Stolen From Facebook!

So I've found another positive about facebook! I was on it last night & saw this picture pop up in the right hand corner. Hmmm....I thought, those guys look familiar! When I clicked on it - voila!

From left to right: David, his youngest brother-Jeff, his cousin Kevin, his brother Dwayne, and his cousin Billy. I think I may see a family resemblance here - ha! (p.s. we all miss you Barb!) me

Girls Night

So last night after David went to work, my friends Terri & Sherry showed up at my house for a girls night. No, it wasn't planned, we aren't that coordinated. It just turned out that they both needed to get out & away from their houses, and mine was kid free! Sherry came with quesidilla's & carmel candy in hand, and Terri came with two bottles of wine! And we had SO much fun! We laughed, talked, cried, acted stupid & all three of us passed out in the living room watching TV. We colored my hair, set out on the patio & smoked & drank - it was a good time.
At one point, Terri & Sherry both had David's camo hats on, Terri had the duck calls around her neck quacking them, and we all laughed until we cried! Of course I took pictures all night, but I was made to swear they wouldn't get posted somewhere, like on my blog or facebook! Sometimes a girl just needs her friends. me

Bam's First Duck

I can't believe I didn't post this sooner! Eddy & some of his friends from work took MY dog Bam with them duck hunting the first day of Teal Season here. And guess what? He's a natural! This is Bam's first duck hunt. Doesn't look like he did too bad of a job, huh?????

It's Friday...again

It's been a little bit crazy in "The Allen's World" this past week with David working straight through, Brittni starting her new job & me trying to keep up with it all. There has been one bright spot in it all though, since Eddy is working nights, Des has been bringing Hunter up to see me and she & I have had lots of time to visit. She brought him up Sunday & Monday night, then again on Wed. When she came on Wed. she brought Jack, the five year old that she's been watching this week. Whew! What a bundle of energy. I forgot how active & curious they can be at that age. And the funny part was he decided he'd just call me "grandma". At one point he was laying on the couch watching TV & he kept saying 'grandma, grandma, grandma'...it took me a minute to realize he was talking to me! Anyway it was a lot of fun. Hunter loves playing with the big kids. He is just so stinking adorable. I know I may be a little biased, however, I am pretty sure he is THE most adorable, cutest, smartest, most amazing boy in the world! HA! He's supposed to be coming to my office later this afternoon for a visit. The girls won't even recognize him - he's grown that much!

Halloween is just a week away. I LOVE handing out candy to the trick or treaters. Hopefully I'll have a lot more this year, since so many families have moved into our neighborhood. It doesn't really matter how many kids I have show up though, since this year, I'll have an extra special goblin...Hunter Man! The kids bought him a monkey suit & I think Desiree is going to be a tree. I don't know how much actual trick or treating they will get done since every set of grandparents is expecting a visit from them, but that's ok. He doesn't need candy anyway. I want to find a big plastic pumpkin & fill it up with things he CAN eat, and maybe a few toys too! I just want his very first Halloween to be extra special.

I'm still suffering from PCB (post contest burnout). I did get 4 in this week though, so that was good. What's bad is that I don't have anything built up for next week. I guess I'll have to buckle down Tuesday when we get back from our sales meeting. It is in Branson this year, at Big Cedar Lodge. We'll be leaving at noon on Sunday, and should be back at the office by 7 on Monday night. I've been working all week to get everything done at home so that all David will have to do is go to work Sunday evening, then come home and go to bed. I'm going to put a crock pot of beans on Saturday evening, then making some cornbread so that the kids & him won't have to cook. After work today I have to make a run to Wally World & get dog food and a ton of other stuff so they won't run out of anything while I'm out of town. I love my family & taking care of them, it's what I do best, and I HATE HATE HATE having to go out of town for even one night for work. But - it is what it is, I have to be there (hopefully to get Top Salesperson of the Year award again), and at least it's just for a day and a half, and not 3 or 4 days, like they've done in the past. And...when I get back on Monday, David is off for 2 days! I can't wait to get to spend a little bit of quality time with him. I've missed him SO much these past 10 days. With his over time stint, and my sales meeting over, it'll soon be time to move into "duck mode". He's been working really really hard with Bam & Boogie, getting them all geared up for this season. I'm not sure how much he's going to get to hunt this year with his job. I know he can't take any vacation time from now until after the first of the year. But what I see in our future is this....he gets off at 7am on Sundays, he'll head straight from there to Stuttgart & hunt Sunday evening, all day Monday, Tues morning & afternoon, then head back home that night. And believe me when I say....this will go on all season! But hey, it's what he LOVES! And who knows, maybe I'll take some of my vacation time & go with him. He does need a camera man after all! me

A little bit of this....a little bit of that

Again I have been neglecting my blog...I'm sorry blog, your purpose is to help me keep up with all that is going on in my little world. But sometimes, my world takes hold, and blogging is the last thing I have time for. Not to say that it's not on my mind. It has become another thing I obsess about. If I haven't blogged in a few days, it's something else I feel I've failed at. So...I am releasing myself of this duty, and will only be blogging now when I want to -or when I have something important to document in our lives. And I do! Oh yes, I DO!!!!

SHE GOT THE JOB! She got the job! She got the job! Brittni starts her brand new job at Transplace - tonight! YAY! We are SO proud of her & so happy for her too. Yes, she'll be working with her Daddy for a few nights. But only because her daddy is SUCH a great guy, and took on 12 straight days of TWELVE HOUR shifts to help us get caught up financially since we both missed a week of work while he was in the hospital. And let me tell you, it is VERY hard on him. I'm just so thankful that he's willing to sacrifice some days off to pull us out of this hole!

Hunter does NOT have to have tubes put in his little ears. Thank you God! He has had 2 ear infections for over three weeks. They told Desiree on Friday that if he wasn't dramatically better today when she brought him in, they would send her straight to an ENT & schedule surgery. Guess what? He was SO much better the doctor couldn't even believe it. And I am so glad. My heart would break having to see our little guy go through surgery.

Speaking of the cutest little boy in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD....Des brought him up last night for a visit. I went by Saturday night after I went & saw my Grandma & Bev, but he was already asleep :-( I think she felt so bad for me she HAD to bring him up. There is absolutely NOTHING better in this whole wide world than opening up the door, seeing his precious little face, and THEN seeing the GREAT BIG SMILE on his face when he realizes he's at his Grandma's house! I LOVE IT! LOVE IT LOVE IT! I knew being a grandma was going to be special, but I never ever could have imagined how wonderful it truly is!

Eddy is working nights now too at JB Hunt! And he is missing his mom & dad! Last Wed night he got off at 11:00, and he drove all the way up to my house to see me for just 1/2 an hour! (I'm sure the home made spaghetti I fed him didn't have ANYTHING to do with it - ha!)

Anyway, I've gotta get back to work. We just wrapped up another contest - and yes, I DID make my 2nd touchdown for $1000. However, this time, I ended up in 4th place (a new LOW for me)...so even though I'm claiming "post contest burnout" - again - I gotta get back to work!

me

Catching Up

There is so much stuff going on here at home. Brittni & Jeramiah are moving in as we speak. She quit her job at Subway (thank God), and has an application in at David's work. If she gets the job she'll work 2 twelve hour shifts over the weekend, and make more than if she worked a whole week at Subway. This will give her time for her studies.
Eddy starts on nights, tonight. He will work the days David is off, so the father-son time they've been enjoying these past few months will have to be put on hold. Hopefully he'll get moved to days soon, but for the next two weeks at least, we won't get to see him.
Last weekend we went to the Duck Dog Challenge in Stuttgart! We had SO much fun. Eddy ran Bam in the competition! He did really really good, except when he brought the first bumper back, he ran right past Eddy & brought it to David up in the stands! We couldn't believe it. But hey, at least Bam knows who his master is!
Next, David ran Boogie. I'll never be able to put this in writing the way David tells the story, but let me just start off by saying that "technically" Boogie won first place. She was docked 3 seconds for not getting in the ground blind. Then David sent her. She took off & broke a land speed record getting her first bumper. Everyone in the stands was talking about the straight line she ran & how fast she was. Then David sent her for her second bumper & she went right to it. She brought it back so fast I KNEW we had first place. Then, just six inches before the line to stop the time...she stopped - and squatted & took a dump!!! I kid you not. The guy with the stopwatch stopped the time at 32 seconds....then had to restart it until she finished & got back over the line. So it was 41 seconds. First place???33 seconds. And they weren't docked 3 seconds for not going into the blind! So we came away with 3rd place. I thought David was going to DIE! I am still SO proud of both of our dogs. David has been helping a friend that has a 1 year old lab, and I went Friday & watched them work him. Let me tell you, both our dogs are really, really GOOD dogs. And very advanced. David & I both said if either of our dogs acted like that other one, we'd have already gotten rid of them - ha! Anyway, I know how much time & effort David puts in training our two, and that's why they are as good as they are.
Des send me a picture message today & Hunter fell on their entertainment center & cracked his head! It looks so pitiful, but it didn't bust it open, so it didn't bleed. I hate it when stuff like that happens, but I also know that with a toddler, it's going to.
That's about all I've got for now. Our contest at work ends on Thursday, so I'm 3 sales away from $1000!!! Wish me luck! me