Road Trips, Snow & Hunter!

Tuesday night Brit came over & we watched American Idol, then cleaned the house. She left around 11, and I still had the spare bedrooms to clean, but I stayed up & got everything done. I was dragging Wednesday, but went to Kohl's after work to spend my gift card I'd got for Christmas. Hurray for new bras! Anyway, I called & checked in with David on my way home & updated him on the weather report. We had a BAD storm coming in late Thursday, ice & then lots of snow. The more we discussed it, the more we both decided he might need to be at home. If it got so bad we lost electricity, I have no idea how to start the fireplace - and I try to NEVER drive when it's slick outside. SO....I went home, changed into some comfy clothes & headed out to Stuttgart about 7 p.m. I made pretty good time & got there around 11:30. Then we loaded David & Boogie up & headed back home. I was supposed to sleep all the way home, but believe it or not, I missed my husband & missed talking to him. So we just talked most of the way home. I did get some sleep in the truck, but when we got home at 4 a.m. I crashed - Hard - for 2 1/2 hours anyway. Then it was off to work. When I got home we made a run to the grocery store, it was already sleeting. We went to bed early that night, we were both exhausted. Imagine if you will, what it feels like to wake up from a dead sleep, to see someone STANDING IN YOUR BEDROOM! I screamed like crazy, woke David up, scared him to death, then EDDY turned the light on! Him & Dez had loaded Hunter up & headed down for a few days without telling any of us! I was SO happy to see them, but can not believe they came down when the weather was so bad. Kids - they don't check the weather before they plan a trip. I guess since I do, that means I'm getting old! Ha! Anyway they said the roads were fine until they hit Bella Vista. I told them next time they need to let me know they're on the way so I can pray for their safety. But as usual, God is in control, and He takes care of them & protects them, with or without my prayers! My grandson has gotten SO big. He is still the most beautiful baby in the whole world. And speaking of the baby, I'm gonna go now, so I can go hold him & love on him some more! Stay warm! me

Girls Night

I'm back from Stuttgart. And I came back alone. David decided he definitely needed to stay with his dad for at least a week, try to be there to help him as he recovers from surgery. The surgery went well, by the way. But as we all know, recouping from surgery takes time. So, I find myself home alone. I had/have SO many plans. So many things I wanted to do with this week I have to myself. So far though, I've only accomplished going to work. Yesterday, I tried to bribe Brittni into doing a little cleaning at our house. I know she always needs extra money so I called her & told her I'd pay her to vacuum, dust, do the bathrooms, all the kind of stuff that I HATE so passionately. She jumped at the offer. So when I got home last night she was already there. On the computer. Then we ordered pizza, then we decided we wanted to go get some snack food & rent a couple movies. We turned cleaning night into girls night and had a great time. Except for the part where we rented a scary movie and then Brittni went home around midnight & left me by myself! Ha. Oh well, we've got American Idol to watch Tuesday night. I truly enjoy the time I get to spend with my daughter. I wish we could have more of it! me

Recap....

Dear Blog - I've been bad. I've neglected you lately & I'm sorry...well, actually, I'm not really sorry at all! Ha Ha! I just once again, find myself with so very little to write about. But - we are about to leave for Stuttgart - yes - again...and I wanted to just touch on some on the goings-on in the Allen's World. First off, Brittni had a wreck Friday night. She's fine. But sometimes I question who actually raised that child. She was on the Bentonville square around midnight, on her way to her friend Liz's house. And an older gentleman, in a brand new LEXUS, ran a stop sign & crashed into her passenger door. He didn't want to call the police, Brittni thinks she she has a crappy little car that there wasn't too much damage, he gives her $140 cash & she agrees not to call the police. Oh, and - since his car is so messed up he can't drive it, she offers to give this complete stranger A RIDE HOME! OMG - the scenarios that run through a mother's mind. But as usual, God's hand was on her & he actually was a really sweet old man. And the wrecker that came to pick up the Lexus gave him a ride home. In the chaos, he left a sack in her car. After she told us about it THE NEXT DAY and David looked at her car, she realized $140 wouldn't begin to fix it. There was a receipt in the bag he left, the internet is amazing, and to make a long story short, the man has happily agreed to fix her car for her at his expense. Thank you Lord Jesus. Next, Eddy has some medical stuff going on and I don't think he's going to be deployed in March. I'm sure he'll still have to go, it just may be postponed for a little bit. They thought he might be diabetic or anemic, blood work is back & he is thankfully NOT, but now they want to do a sleep study on him. They don't think he's resting when he sleeps therefore his body isn't healing the way it should. Weird, I know, but just one more thing to keep in our prayers. Speaking of prayers, Big David is having another surgery on his neck Friday morning. It's a pretty big deal (all surgery's are I guess), and he always needs our prayers. I'm using my birthday holiday at work, so we'll be leaving tomorrow after work - David may have to stay with his dad next week, so I may be home alone for a few days. What will I do with myself? Who knows? We'll just have to see. Until then.....me

The Wildlife Bar

And here - is where we all ended up Saturday after they came in from hunting. We're at the WildLife. It's a great little bar in Stuttgart, David & his dad know the owner Kenny. It's a nice place to just sit down, enjoy a beer or two & visit & hang out. And that's exactly what we did Saturday afternoon. Until it was time for the boys to go home & go back out to the blind!

The Boys Go Hunting

And here are some random pictures of Saturday morning. It is 4 a.m. Yes, I said 4 a.m. Notice the wonderful healthy breakfast they're all eating? You're welcome! I actually enjoy getting up & fixing breakfast for a bunch of hungry guys getting ready to head out to the duck blind. And I know David appreciates it. I also put on a HUGE pot of stew for when they got back in later that day. And for dinner? I made fried chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, coleslaw...the works! Everyone seemed to have a really good time. There was SO much water there....they've had the worst flooding down in that part of Arkansas in history. So the ducks had A LOT of water to choose from. The ducks were scarce. But other than that...it was a great trip.

The Duck Blind 2009

Wednesday before last, David, Boogie & me headed out at noon to go to Stuttgart. This was to be the last "big" duck hunt of 2009. We also hadn't spent Christmas with Big David yet.

I can't remember if I blogged about our 1st duck hunt together. But I DO remember emphatically saying that I would NOT do that again...EVER....wrong... I lied.

We set the alarm for 3:45 Thursday morning. I woke up & fixed David breakfast. And as I was sitting there having my coffee, minding my own business (daydreaming about going back to bed), my sweet sweet husband invited me to go along with him - again. And try as I might to come up with any & every excuse not to go, I actually kinda felt a little bit bad that on that particular morning, he didn't have anyone to go with him. And I know how much he LOVES duck hunting & working Boogie. AND - I know how important it is to him to have a few pictures of each hunt.

So, without further ado, I went back to the bedroom, put on 15 layers of clothes, and announced I would be tagging along again.

The smile on his face was almost worth the boat rideout to the duck blind in the dark, crawling back in the duck blind through that little bitty door, freezing my ass off & getting my picture taken in this hideous outfit you see above....A-L-M-O-S-T! me

Cancelling the Kansas Trip

I guess it's officially "official" and we are NOT going to Kansas to visit the kids this weekend. Sad doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about that. BUT - we truly don't have the money for a trip like that right now, the weather is HORRIBLE, and - Desiree's dad & step mom are going. With all that being said...we'll be postponing our trip. I'd like to shoot for NEXT weekend, but who knows. So for now, I'll just keep on missing them, talking to them 50 times a day on the phone, and pray next week will be good. me

Happy 22nd Birthday Eddy!!!

Today is our son's 22 birthday! Happy Birthday Eddy! We wish so bad we could spend it with you, Dez & Hunter. Now that you have a son of your own, you can understand how YOUR birthday, just doesn't seem as important now as it used to. And I can say this only because, guess what? Today is my 40th birthday. And for the past 22 years, it hasn't been all about me me me, like it used to be! I can't imagine anything more beautiful than sharing my birthday with you son. I wish you the happiest birthday ever. Love, me