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!