Blogging In July

Here's the latest news on things going on in my life.

In the last month there's has been a few things to actually blog about. On 4th of July weekend we went up to the cabin in Arkansas. One of the days we were up there we drove through the town of Mena, which was hit by a tornado a few months ago and looked at some of the damage. The amount of property damage was was pretty bad. Quite a few homes were destroyed. Back at the cabin we rode around on the 4-wheelers, shot off tons of fireworks, went floating on the Cossatot River, and went on a miniature train ride in Queen Whelmina State Park. Here is a Picure of us floating on the river.

Joshua got to experience his 1st baseball game. It was a minor league game. A Grand Prairie AirHog's game. Susan had free tickets to the game because she is raising funds for the 3-day breast cancer walk. Well, when Joshua saw the AirHog's mascot he got so excited he ran over to him to get picked up and have his picture taken with him. Here he is.Then there was Ethan's 10th birthday party. It was held a little late this year because the Howard's had went on vacation and Ethan had to wait until they got back to have his party. He had a Transformer's party. However, there was one kink in his party. The swimming activities were cut a little bit short. The side of the pool gave way and the swimming pool became a river.

July 19th marked the 5th year since my father-in-law passed away. Joshua will never get meet his Grandpa. I was only able to get to know him for one year. I will always be grateful that he gave me his blessing to marry his daughter before he left this world. He was a good man and even I still miss him. We visited his grave and put flowers on it. It was also the 1st time we got Joshua out of the car and Susan tried to explain a little to him about why we were there.This week I got home from work a day earlier then I planned to. Tomorrow is the Lackey family reunion in Haskell, TX and I had requested Saturday off to go to it. However, my work got me home this morning instead and told me to just go ahead and enjoy the extended vacation. I didn't mind. It means I get to spend more time with my wife and son. I love them so much and really cherish any extra time I get to spend with them. I know kinda sappy, but true none the less.

Anyway, I've got to go to bed. Busy days ahead. And I don't want to have a keyboard imprint on my forehead.

Trampoline Down The Backyard.

It seems like lately we are always so busy around here and there always seems like things just keep being added on to our busy lives.

With the summer now here the yard needs mowing every other week. I've had to trim back bushes and cut low hanging branches off the tree in the front yard. Yesterday, we got a trampoline from one of my mother-in-law's neighbors. It's awesome! However, that meant I had no other choice but to tackle the enormous task of cleaning up the backyard. This required the calling in of reinforcements. So, we were able to get Daniel, Jeromy, & Josh to come on over. The yard required 2ft tall grass to be mowed, a tree branch from our neighbor's tree to be chainsawed off, and our Crape Myrtle was going to be cut down. I mowed the lawn. It required 2 passes at different mower heights. Jeromy and Josh used the chainsaw until it stopped working. We weren't able to take down the whole Crape Myrtle because of it. But one large branch was removed. We're going to work on the rest of the tree in a few weeks. All of us dragged the branches out to the front for the trash man to pick up sometime in the next few weeks. Even Joshua took a few little limbs out with him. (What a big helper out little guy is!) And now we have a new toy to play with in the backyard. Anyway, here's our new toy.

Soon we're also going to remove the shed, cut down another bush that's back there, tear down the sunroom, add a nice new porch, and landscape the whole thing. It's gonna look nice. Someday.

This weekend it's off to the cabin in Arkansas to celebrate the 4th of July. We'll be riding 4-wheelers, shooting off fireworks, playing tee ball, and having a good ol' time. Everyone else is going up there on Thursday night. I have to work until late Friday/early Saturday so I'll have to meet up with them then. I can't wait!

Anyway, that's all I've got. More will come in the future.

Here's A Quickie!

It's been awhile since I posted, but I'm so into Facebook now that I rarely take the time to post here. I check for updates all the time and my wife posts things on her blog at least twice a week if not more. Anyway, here's what's happening right now.

I'm stuck in Memphis waiting for someone to come change a tire on my rig. I woke up at 3:30pm and found it flat during my pre trip inspection. The maintenance shop at our yard closed at 3pm. They're having to get an outside company to come fix it and it's taking forever! Once the tire's fixed I get to head home.

My wife and I are starting to learn how to save money. I no longer stop at truck stops everyday to buy a meal. Now I bring food with me. The savings is amazing! Well, the tire's fixed and I'm ready to hit the road. Like I said, it's a quickie!

Sittin' Here Restin' My Bones

There's been birthdays, Mother's Day, sick days, and today is Memorial Day. I guess it's time I post something. I might as well. I've been sitting at home by myself since I got home yesterday at 7am. My wife & son went off to the cabin in Arkansas with her Mom, Step dad, and sister's family to enjoy the holiday weekend. I had to work and was unable to go. I thought it'd be kinda cool to have the whole house to myself for a couple of days. And for about 30 minutes it was. Then I got bored. I went outside and mowed the lawn. Then I took a long relaxing shower. I watched a movie. I went grocery shopping. Being alone in this big house really isn't all that great. I don't know how my wife did it before Joshua was born. She had to be alone 5 days a week while I was out on the road. At least now our son is here to keep her busy. And I'm sure he keeps her busy!

Last Sunday we had a birthday party for Joshua. He became a 2 year old on Tuesday. He had a 'Tow Mater' themed birthday party. Susan and I thought we could get this whole party taken care of on our own. But me getting sick and cake troubles required us to call in reinforcements. Thanks to Stephanie the cake was saved and thanks to Brandon the hamburgers got cooked. Joshua received so many really cool gift for his birthday this year. He got a play yard and a bubble mower from Mommy & Daddy. A tee ball set, a bat and baseballs from Nana & Pops. A toddler sofa bed from Uncle Brandon & Aunt Stephanie. A GeoTrax plane set and a toy camera from the Uncle Jeromy & Aunt Mandy. A hand made puzzle holder box and puzzles from Daniel & Christina. A $20 check from his Grandparent's in CA. A Wagon filled with sandbox toys from Auntie Jo. And of course plenty of new clothes. In other words, he made out like a bandit!

After having been sick since last Friday night I agreed with my wife and went to the doctor Monday morning. By that time I had flu-like symptoms and my left eye was bloodshot. The doctor told me it was a viral infection and gave me a few prescriptions to get filled. One of the scripts was for eyedrops. Well, I'm cheap and thought I could just use some stuff I already had at home. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!! I ended up making both eyes extremely bloodshot, itchy, watery, and burning. On Wednesday I went and got the right eyedrops. It's been 5 days and there's still a hint of red in my eyes, but it's almost gone. Another lesson learned the hard way. Never be your own doctor! This is where my wife would say, "I told you so!" And I respond, "Yes, Dear."

That's really all I've got. Everything else is just day-to-day stuff. Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend.

Mother's Tire Of Lightning!

First off, I want to wish all the mom's out there a Happy Mother's Day. Here's hoping that your special day is filled with all the wonder and joy that you can handle.

Okay. Now that that's out of the way here's how things are going in my world. We'll start with work. My shift bid finally came up and once again I am still on the same shift. It's good and all, but I really would like to have a Monday - Friday shift. Hopefully it'll happen the next time around. The last few weeks of driving had not been too exciting. Mostly just the same old same old. However, on the last day of this week I ended up having a tire blow out on the trailer I was hauling from Lubbock, TX to Abilene, TX. I had to drive 70 miles with it that way until I reached the TA truck stop in Sweetwater, TX. Once I got there it was discovered that the blow out had been caused by the mud flap getting tangled between the 2 tires and the bar that holds it in place was pulled between them. Here's what that looks like.I got there at about 7pm that night. It took the mechanic until 1am to finish the job! 6 hours! That's outrageous! By the time I got out of there my company had taken me off 2 load assignments and I ended up losing about 400 miles for the week. On the plus side of things, I did get to come home early and see my wife and son before they both went off to bed. I tried to go to bed too, but I couldn't sleep. That's why I'm here doing this now.

In other news. 2 weeks ago my wife's mother & stepfather had to come and stay with us for awhile. During a strong storm we had that Monday morning their house was struck by lightning. It hit their chimney and sparked off to their electrical wires which started a fire in the attic. The fire department came and put it out rather quickly, but they had to punch a hole through the living room ceiling to get to it. The damage wasn't too extensive, but the electric and gas were out and they were not allowed to stay there until it could be repaired. Here's what it looked like from inside the attic.

It's only been 11 days and they've already got the electric and gas back on and the hole fixed in their living room. They moved back into their home Friday night. I'm really surprised how fast it all was taken care of. Especially since the insurance company was involved. I'm sure they're just glad to be back at home sleeping on a regular mattress instead of the air mattress they had to sleep on here.

And here's the Joshua report. He's getting to be such a big boy. Yesterday, my wife sent me a video of him doing somersaults all by himself. Last week he began peddling his tricycle on his own. He's begun speaking in sentences and not just 1 or 2 words at a time. Okay, the sentences are a little broken, but still it's not bad for a kid who's about to turn 2. In fact, next Sunday is his birthday party and he turns 2 on Tuesday. My wife & I have discovered that it is hard to by a toy for a 2 year old. He seems to old for some things, but not old enough for others. Later today we're going shopping to see what we can come up with.

Anyway, I'm starting to finally feel tired. I think I'll try to lay down again and see what happens.

Long Trips And Family Adventures

Well, it's been 2 weeks since my last post. I just haven't really had much to talk about. 2 weeks ago was just another week. I drove, I came home, and I went back to work again. Last week was interesting. My first load took me to Memphis, TN. After that the rest of the week was very unusual for me. Normally, the furthest east I go is to Nashville, TN. Not this time. This time I went to Knoxville, TN. Then I went to Charlotte, NC. Then to 2 stops in Atlanta, GA. And finally a long 850 mile trip back home. I actually enjoyed the change of pace for once. I took a few pictures along the way. Here's one of a tunnel in Fines Creek, NC on I-40.And here is one of downtown as I was entering Atlanta, GA on I-285 West.Anyway, I was able to get home by midnight, Sunday morning. I got a good night's sleep and woke up ready for a good day with my family. We didn't do too much all day. Susan's mom came over and we went to Double Dave's Pizza for lunch. Then we went to Daniel & Christina's to give their kids their Baptism gifts. Joshua and Adam seemed to have a blast playing with each other. They chased each other all over the place, played catch-the-ball, and pretty much just rough housed. After that we came back home and Janie trimmed Joshua's hair.(It was getting kinda shaggy) Susan made steak, potatoes, and corn for dinner. Joshua didn't really touch it much, but I think that's cause he ate a whole bunch at lunch. When dinner was over Mommy sat him down for potty time. He did pee, but most of it didn't make it in the potty. He got it all over the floor instead. After that, it was bath time, where he decided it was more fun to drink the bath water than play in it. And after the bath was over he rejected his towel and streaked from the bathroom across the hall to the office to show Daddy that he was clean. Nice! I wonder how that would look if Susan or I did it? Never mind! We put him to bed, he fussed only for a moment and went to sleep. For some reason Susan & I suddenly had the urge for ice cream. There was none in the house. So, at 9:00 at night I drove off to Braum's and got Susan a Brownie Fudge Sundae and A Banana Split for myself. It was oh so goooooood!

This morning it has begun to storm. The thunder is loud, the rain has been heavy at times, and the weatherman says it's only going to get worse. It looks like it's supposed to be like this all week. I usual love a stormy day, but not when it goes on and on and on. Susan already had to head off to work in the rain. Now it's my turn to go out in it. I need to take Joshua to daycare. Lately on Mondays I've hated taking him there. I've been missing him a lot lately while I'm out on the road and I just want to keep him home and keep him all to myself. Oh, well. He needs to spend time with his friends and he learns so much in daycare.

Okay! I guess I need to stop typing now and get things done.

A Week Of Many Surprises.

This week was not a typical week for me. Most things that went on this week were either last minute or completely unplanned. Let's start with Tuesday. The new cell phone I ordered from Verizon was delivered. I spent most of the day playing with it and trying to learn how to use all of it's features. Before I knew it the rest of the day had passed by and I hadn't gotten hardly any rest for work. After having not gotten much sleep during the day and not fully being ready to head off to work I called my work to see where I was going to be headed to. I got a really big surprise when they told me they didn't have a load for me. Ouch! I didn't want to go out, but I can't afford to be missing work either.

On the plus side, I did get to be at home with my wife on our 3rd Wedding Anniversary. We had celebrated it on Monday by going to Red Lobster for dinner because we thought I wouldn't be home on Wednesday. So, on our Anniversary we went to Pasado's Mexican Restaurant with Jeromy & Mandy. Pasado's has the best guacamole I have ever tasted. Their food isn't too bad either. After dinner was over I called my work and they had a load for me. So, I got ready for work and headed out the door.

Well, here's how things went as far as my work schedule goes. Dallas, TX to Lubbock, TX to Dallas, TX to Shreveport, LA to Jackson, MS to Memphis, TN and back to Dallas, TX. If that seems short well, that's because it was. I actually arrived in Dallas at 6:45am Saturday morning. A whole day earlier than usual. So, my work week was really, really short. However, the early return home gave me the fantastic opportunity of making a surprise trip to Arkansas to see my family. They had all headed to the cabin for the weekend to celebrate Easter and I originally wasn't going to be able to be there with them. I didn't even tell them I was coming. After the 4 1/2 hour drive there I stopped just before entering the gate and called my wife. I asked her how things were going and told her how much I really missed her and Joshua. She said her and Joshua missed me too. I said to her, "Than look over the hill.", and drove onto the property. They all seemed surprised to see me there. They also ended up having a surprise for me. The night before Janie's air mattress had gotten a hole in it and her and David were using ours. Susan had an extra twin air mattress, but that was it. I had no bed to sleep on. That was easily fixed though. Susan and her mom took a trip to Mena, AR to buy another twin for me to sleep on.

The rest of the time in Arkansas was spent having fun. I rode around the property a bunch of times on the ATV's, shot some clay pigeons, flew kites, did an Easter egg hunt, played kickball with Joshua, and had some really good BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. After the day winded down and we had all settled into bed a strong thunderstorm blew through the area and soaked everything. It was still raining when we got up Sunday morning. We ended up having to load up all our things into the vehicles in the rain. And wouldn't you know it, the minute everything was done being loaded, the rain stopped! Figures! Anyway, we got home around 5:30pm and relaxed most of the rest of the night.

This morning Joshua slept in until a little after 10am. When I went in and woke him up he was in a really good mood. He has been a little sick the last few days and has had a yellowish goo coming out of his ears. So, I decided to have him stay home with me today and we've been playing and having fun all day so far. I put him down for an afternoon nap around 2:45pm and he's still asleep now. He has a doctor's appointment at 4:30pm tonight, but he seems to be getting better on his own just fine. We'll still go to be sure though.

Anyway, now your all caught up and you'll have to wait until I have more to type.

Bye, Bye Old Fence. Hello, New Cable Line.

It's blog time again. Wed. - Sat. was spent driving as usual. There was supposed to be a shift bid at my work last week, but for some unknown reason it didn't happen. I really don't mind though, because they do the shift bid by seniority and I'm still way at the bottom of the list. Every time shift bid comes around I worry that I'll end up being on the standby list and have my miles cut dramatically. So far that hasn't happened thank God. Anyway, here's last week's lineup. Dallas, TX to Birmingham, AL to Atlanta, GA to Mobile, AL to Birmingham, AL to Jackson, MS to Baton Rouge, LA to Memphis, TN and back to Dallas, TX. I got home around 2am Sunday morning and was able to get a good nights rest.

It's a good thing that I got that rest too. On Friday I received a call from my wife and she informed me that some really strong winds had come through on Thursday and the fence on the west side of our house had blown over. Here's a picture of the aftermath.

So Sunday afternoon we had the Howard's and Spencer's over to our house for fence raising party. The neighbor also joined in since it was his fence too. The fun began by tearing down the rest of the old fence and digging out the old posts. Next it was time to dig new holes. The first hole dug was the beginning of a whole new adventure. You see, we started at the back of our property and about half way into digging we noticed we had hit some cables in the ground. At the time we thought they were just old cables that had just been left in the ground. More on this a little later. It took all day and a trip to Lowes for some extra supplies but by the end of the day we had a new fence. Here's what it looks like now.

While the guys were out working in the yard, the ladies worked inside watching the kids and cooking enchiladas. They did a wonderful job at both. Dinner was delicious. The kids seemed to have had fun most of the time. Once dinner was over though, for some reason Joshua became a holy terror. He was screaming, crying, and throwing a fit. Nothing was stopping it either. What he really needed was a nap. He usually gets one some time in the afternoon, but with all that was going on he hadn't had one. He was a little better after he did get one, but not great.

So, while I was at Lowes, Susan calls me to tell me that our internet and cable tv is out and asked if I could call Charter and see why. I called them and they told me they would look into it and to call back in an hour or so if it was still not working. After a couple of hours had passed and the fence was done and everyone had left I checked the internet and cable tv to see if it was working, but it still was not. I called charter again and they told me they would have to send someone out on Monday to look at it. Luckily, I also have a Verizon connection card that I use while I'm out on the road, so we at least had access to the internet, even if it was slower than molasses.

So today, after I got home from doing some running around town, the guy from Charter shows up and tells me that everyone on our block that has Charter has lost their service. Turns out the underground cable we hit on the digging of the 1st post hole belonged to Charter. Yep! We hit a live one and killed the cable on our entire block. He had to dig up all the dirt and gravel around the post, splice new cable wires to the old, and bury them again. At least now we have our services back.

In other news for today. I got Joshua up and took him to his daycare. Susan has gotten an earier shift at her work and asked if I could take Joshua to daycare on my days off so that he could sleep in a little later on Mon. & Tues. I have no problem getting to spend a little more time with my boy in the mornings. After I dropped him off at daycare I went and finally got my new glasses back again. They were made right this time and I can see through them perfectly. I also took the check our neighbor gave us for his half of the cost of the fence to the bank. Then I went and paid off a loan we had. That was a nice feeling. And finally I went to Walmart to get a few items we needed at the house. I also kept myself productive at the house by doing some laundry, doing the dishes, and taking out the trash and recycle items.

Now I'm tired and I'm heading off to bed. Night y'all!

Lizards Leapin' Through Donuts & Fog.

Well, well, well. If it isn't Tuesday already. I guess a blog update is in order, huh? Ok.

Last week was a long work week. I drove over 3000 miles and didn't get home until 8:30am Sunday morning. I went from Dallas, TX to Houston, TX to Jackson, MS to Grenada, MS to Nashville, TN to Dallas, TX to Houston, TX to Harlingen, TX and finally back to Dallas, TX again. At least the paycheck's gonna look really good next week. To bad all the bills are going to eat it up.

After I was done working on Sunday I came home and decided to treat my wife & son to a day of fun. I brought donuts home for breakfast. It was Joshua's 1st donut. He's only eaten donut holes before Sunday. He loved it...Duh! For lunch, we met the Spencer's at Chili's. Joshua ate a corn dog and corn-on-the-cob. He loves both of those things. We even had to hide the corn-on-the-cob from him so he'd eat his corn dog. When he was done with the corn dog and we broke out the corn-on-the-cob he almost jumped out of his seat with excitement. It was hilarious to watch him go nuts eating it. When we finished with lunch, we headed to Leapin' Lizards. It's an indoor playground. It has blow-up bounce houses and a 4 story playscape. It also has a toddler area with quite a number of fun toys to play with. We all had a blast. Joshua was so tuckered out that he almost fell asleep in my arms on the way to the car. It didn't last long though. He woke up about 10 minutes after we got home and wasn't too happy that we were at home and not still at Leapin' Lizards. For dinner we ordered pizza. After dinner Joshua got a bath and when his tub was draining he began farting. Susan had me hurry and get the potty seat and she sat him down on it. She began reading a couple of books to him and all of a sudden we hear the potty playing music. He had pee-peed in the potty for the 2nd time since we've had the thing. He never pooped though, so it must have just been gas. After all that excitement, we put Joshua to bed and listened to him scream and cry about it until he gave up and fell asleep. He rarely does that. He usually goes to bed really easily. As for me, well, after having been up for more than 28 hours. I went to bed and crashed. I don't even remember my wife coming to bed or anything. She told me that at one point in the night I reached over, grabbed her hand, mumbled something she couldn't understand, and then turned back over. Oh well. At least I got a good night's rest.

Yesterday was spent mowing the grass, trimming bushes, raking leaves, putting down weed & feed, and watering the lawn. For dinner we ate fish sticks and mac-&-cheese and then aften a failed attempt at potty time with Joshua, he went to bed. When Susan went in to check on him before she headed off to bed she called me into his room to look at something. When I got there, his room was full of fog. I had added to much salt to the vaporizor and it fogged up his entire room. Even my glasses fogged up the moment I entered. Oops! We unplugged it and left it off for the night.

Anyway, now I'm all caught up and done with typing for now. Until next time.

Going Bonkers In The BlueBonnets With Diet Coke

It's been a crazy week. I only drove from Tuesday night until late Thursday night. I had to be home on Friday because my wife was having surgery early in the morning. It's only been two days since her surgery and she's is doing great. Actually, she's been doing great since the moment we left the hospital. Even if she is in any pain she's not acting like it. The nurse told her to take it easy for the next week and to not lift anything or do too many activities. Of course, that didn't stop her from carrying our son and running all over town for the last few days. She's such a tough cookie. I just hope she doesn't over do it.

After we left the hospital we went to pick up my new glasses. Everyone seems to like them. I like them too, but them seem to be giving me trouble with focusing. I've had them on since I got them, hoping that my eyes just neeeded to adjust to the new lenses, but they haven't. Tonight I was trying to read a story on the computer and it seemed so blury to me. I decided to put my old glasses on and discovered that I could see everything on the screen clearly. I'm going to have to take the new one's back tomorrow and get them redone. Unfortunately, that means I'll have to wear my old one's for a few more weeks.

On Saturday we meet my wife's mom and stepdad for breakfast at Golden Corral. Thanks again to them for buying our meals. After that we did some running around with the Spencers. First we went to Babies 'R' Us / Toys 'R' Us and bought a couple things, including a bubble lawn mower as a birthday gift Joshua. Yes, I know it's early, but we've been looking for this gift for a long time and finally found it. It was also the last one they had left. We also bought him a little Scooby-Doo toy to play with. We also did something very bad, by accident. We had picked up a pack of six socks for Joshua and forgot that they were behind his back. When we got out to the car and I picked him up out of the cart, there they were. I know it was wrong and we've never done it before, but since the door alarm didn't go off when we left the store and everything else was already in the car and we had other things to do we took them. We still are feeling the guilt.

Next we headed to Lewisville to a place called "Going Bonker's". It's a kids place that has a huge indoor jungle gym. Joshua and Adam had a blast! Heck, so did the adults. Daniel and I went though it with the kids and I can't speak for Daniel, but I had lots of fun and was very exhausted after. We must have played for 2 or more hours. I wish the place was closer. I'd love to take my son there more often. Later that evening we went to Pasado's for dinner and then ran to Khols to buy Joshua a shirt for him to wear for taking pictures in the Bluebonnets.

Today, us and the Spencer's went to do bluebonnet pictures out in Ennis, TX. First though we stopped in Wilmer, TX at Carl's Jr. to have lunch. I also bought 2 bottles of Diet Coke and a pack of Mentos. Yes, it was for what you're thinking. And if you don't know what I'm talking about drop a Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke and see what happens. Anyway, we got a bunch of good pictures in the bluebonnets and my wife will post the on our Flickr in the next few days.

Okay. I'm done for now. I'll be back again soon.

All About This Week And Think Pink!

Another week has come and gone. It ended up being a short work week for me. They didn't have enough loads to send me out on Tuesday night, so I didn't get started until Wednesday night. Even then, the whole work week was slow. I spent most of my time either sitting around waiting for the loads to finish being loaded or waiting for them to find a load for me to move. They did still manage to get me far enough away from home that when I got my final load for the week I wasn't able to make it home until 4am Sunday morning. So, my route for the week went like so; Dallas, TX to Houston, TX to Jackson, TN to Memphis, TN to Grenada, MS to Memphis, TN and back to Dallas, TX.

Anyway, enough about work. During the day on Sunday Susan, Joshua, & I went out to lunch at Taco Cabana. I had ordered a plate of nachos that comes with sour cream & guacamole in a little red corn tortilla bowl. Joshua wanted nothing to do with his lunch, but everything to do with eating that little red bowl I had. Then he wanted all the red colored chips that were in Daddy's nachos. It was all about the red stuff for him. Afterward, we went to Toy 'R' Us where Joshua scored a few new Wonder Color Markers, some A-B-C & 1-2-3 flash cards and a mini Magna Doodle for traveling with. We also made our usual grocery run at Wal-mart. They're remodeling our local Wal-mart, so nothing is where it's supposed to be at right now. We ended up spending the rest of the day at home. I used my new shovel that I got for Christmas for the first time. I used it to aerate the front yard a little so that our grass might have a chance at growing better this year. I also, finally, picked up all the leaves that were left in the yard. I should mention, I hate doing yard work. However, it has to be done and my wife won't let me pay a gardener to do it. I know we don't have that kind of money, but I REALLY HATE YARD WORK!!! Joshua got to ride his tricycle outside a little bit and also played with his big blue beach ball too. He loves getting to play in the yard. For dinner we both were too lazy to cook, so we had Pizza Hut deliver a couple pizzas and called it a night.

This morning my son decided he was not going to listen to anything anyone told him to do. He didn't want to get out of bed, he didn't want his diaper changed, he didn't want his waffle, (he loves bananas, so he ate that with no trouble) he didn't want to put his jacket on so he could go to daycare. Finally, I had had enough and he got whopped on the bottom. I feel bad for having to have done it, but it did put an end to the misbehaving. And when he came home tonight he was a very good little boy. While everyone was gone to work and daycare I went to the bank, to Verizon, and went and got a haircut. I think the woman did a good job on my hair. My wife thinks it's too short. She likes my hair when it's longer. I find it just to hard to manage. Once everyone was home again, we went out to dinner with the Howard's, minus their kids. The kids were at their Aunt & Uncle's house. We tried a new Mexican restaurant called Rio Mambo. The food wasn't too bad, not great, but not too bad. For once, Susan & I decided to have something a little stronger than tea or soda. So she had a margarita on the rocks and I had what they called a "Miami Vice". It was a mix of pina colada and strawberry daiquiri. It was really good.

After dinner, Joshua & I came home. Susan went over to her sister's so they could go for their walk. Oh, by the way, Susan and her sister are preparing themselves for the 3 day breast cancer walk that's taking place in November. For more information about it and to make a donation to help them out, go to Susan's 3 Day website and offer your support.

Okay. I'm done for now. Be back again soon.

Happy Birthday Daddy From A Totally Awesome Dude!

Happy Birthday to me! I am now old enough to know everything! Oh wait! I'm way passed being a teenager! Now I'm old enough to forget everything I knew. Damn! Anyway, today has been a busy day so far. Susan's B-day gift to me was an appointment with the optometrist to get new glasses. Thank you sweetheart. I haven't had new glasses in over 5 years. I took the exam and the doctor told me that my eyes have hardly changed at all. I picked out my new glasses and I'll have them in 2 weeks. I also went to the bank, paid on a loan we have, FedExed some house papers to our mortgage company, put insecticide on our dying bushes, fixed a drawer in the spare bathroom and anchored our son's changing table to the wall. I guess when things need to be done, it doesn't matter if it's your b-day or not. Tonight, for my B-day dinner, my wife is taking me to one of my favorite restaurants, Italianni's. I even have a coupon for a free dessert. (Their desserts are to die for!)

Oh, another thing I got for my birthday came from both my wife and my son. It is probably the most awesome present I have ever got. Check it out....


Susan said she had to record him for about 5 or more minutes before she could get him to say it. I totally love it! He is growing up so fast. I had to work an extra day this week and I missed him so much.

Anyway, like I said, I had to work an extra day this week and I didn't get home until 11:30pm Sunday night. So here was the route I had this week. I went from Dallas, TX to Shreveport, LA to Jackson, MS to Tupelo, MS to Jackson, TN to Houston, TX to Jackson, MS to Houston, TX to Harlingen, TX to Houston, TX and finally back to Dallas, TX. Unfortunately, I only get today off and then it's back to work tomorrow. I guess with so many people out of work I really shouldn't be complaining. My wife and I are both in fairly stable careers and consider ourselves to be really lucky people right now. I know so many people who are either looking for work, barely working, or just praying their job doesn't go away. I know things get better in the future, I just hope it happens before people really begin to suffer.

Alright, I've rambled enough. Everyone enjoy yourselves.

It's Curtains For The Snow, Joshua!

I guess it's time once again for me to peck at the keyboard a little bit. I never did learn how to type the correct way. My wife can type so fast I'm afraid her fingers are going to fly right off. I'm so slow at typing it's taken me 3 mins just to type this so far. Anyway enough about my lack of typing skills, here's how the last week has transpired.

Last Monday was spent putting up the boarder around the ceiling in our son's bathroom. I also put the outlet covers back on, put the mirror back on the wall, and put the lights back up above the mirror. The next day I put the shark picture that Daniel & Christina gave us into a frame, but I didn't have a hook to hang it up with. My wife bought on this weekend and hung it up for me (Thank you Love.) She also bought a few accessories and some decals to add the finishing touches the room. The bathroom was just about done. All that was left was to put the new vinyl shower curtain up. My mother-in-law took it out of the package and decided it was too wrinkly. So, she put it in the dryer. Can anyone guess what happens to vinyl when you put it in a dryer? Well, here's your answer......

My wife just about cried. The whole design of our bathroom was based on the shower curtain. On top of that, the design has been discontinued and is no longer sold at the stores. Luckily, I was able to find one exactly like it on ebay and Susan's mom bought it right away. We should have it in a few days and than finally the bathroom will be done.

My work week started off slow. My 1st run was from Dallas to Laredo. Then I went from there to Houston, with a 10hr break in the middle. From Houston I drove to San Antonio and then to Dallas. After another 10hr break there, I was sent to Baton Rouge. I took my next break there and was sent to Jackson, MS. However once I got there they didn't have a load available from there so, they sent me to Tupelo, MS. I stopped and took another 10hr break before I got there. When I woke up to start driving again the temperature outside had changed and it was really cold. I got to Tupelo, picked up my load and started heading for Dallas. About 1hr into my drive I received quite the surprise. It began snowing! I mean REALLY snowing! It got so bad that I had no other choice but to shut down in Memphis and wait until it stopped. I was stopped for about 3hrs. I hid in the fuel bay at our Memphis yard so that when it did stop snowing I wouldn't have to scrape snow and ice off my truck. Here's what it looked where I was stopped...

Once the snow finally stopped falling, I was able to slowly make my way home. I didn't reach dry ground until about 20 miles east of Little Rock, AR. From there it was smooth sailing. I didn't get home until almost 1pm Sunday. It's the latest time so far that I have been out driving since I started working the shift I'm on. I usually get home late Saturday or early Sunday morning.

My 21mo old son has been puting words together like crazy. He speaks so clearly for child his age. Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about...

Well, I've blogged long enough. I got other things I need to be doing. Enjoy yourselves!

Lots Of Miles To Paint.

Well, another week has come and gone. It was actually a pretty good week for us. I got over 3000 miles at work this week. That's about 500 miles more than usual. It's going to make for a nice paycheck next week.(Uncle Sam's gonna love it too, I'm sure.) Susan was able to work a full week too. That's because Joshua actually stayed well enough this week to stay in daycare all week long. Amazing!

This week I drove from Dallas to Birmingham and back. Then I drove from Dallas to Lubbock and back. My last run was from Dallas to New Orleans and back. Yep, all turn-arounds this week. That doesn't happen too often. It did keep me out until almost 6am Sunday morning though.

Last Sunday, Susan & I started working on redecorating the second bathroom. We tore down all the old wallpaper, textured and primed the walls, and taped off everything we didn't want painted. Once the work week ended and Saturday arrived Susan, Stephanie & Kaitlyn painted the bathroom while my mother-in-law made sure my son didn't try to help. A 21 month old is not the best person to tackle painting a room. Anyway, after they finished for the day there were only a few finishing touches to be done. Susan & I finished the rest of the painting today and now all that's left to do is take the tape off, put the wallpaper border up, and put the new bathroom accessories in. Once everything is done, we'll have us a bathroom that looks like a fish aquarium. My wife has been videoing every step of the process. She's also taken pictures and will most likely post them on Flickr when everything is done.

That's about all I've got for you. If I missed something, I'm sure it's in Susan's Blog. Go there and check it out.

Valentine's Day Mush

First of all, Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their day and was treated special by the one's they love. I know I was. I actually wasn't even supposed to be home today, but as luck would have it, my last load was cancelled due to the bills not being available. I was going to be headed from Dallas to Austin and back again. Instead, I was told to have a good weekend and got to come home. Since I wasn't expecting to be home today, I had to make a quick pit stop along the way and make sure I got my wife some flowers, candy, & a cute little stuffed red monkey with hearts for eyes. Susan seemed to like them all, but she loved the Valentine gift bag it came in. I knew she would. She love holiday bags. This one was red with hearts all over it. I don't think she has a Valentine gift bag. Well, now she does.

Joshua got a stuffed monkey as well. Susan bought him a brown monkey that holds a heart with a picture of Mommy & Daddy in it. If you want to see it and the look on his face when we gave it to him, go to her blog at http://susanigans.blogspot.com/ . I think it's one of the most awesome pictures of him we've ever taken.

I was given two Valentine's Day cards. One from my son and one from my wife. My wife also made me a batch of sugar cookies with frosting on top. They look delicious. One of them even says, " I Y Daddy". I can't wait to eat them. Anyway, I guess that's all I have for now. Everyone enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Hearing Mono In Stereo.

Let's pick up where we left off. On Sunday morning we woke up and Joshua still had a high fever. We made an appointment with the pediatrician's office and went in for yet another visit. This time the doctor was able to get a better look at Joshua's throat and saw that his tonsils were swollen and had white spots on them. He told us he wasn't sure , but he thinks it might be mono. Mono? A 20 month old can get mono? He said it's rare, but it can happen. The doctor decided to send us to the emergency at Cooks Children's Hospital for further testing. When we got there, the place was packed. Luckily, we got a room right away because we had a doctor's referral. We ended up spending about 4 or 5 hours there and the doctor told us that Joshua does have mono.

Then Monday rolls around. I watched my son at home all day, because Susan had to work and the daycare won't take him until the doctor releases him to go back. I expected to have a very long and difficult day with a very sickly little boy. Instead what I got was a boy who wanted to sleep almost all day and never ran a fever the whole time. When he was awake all he wanted to do was eat. I gave him fruit, he at it and wanted more. I gave him cheese crackers, he wanted more. I gave him gummy Cars, he wanted more. And so on and so forth. I also called the doctor to update him on Joshua's condition. However, it was me who got the surprise. Now the doctor is saying his tests show Joshua doesn't have mono. I told Susan what was going on. She and I agree that the symptoms Joshua has had are the same as mono. What else could it be? So, until we hear different, we're going to treat it as mono. Which just means giving him Tylenol to ease the pain. Later that night, when it was bedtime, he wasn't tired. He slept for about 2 hours and woke up screaming at midnight. Susan tried to comfort him but, that's not what he wanted. She could hear his tummy growling. He was hungry again. So at 1 in the morning I made mac & cheese and Joshua at it like it was going out of style. All I can say is, at least it did the trick. He was ready for bed and went straight to sleep.

On Tuesday it was the same thing. He slept until 10am. When he woke up, he was fussy and was crying for mommy. Mommy was at work already. So when I walked into his room he took one look at me and screamed, "NOOOOOOO!!!!! MOMMY!!!" and whet into a crying fit. Boy, I felt wanted. Oh, well. He'd just have to deal with it. The rest of our day together went okay. He mostly wanted to sleep again, but I tried to limit that so he might sleep better at night.

When Susan got home from work we all went out to dinner with her mom, David, and her brother. Actually, we first went to my work and dropped off my car so that after dinner she could just bring me to work and her and Joshua could head home. At dinner, Joshua didn't eat too good. He had already eaten plenty all day long, so he mostly just played with his food at dinner. When he was done, he began getting fussy and want to go. We weren't done yet and Joshua wasn't happy that he had to wait. More fussing ensued. When dinner ended, we got in the truck and in about 5 minutes he was asleep.

Once I got to work they already had a load ready for me to take to Houston. I got to Houston around 2am. Then they told me to take an empty trailer to Jackson, MS. I made it as far as Baton Rouge, LA and now I'm taking a break. That also mean that I need to quit typing an get some rest. Everyone enjoy your day.

Rodeo Fever

The last few days have been long and stressful. I've been out on the road going from Dallas to Houston to Memphis to Jonesboro and back to Dallas. My son continues to run a fever and the doctors he's seen cannot figure out why. My wife has missed work most of this week watching Joshua because his daycare won't keep him with while he's running a fever. He's seen 4 doctors since last Tuesday. He has been given a shot of antibiotics on Friday and Saturday. The fever still hasn't gone away. They've listened to his lungs, checked his ears, looked in his nose, examined his throat, and even had him get a chest x-ray. The results so far are all the same. They can't figure out what's wrong. Tomorrow we have to go back to the doctor again, but I'm not sure it's going to do us any good. I just don't feel that anyone's going to look at x-ray results over the weekend. He might get a third shot of antibiotics, but I'm not even sure of that. I just hope that my son gets to feeling better soon. I feel so helpless about it all.

Even though Joshua wasn't feeling too good today, we have had tickets to go to the Fort Worth Stockshow & Rodeo for months. Since Susan's Mom paid for them there was no way we would even consider bailing out on it now. I'm glad we didn't. We all had a good time. Joshua stayed in pretty good health most of the evening with only a few fever spikes the whole time. He did sleep quite a bit though. When he was awake, he was just in awe over everything. Especially during the rodeo. He just loved watching all the horses running all over the place. All-in-all I think everyone enjoy themselves.

Well, that's all for now. It's been a long day and I'm ready to call it quits.

Working With A Feverish Child.

It's Wednesday night and I am at home about to leave to work in a few minutes, but I have enough time to tell everyone about the last couple of days events.

So, yesterday my son's daycare called my wife and she had to leave work an hour early to get him. He was running a fever and with his history of febrile seizures they felt it was necessary he get picked up. I set a doctor's appt. for him and we all met up at his pediatrician's office. Unfortunately, his regular doctor was booked up and we had to see someone else. That someone else was the worst doctor I've ever met. She was very impersonal with us and our son. On top of that, every time my wife would try to ask a question she would cut her off and say something else. She was even dressed like she was on a date rather than working with little kids. It made us appreciate our normal pediatrician that much more.

Joshua's daycare has a policy that says if a child is sent home sick that he cannot return the next day. This posed a problem for Susan & I since I had to go to work last night and she had to work today. Normally, once I'm off to work I don't return until Sunday morning. Luckily, when I called my work and told them what was going on they were able to get me a turn-around to Abilene and back home. Susan's work let her come in late. So, Susan watched Joshua in the morning until 11am and I watched him until 6pm. Then my wife came home and took our son over to her sister's so I could get some long deserved sleep. I called my work and they aloud me to come in at midnight instead of 10pm so that I could get a few more hours sleep. I am really grateful for that.

Susan and Joshua return home around 9:30pm and Joshua went straight to bed. I got up and helped my wife unload some groceries that we need for the house. Now I am ready for work. Joshua keeps going between running a fever and not running a fever. I hope the little guy feels better in the morning. Otherwise, he'll have to see the doctor again and my wife will have to miss a whole day of work. This time I'll be gone and won't be able to return in the morning. I hope everything works out for the best.

It's time for me to pack up my stuff and head out. I'll post more later in the days to come.

Out With The Old And In With The New!

I figured it was time to join the crowd and move away from wordpress and start a new blog here. The customization seems to be more advanced on this site. I think mostly I was just getting bored and needed a change of pace. With that in mind, I am going to try to blog more often than I was on the other site. (we'll see how that goes.) Anyway, this is my first blog here and I want to try and set things up for my theme. So, for now this is all I'm go to say here. I'll type more later when I get this thing looking the way I want it to.