Flying away

Today Todd is flying to Ohio for the weekend. That's pretty cool. And weird -- weird because I'm strangely calm about it. Weird because he'll be flying 1000 miles away on his own. We leave for the airport in an hour. He is so excited to see Chelsey, to go to prom with her, and to see his Ohio friends and family (the Ladle's) again. He has been counting down the days. And now, here it is. Today. In an hour.

What an awesome day

Picture this... beautiful, sunny, warm, slightly humid day in early May, kids laughing, great friends hanging out, eating good (albeit slightly burned) BBQ... that was my day today and it was fabulous!

I got this email today and liked it...


Pick Your Own Personal Reason

When your friends can't explain why they voted for Democratic national politicians, give them this list. They can then pick a reason .

10. I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.

9. I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

8. I voted Democrat because Freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

7. I voted Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.

6. I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.

5. I voted Democrat because I'm not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies through abortion so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

4. I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits.

3. I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the democrats see fit.

2. I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.

1. I voted Democrat because my head is so firmly planted up my ass that it is unlikely that I'll ever have another point of view.


I'll keep my Freedom, my God and my Guns...
You keep the Change...

'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'

Get Out and vote November 2nd 2010.

Checking in...

Hi, I'm just checking in to say hi, to let you know we are still here in lovely Texas, alive and well, and to apologize for not posting more often. I'll write a real update soon, but am just too busy with kids, work, and school to do much more than just "check in"...

Man, life happens!

"Where does the time go?", "It seems like only yesterday...", "I remember when...", "there aren't enough hours in a day"... I used to roll my eyes and laugh when I heard these phrases, particularly if they were uttered by my "old" mom. (sorry mom, you weren't REALLY old -- I was just really young).

Now I AM my mom, I think, as I hurridly rush around trying to fit in as much as possible in a day only to fall into bed, lay awake for hours wishing my overactive mind would turn off so my exhausted body could sleep only to rise again a few hours later to start it all over again. Compound the overactive mind with a jacked up sleep schedule as I work night shift and have to readjust from nights to days every couple of days. A perfect recipe for insomnia if ever there was one.

And now I've decided to add college back into the mix of "things to do" because I'm not getting any younger and I have plans. First my BSN, then my Masters... then onto becoming a Licensed Nurse Practitioner. There's no time like the present. Might just as well get started, right? I got my acceptance at UT of Arlington today and have registered for my first class: English Composition II: Critical thinking.

I'll let you know how it all turns out. In the meantime, I have a daughter to tuck in, a house to clean, laundry to wash, and dishes to do. And then I'm going to go lay in bed and fall asleep just before the sun comes up.

Hello from Texas

Talk about a whirlwind of craziness the past couple of months!

Our move went smoothly -- we had the best moving team EVER and had virtually no damage to our belongings which is a first. Another first was that we had the same team pack us up, load the truck then come and deliver / unload us. It was good.

So, we got to Texas, lived in a hotel for a week because we had some house stuff to do. Once we closed on the house, we ripped out floors in the entry, office, den, dining room and hallway and installed hardwoods... turned out nice. Glad it's done. That was the first project.

The second project was to get the ugly paint colors taken care of. The dining room was a lovely shade of blue, somewhere between royal blue and navy... U-G-L-Y!!! I knocked that out fairly quickly and it's now a subtle shade of silver grey with just the slightest hint of blue. That was the second project.

Marcia and Charlie moved in with us the day after we got into the house and stayed with us till they found a place in South Houston. The house seems too quiet and a bit empty since they've been gone. And we still don't see them enough despite being in the same city.

Project number three was Ken's office. I painted it, hated it, painted it a different color and still hated it. Scott installed custom wainscotting and we painted it white and the wall color I initially hated was much, much better... turned out it just needed to be broken up a little... too much of a good thing and all that.

Puttying walls, replacing light fixtures, changing out doorknobs, cabinet hardware... also little projects we've done along the way.

Project number four was replacing a rotted out back door and door frame. Scott again took this on and I've caulked the door... just need to paint it a couple of times, then apply a bit of silicone caulk and it'll be done.

Madi's room, project number five... painted two shades of lime green with multi-colored stripes. It turned out so cute, but the stripes took longer to do than the entire rest of the painting. We also installed a floor to ceiling mirror in her closet. It's great!

I'm gathering up momentum to get started in Todd's room. It's currently too much of a mess to venture into so once Todd gets it cleaned up (aka decontaminated) I'll start painting. Take a guess as to his color choice... yup, Longhorn orange. Awesome!

I started working at the beginning of December and work full time nights. Kendon is adjusting to work life with a new company and the jury is out on that one for now.
Add to all these projects and life changes a major holiday -- Christmas and New Year's Celebrations, which were great, by the way, and you can imagine life at the Richards.

Lots of stuff done, lots still left to do. But we're making this place our home and it is so great to be back in Texas. I'll have to post some pics in the near future. Until then, hope all is well. We're doing great!