24 Years

Today is our 24th wedding anniversary.

TWENTY FOUR years!

It feels like a blink & a lifetime, all rolled up in one.
I just want to say

"David, you are everything to me.
You are the love of my life, my soul mate and my very best friend.
I love you more today than I did the day we got married.
Thank you for being the man that you are
and for asking me to share this journey with you.
Happy 24th Anniversary!"
me

Round Two - Almost

Fedex finally brought my HCG drops! I have been waiting & waiting & WAITING!! Wanna know how my head works though? See I have 3 "gorge" days. And if I started taking the drops the morning after I got them (Tuesday)...my first real diet day would've been Friday. You know, Friday...the day/night we are going to see Rodney Carrington??? (They serve beer at the AMP!) And if I started on Wed...well then Sat. night at our "watch the fight - have friends over - catfish fry"...well, I couldn't eat after I worked so hard to cook it all. And then Sunday, we're going to watch the fireworks & cook out at my Aunt Bev's...so see, it makes PERFECT sense in my head to hold off a few days....sense to ME anyway! Ha!

The Creek.........

This creek runs behind my work & has turned out to be the perfect place to train the dogs, let them play & bathe them. And they LOVE it! me

The Crowd Continues To Grow

Okay, so this is how we spend most of our afternoons....working Boogie & Bam. Lately, the neighborhood kids have all started to come out & watch & ask David questions. They want to know if they can take turns throwing the bumpers or can they pet the dogs, or how he's taught them to do all they do. I have to say, David is better with these kids than I am. And the dogs love the attention. Plus, with this many helpers, my job is to sit on the tailgate, drink a beer & relax....I love my job! me

Good Times

We had an amazing weekend! I love David working days!!! Saturday morning we got up & had our coffee then we hit the neighborhood for garage sales. Unfortunately, there weren't many, but we stayed out for a couple hours & really had fun just hanging out together. Sunday was a busy day. It was our niece Gracie's 7th birthday, so we went to her party at Chuck E Cheese in Fayetteville. We had so much fun! Hunter-man figured out real quick how to get his Papa to fill his pockets up with tokens! Oh, and he's started calling David "Pee-paw" which I just love & think is SO cute! I'm still working on "Nana"....sometimes he calls me that, sometimes it's meemaw, sometimes mama...the poor little guy is just confused! Anyway, after the birthday party the kids came up & we grilled hot dogs & hamburgers & Hunter played in his pool. It was just good times!
I can't wait til this weekend. Our 24th anniversary is Thursday and we are going to see Rodney Carrington at the AMP on Friday night. Saturday night is the big heavy-weight fight between Hayes & Klitchko that we've been waiting for and Sunday night our plan is to go to my Aunt Bev's & watch the fireworks. As of right now Monday - it is for REST & RELAXATION! I am trying to plan on having NO plans on Monday...we'll see how that works out! Til next time...me

The Dog Ate It......

Bam sabotaged my diet! Really he did! I started my drops on Monday morning...I still had a few days left in my old bottle. I figured I'd do the 3 days of eating everything while taking the drops, and by then my new drops would be here...wrong! See, Monday we decided to try leave both Bam & Boogie out of their kennels while we were at work and see how they'd do. Bam ate my HCG!!!! Seriously! Thank goodness there wasn't much in there, and they didn't seem to phase him! But now? I'm waiting to get my new ones in the mail....so...I'm in a holding pattern there.
Tuesday I put him in the box...and told him when I left it was because he was a bad dog on Monday. Today...Wednesday, I left him out & tried again. With the exception of my placemats & napkins on our formal dining room table....he did fine! I fussed at him a little bit, but my plan is to try again tomorrow (and just put up the place settings ha!).
David & I are trying to adjust to his new schedule. The first morning we got up at five, had coffee, watched the news & I fixed him breakfast & fixed his lunch...it was smooth sailing. However, he's had a horrific toothache so I got him an appointment Monday afternoon & they ended up doing a root canal. So I had to drive him home & we left my truck at my work. So he had to take me to work yesterday morning....we had to leave early & he go no breakfast & no lunch to take so he had to eat out. This morning I overslept...no time for breakfast or to make his lunch. I love being able to wake up and us drink our coffee together & talk about our plans for the day. I'm hoping by the end of the week we'll be a little more acclimated to the new schedule.

Round Two

Today I ordered round two of HCG! I was supposed to start back last Monday but since I hurt my knee & wasn't sure if I was looking at surgery or what, I held off. (Oh, and I forgot that I have to take the drops for 3 days while I eat any & everything I want & let it build up in my system, so instead, I just ate any & everything I wanted - ha!)
Anyway....enough with all the excuses. The drops should be in sometime next week, and it's time to get serious again. This diet really works - I am on it! me

Time for a little update......

I know I haven't been very faithful about blogging lately and I am going to try do better. But it may not happen, because David goes to days on Monday! Last night was the last Wednesday night I would send him off for his 11pm shift! He still has to work tonight & tomorrow night, but unless things change, I will have him all to myself this weekend. It will be an adjustment for him...for us too, but it will be a good adjustment & life should get back to normal now, and I am so thankful & feel so blessed that God has taken care of this for us.
I saw the knee surgeon yesterday. Good news? No surgery - at least not for 5 more years, and then he said I most likely will have to have a knee replacement. (He also said unless something else takes you out like an illness or accident-gee thanks!) The bad news? There's not really anything he can do for it in the meantime. It's bone on bone, it's very painful, and basically he said, if it hurts - don't do it, take your pain pills when you need to, and if you just can't bear it, call me in a week & we'll start cortisone injections. He offered to do that yesterday, but followed up the offer with - they're painful, expensive & once you start you'll probably have to get one every three months or so until we do the surgery. So uh...no. I will tough it out & see if it gets better before I commit to something like that.
I kept Hunter man again Saturday night (and no, he's not 12 yet ha!) And I've tried to download a video of him at the bottom of this post...hope it works. He loves to climb on on the couch & turn the lights off & on. Thought it'd be nice to preserve the sweetness of this precious baby boy. Anyhoo, the kids brought him up & hung out with David & then me after David went to work. We had a good time. That baby is just so precious & funny & such a sweet little boy. Until - UNTIL - it's time to go to sleep. And then I have a wee bit of trouble with him. Trouble like...being up with him at 3 a.m. walking him, trying to feed him, trying to sing to him, play with him, take him outside...anything to make him quit crying! Wanna know what works? Sitting with him in David's recliner & watching cartoons until 5:30 am! Needless to say I didn't get much sleep, and I called Eddy @ nine the next morning & said come get your son-Nana needs some sleep! But I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. It's so hard to imagine that in six more months, I'll have a new little grandbaby to love & cherish & think the world revolves around. It will be interesting to see how little Hunter adjusts to not being the center of attention-cuz right now he's the only grandbaby in both families & he is a little spoiled! Well, gotta get to work....til next time....me

Crazy

Have I mentioned that I have been drowning in paperwork for the past two weeks? Well, I have been. But I finally reached the other side of the river, or lake or pool or whatever works best here. David received a call from the friendly people over at the Internal Revenue Service & they needed us to get some paperwork together for them. They gave us 2 weeks! I have been beside myself getting receipts, statements, check stubs & what have you together! No less than 15 times I threw up my hands in frustration, or called David in tears & proclaimed..."I can NOT do this! It is just TOO much!" But in typical Tammy fashion, I waited until the very last minute - took a day & a half off from work, and am happy to report that I got said documents in the overnights Tuesday afternoon! Now - we wait. It's pretty obvious to expect that I forgot something, but I have no doubt the handy-dandy IRS man will be sure to call me & fill me in on whatever else he might need. Whew - just talking about that has about made me crazy - so I will move on to other things.


Speaking of crazy - I have something else trying to drive me there. I mentioned to David a couple months ago, that had I known we'd become the proud owner of two Labrador Retrievers, that I would have never EVER purchased micro-suede furniture when we bought the new house. David's leather recliner is the only thing that doesn't hold enough hair to make an additional two dogs. So when his cousin mentioned to us that they are moving, and had a leather couch & recliner they wanted to sell - of course my ears perked up! Then we got home, life happened & I forgot all about it. Until Aunt Shirley called to see if we wanted to go over & look at Kim & Alan's stuff before they posted it on Craigslist. I was in the midst of all the IRS drama, so it wasn't high on my priority list. But when I mentioned it to David, he said to call Kim & set up a time to go over & check it out. We really planned on just getting the recliner, but when we saw the couch we fell in love with it & it was such a good price we couldn't pass it up. We loaded them up & brought them home & here is where the crazy comes in.....I have no where to put them! No where, without giving up my almost brand new micro suede furniture. So everything is shoved in the living room & dining room right now. All cram packed in. And I don't know what to get rid of, or how to get rid of it, and it will have to be cleaned when I do decide. And I honestly just don't have time for that right now. My friend Terri came over the other night & she moved everything around ( I still can barely walk on my knee, so it was all up to her). But in the end, we decided we just have too much stuff in there, and until I let some of it go, it's not going to look good. And...in the end...we moved everything back to where we originally had it. Have I mentioned that the recliner is black leather, the couch tan, and David's recliner is a rust brown? NOTHING MATCHES! The good news is at least they are all earth tones, so maybe some throw pillows or a blanket throw or an area rug will tie them all together. Sounds good in theory, but Martha Stewart I am not! Anyway for now I am just going to live with it and it will all work out in the wash....gotta get to work....me

A Myriad of Things....

I feel like I needed to write a post this morning, to catch you up on things dear blog. It has been super crazy at my house the past few days, weeks, months...well you get the picture.

It's just been a whirlwind of things, first my Grandma passing away, then David's dad going thru another scare with his heart so David went down to go to the doctor with him (all is ok on that front I might add), then Uncle Wayne passed away & we spent the weekend in Dallas with family that we don't get to see nearly enough,
Then Brittni cancelled the wedding & there was all the hub-ba-balloo that went with that. And honestly? She is ok. I truly think the hardest part for her was actually making the decision that she couldn't marry Jerimiah. Once she made that decision for herself, and actually said it out loud, then it was over. We are so proud of her for following her beliefs, and her dreams, and not taking the easy road just to please everyone else. And I think (I hope) she learned one of life's lessons early...one that took me quite a bit longer in life to learn - that FAMILY is who you can depend on the most. We've just all tried so hard to be there for her, but not be overbearing...if you know what I mean. And I love that one of the people she called first, one of the people she really needed to be there for her, was Eddy. And he stepped right up, and was ready & willing to do whatever she needed. My kids are like most brothers & sisters in that they fuss & fight a LOT. But what's not typical of a lot of siblings...is that when it comes down to the wire....when it really REALLY counts, they are ALWAYS there for each other. And the bond they share, well, it just does my heart good! It makes me happy & warm & fuzzy & all that other mushy stuff. But still, it is so hard to see your child hurt. And it's hard to watch when you think they are on the wrong path. It's even harder not to try turn them around yourself, and tell them the direction you think they should go. But David has said all along, Brittni is a very smart & brave girl, we have to trust her. And trust her we did. And it was not in vain.

David will be going to days soon. YAY! They finally hired someone to take his place & he started training them last night. You might be wondering if we knew this person, and that's a big YES! They hired Jeff, David's little brother. Transplace is turning into a family affair for us here in The Allen's World...David, Brittni, Jeff...it's a mini family reunion there every week!


We kept Hunter man on Sunday night. He is so cute & funny & incredibly smart! (I'm serious, I'm not just saying that cuz I am Nana! ha!)...He is however, quite a handful. And it was SO funny because David said Monday morning about 5:30 when the little man woke up....we may wait til he's 12 to do this again! Ha ha! Yeah, SURE we will! Until the next time we get the chance to keep him overnight at least! He LOVES to play outside. He LOVES to crawl up on the couch & turn the lights on & off in the living room. He LOVES to sit on his Papa's lap & watch the crazy frog video on YouTube. He's been doing that with David since he was about six months old & it is so cute! Another thing he loves to do? Play in Boogie & Bam's water bowl in the kitchen. And that is what he was doing on Sunday when I almost killed myself! I was sitting in the living room & heard him spashing in the water...I went running into the kitchen to get him, slipped on the wet tile, fell HARD, and have really really REALY hurt my knee. X-Rays showed arthritus...am waiting on a call for an MRI, have a really ugly knee brace, and am on enough pain killers to knock out a horse! The good thing? I didn't fall on the baby! The bad thing? Surgery is probably on the horizon...
Anyhoo...I've gotta hobble to the bathroom & do my hair & get to work...so...til next time....me