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.