The Great Escape 2010

Robert on the outdoor side of the indoor/outdoor pool at our hotel. Yes, it was 24 degrees out there.

Vacation wears a person out, we got in the habit of "afternoon naps".

Spaghetti Factory, one of my favorite places!

Guys at the Spaghetti Factory

The entry way of the Fox.

Cirque Dreams Holidaze, they allowed non-flash photography but I didn't get any really great pictures. It was amazing though!

Tuesday morning at the Science Center, another one of our favorite places.

Lunch at Joe's Crab Shack

Relaxing in our room

At the Blues Game



Blues win!!! Over the Stanley Cup winners, The Chicago Blackhawks. 3-1. It was really a good game; fights and all!



Getting Ready for a Fresh Start

I try to live life without regrets. I have failed miserably at that at two particular areas in my life lately....my scrapbooking and my blogging. Last year, when it was time to do the annual "Browning Christmas Letter", I turned to my trusty blog as an outline for all that was in important in our lives. This year, when that time came, I saw just how bad my blogging was this year.  I am sad, especially since I have also had a problem picking up the camera when I should and things that I should have and wished I had pictures of I don't. That can't be changed.

In turn, that makes Scrapbooking the last year of our lives a little hard. It has been so long since I have scrapbooked. I miss it dearly too. I sat down and made Christmas gift tags and place names and realized that too, was something that needed attention.

I can blame it on being too busy, I can blame it on being too tired, which with the medical conditions, is actually true but it doesn't matter, I can't get it back. So. I am going to work myself up to getting all of these things back where they belong. I get to thinking why bother blogging, I don't think that many people even read it anymore, nobody ever comments and I feel we lost that little "kindred clique" we had going on back in the days before facebook. But lately I have realized that deep down, I blogged for myself, to lay out all the things in my life that I am blessed with and if someone else finds a little joy in it, all the better.

I have had phone calls at work before from people who have said, "You probably don't really know me, but I read your blog," I thought it was hilarious, and I did, in fact, know who the people were, through my network of friends.

Anyway, tomorrow is a new opportunity. We leave in the morning for our mini-vacation to St. Louis. Tomorrow night, Cirque Holidaze Dreams at the Fox, I have 7th row seats. Of course, I can't take pictures inside the Fox, but I will outside. Tuesday we are going to the Blues vs. Blackhawks game. There will be plenty of pics there. Thursday, Andrew and I are going to start tag-teaming getting the walls done in the back bathroom, more chances to record those memories.

So, I am not even waiting until New Years to make this resolution. Starting now, I am going to give more time to my blogging and my scrapping. Something else will have to wait.

My dad always told me nobody knows when they get up in the morning if they will be alive to eat dinner that evening. Enjoying every minute of the life God has given me IS important and it IS important to ME that I preserve it.

The week, in a nutshell, a very big nutshell.

I think the emotions that this week has brought are about to the limit of what I can handle. I don't remember a time when life has been this stressful. The work stress, I really don't mind, I don't like it but I know it's part of a job that I love, and the fast-paced, "gotta get it done or someone suffers" is expected. The underlying personal stress this week has added a level I am not used to, nor will I ever be comfortable with.

Five and a half years ago, when we moved here, Robert made friends quickly. One of his first friends was Logan Andrews. Logan was the first one to invite Robert to spend the night in Newton.Consequently, it didn't take long for Logan's parents, Tim and Vaneta, to become friends with me and Andrew. For the last four years, we have spent every fall together, sitting on bleachers, watching with pride as our only sons marched. This year, it was hard because our two boys did the solos and Tim was not able to be there every time, and though it took a lot of finagling, Vaneta made it to each of Logan's competitions. Monday night, Tim went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. On Monday, as I had texted Vaneta and knew what was happening, one of my friends said, "Exactly what emotion are you feeling?" I said there was so many I couldn't sort them out. One of my best friends is losing her husband, one of my son's best friends is losing his dad, we are losing a friend ourselves. Tim  worked in fields that paralleled my job, we always had a lot to talk about when we got together. Vaneta's job is also in the social services so we totally understand when stresses get high around budgets and cuts and job security ( or lack thereof).  Tonight is the visitation, tomorrow the funeral. Though it will be hard to say goodbye, this is truly one person who I know is in Heaven, his testimony was great. He has had many health battles over the years and, as far as I ever saw, never used them as an handicap. I believe Tim was ecstatic with the life and family that the Lord had given him and though I know it was hard for him to leave them, I can see Jesus holding Tim in his arms and hear God saying "Well done, my good and faithful servant" for Tim truly was.

We have also spent the week worrying about Robert Fryman; Patty, his wife works with us. Robert had 4 aneurysms in his brain, one that was especially worrisome as the doctors were afraid it would burst before it could be fixed. On Tuesday, they did brain surgery and tried to take them out. They were able to get two, including the high risk one, two they had to leave though. Don't know what they will decide about them in the future. They were all very scared, I can't imagine. The last I had heard though, he is doing well.

Work has been a real bear this week too, my IT plate was piled high. We changed all of our email and webhosting this week which is scary when we are an agency that relies heavily on email. The transition went well, the website is back up and running, I have to make some tweaks to it but all the info is still there and that is a plus. We have had some intermittent problems in the building and though it has mainly been with one person, it is the person who is sending our grants to Springfield, so it is imperative that it gets fixed. The day before Thanksgiving, we struggled with it all day. I was hoping the changeover would fix the problems. You can imagine my disappointment when it didn't. The bright side is I called the Calvary in Wednesday evening. MASS was there for 2 and a half hours and couldn't find the problem either. At least it wasn't something stupidly simple that I am just overlooking. I am about to blame it on wiring. We shall see.

Then, the little icing on the cake was the All-state announcement came, Robert doesn't get to go this year. He is good with it, he is glad he got to go once but I know he is a little disappointed that he didn't get to go back. He has been busy working on his truck though and I am probably more disappointed for him than he is.

So, today is our Christmas party at work, I am hoping and praying that by the time we are supposed to leave for it, we have the final two emails that HAVE to be in Springfield sent. I am truly looking forward to a better, calmer week next week.

What a Glorious Weekend!

Robert's final Pops Concert is in the books, as is his final District IMEA festival. I think his only regret is that he didn't start trying out for IMEA sooner.

The Pops Concert was incrediable, Robert sang "What's a guy gotta do", he did a really good job and the interaction with the girls who were trying to run from him during the song just made it that more cute.

Robert was one of the emcees this year too. I think what most people don't realize about the emcees is it is their responsablity to come up with all the skits and to know what they are doing. This involved a lot of practice and a lot of teamwork.

It resulted in a two great performances. I would have been fine if they would have done it every night for another week.


I have pictures, Blogger won't let me upload them at the moment, if you get a chance, there are pics on facebook.

Saturday's concert was amazing and beautiful. There were 16 students go from Newton. 11 of them were for chorus. The kids loved the director and though most of them were beat from the Pop's concert (all but one of ALL of the students who went were involved in the Pops Concert also) they had a wonderful experience. We were amazed at what can be accomplished in a day. My favorite song was an African song called Jenga, I think it was pretty clear it was the chorus' favorite also. You could just tell they were having fun.

Now we get to wait to see who makes it to All-State. I really hate this part. Robert had no expectations of making it last year so it was a total and complete surprise. Now that he has been there though, he wants to go back. There are only so many who get to go and you just never know. We are supposed to find out the first week in December. I just don't want him to be disappointed if he doesn't get to go again--and how could he help it.

It was a fantastic weekend, and the last really crazy weekend we have until after Christmas, believe me, after band, Pops and then IMEA, I know Robert is as ready for some downtime as we are!!  (Not to mention he rebuilt an engine in the middle of all of this!)

Mom's 71st

This past Monday my mom and I celebrated her 71st birthday. Ever since I have started working, if at all possible, I take her birthday off and we go shopping and out for lunch. Monday, she wanted to go to Effingham, take in the resale shops and head to Ryans. Her main goal at the resale shops was to find a pair of nice everyday shoes.

Catholic Charities was our first stop. They were busy, extremely busy but we spent about an hour looking and finding all kinds of goodies. When we went to checkout, Mom had, indeed, found a pair of shoes. She was very happy. When we got to the register though, the lady at the register held up the two shoes and said, "Honey, these don't match". My first instinct was there was probably another pair just like them on the shelf but Mom was sure there wasn't so she told the lady she didn't want them although that was too bad because she really like both shoes. We went on down the road.

We went to Nearly New, then to Ryans and then made a stop at Kohl's. We get back in the car at Kohl's amd Mom very calmly says, "You are going to have to take me back to Catholic Charities, I have the matching pair of shoes to the ones I left." I about died laughing. Sure enough, she had trapsed around Effingham with two different shoes on. At least they were both black and apparently the heel was the same height although one was a wedge and the other was an actual heel, other than that, they were nothing alike. We giggled all the way back, inserting little quips about what we were going to do if the salespeople had already discovered there really was no matches on the shelves and had sent the shoes to the dumpster.

Luckily, they were STILL really busy. When we walked in, the mismatched pair was still sitting on a stool behind the counter. The lady at the checkout was a different woman who had no clue what was going on. We get to our turn at the register, Mom says, "I want that pair of shoes right there", Woman, "They don't match, they aren't really a pair." Mom, "I know, I have the matching pair on my feet." Woman, VERY puzzled look. We explained that she had tried them on and apparently put one on twice. The lady finally started laughing. I wish I could tell in as funny as it was. We giggled about her shoes the rest of the day. I am a shoe person but I had checked out what she was wearing when she came in my house that morning and that was the last I thought of it. I will probably forever check her shoes as we leave a resale shop. I told her on top of everything else, she kinda shoplifted, what a rebel! Then she informed me that she did at least leave her old shoe. I had to tell her that when I caught shoplifters at Walmart, people would leave their old stuff too, it didn't make me think they had left a deposit. She is convinced that a resale shop was different.

I am in a picture funk right now so I didn't take any pictures. Gotta get over that. New Years resolution--get back to Scrapbooking! Kinda hard to scrapbook without pictures.

November...

I cannot believe it is November already. Wow, I don't know how to handle time going so fast and I don't know if I can't take it getting faster and I have been told it will. We have a busy November, probably busier than December actually. We are always backwards at our house, December is one of our "slower" months when everyone else is having craziness. Which is great because it gives me lots of evenings to sit in front of the fire with the Christmas tree beside me and my grandma's Nativity on the fireplace and keep a focus on what Christmas really is.

Back to November though. I started teaching classes to Head Start employees last week. This is a fun class because I am teaching specific things instead of programs. Tonight we are learning to make newsletters. Tomorrow night we are having "Taco and Movie Night" for the High School Awana kids. We are watching "To Save a Life" looking forward to it. THEN, THEN, yes THEN I start 5 DAYS OFF!! We are off Veteren's Day, the High School band will be playing at the ceremonies, I am looking VERY forward to this. I always go though. When Robert was a little cub scout, I was at a ceremony where a veteran said, "This crowd is nice but I am afraid a lot of you are here because your kids were involved." I decided right then that I could take an hour or so out of my life a year to honor those who fought for my freedom. It seems like such a little thing to do for people who sacraficed so much.

Friday, Chrissy, my poodle, and I have an appointment at Petsmart to have the works for her. She has abandonment issues so I wanted to take her somewhere she could see I was still there. I have to stand outside but she will know I haven't left her. I have always cut her hair and trimmed her nails but have decided it is time to let someone else. Lizzie is going to "Spa-Nana's" because I don't want her to think I am hauling her mommy off.

Monday is my mom's birthday. It's funny, I work on my birthday and take my mom's off. Ok, so there is usually perks to working on your birthday, like someone buying you lunch :-). Anyway. Mom and I already have our day planned, Shopping in Effingham and lunch out, can't wait!

The 18th & 19th is the Pop's Concert, 7:30 at the High School. I believe it will be amazing this year. I got a gag order put on me last year.... Roma to Robert: "You DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOUR MOTHER EVERYTHING!" So I have actually stopped him a few times but yeah, I have heard a lot of what is happening and I am super-excited.

The next day, Robert goes to IMEA. That means that evening we get to go to a concert at EIU with the best choral students in our region. It was an amazing concert last year and I expect nothing less this year.

Thanksgiving day may be a little uneventful at our house, I am sure Mom, Robert and I will figure out some way to have a little celebration but my brother-in-law works that day as does Andrew so there will be no big family get-togethers. Sis and Richard are coming down for the Pop's concert though so we will all get to spend time together then.

Then comes Black Friday. Ah, what a fun day. Robert and I plan to leave at 2:30 and this year, since there is nothing we have to stick around here for (last year we had to be at Robinson Walmart at 5) We are heading for our favorite stomping grounds--St. Louis!

Andrew turns 46 on Saturday, the big 5-0 is creeping up on him!

A little shout-out to my Brother-in-Law Richard too, he has a birthday on the 24th. I don't remember how old he will be, I think it's a little more than 46 :-)

So, onward into November....this should be a blast!

Happy Halloween!

Yes, it was my favorite Halloween costume I made for Robert, I am pretty sure he was three that year. The costume is still around here somewhere I am sure. Seems so hard to believe that was 15 years ago.

What a week it has been! A week ago last Friday, I had a tooth pulled. It shouldn't have been a big deal. I have periodontal diesease and the tooth was causing a potential problem but not a current one at all. I swelled really bad but thought everything was normal.

Monday, we had a bus tour from the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies come. This was a wonderful day. We were showcasing the jobs created and the people helped with ARRA money. My part in this day was to have a powerpoint presentation of the new Weatherization building going up and of the Weatherization crew doing what they do. It was ready and playing when the bus got there, I was standing back and letting all the "important people" do their thing. I hadn't been in the new training room five minutes but I hear Denny yelling "Mindy, come here." The "important people" wanted to see how the Smartboard worked. I was happy to show them. Then I had to go get printouts of the specs for most of them.

My proudest moment on Monday was my mom though. She had her house weatherized because of the ARRA grants. She had been invited to the events the week before but Monday morning, they asked if she would speak. She did such a wonderful job. She told what was in her heart and how much it meant to her to have a warm home. It created many questions that afternoon among my coworkers about my childhood but I think it raised their awareness of why I am so passionate about what I do.

Wednesday morning I woke up and my face was the size of a football. I had been told by my dentist that if I had went 3 or 4 days with no fever I could stop the antibiotics. I stopped them Tuesday. At the time, it seemed a big mistake. I tried to call the dentist, closed on Wednesday. I started back on the antibiotics and came home from work and rested. Thursday I went to work early to get everything done I needed to for me to be gone a couple days. Then I left at 8:30 and headed to the dentist's office. He sent me straight to an oral surgeon who decided I had a blood clot in my cheek. He numbed it and cut a one inch incision in my mouth. I am more petrified of being cut on than having shots. I can't stand the thought of even accidentally cutting my finger. I always figured I would die from a knife wound because that scares me about more than anything. On top of everything else, when he started trying to push the clot out, it hurt BAD. I don't care if that makes me a wimp. I thought I was going to pass out. I am working on not crying in public, this was a true test. I got out to the car and literally sobbed and screamed. Andrew probably thought I was having some kind of manic episode and I probably was.

Yesterday morning, I was expecting things to be better and they were worse. I called the oral surgeon who told me the second day after surgery would be my worse and to continue taking it easy, keeping heat on it and sleeping in an upright position.

Taking it easy only goes so far when your kid has his very last band competition. I didn't realize how much this took it out of me until a day out and about. But man was I glad I went. The Eagles got Grand Champion in Field and 1st place in their class for the parade. What an awesome end to and awesome year. So happy for Robert that this year went the way it did and that he made it through every solo every time.

So that brings me to today. Halloween, I look a little Frankensteinish. The bruising is going away though, I have a red eye which I assume will turn black or yellow in another day or two but we are still going and that's the important thing.

All this from a tooth that should have caused no problems at all, that I was having pulled so I WOULDN'T have problems.

Such is life.

Nearing the End

This past weekend was Robert's last U of I competition. Thought I would share....Under the tunnel, anyone who has ever had this experience KNOWS what is going through their minds right now. I don't think I was ever in so much awe as being a freshman and realizing just how big this place was.






I think this is the first time I had really seen Robert more nervous than me about his performance. As we were waiting to start, one of my friends turned around and asked if I was about ready to throw up. Normally, that is EXACTLY how I feel, I get more nervous than he does. Of course, this solo hasn't been without event. The first competition, the Blue Angels were flying over as they were performing, The second competition, Robert passed out before performing and was scared to death we wouldn't let him march. This one, I was just emotional. Band means every bit as much to the kid as it did to me and that in itself made it impossible for me to hold back tears during Saturday's performance.



The band literally leaves Logan and Robert out there all by themselves, they all head off toward the left. The neatest thing is though, at the end of their solos, the band comes back up and Robert leads half off to the left and Logan leads the other half off to the right. I wish someone would post the video on Youtube for all of the Alumni Newton Marching Eagles.












We don't go anywhere this weekend and then next weekend, the 30th is Oblong. The kids are planning on having a wonderful time with this. I got a message from a fellow Alumni Marching Eagle asking about the band.

We have 114 this year and growing. I am so very excited about Mr. Ridlen and Mr. Finley. They LOVE marching band and they love our kids. I am looking so forward to seeing what happens. I think the thing I love the most is they are both wanting to embrace the legacy that some of us had created for them. I feel like the past few years had been more about forgetting it.

When I was in high school, you would tell a stranger you were from Newton and the first thing they would say is "Are you in the band?" I wholeheartedly feel like that day will come again.

One Down

Andrew finished the shower yesterday!! Wow, what a big series of Murphy's Law. It is gorgeous though and I am looking very forward to using it in a few minutes.
Here's some befores and afters:




The only light in the bathroom was over the sink, which meant by the time you got the shower curtain pulled, you were showering in the dark. Not anymore!

I will have to do better about getting pictures of ANDREW working as the project progresses. The only picture I have of actual work being done is of Robert.

I'm not sure but I think the next project is to get my tub installed. I can't wait!! It is torture to go in there and see it everyday and not be able to use it. Of course, there are lots of projects left, hopefully none that "leads to another" as bad as the shower but we know it is done right and there are no rotten floors under it, or mold in the walls and it is waterproofed correctly. I think it's time for me to try it out!

A Saturday to Remember

First of Congrats to the Newton Marching Eagles. 1st in EVERYTHING in their class at the Effingham competition. They brought home five trophys; music, color guard, percussion, drum major, and first overall. Newton is back and that honestly makes me tear up for more reasons than just my kid being in the band!

Robert gave everyone a scare while they were warming up, apparently he passed out and Mr. Ridlen was sure we was having a seizure. When he came out of it, he doesn't remember what happened. I am pretty sure he was dehydrated. In our family, of course we always worry about sugar but he came out of it without eating anything and when I asked him how much he had drank compared to normal, we realized it probably wasn't nearly enough.

We tanked him up on water and he was able to do his solo and march the show without any problems. His and Logan's solos were both AWESOME last night!

This was all after a week of the band director having surgery to remove kidney stones on Thursday. His first year of being the band director will be one to remember too! I was so proud of his dedication to the kids though part of me really hopes he didn't push it too far yesterday and I am hoping and praying he is RESTING today. I didn't get the Newton Exhibition packet to him yesterday from our own competition so he can't worry about that one until Monday.

1st competition of his senior year: competing with the Blue Angels. 2nd competition, he passes out. He definately is making this a year to remember.

I think he has learned his lesson though and hopefully will pay more attention to the amount of fluids he is taking in.

I don't have pictures of the competition. I am waiting on my sister to make it down and get some really good ones.

I got another "last" over with, it is one I will miss but I am REALLY glad it's done. Our own band classic is in the books, and I have served my last year helping with the tabulation. In fact, Glenna, the one taking over for me, put all the scores in yesterday, I just double checked them....which means I slept last night. I normally don't sleep from the time those scores go in until Monday afternoon when I know nobody has called and thrown a fit over the results. We actually had one judge that added wrong on two of his score sheets yesterday, so if we hadn't done our jobs correctly, there could have been some unhappy people.

So today I am truly planning a day of rest and this week as well.

If you get a chance, we go to Robinson next weekend. I personally believe we will do well there. If you haven't had a chance to hear the Newton Marching Eagles, you should make a date to come and see. Our performance time is 7:30, we are the last band to march!

3 Things About Me!

Please don't break the cycle... it is fun to learn different things about our friends!

1. Three names I go by: Mindy, Mom, Sweetheart

2. Three places I've lived: Newton, Hidalgo, Altamont

3. Three places I've worked: Hardee's, Wal-Mart, ERBA (yes, my friend Amber actually typed the first two, but I worked there too)

4. Three places I have been on vacation: Florida, Michigan, Ohio

5. Three people that email me regularly: Nila, Amy, Vaneta

6. Three things I love to eat: chocolate, alfredo, ice cream

7. Three people I think will repost: not sure, but I want everyone to

8. Three things I am looking forward to: Saturday, looking forward to it getting here, and then looking forward to getting through it! (does that count as two?) 12 days from now, when my right hand gets back from maternity leave, October 11th--Covered Bridge!

What September Brings

I intended to post this yesterday, day late and a dollar short, what's new? Here we go.....the wild and crazy thing we call life at the Browning house. September started out with a bang, went to work at a quarter til 7, stopped what I was doing to go to the church business meeting last night and finally made it back home around 8:45. Today, I am leaving the house again at 6:45, yesterday was the first day of LIHEAP and honestly that wasn't what was crazy; computers; 'nuff said. I very rarely honestly feel like shooting one, but yesterday it was just a really good thing I didn't have a gun and the worst part was it was a laptop and so it wouldn't have been hard to "accidentally" drop-kick it across the parking lot. Anyway.....I am going to try a different approach today and then forget it. I ordered a new one because no matter what, I will never trust this one again, and in all fairness, it had been acting up since May, I just apparently delivered the final blow Tuesday then had to try to resuscitate the stupid thing. Oh well......

Fun news in my job though, I got to order our agency's first Smartboard this week. We are building a new training room in our Weatherization building at Greenup. Last Thursday ( the 26th) our WX Coordinator asked me to get him set up with the technology for his training room......which they would use for the first time on Sept 21st, no pressure there....but it all came together and we are getting exactly what we wanted. I can't wait!!! On top of everything else, I believe I will be allowed to teach computer classes there and it is bigger than our board room, good things.

Of course, September brings a lot on for Robert also, first band competition is a week from Saturday, Robert gets to play the baritone solo, he has worked really hard for this so I am excited that it is finally decided. He has all day practice on the 4th, Ofallon on the 11th, our own Fall Festival on the 18th and then our own Newton Classic and the Effingham competition on the 25th. There are 12 bands coming to our competition. Mark the 25th on the calendar and come to the classic, it is a morning competition and will be great!!

Robert also has Pop's concert tryouts next week. Pop's is scheduled for November 18th and 19th. This is also an awesome show....a show that rivals Branson in Newton Illinois put on by a bunch of really, really talented teens. One year some of my friends from work came, one of them asked if these kids were really all from Jasper county. They are an awesome group and I am looking just as forward to all the chorus activities as I am the band. He should be in for a SUPER senior year.

Andrew is still going strong on the bathroom remodel. It has had a lot of setbacks with finding mold and rot but he is almost ready to start tiling the shower and I think once he gets this project done, the rest will be faster. What he has done in the shower looks amazing, we have picked out all the tile now and I am just excited to see it happening. He gets vacation starting Saturday so I think by next week at this time we will see some change.

We have to throw AWANA in the mix for good measure, we start back on the 15th, I am HOPING to have 4 senior boys and 3 freshman girls to start. The guys are wanting to do a commercial for youtube and fb to get some more involved, first project of the year!

AND we start choir back the 19th, I almost have everything ready for that too.

That's the majors for September, geesh, what will I do with myself next year? Not going to think about it, just gonna take all of it in this year and enjoy.

Oh yes, one more thing, I went to the doctor Friday, I am doing FANTASTIC with the UC, in fact he took me off of the medicine, if I have a flare, I have to go back, but right now, doing great and feeling better than I have since before Christmas. I can actually feel myself getting stronger, of course, my blood counts had been so low there was a good excuse for the tiredness and weakness. I know it was my own fault it got so bad, I should have went to the doctor last February but just had too many irons in the fire, or so I thought, it would have prevented a lot of problems and heartache in my life though if I would have felt like I do now back then. I knew I was overwhelmed, I knew I had a problem, I just didn't realize how bad it was affecting me. Anyway......that's that and life is better.

Happy Thursday!

What a great weekend! Only two things could have made it better--if Andrew would have gotten to go and if Richard wouldn't have had to work part of it.

Robert and I got to Lincoln around 7 Friday evening, just in time to see Friday nights glow. Saturday morning, Sis and I went to the airport for the fly-in. The balloonists drop a bag on a target on the airfield. It was just perfect weather this year.

Meanwhile, Robert went with his Uncle Richard to sell produce at the Farmer's Market uptown. Richard raises unbelievable tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Found out last night that a lady that had been in Lincoln a couple years ago had them ship her tomatoes in California!

We also took in the Art fair Saturday at one of the parks, then went back out to the Airport Saturday evening. The wind conditions weren't perfect so there weren't many balloons actually take off but there was another glow. After the glow, because of our VIP passes, we had a catered dinner. It was wonderful! We ate dinner with the mayor and some of the coordinators of the festival, thought that was neat too. Yesterday, we took in the flea market and craft fair, and the car show before starting home. What a perfect weekend, we rested when we wanted to, and ran when we wanted to. For some really great pictures of the festival, check out www.lincolndailynews.com This is the paper Sis works for and a LOT of the pictures and articles on there are hers.

Happy 18th!!!!!

It's hard to believe that 18 years ago today, our little man was born:

Of course, when life revolves around three things : Band, Chorus and Cars, you have to adjust. Since Band is tonight, we celebrated his birthday last night.

I think the greatest thing is I got to make him treats for school ONE LAST TIME. He has early bird shop class so he is taking cupcakes and milk for everyone for breakfast this morning.

After the celebration, Dad "Tom Sawyered" him into sealing the seams in the new shower. I think he had fun the entire time.

Hope your day is fantastic. I don't think you will ever realize how much joy you have brought to our lives. Thanks for being such a great kid, we are really proud of the young man you have grown to be and look forward to seeing what you accomplish with the rest of your life.

Love you forever. Like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be,

Mom.

First of the Last

August 20th, 2010
Last "First Day of School"



And Media Night:
Robert, front row, to the far right.

Robert is standing on the 50, playing what will eventually be the baritone solo. He and Emmitt Bartons are both playing it here, the decisions still haven't been made as to who will be playing it or if they will take turns at competitions. Logan Andrews, one of Robert's long-time friends, is playing the trumpet solo, on Robert's right.

The New Truck

When "gardening" season came this last spring, my 70-year-old mother and 84-year-old uncle put out a garden, 5 acres of it to be exact. I was a little afraid they were in over their heads this year so when musical was over and Robert wanted to look for a job, I told him I would pay him NOT to get a job so when Mom and Uncle Junie needed him, he would be available. Well, he has helped out some with the garden, but they neither one would let him help like I thought they would. Don't get me wrong, in the last 3 weeks he has carried 2100 lbs of potatoes into my uncles root cellar, 40 lb buckets at a time, and that was after helping pick them all up. When he helps, it's hard work and they depend on him to do it. I was expecting him to be up there 3 or 4 times a week and he has probably been there 2 or 3 times in 2 weeks.


My thing is, there have been a couple of weeks this summer that I think he resented me for not letting him get a job because he believed Mom and Uncle Junior would have worked around his schedule (which they did last week when the El Camino was broke down again).


ANYWAY, Mom called me Saturday morning and said Uncle Junie wanted to GIVE Robert his old farm truck. I was like, "does it run?" which honestly wouldn't matter to a kid who lives, breathes, eat and sleeps working on vehicles. But the answer, was yes, it ran well, Uncle Junie had seen a chance to get a newer truck a few months ago and took it. He didn't get rid of this truck because it was in too good of shape and has a brand new transmission in it.


So, yesterday afternoon we went to talk to Uncle Junie about the truck, I thought it was a bit much and Uncle Junie informed me that he had done what he wanted to most of his life and he wasn't about to stop now and what he wanted to do was to give Robert that truck for helping them and helping him when he needs hogs loaded or pigs cut (which Robert is becoming pretty good at and will need to do again in the next couple of weeks).


So.......I think a truck is a pretty good wage for a summer job. Robert is so excited, there are some things that need a little work but they are minor and it runs! and runs well! And minor work just equals a lot of good times to Robert. He has already ordered a catalog that specializes in parts for this truck--which is a 88 Chevy 1500 Silverado.


We will make everything legal tomorrow, how lucky can one person get? Not even 18 years old and OWNS not one but two trucks, straight out. I think he leads a charmed life!

Life Lessons

Nothing seems to put life in perspective for me like working a day in the field office.

I have to admit, I have been having a gigantic pity party for myself and now I am having a case of the guilties.

Today, I had a man walk into our office. He is 72, his wife is 70, they have two adopted sons still living at home, one is 15, the other 18.

He starts out by telling me he sure hopes he has everything he is supposed to, that he is a bit lost because he had never had to do anything like this and wouldn't have known how to anyway because his wife always took care of that kind of stuff. She went to the hospital for chemo last Monday and they kept her.

When I asked if he was a Veteran, he said yes, Korean war; when I asked if his wife was, he said "No, but she might as well have been, all those nights she worried about me".

When I asked his highest level of education, 4 years of college, when I asked about his wife's he said, "She graduated from high school, don't think she snuck anything else in there and we've been together since she was 14".

When I asked what kind of cancer she had, he said it was a bone cancer, it is attacking her entire body, the worst part so far as been a big spot on her jaw. They had to take out part of her jaw bone, and honestly, part of her face. He said the plastic surgeons had told her they could reconstruct down the road. The gentleman said "I just told her she can do what she wants, I just want to get to keep her."

He then proceeded to tell me about the special bed they had brought to the house for her. It some kind of "wound" bed and has continuous movement in it. He said he doesn't see how she can get much rest in it, but it hurts her to stay still.

God has a way of putting us in our place pretty fast. I have come to the conclusion that having to know where the nearest bathroom is, having to stick my finger, and having to make sensible decisions about what I eat isn't really a big deal and the lesson that God taught me today is that it never should have been in the first place.

In Due Time

I know, I have been avoiding my blog, on purpose. I was running the little gamut of "the stages of grief" apparently over my passing youth. I was told Sunday that I am not handling the changes in my lifestyle gracefully. Hmmmm.....yep, it made me mad, it was my mom who said it, was she right? Yep, she was. So another few days and maybe I will be ready to make the full fledged report on what is going on with me without it sounding like my own little pity party. I have more blood tests on the 26th and a heart sonogram on the 29th. That will be the last of the tests. I was expecting one thing to be wrong and at the moment they are trying to tell me there are at least three things wrong with me: ulcerative colitis, diabetes and this stupid calcium and vitamin d deficiency. I received the report from my stress test, eventhough the whole test came back as "Normal" there are two places on it that has "defect noted", don't know what that means, am assuming it's not serious or they wouldn't say the test was normal. My blood counts are all over the place but my blood count itself is low because of the colitis. Not complaining, just sayin'....

Enough of that for now,

The bathroom is starting to amaze me. It is truly going to be the bathroom of my dreams and Andrew is doing 100% of it himself (with his trusty sidekick, Robert who is being taught as they go). I am so amazed when I come home of an evening. We have LED can lights in the ceiling over the ledge for the tub and shower, domed can lights in the shower (with regular light bulbs because of the moisture) and there will be more LED lights over the tub in a few days. He is building a small cabinet with storage in the bottom and shelves on top, two purposes there, to hide the access panel to the shower and to make some room for my makeup/ blow dryer/ curling iron, etc, when I move to the back bath. It will also just make room for some knick-knacks. We had always planned on putting Andrew's elephant collection in the bathroom, not sure weather I still want to go that direction or not. His elephants look pretty good in the family room. We'll see. We bought a skirt for the tub, got it home and we both agree it looks cheap and cheesy. Andrew is going to build a box for the tub to sit in, which truly was what I thought would be cool all along but he has bent over backwards to do stupid little things that take a lot more time just because I wanted them, I was fine with the skirt---until I saw it. I am really glad he was the one that decided it wasn't good enough though.

I think we are going to buy tile and the shower door tonight and probably the heat blanket for the floor. I am thinking we might as well buy the sink too because that would finish all the major purchases but it is up to him.

Taking pictures along the way, but will wait for the "reveal" to post them :-) At the moment, he is still shooting for September 1, my "craziest" day of the year, as his finishing point. I am still saying, I don't care what the rest of the room looks like, as soon as he has my whirlpool operational and everything around it is safe for me to use, I'm using it! He told me last week it was probably about 3 work weeks away. We are going to his Grandmother's on the 30th so that takes out one of his weeks, I am shooting for my birthday--the middle of August.

Newton Marching Eagles Card

I have already told you the Marching Eagles are going to have a SPECTACULAR year!! Now, here is a way you can save yourself some money and support the band all at the same time.

Just $10 each and savings from Newton, Effingham and Robinson! Use it everytime you visit your favorite merchants, expires June 30th, 2011. Let me know if you want to purchase.