Anyway, I've got to go to bed. Busy days ahead. And I don't want to have a keyboard imprint on my forehead.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Blogging In July
Monday, June 29, 2009
Trampoline Down The Backyard.
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.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Here's A Quickie!
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!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Sittin' Here Restin' My Bones
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.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother's Tire Of Lightning!
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.
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.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Long Trips And Family Adventures
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.
Monday, April 13, 2009
A Week Of Many Surprises.
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.