BAM

There's a little something I haven't mentioned yet, because in the beginning it seems SO far away. But now it's time, and I haven't even blogged about the NEW ADDITION TO OUR FAMILY! His name is "Bam" and I really, REALLY want to go pick him up this weekend like we planned. Bam is a yellow lab BOY puppy, that will be 6 weeks old on Sunday. Bam is going to be MY dog, but David says we're getting him for Hunter, so they'll grow up together. Bam is not registered, doesn't come from an amazing Duck Dog Super Retriever Series WINNER of everything there is to win background like Boogie does. He's just a puppy that we're bringing home, making a part of our family, and David is going to train him & see if he can do as good a job on Bam, as Boogie. And for the last SIX WEEKS, David & I planned to drive down to Stuttgart on today, or tomorrow & pick him out/up & bring him home. Now, the kids are here. Plans are all up in the air. No one knows what any one else is doing. (THAT drives ME crazy). And in the back of my mind somewhere, way in the back, I'm thinking to myself...if we leave EARLY in the morning...we can get down there & back before dark....and bring BAM home to meet Hunter! We'll see how it goes...and I'll keep you posted! me

Sleep - or lack thereof...

There is this little saying that I've heard over the years, that I never thought much about until now. It is, "Sleep is over-rated". Not true, not true, SO not true. It seems I've been missing out on some sleep these past two nights & it has finally caught up with me! The good news is, it's Friday. And if I can just make it through today, all will be well. The reason I've been missing sleep is because I've been up well past 1 a.m. the past 2 nights. Like, last night I think it was about 3 when I finally fell asleep. And the reason I've been up so late is because, yes, you guessed it .....HUNTER IS HOME! Des & him drove in Wednesday night. She didn't get to our house until after 10, and Grandma had some loving to do on her boy! Me & Dez always stay up late talking the first night she's home. I want to hear all about Hunter, Eddy, life in Kansas, and she just wants to talk to someone that'll actually talk back- ha ha. Just kidding, but really, I'm sure it does get so lonely for her up there. Eddy goes to work early every morning, and all day it's just her & Hunter in their little apartment. She doesn't know anyone up there, so unless she's got a doctors appointment or something, she's pretty much on her own! Anyway, Eddy drove down last night & didn't get here until midnight. I'm one of THOSE moms, that don't sleep well when I know my kids making a 5 hour road trip after he worked a 10 hour day. But - it must not be as hard on a 22 year old as it would be me, because 30 minutes after he got there he asked me to baby sit Hunter while him & Dez went to Wal Mart!!! My brain was telling me...you have to get up in 5 hours & go to work...but the Grandma in me said-"BABYSIT HUNTER? HECK YEAH!" So I did. And now, NOW I'm paying for it. I stopped and got a quad shot on the way to work this morning....but it hasn't phased me! Woe is me! Anyway, we're back to cramming as much love, time, visiting etc into the time we have together as we can. They'll be here until the end of February. Then before we know it, Eddy will be leaving for Wal Mart (code name for Iraq - it seems the army doesn't want any of us to know where/when he's leaving), and Dez and Hunter will be moving back to Arkansas to wait on Eddy to come home! I keep trying to convince Dez that she should just stay with us (imagine that), but she wants to try get her own place. Either way, her & Hunter will just be a short drive away, instead of 5 hours! On to other news...Brittni is looking for a new job and has a 2nd interview at Toyota this morning. She won't actually be selling cars, she'll be doing call backs on internet leads, but I would love it if she could get this job and get away from Subway. It'll be more money, benefits, and hopefully help her to move toward getting back in school. The precious girl only has 2 more years before she gets her teaching degree, money is holding her back, and I'm afraid it's going to get her down. Subway pays just enough for her living expenses & she's not been able to pay off her JBU balance so she can transfer to the U of A & finish up. So, whoever might be reading this (all 1 or maybe 2 of you...) pray for Brittni. She's an amazing beautiful, smart, driven young woman, that actually KNOWS what she wants to do with her life, she just needs the opportunity to accomplish it! And I know in my heart of hearts she will. It'll just be on God's time, not ours! That's all for now. me

This week's update

Once again, not much to blog about. But since I created this blog to document & keep up with our lives, I guess I should blog that there's not been much to "document & keep up with". This week, for me, was all about going to work, coming home, eating, going to bed, going to work...you get the picture. For David, it was all about looking for a job. Earlier this week he got a call from a guy that was looking for someone to drive over the road. Although that is not what he wants to do, money is money, and this was pretty good pay. BUT - alas, it did not work out so it's back to the drawing board. Nobody is hiring right now, and it's about to get him down. But I know that God has a plan for him/us, and when the right job is open, He will point David in that direction.
Also on the agenda, is a 2 week visit from Eddy, Dez & Hunter. Eddy will be getting his last "leave" on the 12th of Feb. This is probably the last time he'll be able to come home before he gets deployed. So needless to say, we're really looking forward to it. He goes in for his sleep study tonight, maybe they'll find that he can't sleep - or something that will prevent his deployment. Hey, a mama can only hope! Brittni's doing good. She comes over every Tuesday night & watches American Idol with us. I just enjoy getting to curl up on the love seat with her & talk & watch TV for a couple hours. She's still trying to get JBU paid off so she can get back in school & finish her degree in Education. She only has two years left! I just wish David & I were able to help more. Maybe when they draw the numbers on that 115 MILLION for the power ball today, our numbers will be the lucky ones! Wouldn't that change everything? me

Four Things You Can't Recover

The stone....after the throw.
The word...after it's said.
The occasion...after it's missed.
The time....after it's gone.

me

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