Escaping the Quiet (and laundry)

I think Dave might’ve felt a little sorry for me because he overheard me telling Jodi that the house seems way too quiet for me these days.

As an aside…

I know some of you moms feel like you will never have your space or alone time back and that life is so hectic you just crave a few minutes to yourself, but believe me when I tell you that time goes so quickly and soon enough your home is quiet again.  My children are now in the early stages of adulthood and they both are exploring all that is being opened up to them.  While there is SO much joy in sitting on the sidelines watching it, there are moments of wishing I had them back in my nest as the precious little boys that I was blessed to raise.

Anywho…

I think in light of my whining, David asked me yesterday morning if I wanted to go for a drive.  Our Saturdays typically consist of him working the cattle or cleaning up at our property about 20 minutes away, while I stay home and catch up on housework or laundry OR totally skip that fun and go to a movie or something.  I prefer the latter.

David wanted to take me to the James A. Gaston Visitor Center which serves as the primary contact point for visitors to the Bull Shoals-White River State Park.  It overlooks the dam and is in a beautiful location. 

 

We watched a movie that gives the history of the area and the building of the dam.  It is so interesting to see the changes that this area has gone through over the years.  And we saw some familiar faces… (I took these shots of the movie as it played)

Hello, Jeff! (the young fisherman)

Forrest Wood talking about the construction of the Bull Shoals Dam in the 1950s.

After visiting the center, we decided to hit a few flea markets and thrift stores.  We didn’t find much, but I was grieved to see three “Body For Life” books for $5 each.  I couldn’t pass up the third one… so I now have an extra copy of one of my all-time favorites.  I also saw countless “Dr. Phil” Weight Loss program books – no grieving there.

We also previewed an estate auction that was to take place last night, but didn’t see anything of interest, so we headed to Subway for a bite before going home.

I finished off a good day watching a couple of chick flicks… “The Holiday” and “Failure to Launch”.

On another note… I was SO excited to see Big Brother 11 premiere this week.  Three nights a week!! 

Anyone else a Big Brother follower??

One of those days

Yesterday was one of those days.  Nothing horrible, just a few goofy things to deal with.  We’ve been having trouble with the air conditioner in our office for the past week or so and I had the repairman come last week and it seemed to be fixed.  The unit is behind the wall my desk is against and it had pushed water all into the floor of my office.  The A/C man thought he had it taken care of, but yesterday afternoon I saw more water in the work room and turned off the unit and called the repairman again.  He came by and determined the floor drain is backed up, so I have to call a plumber.

At noon, Jodi came to get me to go workout.

Can I just say how HAPPY I am that Jodi is back from vacation and I have my workout partner back!

Anyway, I popped the trunk to get my gym bag and workout sheet out and noticed the sheet felt moist.  After we got back from the gym I got into my trunk and realized the cooler that we left in there from Friday had leaked all the melted ice out into the trunk!  (Kale will be happy to know my trunk has been relieved of all the junk that I had in there, including the 15 and 25 pound kettlebells.)  I aired out the trunk for most of the afternoon and finished the job after work.

I had a training appointment at 5:30 and hadn’t left work to go to the bank or the post office yet, so about 5:05 I gathered the mail and the bank bag, and just as I was about to leave Kale called.  I grabbed my cell phone and left the office with full hands.  After I got in the car, I turned the ignition and … nothing.  I don’t have to have a key in the ignition to start my car, it just has to be somewhere in the car, but that’s not possible when the key is in my purse in my LOCKED office.  Thank goodness, I was on the phone with Kale, because at least I had my phone to call someone.  So, poor Judy had to come rescue me.  I think I’m getting old. But, THANK YOU, Judy for coming to the rescue!!

Here’s hoping for a smooth Tuesday…

Hard to See Them Go

Jodi has been camping for what seems like a month, but I think it’s actually been about 9 days.  Now that my nest is often, but not always, empty, my world is getting quiet. Most days, that’s okay by me, but sometimes it just seems a bit too quiet.

I got to feeling a little sorry for myself last Monday or Tuesday evening realizing Jodi and Gary would be gone for the holiday weekend and knew that I’d be bored out of my skull, so I texted Kale that maybe he could come home again if he didn’t have other plans.  For about 30 minutes I didn’t hear back, but then came the sweet sound of the chime from my Blackberry and the text from Kayla read, “We’ll see you Thursday!”  I was so excited… a long weekend with the kids. 

They came in Thursday evening and one of the things on Kale’s list was to pick up some board shorts.  So, we hit Walmart, apparently a little late in the season, because this was all he was finding…

Friday morning we got up and Kayla and I ran to the thrift stores.  We got a bargain sport coat for Tyler at $1.25!  We also stopped at Stage and got Kale some swim trunks.

Late afternoon, while Tyler was still at work, we loaded up and headed to the lake.  I haven’t been to the lake in forever and it was fun just hanging for a while.

Before we left the lake, we took Kayla by the Peel Ferry, the last operating ferry in the state.

Afterwards, we met Tyler for supper at our favorite pizza place (Breadeaux Pizza).

After supper, we went to Jodi’s house (actually her driveway) to watch the fireworks.  They’ve got a good view of the town firework show from there.

Saturday, Kayla and I went to see “The Proposal”.  It was a MUCH lighter movie than last week’s “My Sister’s Keeper”, and we had LOVE for it too.  It was one of those movies you don’t really want to end because you’re enjoying it so much.

That Sandra Bullock is just so darn cute.

Saturday evening we went to my folk’s house for a cookout.  We spent the evening sitting out on the back deck in beautiful weather enjoying each other’s company.  There were 33 of us there and three of my siblings and their families weren’t even able to come.

Today, after church and visiting Miss Charlsie, Kale and Kayla had to go back to Fayetteville.  It’s always hard to see them go, but I’m thankful to have had them here.

I hope your holiday weekend was filled with family and fun and a true appreciation for this great country and those who are fighting for it.

26 Years

Today is our 26th wedding anniversary.  Saturday will mark 27 years of “togetherness” for me and the man.  We started dating on the 4th of July in 1982 and got married the 2nd of July 1983. 

We were just young pups then.

I like this picture because I look a little like I just won Dave at auction or something… and I’m carting him off.  Poor feller!

And, I’m happy to say that Kale and Kayla just came in this evening for a LOOOOONG holiday weekend! Oh, that makes my heart sing!!!

Fun in Fayetteville

After wrapping up our week of VBS, I had a service appointment for my car in Fayetteville.  Of course, I made the most of it and spent the night at Kale’s … cuz I’m lucky that way!  He and Kayla took me out to TGI Fridays for supper and I had the Dragon fire Chicken (since I’m trying to stay on target with my eating).  It was good, but is it just me or does TGIF’s really like sodium??

We made a quick trip to Walmart to get a few groceries before heading back to Kale’s for the evening.

This morning, Kayla and I went to TJ Maxx where I spent exactly $0 (a miracle), had Marketplace for lunch (ever try their fresh fruit with the blueberry poppyseed dressing?? Mmmm!), then, went to see…

Sad, sad, sad! But, it was SO good!! There wasn’t a dry eye in the theater, men included.  I cried from the beginning to the end.

We were torn between seeing this or “The Proposal”…

so, maybe next week Jodi and I can go see it!

I love summer movies.  The only thing better? Holiday movies.

It Doesn’t Seem So Long Ago

This has been an historic week in the celebrity world.  Tuesday, Ed McMahon, died.  I grew up watching Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show… so Ed was a household name in my day.

Today, when I went to get my lunch, I heard on the radio that Farrah Fawcett had died after a long battle with cancer.  I wasn’t a huge “fan” of Farrah.  I recently watched the documentary she did on her illness.  It was very sad, and she seemed more “normal” in that than I’d ever given her credit.  I did think she was pretty good in “The Burning Bed”. She was, however, in my opinion, absolutely stunningly beautiful.  Her smile was amazing… AND THE HAIR? well, it was famous all on its own.  There wasn’t a girl my age that didn’t want to look like Farrah Fawcett.  And truth be told, most girls with “normal” hair got “Farrah” cuts (Don’t worry, I never attempted that with this head of hair.)

When I got to the gym tonight, I heard that there were reports that Michael Jackson had also passed away today from an apparent heart attack.  I will say that I found MJ post-1980 to be quite scary! There’s just no explanation for some of the stuff that man did, but as a boy in the Jackson 5, I loved him!  I guess you could say I was a fan during his PRE-cosmetic surgery years.

Back when I was in the 10th grade I got his “Off the Wall” album (seriously, it was an album).  I remember laying on the floor of my bedroom listening over and over to “She’s Out of My Life.”  LOVED that song!!

If you’re from my era, this week may have you remembering things from a time that seem not so long ago… but our kids know little or nothing about.

Which means, they probably don’t get the warm fuzzies when they hear this….

Father’s Day

I’ve been SUPER busy at work these days as well as most evenings… so I guess that explains why it’s been 10 days since I’ve posted.

I went to visit my Dad today, since it’s Father’s Day and all.  I’m blessed to have a great man for a father.  Happy Father’s Day, Dad.

And Happy Father’s Day to David, too!!

This week is going to be all kinds of WILD because tomorrow, we begin Vacation Bible School…

Mass Transit

Kale is an engineer.  He’s kinda been one since he was in Elementary School.  While we were in DC visiting all those museums, we saw some pretty neat inventions.  It got us talking about some of the “inventions” Kale had as a boy.  When he was in about 5th grade, he decided his bedroom was too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. (There was only one air register in his bedroom)  So, he built a box (I think it was a Kleenex box) over his vent with a whole cut in it to pipe some connected paper towel rolls out of and piped the air right up to his bed next to his pillow.

It was around that time that he also invented a contraption from his light switch to his ceiling with a couple of pull cords to be able to turn the light off at night or back on again in the dark without having to get out of bed.

It was always stuff like that.

So, it doesn’t surprise us at all that he is so intrigued by modern technology.  He has every gadget known to man and he reads manuals just for the fun of it!

When we were in DC, he was most intrigued, I think, with the mass transit system they have.  When it comes to moving people, they’ve got it down… and he was impressed!  I have to admit, even though my mind doesn’t usually think on such things, I thought it was pretty impressive too… and Kayla thought the metro was just like a ride at Silver Dollar City!

Here are a couple of pictures that Kale took while we were there.  (He took TONS of photos, or should I say gigabytes, but they’re on his computer. I borrowed these.)

 

Recovering From Vacation…

I can’t believe it’s been 10 days since I last posted.  I don’t know how those of you who post daily do it.  For the past month and a half I’ve been training 3-4 nights a week, in addition to my “real job”.  (This week, I’m training 5 nights.)  And, I’ve been playing catch-up at work since I was on vacation last week.  I’m finding it hard to find time to post, but I did get caught up with my blog reading.

Our vacation was SO fun.  We flew out on Saturday MORNING at 6:15, so we had to be at the airport by 5:00 or so.  We left Kale’s apartment at 4:20 AM… the only thing I know about what that time of day looks like is the view I have from my bed to the bathroom.

We got to DC and dropped our luggage at the hotel (we couldn’t check in til later in the day), so we headed out to explore the historic town we stayed in … Alexandria.  My favorite thing about Alexandria was the historic Christ Church.  Courtney took this picture of the inside of the church:

On our first full day we went to the Holocaust Museum.  When you get on the elevator to go up to take the tour they show you a short (30 second or so) video.  I started crying there… and when we got off the elevator you step into a room and right in front of you is a big wall of video that just hits you in the face.  I pretty much lost it there.  The thing I’ll remember the most from this museum was the “room of shoes” and the “walls of photos”:

 

The above two photos are from the web.

(I was so sad to hear about the shooting that took place at the Holocaust Museum today.  I was so impressed with the security every where we went.  It saddens me to think anyone could or would do such a thing.)

Afterward, we were going to hit the other museums, but then we saw the Washington Monument and just started walking, and walking, and walking.

We saw the WWII Memorial and the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Memorial. Strolled by the White House.  Every where you look, it is simply amazing!

 

The next day, we started out at Arlington National Cemetery.  Our feet and legs were SO sore from the day before, but we did a lot more walking at the cemetery.  We were able to see a short, wreath ceremony where “taps” was played just before watching the changing of the guard at The Tomb of the Unknowns.  Another highlight for all of us!!

Afterwards, we headed to the Smithsonian Castle, Air and Space Museum, Art Museum, and briefly into the Museum of Natural History (which was WAY too crowded, so Tyler walked around for a while as we sat outside… we went back on Friday).  In the art museum, I was thrilled to be able to see some original art work by an artist that I’ve been very interested in for a few years, Abbott Handerson Thayer. 

Lots more walking… and lots of hurting feet and legs.

Tuesday, we headed to the National Archives (which houses the original Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States) and the Museum of American History… where we enjoyed seeing Seinfeld’s “Puffy Shirt”, Dorothy’s “ruby slippers” and lots of great historic US President exhibits.Wednesday morning we left early for Mount Vernon (home of George Washington).  I can’t say enough about how much I loved Mount Vernon.

It makes me want to go back in time and see the estate as a working farm.

Wednesday night we took a “Monuments by Moonlight” bus tour – our favorite thing from the whole week… except for the fact we got stormed on seriously.  If we had it to do over again, we would’ve taken this tour at the very beginning of the week.  DC after dark is gorgeous!!

Pretty much from Wednesday night on it poured. And poured.  So we did a lot of this…

 

… and eating!! We ate five large bags of Peanut M&Ms during the week.

We tried to go out on Thursday, but the rain kept us from doing much, so we headed back to Alexandria where Kale and Kayla went back to the room and Tyler, Courtney and I shopped King Street.

We went out again on Friday afternoon to revisit the Museum of Natural History and the Vietnam Memorial (we had only seen it at night), but after we got done there, it started raining again.  The subway was 7/10s of a mile away, so we got soaked going back… but it was worth it.

Since I’ve been home I’ve found out that we didn’t see near all there is to see in DC.  We definitely want to go back again some day.

Being there really made me more interested in our American History.  I am so grateful for the history of this great nation and pray that someday we will return to the foundation it was built on.

I, also, am so happy to have gone with these people… who were SO much fun!!

(Kale took this photo of Tyler and Courtney right after Tyler did a Michael Jackson moon walk on the slick sidewalk.  We got so tickled!)

Oh, and I forgot to mention who I ran into on Pennsylvania Avenue…

Flying Solo on Your Birthday

Poor David.  Today is his birthday and his family is all away on vacation without him.  A year ago we began making plans to take a family vacation.  We’ve NEVER done that before, but figured since our kids are grown, it might be time to get a vacation in.  Well, ten months ago, we secured a hotel room; three months ago I purchased airline tickets; and now we are in DC… without Dave.

It’s no secret that times are tough and it just wasn’t good timing with David’s job to take a vacation.  So, we are here, missing him and wishing him a Happy Birthday.

He turns 47 years young today.

David is a hard worker.  He works a full-time job, then goes to our farm and works the cattle and picks up rocks (there are ALL KINDS of rocks here in the Ozarks) or cuts wood or any number of things that needs to get done on a farm.  Every day at lunch he checks on our precious 90-year old neighbor, Charlsie.  On his way home from the farm, he usually stops at the gym and works out for an hour to an hour and a half.  I don’t know where he gets his energy.

He is an avid outdoorsman.  He has spent most of his time with our boys out in the woods or at the cabin or hunting or doing some kind of manly man thing.  I’ve always said that if things got tough, we’d be okay, because Dave is a survivalist.  (Just don’t get me started on that bad batch of mushrooms he fed the kids once!)

Dave is gifted in dealing with elderly people.  Every Sunday, he helps lead worship at our local nursing home.  He could sit for hours listening to “old folks” share about the “good old days”.

He is a man of great faith and realizes that the things that are truly important in life can’t be bought.

And I’m blessed for being his wife.

Happy Birthday, David!! We love you!

A Double Shocker

Tyler’s girlfriend, Courtney, works at a movie theater, which means she has to work lots of weekends.  She had to work last night, and Tyler and I decided we’d try to go to the movies to see the new “Night at the Museum” movie that just came out.  I haven’t even seen the first one yet, but we thought it would be fun to go.

Somehow, I twisted David’s arm talked David into going with us.  Dave is not a movie person.  He doesn’t watch them at the movies or at the house.  So, both my kids were shocked and amazed that he actually went.  If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you saw my Tweet about being at the movies.  Can you believe that was the first movie Dave’s gone to with me since “Dying Young”… and that came out in 1991!!

And the other shocker? That my 20 year old son wouldn’t be too embarrassed to go to a Saturday night (7:00 PM) movie with his parents!!! I wouldn’t trade my boys for the world!! Have I mentioned how blessed I am??

The Baby of the Family

Today is my baby sister Kristin’s 34th birthday.  Kris is the baby of the family. Number 11.  She’s not in my header photo because, well, she wasn’t even thought of yet.  There’s only a mere 9 children in that family photo.

Kristin was the cutest little thing growing up and she still looks so much like she did as a little girl.  She had several nicknames, such as “Sister Christian”, “Chickie”, “Dandelion”.  She was just two years old when we moved to Arkansas and lived in the tent.  She was the flower girl at my wedding when she was 8 years old.  She was/is VERY smart.  She taught herself to read when she was like 4 years old and actually skipped (I believe) the fourth grade.

As adults, she and I have a lot in common and we can spend lots of time talking fashion, old homes, and cute hairstyles. She is a great mother and is expecting her second child in a few months.

Since she is so much younger than me, I thought she’d never seem like a grown-up, but she has grown into a beautiful person, both inside and out.

Having sisters just gets better as you get older!

   

She could seriously get those bangs going!!

Happy Birthday, “Chick”.  I love you!

Trustful Expectation

My children are now in their early 20s.  They’re not little boys any more.  My full-time parenting days are pretty much over.  Anyone that knows me, knows that I’m a bit strong-willed.  So are my boys.  I also have the need to be in control.

Not my best trait.

By middle school, Kale figured out that we had his best interest at heart, and he was pretty submissive even though he didn’t always like our answer.  Tyler, on the other hand, found ways to buck the system and do things his way.

Not HIS best trait. It also didn’t bode well in the high school years.

While Tyler and I have always loved one another, for most of his life we’ve been in a battle of the wills and I’ve been on the losing end more times than I wish to count.  (He’d probably say the same thing.)  But, I’ve never given up or compromised my principals.

Last night at church, Steve talked about HOPE.  He said “Hope is trustful expectation.  Believing that God WILL intervene on your behalf.”

He went on to say that…

“Faith is believing God CAN do something, Hope is believing God WILL do something.”

Ever since my boys were born I’ve prayed for them.  And when the parenting road got rough, I continued to pray… and HOPE.  Believing that everything we taught them and modeled for them over the years would matter and trusting that God would answer my prayers.

Yesterday at lunch, Tyler said something to me that made every hurt, every worry, every fear, every tear seem worth it and it melted this momma’s heart.  I’ll never forget it… his words or the sincerity in them.

Because, whenever I look into these eyes…

I still see him…

 

Thank you, Tyler.  You made my day!

Darren #7

I gotta warn you… there are three Goulet birthdays in five days this week.  Today is my brother Darren’s 43rd birthday.  Monday is my birthday, and Wednesday is my baby sister, Kristin’s birthday.

Darren is my next younger sibling.  I was surrounded by boys growing up… Dennis is 2 years older, Darren and Robert are 2 and 3 years younger than me… so I hung out a lot with the guys.  Darren loved baseball and was a pitcher… so I often got to put on the catcher’s gear and catch for him. I loved that!  I guess that’s how I ended up a bit of a tomboy.

Darren was fun to grow up with.  He is quick witted and not easily embarrassed.  When we were older teenagers, he used to do silly stuff like walk up to me in the isle at Wal-Mart and say, loudly (in the middle of the summer), “honey, do you think we should’ve left the kids out in the car?”  (Nobody actually did that back in those days.)

Like my Dad, he is a hard-worker, and has his own seamless guttering business.  He’s a great Dad and is already a grandpa.

Here’s a few photos of “Little Goo”…

(The above photo reminds me SO much of my little sister, Sharon #9.  I never realized that before. Do you agree, Shar?)

 

Happy 43rd birthday, Darren. I love you!