Funny thing happened on the way to the barn wood wall

Funny story about the barn wood wall.

Last spring, I gathered the courage to tell Honey what I had planned for the wall in the loft.  I had been on the internets and I loved the pallet wood projects floating around.  I'd found a couple of blog tutorials, and armed with my websites and leads on where to find discarded pallets, I prepared to actually say the words out loud.

Honey took a deep breath, patiently watched my videos, and then said that's a lot of pallets.

I know! But I've been eying a huge stack of them just down the road in Neighbor's drive way.  They've been calling out to me for months.  They've just been sitting there all that time.  I sure wish I knew where he got all those.  Maybe if he wasn't going to use them all he'd let us have some.

Honey unenthusiastically said maybe.

Then a week or so later Honey and I decided to take a walk to check the mail.  When we walked by Neighbor's house the garage door was open and there were several more pallets stacked in the garage.  I mentioned that if we ever encountered Neighbor outside, we should stop and introduce ourselves {hint hint}.

And low and behold, on the way back from the mail boxes, Neighbor was doing some yard work.  It was meant to be!  We stopped, said hi and started up a conversation.  Eventually Honey asked him what he was going to do with all the pallets.

He explained, "Well, my crazy ex-wife wanted to use them to make an accent wall in our living room.  So I started bringing them home from work a couple at a time.  Then we got divorced and I'm not going to make the accent wall.  I was just doing it because that's what she wanted. I was just going to cut them up for fire wood.  Why do you want some?"

Honey said sure!  We'd take any of them he didn't want.

Neighbor asked what are you going to use them for?

Honey answered, "Well, my crazy wife wants to make an accent wall in our living room."

We made several trips with the truck and ended up taking all his pallets.  Then we started taking them apart.  Or trying to take them apart.  We worked about an hour to get about 3 pallets done before I realized that Honey's comment "that's a lot of pallets" really meant "that's a lot of pallets to take apart". 

Let me just burst your Pinterest bubble right now.

Pallets are HARD to take apart.  Honey used to sell industrial strength tools, and the stuff he had was just barely cutting it.  And it was taking SO LONG.  And half the boards we did manage to pull from the pallet broke.  Honey declared Pinterest dead to him.  He might have grounded me from the internet.

We left them stacked on the side of the house for weeks.  I'm pretty sure the deer thought we were crazy.

The day we decided to once and for all conquer the pallets was the day we got the phone call that Honey's mom passed away unexpectedly.  That sealed the deal.  We were done with the pallets.  On to bigger and better things.

Right before we moved, we spent a couple of hours with a saw cutting the pallets in to fire sized pieces.  We gave half the firewood to Neighbor and kept half for ourselves.  Best decision ever.

#widn

You're right Misty, I kinda left you hanging with the whole pile in the sun room thing.

It's gone!  This room is my favorite now...it's DONE!, best view, best sun, no boxes, clean, easy to keep, and the place where all the fun stuff happens.  Great big giant check on the list.

I'm a list person.  I love making lists.  I love checking stuff off of lists.
I have a house list rolling around in my head right now.

-paint last 2 kid rooms
-paint master
-paint bar stools
-refinish front of breakfast bar
-build floating shelf in living room

That's kind of it right now.  They're all relatively small projects.  I feel like once I get this list checked I can move on to decorating, hanging more stuff on the walls, do final unpacking/organizing in the bedrooms, get to a place where we call the house done.

Well you know...it's not ever really done...but...done.

Of course there's also a list rolling around in my head of some bigger house projects.  But that's stuff that can just wait til time, budget, and help allows.

Spring break is coming up.  Maybe we can knock out some painting...

She got her groove back

We've been in Colorado about a year and a half.  We're settling into our home where I hope we will live for many years.  We aren't the new people anymore.  Well, in some ways we are, but we are becoming less so every day.

I think we are feeling adjusted.  There are still things that feel different, and some stuff we're not used to, and every once in a while, we get caught assuming we know what's going on when we don't.  We still miss our TX people, but I think we've gained some CO people.  Gaining people is always good.

In early 2013 we started preparing for this move, and 2 years later, I am really feeling that the transition is ending.

For me personally, 2015 is going to be a year of rhythm.  I crave routine, I thrive on it, for about 2 weeks.  Then something happens to upset my routine, and it takes me a month to get back on track.  I start doubting and second guessing myself.  I let things go and then feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start.  Routine is harsh and unforgiving.  Sometimes routine is forced, sometimes it feels like fitting a square peg into a round hole.

I've learned that what I need is rhythm.  I need to settle in naturally.  This CO life requires that I do some things differently than I always have.  And that's fine.  Different isn't bad it's just...different.

Rhythm is flexible.  When one of the kids is sick and home from school for a week, routine blows up and pitches a fit because this was not part of the schedule.  Rhythm accepts it, does what it can, and extends grace when it can't.  Routine makes you feel guilty for all the things you didn't do.
Rhythm says what you did today was enough. 

I know there will be things that I'll still have to just buckle down and get 'er done, there is a place for routine in my life.  But in 2015, I'm trying to work with the rhythm of life, instead of feeling so forced by routine.

Mondays.  I've noticed that I enjoy Monday mornings.  It's when I pull it all back together from the weekend.  We tend to be a little lax on the weekends.  Lazy, if you will.  Or, we spend the weekends doing projects and there is no time for the little things like picking up socks out of the living room.  Monday morning is when I clean the kitchen, pick up the living room, change the sheets, wash the towels, go over the calendar, sort the mail...

After the weekend, I need some quiet to reset and prepare for the week ahead.  Monday mornings tell me what the rest of the week will most likely look like.  It's a rhythm.  

The Interwebs

Stuff I'm loving from around the interwebs...

- Meg shared this about the healthy changes she's making in her life.

- They say your taste buds change every 7 years.  I just ate a salad, inspired from a Facebook post that I can no longer find, made from spinach, feta cheese crumbles, strawberries, tomatoes, salted almonds, avocado, dried cranberries, and a vinegar and oil dressing. 

The tomatoes and strawberries are the only things from that list that were on my food radar even 3 years ago.

- I made this cheese tortellini soup recipe from Life in Grace.  It's delicious and makes about 10-ish 1 cup servings.  The only change I made was adding cooked chicken for a kick of protein.  That's a big deal for me considering that the recipe calls for chopped onion and diced garlic.  But it is SOOO good!  It's a light, filling, warm lunch on a fresh spring day. 

- 2014 is the year we're hoping to move out of the rent house and in to the place we can call our own and plan to stay in a very long time.  I've been dreaming of ways to put our stamp on a house, and I'm kind of obsessed with this light from Pottery Barn.  And also?  This ice machine.

- Anyone out there tried Daily Burn?  I've seen the commercials and they've piqued my interest.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

I am so over change and getting settled and new and different.

Over. it.

I want the good ole days back.
...when I could go online and with a few clicks of the mouse order more than enough diabetes supplies for Brooke
...when all the people already had our current contact information
...when I called the doctor's office and they knew who I was by my voice
...when the people at Walmart were friendly and helpful instead of snotty

You know that day when you had such an awful experience at Walmart that you swear you will never go back?  And this time you really mean it?  Today was that day for me.  You would have thought it would have been about a month ago when I went in and it smelled so badly of pot that I left with a headache.  But it wasn't then.  I gave it another chance.  After today?  I'm done.

And also, how do you just simmer on a gas cook top?  I just want the chili to simmer for a couple of hours...is that possible?

And what is the magic formula for sending a fax to a doctor and them actually getting to hold it in their hands and look at the lab results?

After the most frustrating morning I've had since I moved here, I felt a little distant from Colorado and that I needed to make friends with it again.  I decided to go to Starbucks and spend a little time downtown walking and browsing through some of my favorite shops.  It was very relaxing and refreshing until I remembered that I hadn't put money in the parking meter.

I guess the shopping worked because I didn't get a ticket.

Thankfulness Day 18:  I didn't get a parking ticket even though I totally deserved it.

After I picked the girls up from school and made it home I tackled the least frustrating chore of my day: calling the Apple helpline.  Yes, that was the least frustrating thing I did all day.

Thankfulness Day 18.2:  After only being on hold with Apple for 45 seconds, I spoke with an American that was very patient and helpful.

The Apple started working better by the time I was off the phone with him, but it's already acting up again.  Blah.

I got to play Bunco last night!  Here in CO they are Bunco grabbers instead of Bunco celebrators.  So there was some adjustment.  BUT, I won a prize, for most Buncos.  I didn't actually get the points for any of them because I'm not a good grabber, but I rolled the most out of everyone!

How was your day?

Some thoughts...

...On the royal baby.
Really?! Kensington Palace doesn't have air conditioning?  It is still 2013, right? I'm just a humble commoner, but I have been pregnant and given birth in the summer.  And I have some advice for the Queen.  If you want Baby Prince to hang out at your place, help a new momma out and COOL IT OFF IN THERE!  As in 68 American degrees of cold air.

And...I love the name George.

**Edited to add:  Mary Tutu just corrected me.  Kensington Palace has air conditioning.  The cottage on the Kensington property that Will and Kate have been staying in while the Palace is under renovation does not.  The above sentiment still applies.

...On chores.
Mary Tutu: If I clean all three bathrooms once a week, will you pay me $10 a month?
Me: Yes.
Mary Tutu: $15 ?
Me:  Yes.
Mary Tutu: $20?
Me: Yes.  Every week that you clean all three bathrooms, I will pay you $5.  How about that?
Mary Tutu: Yes! I'm making $20 a month now!

She worked for 2 hours yesterday morning and did a great job.  I feel a tiny bit guilty.  But mostly I feel like this agreement is a win/win.

Except, now Brooke is pouty because she wants a job where she makes $20 a month.  She will not consider cleaning bathrooms. (Ew...GROSS, Mom!) However, she volunteered to unload the dishwasher once a week and was mad when I wouldn't pay $5 for this service.  I finally settled on $1 each time she unloaded the dishwasher and $1 for vacuuming the stairs and landings.  She was appeased, but not as thrilled as her sister.  She worked yesterday, but has not checked in today.  It seems like having a job was just a phase for her.

There is a political parallel in there somewhere, but I'm not the one to make it.

...On outdoor living.
Yesterday the patio furniture that we ordered came in.  FINALLY.  One of the perks of living in Colorado is getting to eat outside...at least a few months out of the year.  I know there will be months of snow, but there are also months of no wind and non-100° temperatures.

The two huge boxes were delivered, and the delivery man suggested I check the contents since one was pretty damaged.  He ended up helping me unpack both of the boxes until pieces of patio furniture were strung all over the garage floor.  Then he shook my hand and left.  And I realized that I couldn't serve food on pieces of patio furniture.

With Honey's work schedule lately, my chances of having dinner that night on patio furniture didn't look great either.  I decided to put the four non-swivel chairs together.  If they were finished, it would make Honey's project after work a little faster.

Fortunately, part of Honey's old job was selling tools.  And I sure did pull a set of them out and use the whatchamacallit with two different thingies attached to it.  It was much easier than using the little Allen wrench that came with the instructions.  When the four non-swivel chairs were done, one thing led to another, and I finished putting the whole entire set together.

Oh yes I did!  Mary Tutu helped me sweep the porch, carry the chairs from the garage to the back patio, and put the table together.  We recruited Brooke to help us flip the table over and put the chairs and umbrella in place.  By the time Honey and Bubba got home from work, it was all done.

Since I'd spent the entire afternoon putting the furniture together, we had take out for supper.  BUT we got to eat it outside.

What about you?  Any thoughts?

The one where I empty my brain of all the randomness

- I turned 38 last week.  And today?  I'm craving turkey and cheese on a sandwich thin for lunch instead of bean and cheese nachos from Rosa's.  It's like I don't even know myself anymore.

-Thirty eight has also declared war on my complexion.  Seriously.  Puberty wasn't this bad.

-I've had it up to here with Iron Man, Pawn Stars, Grease Monkey, Auction Hunters, and NBA Playoffs.  Last night I needed some girl TV, so I holed up in my room and watched some Downton Abbey.  The Christmas special from season 2 is my favorite episode.

-I'm 90 miles away from reaching 1000 on the spin bike.  I'll for sure make it by May 20.  I hope the t-shirts are cute.

-It's finally strawberry and avocado season again.  I love avocados...they make me want to LICK THE BOWL CLEAN.
-And...I miss these.

There is no reason they should be a seasonal product.

-I helped chaperon Bubba's choir trip this weekend.  We were gone 27 hours and 12 of those were spent on a charter bus.  But a happy mistake made it to where Bubba and I had to sit next to each other on the way to the music festival.  I loved the 6 hours we had to whisper, laugh, nap, and watch the sun rise together.  I probably won't ever get to do that again.  Good times.

-Only 18 more days of packing lunches.  Can I get an AMEN?!

-May is crazy busy this year.  Is the end of school kicking anyone else's tail?

Today...

...I drank a cup of my morning coffee without any added sweetener.  I added my favorite Vanilla Coffee Mate, which I suppose counts as added sweetener, but none of my old friends sugar, splenda, truvia, equal, or sweet n low were added.  I'm not sure why.  It's not that we were out. It wasn't an accident. I just didn't stir it in.  I'm not worried, it's probably just a phase.

...I baked a pan of Grands cinnamon rolls.  After Honey and the kids left for the day.  Because they sounded good. And because I can.  Did you know that the oven still works even when the kids are at school?

...I admit it's been quiet around the blog lately.  You know when you were little and your mom told you that "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything"?  Right now, life is telling me something similar to that.  Today there are parts of my life that just aren't internet appropriate.  Some day they will be, but today they are not.  Instead of writing around them I've chosen not to write anything at all.  And that's OK.

...I really want to take a trip to Disneyland.  Because you can do Disneyland in a couple of days, and that's all I want...just a couple of days. Enough time to see all my favorites, watch the fireworks, and post a few pictures on Instagram.  You know when you crave comfort food?  I'm craving a comfort place, and Disney is one of those places.  I don't necessarily want to take the kids, but I know that I would miss them if I went without them.  And they would KILL me if I went to Disney without them.  Honey?  He couldn't care less about Disney.  I'm pretty sure if I asked him to take me to Disneyland, he'd say, "Isn't there a girlfriend that could go with you instead?"

...I am making this for supper.  We usually grill pork chops.  And by we, I mean Honey.  I don't grill.  I don't even know how to turn on the grill.  But Honey is swamped this week and I'm trying to cook out of the freezer, so crock pot pork chops it is.

...What's going on with you today?

It's mandatory rest day for Tour de Crazy.  It is MUCH needed, by the way.  Don't endurance athletes carb load on off days?  I think I saw that on TV once, so I'm pretending that's what they do.

This was my fortune from a few weeks ago...I'm finding carbs at my house today...but I had to share.

I thought Rosa's was the only eatery that spoke my language, but apparently, Panda Express knows.

I could make this stuff up, but why would I when it just happens all on it's own?

Tour de Crazy

Remember when I started spinning?

The gym where I take classes decided to host a challenge that would whip everyone back into shape after the holidays and get us all through the mid-winter blues.  We are now in the midst of the "Tour de Crazy".  It's actually called Tour de 'name of the gym', but Tour de Crazy fits much better.  Because crazy is exactly where I will be by Saturday.

The idea is to simulate the Tour de France as much as possible while only riding one hour a day for 14 days, indoors, on a stationary bike.

Which is pretty much nothing like the real Tour, but, whatever.

Today was day 10.  I have been on the bike 8 out of the last 10 days and ridden 158 miles.

One hundred fifty eight miles...that is about how far Honey drives to go to work every day.

My bum is sore.  I'm so thankful for my padded riding shorts.

Ibuprofen is not 'performance enhancing', right?

I've gotten stronger and faster over the last 10 days.  But it probably has nothing to do with the amount of Advil I've taken, right?

My appetite has increased dramatically.  I am starving all.the.time.  I totally get how Michael Phelps could eat 10,000 calories a day.

I'm losing inches, my jeans are fitting differently.  I haven't weighed though.

One day last week at the end of class I was about as spent as I had ever been and the instructor excitedly announced, "Three down, only 11 more to go!"  I decided that was a bit early to start the countdown.

I've learned that the course we are simulating is heavy on the flat lands in the beginning and then all about the Alps in the end.  So...today we started the Alps part.  I fully expect my mileage to go down since I can't ride as fast on hills as I can on flats.

We were climbing mountains in the Alps for 40 of the 56 minutes I was on the bike today.

I don't know what the Alps look like, but in my head they look just like the mountains around CBH.  It's my happy place when pretending to ride on mountains.

The tour ends Saturday, so there are 4 more days to ride because Thursday is a mandatory rest day.  And then I can wear my Tour de Crazy shirt with pride.  I love a good challenge.  Honey said that he knew I would finish because I always accomplish what I put in my mind to do.  That's fancy talk for I'm stubborn.

In all the months I've been spinning, I've never logged 200 miles in one month.  So, that's my goal for February.

In September I joined the 1000 mile challenge.  I've been logging my miles every time I ride, and when I get to 1000 I get a t shirt.  I'm really wanting to wrap that up this spring too.  My goal is to have that completed by my birthday, May 2.

What kind of work outs are you loving right now?
What is the craziest thing you've ever done for a t shirt?

Work with what you got

I save Brooke's meter strip canisters.  They are sturdy plastic and about the size of the old camera film canisters.  The elementary teacher in me just can't throw them away.  Somebody out there needs these canisters.  I just don't know who it is...yet.

I stick the empty ones in a basket in our pantry and every once in a while I empty the basket into a Walmart bag.  Honey found the bag the other day and asked why I was saving them.  I told him that I'm always talking to people that say things like, "Those old film canisters were perfect for that activity.  Too bad they don't make them anymore."  He argued that he's never once heard anyone say that in conversation.

We had a great long discussion in which he tried to convince me to throw them out, and I refused.  (What about camp?  There might be something we could do with them at camp.) If he can keep is bulky, antiquated phone book, I can keep my stash of meter strip canisters.  (There you go: the secret to our happy marriage.)

We've had the suburban for almost a year.  It wasn't a huge driving adjustment for me because I learned to drive in my mom's suburban.  Now, I only run over curbs occasionally and I have pretty much figured out how to park in the tiny, non-angled spaces at Target.

The only thing I haven't mastered is how far into the garage I have to pull in to clear the overhead door.  I had been asking Honey to hang something from the ceiling that would touch the windshield when I'd pulled in far enough, and Monday was the day.  He disappeared into the garage and I heard some drilling and smelled the ends of some rope burning, and then he came in and announced that the job was done. 

I was busy at that moment and didn't go out immediately to see his handiwork, so it was a couple of hours before I was able to appreciate my husband's sense of humor.

Need a closer look?

It makes me grin every time :)

Anyone else need a garage stopper?

Here and there...and some pictures to jog my memory...

Honey is home sick today. It's probably the flu. I am attempting to keep all the other people that live in this house away from him.  And I'm doing a lot of disinfecting.
It's Spring in West Texas, so the wind is blowing 60 mph and the sky is brown...for the second day this week.

For the sake of future generations, I'm posting some pictures from my phone here before they are deleted and lost forever.

You're welcome.

We pack lunches almost every day, not really for the sake of saving money, but mainly because I feel like it's a bit healthier.  It's also easier on the carb counting for Brooke. 

At some point last month, I realized that sending frozen chicken nuggets and processed lunch meat EVERY SINGLE DAY, probably isn't all that much healthier than some of the school lunches.  So Honey and I came up with a plan.

Once a week the kids can have their frozen chicken product of choice, and one other time during the week they can have their Lunchable.  On all the other days, we're using leftover dinner meat for wraps and sandwiches, and I'm making Baked Spaghetti and freezing it in individual servings for an easy throw it in the microwave day. 

So far the natives like the changes and variety.  We'll see if it lasts.

The girls recently celebrated the 100th Day of School.  I made shirts for them to wear that said, "100 Days Smarter".  I totally lifted the idea from a friend on Facebook.

It's been a LONG, almost year long process, but the home warranty company finally fixed the crack in our floor.  I had to give up the stained concrete because the fixed crack wouldn't have stained very pretty, so they put wood floors in instead.  We just have a few cosmetic repairs left and the house will be as good as new!

Bubba is becoming quite the little choir member.  He and a few of his friends sang in our region's Solo and Ensemble contest and earned a 1!  (For those who don't speak solo and ensemble, that's the best score you can earn.)

The aftermath of spending a night with Diabetes...thankfully Brooke was able to sleep through most of it.  At one point, after slamming down a juice box like the pro that she is, she tried to suck on a peanut butter cracker.  I had to wake her enough to get her to understand that she had to chew the cracker, not suck on it. 

Every once in a while, after she's finished a juice box in her sleep, she puckers her lips like she used to as a new born.  It makes the night time juice feedings worth loosing a little sleep. 

The halls at church in the children's wing are painted with Bible story murals.  I think it looks like this little guy is holding an iPad :)

Last weekend we went to the Lion's Club Pancake Breakfast.  (That would be Mary TuTu chowing down on her pancakes.) Around here, the Lion's Club helps send kids to Diabetes Camp each summer.  We've gone for several years now, but this is the first year that we've known about the donations to Dcamp.  It's a win/win for us...eating tasty pancakes while donating money to such a giving organization.  

Also last weekend, we filled a row at church with the 2nd graders.  I love these girls and love even more that they have each other as they grow their faith.



A few weeks ago I entered a give away for this print.  I fell in love with the words first, and then the colors.  I didn't win, but we really needed this one for our laundry room.  It's hanging right by the door so every time we leave the house we see it.

I found this in Mary TuTu's school folder. 

"Dear Dad, I am so sorry someone broken to your car.  I LOVE you!  Love, Mary TuTu" 

Isn't that sweet?!  The second graders have been learning about the correct form and punctuation of letter writing...which totally explains why there are about 60 pretend birthday party invitations and thank you notes floating around the house.





A purse by any other name...

I was going to start this post with "A couple of weeks ago...", but when I went back to find the link I needed, I realized that it was a couple of months ago.

So, a couple of months ago, Misty posted about her handbag. She asked two questions 1) what do you call your handbag? and 2) what do you carry too much of? (except she did not leave her preposition dangling)

This post made me laugh because I've gone through my fair share of handbag seasons.

There was the "I love purses, they make me feel grown up" season from about 1977-1990.

Then there was the "Purses weigh me down, I just need my ID, my keys, a little bit of cash, and a quarter for the pay phone." season that lasted from about 1990 to 1997.

Then there was the "I am on my own and have a good job, I'm going to buy myself an expensive purse just because I can." season that lasted from 1997-1998.

Then there was the "Purse? What's a purse?" season. 1998-2000

Then the "It takes 10 minutes to pack the dang diaper bag before we can even leave the house." season that started in 2000 and seemed to go on for-evah.

Somewhere along the way, probably about the time the girls turned 3, I decided that it was high time that I start carrying stylish purses again. No room for sippy cups or zip loc baggies full of cheerios, just the stuff I needed. Forget the kids.

I did that from 2006 until February 2011.

After getting Brooke's T1 diagnosis, I quickly learned that my days of spur of the moment errands with a cute little trendy purse were over. I mourned my foot loose and fancy free life and started looking for a way to carry around all the stuff we would need "just in case" she went low, high, or needed a snack.

Or just in case we were out longer than expected and we had a full on meal before we made it back home.

Clearly, I needed some retail therapy.

I settled on a Vera Bradley tote bag:

And we affectionately call it "The Vera".

And there is a BUNCH of stuff in there. I actually love it because I have non perishable stuff in there for Brooke (and let's be honest, the other two eat the snacks just as often as Brooke does) and so I don't usually spend 10 minutes getting all her stuff together before we leave. It's in there all ready. I just pick it up and go.

The other day I was volunteering at school and one of the moms said, "I knew who you were because I recognized your bag."

That's good, right?

But because the bag is so big, stuff just gets thrown in there and I never really know what I'm going to find.

Or it's so big I can't find what I'm looking for so I throw another one in...whatever.

I cleaned out The Vera a few days ago, and here it is...

cosmetics
gum

fast acting sugar

wallets (thank you Dave Ramsey and your envelope system)

protein

glasses cases

two teeth Bubba had pulled at the beginning of December

just call me Mema

pharmaceuticals

(and a couple of extra insulin needles that we haven't used since October)

Not pictured is the trash/random papers I cleaned out and the stuff I grab and throw in there just before we leave the house: 1) my cell phone...gotta have it 2) Brooke's meter bag...it's got everything we need to keep her alive until we can get back home 3) my keys. In that order.

So...

What do you call your purse, handbag, Vera?

Can I see inside?

"I got a torch."

Bubba went on his first youth retreat this weekend. Well, kind of. He's been on countless youth retreats, but he was always a pre-camper. This was his first time as an actual youth.

We tagged along as sponsors. Not because we don't trust Bubba or the youth leaders...we do. But they asked, and we accepted because we know what it's like to try to find people to agree to hang out with 120 teens all weekend. Especially when all you have to offer in return is little sleep, Christian rap music, marginal camp food, and the very real possibility that you will have to either plunge a toilet or clean up vomit.

For some reason we enjoy those kinds of weekends every once in a while.

Our little church community usually retreats to a small camp about an hour away from our city. It's far enough away that you feel like you've left real life behind, but not so far that you spend all weekend driving.

When the buses pulled up to the camp, Bubba was experiencing it for the "first" time.

"This is so cool!"

"It's a lot nicer than I thought it would be!"

"There's a basketball court, too?!"

"There are no counselors?!"

It was cute. I asked him if he remembered being at the camp on (many) retreats before, and he didn't. That's a relief. We didn't ruin his excitement for youth group by exposing him at too early an age.

Because of the distance from home, I decided to pull double duty on Saturday. The plan was for me to spend about 3 1/2 hours taking the girls back and forth to town so they could play in their basketball game. According to the schedule we would only miss one small group session and free time. It seemed like a solid plan.

My little trip to town also gave me the chance to stop at Walmart and pick up coffee creamer and sweetener. It was my little way of contributing to the retreat even from a distance.

Because the schedule? It also said that lights out wasn't until midnight.

MIDNIGHT!

This is truth: The only way to keep adults awake and happy until midnight is drinkable coffee. Hence the creamer and sweetener.

Our little trip to town almost went off without a hitch.

We were this close.

On the way back, about 10 miles from camp, I got a flat. It was real flat. Fuh-lat.

And, when you are about 10 miles from the middle of nowhere, there is no 3G. Not one little bar.

No wonder there are no houses out there.

I called Honey's brother (because he is obligated by family ties to help in these times of crisis) and he gave me the number to the camp. I was able to get a call through to their land line and they gave Honey a message.

In the 20 minutes or so it took for Honey to find us, there was a moment when I considered changing the flat myself. That moment lasted about 7 seconds.

I'm glad the thought was fleeting, because when Honey got there we couldn't get the spare lowered from under the car. In a moment of desperation, we even pulled out the owner's manual and followed the directions in there, but it wouldn't budge. Honey is pretty good with all things cars and we were both getting very frustrated with the whole thing.

About the time we were ready to lock it up and leave it until we could have it towed, a little old man with a heavy Spanish accent drove up in his humble work truck. Honey explained the problem. And all of a sudden, this man's truck transformed into Mary Poppins's magic carpet bag.

He had one of everything in that truck. First he tried putting air in the flat tire with his air compressor. But once it was filled it started bubbling up in weird places and Honey was afraid it was going to blow up.

Then they tried all kinds of jacks, wooden blocks, random metal rods, wire cutters, and wrenches to get that dumb spare down and none of it worked.

Then the old man said, "I got a torch."

Honey responded, "What?"

"I got a torch."

And Honey proceeded to cut the spare out from under the not-even-been-a-week-since-we-paid-it-off suburban with a cutting torch.

I'm not even kidding.

After that it all went very fast. The actual changing the tire part took about 5 minutes, because, you know, he had an air compressor in the back of his truck.

Pictured here are Honey and our Good Samaritan airing up the spare before we loaded up and headed back to camp.

Not pictured is Honey telling me that it is not a good idea to try "to just make it the last 10 miles" if the tire pressure warning light is flashing.

To my credit, I did slow down to 55 mph hoping that it would help the tire pressure situation enough to get us back.

(And I may or may not have turned the seat warmer and radio off on the slight chance that it might also help the tire pressure situation. Just doing my part.)

Cars are not my spiritual gift. I know this about myself, it's one of the reasons I married Honey.

Five hours after leaving camp, we finally made it back...just in time for dinner. Which according to the boys is the most important part anyway.

The adults successfully stayed up until midnight, and I like to think my bringing the creamer and sweetener had a little something to do with that.

Sunday we drove home in 60 mph winds and the worst dust storm I've ever seen. As we drove by our little flat tire spot, I snapped a picture.

Ah, good times.

Bits and pieces

...because sometimes a list is just the only way.

1. It's fall here, y'all. I can tell because it hasn't been nearly as hot lately. We haven't been over 100 degrees in a couple of weeks. We even spent a few days in the 70s and 80s. Those days were glorious. And...it RAINED...on and off for ONE WHOLE DAY! Rumor has it we got like 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch!



2. Our family participated in our first ever Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes. It was a beautiful morning and lots of family and friends came out and walked 3 miles to support Brooke. Our team was named Sugar & Spice, and we raised $875!

This is a terrible picture, but Sugar & Spice had over 50 walkers, runners, stroller riders, or playground players that day. It was a fun morning.

3. That evening after the walk, we celebrated the girls' 8th birthday. I can't even put into words how mind blowing it is that my babies are 8. I still vividly remember the days when I wondered if we would make it to their second birthday.

They are such sweet, fun girls. They wanted a hippie party, so we got our flower power groove on and had a rockin' fun time.

Thanks to church camp and the weeks we spend there every summer, the girls can't imagine a party without costumes so...

4. The morning of the diabetes walk, I got to visit with a couple of insulin pump reps. I came home wearing a sample Omni Pod. I just wanted to try it and see how it felt to wear it 24/7. Seeing that really got Brooke interested in pumps. She is SO ready to leave the injections behind and experience the freedom that is pumping. Over the last few months, I've done TONS of research online and this week I've been hitting the highlights for Honey and Brooke showing them videos and blogs and websites. We've also had the pump reps come to the house. We're also considering the Animas Ping, and the Medtronic Revel. We are in the midst of a big decision, but the good news is that it shouldn't be long until Brooke is living in pump bliss! We are all ready for this next leg of the Diabetes journey. BRING IT!!

4a. As a side note, if you want to find a parent's point of view about each of the above mentioned pumps all in one place, I found this great blog post at Meri's that talks about the Medtronic but links to two other moms that use each of the other pumps. Loved the idea of the Pump Parade, Meri! Thanks!

5. I'm exercising...and Weight Watchering...and cooking. It takes so much time, but it's got to be done. Sigh.

6. Our church has always had some sort of small group ministry and it seems like each year it evolves into something different. This year it's taken on a huge overhaul with a new purpose. We have joined a group that we love. It's been a bright spot in our week. Yay!

7. I've found myself really getting in tune with what it means to mother each of my children. I feel like the last 7 months have been full of diabetes, diabetes, diabetes. Which sometimes, for the other two, translates into Brooke, Brooke, Brooke.

I'm searching, asking, listening, and being intentional about the time I spend with each of the kids and the time that we spend all together. I need more of a solution than just taking each kid on a mom & me date.

We have lived through the season of teaching obedience and manners and basic care and feeding. Even though we do sometimes visit those issues, our children are past that. They need nurturing and parenting. Does that make sense?

**Here's the group participation part, I'll even give you choices. Please choose 1 of the following and answer in the comments.**

1. Which pump did your family choose and why?

2. What things (besides mommy & me dates) help you parent your children as individuals? I think sometimes I just see them as a mob that needs to be controlled.

3. Do we have to dress up for Halloween this year?

Well, hello there.

So...it's been a week. I think I ran out of stuff to say in July when I did NaBloPoMo. Kinda'. I went back and counted, I missed 5 days.

Some things that distracted me last week:

- Monday evening I drove Honey's car to Bunko. About 10 blocks from the house, the car started overheating. I turned the air conditioner off and called Honey. He came and drove it home.

We spent Tuesday doing the Get the Car Fixed Shuffle. Rental cars, mechanics, unloading and reloading were all involved.

Honey couldn't miss work, he had a small concrete repair project to do for one of his customers, so he rented a car for 3 days, transferred the tools he needed to the rental car, and drove a couple of hours down the road.

Honey called about 3:30 and told me his car was fixed. And the bill was almost $750. Yes, I said seven hundred fifty dollars. It's amazing how fast they can get stuff fixed when it means $750. I went to pay the bill and pick up the car keys because Honey wouldn't be back in town until after the shop closed.

When I wrote the check, I told Nick that was the fastest I'd ever spent $750. He said in his slow Texas drawl, "I don't believe that."

I met Honey at the car rental store and we unloaded a grinder, some sort of chemicals in white buckets, a hand held dust devil thing, some black gloves, and various and assundry other things he'd used. I'm pretty sure they thought we were making bombs. We're probably on the government watch list now. If you see black and white surveliance pictures of us unloading the rental car, please don't look at my hair. It had been a long day.

- That very same night, I got in the shower at about 9:45 and Honey left to pick Bubba up from a birthday party. The boys had been playing hide-and-seek, at the church, in the dark, and Bubba ended up knocking heads pretty hard with another kid there.

They both ended up in the ER around 10:30, Bubba to the children's ER and his older friend with a much wider, deeper gash in his eyebrow, to the adult ER. By 11:30 his friend had 6 stitches and had come over to check on Bubba. They waited a while, took a short drive over to the adult ER hoping the line was shorter, and ended up back in the children's ER.

I was at home with the girls, watching Pawn Stars, and waiting for the text/facebook updates. At 1:15, about the time I was dozing off, they got to see a doctor. Bubba ended up with 9 stitches.

He was all smiles the next morning. His only complaint was that, "when it heals, you'll barely be able to see it."

- Less exciting, but still distracting...I'm back to counting points for Weight Watchers...hardcore counting. Which means there has been some hardcore meal planning going on, and hardcore cooking, and hardcore water drinking. And this week? I've got to get back to the hardcore exercising.

- I finally found a book to read this summer that I liked...The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. In January I read The Forgotten Garden also by Morton. They are both really good books.

- School starts in two weeks. This week we will pick up Bubba's first middle school schedule and find out who the girls' teachers will be. I'm ready for school to start...we have a few shopping trips before I'm ready for school to start.

- I'm also going to a meeting this week to learn more about our local ADA walk in September. We're getting a team together. If you know me in real life and want to walk with us and help raise money for Diabetes research, let me know. Won't that be fun?!

-What have you got going this week?

I'm glad I didn't have anything better to do.

Yesterday was a pretty lazy day at our house. Bubba and I exercised. We all showered. I fixed breakfast and lunch. That's pretty much it.

We'd missed our weekly visit to Sonic on Thursday, so I told the kids if we could all get going and get dressed, we would make a Sonic run, and go to the video store to rent a movie for them to watch this weekend.

Yes, we still go to the video store...occasionally. But only when we've exhausted all Redbox and Free Video on Demand options. We're the last family in America that doesn't use Netflix ... according to Bubba.

As we were walking out the door, Bubba said he'd rather just get a cup with ice from Sonic and drink a Blue Sky from the fridge at home. Blue Sky is Bubba's newest soda obsession. He discovered them while living at CBH for two weeks. Honey and I are happy to indulge him every now and then because Blue Sky brings back such fond memories for us. We are beyond proud to pass the Blue Sky love on to our offspring.

When Mary Tutu heard this plan, she jumped on the Blue Sky band wagon, and Bubba agreed to share one of his coveted cans.

Looking back, I think this is the point where I lost all common mom sense and reverted to "do what you gotta do to make everyone happy" mode.

On the way to Sonic for 2 diet Dr. Peppers and 2 cups of Sonic ice, Brooke decided that she didn't want any of the diet soda options that Sonic offers. She wanted a Blue Sky, or something equally exotic. Sadly, Blue Sky does not offer a carb free soda, so I began bargaining that we would get her a drink at Sonic and then run by World Market and try to find something more exciting for her to have next time.

No go. She wanted a cup of ice and to drink whatever we found at World Market.

The crazy in me agreed and ordered 1 diet Dr. Pepper and 3 cups of ice. I'll be the first to admit that Sonic ice is the best, but, really, an order like that should have tipped me off that I might have crossed some sort of "how much time do you really have to waste?" line.

Our ice was delivered, the Blue Sky was poured, I took a loooong drag of diet Dr. Pepper, and we set out for World Market.

As it turns out, World Market doesn't have the selection of diet drinks I thought they would. After 15 minutes of looking, we finally found some diet cream soda. It looked exotic, so Brooke was happy. We headed to the check out.

The only register that was open had one customer and something was going on because the cashier was on the phone, consulting a 3 ring binder, and talking to a manager. I was relieved when the teen girl and supervisor at the other register put their conversation on hold and opened their lane.

They rang up our soda, gave me the total, and when I tried to pay with my debit card, told me that their systems were down and that they would have to call in and have my card run through the system the old fashioned way. I didn't have any cash, so they pulled out a three ring binder, dialed the phone, and began to consult with each other.

Let's just say, I know now why people preferred cash back in the day of the carbon copy credit card receipts. In fact my debit card doesn't have the raised numbers on it, so their carbon copy system was useless. Fifteen minutes later, our purchase was secured and we headed to the car to pour Brooke's cream soda over her partially melted Sonic ice.

Except, when we got to the car, I realized that I didn't have a bottle opener.

No, I'm not kidding.

Brooke began to cry and curse diabetes. I took a loooong drag of diet Dr. Pepper.

In an effort to put the longest. Sonic. run. ever. behind us, we stopped at Walgreens. I left the kids in the car with the air running and Bubba in charge. Walgreens had individual bottles of diet root beer on sale 2 for $3. I grabbed the last two. I quickly turned around, and in my hurry literally ran in to the parents of my college roommate.

We shared a short visit in the checkout line, a good chuckle over my Sonic shenanigans, and hugs all around before I headed back out to the car. I poured Brooke's diet root beer over her semi melted Sonic ice, I took a loooong drag of diet Dr. Pepper, and an hour after leaving the house for a Sonic run, all of us finally had a drink.

And we still had to agree on a video.

Who's ready for school to start?

Missed it.

I missed posting yesterday. I just didn't get it done.

But...
We are all home.
We all slept under the same roof last night.
We heard countless fun stories about Bubba's 2 weeks at CBH.
We had the best time over frozen yogurt.
We managed to finish planning for our Bible class next week.
We got a refresher on how to use the glucagon, but pray we won't need it.

Today we are...
Finishing up laundry.
Packing clothes.
Making a last minute Walmart trip.
Gathering the last of our teaching supplies.
Paying bills.
Helping with camp registration.

Summer colds are the worst.

I'm posting on the old dinosaur tonight. Remember the ancient 2005 Dell that is so old I can't buy technical support for it anymore? Yep...it's still going strong. Except for that one little episode of which we do not speak, this computer has never given me a problem. Old or not, THIS computer isn't prone to viruses.

The laptop? Well, it's got a little cold right now.

Remember those people I pay to be my friends in my computer time of need? It turns out, they are only fair weather friends. They don't treat viruses. Well, they do, if you have $200 to spend...ON TOP of what you've already spent purchasing service packages.

Worst Buy and I are mad at each other right now. And I am definitely breaking up with the Geek Crew. It's just not worth the emotional stress...it's such a one sided relationship...

The only friends you can really count on in your computer time of need are the ones you don't have to pay. The ones that are your friend for free. The ones that don't get scared when your computer gets a virus.

And they don't tell you it will take 5-8 days to treat your computer. They say, "Sure! I will try my best to get it well by the time you leave for camp!"

And you know they mean it.

Because camp? Four more sleeps and we will leave for camp. Leave. Gone. For a whole week.

But before that? One more sleep and we get to see Bubba! We are going to closing campfire tomorrow night and we will bring him home Friday morning!

Then he'll have two sleeps at home and head back to camp. But I'm totally down with that because we'll be there, too, so I can see him any time I want.

How do you solve your computer problems?

It's a long, sad story.

I'm not really a fan of change. It makes my stomach hurt.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

So a couple of years ago when Walmart quit stocking my favorite chap stick, it threw my world into a tail spin. I tried several different brands, but couldn't find the perfect one to replace my favorite.

But then! One day I was all the way across town at Drug Emporium, and I found my favorite chap stick. And all was right with my world. And every couple of months I made the trek across town to stock up. (If you're keeping score at home, yes, I've been driving across town for chap stick for two years. Don't judge.)

Here's my current stash of chap stick:

Also I have 3 more already open...1 on my night stand, 1 in my purse, and 1 in The Vera.

Then, not to long after I was reunited with my chap stick, Walmart stopped stocking my favorite razors. Seriously. I really wanted to break up with Walmart, because how many times have I fallen in love with something only to have Walmart quit stocking it? But we're on a budget.

And I really don't have it together enough to clip coupons. If I clip them, and they somehow miraculously make it into my purse, and I remember to purchase whatever the coupon is actually advertising, I forget to redeem them at the register.

But! I the next time I was at Drug Emporium I remembered to look for my razors! And they had them! And for two years my trips across town were smooth and meaningful.

Until a couple of weeks ago. I ran out of razors...and back-up razors. So I borrowed a razor from Honey. And my world stopped.

They are the exact same razor. Exactly. The. Same. Just alike. Exactly.

Except for the color. The boy razors are blue. And right down the street at Walmart.

And cheaper...a whole $2 cheaper! What's up with that Gillette? The boy razors are cheaper than the girl razors?!

I'm on to you Gillette. I'll show you. I'm going to start using the boy razors. I don't have to use a pink razor to feel like a girl.

I'm not driving all the way across town for your expensive, pink razors anymore.

Now, I'm off to find the boy version of my chap stick.