Family

This weekend we had a little family reunion to commemorate my father and keep in touch with my brothers. Pop died a year ago this weekend.

Kevin and I rode the motorcycle to Arkansas to my neice Jessica's house. She is the oldest daughter of my older brother Chuck.

Work is nuts so right now I can't tell you all the fun we had but the bike broke down, and the kids stay up till midnight (she has 9 but we counted 10?) but over all it was a great time.

My nephew Jeramiah (Chucks youngest) is currently living in a tent on Jessicas' land. He and his wife Mandy are building a cabin.

Here are some pictures. I hope to post more later but right now I have to do some work.
Over the weekend I did decide that I am going to ask my boss to lay me off so I can collect unemployment. He won't be in until tomorrow.

Jessica and her youngest Samuel.

Mathew, Jessica's oldest, showing how his pet possum likes to hang from his tail.

He looks so much like my brother Chuck did at that age.

Jessica and her three girls.  Hannah, Rosetta and Lydia.

My brothers Bill and Chuck.

This is David.  He is three and the cutest kid EVER!

Jeremiah and his wife Mandy.

.......the back of my head.

My view on the motorcycle.



Typical.... he is fussing over the chrome.



Just for fun we took the long route home and got to ride on a ferry.

Happy Birthday Friss

Friss, Me, Ramon and Monster

Today I took the two older kids with me to visit Friss for his birthday.

 My eldest child is now 32!!  WOW

 

There are very few pictures with all of us together so this one is pretty special.

(Except I hate the white t-shirt Friss is required to wear.)

Note that Monster is a BIG guy!

 

We had a very good visit.  It was so nice to spend time with all three of them. 

I really hope someday Kevin and I can have big family get togethers with ALL our kids and grandkids and I will finally have the big family I always wanted.

 

Weekend Getaway was GOOD

POST TO COME

Weekend Recap - GOOD WEEKEND - Family Time!!

Last Thursday I was in a fairly good mood. Went to see George and that was nice…he almost always makes me feel positive and hopeful. Thursday evening I biked 20 miles in less than an hour. It was a group ride but Uwe and I ended up doing most of it with just us two. Averaging over 20 mph when you are NOT in a pack is hard work. After the bike I had a few beers (that I counted in my calorie count – GO ME) and enjoyed our little social gathering in the parking lot. I went home in a GREAT mood. I managed to stay in a positive loving mood all weekend too.

Saturday we finally accomplished a real family outing and it went very well. Husband was patient and affectionate with both me and Beanie all day. We toured a few local caves and had swim time at the river. Beanie said her favorite thing was seeing the bats in the cave. She was very inquisitive and well behaved all day.

The car ride home from the cave.

Sunday I biked with a group of awesome friends which totally hit the spot. After that I hustled up a friend with a truck to move a desk for Monster. He had a month to do it and did NOT …which totally hacked me off but it was a free desk and in good shape and I could not bear to see it go in the trash. I just left it in his driveway. Later he texted to thank me and say it is awesome and fits perfectly in his room. Glad I made the effort and had Kevin to help me out.

Sunday afternoon husband biked and I made a huge effort to get to the lake for a swim. I had to find a babysitter for Beanie, drop her off, drive 20 minutes to the lake. I only swam half a mile so I was done in about 25 minutes. I chatted up a few friends who also swam before driving back to town to pick up the kid and then home to shower. All in all it was too much darn time and effort for a swim that left me with goggle eyes for the next 5 hours. THIS IS WHY I DON’T SWIM OFTEN. Even if I had a pool handy it would dry my skin out badly and give me goggle eyes every time I swam. BUMMER because it is a good low impact cardio activity and I really would like to improve my swim times.

As soon as we got cleaned up Beanie and I headed to Valarie’s & Carrie’s house for social time. We had a great evening. The girls played, me and Valarie drank wine and chatted each other’s ears off. It was 9 before I knew it and we rushed home. I think Daddy enjoyed his alone time while we were gone. I hope the introvert recharged while I was busy getting a good social fix.

I WANTED to Go Home!

one for each Grandma.

It was raining outside so the evening bike ride was cancelled.  I had also planned to attend a multisport club meeting at 7:30 pm.  But at 5, as I was leaving the office, I was tired and I just felt like going home for the night.

On the way home it occurred to me that if Husband and Beanie both came home it would be nice….that I wanted them to be there with me.  This made me very happy.

You see, usually if I go home after work I secretly hope they don’t come home because I want to relax and there is no way to relax with either one of them around.  In the past, husband would be projecting his unpleasant mood around and the Bean would be, well, be acting her age and be loud, agitated, animated, demanding, moody and precocious.  Or Husband would arrive, dump the kid on me and head off to do his own thing and then my "free" night would turn into his free night and I would just feel taken advantage of.

I phoned hubby and asked if they had plans….he said not really and I said why don’t  you come home and all three of us can hang out and Beanie can finish her craft projects for Mother’s Day.  

So they did. 

And we had a very nice evening.  Beanie’s project turned out fantastic (see above) and Husband hung around while I supervised the crafting and we all chatted and had fun. 

Now this is something I could get used to.