The Quick Turn Around

Isn't it ironic that my whole trip to see HisGirl took less time than it has taken for me to post about why it was so quick?! Okay so here's the deal....
I found out quite a while back that she was going to be heading closer to my world and we immediately started pondering whether it were even plausible for me to meet up with her. Seeing as how she was going to be in town for work and by in town I mean 6-7 hours of driving away. We had decided that through the magic of airplines and online booking, we would be able to meet up for one night in Houston(which is a mere 3 1/2 hours of driving for me). Then the news came.

There was a snafu with the tickets and she would not be able to go through Houston on her way to Dallas at all but would have to go straight there and have no rendezvous with the BFF of all BFF's. That was really disappointing!

Anyway, life was moving on. Appointments were getting scheduled. I kept wishing in the back of my mind that there was some way that I could see her but there was always, "It's too far. There's not enough time for that kind of trip. There's no extra money in the budget for that." and we came to about a week or two before her trip and I just started wishing out loud. My husband responded to my ponderings with, "You could probably do it." HUH? REAlly?? "Yeah. You could probably do it as long as you're back in time for my surgery." Well ya don't have to tell ME twice buddy!!

SO - HisGirl was flying into Dallas on Wednesday afternoon at 1:18pm. My husband had to be to the hospital for surgery on his torn meniscus on Thursday morning at 6:15am. I had to be present to drive him there, drive him home and care for him after surgery. I also could not leave before Tuesday because I had to be home on Monday to attend his pre-op appointments. So that left me Tuesday afternoon(gotta go to PWOC don't ya know) through Wednesday night to drive to Dallas, pick up HisGirl and Jtothe2nd at the airport on Wednesday, visit and drive all the way back home.

Crazy. Insane. Maniacal. Apparently that's me.

Here are some wonderful blessings in my life that helped me make that possible.

• My wonderful Mother-in-law and Father-in-law live a really reasonable distance from the Dallas area and they are always kind to share their home with me.
• They were holding for us a used-but-new-to-us television that we have been trying to figure out how we were going to get down here.
• My wonderful and gracious husband allowed the risk of me not being home for his surgery to spend just a wee bit of time with someone who means a great deal to me.
  
• So, I drove up on Tuesday night after PWOC and picking up my car from the shop and stayed the night with hubby's parents. I got a good night's rest and on Wednesday with the help of a crew we loaded up the tv into the van and I headed down to Dallas to pick up the girls at the airport.
  

Also - it was HisGirl's birthday. HELLO. Can there be a better birthday present. I think not.

So there you go. I'll fully inform you on my husband's ailments and what we have been doing to help him pass the time while on convalescent leave in the days to come.

PS - Hubby and I got the TV unloaded from the van when I got home in the middle of the night, but it sat on the wagon for several days until the kids and I figured out how to get it up onto the tv stand without the help of the strongest person in the house.

Where In The World Is S4J? - Day 2 Continued

11:57am Heading South from here to the airport...



1:19pm Arrived at my destination! You guys are way too hip to me. You had me figured out right away!




1:29pm Picked up these...

HisGirl and Jtothe2nd

1:57pm Arrived at their swanky hotel and I spent some time taking pictures of the lovely lobby while they worked out the details of checking in...



3:10pm Time to eat and shop. Lunch at Rainforest Cafe...

3:15pm and because you people are harassing me about faces...



4:33pm After lunch we went around the Grapevine Mills Mall. We stopped in here...



Can you SEE the prices of these items? Jtothe2nd really loved that bowl sink AND those sunglasses.

5:09pm A little more fun back at the hotel before I had to be on my way home...


5:40pm I didn't get a picture of this because I was literally standing at the door when we heard a key in it. It was my Chica Wen who had just arrived from California!! I got to say, "Hello" and hug her before heading out for the 6 1/2 hour drive home.

8:19pm YAHOO! J-in-the-B for dinner!!
Arrived home around 12:30am

More later on the reason for the quick turn around.....

Where In The World Is S4J? - Day 2

Hey! Glad you came back to the South~ do you know that I blew right past my 300th post? This one marks number 302!
Anyway, Silly me, I went out without my camera this morning so you don't get any pics yet, but I will tell you these clues.

I stayed the night with family but this is not my final destination.

9:50am
I went to Target to buy some DVD+Rs (and can't we all just get along and not be (-) or (+) but just DVDR? Please? This is way more complicated than the simple folks like me can handle. I just want lots of space to store my pictures. I don't want to be out eighty bucks because my drive is a (+) but I bought (-) DVDs and already opened them before I even knew how wrong I was!
Anyway - so Target is your first clue. (You can deduce that I am not still at home)
After I left Target I went to Sonic for a breakfast sandwich and diet cherry Coke. I really like to eat at certain restaurants when I am away from home that I don't normally have the option of. Failing that, I will always go for what is familiar. I haven't had an opportunity yet to try either of my top 2. Which are Jack-in-the-Box and Del Taco.
Anyway, I need to get back to reloading the car and reprogramming the GPS and some other things before I am on my way. I will try to remember to drag out my camera soon.

Where In The World Is S4J?

Oohhh yeah! It's that time again! Time for an adventure. Here are some clues.....

Started out here with a full tank of gas and fresh transmission fluid.

2:04pm playlist: Eminem
(the service department was kind enough to leave my radio tuned to this choice music)

Stopped here to rest for a few minutes and play some more with the remote control I got for my camera as a gift for Christmas....

4:40pm iPod playlist - Take Us To The River (Robin Mark)

Time to fill up.....

7:11pm iPod playlist - Slowly (Avalon)

Getting late - but what a view.....

8:03pm iPod playlist Come Now Is The Time To Worship (Brian Doerksen)

Stopped for the night.....

8:48pm iPod Playlist - I Stand Amazed (Candi Pearson-Shelton)

Any guesses?

Look What I Did! And Did I Show You This?

Taking a page out of My Military Mansion, I made a super cute and useful project today out of all things I already had on hand!

My 16 year-old daughter got a Christmas gift of a tray loaded with wonderful bath items. She used the bath items but had no use for the tray. Tried it in the guest bathroom. No go. Tried it in the new master bedroom. No go. Then today it hit me, "It matches my craft corner!! HOW oh how can I incorporate it??"

So here's what I did:

Cleaned the tray, glued some cork to it...



and VOILA! A very chic cork board!


to replace this less than chic option:


Way cuter right?




And speaking of the craft corner; I can't remember if I ever showed you the finished product. Although it's not COMPLETELY finished, the stuff that is left, like possibly painting the desk and the chair, you'll mostly never notice.
But first, some before shots:

This is what the area looked like when we bought the house. I believe it was intended to be the dining area.



Then there was the intermediate craft/music/exercise area



And now the final draft:

Hamper Scamper

Your Mission:
Time to open up the leaf/leaves in your table and give the cracks a good clean out!!

Yet Another Reason NOT To Work Out

So - my ID card expired yesterday. We went to post first thing this morning to renew my ID card. It was about 8:30am and standing room only. I was faced with a very difficult choice. Stay and get my ID card handled OR join the torture club at the gym. There was no way I would make it to the gym if I stayed and handled my card. I chose to meet the ladies at the gym as part of my attempts at staying in the light.

Then I came home and showered to turn right around and have a girl's day out with my 13 year-old to join some of the ladies from the torture club At the viewing of the Hannah Montana movie. As soon as I was finished, I called hubby to meet us on post and get that ID card handled.

Soooo, tra la la - get to the front of the line to get on post and the guard takes my ID and scans it. Then he GOES AWAY. There I am - BLOCKING THE LINE and waiting and waiting. He comes back into view filling out paperwork and finally hands it to me but NOT MY ID CARD. "Your ID card is being confiscated because it is expired. Take this form with you to in/out processing to get a new one."

Moral of the story: I should not be working out.