We went to Hell this weekend

And we took the family.

Really, it was called Hotter 'N Hell

This is a picture of the picture on the television, which I turned on

after I drove to my friend's house, picked up her, her husband and

his bike and drove close to the beginning of the race.

Thank goodness they are locals and know the backroads and ways to get

around the traffic- because those bike people are crazy.

There would have been a picture of my mr getting the bikes on the rack in the dark,

but it showed our license plate and I'm paraniod about that kind of stuff.

So, unless you are my mother in law, you aren't going to get to

see that one.

We dropped the guys off, I took my friend home & went back to the hotel.

To cuddle my little son and go back to sleep.

But first, I wanted to see the start of the race.

And I'm glad I watched it on television.

my mr was in "gate three"

He passed the starting line at about 7:30am.

The race cannon went off at daybreak (it was about 7:10).

I'm glad my friend was wise and suggested that we just drop them off.

I think I saw more on the tv than I would have down in that mass.

One of my children really liked saying the name of the race.

She doesn't normally use certain words.

"Hey mom, how long will the H 'n H race last?"

"Do you think Dad's liking H 'n H?"

"When we come back to H 'n H next year ..."

(big assumption there)

She doesn't know I was on to her.

But I was.

Just like I was to her younger brother.

my mr rode the HHH.

Because he is crazy.

HHH is 100 miles.

He said it was harder than his marathons.

He's telling me right now that

his muscles are not as sore as they

are after a marthon.

The reason it's called the HHH is because it is in Texas.

In August.

And it's hot.

But thank heavens,

we were lucky this weekend

and it was only in the high 90s with pretty low humidity

while we waited (me impatiently) for him to finish.

We stayed at the hotel for a while.

Then we went to play with friends.

Then we ventured down to the festivities.

And finally, he came.

In the afternoon.

And we were very happy to see him.

"Daddy, Daddy! Go Daddy, you can do it!"

(This little guy is a very cute cheerleader-please note the almost smile

on the man walking by in the white jersey. You have to look really hard.)

Done.

And almost ready to recuperate.

How I've become versed:

Marriage brings all kinds of surprises, you really never know what you are signing up for.

And

It's really, really nice to get to see very dear friends.

(Someday I will have to tell you about my Mildred.)

And

I don't need to set insane goals.

I will leave that to other people

And be supportive.

He wants to ride is bicycle.

He wants to ride his bike.

He wants to ride his bicycle.

He wants to ride his bike.

In a crazy long hot race.

Wearing the funniest little padded tight bummed pants

and a helmet.

So we'll wish him good luck

and tell him to be safe and have fun.

And wait at the finish.

Hey man, good luck.

(and let it be known that he loves star wars)

(I promise to share pictures later, but maybe not of the bum.)
(Bum meaning bottom/behind/tukas, not the man. He is definately not a bum.)
(I told little mr j to scoot his bum up on the chair at the eye doctor yesterday.)
(The doctor laughed out loud at me.)
(Well, not at me, but at my choice of words.)
(At least that's what he told me.)

***This song's been in my head ever since he took up this new hobby.***
***I keep playing the video over and over.***
***I like it.***

18 Years. Almost.

18 years, almost.
That's how long I've not been alone for over a couple of hours at a time.
That's a long time.
(Ok, well, there have been a few days of respit here and there, but over all-most of that time has been spent in the presence of other human beings-usually the small kind.)

And now I am sitting here and I have been alone for one and one half hour so far.
It is very quiet.

Today marks the end of an era.

I'm not happy and I'm not sad.
There are weird noises in the house.
I keep getting spooked.

Little mr j. started PreK today.

Little mr b. started 5th.

The girls are out to lunch with a dear friend.

They go back to teenager school tomorrow.

I should be organizing. I should be cleaning. I should be doing something productive.
But I am not.
I am wallowing in the quiet
and getting spooked by house noises.

Little mr j. gave me permission to take a nap.
I think I will follow his suggestion.
In fact, I have been telling folks that's the plan until the end of September
and so has he.
My afternoons are booked.
Then I will be productive.

18 years is a long time.
_______________________________________________________________________________

I guess the universe heard me writing that a few days ago, because I haven't had a quiet moment since. All those few quiet hours have been filled.
I have not been alone at all.
So, new plan.

I am scheduling in an appointment every weekday afternoon-no longer booked, they are now scheduled.
I am hoping tomorrow's appt. includes that nap.
And making bread.
As of now, there are no people on the agenda.
(No offence if you are a people, I enjoy you and everything. I just need a nap. Case in point: I am so tired that I almost forgot to go pick up that cute little boy pictured above after school yesterday. Thank heavens for long parent pick up lines. He has no knowledge of my mistake.--And the tired is my own fault. I need to go to sleep earlier. Every thing has a consequense. I know.)

Where did the week go?

Did you see it?
I know it was here.
It just flew away so quickly, I can hardly even believe it.

It started before the weekend before.
Everyday and every evening, there were things on the calendar.
Family things.
Friend things.
Sports things.
Cuddling things.
Service things.
Fun things.
Preparing things.
Social things.
Busy things.

And then it was this week,
and there was more.

And it's all good,
but I feel a little bad
because I haven't
been here.

And here makes me happy.

So, as this next week revs up, and tries to get away,
I will catch it
and hold it
and share.
So we can see it and know this week was here.

This Sunday Afternoon

Well, really it's early Sunday evening, but as I took a nap, it's seeming to still be afternoon.
I am sitting here thinking that I really should do a Sunday School entry, but don't know what to write, so instead, I'm going to tell you something different.

Right this moment, I am listening to my mr tutor little mr b a bit on the tuba.
"b flat, c, d, e flat, f -- now you need to do it with more confidence. what's the first note?"
little mr b knows the treble cleff, but that bass clef is a bit more challenging right now.
We're looking forward to the umpas coming soon.
my mr played the trumpet and the drums.
little mr b's experience is piano
and he tried out for all state choir, even though the only experience he has singing is from church (and at home-but all our singing is silly and would not have prepared him for that).
He didn't make the it, but a lot of other boys chose to try out & I think some of them made it.

He's started football training camp.

Our fall has started.

The girls didn't want me to come with them to look for school clothes. 
The boys aren't getting any.
(Until it gets closer to cooler weather.  I don't get their long pants or schoolish shoes until it's time for the weather to turn, because every time I have, they grow out of the new before they even get a chance to wear them. And little mr b will just rip holes in the knees on the third wear, so really-I'm conserving, right?)

"e flat, e flat, come on, you're guessing.  e flat is first valve. e flat is what?"

I am thankful that my mr is a part of the kids' lives.
He used to not be so much.
Life used to be harder for us.
It's much better now.

"bom, bom, bom. bom, bom, f, e flat, d, c, b flat."

little mr j can swim now. He still kind of scares me, but I think if he fell in, he most likely would be able to get himself out.

He starts preschool in three days, or if you count hours-it's less than 72.

I did not get a sunburn this summer. My daughters did.
They also found some great deals at a consignment shop.

~Insert real tuba noises here~bom, bom, bom, bom, bom

"Put this back in the case and go ask your mother if we are going to have dinner now. Close the lid and shut it up. Bom, bom, bom, bom, bom."

Guess I'm on.
Bye.

It is August. We are Melting.

one of my miss girls took this one

When we moved to San Antonio, TX from the northwest & summer hit, I thought I was going to die.
I didn't, though and am very happy about that.

So when we moved from there to here, we were excited about living in four seasons again.  Except there are way more than four seasons here & sometimes they all come in one week. (I will not address this further, but will leave it at: living here is a weather adventure.)

Take humidity. I grew to love the Texas humidity (and I know that we probably never had it as bad as other places in Texas-thank goodness). When I walked outside, I got a free facial - even though it was hot.

Then we moved to Oklahoma, which is less humid, but definately not dry.
And my wrinkles appeared. Oh man! We better never move anywhere dryer-who knows what will happen to my skin then.

Anyway, last Thursday morning, the boys and I stepped outside and it wasn't steamy humidity.  It was full on french fry oil air.  So weird (we don't live near any restaurants).  I was very grateful that it blew out in a couple of hours. That oil would not do wonders on this face.

Heat index-did you know that the humidity makes it hotter. And when the wind blows and the temperature is hot and there's humidity. Think full body blow dryer.

Again anyway, I've been told that this crazy weather year (ie: ice storms followed by snow, hail storms, not many tornadoes, early summer continuous rain, flooding, crazy hot) is just a little unusual. I'm not sure if I should believe them.

Today I saw a weathercaster say (regarding later in the week), "This is the forcast for the rest of the week but, you know, it's Oklahoma" and shrug his shoulders. Made my day.

In honor of the heat, here are some reminders of what happened last winter.

(you get brownie points if you find something unusual in this picture)

one of my miss girls took this one, too

and my feet are really not this big

I borrowed someone's boots

I need to get boots this winter

maybe then it won't snow

Knowledge gained: it is really hard to clear snow when you have to deal with the inches thick layer of ice underneath, if you wait, things will change, & if the ice isn't cleared off the driveway, it is impossible to get in and out. We deal with what we're dealt.
And-when it's hot, we melt.

I don't complain about the weather.  I just describe it well.

And if it snows tomorrow, you are invited over to help dig out.

Love this.

It's 8/9/10  11:12.

We also get thrilled whenever it's 1:23.