Hidden Blessings

Sometimes, unbeknownst to us, we have blessings that we don't see as blessings. For example, I was feeling a bit ill yesterday. I had been up for a good part of the night with stomach problems, so as a result, I was asleep on the couch when everyone else got out of bed. I wound up staying home from work to try to catch up on sleep and hope the stomach problems would stop. Well little did I know, but my wife and mother suddenly had it in their heads that since I am not lazy and never miss work, I must be hella sick! I have to admit, this annoyed me. I was harped on for harped on by my Mom to get to the doctor, and eventually my wife got in on the act. Well I eventually acquiesced, but with much reservation. Well one of the things that came from the doctors visit was that I decided to write down all the health issues I was currently having and bring them all up while I was there. I did that and I even talked at length with him about my anxiety. He thought about it and discussed the idea of prozac with me. I have a huge dislike for pills and especially pills like prozac. I decided that my anxiety had gotten to the point I had to try something. so here we go!

What a weekend!

This past weekend I have to admit was quite the whirlwind. But alot of great things came of it. The first being I am seeing my wife blossom and become such a great leader. She got a text from Lauren's cheerleading coach and it said she was ill and asked Katherine if she would take over for her Saturday. So seeing as how she knows each cheer by heart and had kinda already led them Thursday night, she gladly accepted. She did a great job. All those Girl Scout leadership classes are paying off! Plus she is pretty dang sexy when she is running stuff!

We came home from the football game and my gorgeous lovely wife proceeded to help me get the lawn taken care of. I did the riding mower stuff and she did the push mower stuff and we got done in record time! Which gave us time to get showered and go on our family date. It was great. Katherine had gotten entered in some drawing that coincided with a Rainbow vacuum demonstration and we got a gift certificate to Red Lobster for doing it. So we went and had what I would consider a top flight meal. After, we decided to go see the movie "Up". By far the best kids movie since Cars. I loved it and the day it comes out of DVD, I am buying it.

Then on Sunday, we had decided we were gonna go fishing. So we all got up and got breakfast and to my surprise, we were out of here by 11 to go fishing at Lake Fort Smith. We packed a lunch and our fishing poles and we were headed out. Lake Fort Smith day use area proved to not be the best spot for fishing, so we let Brook and Lauren play on the playground for a bit before heading out to Lee Creek to fulfill our fishing desires. By the time we got to Lee Creek, there were alot of other people that decided they wanted to fish too, so there were no spots. So we took of hiking on the nature trail that is out there. It was AWESOME! We had the biggest blast hiking down to a nice fresh water stream with the clearest, coolest water you have ever seen! We let the girls play in it for awhile and then noticed it was getting kinda late, so we headed back to the truck. We finally made it home around 5. Oh I almost forgot, we watched Wolverine, and it was awesome!

Four weeks down, only twelve to go!

Well I managed to successfully get through the first four weeks of the fall semester 2009. I was actually glad to have a couple of tests. I always hated practice in football, but I loved the games!! Probably the one thing I can say I am most proud of is the fact that I have stuck to my guns and done my reading and homework during the week as well as the weekend. I am no longer waiting till the day before things are due to work on them. So far, I have not been struggling to meet deadlines. As a matter of fact, I have a techical writing assignment due the 28th that I am pretty much done with. Oh and I have been doing my reading alot more consistently than I used to. I also downloaded a calendar for my computer. It is Mozilla Sunbird and I love it! I have been able to keep my online class assignments done on time and that was one of the biggest motivators for getting a calendar. I highly recommend it to anybody needing some free way to keep up with appts and assignments!

And it has begun.......

School has begun to get back into full swing and the homework is in abundance. I forgot about this part during my summer break. I have a ton to get done this weekend and I have vowed to lose my slacking attitude about get it done right before it is due. I am gonna devote at least 5 hours to getting things done this weekend! That's right, at least 5!

I am however gonna take tonight off from work and school and devote myself to some Kathy time. I think we are gonna go to the Crawford County Fair and see our friends Penny, Wayne and Maddie. Maddie has several rabbits and now a goat that she is showing at the fair. Then we may use our gift card for Red Lobster for a late dinner. All I know is I am hungry just thinking about it.

I have the best family support ever and sometimes I think I take it for granted. My Mom and Dad do so much for me it isn't funny. I have some issue with my F150 right now, so they are letting me use my old truck I gave them to get around, as usual . And Dad is gonna help me get the the problem fixed this weekend if we can. I think it is either a dry wheel bearing or a bad wheel bearing. We are gonna pull it apart and see. I sure appreciate having him around to help! Saves a ton of money! And I have a paper to do in Arkansas History, and I have the Crawford County ace historian just two doors down! I have decided to use John Drennen as my subject and Mom is gonna help me get some research together on him.

Kathy is so blossoming here lately. She has been attending the classes which will qualify her as a Girl Scout Leader! She absolutely shines in that role. I love the way she smiles when she is at an event for the girls or when she gets home from leading a meeting. It's like she was meant to be there doing the Girl Scout life.

Lauren has another activity she is just awesome at. She has taken up cheerleading and is so awesome! I knew she was peppy, but wow! and she knows all the cheers and all the moves that go with them after only two weeks!

Apart from the homework, my life is a blessing!

It's coming back, slowly, but coming back

I have to admit, after school started back last week, I was worried. I didn't have the zeal for school that I had prior to taking the summer off. It seemed I may have made a big mistake getting used to going home after work. I missed my family at night and was not feeling the groove any more. But tonight, as I was leaving the campus, I think I got it back. I stood back and admired my campus. And once again, I remembered how blessed I am to be here. I am learning and working for a better future. It will eventually lead to a degree and that is my brass ring right now.

Back in School and Loving it?

Well that time has rolled around. I am back to school and as much enthusiasm as I had before school started, I may not have retained it all just yet. I am finishing out my first week tonight, and so far I see homework being an issue possibly this semester. I kinda let it get out of hand last spring and had a bad habit of waiting till right before things were due to work on them and that usually took up alot of weekends. I would come home and say "I just don't feel like doing homework, I wanna relax and unwind". The one thing I did do correctly I think is I always worked on my online class on the same day each week. I had gotten in trouble by forgetting to do a quiz or turn in an assignment in online classes before and I thought a little bit of organization would be the trick. I was right. This year I have downloaded Mozilla Sunbird on my laptop as my calendar with reminders and it is already showing it's helpfulness by keeping the next 14 days tasks in a spot at the top of the calendar. I now know that by Monday I have to take a quiz and submit an assignment in my online class.

Katherine has been great this week. I pampered her some the last month before school and kep the house picked up and not looking bad in anticipation of her having to do the housework. Not only has she picked the housework back up, but she is mowing too now! I hate to have her do it, but she does it when I ain't home so I can't protest.

One of the things I am grateful for this semester is there are no midday classes that will cut my hours down and likewise, keep me from getting my work done. It seemed I had an endless to do list all last semester and that shouldn't be the case. Not to mention this semester will be one where I can get 40 hours a week, instead of 32!!

What I love about September

Let me start this off by saying I am a summer kind of guy. Love the warm weather and the sweat that is produced while working and having fun just the same. However around this time each year, I look forward to September and the cooler temps it will bring. One of my favorite memories is a September day in which a cold front came upon us and having not watched the weather, it was wholly unexpected to myself and John Vancuren Sr. and Jr. I remember we were visiting out in the street in from of John Jr.'s house and all the sudden the temperature dropped like 15-20 degrees! It was so nice and we all just sat there not saying a word and smiling. It was just a feeling of refreshment. I had no idea that at that time, John Sr. was not to be with us much longer, so that adds to the specialness of that moment. So now each year when old man weather brings us a cool front in late summer/early fall, I just kinda stop and take it in and give myself five minutes to enjoy both the joy of autumn's arrival and the memory of one of the few people I ever truly loved, John VanCuren Sr. RIP.