Bayou Meto Arkansas

See, I told you it was beautiful, didn't I???? For me, it's the most peaceful place in the world. Life there is so much calmer, slower, more easy going. There's no competition to have the biggest house, nicest clothes, most money. Everybody there is so laid back. The world moves at a much slower pace. Unless, you're in the boat with your husband & father-in-law. And they decide to drag an old duck blind back to the bank to fix up. And there's trees in the way, that your father-in-law just runs right over in the boat, and the dog jumps out of the boat trying to catch the fish that are splashing up all around you, and you get hit in the head with a bunch of tree branches, or get splinters in your hands trying to keep the tree branches from hitting you in the head, and you think you're gonna get thrown out of the boat when you hit those trees. Yup, it's peaceful, I tell ya! me

My Soldier's Home

So we got to pick Eddy up from the airport in Tulsa Monday night. His flight came in at 11. It made for a long long night & a hard day at work, but let me tell you it was worth it! I miss him so much when he's gone. And when he's here, there's so much for him to do and so many people to see, it flies by like you wouldn't believe. We left the airport & everyone was hungry, so we stopped at Waffle House. The reason I mention this is because of what happened there. The four of us ate & visited and then the waitress brought us our ticket. It was $38 total. Eddy looked at her & asked her if they offered a "military discount", and she said, we sure do! Give me your ticket back. When she brought us our new ticket, it was $13 and some change!! She thanked Eddy for his service to our great country, said drinks were free & meals were 1/2 off! I just think that is great & amazing that places help our soldiers & their families out like that-and that the story was worth telling.

Next: David, both his brothers, and his mom took off yesterday morning at 6 a.m. to go visit his cousin Barbara Lee in Texas. I'm sure I've said this before, but she is absolutely my very favorite cousin out of all of David's cousins. And, she is very very sick. She has cancer, and is back in the hospital & they're not sure if she's gonna make it this time. David & his family all are very close & they just felt like they needed to go put their arms around her. I wasn't able to go, I had to work, but that's ok. I'm sure their little road trip brought back lots of childhood memories for all four of them. And it may be the last time that the four of them have an opportunity to take a road trip & spend time together like that.

Since David was gone last night & my soldier was home, Eddy & Dez took me out to dinner, just us three. We went to the Celtic Grill, (which is probably my favorite place to eat). We had such a good time. We laughed and joked & talked for a couple hours. Then we stopped at the video store on the way home & rented a couple movies & sat up late watching movies together. I had to catch myself a couple times...I wish nights like that could last forever.

Tomorrow: Tomorrow we are leaving for Stuttgart. We will be gone for 10 whole days! I really REALLY need the break. Saturday morning is opening day of duck season, I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to share when I get back. We went down to David's dad's last weekend. I walked in the door from work & David said "You wanna go to dad's for the weekend?" Since Eddy wasn't coming in on Saturday as planned (They shut Ft. Eustis down because of Hurricane Ida, and he couldn't graduate until Monday morning), and since it was David's birthday, and since we had ZERO plans for the weekend, I said "sure". We threw some things in a suitcase, loaded Boogie in her kennel & took off. Let me just say this - I drove. When we got on 540 heading south, every thought, every worry, every stress, just left me. I didn't think about work, I didn't worry about money, nothing. We got down there about 11:30, visited a while & went to bed. The next day we got in the big flat bottom boat, and all three of us rode down the bayou. It is BEAUTIFUL. I have pictures. I'll put them on my next post. Anyway, for the entire weekend, I didn't have a care in the world. We had SO MUCH FUN! And I was at peace. Until we hit about Fayetteville on our way home. Then, it was back to normal. Life! It's something, isn't it? me

HAPPY 41ST BIRTHDAY DAVID!

Today is my husbands 41st Birthday! Happy Birthday baby! I love you so much!
And, to top it off - he is SICK. Sooo sick. The reason I'm able to sympathize with him so much is because I GAVE IT TO HIM! I had to leave work about 10:30 Wednesday morning, the stomach couldn't handle it any longer. And I was out sick yesterday. David took such wonderful care of me, and now, instead of being at home taking care of him, I am stuck at work. I did run home to check on him at lunch, and he is not feeling very good at all. Mr. Dick & Sharon were planning on taking us out for dinner tonight to celebrate his birthday, but at lunch I called & cancelled. There is no way he's going to feel like going. Anyway, that's about all I've got time for right now, gotta get to work. me

Trojans, Worms & More

I spent my lunch hour (and an additional hour) today on the phone with the Dell Support Help Desk people. No, they are NOT located here in the good old U.S.A. however, Mukeeshaieekrha, or whatever his or her name was, was very helpful. It seems that my husband, in his boredom, decided to surf around on some unsafe websites. And then we were attacked by Trojans, and Worms & all sorts of ugly things threatening our security, our computer, and the history of our lives which are stored ONLY on said computer. For the low low price of only $185, Dell came through! This time, at least, I purchased a one year plan. So for the next 12 months, should David browse a dangerous website that attacks with more exuberance than a mountain lion, it will only cost me two or more hours of my life to get it fixed and back to normal. And THAT-was my day! me

The Baby Shower

Here's a couple pictures from the baby shower we had Saturday for Dez. She got so many wonderful gifts. My grandma (Hunter's great-great grandma) made him 2 quilts & several receiving blankets & burp rags, etc. The older I get the more I appreciate all the love & time that goes into the things my grandma makes us. David & I went shopping Friday after work to find the "perfect" gift for Hunter. We ended up with what we thought was the perfect gift for Eddy & Des instead. We got them a digital camera!! There is something selfish in the gift we chose, I must admit. It has to do with the kids & new baby being 300 miles away. They didn't have a camera of any kind. This way, they'll have a nice camera that they can take many many pictures of the baby with, then they can download them on their laptop & email us pictures EVERY DAY! Smart thinking, huh? Leave it to me to have an ulterior motive! me

The Weekend & A Baby Shower

It's Friday - again. I can't believe how fast this entire year is going by, nor can I believe the changes that have come with it. Tonight David & I must go baby shopping! How fun does that sound? I mean, really, I have a grandson on the way! In less than 2 months! I CAN NOT WAIT! To hold him & kiss him & love him & well, I guess you get the picture. The shower is tomorrow, so not much time left. And what better way to celebrate a new life than by having all your friends & family get together? Short of the shower, no other plans as of yet. Of course, that is always subject to change. me

Horse Races & Halloween!

Let me backtrack to the weekend & tell ya'll about the horse races we went to/worked at. Our friends had their very first "Horse Training Sessions" last Saturday. It's called a training session, because we all know that you can't just open up a horse track out in the middle of nowhere & charge people to come in & start betting. I think that is completely illegal. What you CAN do however, if you have the land, the equipment, the facilities & the horses, is have horse race "practice" or training. David & I showed up bright & early Saturday morning at our friends place. They have many many acres out it the middle of the country. They had everything set up. My plan, of course was to sit back & watch while David worked "security". We ended up sitting at the bottom of the hill working the "gate". Basically that meant when a car/truck came in, we handed them a flyer, collected $15 A PERSON! from them, David had to say "No guns, no alcohol, right?" a hundred thousand times, he had to check each vehicle, then we'd let them through & send them up the hill. We got set up & ready for our first car about 9:00 a.m. At 11:30, we'd sent approximately 3 to 5 cars up the hill. We were starting to get worried. What if nobody came? Our poor friends would be out all this time & money. Not to worry. By noon, we had a line of cars backed up from here to Springdale! Oh my word! I can not tell you the pressure! It was great! We worked the gate until 3:30, and by then, we'd sent over 200 cars in! Did I mention that our friends are Hispanic? And that we had to have an interpreter with us to translate? Finally, Alex sent a couple guys down to take our place & we got to go up & watch the races. Well, I watched ONE race. It was very exciting! Except the part where I got hit in the head by a big clump of dirt when the horses sped by! I was pretty much done standing by the rail at that point. So I went to the tent to hang out with my friend Yolanda. She was selling home made tacos & tamales & cokes. $1 each! I'm not sure, but she probably made even more money selling her amazing food, than we made for them at the gate! If ya'll have never had REAL AUTHENTIC Mexican food, you don't know what you're missing. Since I speak little to no espanola, I pretty much watched her & her friends work. Occasionally I would understand something like "dos cokes" & would run over to the cooler & hand her a couple Cokes, but for the most part I was totally useless. David spent this time by walking around & making everyone pour out the beer & alcohol that wasn't allowed (and we're still not sure how they managed to sneak it in). By 5:30, we were exhausted, so we said our goodbyes & collected our pay for the day. We made a whole $100 between us. Not too bad, I thought to myself, until I figured it up & realized we made less than $5/hr apiece! Oh well, we were helping friend & I got to see my first horse race! We were both SO tired, I didn't even want to stop & get candy for the trick or treaters on our way home, but David convinced me we didn't want our doorbell to ring & us have nothing to offer all those HUNDREDS of kids that would surely be there soon! So, we ran in to our local Harp's (insert overpriced local grocery store here) & spent $30 on candy. Candy, I might add, that David picked out himself. We got home, I called Dominoes for dinner, because I knew I'd be so busy handing out all that candy - and I was so tired - I wouldn't be able to cook. At 6:30 our first trick or treater showed up! He was an adorable little guy, the son of a lady I work with, so I gave him lots of candy. (But not too much, I needed to save some for the rest of the kids, right?) Then I waited...And waited. At 7 the doorbell rang again! I jumped up & grabbed my huge bowl of candy & opened the door to....the pizza guy. I had to go back & get some $ & pay him. Then we ate. And waited. And waited. And waited. At 9:00 we gave up. Turned off the lights. Went to bed. ONE. ONE. I-HAD-ONE-TRICK-OR-TREATER! ONE. It hurt my heart. David however, was fine. Because remember? He'd picked out all the candy. And he picked all his favorites! Me