May 4th 2009

It's been one month since my husband got the news that his company was moving him to Houston Texas. On May 4th 2009 the world as we knew it was turned completely upside down. It's been a roller coaster of emotions from anger to fear, uncertainty to hopefulness, and in the end compliance. As a family we decided that we did not want to relocate to Houston, with our teen age daughter going into her Sophomore year of school and all the other activities that we have become so used to here in North Texas, we decided that Danielle and I would stay here and Dan would stay in Houston during the week (hopefully returning on the weekends, but that is yet to be seen). To make ends meet having to households to fiance I have gone back into the grocery business working for Tom Thumb. It has been 16 years since I have had to do the old 9-5 or in this case 6am - 2pm with an occasional 10-6, 12-8, and 8-4.



Dan found on E-bay his new living accommodations and travel vehicle, a very well worn travel trailer that he drove to Florida to pick up and a 1997 Chevy Lumina that he flew to Ohio to get and then drove home. The travel trailer will be parked at a RV park somewhere in Houston and hopefully the Lumina has a few hundred thousand miles in it to get him back and forth.




Things are falling into place, and everyone is getting used to the new routine. We have a new maid, her name is "Daniella", she is pretty cheap, she works for room and board. It has been nice to come home to a clean house and she even cleaned my room and bathroom the other day. In addition to keeping up on the house she makes sue all the four legged critters are cared for too.

I'm hoping that once Danielle turns 16 she can get a part time job at the new Dennards or maybe Sonic, as cute as she is I'm sure she'd make a killing on tips.
With my schedule, working every weekend and holiday and my days off during the week, and Dan's schedule with weekends and holidays off, I'm hoping that we won't leave Danielle with too much free time on her hands (especially if she can get a part time job) I know first hand the dangers of teen age girls with too much time on their hands!



Dan called last night from his new office, a shared cubicle on the 13th floor of the metro building in downtown Houston, he said I may like it, the hustle and bustle of city life with restaurants and shopping only blocks away, but with my schedule I'm not sure when I will be able to make a trip down there to see it. They tell me that Tom Thumb (at least the one where I work) is even open Christmas Day.

Time will only tell how this will all play out, for now we will have to focus on the quality of time we have together instead of the quantity.

Today

http://www.bellsouthpwp.net/c/o/couchmt/cardofweek/today.html


Please click on the above link for a beautiful poem


Enjoy

A pencil in need of sharpening.....

This beautiful post was written by my good friend Cheryl. In these times of transition that my family have been going through, it was the best thing I could have read. Hopefully Cheryl won't mind if I "borrow" it for my blog to share with others, and to remind myself of the lesson:(my pencil has become dull, and is in great need of a little sharpening)Here is what Cheryl had to write............

Though I don't always remember the lesson as well as I would like, I often reflect on a principle I learned several years ago by reading a book by a Japanese-American woman I greatly admire, Cheiko Okazaki. I've always loved her writings, as hers is the elegant, yet rare voice of both brutal honesty and enthusiastic optimism. In one of her addresses to the women in church, Cheiko talks about her years growing up as a Japanese woman in a primarily Caucasion society, where she often felt like she didn't quite fit. She explains that as she grew, and came to understand her purpose in life, she became a champion for differences!



She said, "...look around...Do you see women of different ages, races, or different backgrounds...Of different educational, marital, and professional experiences? Women with children? Women without children? Women of vigorous health and those who are limited by chronic illness or handicaps? Rejoice in the diversity of our sisterhood! It is the diversity of colors in a spectrum that makes a rainbow."


by Marcia Diane



She further explained that no matter what our specific individual circumstances, we can each have a profound impact on the lives of those around us. She explains, "Do not feel that your gift is insignificant. Mother Teresa says, 'I’m a little pencil in the hands of God. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything—and it’s really hard-—sometimes it’s a broken pencil. He has to sharpen it a little more. But be a little instrument in His hands so that He can use you anytime, anywhere. We have only to say Yes to Him'.”

When I am feeling a bit discouraged because I can't seem to accomplish all the things I set out to do (or rarely even half of them), I try to remember Cheiko's (and Mother Teresa's) wisdom. I envision myself as a pencil......albeit a fat, stubby, chewed on, worn-down eraserless pencil.I try to remind myself that I don't have to be perfect to do something. I can give a part of me. All I need do is say YES.

Whether or not one shares my Christian philosophy is irrelevant. While I personally believe that while in God's service, He will magnify us to be more capable than we would normally be, the principle is equally true for nonbelievers. Whether we are saying "YES" to God or simply "YES" to ourselves, we become stronger in the act of doing. Instead of holding back our gifts (creativity) because we fear they may not be good enough, or well-received, or whatever the case may be; instead, we must move forward with courage. We have to trust that our best efforts WILL matter. We will believe that our unique gifts DO make a difference in our own lives and in the lives of others. We commit ourselves to sharing our gifts, talents, or simple acts of service. We have faith (or even the tiniest bit of hope) that in so doing, we will be filled with personal purpose. The spectrum of our collective rainbow will shine brighter, bringing joy to those within its arching reach.

Swine Flu Epidemic/post borrowed from Lolly :)

This whole swine flu thing is absolutely CRAZY. People are freaking out and I'm not sure why. From what I understand, if you get the flu, you have normal flu symptoms, hopefully get to take Tamiflu, and recover after a week. No one wants to be sick, but I don't think it is any deadlier than the chicken pox, and it definitely has not killed as many people and the plain old broken down flu.

I don't know how many people live in texas, my guess is 100's of 1000's. 17 people have been confirmed with the swine flu. I'm sorry for a family that has suffered a loss, but just because you get the swine flu doesn't mean you are going to die, or even get close.

Statistics I read said that so far this year, 19,000 people have died from the regular flu. We don't really freak out about that.

School districts have closed down for days. I hurt for those parents. In most cases, the parents have to work and if they don't work, they don't get paid. The officials have asked day cares to close and families not to go out in public. That is not going to happen, and if it does, the businesses will suffer as well as the parents.

In the economic times that we have right now, Economic Crisis + Swine Flu Freak Out = Total Disaster.

Mine That Bird

One word: Amazing. I won't lie I really didn't think this horse had a chance. I love his sire Birdstone who captured my heart almost five years ago with his win over Smarty Jones in the Belmont Stakes and today he sired one of the finest Kentucky Derby longshots of all-time. Great job by the connections, great job Calvin the most emotional athlete I have ever seen in ANY sport. Great job Bird.

This is where I call Home....

Are you jealous?? Just kidding, I know there are beautiful places all over the world, many of which I still aim to see someday. But this is where I prefer to call home for now! Nothing to me is prettier than North Texas in the Spring! The new foals and Bluebonnets are sprouting up all over the place!

Oklahoma City

We spent most of last week in Oklahoma City for the BBR Finals. Danielle had qualified on two horses to run in this barrel race. We loaded up Mia and Dee and headed North. First of all let me say that Destry Fleming puts on one heck of a barrel race. Upon arrival we were met outside the barns by Quinn, who pulled up in his golf cart and promptly unloaded all of the horsey supplies and headed off to the barns to help get the stalls set up. We've been to quite a few big shows and have never had the valet service upon check in....it was wonderful. By the second day Quinn was most likely wishing he had never laid eyes on Danielle and her friend Kara. Anytime they had a problem, they were off to find there trusty friend Quinn. Setting up the fans in the stalls was probably the most painful job for poor Quinn, he had to boost Danielle up to reach the outlet to plug in the fan, Quinn must have overlooked the spurs on Danielle's boots but found out about them soon enough when they were jabbed into his gut....can you say "ouch" Quinn sure did !! By the time we left Quinn was probably kicking himself for not taking the $20.00 I wanted to give him on the 1st day. Don't let their innocent smiles fool you, these two are ruthless!!!
Mia did well, but not as well as Dee. She was the one I expected to shine and although she put her best into she just seemed a little out of sorts.





Dee on the other hand shocked us all! His first one was pretty good, he ran a 17.1 but didn't really open up between the barrels, but heck it was a clean run so we'll take it! Only problem was he apparently didn't see the closed gate at the end of the alley on the way out and rammed through it scaring Dad and the gate man to death! Mind you this was after he had been hit by a truck that was speeding along in reverse down the alley between the barns. Can you say "chiropractor" Dee has an appointment on Thursday to see Dr. Marr. Although, he seems no worse for wear. He came back and ran a 16.9 in his second run and they were only out of the short go by 2 runners!!!!







Here is one of my favorite scenes from the trip, I had Dan pull over on the highway to get this shot of the Oklahoma River with downtown Oklahoma City in the background.





And here are a few from Bricktown, all the buildings are made from Oklahoma's famous "Red Dirt" as it was the most plentiful and cheapest resource they had when building the city in the early 1900's.