Saturday, January 29, 2011

Learning my Lesson

Never ever, ever, ever imply that life is uneventful. Lesson learned. Apparently in God's eyes, that is not a good thing for the Browning family. Last Saturday I basically stated that and this week truly became more eventful.

Sunday evening, on our way home from church, we spotted a car in the ditch. We stopped and it was a girl from Oblong, just a year older than Robert. She had spun 5 times according to her tracks. She was pretty shaken up but it couldn't have happened at a better time. An hour later, her car was out (thanks to other members of our church), parked at our house for the night and she was on her way home with friends who had met us at the Y to get her.

Monday night, 8 p.m. I get a phone call from Andrew, "I need you to come and get me", "Why" I asked. "The jeep isn't moving". Great. So, I loaded up and went and got him. Tuesday, a wrecker brought the thing home. Wednesday, Andrew dug into it and found that it needed a new diff and new ring and pinion.

To top the week off, on Thursday, Robert's water pump bit the dust. He had his final therapy Friday evening so I was hoping that at least could be fixed in time for him to go to therapy. It was, and the truck has recovered. Unfortunately, nobody around here carries the parts we needed for the jeep. They are ordered, hoping and praying they get here by Tuesday, Andrew's next day off.

So, just trying to get everyone where they need to be when they need to be there has been fun this week. We own four vehicles and had to borrow Mom's car, not good. At least Robert was able to get the truck running pretty quick, so it is a good sign that he is going into the right field. Heck, his dad alone will be able to keep him in business.

I do have to admit, I got an incredible amount done at work this week. I came home every night and crashed instead of doing anything around here but the list I got marked off this week made it worth it. I finally have 17 of our Head Start centers online. This completed the task of having every building ERBA occupies on the internet. The Head Start centers were the last to come on, but I finished the last one this week. I also installed a new system for one of the centers, installed new software for another, installed a new DVD drive for one of the field offices, finished getting all our computer lab computers converted to Windows 7 and started a new inventory system just for the computers, this to be in compliance with Homeland Security rules. That was just the IT side of my job.

My LIHEAP side was just as productive, this in light of the State of the Union Address where President Obama announce he would be making cuts to Community Action programs. Yes, that us. Cuts to Unemployment AND available assistance. I believe we are going into scary times. Desperate people do desperate things, after all, they get to thinking they have nothing to lose.

This coming week really is going to be an adventure. Tomorrow our church ladies are hosting a baby shower for Dailene and Anna Mae Kemper. Tomorrow evening, we are having our Valentine's dinner at church, followed by the Angela Lilly Trio Concert at 6:30 ( Come out at 6:30 to hear them at the Hidalgo Independent Christian Church, they are great!). Monday evening, Robert auditions for Footloose, his final high school musical. Tuesday, we get the results. Wednesday, we are having "Wii" night for the high schoolers. Thursday, I travel to Springfield for an energy roundtable. Yep, this is more a normal week in the Browning house. Hopefully by the end of this week we will be back to 3 vehicles and a little closer to having a new bathroom.

Happy Saturday, y'all.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Life goes on, and on, and on.......

11 days without a blog post. I hate to say it but things are unusually calm around here. Not much overly adventurous going on. Robert is doing therapy and doing well. I believe he will end up making this stick for a lifetime.

Andrew and I traveled to Evansville yesterday to see the pain doctor. He told Andrew he thinks his back pain is being triggered by migraines. It sounds weird but Andrew used to have migraines that were out of this world, and they stopped. So to us, it makes perfect sense. The big problem is the pain medicine they gave him is out of stock in this part of the world. Andrew called every Walmart within 75 miles, the CVS here in town, the Medicine Shoppe, Harmon's. The soonest anyone can get it is next Wednesday. Not great since he goes back to work tomorrow. Doc also thinks he has sleep apnea, which he says can intensify pain. I totally agree. He does the snoring, quit snoring, snoring thing a LOT. He will have a sleep study done soon and hopefully that will improve his energy level all together. Then he could feel like taking care of himself.

There isn't even anything overly exciting going on at work right now. Day to day, getting things done.

The bathroom is still progressing, Andrew tiled the box around the tub. I love it just as much as all the other tile. I hope he is planning on putting the glass tile up today on the "T" between the shower and tub and over them, Then he will be ready to grout FINALLY!

I think he will have the tile 100% by next Friday. Then on to the floor, the sink and a new light fixture.

Yes the end is in sight and I get more excited with every project getting finished.

 Musical tryouts were originally to be last Thursday evening, the music was late getting here so they have been rescheduled for the 31st. We have a baby shower and a Valentine's Banquet at church a week from tomorrow so that should be a fun, busy day although Andrew won't get to come to the Banquet.

Guess that's about it.

Happy Saturday......at least I posted :-)

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Treasures

I don't have any big news on the Browning homefront. Robert starts physical therapy today, Andrew goes back to work, I have a list a mile long at work that needs done and another one here at the house. That's our life. I have been very reminiscent the last 24 hours though.

There are days that going to the head start centers effect me more than others. Yesterday was apparently one of them. I guess it was very metaphoric for me. Normally when I go, the building is alive with activity as a dozen and a half or so 3-and 4-year-olds look for their latest adventures. There are no classes on Mondays at the centers, which made it a great day for me to actually get work done but working in an empty classroom makes me think about my little preschooler for whom I am now planning a graduation party. 

Robert loved preschool, after he got used to the idea. We had a little separation anxiety at the first. Luckily, the preschool teacher was a good friend of mine and eventhough Robert would cry, she would tell me to go ahead and leave. The nice thing was, she called me, everyday that first week, after I got home, to let me know he was doing great.

So yesterday, as I was waiting for software to install so the kids could take advantage of the learning sites offered on the internet. I really looked at each station. The library, some of Robert's favorite books, Verdi, yes, a green snake, the only snake I ever liked in my life. The Sleep Book from Dr. Suess, which was actually one of Andrew's books growing up and was almost out of print when Robert was little. Once in a while you would find it in a collection of Suess works, but not often, Love You Forever. Never made it through it without wanting to cry, but we both love this book and still say the little sayings to each other, especially when Robert asks me why I am laying down a particular rule.

Moving on to the "dress up" area, all these little costumes that you can dress in what you want to be when you grow up. When Robert was little, he was still obsessed with cars but even more obsessed with airplanes. By the time he was in second grade, he could tell the difference between almost all the airplanes out there (and still can). He wanted to be a fighter pilot.......that lasted until about 5th grade when he realized being a fighter pilot probably involved killing people. He tried to find pleasure out of killing birds, I have a picture of a sparrow that he shot at Mom's with his bb gun when he was around 10. You can tell the smile is very much plastered on his face, he will kill them for being a nuisance now, but not so much just for the sport.

The next area was the coloring and paint area, Robert was always more a "cut and paste" kind of kid. Crayons were never really his forte. Give him scissors and glue any day of the week though......he is still like that, given the choice of looking at an engine, or tearing it apart, he would tear it apart in a heartbeat. I think it's funny that I can see how the things he did in preschool have evolved into the kid he is today.

The next thing we have is the computer area. I so remember driving 3 hours to Hidalgo to get Mom to bring her up for Grandparent's day at preschool. Robert had to show Nana the computer, Nana had never seen one at the time and the fact that a 3 year old could maneuver his way around it like he did was even more unreal to her.

Funny, when we got our first computer, I fought with it all night, only to have Robert get up the next morning, push a couple of buttons and everything be fine......he was 5.

Yes, I took a little trip down memory lane. It was almost therapeutic though. I don't have any visions of "deciding I want another one" or anything like that, in fact, for the first time, I really thought, I hope I end up with grandkids someday so I can revisit this a little, firsthand. 

I honestly treasured every day of having my little preschooler, getting to stay home with him, and watching the excitement over the things he was learning. Funny, we go through that now, instead of with the alphabet, colors or counting to 100, it is with figuring out what is wrong with a friend's car or getting the timing just right on an engine. As much as I treasured my time with my little guy, I'm glad he has turned into a big guy that I can treasure time with as well.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

One of Those Days.

I started back to work Monday after 11 days off. Seriously, it seemed more like 3 days off but it was nice and new things were piling up so it was just as well I go back. Tuesday night was our last class, and it went well. Another one in the books. Yesterday I started getting new computer systems ready for the Homeless Caseworkers.

At 10:30, Robert called and needed me to come take him to the dr, his back was hurting so bad he was crying and it takes a lot any more for him to cry. So, I called Dr. Houston--out of the office, I had decided I would just take him to the hospital since Houston was out but actually Robert hadn't been to the dr in two years. The last time he went, he went to Becky, but at the time, he was dating her daughter. He hadn't been there since but I knew the insurance would throw a fit if we didn't try to take him there first. He agreed it was fine ("I don't care what we do as long as somebody gets rid of the pain"). So, I call Becky, she says bring him right over. She gave him a shot which did help the pain and she has decided that because of working in the automotive field, he needs some extra training on how to take care of himself. When we got to thinking about it, he is one of the few boys in shop that doesn't play football. All those boys workout and lift weights on a daily basis, which according to Becky, is what Robert needs to do when he is going to be doing that kind of work. So, Tuesday, he goes to Physical Therapy. They are going to teach him how to strenthen his back muscles and keep them strengthened, hopefully before he has any permanent damage. They took an x-ray yesterday but we haven't heard anything. He is on muscle relaxants and a round of prednisone. Hopefully he will be doing great by musical.

On a high note, I went to get Robert's medicine and Andrew surprised me with my Christmas present that had came in.





 He told me on our anniversary that he wanted to get it for me but that he wanted me to design it. I love it!  It has our names engraved in the bands leading to each stone. "Browning" is engraved in the band leading to our annivesary.  It is actually more gorgeous than what I thought it would be. The one I saw at the store had simulated stones and these are real. He did well!

So, onward to the boatload of things going on at work. Today I hope to get one of the computers ready to take and install and transfer all of her current info. I have 11 computers that need switched over from Windows Vista to Windows 7 and will hopefully get the other homeless case manager's computer ready to install tomorrows. If all goes as planned, while I am in Charleston today, I am going to go hook up a couple of wireless cards at Head Start. Gonna be a busy day....better get on with it!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Getting closer

Another major project with the bathroom is closer to being finished. I thought all the wall tile was finished until Robert reminded me last night that there is a little strip (what is going to require cutting inch wide tiles all the way down)between the door and the shower. Anyway, we have gotten a lot done: The shower is completed and has been functional for some time. The tub is in and is also functional. The walls are close to done. The next steps are finishing this, tiling the floor, putting in a new sink, putting in a new light fixture, tiling the surround on the tub and putting in the access panel then stripping all the paint off of the door, staining and varnishing it and putting in all new wood trim. I know it sounds like a lot but compared to all the structural stuff Andrew had to do for the tub and shower, I don't think it will take near as long. I am still shooting for us to be done by the end of January. Valentine's Day at the latest!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

The Best of 2010

Happy 1/1/11 Everyone!

Thought I would do a little reflecting on 2010, Bullet-style:

The Good:
January:
  • Robert going to All-State
  • Robert getting Cast as Uncle Henry
  • Getting to take a Family Day trip to St. Louis on MLK day
March
  • Got to order new Family Room furniture
  • Met fellow blogger and internet buddy- Amber McReaken
  • Another successful AWANA Grand Prix in the books
April
  • The Wizard of Oz, of course!
  • Getting to have the cast at our house for a meal between shows on Saturday
  • Getting my kitchen painted!
May
  • Great American Road Trip Vacation, 3 states in 7 days
  • Getting to have our IACAA Family of Distinction Dinner in the main gallery of the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
  • Andrew honored at a Silver and Gold Banquet for Walmart
June
  • Getting to see Wicked with Robert and some friends of mine
  • Going to San Antonio with my boss for a national energy conference
  • Getting the shower installed in the front bath
July
  • Starting the back bath project!
August
  • Seeing Footloose at the Muny with Robert
  • Robert turned 18
  • And started his Senior Year
  • The Balloon Festival at Lincoln, where we were VIP's this year (thanks Sis!)
  • Robert was GIVEN an "88 Chevy Silverado
September
  • Robert got to play the baritone solo for the field show
  • Which resulted in a stellar year; many, many trophies brought home
  • I got to purchase the agency's first Smartboard--and learn how to use it
October
  • My mom was one of the guests of honor for our IACAA bus tour
  • The shower was finished in the back bath
  • Robert finished rebuilding the engine in the Silverado (with help from several friends!)
November
  • Pops concert, without a doubt. Robert was an emcee and a soloists (I'm lovin' the DVD!)
  • IMEA District Festival at Charleston
  • Mom turned 71
December
  • Having the family home for Christmas--I love when my sis and bro-in-law gets to stay 2 days, it makes it that much more relaxing and just fun.
  • Taking 11 days off for the price of 2 personal days and 1 vacation day.
  • Getting to see Cirque Dreams, and getting away with the guys. The hockey game was okay too ;-)
  • Starting the tile in the back bath
The Bad:

December:
  • We lost a dear friend, Tim Andrews.
  • My father-in-law's girlfriend was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia, she is currently at MD Anderson in Houston receiving treatment.
The Ugly

July:
  • I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and Diabetes
October
  • I had a tooth pulled and ended up with a blood clot in my cheek

That's it, the good definitely outweighed everything else. Every year we make a list of the things we want to get done, each of us, then as a family. We were able to mark off several things this year that we had accomplished. It made me feel like we are not only living, we are still growing. Love when that happens!

Now forward to see what we can accomplish in 2011!!!!