Work yesterday was crazy so I didn't manage to get the pictures from the picnic up. I did take off a couple hours to take Micah to the photographer to get senior pics done for us. They will be fantastic. Micah's GF and I were both telling him he could be a model, he did such a great job in front of the camera.

We did manage to finally get a complete walk-through of the house we are wanting to move into last night. I just love this place. It's old but the dark woodwork inside has been kept up so well and it's gorgous. It has a small yard, which I like. We have lived in an apartment so long I am dying for a little green patch. The yard isn't terribly big so it won't be much to keep it up, but I'll still have a place to enjoy the outdoors. It's also got an enclosed porch down the front side of the house which can be set up nicely.

I've got another busy day ahead of me today with the work I did not manage to accomplish yesterday in front of me, plus we only have the kids here a couple more days and I want to get as much time in with them as I can. We really are enjoying having Micah's GF with us. She is a delight. She's polite and respectful and has a good sense of humor. I asked her yesterday if she thought her mom would mind if we just kept her. She kinda figured she would, so I guess we'll have to send her back afterall. LOL.

Happy birthday to our Shannon! Our middle child and mother of our granddaughter. We love you, Chicklette.

I am sunburned. Not terribly burned, just enough to be a little uncomfortable. We had our company picnic yesterday. It was fun. Mostly we just sat around eating and chatting. I had planned a few games, and Micah's GF won the Gilligan's Island Look-Alike contest with her rendition of Mary Ann. My Hubby came in second place as The Professor. Micah made a very dashing Gilligan, too. I'll try to post pics a little later today.

Happy 18th birthday to our nephew, Michael.

Happy June 1st. It is going to be a busy day today. It always is on the first of the month. People who get paid monthly will be in to get airtime on their pre-paid cell phones. I also have another training class on our new point-of-sale software today. This stuff is such a pain in the butt to set up. We've been paying on it for two months and still don't have it all-systems-go yet.

We almost ended up sending the kids home today. There was much drama yesterday afternoon all stemming from Hubby teasing the kids that we had cameras throughout the house so they had best behave themselves. Well that backfired. At first Micah was taking the teasing in good fun, but after a while when we wouldn't admit that his dad was teasing him, he blew up and said he wanted to go home. Thankfully there wasn't a train leaving until morning, which gave him and his dad time to talk. They went for a walk and were gone for hours. GF and I were doing our best to stay home and stay out of it until they had worked it out. I called once (after two hours) to make sure all was ok but not ask any questions. They came home after 3 hours and Micah apologized for being such a hot head. His dad had already tried to apologize for letting the teasing go so long before they left. This is not a man who apologizes often (maybe 3 times that I can think of in the 15 years we've been together). I apologized for letting it go too far. They worked it out. The kids will stay until the end of next week as planned and all is well with the universe today.

In the time we were alone together, GF and I decided father and son are much more alike than either would like to admit. I think the time alone was good for she and I, too, as we got to talk a little girl talk and bond a little better.

Now, it's off to work and a super busy day. I am hoping that I will have the time to cut out early and take the kids to the skate park. We have a couple of nice ones around here (in neighboring towns) and Micah wants to show me some of the moves he's improved since the last time he was here in warm weather (about 2 years ago).

Two Jewish men, "Sid" and "Al," were sitting in a Mexican restaurant. 

Sid asked Al, "Are there any people of our faith born and raised in Mexico?"

Al replied, "I don't know, let's ask our waiter."

When the waiter came by, Al asked him, "Are there any Mexican Jews?"

The waiter said, "I don't know Senor, I'll ask the cooks."


He returned from the kitchen in a few minutes and said "No sir, no Mexican Jews."

Al wasn't really satisfied with that and asked, "Are you absolutely sure?"

The waiter, realizing he was dealing with "Gringos" gave the expected answer,  "I will check again, Senor."  and went back into the kitchen.

While the waiter was away, Sid said, "I find it hard to believe that there are no Jews in Mexico.  Our people are scattered everywhere."

The waiter returned and said, "Senor, the head cook said there is no Mexican Jews."

"Are you certain?" Al asked once again, "I can't believe there are no Mexican Jews!"

"Senor, I ask EVERYONE," replied the exasperated waiter.

"All we have is Orange Jews, Prune Jews, Tomato Jews and Grape Jews."

It felt so good to sleep in my own bed last night. I'm glad to be home. The drive home was long, but it was fun with the kids in the back seat. They are so cute together. Micah would catch us looking in the back seat and raise his hands up to prove he wasn't touching his girlfriend inappropriately. I hope they don't get too bored while they are here.

Last night, I had intended on going to bed early because I had to be at work by 7 a.m., but instead I ended up sitting up talking with Micah and his GF about college and what he would be good at. He's really stressing out because he does not know what he wants to do with his life. GF is good for him and is encouraging him to go to college (or trade school).

I need to go do the dishes so they don't get ahead of me. I cooked last night and tonight both. The kids seem to appreciate the home cooking. Last night was meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob (which was on sale at the grocery store). Tonight was Italian steak and spaghetti. I pound the steak thin, dredge it through egg mixture and seasoned bread crumbs and fry it in a small amount of olive oil. We had salad with both meals. The GF enjoys raw veggies. She's not a big meat eater, but has eaten the meat I've cooked. John says it's because she wants to make an impression. Micah says she really wouldn't eat it if she didn't like it.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to take off work early and take Micah to the local community college to discuss financial aid options. Not that he's going to move up here, but he's expressed an interest in going to school and financial aid available here may also be available at Texas State Technical College in Texas, too.

We'll be hitting the road in about an hour. I made motel reservations for tonight online so we don't risk not having a room like we almost did on the way down. We got the last available room at the Fairfield Inn on the way down here. We've decided to stay at the same motel on the way up. It was pretty nice and I was able to book a room for the four of us for $20 less than it cost on the way down.

I didn't get much sleep last night. We went to Sarah's dance recital. It was much more entertaining than when she was a kid. I don't know if it's because they managed to keep it at less than 2 hours or because she had choreographed 9 or the 22 routines performed. The older kids were VERY good, including one team that Sarah coaches that will be competing at some national dance competition this summer. They have won all their state and regional competitions and are now on to nationals along with one other team from this studio.

We went out to dinner with Sarah and the staff from her studio after the recital. It was fun. Then we came home around 10 p.m. and played Taboo with her husband when he got home from work. It was after midnight when we went to bed. I've been up and down all night and have been up since 5:30 a.m. I am glad I'm driving first this morning, then John can take over the rest of the way. My goal is to get us through Fort Worth (I'm going to show him it's an easier drive through Fort Worth than it is through Dallas) before I turn the wheel over to him. Then it's his job to the middle of Kansas for the night.

We have to have the rental car back by 4 p.m. tomorrow in order to avoid additional charges. We were planning on being back today, actually, but we decided to stay for Sarah's recital. I'm glad we did. It was very enjoyable.

Now I get to look forward to two days of driving with moody teen-agers in the back seat. I haven't seen them much the past few days we've been here, but when I have seen them, the boy's been walking around with a chip on his shoulder. He thinks we don't trust him because we told him we were going to watch him and his girlfriend like a hawk the whole time they were with us. I explained to him that if I didn't trust him, I wouldn't be letting her come up at all, but it's my job as a parent to continue reminding him not to have sex and limit the availability of the temptation. I think they'll have a nice trip, if they just get over the fact that we are going to be strict on them. There are things going on that they'll be able to go to together, and I know I can't be with them 24/7, but I can at least know where they are and who they are with.

These are wreaths I made this afternoon to set on my Daddy's grave this weekend. I wanted one that said "Daddy" on it, but all of the premade ones I saw were made with ugly flowers. So, I bought a ring and my own flowers, ribbon and stick-on letters and made my own. I am pleased with how it turned out. It says "Our Daddy, Our Hero." I made it with red and white roses and bluebonnets.

I promised my Mom I'd take care of putting something on the grave for her while I was down here, too. They had the perfect premade wreath from her, as her favorite colors are purple and yellow. I found some yellow gingham wired ribbon and made a ribbon that says "My Husband, My Friend" to put across it. I was really pleased with it, too.

It was a long drive down, but we made it safely. The craziness started Monday when we left work about half an hour later than anticipated to pick up the rental car. We went through the McDonald's drive thru to grab a quick bite to eat on the way home and got to packing. Shortly after 2 a.m. I awoke to the sounds of my husband violently expelling his dinner. I checked on him and went back to sleep. At 5:30 a.m., I awoke to a hurting tummy myself, but the problem ended up on the other end. After several doses of Pepto Bismol and Immodium, we left Oskaloosa about half an hour behind schedule. Frequent stops during the day made for a long drive, and we stopped in Emporia, Kansas shortly after 7 p.m., getting the last available room at the Fairfield Inn. It was a smoking room, but it did not smell nearly as badly as some other smoking rooms I've been in in motels.

After a light supper and a hot shower, we had a fairly good night's sleep and hit the road about 8:30 a.m., arriving in Texas about 6:30. Took the son and his girlfriend out to Ryan's for supper. I was good and stayed away from all carbs except the rolls (mmmm, they are sooo good). I also only had one plate, and fresh fruit for dessert.

We stayed up late talking with No. 1 daughter and her husband. Had a good time visiting with them, then had a good night's sleep. We both feel so much better this morning.

Tonight we go to watch the son receive his diploma. We've decided to stay an extra day while we are down here so we can attend daughter's dance recital on Saturday. She has several routines that she choreographed and she'd like us to see them. It seemed important to her, so I'll sit through watching other people's kids do their routines for her sake. At least it won't be as bad as when she was a little kid and only had one or two routines and we watched everyone else's kids just to get a glimpse of ours. She says the dance school she works at doesn't have recital for everyone at one time like the dance school she attended as a kid anyway, so it won't be a 6 hour long recital like when she was little. It should only be 2 hours at the most.

Loving the weather down here. It does feel hot at 90-some degrees, but the mornings are so nice. Not humid like back home.

We leave for Texas in 2 days. I'm very proud of my husband for the way he's pitched in helping me clean house this weekend. He knew I was stressing out terribly over all I had to do and he's done a wonderful job. After work yesterday, I ran some stuff over to a friend's for her to decorate for her daughter's high school graduation party today, then I ran to Wal-Mart to pick up a new LitterMaid, cat food and litter so my in-laws will be fully stocked for caring for our two cats while we are away. When I got home from Wal-Mart, Hubby had the entire living room vacuumed and rearranged. It looked good, too. I'm so proud of him. He's vacuumed the whole house this weekend and really pitched in on decluttering, too. I told him if we worked together like this every week, the house would never get this bad.

We are taking off work tomorrow afternoon to go pick up the rental car. Initially we were going to pick it up in the evening, but then we end up having to eat dinner in Des Moines because it's so late and it ends up being 9:30 or 10 p.m. when we get home and we stay up late packing. This way, we should be back from Des Moines by the time the store closes and be able to eat a normal dinner and have a (fairly) relaxing evening at home while I pack.

We will also get to meet the son's girlfriend's parents while we are in Texas.

YEAY!!!! The Hippies won The Amazing Race. I was so hoping they would win. They just had so much fun on the race. They never seemed to let it get them down, even when they were in last place, and they always tried to interact with the locals wherever they were.

A friend of mine sent this to me today. Amazingly, I needed it today of all days.

How To Forgive (WOW)

One day a while back, a man, his heart heavy with grief, was walking in the woods. As he thought about his life this day, he knew many things were not right. He thought about those who had lied about him back when he had a job.

His thoughts turned to those who had stolen his things and cheated him.

He remembered family that had passed on. His mind turned to the illness he had that no one could cure. His very soul was filled with anger, resentment and frustration.

Standing there this day, searching for answers he could not find, knowing all else had failed him, he knelt at the base of an old oak tree to seek the one he knew would always be there. And with tears in his eyes, he prayed:

"Lord- You have done wonderful things for me in this life. You have told me to do many things for you, and I happily obeyed. Today, you have told me to forgive. I am sad, Lord, because I cannot. I don't know how. It is not fair Lord. I didn't deserve these wrongs that were done against me and I shouldn't have to forgive. As perfect as your way is Lord, this one thing I cannot do, for I don't know how to forgive. My anger is so deep Lord, I fear I may not hear you, but I pray that you teach me to do this one thing I cannot do - Teach me To Forgive."

As he knelt there in the quiet shade of that old oak tree, he felt something fall onto his shoulder. He opened his eyes. Out of the corner of one eye, he saw something red on his shirt.

He could not turn to see what it was because where the oak tree had been was a large square piece of wood in the ground. He raised his head and saw two feet held to the wood with a large spike through them.

He raised his head more, and tears came to his eyes as he saw Jesus hanging on a cross. He saw spikes in His hands, a gash in His side, a torn and battered body, deep thorns sun k into His head. Finally he saw the suffering and pain on His precious face. As their eyes met, the man's tears turned to sobbing, and Jesus began to speak.

"Have you ever told a lie?" He asked?
The man answered - "yes, Lord."

"Have you ever been given too much change and kept it?"
The man answered - " yes. Lord." And the man sobbed more and more.

"Have you ever taken something from work that wasn't yours?" Jesus asked?
And the man answered - "yes, Lord."

"Have you ever sworn, using my Father's name in vain? "
The man, crying now, answered - "yes, Lord."

As Jesus asked many more times, "Have you ever"? The man's crying became uncontrollable, for he could only answer - "yes, Lord."

Then Jesus turned His head from one side to the other, and the man felt something fall on his other shoulder. He looked and saw that it was the blood of Jesus. When he looked back up, his eyes met those of Jesus, and there was a look of love the man had never seen or known before.

Jesus said, "I didn't deserve this either, but I forgive you."

It may be hard to see how you're going to get through something, but when you look back in life, you realize how true this statement is. Read the following first line slowly and let it sink in.

If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it.
Lord I love You and I need You, come into my heart, today. For without You I can do nothing.