Peer pressure...

The other day Tanner went to work with Dale. For 12 hours.

There was alot of time for conversation.

Tanner came home & was sharing with Baylee some of it, here is what I heard...

T: "Did you know that when Dad was a teenager he wanted to be in this club
where they had initiations, and he had to climb a tree naked?"

B: "Really, why would he want to be in that club?"

And I thought,

please, please, please let her always feel this way, & act accordingly.

(Dale is going to be so happy that I shared his life story with ya'll)

Milestones...

I remember turning 16. Vividly. I remember 14, 15..........16!!! It seemed to take forever, but it meant one thing to me....
Independence.
I had a thing for independence.

Here is my picture of the day...

I took Shay to get his drivers license at 7:00 am.
On the way home, I looked over and saw him smiling. He was giddy.
He was planning out his day, driving to and from school, how he was going to pull back the sunroof, what music he would be playing, where he was going to park.
Independence.
I don't know how I feel about independence.

In the back yard of my parents home, a nest was built and a robin laid some eggs. That robin protected those eggs so much so that my Mom was afraid to go out back. We watched the eggs turn into baby birds and then one day the Mom showed up with a worm & perched herself on the opposite wall of the baby birds. They knew she was there with a worm and opened their beaks, waiting for her to come and drop it in. She didn't. She sat on that wall, forcing her babies out of the nest. Waiting for them to fly. And sure enough, that's just what they did.

Faith.

This letting go, this forcing him out of the nest thing is hard, knowing that he is on the cusp of so many decisions, mistakes, challenges and dangers. Knowing that the best thing for him is to gently force him to fly.

Thank goodness we are not exactly like the birds and have to do it in a two week period of time.

So, Happy Birthday, and Independence Day Shay!!! We love you!!!

Ah...surgery...

I am 6 days post op. One of which I really do not remember, thanks to some wonderful medication.
Things went as well as I could have expected.
I only have an eight inch horizontal scar, rather than a possible vertical one.
My uterus was eight times the normal size, weighing in at just over 2 pounds.
(a difficult way to lose weight, but i'll take it)
I was able to keep my ovaries, so if all goes well, my family will not have to bunker down.
And...
even though I was as close as possible, I did not have to get a transfusion.
Let the Iron building begin!!
I have learned some things over this week...
while it has been nice to lie around, reading books and watching movies, I am grateful that I don't have to do it on a regular basis.
Being able to do housework, drive, and quite frankly, go to the bathroom, are all HUGE blessings.
And...
I am blessed with a network of family, friends and neighbors that are awesome.
I have no choice but to sit back and watch you serve...Thank You!!

Cinco de mayo....

or Ocho de mayo, however you want to look at it.

Last night was our 3rd annual party, I am always amazed at who shows up...

Somehow, Nacho Libre got an invite...

Teenagers...

Last night was Shay's first official date. He went to a school dance, called 'Cheapskate'.

Two nights before the dance I asked these questions:

"Do you have a plan?", "What are you doing for dinner?", "What do you need me to do?"

His response:

"Mom, we've got it under control...don't come in and take over."

Ugh. Okay. I get it. Letting go...now.

Fast forward to Friday night, it's 4:15 pm. His ride is coming at 5:00. He pulls out some t-shirts and said,
"I need to paint our names on these, do you have some paint?" ??????
Fast forward, again, to 4:25 and we are blow drying the painted t-shirts when he gets a text and then says to me,
"So, can we do dinner... here?"

Are you kidding me????????

This, my friends, is why it's hard for me to stay out of things.

Shay: "But we have all of the food, we just need a place to eat"

Me: "Okay, what do you have?"

Shay: "We bought four boxes of Macaroni & Cheese"
(keep in mind, the dance is called 'cheapskate')

Seriously. Are. You. Kidding. Me?

I am a rescuer by nature. I am good at the swooping in. This was no time to watch him fall on his behind. After a frantic trip to the store and to a neighbors, I produced a swanky meal of mac and cheese (this part about killed me), hot dogs, jello and watermelon....complete with sparkling cider in flute glasses, centerpieces & chargers.

At 1 am, when Shay was helping me clean up, he must have said "thank you" 20 times.
I asked him, "on a scale of 1 to 10, how was your first date?"
He said, "probably a 9 or a 10."

And that, my friends, is why I am a rescuer.

Some of the group enjoying the chocolate fountain,

my original responsibility