#37

Dean told me last night I needed to update my blog.  And, I couldn't help but think, "On so many levels."  I lost my blog background. I haven't written on it for months. I am struggling with the identity of the blog.


Because we all know a blog must have its own identity. I'm expecting to see self help books for blogs in bookstores any day. Good grief.


And, so I have been in a rut. My blog has been in a rut. And my loyal blog readers have paid the price. All two of you.


So, without further ado, I give you my 37th blog post of 2010.  37th. Can I still call myself a blogger when I only post 37 times in more than half the year?


My blog is for me and Dean and Torrey ... and anyone else who wants to lurk around. It isn't a cooking blog. It is about my family. It isn't a crafty blog. It is about my family. It isn't a preachy blog. It is about my family. And, today we are getting back to the basics. We are going back to the family.


Ahhhh ... the feeling of relief has just flooded over me. Because what I love and what I know and what I live for is my family. And, now my blog is going to live for my family too.

Hard

Today was a hard day ... for many different reasons. And, yet, it shouldn't have been hard. Make sense?


Torrey had a dentist appointment today ... for which we were late leaving the house. It sort of started my day off badly. That and the fact that insomnia is still hanging around. Dern.


I'm getting new cabinets in my classroom. Cabinets that came as a surprise at the end of the year. Cabinets that I did not want. They semi arrived today ... well, mine weren't actually in my room, but for the first time I found out where they were going to be. And, it may or may not have caused me to freak out.


Ok, it did.


The poor cabinet installer did his best to try to convince me it would be OK. He may or may not have succeeded. 


Ok, he did not.


And, in the midst of being late to the dentist and the cabinet fiasco, we found out that Torrey HAS to wear knee-length shorts for her missions trip next week. Last week's email said they could wear her summer uniform of Nike shorts. Knee-length shorts we do not have. At all. And, I really didn't want to have to go out and buy new shorts ... especially when finding anything that fits Torrey is difficult.


I was not in a good way. At all.


And, at some point I decided to grow up and act my age ... or at least the age I wish I was. Which would be younger than my actual age, but I didn't need to say that did I?


And I realized things can't be as bad as I think they are. 


Torrey was cavity-free today. As always. I may have a heart attack if they ever say she has a cavity. Her dentist was impressed with her teeth post-braces. Um, his wife is Torrey's orthodontist. HA!


Shorts ... we'll find shorts. Or, I will be sewing lace on Torrey's Nike shorts to make them knee-length.


I can't do a thing about the cabinets. They are what they are. I will probably hate them all year. Whatever.


Sometimes life is just hard. Not what you planned, but not the end of the world. You just have to figure out a way to muddle through ... we did that with snow cones today!


We made a trip to our favorite sno-cone stand ... and waited in line for over half an hour! We brought some friends ... Lauren who introduced me to the icy goodness and Roxanne (and her boys) who had never been. She was skeptical at first ... it didn't take more than one bite to realize the reason WHY the wait isn't so bad! We got a small dill pickle to try ... we all agreed it was disgusting and more than half of us spit it out. Goes to show not everything can be made into a sno-cone.


I mean ... would you buy a liver flavored sno-cone? Not even on your hardest day.

She Needed Rain Boots

For months Torrey has been asking for rain boots. I have not given in ... mostly because I figured they would sit in her closet and gather dust.


And, then we had the great monsoon of 2010 ... which were just the rain bands from the remnant of Hurricane Alex. Girlfriend now has the cutest pair of plaid rain boots ... and there has been no rain. None.


However, that will change on Wednesday. Yup, Bonnie is scheduled to make her appearance in Houston ... that would be "tropical something" Bonnie.  (The weather man actually used those words on the news tonight!) There is no "cone of uncertainty" ... just 5 different models showing whatever coming ashore in Galveston. Just south of Houston ... fantastic. 


Which means Torrey will get to wear her rain boots. When the second "tropical something" of the 2010 hurricane season makes an appearance in Houston. And, there have only been 2 "tropical somethings" this season. Yup, we are getting "something" from both of them.


Which means it may be a good thing we have hurricane insurance and rain boots ... looks like we might need it this year!

Insomnia is NOT my Friend!

Every now and then I get insomnia ... sleep, no matter how hard I try, will not come. It is gross. And, on my last nerve. There is nothing big on my mind ... just a lot of little things. Like this ...


-Loved going to Wicked last night. Loved. Loved. Loved. When Elphaba came out I cheered ... and Dean whispered to me, "What are you doing?" Next time he sees it he will cheer when she makes it to the stage too!


-Going to Linda and Paul's for the 4th tomorrow. Torrey helped me ice cookies. I made cupcakes too ... Dean announced they are both delicious. But, he loves him a cupcake made from scratch a Duncan Hines cake mix.


-Torrey finished summer school with an A. She officially has 3 credits under her belt for high school. We will NOT be doing summer school next summer. It was painful ... for all of us!


-Zoey has joined Zack in the "ailment brigade" ... and not in a good way. Zack has hip displasia ... which means at some point (in the far distant future) he may need hip replacement surgery. Fantastic. He is a dog, for crying out loud. Zoey was recently diagnosed with something or other with her knee joints ... basically they are too loose. She will need to have surgery (in the near future) to have her ligaments or joints or something tightened up. Again, a dog. Do I really need to tell you that our vet rolls out a red carpet when we arrive with any or all of the pets. Torrey's decision to be a vet may or may not be her choice. (I kid ... all her. Thank goodness!)


-The youth interns will be coming over for dinner on Friday night. There are 8 of them. How much will 8 college students eat? I have no idea. Going with bar-b-cue.


-July 1st has passed. But, not without a weird "back to school" dream. Every year ... I kid you not. They are all the same ... class arrives before I am ready and I don't know anyone's names and I lose a kid (or two) on the way to or from convocation. Stress. I could so be those kids moping behind their dad in the Staples commercial.


-I have been cruising around crafting websites. I seriously have spent days looking at EVERY idea. This is going to be a handmade Christmas ... because it is what I would want and because I think it is more thoughtful. I have found a plethora of ideas ... quiet books to die for, washer necklaces etc. etc. etc. 


-We bought new furniture for the family room. Joy! There may or may not have been an almost purchase of 3 pillows at an insane price. The cost of the fabric was $102 a yard. A YARD! Dean asked the sales woman if the fabric was made out of gold. I think that sticker shock is what sent me to crafting websites ... oh the pillows you could make!


-My mom called me on Thursday to see if we were floating away from Hurricane Alex. I laughed. Clearly I should not have done that ... yesterday was miserable. The last time I saw rain like that we had a day off from school because of flooding. We drove downtown to see Wicked. In the rain. Through puddles. There was a curb jumping incident because of flooding. FYI ... a navigation system in your car is no good when the streets ahead of you are flooded. Susie Sequoia kept trying to send us into the mess. Today, we all reveled at the sun ... and, wondered what it was!


-Yes, we name our navigation systems. The above mentioned Susie and there is also Elaine Garmain. We know for a fact we are not the only ones.


-Feeling like changes are coming for our family. Good changes. (Not getting bigger kind of changes!) Could be exciting changes. I am trying to become one with the changes ... because change is not always my friend.


-Dean and I have been married for EIGHTEEN years. Wowzers. We were such babies then ... still are. 


-I have been getting comments written in Chinese. I usually post all of my comments, but I do not and will not post those ... simply because I can't read them. So, to the loyal person across the world who keeps coming back, I'm not trying to be mean, but, I don't know what you are saying.


And, I think that is all I got. Hopefully I will now be able to sleep ... if not, I may be back!


Happy 4th!

Torrey Graduated from 8th Grade ... a Month Ago!

First, I realize I am late with this post. As in really late. The day was crazy.  With a capital C. And, around 10:00, when I thought I could call the day finished, I started getting text messages from my sister demanding to see pictures. I tried to do a post then, but the new computer and I were not bff's yet and I could not post any pictures to blogger from iPhoto. And, in my frustration almost decided to not do a post about the day. Almost.


The fun actually started on the night before. My parents flew into town. I was a bit giddy from having completed 15 (out of 16) conferences. Torrey was feeling like a high schooler. Prematurely I might add. And, there were gifts. It was a good night.

Oh, I forgot the BEST part. Someone got her braces off the day before. Joy. Joy. Joy. Perhaps she wasn't so premature with the high school thing after all!

 In between Grammy and Gram who enjoyed watching her open her presents.

Torrey got a charm bracelet for Christmas. Dean and I have had the most fun filling up the bracelet with charms that represent big days in Torrey's life. She got her class year and a shoe to represent heading into high school and her first dance. Linda and Paul gave her a diploma for 8th grade graduation and she got a popcorn charm for getting her braces off.

My parents got her a beautiful cross necklace from Israel. The stone inside is greenish-blue. Love it.

Someone enjoys a little cash. She squirreled it away in her savings account pretty quick. Proud of her for that!

Dean and I got her a guitar. She has been wanting one, but I didn't know she could play the thing.  She whipped it out and played a song.  She has been amazing us with songs she is teaching herself. Dean was hoping she wouldn't love it so he could have it for himself!

The next morning we headed to school for her graduation ceremony.

She walked in (and out) with her friend Ethan. Makes me sad to see her so grown up ... she has become an amazing young lady.


Each of the students were presented with a Bible (to use in their 9th grade Bible class) and a diploma. Her friend Elizabeth gave a beautiful speech. A young man who graduated from Second 5 or 6 years ago gave a challenge to the students. It was a lovely service.

The class of 2014. Torrey is smack dab in the middle!

My dad and I ran across the street before the service so my dad could buy Torrey flowers. She loved them ... and, he loved getting them for her!

Oh, sweet Torrey.  How much you are loved!  And, how much you love.  You have been our greatest gift ... beyond what we are worthy of! God has plans for you that are beyond your wildest imagination.  We can't wait to watch them unfold as He continues to grow you into the young lady He has planned for you to be since before you were born! Enjoy High School ... and make every moment count!

Torrey Elisabeth Townsend

Class of 2014

This Vacation is Brought to You by British Airways

This post marks the end of our trip to Israel in March.  Let me begin by saying that I should have done this either there or sooner ... I am blaming jet lag for the fact that I can't remember half of what we did!  Must go back.


Anyways, all was going according to plan until Tuesday.  On Tuesday we heard rumblings that British Airways was going on strike beginning Saturday ... which would be the day we were due to head home.  On British Airways.  We didn't take it seriously at first, but around 10pm Dean checked the status of our flight home only to discover our flight from London to Houston had been cancelled.  He then spent the next TWO hours on the phone with a customer service rep trying to find a way home.  She finally determined that our best bet would be to take the flight to London and hope that we could make it out on a flight on Monday.  


And, that is how we got to spend two days in London on British Airways.


I will stop here and admit that I had a hard time enjoying myself because I was beside myself that I was missing school on Monday.  I felt a bit unprofessional.  When I got home, my school didn't mind a bit ... and no one ever said anything about my jet lagged state.  And, trust me when I say that me in a jet lagged state is not pretty.  At all.


I will also say that jet lag was beginning to kick my butt in London.  


All that to say, we made the most of our time in London ... we figured out the tube (trial and error ... all I'm going to say), rode around on a tour bus, froze (we left a mediterranean country and live in the south ... winter is not our friend), ate fish and chips and mushed peas (Torrey loved), and reveled in the years and years of history that was all around us.  Must go back.

Dean and Torrey on the tube (aka the underground).  We liked it when it wasn't packed with people, which only happened once.  Because of the Olympic games coming to London in 2012, several of the lines were being repaired and we had to hop off and on a few times ... proud to say we became pros.  Sad to say it took a few errors to gain the pro status!

We stopped to take touristy pictures in front of a bank of telephone booths.  (And, shout out to me for putting two pictures side by side ... please don't ask me how I did it.  I have no clue!)

We rode around town on a double decker bus with a tour guide.  You hop off and on when you feel like it (or get bored) ... sometimes your tour guide is hilarious and sometimes not so much.  From the bus we passed the following sights ...

Westminister Abbey ... I think.  It could be St. Paul's Cathedral.  It could be Parliament.  Remember my comment in the first paragraph about doing this earlier?  I give you Exhibit A.

Big Ben.  He made it into quite a few of our pictures ... mainly because we stayed close to the river.

On the bus we learned that the light posts with crowns are on land that belongs to the Queen.  She owns quite a bit of London ... I'm just sayin'.

When Torrey saw a brochure for the London Eye, she HAD to ride it.  You get in a pod with 25 of your closest friends strangers and go around once.  It takes about 30 minutes.  The view is fantastic.  I do not advise riding if you are scared of heights as the entire pod is glass.  Torrey liked it from the ground, not so much from the top!

This was taken BEFORE we rode the Eye ... not as big of a smile afterwards.  Live and learn.  Live and learn.

We were close to the ground here ... either just got on or getting off.  Jet lag.  

The amazing view from the top.  You can see Big Ben, a boat on the Thames, Parliament, Westminster Abbey.  It was a clear day so we could see pretty far.  Worth the trip ... to me anyways.

  Torrey by the river with Big Ben in the background.

By far one of my favorite pictures from a vacation that wasn't supposed to be.  But, I'm glad it was because it was a great adventure for my little family.  Thanks British Airways!

A Sweet Surprise

I'm sure you are thinking that the "sweet surprise" is the fact that I am finally updating my blog. It has been awhile. So long, in fact, that my blog said "who are you?" when I tried to log on. Nice.


Today we headed to our favorite swimming hole. That would be the one in Linda and Paul's backyard. We spent Memorial Day there ... but, you didn't know that because the updates on the blog have been, well, never long ago. One day this summer you will check in and see an update about Memorial Day and you will smile because it was fun. But, I digress ... as usual.


Anyways, we went to Pinehurst with our towels, the dogs and the key to Linda and Paul's house ... because they weren't home. They are traveling across America to go to Paul Andrew and Stephanie's wedding. Summer School is keeping us home. You didn't know about Summer School? Man! I have to update the blog!


We pulled up to the house and there in the driveway was Mike and Jessica's truck ... because great minds think alike. Actually, Mike was on his way to the airport to attend the above mentioned wedding. He didn't stay long. At all. The rest of us thoroughly enjoyed an afternoon in the pool. A HOT afternoon in the pool.

A. enjoyed showing off his Spiderman bathing suit. The only time he spent out of the water was when he was on the side ready to jump in ... he is becoming quite the swimmer!

E. and her goggles. Scrumptious!  She swam and swam and swam ... and most of the time her goggles were perched precariously on her face. Later in the day I realized she was wearing the goggles, her life vest and purple beads. Girlfriend knows how to accessorize!

Just in case you think E. holds the market on scrumptious ... A. is pretty delicious himself! I had to take this picture because he wanted to see himself in the last one. Technology is amazing.

Torrey found a friend. A. announced that Torrey was his friend. Swoon. E. came up to me later in the day and said "Excuse me Ma'am. Would you get off that seat? I want to get on it." ... Ma'am.  

And, I totally sacrifice my dignity to show you this picture of A. swimming in the deep end ... and me in my bathing suit. Please, for the love of Pete, focus on the child!


We didn't know that Jess and the kids would be at the pool. We haven't seen them since they arrived back in the states from their exile in Germany. Love that they live close. Love that we could spend a quiet afternoon swimming together. Love that it won't be the last time.


We actually snuck up to Linda and Paul's because Torrey has been dying to get Zoey in the pool. Anyone who knows Zoey knows that she loves her family. Period. We knew that, while Hattie and Gussie are sweet dogs, they would have sent Zoey straight into therapy. So, since Hattie and Gussie were gone, today was our one and only chance.

Zack was a nut about the pool ... he didn't want to get out. Zoey wasn't quite sold on the whole pool experience. It didn't help that she walked up to the pool and walked right in ... I guess she thought she could walk on water. She did enjoy her perch on the float, though!


So, thanks Linda and Paul for letting us use the pool. Please don't take back your key!