueberry muffin. We met with a travel agent and got some info about Hawaii. We are considering two nights in Oahu ( go see Pearl Harbor) at the Wakiki Beach Marriott and then five nights in Maui at the Kannapali Beach Hotel. (Anybody have any opinions about those places they want to share?) We went to Costco and picked up a beach umbrella and cooler for our trip to the beach. We had a most romantic (well maybe not!) lunch at Sonic and then on to the bookstore. I could not believe we got so much done in just 4 hours and were still early to pick up the kids.

Darling daughter went to play with a friend and I got a lovely hour long nap while hubby got to play a computer game (heaven for him!) Later, hubby and daughter went to the pool while I read and fixed a good dinner. Now hubby and daughter have gone to the store to pick up a few things and I am reading and posting on the blog! I know I am boring but this has been a Good Day!

I need Good Days like this every now and then to keep me charged up for the not so good days. Thanks be to God the Father for all the days that we have together! I pray that I will continue to be thankful for my many blessing including my sweet blogger friends who encourage me when I am down and rejoice with me when good things happen. What a blessed woman I am! May you all enjoy your weekend and may your Sunday be spent worshipping the Almighty, the giver of all things!

Just Call A Travel Agent Already!

I feel like I am a travel agent as I am trying to work out everyone's schedules for work travel, school vacation, stays with grandparents this summer and the 4 solid weeks of church activities that darling daughter (DD) has this summer.

It started out that we would take a weekend and go to the beach just about DD's favorite thing to do, once that was scheduled we moved on to a business trip for darling hubby (DH) and then we progressed to family vacation this summer and a special trip for hubby's 40th birthday! I think we have just about got it worked out and while I have no hope that everyone will be thrilled with ALL the plans, I think the majority will be happy with most of them.

It looks like we will go to Port Aransas and have a nice weekend on the beach, then hubby will make a business trip to Salt Lake City. Whole family will make a 6 day trip to Disney ( got super great airfare)(BTW Disney is DD FAVORITE thing to do!) and then DD will have two weeks of church activities before going to grandparents for a week or so. While DD is with said grandparents, DH and Moi will be flying off to Hawaii for some long overdue alone time. We will get back just in time for DD to start second two weeks of church activities.

This leaves us with about 3 unplanned weeks for the summer. I am sure that the other set of grandparents will either want us all to come for a few days or at least DD to spend a few days with them. Then there is school stuff to buy and get ready for a new year. I am tired already but excited too.

It seems like a lot to do in one summer and a lot of money to spend (although it is really only costing us our IRS refund) which I tend to think of as our play money anyway (Brett, we give our contribution to church based on before tax income! :o) ) We tend to go months and years without any type of vacation and then we go big, so I guess this is our big year!

All that said, that is the plan! Still need to double check a couple of things and finalize the plans for Hawaii! Jettybetty, I still may not be able to hear the waves in Hawaii but I bet we have a great time anyway. I really want DH's birthday to be special and this is what he wants to do, more fun for me and less work than planning a big party!!!!

If nothing else maybe we will escape some of this Southern heat. Yes I know we are going to hot places but it can't be any worse than it is here. It is supposed to be 101 today (Hello, it's only April!) Hope all your summer plans are shapping up nicely. Enjoy yourselves, your family and the beauty that God has surrounded us with!

HOPPY EGGSTER!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!

When Mommy's Sick

When Mommy's Sick (Children)

Mommy's sick in bed today. Doctor says she has the flu. Sissy's got a stuffy nose and she might get it, too. When Mommy's sick it makes us sad she doesn't feel so good. She's having juice and medicine like the doctor said she should. It's not the same when Mommy's sick, our hugs are all sick, too, and kisses for our boo-boo's also have the flu. Our sads are even sadder so our happy's aren't as glad and when we're being naughty, that even feels more bad. Let's get her better, Sissy! Get some more juice in her 'cause I remember something else, ewwww... Daddy's cooking dinner... C.J. Heck I was looking for something funny to post today about being sick. This seem to fit the bill. Darling daughter has tomorrow off, so let's pray that Mommy gets to feeling better!

Any Old Ags Out There?

I am finding more and more bloggers with ties to A&M, so if you are an "Old Ag" or have a child who is either a student at A&M or a former student at A&M, please leave me a comment below! If you are a former student at A&M and a former member of the "Aggies For Christ" please leave a comment also! Lastly, if you know someone who was in the AFC's or at A&M tell them about my blog and have them post a comment. I would love to hear from some of my old friends if they are out in blogsville! I was at A&M during the 80's but don't let that limit you in responding. Whoop! GIG 'EM AGGIES!

PS> I don't want any posting from "Jim Shorts" Almost every year at church when the new semester started and the several hundred college students placed membership someone would sneak in a card by "Jim Shorts" and Bob D. (campus minister at that time) would read the name out and wait for this guy to stand up. Everybody would laugh including Bob and he'd say "I can't believe you got me again!" AHH, Memories!!!!

Hello God? Is it really you?

We have been studying a book in our Life Group called Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby and Claude King. (I tried to underline it but blogger won't let me, sorry!) I confess that I am having a hard time getting into this book. It may be my conservative COC background but often when someone tells me they have been "called by God" to do something, my first reaction is often "are you sure it was God doing the calling?" and my second reaction is "have you talked to someone (psychiatrist) about this?"

I am trying to read this book and keep an open mind about it but it is difficult. A friend of mine recently told me she had been dreaming about Africa alot and wondered (jokingly) if that meant she should move to Africa and be a missionary. I (jokingly) told her "No, it means that you need to go buy that animal print purse and the matching shoes!"

I don't know if I am just not strong enough in my faith for this study yet or what. I definitely believe that God can and does put things in my life to help me make decisions but am just not sure that he "calls" me in a tangible way. I am not confident in my ability to sort through, what is God's will and my want. Also, I worry that it is not God speaking but Satan who puts the thoughts and ideas in my head.

I think I will have a lot of questions for God once I get to Heaven. (or maybe once I get there it will either not matter anymore or suddenly all be crystal clear) For now I guess I will read the chapter for Sunday night and try to participate as much as I can. Even if I don't totally agree with everything in the book, it is a good opportunity to study and ponder God's word.

Anyone have any thoughts on God calling us to do things or go places?

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Bummer Day for Little K!

My 8 year old is having a total bummer day! First thing this morning, I squashed all her joy by refusing to let her wear her new flip flops to school. I insist on following the tennis shoes at school rule and that makes me a "mean mama"! She was already in a bad mood because she did not get to go swimming on Sunday and it was the first day the community pool was open. She had planned all winter to go to the pool on the first day it was open but because we had out of town company, she did not get to go (so sad!)

She planned to go to the pool today and her Dad took off work so he could take her. She called her friend to go with her and the little friend could not go until after 5. No problem, they decided to wait and go after 5 instead of at 4 like they had planned. At approximately 4 :45 I looked out the window and it was dark and beginning to rain! So no swimming today! There is a dark cloud hanging over this house and I don't mean the rain clouds!

Good Book!

Hello Friends! Hope you all had a good weekend. Ours was rather uneventful (a good thing) Hubby and I were able to enjoy each other's company for almost the whole day on Saturday because darling daughter played at a friends house all afternoon and then we had already arranged for a babysitter in the evening. We were able to go to Costco and browse the whole store with no one saying, "I am bored, let's go home" I love to check out the book section at Costco and came home with a few new ones.

I just finished one of them this morning as I was working my way through our endless supply of laundry (who knew 3 people could produce so much laundry!) "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith was a good quick read. It is set in Botswana, Africa. It is a short book (235 pages), so it doesn't take forever to get through it. It looks like it is a series with several other books continuing the adventures of this unlikely lady detective. I can't wait to pick up some of the other books in the series.

Looks like we might be getting some rain, we sure could use it in this area. Here's wishing you a delightful week, full of good friends, peaceful families and all of God's richest blessings!

Spoke too soon!

Things got a little more interesting around here after I posted about a boring week (isn't that how it usually works!) The new (expensive) computer decided to bite the dust. I was working on it and and an error screen popped up and before I could even react to that the whole screen went POP! I tried everything I knew to do to get it to come back up but it would not boot up, it would show the logo and then fade to grey! I was just sure that we had a 90 day warrantee on it and that it was day 91!

Hubby tried to fix it with no success ( he is the computer expert) so I was really sweating it out at that point but we got on the other computer and using the webpage figured out that it was a bad memory card. It will work with only one card (yeah!!!) and the card was covered by a One Year Warrantee (double Yeah!!!!) So now we are back in working mode and a new memory card is on it's way to our house! So all is well once again.

That is enough excitement for me this week, I will take my dull hum drum week back now. Had another remapping done with the CI today. Just have to be patient and wait and see with it! It is in God's hands! Have a great weekend!

Nothing Much Going On Here!

Keep trying to come up with something to post about but this has just been an ordinary week for us. Filled with hum drum stuff that married people and families do! Hasn't been a great week and hasn't been a lousy one! We picked up a new area rug for the family room. K has doctor appt this week and I have a remapping on Friday for the CI.Maybe this will be the week that they make just the right adjustment and everything falls into place.

Thanks be to God for hum drum weeks, they can't all be terribly exciting and thankfully it has not been a bad week! Hubby and I are teaching a class at church on Weds. nights in sign language. We don't have a big group but they seem eager to learn and they provide us with lots of laughs.

All you bloggers out there with exciting weeks, write about them so us hum drummers can have something to read about this week! Taking any trips Jettybetty? Any cute pictures Maui Mama? Have a blessed week everybody!

Home Again!

Hello friends! We are back home again after spending some time with my folks. They celebrated thier 50th Anniversary last week and we gave them a party on Saturday. It turned out really nice, especially considering that it was planned from 300 miles away completely through e-mail between my brother and myself.

Hubby and I stole away for two days to a B&B in Galveston, while darling daughter was spoilt rotten by my parents. The B&B was great and time alone was wonderful. It was called the Mermaid and the Dolphin and it was in a beautiful old mansion on Galveston Island. It was too cool for the beach but we had fun walking along The Strand and just spending time together. The hot tub for two on the private veranda was mighty nice too!

Now, we are back home with a pile of laundry to do and lots of little things around the house to keep us busy. Ah well, it was nice while it lasted. Hope you are all enjoying your week and a Happy Saint Paddy's Day to you all tomorrow!

ON A POSITIVE NOTE!

I know that you all are used to me complaining on my blog but I actually have some encouraging news to report. First of all, I heard my daughter ask me a question on Friday through the implant. We were in the car and I can never understand her when I am driving and she is in the backseat. I had pulled into the parking lot where she takes her swimming lessons and turned off the car. She said "mama, what time is it?" ( I was not looking at her and had my head turned where my processor was towards her) and immediately I said, It is 3:11. Then I realized what had just happened and so I asked her what she just asked me and lip read her say I asked what time it was! I told her that I heard her thru the implant for the first time and she said "Mama, that is so cool!"

Second great thing is I got to go out with my favorite date twice this weekend. My daughter spent the night with a friend (different friend this week) on Friday and we had already arranged for a baby sitter for Sat. So what a treat to have time alone with my hubby two nights in a row. My daughter made it thru the night at her friends house this week ( I am not too surprised because she knows this friend and her family much better than the girl she tried to spend the night with last weekend. So no midnight trips across town to pick up an unhappy child this weekend!

I was able to hear a couple of words clearly and can tell that I am hearing speech more frequently now, rather than just beeps and whistles but there are still some problems with the processor. It is too loud to wear for any length of time so I will have to have more programming done this week. But I am very encouraged because this was the first time I heard anything besides just beeps and whistles. So while it is not fixed by any means we are making progress and I can see there will be a time when I can hear with this implant. That gives me great hope for the future and as Christians we all know how powerful hope can be!

Hope you all had a happy weekend, full of good times and good friends. Blessings to all!

GREAT FRIEND!

I am fortunate to have a great friend, Carrie. Some of you know her and already know what a special lady she is. She is always there for me if I need to talk to someone, we meet at a Christian themed coffeehouse for breakfast somtimes and spend an hour or more sharing. Lately I have been sharing more than her because there is a lot going on in my life now but we always seem to laugh and come away feeling a little better afterwards. I hope that I am able to give her back a little of the love that she is so freely giving to me.

So today I am saying a special Thank You to my friend Carrie! Thank You for laughing with me and crying with me too! Thank you for being there to take my child when I had my kidney stone attack and landed in the ER. Thank you for being such a sweet friend. I love you and I thank God for blessing me with such a sweet friend!

Goodbye Old Friends!

Growing up in my household meant the men ruled the television. My brother was big into Star Trek and my Dad was big into westerns. Thus I watched way too much of both of those types of programs.

Andy Griffith was one of those shows that everybody got to enjoy! Barney has been making me laugh for close to 40 years. My 8 yr old likes to watch the DVD with the old shows on it. Poor ole Barney (Don Knotts) passed away this week. I never cared for his character on Three's Company but always enjoyed Barney. Andy Griffith put it best: "Don was a small man ... but everything else about him was large: his mind, his expressions," Griffith told The Associated Press on Saturday. "Don was special. There's nobody like him.

"I loved him very much," Griffith added. "We had a long and wonderful life together." I sure hope when I die that my friends can say that about me!

Another actor Dennis Weaver died this week also and he entertained us with Gunsmoke and later MCCloud but I think what impresses me the most is he was married to the same woman for 61 years. It is really hard to find that in Hollywood anymore! Of course, he did not live in Hollywood, preferring to live in Colorado in a solar powered home that was made from mostly recycled material. A family man who cared about the enviroment sounds like a good guy to me!

I don't know anything about either of these men's spiritual life. I hope they knew Christ and I hope they are with the Father now. I can appreciate both of these men for the joy they brought my family and countless others. Think I will go watch a Andy Griffith DVD and laugh with Barney for awhile!

Nice Anniversary Dinner!

Hubby and I went out for a nice dinner down on the riverwalk Friday night. It was a dress up place and darling daughter was at a sleepover. It was nice to get away for a little while just the two of us and try some things (food wise) we had not experienced before. It wasn't Hawaii but it was still quite nice. We have decided that it will be "our place" and when we need to get away, we will get a babysitter, get dressed up and escape to "our place"!

Then back to reality! Darling daughter called at 12:30 am and said she wanted to come home! Poor Hubby had to get dressed and go pick her up. She was so tired, she was asleep by the time her head hit the pillow. This was only her second sleepover (other than grandparents) and so we were not too surprised. I think I came home from a sleepover or two but then again, my friends were next door not across town!

Hope you are all having a blessed weekend! We got a little sunshine on Thursday (which was our anniversary) but then back to the rainy weather. We need the rain but have been getting mostly drizzle. Today we got a pretty good downpour so maybe it will help the aquifer fill back up and we won't have water restrictions and brown yards this summer. Look forward to going to church in the morning and singing (and signing) praises to God. Week just goes better if you start it off right! Blessings!

Rainy Days and Tuesdays and Wednesdays.....

WARNING THIS WILL BE A PITY PARTY POST! I KNOW THAT LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE IT WORSE THAN ME BUT RIGHT NOW I JUST NEED TO VENT! FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS POST IF YOU DON'T LIKE PITY PARTIES!

Will the sun ever shine again in SA? At least it is not as cold as earlier in the week. It is just so dreary, it is hard not to be depressed. K is home with a fever, they called me from school to come get her around 1:00. I am not sure what the problem is, she really seems to be fine, not really complaining about anything. She is just complaining because I won't let her go out in the drizzle and jump rope and also I told her we would not be going to church tonight. That girl takes her church going seriously!

I had my balance test this morning and the crystals in my inner ear are messed up. They have migrated into the balance area of my ears and I have to go thru a series of manipulations by a physical therapist to put them back. Sounds like quackery I know but it is legitimate stuff. I was embarrassed because during the balance test I started to cry, I am just so frustrated with all of this stuff. I am dizzy all the time, it seems and I have all these side effects from the surgery and yet I still am not making progress with the cochlear implant. Dr. wants me to have an x ray to make sure the electrodes are in the right place. He also wants the representative from the company that makes my implant to do a complete diagnositic on the unit and make sure it is working correctly. He wants me to walk every day to improve my balance and then see the physical therapist on the 6th for the manipulation to put my crystals back in the right spot.

It just seems like I am worse off than when I started. I felt like I had to try the implant because there was nothing else that could be done from a hearing aid standpoint but I really did not know that the side effects would be so severe and so emotionally draining. I am trying to be patient and do all the things that they tell me to but it is so frustrating. I really wish I could go back 6 months and just be hearing impaired again. True, I could not hear a lot of things but I could still talk to my mom on the phone and call my husband when I needed him or just to hear him say "I Love You, Babe!"

Sorry for the pity party post. Maybe I have SAD and need to get one of those sun light lamps! Now I will count my blessings: I have a God who loves me and gave his Son for me! I will be with Him in Heaven one day! I have a fantastic husband who has been my friend for about 19 years and my hubby for 15 years (tomorrow!) He is my biggest supporter and encourager. He is always there for me. I have a beautiful healthy little girl who can make me laugh and smile just by being herself. I have a roof over my head (a pretty nice one too!) and plenty to wear and too much to eat. I have friends who love me and will put up with my pity parties! :0) So I am a blessed woman!

Rainy Days and Mondays!

Like the old song says "rainy days and mondays always get me down" add to that "cold " and a pile of laundry! Enough said! Here's to a brighter day tomorrow!

Almost New Furniture!

We got the couch and the two recliners back from the upholsters today. Had to write them a big check but I am pleased with the results. Everything is starting to come together in the formal living room. It is never really going to be formal but it definitely looks better now. I bought two throw pillows in the same stripe as my dinning room chairs are covered in (that was a job recovering those things) and they look great on the new gold fabric of the couch. The formal living and formal dining room are really one big room ( no wall between them) so this ties them together really well.

The furniture guys also moved another couch which had been in the living room into a small bedroom at the front of the house. We call this room the baby's room because when we moved here we put the crib and nursery furniture in that room. If we had another baby that would have been the nursery. I don't think there are going to be any more babies in this house, so we have decided to make it into the office/guest room. Some of our guest are having a hard time with the stairs so we thought we would put the blue sleeper sofa in that room and they can use it if they don't want to climb the stairs to the real guestroom. I have several blue bonnet pictures and accessories so I am thinking of decorating that room with them and calling it our "blue room". But first we need to get rid of some of the junk in there. We have gotten into the bad habit of putting stuff in there until we can decide what to do with it. Maybe I need to go read the fly lay.com for some ideas on decluttering that room.

Anyway, after 16 years of hating that SW couch, it is gone! I am so thrilled! The old dirty pink recliners that survived about 11 moves , are now beautiful and clean! And after 5 1/2 years in this house I am finally fixing up the living room and making an office! Hey, I am slow but eventually I get it done. Probably what this all means is my hubby will come home and tell me he has been transferred. Usually that is what happens about the time I get my house the way I like it! (TMK and Jenny-- no we are not moving, does not look like they will transfer big K for at least 10 years, I am just being pessimistic!)

Tomorrow I go back to CI for remapping. I am a little more hopeful this week that my brain is starting to get this stuff. I actually understood that someone was reading scripture on a CD that I was listening to (could not really understand what he was saying but could tell he was reading scripture) and then today, I kept hearing a funny sound and I finally figured out it was the telephone ringing. So I am making little baby steps.

I think I am about to get over this flu and cough I have had forever, got some good news regarding a problem my family was experiencing (relief in sight maybe!) and just generally seem to be feeling more positive about the CI. Thanks for all your prayers, I know they worked and helped me get through a rough time!