This is what I saw tonite looking out my dining room window as the sun was setting. My son came in and asked for my camera, he took the picture.

We had just finished mowing the lawn and weed eating.

All that after a very busy day for me, him too, I'm guessing, since he works at my Dad's Heat & Air business and they are really busy this time of year. In fact Dad just called and told me to tell the boy that they are all going to have to work a few hours tomorrow. They hardly ever work on Saturdays. We mowed tonite because there is a "chance" for rain tomorrow and Sunday. I told the boy when he got home that we were not taking any chances, the lawn was getting mowed tonite. Well anyways, it's done and I don't have to worry about it at least 'til next week, haha!!!!

Ritzy called earlier in the day and he has arrived at Camp Bucca.....he was glad to be back....I am so thankful that we can talk every day. I love hearing his voice.............

Tomorrow is my Dad's 71st birthday. I called my Mom, brother and sisters and we are all going to just show up Mom & Dad's at 6:00 tomorrow nite for a "surprise" birthday cookout and party for Dad. I bought all the fixin's today, my sister is making the cake and the other sister and brother are bringing chips or pop. You see Dad knows about the "suprise" anniversary party in a couple of weeks, but he knows nothing about his own birthday party tomorrow. We are just going to have hamburgers and hot dogs, chips, pop, tea, birthday cake and ice cream...........sounds like fun ;-)

We like to eat and have fun together.........can you tell???????

I guess after all that running around today, I can take it easy tomorrow.....it's about time!!!!

Both kids have to work, so it will be a quiet Saturday at my house...........which I am very much looking forward to.......although I do have to close out the books for our church since it is the last day of the month. I do the monthly report, and that in itself is an all day "job" sometimes. It shouldn't take over a couple of hours this time though. I have heard that before ;-)

I am ready to call it a day........later..............................

We had a good weekend, worked hard, visited, & ate good food. It must have wore me out though because it seems like all I did yesterday was rest and sleep. It sure felt good to do "nothing" for a change. I guess Ritzy is waiting on a flight back to Iraq. He is doing well also. Can't wait for this deployment to be over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All I did at home today was the housekeeping..... Went to church tonight, then went down to my sisters to visit with her grandchildren. They are so funny to be around. A nephew called around 9 pm and asked if I wanted some fish (crappie), I told him not tonight so I asked my sister if they wanted them and they did. They were some nice fish. I told my sister that she better let me know when she cooks them ;-)

Crappie are my favorite fish to eat. It seems that they are biting good now, I may just have to go tomorrow. I love to fish......The crappie are usually through biting by this time of year and the catfish have started , but the crazy weather has thrown everything off. The crappie still had their eggs, so they will be biting for a little while. (Must have been why I saw people come and go like crazy at the bait/convenience store across the road all day........)

The place where I have always fished has been under water for most of the spring, I will have to check it out and see if I can go down there.

Last summer I bought 2 new fishing poles to go with 2 "new" reels that my brother found me, I guess it is time to "break " them in. These reels are actually 25 years old but have never been used. They were still in their original boxes....... One is a Mitchell 301 (for lefties, which I am) and the other an Ambassaduer 5000. I love fishing with these reels. When I was 17 my Dad bought me a Mitchell 301 and about 10 years ago that rod & reel, along with a couple of others and my tackle box were stolen. I was heartbroken. I had always had that fishing pole and tackle box. If you are a fisherman, there are things that mean a lot to you that you have accumulated thru the years and keep in your tackle box. I had to start over and now I have replaced all the tackle. It really meant a lot when my brother found this "new" reel and gave it to me. I could not believe he had come across one still in it's original box and never been used. Hopefully I will be able to use it this year......

Today after going to church and eating lunch at Mom & Dad's, I stayed up there all day to help them get ready for the family cookout tomorrow. We did not have church tonite because it was getting to where hardly anyone would show up on the Sunday nite before a holiday, so we usually dismiss services. I stayed because my parent's yard needed cleaned up. You see, my Dad is always bringing " farm stuff" home and putting it wherever he wants instead of putting it out in the pasture. Well we took on the task of removing it from the yard which turned out to be an all day thing. Mom always wants her yard to look nice, (and I don't blame her) for company. After gathering up all Dad's "stuff" and moving it to somewhere less noticeable, we started mowing. I grabbed the weed eater and started that while they mowed. I think it was about 8 pm when we finished. I was really tired. Got me a little sun too......
I sure am glad Ritzy is the way he is about being so "picky" about our yard. I have to watch him though, cause if it ain't anchored down - it goes in the dumpster. I have often thought that I don't even want to remember or know what he has thrown away these last 25 years ;-)
Mom & Dad always put on a good cookout on the holidays. They cook enough to feed an army.......no kidding.......Barbecue ribs, brisket, chicken, polish sausage, hamburgers, hot dogs and all the works. No one goes hungry at these gatherings, if you do - it's your own fault.......
We also play horseshoes, croquet, and other games and the kids jump on the trampoline.
I sure am going to miss Ritzy tomorrow. While everyone else is there with their spouse and having a great time, I will be wishing mine could be there with me...........and be sad because he isn't ............

After a pretty easy day, the 6-year old nephew and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. As expected the movie was great......Afterwards the nephew played games until I got tired of feeding those machines my quarters........We then went to Cracker Barrel where we did some "shopping" first. He talked me into a couple of things, (he didn't have to talk very hard, haha!!) I also got his little sister something. I know better than to show up without anything for her. After shopping we both had shrimp for supper, mmmmmmm!!!!!!! I dropped him off at his Nana's (my sister's). I have taken my bath. I have also studied my Sunday School lesson so I will be ready to teach my Ladies' class tomorrow. It was a good day all around. I talked to Ritzy earlier, he seems to be doing ok from that surgery. I think he will be leaving Kuwait next week to head back to Iraq. He doesn't sound to thrilled to be going back, but he is ready to get back to work. I still miss him and I will til he gets back home..............................The daughter and a friend took her friend's 2 nephews to the Tulsa Zoo today, and the son and one of his cousins went to OK City to the new fancy theatre to see Indiana Jones and spend the night with some more cousins. I noticed also that he took his golf clubs, so who knows when he will be back home. I just hope they are careful and have a good time.........
During the movie previews I saw another fun movie to take that nephew to so we might be headed back there in a couple of weeks. We were talking about it on the way home....... It looks like it is time for the thought's to take a rest for today...........don't want to oversleep in the morning.........

The late spring/early summer is the most beautiful time of the year here in this part of the state. All the flowers are coming out, the lawns are starting to look really good, and everything is green. But, if you are one of the unlucky ones to suffer from hay fever and allergies this can be the worst time of year. Everyone is starting to cut the fields to get their hay in for the season, and that stirs up who knows what!!!! This is a poppy in my flower garden. They come up every year volunteer. Those (volunteer) are the kind of flowers I like!!

I had just filled my plate for supper, sat it down on the table and my cell phone rang. It was my Dad, it seems his tractor had just about run out of diesel while he was in the field getting it ready to plant tomorrow. Mom couldn't help because she was busy babysitting, so I put down my plate, went to his house which is a little over a mile away got the diesel and took it to him. He was only about 3 miles away. Said he had about another hours work to do. Came back home and ate my "warm" food.... I'm almost 50 and when Dad calls I still obey!!!! haha!!!! Only because he raised me and my sisters and brother right, also because I love my parents, and I think that is the way it should be. This guy is 70 years old, supposed to be "retired", but still goes to the job every day (he and his brother own the business). He also has 80 acres, 40 head of cattle and does the hay on the "side". I don't know if he will ever slow down. When he started messing with the cattle he said he was only going to have about 7 of them, yeah right!!!! He was raised on a farm and was driving a tractor at the age of 7. I guess when you have it in your "blood" it never goes away. I often wonder,"What is the deal with men thinking they have to have land????" Ritzy works with ranchers and farmers in his civilian job and he mentioned one time that he would like to have some land , I just looked at him and said "I don't think so......" ;-) I sure hope he gets that out of his system before he retires in the next few years.......It's hard enough to keep up with this little acre and 1/2 that we have now........

The son mowed the lawn tonite, so that means I got to weed eat and blow the grass off the sidewalk, from around flag, and windmill bases. As I was watching him mow, I was thinking about how much Ritzy would like to be doing that. He's crazy, he loves to mow and take care of the outside work. I am really lucky to have someone who takes such pride in his work, and always does a great job........The son and I are trying to make it look good with hubby gone........I think we are doin ok, but I can't wait to see Ritzy on that lawnmower again..................

I was debating on whether to comment on this or not, but I am going to anyways. I was sitting at our patio tonite and looked about 20 feet up into the maple tree and saw something, I could not figure out what it was so I went over to the tree and I could not believe what I saw...It was a poor little bird "hanging" from a branch. It seems there was a nest just an inch or so above the bird and I guess the bird got whatever it was using to build it's nest wrapped around itself. I took pictures, because I will probably never see anything like that again. At least I hope not! I decided that I had better not put the pictures on here, someone might not appreciate it.......

I am really looking forward to tomorrow. That little nephew and I are going to see Indiana Jones, then go eat at the Cracker Barrel. I am just going to take it easy the rest of this holiday weekend, (hopefully). Anyway, we'll see how it goes.....

I started out the day tired and that is how i am ending it......I knew better, but i stayed up til 3 am this morning talking to a friend. I only got a few hours sleep before getting up this morning. I am getting to old for that........I didn't do much of anything today. watched the news on tv, heard about the huge tornado in Colorado and the price of oil. The price of a gallon of gas is crazy.....and because of that i don't do anymore running than necessary. Went to watch that 6 year old nephew play ball tonite. his team sure is good. they won their game. he wanted to come home with me till dark, so i said ok. he tormented my son, ha ha!!! took him home and played with him and his little 2 1/2 year old sister at my sister's house. they are a lot of fun....i think we all wore one another out.....ritzy called and talked for a few minutes today, i was busy trying to copy and scan pictures of my mom & dad and our family, because me, my sisters and brother are giving them a surprise party for their 50th anniversary. i found out mom was going to be gone from the house for a while today so me and a niece went up there, found old pictures, brought them here, scanned, and copied them and took them back before mom got back. while i was doing all this, hubby called. i hate being busy when he calls, but i could not help it. this party is the second Saturday in June, so we were running out of time to get this "little" job done. thank goodness an opportunity came for us to "sneak" those pictures!!!! i sure hope we can pull off the surprise part of this party. Dad knows, so we are really trying to surprise mom. their anniversary is actually June 6th but my brother is on vacation at that time so we are doing it the next Saturday. i was tyring to think of a way to do something for mom and surprise her too, so i asked if her and dad had any plans , she said no so i said, since my brother is going to be gone that weekend,we who are here could meet together somewhere nice for a meal and have cake afterward. she said that sounded like a good idea. we are trying to throw her off and make her think this is all she is getting for such a special occasion. like i said i sure hope it works. i hate it that Ritzy has to miss it, but what do you do????? he is going to miss our 25th anniversary.......
i saw someone who works in an office that ritzy talks to quite a bit at the game tonite and they reminded me that they think of ritzy and me everyday and pray for us. you have no idea how good it felt just to hear those words, and how much i appreciated hearing that......you never know what a kind word will mean in some one's life, so don't ever hesitate to say one to those you know...................i don't know if i am looking forward to this memorial day or not, with ritzy being gone, i sure am gonna miss him........................

Today sure started out better than yesterday, no broken candles, no wrong parts, not as much running around........It was busy enough though.. Mom & I made another trip to Tulsa to visit our pastor, I really should say former pastor because he has just retired at the age of 76. He was recuperating very well after his surgery. He gets to go home tomorrow because he is doing so well. That was good to see. We were finally able to eat that lunch at Cracker Barrel today and I was able to use the gift card that the son got me for Mother's Day. I sure had fun trying to decide what to get ;-) The daughter put in her request of a chicken dorito casserole for supper so after stopping and getting the ingredients for that we headed home. Got home just in time to make it for supper. I had forgotten how easy it was to make and how good it tastes. yummmmmm!!!!! I ate my supper outside, it was so peaceful, I loved it. My neice was here and we got to visit a while. I talked to Ritzy at noon and of course I was at the Cracker Barrel when he called and this was the second day in a row I was somewhere running around when he called. He asked if that was all I did now, and I told him it just happens sometimes ;-) His follow-up appointment was today and he said that everything was healing the way it is supposed to. He has another appointment next Tuesday . I guess it will be decided then about when he will return to Iraq. He better enjoy this "time off" while he can. Although, it's kind of hard to enjoy the time your are off when you are recovering from surgery........ I know....I have gone thru 2 surgeries in my lifetime and it sure isn't fun.... Yea!!!! the only thing I have to do tomorrow is go to mid-week church tomorrow nite..............I keep looking at the weather for the weekend, trying to see if it is going to rain on Memorial Day....I should know by now that it usually does, but maybe we will get lucky this year and it will stay dry......I reckon this is enough "thinking" for one day.. don't want to overwork that poor little brain, you know ;-)

Most of us lead such a busy life that we just need to slow down and rest sometimes. That is exactly what I tried to do today. After attending church, I went to Mom & Dad's to eat lunch with my family. The menu today was barbecue chicken wings, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, biscuits, salad, and for dessert - turtle brownies. Great job Mom & Dad!!!! I am so thankful that at least part of our family is able to get together every Sunday for a meal and enjoy visiting each other. We have a great time. After eating a meal like that, all a person wants to do is rest.........but not for me........ That 7 year old great-nephew came home with me which meant no nap for you know who today......thats's ok though, he's fun to have around. I like to kid him a lot. Ritzy called while I was outside enjoying the sunshine. He is still sore, but doing ok. I think he is ready for this to heal so he can get back to his old self. I sure miss him!!!!!!

Our pastor is having a shoulder joint replaced in the morning at 9am. My Mom, Sister and I are going to the hospital. That means leaving the house at 7:30am!!!!! Me and the two kids are all going to be getting ready at the same time in the morning. Although we have 2 bathrooms, everyone likes to use the same room to get ready in. This ought to be interesting.....I just know from the way I am feeling right now it sure is going to be hard to get up in the morning......which means I had better go get some rest right now..................

Well, I spent this day waiting to hear from Ritzy or someone telling me how his surgery went. Being thousands of miles away I was almost certain, (wait is that an oxy-moron, oh well) that someone would call. I guess the Army doesn't care that the family members back home might be a little concerned about their loved ones.... guess not, cause I have heard nothing................................I am still waiting..and it is no fun.......Yesterday our call got cut off and that was the last I heard from him. Not much else happend today. Had a few family members and my Pastor call to find out about hubby, but I had nothing to report....thank you very much!
To some I might need an "attitude adjustment", but I am so ready for this deployment to be over!!!!!
Changing gears - it looks like it could rain anytime, right now I really don't care if it does or doesn't. My yard is just getting dry enough to mow so it will probably get wet again.
And now for some good news, actually wonderful news, our daughters friend, who just finished chemotherapy last month found out today that his cancer is GONE!!!!! I am so happy for him and so thankful to God for answered prayer.
As for hubby, I am gonna keep waiting for that call.............

Well I guess today started out "ok" enough. Got up, had breakfast, coffee..... finished all the housework, laundry.... I was waiting on Ritzy's call. Since he is in a different place the phone calls are a little different. Well, he called and we were talking about his upcoming surgery, if someone would call me afterwards, the next time he might get to call, etc.....and before we could finish our conversation the phone cut us off. We were on one of those DSN government lines. I thought oh well he will call back, but he never did. So here I was - not being able to tell him goodbye, I Love You.........let's just say the rest of the day was - for lack of a better word "crappy"!!!!!! I don't know when I will hear from him again. The surgery is supposed to be between 10 pm and midnight (Oklahoma Time) tonite......I sure don't like the fact that I cannot be there for him.......it sure didn't make it any easier when he said that he wished I could be there with him..........I guess I had better get over it , huh???? I just pray that all goes well and someone will contact me. Might be hard to get to sleep tonite,,, I have had a hard time getting to sleep anyways these last 15 years or so, and especially since last year when I first learned there was a possiblilty that Ritzy could be called up to serve in Iraq. I told him 4-5 years ago that I would not get a good night's sleep until he was totally out of the National Guard. Well, come March 2009 he is out for good!!! ( only 4 1/2 months after this deployment ends) I can hardly wait! For now though I guess I will just be waiting on that call........

I hope this was a good Mother's Day for everyone. Mine was really good although it sure would have been better with Ritzy around. Like I have said before-----I sure do miss him!!!!! My kids gave me really nice gifts. You know they can suprise you once in a while........We had a good service at church today honoring the mothers.......Ritzy called me around noon from Kuwait, you see he is there for surgery. I sure don't like the fact that I can't be there for and with him, but he will be well taken care of I'm quite sure....He goes for appointment tomorow and surgery soon to follow. I guess he will be there about three weeks total.........All Iknow is someone had better call me and let me know how he is, or I will not be very happy.......
Usually I have bought my own mother her gift way before Mother's Day but this year my sister and I waited until after lunch today to go buy mom's gift. Yesterday storms were breaking out and I wasn't about to be out to get caught in a bad storm. Also, since Ritzy's deployment I have had a hard time getting interested in anything.....may not be the right attitude but it's the one I have.......I'm trying to get better about it though.....I will e-mail Ritzy here in a little while to catch him up on the daily news from home, cause if I don't I have usually forgotten what I want to say when he calls the next day ;-) I will also ask if he remembered to call his own mother ;-) Ritzy will be missed as we start celebrating all the spring , summer and fall holidays.............I am sure that I as well as the other spouses are counting down the months, weeks, and days til thier loved one returns home...................I see Mother's Day as another "holiday" down and a few more to go ....which is probably how I will view each "holiday" that comes up til he returns home........

Tomrrow is Mother's Day. My daughter came in the dining room carrying these. I really like them. I just had to take a picture. My neice always makes me, her mom and granny our corsages. I recieved mine tonite. It sure is pretty. Can't wait to wear it to church tomorrow. It seems that while I was napping this afternoon there was severe weather to the east. One town , Picher in NE Oklahoma was destroyed. that's too bad. There were people who lost their lives also. I always hate hearing that. God be with their families. We just missed the bad weather since it formed to our east. I can't believe I slept thru it all. The wind is blowing pretty good outside right now. This weather here in Oklahoma sure has been strange these past few years. About the weather----I usually go fishing about 1 mile west in a little creek. The crappie come in there to lay their eggs. Of course I bought my fishing license and now I can't go because the Oologah Lake has been up way too high because of all the rain we have recieved this spring. It had just started down and here comes more rain.......This year the weather did not warm up long enough for the water to get the right temperature for the fish to come in and spawn anyways. It kept getting warm for a few days and then really cool off.... I have a nephew who brings some catfish by once in a while for me. I don't mind cleaning them....I told him to tell his Dad (my brother) I sure could use some crappie. They go fishing in their boat a lot.... When I was growing up my Dad said he would only take us fishing if we baited our own hook, got the fish off the hook and helped clean them.......so I am ususally the one in our home who does the fishing, cleans and cooks them. Ritzy has it made ;-) That's ok though because I love to go fishing and I love to eat 'em........It's about time for the catfish to start biting along the road that crosses the lake. I don't know how the lake being up so high is going to affect the catfishing this year. Last year because of all the rain, this lake got to within a couple hundred yards from our house. The elevation of the lake was a little over 661 which is above the flood pool and our house is at 668 feet . I believe that is the highest I have ever seen it and I have lived here for a long time. If the rain doesn't stop it is well on it's way again. How I got from flowers to fishing who knows,,,,,,,, but those are my thoughts for this day anyways........

As I sit here in the dining room and watch the sun set, which is a beautiful one by the way, I think about how the day has gone. Ritzy called this morning,, it's funny , when he calls he is getting ready to shower and go to bed and my day is only starting real good, usually only on my second cup of coffee ;-) I don't know how to explain this feeling I have knowing that he and I aren't even on the same "shift".......sometimes it just bothers me more than usual....don't know why - just does........ makes me feel even more alone......granted a majority of the time things are "ok", but there are still days like today when things are just blah. there are things we want to talk about when he calls but our time is limited so we just cover the most important, one subject being -- "I Love You & Miss You!!!" and "Are you taking care of yourself??"
I going to turn in early tonite, we had severe storms roll thru here between 2 and 3 am this morning, I stayed up to watch. Had a tornado warning for our part of county.... maybe I am just tired and it is catching up with me. The kids are getting ready to go out for the night and I am thinking--- here goes another Friday nite alone. Don't get me wrong, there are times I treasure being alone,,,, but not all the time..... ;-)
I sure will be glad when Ritzy gets back.......He is going to have to have surgery while on this deployment (sometime next week) I guess I probably feel sad because I can't be there for him,,,,,,,all I know is they better take darned good care of him!!! Well the sun is just about gone and it's time to end this day and look forward to what tommorrow might bring.......

Not much going on here today....It's about time! I picked up my great-nephew from school. He came home with me and stayed till about 7. I took him to his nana's and stayed there for about
1 1/2 hours. Hubby called earlier in the day and we talked for our allotted 30 minutes, it seems he was finally able to move out of a tent that sleeps about 40 - to a room that only he and one other person share. He was kind of excited to be in his own "space" during the rest of this deployment....I have said it before and I will keep saying it until he returns home----I sure do miss him!!!!! He is more than halfway thru this deployment, (less than 5 months to go) and the end of it can't come soon enough for me. I can't wait until the army no longer has it's hold on him and we can have the rest of our time to ourselves. He is retiring after this deployment, and after 21 years of service - I say I am "ready" for this.....Don't get me wrong-----I have always supported his service to our country and am very proud of him. But like I said I am ready to have him to myself.......I just keep thinking about what it is going to be like when he returns home after being gone for 12 months. We are going to have to get "used" to each other again ..... After being married for 25 years that sounds kind of strange doesn't it......

I was wondering what my thoughts for the day would be about because it was a pretty uneventful day. Cloudy and rainy for the most part. I had been checking the radar off and on all day to keep up with the movement of the rain. As I was getting ready to leave for church I saw that we could get "some" rain before I returned home. Well church was over and someone said there was a bad storm on the way so people left in a hurry, but not me.....I just had to stay and talk to some friends and then we heard it......Rain was falling hard and fast. We thought it would stop in a few minutes but no.......after 45 minutes I decided to go ahead and "tough it" and leave. Oh my Gosh!!! I had to walk about 20 ft. in the rain to my truck at the church and about another 25 ft in it once I arrived home. You have heard the term "drowned rat"......let's just say I now know what one feels and looks like. I had to walk in about 6 inches of water all the way to my back door. I listened to the TV and our area had received between 4-5 inches in less than 1 hour. WOW!!!! I have never seen that much rain in so little time. Would be OK with me to not ever see it fall like that again. Tomorrow, I am going to have to check those tomato and pepper plants I planted this last week and make sure they are still in the ground and not washed away. I heard the weather man say that here the next week things are supposed to return to "normal"..... After going thru 2 years of drought and then the last 2 years have been very wet, I am not sure what "normal" is anymore here in Oklahoma......... ;-)

Military Spouse Day. (Friday, May 9, 2008) A time to recognize the sacrifice of Military Spouses and their families. I had forgotten about it til I was reading some online news. All of a sudden I felt a great sense of pride and sadness at the same time. Pride because of Ritzy and the hard work and time and dedication he has given the Military in his 20+ years of service. Sadness because of our being apart right now and also of all the time that the military has separated us in our soon-to-be 25 years of marriage.......... I know he is in the National Guard and not Active Army, but when you add up all those "drill weekends" and 2 or 3 week Annual Trainings, the one month deployments and the 12 month deployments that he has served over a 20 year period of time, it adds up..............If you know anyone who is a Military Spouse let them know you are there for them, and do something as small as taking them out for a meal. You won't believe how much they will appreciate it. That could be the only adult conversation they may have that day. Sometimes the only person a "spouse" may talk to during the day is the loved one that is gone and they are lucky if they get to talk 2-3 times a week and the talk time is limited. They will appreciate the fellowship and it will mean more than you can know.......... I am so thankful for the ones who serve in the military, it is not easy and a lot of sacrifices are made, so to these military and their families I would like to say "THANK YOU"!!

I think I finally got caught up with the running around, yard work, dinner dates, etc....today. I had a wonderful time with the ladies from Ritzy's civilian job today as we met for lunch. We decided we need to do it more often. I planted a few more flowers and also 1 bell pepper plant. I finished burning the rest of the brush and I decided to put hummingbird feeders in the yard. I wasn't going to feed the hummers, but as I was sitting at my patio table the other evening a hummer came by the artificial flowers I had "planted". Made me feel bad and guilty that I didn't have anything for him to eat. I quit trying to feed them because I hate dealing with the ants that always find their way to the feeders. I put some poison at the base of the hook they are hung on and I learned today that duct tape (sticky side out) wrapped aroung base works. I am certainly going to try that. Who knew of all the uses for duct tape???? ;-) I guess I can now sit in my chair and rest until something else comes along....which it usually does. I just wish I could go relax in my recliner but since Ritzy has been gone I don't even like to go into the living room to watch tv. That is just something we always did together. You know I haven't even put up the clothes he wore when he was home for 10 days in December. They are still folded in the wash room. Just can't bring myself to do it. I guess I like seeing them when I walk into the utility room, they remind me of him, and how much I love and miss him.......I usually spend my free time at the laptop which is on the dining table. The kids and I don't eat at the table so I might as well use it for something.....I think it is supposed to rain for the next 2-3 days, it figures, here in Oklahoma don't get used to the weather cause it's going to be changing pretty soon.........(except in August where it just stays hot!!!) Who knows what tomorrow will bring.........

I know today is Sunday the day of rest, but here the last week I believe I have forgotten what "rest" is. I started out going to Sunday School & Church. Our church is a small church with only about 50 or so attending. We always go to my parent's house to eat on Sundays. My Dad usually does the cooking which is so odd because when I was growing up my Dad never did anything in the kitchen. The only problem now is he still doesn't know how to clean up his mess ;-) We had Brisket today, it was really good... My Great-nephew came home with me afterward and was supposed to help me burn 2 huge brushpiles from the December ice storm, but he and the son got to playing X-Box games and that's the last I saw of him for the afternoon ;-) I should have "rested" but today was the first day in a long time that the wind was hardly blowing so I saw a chance to burn and I did. Started about 1:30 and finished about 4:00, just in time to go get ready for church tonite which starts at 5:00. You know....yesterday and today were the first time I have actually cared about what the outside looked like since Ritzy left. I went thru the first few months just getting by. You might say I should have expected him to be gone and just gotten over it, but during our almost 25 years of being together, this is the first time we have ever spent a long period of time apart. When he was on deployment in 2003-2004 it was in Arkansas and either he would come home for 3 days every 15 days or I would go there. It would alternate and that was bad enough. When you love and care for someone and each of you have been used to doing everything together it's hard being apart, no matter what. I still think about him while I am out working in the yard because I know he would love to be out there too. I have gotten my first sunburn of the season....I just can't believe how nice the weather was this weekend, I hope there are a lot more of them...Tomorrow I still have some running around to do and I believe the remainder of the week is free, yea!! I guess I will be able to "rest" later......maybe

I thought today was going to be a little slower,,,,not!!!!! After staying up til 2am this morning talking to the daughter and watching the severe weather my head finally hit the pillow. Got a few hours sleep,,, and right away this morning my cell phone started ringing. You see me my 2 sisters and our mom were going out to eat today and everyone was calling everyone to see what the plan was. I said I didn't know this wasn't my idea ;-) Anyways by the time I had fixed hair, put face and clothes on it was about 10am. I had made a pot of coffee which i was looking forward to drinking and had my oatmeal ready to eat, my youngest sister calls and says she wants to meet at 11, (in a town 28 miles away) I told her I was just getting ready to eat breakfast and she said, "Well, don't eat ;-)" I did not see the humor in that because I look forward to my oatmeal and coffee every morning ;-) We all meet up at Chili's to eat and while we are eating, Ritzy calls from Iraq and while everyone else is talking, i spend the next 30 minutes with a finger in one ear and the phone to my other ear, (no i don't talk on the phone like that, it was noisy in there,,, haha)!!! I missed out on all the "gossip" going on at our table, that's ok though ,cause Ritzy is always going to take first place!!! After eating, Mom and 2 of us go to Tulsa to do a little shopping, i know you are thinking ---how do 3 women do a "little" shopping. Well we knew what we were after and it didn't take long. Returned home about 2:30... I still had to go grocery shopping after returning home. When you live in a remote area you do a lot of running different places for different things. I got my grocery shopping done and was headed back home aroung 5pm. Now.... if anyone comes up with anything for me to do this weekend, I am liable to just go crawl in a hole!!!! :-) I am gettin' too old to run around like this (haha!) Come Monday I am supposed to meet a couple of ladies who work in Ritzy's civilian office and have lunch ( they have been very faithful in calling me and asking how i am doing while Ritzy is away, I appreciate that more than words can say) ,, if they ask for any input from me about where to have lunch i am just going to say "surprise me!" ...... Hopefully, I will be able to enjoy that coffee and oatmeal in the morning!!

This is one of those days that you are glad to see the sun set. My niece called first thing this morning and asked "Are you busy today?" (that's always a loaded question) i had things to do but they really could wait, so i asked her what she needed. She needed a pickup to go get a new riding mower at Home Depot about 40 miles away. So I took her, we got the mower and came home and unloaded it..thankfully there is a ditch with a deep embankment that i could back up to and roll the mower out. After dropping her and her mower off i needed to go to the post office about 8 miles away and get some stamps, send hubby some mail and send off bills. After leaving post office i was on my way to our bank which is only 28 miles from the town that the post office is in. By this time I was getting hungry and was planning to stop at the Sonic to grab a jr. burger and a large sweet tea.....got to town and the Sonic was "closed due to moving to another site on other side of town"....i thought--- well this day is really going good... went to the bank and stopped at a convenience store to grab a bar-be-que sandwich and an Icee. Had my heart set on that sweet tea though :-(
Left town and had one other stop to make before heading home. Had to pick up a birthday cake and ice cream for my mom. Today is her birtday and she doesn't know we are showing up at her & dad's later for cake. I am taking her (asked dad too, but said he did not feel like going, oh well-his loss) to Cracker Barrel in a couple of hours for supper. So my day is not over yet. This is one of those days when you can't wait for your head to hit the pillow ;-)...........I guess now i had better start fixing hair and putting make-up on.......don't want to scare people ya know......