Today is the 7 year anniversary of when B and I got engaged. It seems like just yesterday in so many ways...but we've grown so much as a couple, also. I stole this MEME from Shalee's Diner, and it seems to fit perfectly for today.
1. Where/How did you meet? We met at work, where we were both 2nd shift supervisors. You can read about our story here.
2. How long have you known each other? 8 years
3. How long after you met did you start dating? 5 months
4. How long did you date before you were engaged? 10 months
5. How long was your engagement? 3 months
6. How long have you been married? almost 7 years
7. What is your anniversary? November 11 (Veteran's Day!)
8. How many people came to your wedding reception? 90
9. What kind of cake did you serve? white cake and chocolate cake -- both with white frosting...I have 2 of my bridemaids on the video taste-testing to see which one tastes best...one said chocolate, one said white! =)
10. Where was your wedding? Bakersfield, CA
11. What did you serve for your meal? Tri-tip and chicken with greek salad, bread and red potatoes
12. How many people were in your wedding party? 3 bridesmaids, 2 groomsmen
13. Are you still friends with them all? Yep! And we were in all of their weddings also! We don't get to see them enough though.
14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? He got misty eyed after we lit the unity candle and were listening to an awesome song (I'll tell you more about it below). But, I didn't cry! My sister BAWLED though!
15. Most special moment of your wedding day? Watching my not-so-emotional husband be so moved by what we were embarking on...looking into his eyes as we stood before his dad and all our friends and family...remembering that moment has reminded me over and over again about the commitment we made to each other that day...that's the best thing for me to remember when I'm so mad at him I could scream! =)
16. Any funny moments? As we left the stage during the recessional, B leaned over and whispered, "let's run!" I grabbed his arm and said NO! After all, I was the one in a long dress and train, with 4" heels. He didn't listen, and started running down the aisle. I stepped on the front of my dress and started to go down (keep in mind...this is funny NOW, then, I was kinda mad!), but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back up. I think we heard everyone gasp, and on the video you can hear him saying, "Run!", and see me almost fall.
17. Any big disasters? Nothing huge, but B did end up with the wrong tie on his tux. I ordered the tuxes and explained to him what it would look like -- but, who was I kidding? It didn't mean anything to him. He showed up at the photographer's studio where we were supposed to have a romantic moment where we saw each other for the first time, and all I could say was, "you have the wrong tie!". Luckily, the tux shop was close by, so someone ran back and exchanged it...stupid Type-A coming out there...
18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? Maui...yeah, baby!
19. How long were you gone? 7 days -- not long enough! The day after we got back, we loaded up and drove out to our new home in East Texas.
20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? I probably wouldn't have had a formal dinner or a DJ. It was fun, but we didn't dance (ultra conservatives on my in-laws' side). I just had the DJ to keep things flowing...but a friend could have done that...for a lot less money.
21. What side of the bed do you sleep on? Always the left side...always, always, always
22. What size is your bed? King (has to be room for us AND the dogs)
23. Greatest strength as a couple? We are both completely committed to our marriage...we've had some rough patches, but we are in it for the long haul!
24. Greatest challenge as a couple? We were both very independent before we got married, so sometimes making a decision we BOTH agree on is very difficult.
25. Who literally pays the bills? Sally
26. What is your song? We don't really have a song, but the one below (see the video in the previous post) was sung during our ceremony, and I love it! Every time we hear it on the radio, I tell B it's our song.
Taking you home - (don henley/stan lynch/stuart brawley)
I had a good life
Before you came
I had my friends and my freedom
I had my name
Still there was sorrow and emptiness
til you made me glad
Oh, in this love I found strength I never knew I had
And this love
Is like nothing I have ever known
Take my hand, love
Im taking you home
Taking you home
There were days, lonely days
When the world, wouldnt throw me a crumb, no no
But I kept on believing
That this day would come
And this love
Is like nothing I have ever known, no no baby
Take my hand love
Im taking you home
Im taking you, home
Where we can be with the ones who really care
Home, where we can grow together
Keep you in, my heart forever
27. What did you dance your first dance to? We didn't dance at our wedding, so our first dance as a married couple was probably at our friends' wedding 6 months later.
28. Describe your wedding dress: It was gorgeous! It was scoop neck with an inverted V Empire waist. It had cap sleeves, and the entire bodice was covered in beads (it was VERY heavy). The skirt was satin, but not shiny satin. And there was a very modest bow on the back that was covered in the same beads as the bodice...the ribbon of the bow was about 2 feet long. It also had a short train. I had seen the dress on A Wedding Story and made a drawing of it...and what do ya know? I found the EXACT dress at the first bridal shop we went to...it was the last one I tried on! AND, it fit perfectly! No alterations required!
29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? Deep red roses and white stephanotis...the bridesmaids also had some white roses in their bouquets.
30. Are your wedding bands engraved? I had B's engraved. It says, "Ruth 1:16-17" Those verses are: But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
31. How old were you when you got married? He was 31 and I was 26.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Our Song
B proposed to me 7 years ago today.
He took me to the location of our first date -- his friend's backyard. B was scheduled to leave 3 days later for a new job in TX. We had already talked about getting married, so it was just a matter of when he was going to pop the question...and we were running out of time.
While we were sitting by the pool of his friend's house, he pulled out the most gorgeous ring...and asked me if I would marry him. It was so sweet!
Later I found out that he would have asked me sooner, but he wanted to have the ring in hand when he asked, and it had to be custom made.
Of course, I said yes! =)
This song by Don Henley was played while we lit the unity candle at our wedding. I LOVE the words (see my post above for more on our wedding and to read the lyrics). B is the love of my life...my one and only. I love you, B!
Friday, July 27, 2007
TGIF
Friday...finally!
What an insane week I've had. That's part of why I haven't posted in a while.
Here's the short list:
* My job sucks (oh, you already know that...but this week was a doozie!)
* My boss is so NON-confrontational that when he lugged us all into his office to rip us a new one, he didn't get a chance to b/c I launched in with how jacked up this project is that we've been working on for a YEAR -- and he never got a chance to ream us. Ha!
* My parents stopped back by on their way home from Virginia. So, for the last couple days Mom and Dad have been trying to take care of some business here in town, and I've been trying to spend time with them (when I'm not stuck at work in ridiculous meetings).
* My good friend Shell is coming to visit from Nor Cal this weekend. And boy do I need a relaxing weekend with her! Pedis are definitely on the agenda!
* And now I must go and create the agenda for the lame-ass meeting we're going to have this afternoon -- even though we will not follow that agenda...must.stop.now or I will be forced to storm out of here (work) and not return!
What an insane week I've had. That's part of why I haven't posted in a while.
Here's the short list:
* My job sucks (oh, you already know that...but this week was a doozie!)
* My boss is so NON-confrontational that when he lugged us all into his office to rip us a new one, he didn't get a chance to b/c I launched in with how jacked up this project is that we've been working on for a YEAR -- and he never got a chance to ream us. Ha!
* My parents stopped back by on their way home from Virginia. So, for the last couple days Mom and Dad have been trying to take care of some business here in town, and I've been trying to spend time with them (when I'm not stuck at work in ridiculous meetings).
* My good friend Shell is coming to visit from Nor Cal this weekend. And boy do I need a relaxing weekend with her! Pedis are definitely on the agenda!
* And now I must go and create the agenda for the lame-ass meeting we're going to have this afternoon -- even though we will not follow that agenda...must.stop.now or I will be forced to storm out of here (work) and not return!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
You have the wrong number...
Note...names have been changed to protect...well, me and B.
Ring, Ring
"Tracy?" she asked.
"No, I'm sorry you have the wrong number."
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said.
*click*
Ring, Ring
"Hello?" I said.
"Hi, I know I have the wrong number, but have you had this number for a while?" the same voice as before asked me.
"Um, I've had this number for a year. What number are you calling?" I said.
"555-1234. I'm looking for B Johnson," she said.
"Well, B Johnson lives here. He's my husband," I said.
"So, this is Tracy then, right?" she said.
"No, I don't know any Tracy Johnson," I said.
"Oh, well, um, this is Lena, B Johnson's daughter," she said.
"B doesn't have a daughter," I said.
"Um, ok then, I'm sorry. Bye," and she hung up.
I sat there surprised for a minute, and then I went downstairs to ask B about his daughter. We chuckled about it for a minute...and we realized that it was kinda weird that there's another B Johnson in our town.
A few minutes later I started thinking about the conversation I had with Lena. It seemed kind of weird that she was calling numbers out of the phone book looking for her dad. And I realized that I hadn't been terribly nice or helpful to her on the phone. And even though I don't know of any other B Johnson who is related to us, I could offer to help her if she needed it.
So, I dialed *69 to get her back (I'm too cheap to pay for caller i.d.). When she answered, I apologized for not being more helpful. She told me that her dad had recently moved and she didn't have his new number. She didn't know where his new house was either. She said that she found our number in the phone book and thought that our initials (mine and B's) stood for her dad's first and middle names -- which just so happen to be the SAME first and middle name of my husband. And then I asked how old her dad was...39, she said...which is a couple years older than B.
She said that she's often been asked what her dad's name is, and when she says, "B," they say, "Oh, from Small Town, Kansas?" She always answers no because that would be MY B who is from Small Town, Kansas.
I felt bad that I couldn't help her. But, how weird is it that there's another guy in our town with the exact same name as B?!
And, no, B really doesn't have a daughter who he's been hiding from me! =)
Ring, Ring
"Tracy?" she asked.
"No, I'm sorry you have the wrong number."
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said.
*click*
Ring, Ring
"Hello?" I said.
"Hi, I know I have the wrong number, but have you had this number for a while?" the same voice as before asked me.
"Um, I've had this number for a year. What number are you calling?" I said.
"555-1234. I'm looking for B Johnson," she said.
"Well, B Johnson lives here. He's my husband," I said.
"So, this is Tracy then, right?" she said.
"No, I don't know any Tracy Johnson," I said.
"Oh, well, um, this is Lena, B Johnson's daughter," she said.
"B doesn't have a daughter," I said.
"Um, ok then, I'm sorry. Bye," and she hung up.
I sat there surprised for a minute, and then I went downstairs to ask B about his daughter. We chuckled about it for a minute...and we realized that it was kinda weird that there's another B Johnson in our town.
A few minutes later I started thinking about the conversation I had with Lena. It seemed kind of weird that she was calling numbers out of the phone book looking for her dad. And I realized that I hadn't been terribly nice or helpful to her on the phone. And even though I don't know of any other B Johnson who is related to us, I could offer to help her if she needed it.
So, I dialed *69 to get her back (I'm too cheap to pay for caller i.d.). When she answered, I apologized for not being more helpful. She told me that her dad had recently moved and she didn't have his new number. She didn't know where his new house was either. She said that she found our number in the phone book and thought that our initials (mine and B's) stood for her dad's first and middle names -- which just so happen to be the SAME first and middle name of my husband. And then I asked how old her dad was...39, she said...which is a couple years older than B.
She said that she's often been asked what her dad's name is, and when she says, "B," they say, "Oh, from Small Town, Kansas?" She always answers no because that would be MY B who is from Small Town, Kansas.
I felt bad that I couldn't help her. But, how weird is it that there's another guy in our town with the exact same name as B?!
And, no, B really doesn't have a daughter who he's been hiding from me! =)
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
One year!
I have been blogging for one year! My "anniversary" was on Sunday. So much has happened in the last year...when I started my blog, I was sitting in a hotel room here in KS, on my 4th trip out in as many months. We had come out to interview AGAIN and we were very close to making our move.
For those of you who are newer to my blog, you can read one of my first posts here...where I started talking about what was going on in my life at the time.
Now let's take a little trip over the last year...here are a few of my favorite posts that will help you see what a psychotic weirdo I am...
My last birthday
Getting to know Wichita
Hair Trauma
On Becoming a Kansan...
Denial
Ranting about Kansas
Coming to terms...
And lastly...if you haven't read my 100 list...click here.
Have a great day!
For those of you who are newer to my blog, you can read one of my first posts here...where I started talking about what was going on in my life at the time.
Now let's take a little trip over the last year...here are a few of my favorite posts that will help you see what a psychotic weirdo I am...
My last birthday
Getting to know Wichita
Hair Trauma
On Becoming a Kansan...
Denial
Ranting about Kansas
Coming to terms...
And lastly...if you haven't read my 100 list...click here.
Have a great day!
Monday, July 16, 2007
Flyby
>Maverick: Tower, this is Ghost rider requesting a flyby.
Air Boss Johnson: That's a negative Ghost rider, the pattern is full.
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels were in town on Saturday, and I got to see them. As the daughter of an Air Force jet mechanic turned air traffic controller, I grew up travelling around California chasing the Air Shows, so when I heard the Blue Angels would be here, I HAD to go.
The day started off busy. B worked a little overtime, and I hit the gym for my favorite step class. After class, a few of us went over to Sonic for some liquid refreshment and girly conversation. From there, I ran home, showered and met B and my SIL and nieces at B's work. We left 2 cars there and ran to get some lunch before heading out to the Air Force Base.
By the time we got to the base, the traffic was HORRENDOUS!! After about 30 minutes of inching forward, we finally got smart and found a way around the traffic, and we were in the parking lot in about 10 minutes. A bus took us to the security check point -- which was no less than 5,000 people long! And most of the people waiting in it hadn't read the all the guidelines listed in the paper, so it took forever to get in.
We almost gave up and went home, but the line started moving more quickly as soon as we got in it. FINALLY, we walked onto the base -- let me not forget to mention that it was about 95 degrees and probably the first day in a month that there were no clouds in the sky. They were handing out free water (which was wonderful!), so we grabbed a couple bottles, hit the porta-potties and went in search of shade. We found it under the wing of a HUGE plane, so we plopped down and got comfortable as we waited for the Blue Angels to perform.
We had to wait about an hour and a half, but it was worth it! The show was awesome! It was loud and beautiful and exciting, and, well...just watch the video to get a better idea. The video isn't from Saturday, but a lot of the formations and stunts were the same.
We were drenched by the time we got back to the car, and all of us were exhausted, but I'm so glad we stuck it out. It made me want to go home and watch Top Gun...I'm going to have to dig it out and watch Mav and Goose and Iceman again!
I got home with just enough time to grab another shower, eat a burrito, and go pick up my MIL so we could go watch White Christmas at our local theater....it was a great show!
What a wonderful, and exhausting, day!
Where I've been
Found this on a friend's page, and I think it's so cool. Now, I don't have to stop and count all the states every time I think about it. =) Of course, this shows me that I don't know how to count...this tells me I've been to 40 states, and I thought it was 42. oh well.
Friday, July 13, 2007
And it burns, burn, burns…
And it burns, burn, burns. The ring of fire, the ring of fire.
I went to the eye doctor yesterday. And I LOVE him.
My eyes have been red and burning for 6 months, and I finally couldn’t take it anymore. I got a new contacts prescription at the beginning of this year – same brand I’ve been wearing for 10 years, but a new prescription. And even though I could see pretty well, my eyes were constantly red and dry and burning.
For a while I just thought I wasn’t getting enough sleep, but after 6 months…I know I’ve caught up on my sleep, so I went back to see my Dr. yesterday.
He’s the nicest guy, young, attractive, and very friendly and easy to talk to. He looked at my eyes, and he said, “Woman, your eyes ARE red!” He asked me a few questions, told me not to wear my contacts for a week (how am I supposed to put my makeup on now?? I can’t see w/o my contacts!), and gave me 2 different drops to put in my eyes.
Then he told me to call him in a week to tell him how I’m doing, and he walked me to the front desk to check out. As he handed my chart to the nurse, he said, “There’s no charge for today.”
What?? Did I hear him right? I did! How awesome is that? I was kinda worried about the cost of my visit, since my insurance only pays for one visit a year (that’s a big reason why I waited 6 months to go in), and then he was so cool as to not charge me. I LOVE my eye doctor! (Oh, I said that already)
Anyway, I’ve used the drops, I managed to get my mascara on without my contacts (I was only 2” from the mirror, but at least I don’t look like a zombie today), and my eyes are worse than yesterday!!
I’ll give it a couple days to work…but, for now, I think I’ll go home, fix myself a drink, and put a cold washcloth on my eyes.
Have a great weekend!
I went to the eye doctor yesterday. And I LOVE him.
My eyes have been red and burning for 6 months, and I finally couldn’t take it anymore. I got a new contacts prescription at the beginning of this year – same brand I’ve been wearing for 10 years, but a new prescription. And even though I could see pretty well, my eyes were constantly red and dry and burning.
For a while I just thought I wasn’t getting enough sleep, but after 6 months…I know I’ve caught up on my sleep, so I went back to see my Dr. yesterday.
He’s the nicest guy, young, attractive, and very friendly and easy to talk to. He looked at my eyes, and he said, “Woman, your eyes ARE red!” He asked me a few questions, told me not to wear my contacts for a week (how am I supposed to put my makeup on now?? I can’t see w/o my contacts!), and gave me 2 different drops to put in my eyes.
Then he told me to call him in a week to tell him how I’m doing, and he walked me to the front desk to check out. As he handed my chart to the nurse, he said, “There’s no charge for today.”
What?? Did I hear him right? I did! How awesome is that? I was kinda worried about the cost of my visit, since my insurance only pays for one visit a year (that’s a big reason why I waited 6 months to go in), and then he was so cool as to not charge me. I LOVE my eye doctor! (Oh, I said that already)
Anyway, I’ve used the drops, I managed to get my mascara on without my contacts (I was only 2” from the mirror, but at least I don’t look like a zombie today), and my eyes are worse than yesterday!!
I’ll give it a couple days to work…but, for now, I think I’ll go home, fix myself a drink, and put a cold washcloth on my eyes.
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Got Freedom?
UPDATE: Let me know by the end of the day Thursday, July 12...so B can buy them on Friday.
Remember the Got Freedom shirt that B wore on Father's Day? And some of you commented that you'd be interested in one? Well, here's your chance.
The VA Canteen is selling a few of them, and B said he'd be willing to get some that we can pass on to you.
Here's the catch...they only have 2 sizes - Large and XL, and they're grey with dark blue letters. The front says "Got Freedom?" and the back will say "Compliments of a veteran." Here are a couple pictures of the lettering.
If anyone is still interested, leave me a comment. We'll sell them to you for $15 each (that will cover the cost to ship to you, also).
I can't wait to wear mine to work on Friday!
Remember the Got Freedom shirt that B wore on Father's Day? And some of you commented that you'd be interested in one? Well, here's your chance.
The VA Canteen is selling a few of them, and B said he'd be willing to get some that we can pass on to you.
Here's the catch...they only have 2 sizes - Large and XL, and they're grey with dark blue letters. The front says "Got Freedom?" and the back will say "Compliments of a veteran." Here are a couple pictures of the lettering.
If anyone is still interested, leave me a comment. We'll sell them to you for $15 each (that will cover the cost to ship to you, also).
I can't wait to wear mine to work on Friday!
Monday, July 09, 2007
Choose joy!
Choose joy. Choose joy. Choose joy. Those were the words I repeated in my head, over and over, as I drove in to work this morning. Today is my first day back at work since before the 4th, and if I don’t purposely “choose joy” today, I might go a little postal.
See, I’m taking one of Beth Moore’s Bible studies this summer – we’re studying Daniel. And in the first lesson, Beth tells us to “choose joy” - make it a conscious decision to have joy in your life…and joy is definitely lacking at my job.
My day is halfway over already, and so far I’ve survived. I probably had to tell myself to “choose joy” about 100 times so far, but that’s ok.
I had a GREAT time off...for the most part.
Everyone made it into town safely on the 4th, and our house quickly filled up with chatter and laughter and food and fun. The ‘Rents, my SIL and her family, and my cousin’s parents all came over for the 4th as well, so we had a full house. We BBQ’d burgers and ate and ate and ate, and then we sat on the deck and played dominoes and watched the crazies who braved the pouring rain to shoot off fireworks.
Here are my bro and sis hanging out in the backyard before it started raining. Sis is about 20 weeks along...look at her cute belly!
The nieces had a blast running around, playing baseball and golf, and loving on the dogs, and each other:
This is my cousin, Little Man. Still no word on if he'll be living with us this fall or not...pray that he makes a wise decision. I told him he has to let me know by August 1.
We did end up with a little drama later that night that put everyone in a tense mood for the next couple days. The fireworks were VERY loud (they went off every night for about a week before the 4th until just a couple nights ago), the house was VERY full, and the dogs just got fed up. My 2 babies, er, I mean dogs, were skittish from the noise, and Mom and Dad’s dog, who was ok at first, was starting to get nervous as well. While we were all standing in the kitchen saying our goodbyes, suddenly Daisy, M&D’s 80-lb. lab, had her jaws locked on my 18-lb Lucy. Everything happened so fast that we have no idea what started it or why.
B jumped on Daisy and pulled her off Lucy, and after we all put our hearts back into our chests, we found that neither dog was injured...but we were all a little freaked out. After talking about it, we came to the conclusion that we should keep the dogs separated from there on out. It’s not that we thought they would try to go after each other again, but we didn’t even want to give them the chance.
Keeping them apart is not as easy as it may sound. We started the “switch” process on Day 2 of the Separation in an effort to avoid more conflict. Someone would grab my 2 dogs and take them downstairs, and in a coordinated effort (which means yelling up the stairs), we would send 2 dogs out and bring 1 dog in. We’ve gotten it down to quite a science, but it was not fun at first.
Dogs are very important in our family, and everyone was a little on edge because of what happened. But, in a weird way, the uneasiness of dealing with the dogs brought out some deep feelings and good discussions that my family probably should have had a long time ago. I think we all ended the week feeling like we had grown closer to each other.
Here are the dogs (and me) when they were still friends:
Daisy really is a very sweet dog...we don't know what happened, but I suspect that my baby, Lucy, may have provoked it. Here's Daisy enjoying the backyard:
Here's Rerun, chowing down on a leftover Beef Rib bone...I think he's in heaven!
We spent the rest of the time together playing cards and dominoes, eating MASS amounts of food, watching movies, shopping, getting our nails done (girls only), golfing and going to a gun show (boys only).
A (very) late night of dominoes...
Girls Day Out...
Shopping results...nursery decorations...aren't they cute??
Boys Day Out (they got a big kick out of these signs)...
But, probably the most popular pastime of all was sitting on the deck, in our jammies, with the newspaper, coffee, laptops, and cards...just enjoying each other. We usually ended up on the deck until about 11 each morning when everyone had woken up and stumbled outside and the temperature reached an unbearable point where the ceiling fan didn’t help anymore. It was a great time, and I’m sad to see it go...even though getting my house back to normal sounds good, too!
Here's Dad enjoying the view from the deck:
Thanks for coming, everyone. I love you!
See, I’m taking one of Beth Moore’s Bible studies this summer – we’re studying Daniel. And in the first lesson, Beth tells us to “choose joy” - make it a conscious decision to have joy in your life…and joy is definitely lacking at my job.
My day is halfway over already, and so far I’ve survived. I probably had to tell myself to “choose joy” about 100 times so far, but that’s ok.
I had a GREAT time off...for the most part.
Everyone made it into town safely on the 4th, and our house quickly filled up with chatter and laughter and food and fun. The ‘Rents, my SIL and her family, and my cousin’s parents all came over for the 4th as well, so we had a full house. We BBQ’d burgers and ate and ate and ate, and then we sat on the deck and played dominoes and watched the crazies who braved the pouring rain to shoot off fireworks.
Here are my bro and sis hanging out in the backyard before it started raining. Sis is about 20 weeks along...look at her cute belly!
The nieces had a blast running around, playing baseball and golf, and loving on the dogs, and each other:
This is my cousin, Little Man. Still no word on if he'll be living with us this fall or not...pray that he makes a wise decision. I told him he has to let me know by August 1.
We did end up with a little drama later that night that put everyone in a tense mood for the next couple days. The fireworks were VERY loud (they went off every night for about a week before the 4th until just a couple nights ago), the house was VERY full, and the dogs just got fed up. My 2 babies, er, I mean dogs, were skittish from the noise, and Mom and Dad’s dog, who was ok at first, was starting to get nervous as well. While we were all standing in the kitchen saying our goodbyes, suddenly Daisy, M&D’s 80-lb. lab, had her jaws locked on my 18-lb Lucy. Everything happened so fast that we have no idea what started it or why.
B jumped on Daisy and pulled her off Lucy, and after we all put our hearts back into our chests, we found that neither dog was injured...but we were all a little freaked out. After talking about it, we came to the conclusion that we should keep the dogs separated from there on out. It’s not that we thought they would try to go after each other again, but we didn’t even want to give them the chance.
Keeping them apart is not as easy as it may sound. We started the “switch” process on Day 2 of the Separation in an effort to avoid more conflict. Someone would grab my 2 dogs and take them downstairs, and in a coordinated effort (which means yelling up the stairs), we would send 2 dogs out and bring 1 dog in. We’ve gotten it down to quite a science, but it was not fun at first.
Dogs are very important in our family, and everyone was a little on edge because of what happened. But, in a weird way, the uneasiness of dealing with the dogs brought out some deep feelings and good discussions that my family probably should have had a long time ago. I think we all ended the week feeling like we had grown closer to each other.
Here are the dogs (and me) when they were still friends:
Daisy really is a very sweet dog...we don't know what happened, but I suspect that my baby, Lucy, may have provoked it. Here's Daisy enjoying the backyard:
Here's Rerun, chowing down on a leftover Beef Rib bone...I think he's in heaven!
We spent the rest of the time together playing cards and dominoes, eating MASS amounts of food, watching movies, shopping, getting our nails done (girls only), golfing and going to a gun show (boys only).
A (very) late night of dominoes...
Girls Day Out...
Shopping results...nursery decorations...aren't they cute??
Boys Day Out (they got a big kick out of these signs)...
But, probably the most popular pastime of all was sitting on the deck, in our jammies, with the newspaper, coffee, laptops, and cards...just enjoying each other. We usually ended up on the deck until about 11 each morning when everyone had woken up and stumbled outside and the temperature reached an unbearable point where the ceiling fan didn’t help anymore. It was a great time, and I’m sad to see it go...even though getting my house back to normal sounds good, too!
Here's Dad enjoying the view from the deck:
Thanks for coming, everyone. I love you!
Pay it Forward -- with books!
Go check out Overwhelmed with Joy's blog for info on how you can WIN a new-to-you book through her new Pay it Forward Book Exchange.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Family Reunion
Saturday was B’s annual family reunion. His mom is one of 11 kids (9 still living), and each of those kids is married and has at least 2-4 kids, and a lot of those kids have a bunch of kids...so, add that all up, and there were 76 people there...30 of them kids!
We haven’t been to this gathering for 5 years, so there were a lot more kids (and people who I did not know) than the last time we went. The whole event started on Friday night with singing at the church and homemade ice cream, but we skipped that part. We drove the 1½ hours north on Saturday morning and arrived just in time for the auction.
Each year, everyone brings things to donate to the auction. Some things are homemade, like this yummy candy train that my SIL, J, made.
One of B’s uncles is a professional auctioneer, so this is a true-to-life auction! All the money goes into an account that is used to help the kids go to college and to help anyone who finds themselves in need (medical, disaster, etc.). There were a ton of things in the auction this year, but as usual, nothing was as cool as what our family brought.
J made the train shown above, C made this yummy yummy homemade snickers candy, I made toffee (your mom’s recipe, Shell!), MIL made pillow cases for each holiday, and B made a diorama of the grandparents farm, circa 1953. Our items also fetched the most money! B’s diorama sold for the highest amount – and a drawing he made 5 years ago was the highest then, too!
And, even though my SIL, C, made the snickers candy, I won it…It was so good! And J had made this cute box for it to go in...I’ll update this post later with a picture of it.
After the auction, we ate lunch and then headed out for the annual piñata. MIL had to get in on the action.
It was a strong piñata (made by one of B’s aunts), and it took quite a bit to get it to break open, and then all 30 kids rushed out to stake their claim.
We had a good day, and I’m glad we went. We were exhausted and ready to head home by mid afternoon, so we hit the road home so we could take naps before dinner with both our families that night.
Here are a few more pictures from the reunion. Here’s B with his cousin (in the blue shirt), and my cousin, Little Man, who we’re trying to convince to live with us next year.
Here’s a picture of all the Sisters-in-Law. It was so fun to hang out all together – that only happens a couple times a year.
And here’s B muggin’ with our niece, Sweetie.
We haven’t been to this gathering for 5 years, so there were a lot more kids (and people who I did not know) than the last time we went. The whole event started on Friday night with singing at the church and homemade ice cream, but we skipped that part. We drove the 1½ hours north on Saturday morning and arrived just in time for the auction.
Each year, everyone brings things to donate to the auction. Some things are homemade, like this yummy candy train that my SIL, J, made.
One of B’s uncles is a professional auctioneer, so this is a true-to-life auction! All the money goes into an account that is used to help the kids go to college and to help anyone who finds themselves in need (medical, disaster, etc.). There were a ton of things in the auction this year, but as usual, nothing was as cool as what our family brought.
J made the train shown above, C made this yummy yummy homemade snickers candy, I made toffee (your mom’s recipe, Shell!), MIL made pillow cases for each holiday, and B made a diorama of the grandparents farm, circa 1953. Our items also fetched the most money! B’s diorama sold for the highest amount – and a drawing he made 5 years ago was the highest then, too!
And, even though my SIL, C, made the snickers candy, I won it…It was so good! And J had made this cute box for it to go in...I’ll update this post later with a picture of it.
After the auction, we ate lunch and then headed out for the annual piñata. MIL had to get in on the action.
It was a strong piñata (made by one of B’s aunts), and it took quite a bit to get it to break open, and then all 30 kids rushed out to stake their claim.
We had a good day, and I’m glad we went. We were exhausted and ready to head home by mid afternoon, so we hit the road home so we could take naps before dinner with both our families that night.
Here are a few more pictures from the reunion. Here’s B with his cousin (in the blue shirt), and my cousin, Little Man, who we’re trying to convince to live with us next year.
Here’s a picture of all the Sisters-in-Law. It was so fun to hang out all together – that only happens a couple times a year.
And here’s B muggin’ with our niece, Sweetie.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Patch Work
I have sustained a minor injury from a file cabinet.
Am missing a chunk of my hand. Am headed to the hospital for patch work.
The above is an email I received from my husband this afternoon…Please tell me what you all would think if you read this.
Now, I do have a tendency to overreact, especially if it involves a loved one, but I kinda freaked out when I read this. Granted, I figured hubby wasn’t in mortal trouble because he was able to type this email…but I also read “missing a chunk of my hand” and “hospital”. I tried to call his cell phone – it was turned off. I tried his desk phone – he didn’t answer. I emailed him back and asked for more info. I got the following reply:
“am ok”
What the heck?? So, there’s more to this…and I believe I’ve blogged about it before. Even if the injury isn’t that bad, B has a tendency to go into shock and PASS OUT when blood or needles make an appearance. I was afraid that might be the situation today, so…
I started making phone calls. The only phone number (other than his desk phone that he wasn’t answering) that I could find for his office is an 800 number…someone in St. Louis answered that phone and he worked very hard to route me to some nice man in Wichita, who said he knew B.
When I told this nice man why I was calling, he took my number and said he’d call me back. He called me back about 3 minutes later, and this is what he said: B had cut his finger, he had gone to the VA hospital next door to get a band aid!!! Yes, I said band aid! That punk!
Less than 2 minutes after this, I got a nasty email from B demanding to know why I had called his work and embarrassed him…may I please direct your attention back to the beginning of this post to his asinine email that I received…so, now B is pissed at me, and I’m pissed at him for throwing me into a panic…what a day. It’s Monday, and so far it SUCKS!
There are many more reasons why it sucks besides the “missing chunk of hand”, but I am not going to get into them. Instead, I will attempt to shut down my computer and head home. I need a good workout tonight!
Am missing a chunk of my hand. Am headed to the hospital for patch work.
The above is an email I received from my husband this afternoon…Please tell me what you all would think if you read this.
Now, I do have a tendency to overreact, especially if it involves a loved one, but I kinda freaked out when I read this. Granted, I figured hubby wasn’t in mortal trouble because he was able to type this email…but I also read “missing a chunk of my hand” and “hospital”. I tried to call his cell phone – it was turned off. I tried his desk phone – he didn’t answer. I emailed him back and asked for more info. I got the following reply:
“am ok”
What the heck?? So, there’s more to this…and I believe I’ve blogged about it before. Even if the injury isn’t that bad, B has a tendency to go into shock and PASS OUT when blood or needles make an appearance. I was afraid that might be the situation today, so…
I started making phone calls. The only phone number (other than his desk phone that he wasn’t answering) that I could find for his office is an 800 number…someone in St. Louis answered that phone and he worked very hard to route me to some nice man in Wichita, who said he knew B.
When I told this nice man why I was calling, he took my number and said he’d call me back. He called me back about 3 minutes later, and this is what he said: B had cut his finger, he had gone to the VA hospital next door to get a band aid!!! Yes, I said band aid! That punk!
Less than 2 minutes after this, I got a nasty email from B demanding to know why I had called his work and embarrassed him…may I please direct your attention back to the beginning of this post to his asinine email that I received…so, now B is pissed at me, and I’m pissed at him for throwing me into a panic…what a day. It’s Monday, and so far it SUCKS!
There are many more reasons why it sucks besides the “missing chunk of hand”, but I am not going to get into them. Instead, I will attempt to shut down my computer and head home. I need a good workout tonight!
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