home

What is home? A roof to keep out the rain? Four walls to keep out the wind? Floors to keep out the cold? Yes, but home is more than that. It is the laugh of a baby, the song of a mother, the strength of a father, warmth of loving hearts, lights from happy eyes, kindness, loyalty, comradeship. Home is first school and first church for young ones, where they learn what is right, what is good, and what is kind, where they go for comfort when they are hurt or sick; where joy is shared and sorrow eased; where fathers and mothers are respected and loved, where children are wanted; where the simplest food is good enough for kings because it is earned; where money is not as important as loving-kindness; where even the tea kettle sings from happiness. That is home. God bless it! -Anon.

And yet, for one who has moved away, there is the transition from old home to new home. That has been my challenge the past two years.

Mike went to Michigan last Tuesday for training all week and on Thursday the kids and I returned "home" to meet a our new little nephew/cousin - Nolan. It was a quick trip, and exhausting and hectic and challenging triptravelingng alone with the kids) but it was well worth it.

The flight home was the biggest challenge due to my backfired attempt to take an earlier Tyler/Dallas standby flight and an hour delay for our Dallas/Omaha flight, we arrived in Omaha at 8:00 instead of 6:30. The kids, Goblessse em, did extremely well under the circumstances. It was mommy who was the most irritated anfrustrateded of all. Alas!

After a decent night's sleep Thursday night, we traveled to Omaha Friday afternoon to see Mike's family. On Saturday we were able to see most of my family at mom's house. A couple other friends also made the trip to mom's to see us. We left Sunday morning.

Mike returned to Texas on Friday and spent the weekend building the coolest new swingset/fort for the kids in the back yard. I envision many fall nights in the back yard and I'm really looking forward to that.

It's getting easier to come back home to Texas. I still miss my old home, but it is simply because I'm hanging on to the past so much. I need to realize my family will always be there and will always mean so much, but I have my own little family now, too. I missed Mike so much last week; we all did. It felt good to be all together again.

Mike went to Pasadena tonight but will be back tomorrow and then things should get back to normal for awhile. It will be nice to settle back in but I will always look forward to those trips "home" in the future...

talent

"The buried talent is the sunken rock on which most lives strike and founder." -Frederick W. Faber. Priest and hymn writer, born in Calverley, West Yorkshire, N England, UK.

We had such a great time this past weekend! I've posted this Sarah Hamilton's picture here because we ended our night on Saturday listening to her band and she was really, really good. Her voice was amazing and Mike and I wondered how truly talented people like her were unknown while those with absolutely the most average amount of talent (britney comes to mind) become the biggest stars of all time. Anyway, let's backtrack now, shall we...

Saturday morning we headed toward D/FW area for a really fun day. We got stuck in some traffic because of the great Red River Shootout. Luckily, we heeded the warnings of the radio DJs and took an alternate route around Dallas. We arrived at Six Flags and began the fun. Our first ride was the WildCatter and I hated it!! It was essentially an elevator ride up about 3 stories with a freefall to the bottom where you landed and rolled out on your backs. I don't think I breathed throughout the whole ride but fortunately it was only a few seconds long... We spent the rest of the day on the roller coasters and in the haunted houses. Batman is still my favorite!!!

After we had had enough of that fun, we headed to our hotel. I made our reservations blindly because I didn't know the area but the hotel was very, very nice! We got to see the heartbreaking end of the Nebraska/Tech game before heading into the stockyards for dinner and two of the biggest and best margaritas at H3 (fabulous!!) and more drinks and live entertainment (Ms. Hamilton) at the White Elephant. And then it was back to the hotel where I dusted off my far-too-long-neglected wedding night negligee... and that's all I'm going to say about that...

It was so nice to spend a whole day with my husband without the kids. We had such great conversations and got caught up on so many things. But on the other hand, we both missed those kids so much. That is the irony of this parenthood thing; you dream of some time alone but when you get it you spend the entire time wondering what you've forgotten and hoping they're okay. Kids are a lifestyle - I wouldn't change a thing...

and a little more digression... last week was pretty uneventful with the exception of my new haircut. I cut off about 5 inches and added some long bangs. It feels really good and light and I like it alot. I also darkened it up a bit last weekend myself so people are actually noticing something different about me.