Yes we have gone crazy

Well life sure gets crazy in a hurry!!!  But I bet you already knew that!  So what has been going on you may ask.....so here it is in a nutshell.  We moved into an RV.  Yes, all of us...and the pets.  All of them.  Is this permanent? Nope, but it is for a bit.  And while we are here are goal is to pay off some debt.  That part I am excited about.  I will post pictures later.  But for now.....

We are in a 32ft Keystone Hideout.  There is a master bedroom and three bunks.  Thankfully with the older kids schedule they play rotating bunks.  Occasionally if everyone is home, some one sleeps on the couch/bed in the living area.  The prairie dogs now have half a cage and the female is in with them.  I let them out during the day to play.  The cats are with us as well and the litter box goes in the shower.  The two dogs are also here and go out quite often. 

We are parked in a little rv park on the edge of town. Two sisters own it and are sweet as can be.  There is a small pasture outside so it is easy to take the dogs out for exercise so they can roam a bit.  Belle is enjoying all the Frisbee throwing we do for her. 

We have our swing, lawn furniture and wooden bench out front so we have a small area to sit and get away from each other! ;) 

We are pretty serious about knocking out some debt so we are using this time to do so.  We could have rented a house but we really didn't want to pay $2000 or more for a simple 3br. By living like this we save about $1600 a month.  Not bad savings. 

So I will once again be blogging but now it will be dedicated to living this crazy life and how we are coping......so stay tuned!!!!

A love story

Okay, so I haven't blogged in f.o.r.e.v.e.r.  Maybe I will do better?  Who knows.  But in light of July 5th being our five year anniv. I thought it would be nice to get our love story down on paper....well, not really paper.

Five years ago, I had a profile on an internet dating site.  So did some one else.  I was a working, single, mom.  I was not interested in having a guy as in having a relationship, but I was looking for someone to have fun with.  I had gone fifteen years not really having fun and by golly, I wanted to have fun. I wanted to go dancing, hang with friends, do all the things I felt like normal people did. So I was looking....for fun, not love or someone to be invading my space.

I normally would not give out my phone number unless asked.  We were sending messages back and forth and it was getting time for me to go to work, so on a whim (and a good gut feeling) I sent him a message with my number, at the exact same time he was having computer issues and had sent a message asking for my number.  I don't even remember any more if texted during the day, but I assume so.  Mr. Looks Good in Wranglers is currently snoozing or I would ask him if he remembers. 

On July 3rd (the day I gave him my number) we ended up talking on the phone for four hours straight....until he fell asleep while on the phone with me.  He was sweet, nice and a gentlemen.  Insert little heart thumps here....

I had to work on July 4th until 11:30pm.  As I walked out of the door of work, I called him.  We talked from then until 6am.  He drove around Bryan/College Station while chatting with me.  I sat outside watching the moonlight flitter across the lake I lived on. We chatted about everything....and then some.  Again, a total and perfect gentleman and I kept thinking wow O wow!!

On July 5th, I headed to work on about 2hrs of sleep (I had been up all night talking on the phone!!) He drove up to the big town of Marlin, where I worked, to meet me.  I was a nervous wreck.  He had sent several pictures and one of them was extremely unflattering and I was terrified he would look like that one picture.  But in the other pictures he was a cutie. 

He had texted to say he was where I worked, so I snuck a peek of him out the door before he saw me.  I can still see him in his blue and white striped shirt, denim shorts, baseball cap strolling across the parking lot.  I went over to one of my cashiers and gushed, "Oh my god he's actually cute."  I tried to act all nonchalant but I was turning flips on the inside.

We chatted for a bit and then I clocked out for lunch.  We walked out into the parking lot and I did the one thing I do. N.O.T. do........I reached up and planted one him.  Big ole kiss.  He wasn't arguing.... *swoon* I really don't do that...just plant a big ole kiss on some random guy.

We ended up going to a friend's house for a party after grabbing a bite to eat.  Again, another night of very little sleep. (Mr. Looks Good in Wranglers just got up and asked what I was blogging about.  I told him our love story....then I got the "what the hell?" stare down.)

The next day was Sunday and I worked and then we took the kids to the Falls on the Brazos to play in the water a bit.  We had a great time.  The boys were in love with his Dodge pick up truck that tires with flames as the tread print.  We all seemed to get a long.  He and I hung out that evening and he left out the next morning.

He was great.  A weekend guy.  He danced, he laughed, he was social.  And even better, he went away during the week so I was able to not really deal with relationship.  But some where along the way of having fun we fell in love.  What???

I cannot say our relationship has been easy.  There was one point where I actually broke up with him (on my birthday) because I had started dating another guy.  The problem was, Mr Looks Good in Wranglers was my best friend and I didn't want to loose that.  Eventually, I dumped the nice guy and committed to Mr. Looks Good...

We moved in together and went through plenty of bumps with blending families, life and crazy work schedules.  I must say, I am truly blessed.  Doors are still held open for me, I get groped on aisle three of the store (and aisle four, five and six...you get the picture) I get the hand in the small of my box as we walk through a door.  He holds his hand out for me, as I hurry my short legs along to catch up so we can hold hands.  He still makes me laugh.  I get dances in the kitchen, or the living room or wherever. He works amazingly long hours to give me all the things he thinks I missed out on.  We still have fun.  Lots of fun.

And I am looking forward to plenty of years of more fun.

Parenting 101

I feel like I may be at this point I can honestly offer some parenting advice. Gone are the days of chasing toddlers and wiping noses. I still have days of watch your mouth and is your homework done, but for the most part my days are filled with conversation and laughter. A lot of laughter. We are a pretty funny bunch. So as I think back over the years, here are a few of my helpful hints.

1) Boys and girls are different. My daughter loved on babies, dressed them, hugged them and named them. My boys put theirs in a toaster oven and melted it. The fire was quickly put out, and the toaster was thrown out as well. I learned a valuable lesson on keeping up with small children in the process. But basically, little boys want to build, destroy and build again. There are bad guys to capture and cars to race. My daughter, regardless of how much of a tom-boy she is, still wants her hair done and nails pretty.

2) Encourage them to be theirselves. Alex likes a good day of hard work. Drake wants to fix computers, Jacob runs around filming things and Lynsie reads how the brain works. I don't see any lawyers in our future but I do see four young adults who are able to embrace their own actual goals. I never tried to fit them into my mold, but helped pushed them along to better fit into theirs.

3) Listen. I know more about Doctor Who, various computer games, xbox and a fair share of bad jokes because I took the time to listen. Do I have an actual interest in these? Not really, but I do care about those I have birth to.

4) Be a cheerleader. Thankfully as a parent this doesn't require pom poms and a short skirt. Attend games, competitions, or whatever else your child is into. Even if your child fails be there to tell him/her how awesome they are. 

5) Stop raising children. There are enough grown children in the world. Instead, raise adults. The goal is for them to grow up, be responsible, move out, start their own lives. If you are raising spoiled brats, life will kindly give them a slap into reality. I have no tolerance for bratty children or adults.

6) Talk. About everything. Answer the questions that make you turn beet red. Answer the ones that make you cry. Tell them if you don't know the answer. It's allowed. This is coming from the woman who had to explain what an orgasm was to 11yr olds.

7) Embrace your beliefs with them. Whatever they are, but don't be surprised if they question them.

8) Work ethic. Chores will not kill your child. They may think they are dying, but pushing a broom, scrubbing a commode and doing laundry sets the foundation of a good work ethic. My boys can work on cars and change a dryer plug. All of my children could survive without me. They know how to pay bills, comparison shop and the best part....they know how to ask.

9) Discipline. No body wants to be around a hell child. Get a grip, a handle. It may be cute at two, but by the time they are sixteen, cute is long gone. And I don't care what type of problems they have. Quite raising them by a label. My son is AH/AD but that was never a reason to let him act a fool. My goal was to raise adults, which meant he had to learn self control.
10) Do stuff. Any stuff, all stuff. Every but of day to day living is an adventure. Let your child be part of it. Embrace all teachable moments. Even now, rarely do I go some where without a young adult. We play, we work, we cry and we laugh together.

I could keep going, but will stop for now. If you gained anything, I hope it was number ten. Being together makes the biggest difference.

Meme overload

In the world of technology as a form of communication, the meme had taken over in making a concise point. Some I enjoy. Some are just stupid. Some share love and others hate.

Each of us have our own values, morals and beliefs. Most of you reading this live in the U.S. with me and as free Americans we are all insured equal rights. Granted government has been a bit slow on the inclusion factor but slavery is now illegal and women can vote.

I have a very hard time understanding why equal rights issues have to be based on religious convictions. Equal is still equal. If you don't want gay marriage, then don't have one. Why do you care if Steve and John want the same benefits you do. Insurance etc. They work and pay for it just like you do. Marriage in our government eyes is not about biblical ideas but about a piece of paper that generates income for the county.

Being gay does not make anyone less human.

As for guns, if you don't like them, don't but one. Yes there are crazies in this world but I assure you guns, even if banned, will still find there way into the wrong hands. Drugs are illegal but yet they still manage to surface in society. Just because you don't like guns does not give you the right to remove them from responsible adults.

A lot could be said for the human race of they answered in love instead of hate.

And as for Christians, I assure you posting tons of memes a day does not make you a Christian. People want to see your life as that reflection.

On a personal more, I have my own values, beliefs and morals. I have my thoughts on hot button issues, but when it comes to social media, I am there to share my life with you and some how be a part of your life. I want to know if you are doing well. Are you happy? How are your children. I want to rejoice with you, be sad with you.....I miss those days of social media.