Laugh AND Cry

There has only been one movie (Steel Magnolias) where I wanted to laugh AND cry at the same time. Then recently, at church, there was a lady teaching a lesson, where (because of her great sense of humor) I wanted to laugh AND cry at the same time. Now at our house- it is one of those laugh AND cry at the same time moments- the Petes are gone. We are sad, to miss their family- miss the bedtime hugs, miss Mason's happy face, miss watching Daniel diligently go off to Houston traffic and work every day- miss Ashley's great example of a mothers patience. (Ashley truly is an awesome example of total patience and kindness with the kids. Those kids will never totally appreciate her :) We are missing all of the family dinners and sitting together at church. (several people noticed today that we were "all alone") But... we are happy for their new adventure and we are happy to "move back into our house" :) It's going to take some "getting used to", that's for sure.

 The room that Jaden and Hailey had.

 The room that Ashley, Daniel, and Mason had.

This room is now my tile-carpet-wood floor-samples-room :)

 Only two towels hanging in the bathroom- and they are mine and Ron's :)

 I moved my clothes back into one of the empty closets.

 This picture is difficult to see- but we have a black TV sitting on my black sofa table, instead of the "OLD wooden entertainment center". That piece of furniture went in the garage sale not on the truck. Taking that out of our office, makes the room seem much larger. Plus, since I have no sofa to put the sofa table behind- it works pretty well, to have the TV sitting on it. The other thing that makes this room seem bigger is having two small end tables where a black chair, piled with stuff, was sitting.

So our house is empty- in more ways than one :)

Bandera Trip April 26/27

On Friday evening we took mom, and headed for San Antonio. (This was the first time that mom has been to the property in quite a while. And her first time to see anything on the progress on the house) We stopped for dinner at a German restaurant in Columbus. (We have decided that by the time the house is finished, we will have tried every restaurant, along I10, between Katy and San Antonio). We stayed in a LaQuinta, near Helotes on Friday night. Then went on to Bandera on Saturday morning. We thought we were going to watch them pour the foundation, on Saturday morning, but that got postponed because of chances of rain. Even though they probably could have poured it and finished on Saturday, it was better to error on the side of caution, than to take any chances. That is a HUGE piece of cement- it needs to be absolutely correct, in one pour without any complications. Here are a few pics- all of the foundation frame work is done, plumbing and electrical- that needs to be in the foundation done, all metal bar in place, all fill is bagged and in place. They will probably actually pour the cement some time this next week. I don't recall the exact number of cement trucks it will take, but let's just say....many.

Truck Headed to Utah

Ashley, Daniel, and Mason left this morning. A 26 foot truck, towing the a car. The only person that I could get pictures of was Mason. Ashley has done a great job during the past week sorting and packing! They took some furniture from our house (if it is not going to Bandera, it either went with the Petes, went in the garage sale, or went in the trash.) I still have more sorting to do- but we have a great start on clearing out our house. I was teasing Ron that he will have to sit on the baby toy car to watch TV,

 now that the sofas are gone :)

Bags of Rock

The foundation for our house consists of cement- metal bar- and bags of rock. Under the black plastic is more bags of rock than we can count- let's just say that there are 58 truck loads of rock under there. It's all "bagged"- the metal bar is being put in- the plumbing and electric is in- they will pour the cement next Saturday.

Hand Me Another Kleenex

Just about the time we think we have things "all figured out"- then everything changes! It has taken us 6 months to settle into a normal (?) routine with the Petes living here- at least we had a working bathroom schedule figured out :) The adjustment of Daniel going off to work everyday and Ash staying home with 3 kidos was accomplished. Since November- the adjustment of Ron being retired was made. Mom made it through her rigorous schedule of her chemo and surgery with flying colors. The store...well lets just say...it's been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs...and a few tears... but thanks to Nicki... things are moving along there and "coasting" to a close. Then in a couple of quick weeks, life as we have known it changed. Daniel, Hailey and Jaden left for Utah on Saturday. Ashley and I are trying to sort stuff out, get ready for garage sale, and get their things all packed up. There is a new job opportunity in Logan, Utah, for Daniel. Mom's doctor appointment schedule has dramatically tapered off. I still have to show up at the store about 3 days a week. And...Ron went back to work today :) (As soon as Daniel is not in the shower in the morning, Ron is. hehe)
Ron will be back at ConocoPhillips at 60%- probably Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. He will be at the office for now, but eventually working from home. (never fear, I will post more about him later :)
Here is the only picture we were able to get on Saturday, right before the kids left. Sorry, it was the best we could do. And, hand me another kleenex :(

Gotta go- I'm hauling stuff out of the attic today. I'm going to try to put Alison's stuff on the truck that will be going to Utah! Plus, remember, we are moving later this year, too. I'm only having 1 garage sale- so huge sorting project- it's either going to Bandera or not!! All of the "not" stuff is either trash or garage sale, now :)

This Week

You will need to get used to "house updates"- sorry but that seems to be the major project (if you don't count- the store, the Petes moving, and Ron going back to work part time :) This week, they finished the forms for the foundation and put in the plumbing. (Looks like they might be pouring the foundation about April 22 and starting the framing about a week after that.

April 11

Today...I am still celebrating my Dad and missing him. I'm really wishing he was here to help on our house building project. I hope he is proud of it when we are finished- although he wouldn't appreciate how much money we are spending :) I think he might appreciate our builder though, maybe a carpenter after his own heart. After we move in, I'll have one of Dad's cowboy hats hanging near the front door. I'll be missing him every time I drive past a golf course, near Bridlegate. And I'll be missing him as we enjoy the wildlife, trees, and river there. (Of course that area is "Texas style" nature instead of "Red Feather Lakes style" nature :)
Dad would have been 82 today.