July 03, 2009

Moving on.....

We have four more nights to sleep in our house and 2 weeks from today we are scheduled to drive away from Abilene.  The movers come Monday which means the computer goes back in the box until we unpack in Virginia in early August.   Because we are moving a week earlier than originally planned, there is a lot to do between now and Monday.  Thankfully, Joe has a 3 day weekend.  And yesterday was the party on base to celebrate those who were selected for Colonel.  We had a great time and it was a fun way to get our long weekend started.  Now, where are those important papers I don't want the movers to pack.....time to get organized and I look forward to starting the blog up again in August!  Happy 4th of July to all of you!

June 28, 2009

Recommendations

In the spirit of fashionista Jillian, I had to share here what I discovered this weekend.  We spent Friday and Saturday in Dallas and Denton visiting Joe's cousin and her family.  The trip included eating too much good food, shopping, going to the Dallas World Aquarium, and watching some awesome volleyball games!   When we stopped at North Park Mall in Dallas, I went in The Body Shop and smelled the new scents they offer of their Body Butter:


Pr-wildCherry-bodyButter This Wild Cherry is one of their new ones and I love it.  BUT!


Then I discovered they also offer  Butter for.....

Pd_pink_grapefruit_lip_butter LIPS!! 

This stuff is great-very smooth and lots of yummy scents.   I sure hope there is a Body Shop near us in Virginia! 

June 25, 2009

I'll always remember

.....what I was doing when the news about 9/11 broke and when Elvis Presley died.  That one might be a little strange, but I was walking into our house from the back yard.  We were living in Ohio and I was about 10 years old, I think?  The TV was on and my Mom was preparing dinner.  There was a special news report that he had died and I told my Mom.  She couldn't see the TV from the kitchen.  Now, maybe, I'll always remember where I was when I heard the breaking news about Michael Jackson's death.  I was waiting for our realtor to stop by with a contract for us to sign!  If everything goes well from here with the inspection, etc, we will close by July 17th.  The prospective buyers will move in July 10th and rent from us until closing.  The inspection is Monday afternoon.  We have had a great week-first the news about the selection for Colonel and then getting an offer on the house.


When Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album was released, my Mom and sister and I listened to it all the time.  My mom wasn't married then and some days it felt like 3 single girls living together.  I was 15 and my sister was 13.  There were some really fun days and some really difficult days, as there are in all families.  But we loved Michael's music and most of all loved watching him dance and perform.  Remember the Motown Anniversary special?  I have some of his old songs on my iPod.  Things will seem a lot different when I listen to them next. 

June 22, 2009

Promotion

We received the news tonight we have been hoping for.  Joe has been selected for promotion to

COLONEL!!

Colonel rank 

He said it is 3 ranks higher than he ever thought he would achieve in the Air Force.  We are both honored and happy and humbled.  We think the actual promotion will take place in late September but we're not sure right now.  Joe's current boss, who is a Colonel now, told him the news by handing him a letter and some of his own Colonel's rank.  Very cool. 

June 12, 2009

It's the weekend

And I don't have big news to report.  The "list" we were expecting to be released, will not actually be released until mid to late June.  Stay tuned for results!

Joe had a successful trip to D.C. The ceremony he was a part of went very well and he got to see the house we'll be renting there!  The current tenant showed him a lot of helpful things about the house and also gave him great info about the school Joe will attend-he's a student there, too!  He also gave him a card to use to take the Metro into DC with a lot of credit still on it.  What a blessing.

We do still get to celebrate our 17th Wedding anniversary tomorrow.  I believe it will be our first date at night for just the two of us since before Joe's deployment in December!  Since he's returned, we've had some lunch dates and our evening outings have involved Air Force functions.   Happy Anniversary to my awesome husband who blesses me everyday. 

June 08, 2009

This week......

can only be better than last week, right?  I realize things could have been much worse for our family last week, but it was still frustrating.   One thing that happened last week I didn't write about yet.  My dear friend and mentee from church, Sabrina,  had a baby girl last Tuesday. Her name is Olivia. They also have twin boys who are almost 4 years old.  Wednesday morning they discovered something seriously wrong with Olivia and she had to be airlifted to a Children's Hospital in Dallas.  She had surgery for a twisted bowel and has a lot less intestines now.  Also her appendix was removed and her colon was moved.  All this happened when she was less than 48 hours old.  The prognosis is good now, but she may be in the hospital for up to 6 months.   It kind of puts car repairs and missing packages into perspective, doesn't it? 

I'm thankful that Olivia is doing better and I hope to see her soon.  The company who sent the missing package for Gracie's birthday has agreed to send another one free of charge-even though it wasn't their fault that it went missing.

This week got off to a great start yesterday with a great church service and inspiring sermon.  Read Matthew 9:37-38.  An impromptu lunch with friends and having our Pastor and his family over for dinner made for a great day and evening.  They have been such a blessing to us and food is my love language.  We had pork tenderloin on the grill, scalloped potatoes, salad with mixed greens, strawberries and feta cheese with balsamic vinagrette; green beans and yeast rolls. Dessert was Pioneer Woman's Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce.  The kids poured the sauce on their ice cream and the loved it that way, too.

The house wasn't shown at all over the weekend.  That definitely doesn't help get it sold, but honestly it was a nice break for us.  I asked for no showings yesterday from 3:00 on because of having company.  I still feel like we are going to sell the house before we move but as July 17 gets closer and closer, it's harder to keep up that optimisim. 

Joe gets to travel to Washington DC for work on Wednesday and he hopes to have time to drive to Springfield and see the house we will move into.  This could also be a very significant week for Joe regarding his Air Force career.   I try hard to not be superstitious, but I won't go into details until the news is out officially-probably by Friday.

We also will celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary this coming Saturday.   We have friends who married the same year we did and they watch their wedding video EVERY year on their anniversary.  I don't think Joe and I have watched ours together since our first anniversary.  Maybe that's what we'll do this weekend.  I am sure the girls would enjoy seeing it, too!

June 05, 2009

There is a big difference between Texas and Virginia......


Forecast for Abilene, TX (79606)

10-Day Forecast

High /
Low (°F)
Precip. %
Tonight
Jun 05
Partly Cloudy / Wind 68° 20 %
Sat
Jun 06
Partly Cloudy / Wind 99°/71° 10 %
Sun
Jun 07
Partly Cloudy / Wind 99°/72° 20 %
Mon
Jun 08
Mostly Sunny 99°/71° 20 %
Tue
Jun 09
Partly Cloudy 101°/73° 10 %
Wed
Jun 10
Partly Cloudy 102°/71° 10 %
Thu
Jun 11
Sunny 101°/72° 0 %
Fri
Jun 12
Sunny 98°/71° 0 %
Sat
Jun 13
Mostly Sunny 100°/73° 20 %
Sun
Jun 14
Mostly Sunny 100°/72° 0 %
Last Updated Jun 5 06:15 p.m. CT


Forecast for Springfield, VA (22152)

10-Day Forecast

High /
Low (°F)
Precip. %
Tonight
Jun 05
Rain Early 56° 90 %
Sat
Jun 06
Partly Cloudy 80°/61° 0 %
Sun
Jun 07
Partly Cloudy 83°/65° 20 %
Mon
Jun 08
Partly Cloudy 86°/68° 20 %
Tue
Jun 09
Scattered T-Storms 84°/67° 40 %
Wed
Jun 10
Showers 84°/65° 40 %
Thu
Jun 11
Scattered T-Storms 80°/65° 40 %
Fri
Jun 12
Scattered T-Storms 79°/64° 40 %
Sat
Jun 13
Scattered T-Storms 82°/65° 60 %
Sun
Jun 14
Scattered T-Storms 81°/64° 60 %
Last Updated Jun 5 06:13 p.m. ET


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June 03, 2009

What a week

Sadie being put to sleep was of course the most difficult day we've had in awhile. All four of us are still thinking we need to let her out, or feed her, or look for her when we walk in the door.

  The next day we took Joe's car in for some repairs-too many different things to mention, but the total was $1804.00  Not fun.   The Air conditioning in my van has been not working, working, not working, working, not working.  It finally stopped working on Saturday and continued to not work Sunday and Monday.  I took it in Tuesday to find out what was going on and was told the"Clutch and coil on the compressor need to be replaced."  Estimate for parts and labor is $688.00  Joe drove it today and when he came home tonight he said the A/C is working again.  Now what do we do?  It is supposed to be 100 degrees here this weekend, by the way.

Part of the gifts I ordered for Gracie's birthday were shipped via UPS.  Tracking said it was delivered to my front door yesterday at 1:22 pm.  Well, I was home yesterday at 1:22 pm and there is no box.  Grrrrrr.

A gentleman looked at house yesterday and really liked it.  He scheduled a second appt only 3 hours later with his wife.  We were very encouraged!  This morning I learned that "they have decided to build." 

Another couple looked at our house yesterday and they are considering it-however they are concerned about the squeak in the floor at the top of the stairs outside the bonus room.  That whole area is carpeted.   Not exactly easy to get to the area that squeaks.  We have just lived with it and it hasn't bothered us during our 3 years here.

In better news, I was able to play with our worship team at church again tonight.  It was the first time in quite awhile and it was just what I needed.  I didn't play as often while Joe was deployed and I'm glad I get to play and sing again with an awesome group of people who love the Lord so much before we move.  NEXT MONTH.  Can't believe we are leaving Abilene NEXT MONTH!

June 01, 2009

Sadie

IMG_0110 Sadie in a favorite spot in the office-before the cancer growth was easy to see.

Last night Joe took Sadie to our vet and friend from church and she was put to sleep.   It was time but it was still difficult and sad for all of us.  She had trouble eating and even more trouble drinking.  She weighed about 35 pounds and her eyes often told us she was in pain.  Joe and I had a long talk about it Friday night while the girls were at a sleepover.  Saturday morning when they came home, Ellie's intuition also told her it was getting close to that time.  That was a confirmation for Joe and me.  Our vet was working at the emergency clinic last night and told Joe it would be a good time to bring her in.  I'll never forget Ellie sitting by Sadie and crying as she told her goodbye last night.  Ellie also clipped some of Sadie's fur to save.  Gracie was very sad too.  We all are.  She was only 5 and a half years old.


Cancer is an  ugly and difficult thing.   Sadie will be missed.IMG_0046 February, 2009

IMG_0516 April, 2009100_7044 A happy and healthy Sadie October 2008

May 26, 2009

The Weekend in Pictures

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