Forever Young...

All day today, people have been saying May the 4th be with you! I love it, it's cute, and it's a phrase that can only work with my Birthday!

Today (tomorrow now that it's after 1am), I turned 21x2... and I'm happy about it. I will never have a problem getting older, because it's the natural progression of things, and well, it's better than NOT getting older. Not to mention the fact that people have flattered me relentlessly with their comments on my appearance lately. I'm not talking about people I know. They love me and tell me what they think I need to hear. I'm talking about strangers!! Thursday, I  went down to the tennis courts to watch the wife play. The coach from the other team was sitting there, and we were talking about teens. She asked me if I had my 17 year old when I was a teen myself, because I looked way too young to have a teen! Yes, I loved her for that. Today I went in to the gym to set up my personal training schedule. I told the guy I needed three days a week, and a meal suggestion schedule to keep me on track. He said it shouldn't be difficult to reach my goals within the month because "you're already in pretty good shape." Yes, I loved him for that. What I didn't say was "Well, you haven't seen me naked!!" I wouldn't have meant it that way, but he might not have known that. I reeled it in.

I think this is about all I've got tonight. I'm worn out. It's late, and these dogs haven't let me sleep these past two nights. The wife's sister is here, and she brought her little dog, which has mine totally worked up. This means, mine will dash out of here first thing in the morning barking. This also means they'll be extra sensitive to sounds, and will bark at everything all night.

I will try to come back tomorrow... I hope you all have a great Saturday!!

Humans are STRANGE creatures

I started this post with the full intention of writing about the reality TV show Strange Addictions, so that's what I'm going to do. Then I'm doing another post about someone I miss terribly, even though we weren't extremely close friends.

The wife and I seem to bond over Strange Addictions, and Hoarders for some reason. The last two SA episodes we've watched have pretty much had me feeling sick to my stomach. In one of them a man was in love with his car and quite content with the relationship... yes, he did have sex with it. No, I'm not going to go into details.

I told the wife I had recently read a news story about a woman from England who had fallen in love with the Statue of Liberty, and made several trips a year to visit "her." Of course at home she "had to settle for a replica." This particular "disorder..." (I'm hesitant to call it a disorder, just because at one time homosexuality was considered a disorder. So, I suppose as long as children and animals aren't being victimized, then whatever floats your boat) Anyway... this disorder is called Objectum sexuality. The wife and I feel like if your going to fall in love with an object, then you need to at least make it a useful one, like a vibrator or a dildo. Hey, those come in some pretty amazing colors, and some have more buttons than your remote control. You could even use a line on it like "C'mere baby and let me push your buttons," and not even get in trouble for it! I mean, c'mon... I don't even want to know what that woman does with her Statue of Liberty replica, but I think it should be illegal, much like defacing the flag... you know? 

The one we watched last night was really bad. The woman had become addicted to drinking her urine. I'm not exaggerating when I type that I really thought I would be sick watching her. The wife said to just pretend it's apple juice, but then that kind of ruins apple juice for me later, you know? Or anything that looks like it. 

I felt pretty bad for her, because her addiction came from her desire to avoid chemo therapy. Apparently she was given a year to live, and was told she needed to start chemo. She decided to try Urine Therapy, something from the middle ages, and has survived for over 4 years so far. The problem is, she is now consuming almost ALL of her urine, which can cause kidney failure, and she has a suspicious mole on her back. She started sobbing heavily when faced with her daughters begging her to please see a doctor. I think she's simply terrified the doctor will tell her that her cancer has returned or that she is in kidney failure. 

Not only is she drinking her urine, but she now bathes in it, AND uses it in her netti pot!! ( I don't know how to spell that, and right now I'm not going to correct it). 

So the wife and I wonder if she smells like urine. I know I wouldn't be kissing her, and I know I wouldn't be drinking out of any of her glasses. Every time she drank a glass of urine, she used a different cup.

That being said,  I really hope she's going to be okay. 

Decisions, and then some...

I've got so much to do, so little time to do it, and I don't have what I need to get it done now. So, I'm taking a breather, and I'm going to blog.

First of all, I noticed my last post had some grammatical errors. I apologize... well, let me go ahead and apologize for every post, because I know they all have grammatical, and punctuation errors. Especially the punctuation! I love my "..." so much! They represent my pausing for a breath when I talk. ;) Am I even using the word "grammatical" right? I do sound better when I talk, although I've noticed lately that I've developed a major southern twang. It took about 34 years to lose any British accent I had, and to develop this new "sound."

Anyway...
I'm not really sure what we're doing about this building. I think we're going to go ahead and purchase it. You see, we really like the guy who's selling it to us. After our meeting today, the wife asked me if I thought this guy was being genuine, or if he was blowing smoke. I watched and analyzed everything he said during the meeting. I'm not one to trust someone I hardly know, but he knows his stuff. Much of what he's told us so far we absolutely can verify, so I really think he's being genuine about his successes, and the possibility of a future joint business venture with him. So now I'm stressed, because I've worked hard this past week on changing my thinking, so I wouldn't be upset about not doing the gym, and I'm stressing about the money! We just scheduled a huge vacation for the summer... we figure if we do the gym, this will be it for awhile. Not to mention the girl is graduating, so it may be our last full family trip. Plus we have two different events happening very soon. Events that are going to cost us way more than we had originally thought. Oh, and a car for the girl!! Yes, I am screaming inside. BUT... all of these things that are costing so much right now, will not come up again. The boys will need a car in a few years, and we'll have his graduation, and other vacations... other than that, SIGH. It's all once in a lifetime crap. Right?

Ugh, I cannot type right now... I have spaghetti fingers or something. I think it's because I was actually able to sleep in this morning. I took the dogs out at 7, but went right back to bed, and Cammy Cam let me sleep! Well, the wife got up with him again at 8, but all those sweet babies came right back to bed with me after they went out a second time. They love me :)

I suppose I'd better get started on my day... I have tons of stuff to do around here. The wife's sister will be here Friday morning, our anniversary is tomorrow, and my second 21st birthday is Friday! I want to go get spray tanned today, but I'm not sure... I've never done it before. What do you guys think about all of that. All of our friends around here do it. Some have had liposuction, and all kinds of other things. I just want to tan my white skin. I figure it will make the flab look better. I'll for sure start personal training next week... this week has been hectic crazy. The good thing about not starting it yet, is that I now have a recommended trainer. I've been told she's down to earth, and not all beboppity. (My made up word)

Have a great day!

Just another manic Monday...

I didn't dream about spiders last night, or snakes for that matter...

No I dreamed about floods. This really isn't that unusual for me though. I used to dream about floods and the end of the world all the time as a kid, and the dreams usually had the same setting, along with the same type of problems.

Usually I'm watching the waters rise around this huge, round building, with windowed walls all the way around it. The waves are out of control high. I've got my phone (of course as a kid, the cell phone portion of the dream was not involved... probably made the dream way less stressed too!), and I'm trying like crazy to get in touch with someone, but I can't dial the number, or the phone cuts off, or the call doesn't go through. 

Last night's dream was different though. This time it's set right here at home. The rising waters, and crazy waves are coming from the very lake we live on. This made it even more scary, because if the lake looked like this, then what must it have been like everywhere else in the world. The waves were SO high, and every time they rushed up, we stopped running around, and stared in awe and fear. I had the dogs, and I was yelling something to the kids, I think... it wasn't really clear. I tried to make a call, but ended up getting some woman on the phone I didn't know. I talked to her about something... ran upstairs, saw more waves, then tried to call out again. I got the same woman on the phone again. I started crying, begging her to please, please put me through to someone I knew. Then I asked her for my mother... just put me through to her please. Then I woke up to Cam scratching my head with his paws. Ah, my little alarm clock. 

So, being the analytical thinker I am, I mulled over this dream for a long time outside while the dogs did their thing. The mother portion, I get. I've talked to several people lately who have "reconnected" with their mother after periods of not talking, and the wife was gone yesterday helping her parents clean out their belongings so they can move here in about a month. These things make me think about my own mother, and wonder at the type of person I must be because no matter how hard I try, I cannot bring myself to even want to be around her. I don't feel angry with her (Well, sometimes I do, when her craziness spurs her to send hateful emails telling me I need to stop talking to some freakin' person she has created in her head), I just don't feel anything at all. In my head, and my heart... that's worse than anger. I'm indifferent... 

As far as the lake and the waves portion of the dream... 

Last Sunday, the wife had invited people to come over for an outing on the boat. We pushed the time back so I could go to the Home and Garden show first. The water was fairly smooth when we took the boat out. These people like to go into this cove area when we're out on the lake, so off we went, and there we sat for hours on end. Finally the wife realized I was absolutely miserable with allergies, and said we should head back. I was driving the boat. It was pretty rough sailing at this point, so I maintained a steady speed and tacked back and forth through the waves, staying as close to the shore as I could because the waves weren't as bad there. 

Everything was fine until we came around one of the bends, and were completely overtaken with waves. The wife's friend started screaming (note to people in a stressful situation... don't start screaming, and then continue to scream when someone is trying to maintain control of a moving vehicle/boat). I slowed the boat down when we were once again taken by another huge wave. I couldn't see a thing, but when my vision cleared, I saw another boat in front of us trying like crazy to get to the boat ramp. I couldn't get the boat to move forward at that slower speed because the waves were so strong, and we were quickly being pushed to the shore. I yelled at the husband of our friend to come take the wheel because I couldn't control the boat. I might have been fine had the other boat not been out of control in front of us. I then put my life jacket on... Looking around at those waves, I knew, that even as a strong swimmer, I wouldn't have been able to stay above water in that. 

OH, the wife decides to tell me later that evening... "I'm can barely swim at all..." How could you only just now be telling me this??? This is something I needed to know when we took our first cruise, and we went on the Sting Ray excursion on this little boat in the ocean!! Crazy woman. 

So yeah, I now know why good swimmers drown in this lake, and why it has now been incorporated into my "end of world" dreams. ::sigh:: I could actually handle the big round building with the windows all around, because it's been in my dreams long enough for me to know that I would for sure avoid anything resembling it in real life. I don't like my own lake being in these dreams! It's nuts! 

Okay... time for me to go. We have an appointment today with the guy we've been discussing the building purchase with. We pulled out of the purchase, but he is building a huge indoor sport facility, and the wife put the idea out there, that perhaps we could purchase a space in his building for our business. On the other side of his building, there is an indoor batting cage facility, so it would all be so perfect... if we could work it out. 

Time to roll... Have a great day everyone! 

Two Things I don't like...

Snakes and spiders...

Unfortunately my dislikes don't exactly fit in with living on a lake. I mean, we are surrounded with snakes and spiders. A friend of mine opened her front door to go outside, and discovered a huge rat snake wrapped around her door frame. Last year we discovered a baby water snake in the house. It was not a happy camper, as we worked to maneuver it outdoors, so we had to kill it. We were afraid it would get back in, and hurt the dogs. They're small dogs.

So every time I go outside, I look under chairs, up in the ceiling fans, around the doors... I will freak if I look up and see one. Especially a water moccasin.

I am constantly finding spiders in the house. Big ones... with fur. It's gross. I mean, I can't smash them. It would be like killing a small animal. I told the wife I needed Raid. She said we could call Orkin out... that's right! Getting out the big guns now!

Today, after seeing yet another spider in the house, I decided I'd better make sure it was a Wolf Spider like I thought. I mean, I haven't been killing them when I'm home alone, so they crawl to other places... and I don't know where. Bleck! I went to google images, and let me tell you... they are way too detailed. I mean pictures showing all of their eyes, and stuff. I know I'm going to have nightmares.

Then the boy and I went down to brush off the boat. We have to do this at least three times a week due to all of the spiders. I couldn't find the broom we keep on the boat for just that reason, so I ended up using the towel I brought down. Little spiders were running everywhere as I whacked down all of the webs. Seriously... I'm not sure this is something I'll ever become accustomed to.

Well, I'm not sure it was the brightest idea to write about it right before bed... here's to hoping I don't dream about these things.

Here are a couple of pictures we took last night of the kids before prom. They seemed to have had a wonderful time!

The girl and the boy

The girl and the boy being themselves. LOL

Photo bomb by the wife and boy

This was my favorite picture of them

Thank You Saturday Morning

I'll start with my second public service announcement:

*I want to thank the people who read my last post, and offered words of advice. Anita asked if I felt better after writing it, and I have to say noooooo! I know, right?!?! It's because I still edited the crap out of it. Had I not, it would have been ugly. See, I tried to lay out the facts, organize and analyze them. You know, make it productive. Had I truly vented... well, my venting isn't productive. I learned from a childhood of being surrounded by people constantly fighting, both verbally and physically, that words cannot be taken back. Especially when written. It's a good lesson, but I tend to bottle up, which makes a perhaps typical situation way larger, because it builds like a carbonated drink bottle being shaken. My goal is to analyze, and then try to discuss calmly. Unfortunately, at times, I am still not "heard," then that bottle pops open, and all kinds of stuff spews out. This is why I don't put this stuff under lock and key. First of all, this is an outlet. The people who surround me in my daily life, good friends, acquaintances... don't know I do this, and I don't feel free enough to discuss my problems with them. So if they did know about my blog, I wouldn't feel as free to write whatever I feel. Most of them I know, don't even read blogs on sites like this. Second, there are people out there who go through the same things or worse. I read it... and I am so thankful to have them, because it puts things in perspective for me. SO when I tell the wife, "This is absolutely normal behavior for these kids right now...," I have proof, and when she tells her friends about it, they tell her it's normal too. One of them even said it's better than doing these things in real time. That being said, this doesn't mean it's okay, and that we can just let it go.

Now for positive stuff!!

In my last post, I mentioned a senior prank gone bad. I have to say, that as a parent of two kids who really aren't all that social, I was excited that the girl was participating in something quite "normal." As a teen I did some pretty ridiculous stuff with my friends. I remember taking letters off of those marquee signs, changing the words around, or sneaking into cemeteries, abandoned buildings, and onto golf courses, and toilet-papering houses. Each time we did these things, we gained some great memories, and learned some lessons, that we still laugh about today.

So when the girl told us they were doing a senior prank, we were okay with it. It's something the adults expect. Apparently, the adults did not expect this. The kids attend a small, private school. Everyone is very close... it's like family. The headmaster and his wife have sleepovers/study groups in their home, have school lock-in's, discuss relationship issues, and everything else with the kids, and participated in last years senior prank.

This year was a little different. The kids did not include the headmasters wife in the planning of the prank. They did it on their own. They decided to break into the school, and remove every piece of furniture from two classrooms. They then tiled the floors of the classrooms with books, put vaseline on the doorknobs, and moved a valuable statue into another teacher's classroom. They left a message "Love your senior class of 2012." So, yes... this was a very serious prank, because it was breaking and entering. The message they left though, said to me, and some of the other parents "Hey, we're comfortable enough here to do this type of thing... it wasn't an act committed out of malice." Regardless, they got into SO much trouble!

One of their punishments was 50 hours of community service to be done for the school. This means that even though the girl doesn't have a first or last class anymore, she still needs to be there, doing odd jobs. It also meant working the school garage sale this morning. She had to be there at 5:45 am. Ugh! To me, that's punishment.

I was awake at 5 this morning listening for her, to be sure she was up. I never heard a sound, but kept telling myself I'm not going to get her up. This is a good lesson in responsibility... so I eventually fell back to sleep. I woke up at 8, and wandered around the house for a good 30 minutes before I finally decided to check the garage. I was just so sure she hadn't made it up, and tonight is prom. What if they don't let her go because she didn't show up for the sale?!?! I opened the door, peeked around the corner, and the car was gone... yay!! She did it! See, it's the little things. I don't know, maybe she will be responsible in a job. I mean, just because she doesn't do her chores around here, and just because she doesn't listen to us at all when it comes to life advice, doesn't mean she won't hit the world running. She'll have people to impress... she just doesn't feel the need to impress us. I get that... so we shall see.

Anyway... like I said, prom is tonight. This has been a nerve-wracking event to plan for. It makes me dread a future wedding, but hopefully that won't come for at least 12 years. Right?

Time for me to go... too many things to do today. I hope you all have a great Saturday! 

The Reckoning...

*This is my public service announcement for potential readers. I'm not "bleeping" out words in this particular post. It's going to be brutally honest, and frank. I need it to be, because lately, guys, I've been struggling. So, if you are easily offended by bad language, then don't read it. Oh, and it's long. It should have chapters. 


Good morning peeps! Here's to hoping it's a great one, because I really could use it. I didn't get any sleep last night, yet I still managed to have bad dreams. One in particular, was a great representation of where I am right now.

Dream: I'm standing on a bridge (not really sure how I got up there), the wife is with me, and some other people I don't know. It always amazes me how we manage to dream about people we don't know. Anyway... I recognized this bridge from when I was a kid. I can't remember how old I was. but I would walk down Las Vegas Trail (look that up, it was then, and always has been, one of the scariest neighborhoods in Fort Worth), to go to the store, or to  sit under that bridge and watch the cars go by. I would occasionally climb up the grassy hill near the highway to watch the cars there too. Only this time, the bridge is higher, and I was somehow at the top, near the highway, with no way down. I wanted off, so I ran to the opposite side, and saw no way to climb down from there. I then ran back over the highway, and looked over that side. There was a lamp post with a spiral type of grid. The wife tells me to just climb down that way, but it was SO high, and I remember trying to figure out how I would place my feet on that grid, without sliding completely off. Then suddenly... I walk to another point, and see, that all I have to do is step off... a small jump. I'm sincerely hoping this means there is an easier answer to getting off of this virtual bridge. People who know me, know my stress phrase... "I'm finding a bridge..." meaning, I'm jumping. It's all said in jest, but also my way of letting people know I've had it. Now it's, "I'm jumping in the lake." I haven't even said that lately, and I think that's the biggest overall problem. 


This has been such a long week. It's been Hell... wait, that's not right. I mean HELL. I'm tired, I'm dragging from allergies and allergy meds, I haven't exercised all week because of this, and even if I could exercise, I can't run, because going outside would be incredibly stupid in my current condition. I need my exercise. It helps with stress. I have been tempted several times these past few days to have a drink, but I'm trying so hard not to, although I've been doing a bit of stress eating. Too many things are going on at one time.

First of all, I'm struggling right now, with being a parent. I know, it's a little too late to be having second thoughts. I mean, they are teenagers. I just don't "get it," apparently. I know that today's generation is "different," but trying to instill morals, and the importance of standing firm in your beliefs, should not be so incredibly difficult.

I don't even know where to begin... I've read many a "mommy" blog, and I respect the moms out there who won't post about their children's issues, because that's their kids' story, but I'm not going down that path. I figure if mine don't want their crap out there, then they wouldn't continually do the shit they're doing. Oh and, I know the boy reads my blogs, so read up kid... maybe you'll learn to take me seriously.  Although I get the feeling, that by the time he gets around to this, he will have lost all access to the internet, including his phone.

Long story short, we are dealing with porn sites, webcams, an internet stalker (that problem has been resolved), sex, computer hacking, a senior prank gone incredibly wrong, and the fact that neither one takes me seriously when I warn them that they are going to put themselves in a very bad, very vulnerable position, and I don't like it for many reasons.

While dealing with their issues, I've been forced to deal with my own. They are putting themselves in the position to be victimized, along with the wife and I. I've been a victim... I was sexually assaulted at a young age (not something I've ever told anyone I haven't been in a relationship with), then in an abusive marriage for 11 years. I refuse to be a victim again, especially because of my kids' idiotic behavior. I get the fact that they must learn from their mistakes, but they shouldn't have to learn this type of lesson in order to just freakin' behave themselves. They think I overreact. Even with the internet stalker, I was not taken seriously. A 37 year old portraying himself to be a 15 year old? Really?!?!?! So then my son says... "Well, you have a gun." Ummm, yep, I have a gun, and I will use it if forced to, which most people just laugh off, because I'm "sweet, and funny, and how could I ever do that?" If I feel threatened, I will use it... but I would never, ever forgive his stupid actions for putting me in a position like that!!!

How do I instill in him a respect for women? How do I teach him that he will eventually begin to lose friends as they grow in different activities, while he sits and does what? How do I instill in him the desire for success, whatever that may mean for him, because if I have anything to do with it, it will not mean sitting on your ass, on a computer all day, while the world passes you by.

Then we've got the girl...
Where to begin? How can I be proud of her, yet flabbergasted at the same time? I'm proud of her photography accomplishments, but disgusted with her for not making it a priority to be in  attendance when her portfolio was voted first in state, because she wanted to see her boyfriend that weekend. This is why we aren't sending her to a university this coming year. She has so much maturing to do. I've created a new phrase around here too... "Priorities before penises" It may seem a bit much for those of you who "would never say something like this to your kids," but we're very blunt with them. Plus if you really dig deep into their things, you would be shocked at what they're saying, or what's being said to them from "friends." I'm proud of her for her dance team accomplishments, for even participating on the dance team. BUT, she's incredibly manipulative, a great liar, she thinks she knows everything, which makes it impossible to teach her anything, and she's quite homophobic, which amazes me considering I've raised her. The other day I told her the whole gay thing was totally genetic for me, which freaked her out. I know, I know, it's not nice to mess with their heads, but she was acting so high and mighty about something, that my mouth just vomited that statement right out. No worries, if she weren't almost 18, I wouldn't have done that.

Next I've got the wife. I love her, and I get that this is a LOT to handle. She wants to know why they can't just be normal... or why my genetics didn't overcome others in the formation of the childrens' personalities. She says she needs counseling to deal with the boy, I get it. We don't know what to do for him to make his transition into adulthood easier. We don't know how to mold him into a kind, and caring man (apparently)... she wants to throw their computers in the lake, along with their phones... she's like a little pitbull when it comes to this stuff. I know we need to be that way, but oh my God... I'm being bombarded, and YES, I am just sitting back, because what else can I do when everyone around me is running on freakin' high energies spurred from hormones (the teens. Hell, us too, I mean, we're both pre-menopausal), and frustrations.

So, I'm bound right now, and I'm frustrated, and I feel incredibly selfish. Our anniversary is coming up. My birthday is the day after our anniversary. I want to DO something different, special... but her sister may be coming into town for a visit. I know she misses her sister, and she can rarely visit, but that doesn't mean I don't want to absolutely scream about it. I don't though... I keep my mouth shut, and watch, and listen to ALL that is going on, and I process, and I mull it over. This is what one is supposed to do. Shut up, assess the situation, and then form a plan of action. All the while, though, I am losing it inside... it's wonderful that I can maintain an indifference in my outward appearance, right? Well, except for this morning, when the first words out of my mouth to the boy were "Next year, you'll be participating in every freakin' activity that school has, so you better get ready. You will no longer sit on the sidelines and make fun of the kids who actually "do" things... so, have a great day at school!" The next thing I did was gather phone numbers for every single parent who will be in charge of the before, after, and during prom activities. I know she'll soon be having sex, but not this weekend by God!

Then I came here... my blog, my outlet, and I let it all out. Oh, and with very little bad language too!! Thats pretty amazing since even my prayers have had a few bombs in them lately. Look, I talk like a sailor, and unfortunately I think like one as well... I won't lie. I'm just me.

Oh. and just so you guys know, I do realize I must set the example, and I have been! We've got board games... although the boy is a bad loser, we've been geocaching (OMG, if you don't know what this is, google it. It's like a scavenger/treasure hunt. You use a gps to search out the various game pieces that people participating in the game have hidden all over the place. It truly is fun for all of us!) He will start golf lessons/guitar in a few weeks, is doing tennis with me, and has lost his computer. As far as the girl, she will be getting a job upon graduation, and we will enroll her in community college. After she proves she can handle it all, we will send her off to a university. See, plans!! That's a step toward progress right?

As far as plans toward progressing with the wife and our "connecting," well... When will we have time? We don't. There's always something (kids, family visits, her parents may be moving here within the month which means NO time together after that), and when we are home, there's no connecting. There's her games (all those iApps)  and she's always sitting outside which I can't do at all right now. So I'm exercising (Or I plan on getting back to it next week with a personal trainer), or cleaning. This week I'm just trying to gather my senses, and wits about me. I might as well, just do my own thing, and throw that whole "reconnecting" idea out the window. Hell maybe that shit doesn't even exist after a certain amount of time together. I don't know. I mean, we aren't arguing or anything. We're comfortable...

Blah!!! That's how I feel, and in the back of my head, I have this constant feeling of forgetting something/or foreboding, that is making me NUTS. I need a break... from kids, from... (yes, I'm going to say it...), from my dogs. The problem is, taking a break only removes you from things that sure aren't going anywhere. ::sigh::

On another note: I've joined a band... Look!

Ha! Just kidding. My friend, the one to your far right (you know, the HOT one, as the wife calls her), is the one with the band. She does at times let people come up and sing. The woman to your far left, next to the bass player, is someone I had only met that day, and she and I hit it off. We loved going up there to sing. The woman in the bright blue, next to me ((I'm in the middle in white)) was just rude. She ripped that tambourine right out of my new friend's hand. Oh well... it was a fun day at the horse races!!

 Now for some pictures of the kids when there were babies and a couple of family pictures. Maybe if I can picture these sweet faces (all three of them ;)... ) , I can handle these phases of Hell. These pictures are in no particular order! Too tired to make it "organized."

Ah, the love, right after she had thrown a baby bottle at his head. LOL

Cowboy's Sunday

The New York closet... I mean hotel room

Threatening to jump into the Grand Canyon

La Jolla... loved it here!

La Jolla

She loved dressing him up... 

My favorite...