Wednesday, October 24, 2007

YES I AM HERE

Yes I know – I seem to just pick up and leave without any notice…this happens for many reasons of which I may touch on some in this entry.

We are still alive and well  - all is fairly good…I will try and remember some highlights..

***My son stationed in Arizona will be graduating from his AIT (specialty in the army-job) training on November 8th. Then early morning of the 9th he will be heading here, home sweet home. He is driving here; he plans to make the trip in two days (a lil over 2000 miles). The reason is because he has officially received his orders and yes he is heading out for Japan. That is where he will be stationed, but his work in Intelligence and Interrogation will take place in the Philippines. Now we all know what kind of work that entails and who it entails so enough said. I am happy for him because he gets to discover other countries, but my heart is breaking. I worry about his safety and well-being. I have been unable to really talk about it because not being able to see him for at least two years will make me crazy. We are buying him a web cam so we can see each other when he gets the chance to get online. Right now we have no idea how often that will be or what kind of connection he will have. We have booked his flight reservations back to Arizona for November 17th – he flies out of Arizona before the crack of dawn on the 18th. They have a army liaison at the airport that will make sure he gets a complimentary room to catch some sleep before flying out. He is driving here because he will leave his car with us. The army told him to store it in California but when Eric asked about if it will be maintained or if someone will at least start it up once a month the army said NO…you just leave it there and it stays untouched. Well Eric said forget it I will store it in Orlando. So they give him a couple of days to drive here to store it! That way his dad will start it up a couple of times a month and maintain it for him. It will be such a blessing to see him…and try to squeeze in as much family time as possible with him. I just know though when it comes time to say good-bye – my heart will break. Just thinking about it makes me start crying.

***I have been calling my parents every week or so, staying in touch, and it is tearing me up inside that they truly are losing all train of thought. They become confused constantly. They cannot remember from one minute to another what is being said. It just terrifies me. I think I may have mentioned that my brother is trying to CON them into giving up their car because he says that my dad gets lost all the time. That is fine and well…but if that happens then when my parents need just a gallon of milk they will have to wait until someone can take a minute out of their day to take them to the store. I know that won’t be my brother, he life is just too full and my parents are not his priority. My brother tried to tell me about what is happening with my folks and I told him I understood because they were getting like that when they lived up here…he told me he finds it hard to believe that I even dealt with my parents in that state of mind. HE JUST TICKS ME OFF!!! I am so done trying to be cordial to him. I am tired of his condescending remarks. I am trying to arrange right now for my daughter to stay with my folks for a week during Thanksgiving break. This year because we have had no hurricanes (thank God) the school system did not have to call off school…so now they have to return the days to the kids. So the weekend before Thanksgiving and that whole week and the weekend after, Crystalyn has no school. That is the perfect time for her to go down there. Her cousins will be off from school and she will be able to see what is going on with my folks. Maybe help them sort through some things to make life easier. I would much rather have her go down there for Thanksgiving and be home for Christmas. That way Allen and I will just go out for Thanksgiving and treat ourselves to a nice dinner where no one has to cook, and we can be waited on. Crystalyn would leave the day after Eric does. Then my other son Allen jr should be coming home sometime around Christmas (but those plans are not definite yet).

***Allen has been working on old lawnmower motors and fixing up our grill and fiddling around with the yard and all.

***Believe it or not – we still have not uploaded any pics from Crystalyn’s birthday, or the pumpkin carving, or anything else that has been happening…just no energy right now to do it…but hopefully once things settle down I will get things uploaded and then show you all. Crystalyn’s senior portrait should be here soon because the charge to my bank arrive late last week…and I also had to send in a payment for her class picture..it is done in panoramic. Her class has 800 students….Geez…my graduating class had 126..and we thought that was big.

***I have been working on some art….just trying out different mediums and such – did I tell you all yet that I have an art blog? Well I do. It is on blogspot. If you want to check it out for yourself here is the link: Finding Myself! Right now I only have the digital paintings I have been working on and my scrap booking pages, but I will be posting my mixed media soon..just have to find the time to get organized. It is so hard when you are chronically depressed and you try to focus your energy on positive things. Seems like any effort is a major hurdle and zaps the energy right out of me. Slowly I am getting there. Have I mentioned yet that Allen went to a yard sale and saw this sort of table that has two draws and got it for me…the top has to be replaced but it is for me to use as a craft table. I am so EXCITED….it has a heavy metal frame and painted red…we are going to put a bigger top on it (thicker too) and decorate the top, maybe by painting it or by putting a collage on it and then seal it. It will take some time, but it is a fun project to do. We have been making A LOT of beef jerky and banana chips and dehydrated pumpkin seeds. We are already preparing a care package for Eric…if anyone has any ideas that are unique and or fun, let me know. Just so you know we have already written down snacks he likes and he said forget about toiletries because the army provides what he needs, but I would love to send him packages of fun stuff and munchies and surprises to pass the time for him, something that he can look forward to.

***We had a bit of a scare here – my daughter has a dog named Thor…he is a rottie…truly a sweetie but will not allow anyone not in the family around her. He will tear them up. (This has happened on several occasions). Well she noticed that he had gotten up and there was a puddle of blood. Then noticed that he could not pee. She noticed this on a Saturday night and the vet is closed and closed on Sunday. So on a Monday morning she called the vet and got an appointment for him. To make a long story short…he broke the bone around his urethra…they said probably when he tried to mate with one of our females..(see what happens when a guy does not keep it in his pants—just kidding)..my daughter was so scared he was going to die…and she was so terrified when they had to put a muzzle on him…he has never been confined that way. WELL the good news is after they called some specialists…the vet decided to put him on steroids for three weeks and the scar tissue would heal the bone fracture..like growing a bone. I am happy to announce Thor is back to his sweet self and just loving on Crystalyn as always. Thor will be getting fixed VERY SOON so that he does not have those “urges” and will not re injure himself. Crystalyn received a hand written note from the doctor asking about Thor and how things are going. God Bless that Vet – I do not know of too many vets that actually do that. So she just thought that was too cool. Then she received another letter but this one had a card in it…it is an ID card for Thor. It has all his shot info on it and who his owner is and who his vet is and you can go online you can check out his info with his special code. It is too cute. It cost over 250 dollars for Thor but to see my daughter happy again and Thor back to normal is so worth every penny. That is her buddy. She has another dog named LilBit. He is the smallest one we have. He thinks he is king and she has spoiled him rotten that he believes what she has belongs to him. He is her shadow. He loves to play with her and share her food and sleep next to her when she is on the computer. He is just too much…makes me laugh because of his lil antics. Allen and I call him Gremlin because his ears look like the gremlin ears from the movie. LOL.

Well I think I have caught you all up on the top issues..hopefully I will be back sooner then later.

Before I forget--here is a "positive" blinkie for ya!

 

 

Remember to HUG those you LOVE because life is just too short!

PEACE!!!