The Waiting Game

Well, I didn't want to say anything until we knew something definite, but --- we made an offer on a house yesterday morning. But it's now 4:00 and we still havent heard anything, so I'm beginning to wonder what's going on? It was the house that Bo posted about, his associate/friend's house. It's a smaller house (1800 sq ft) compared to our now 2800 sq ft house, but I think it will be fine since it's only Bo, Mason & I now, and Mason for only about 3 more years or so. It needs some updating, but I think we would enjoy doing that to our liking. There was a bit of a problem though. A friend of the owner had said that she wanted the house before we ever looked at it. They didn't think she was serious, but wanted to check with her first. We're assuming they are checking/waiting on her decision. Another problem is that the owners are just starting to build a house and it won't be ready for 6 months or so. They really don't want to move until their new house is ready, so we might have to rent for a few months until that time. Why not just find another house, you might ask. Well, we think this house is really a good deal and we like it. It was custom built by the now-owners 16 years ago and they have never had any kids, so it is in really good shape, and has lots of nice features. It even has a nice tree in the back yard. I also really like the location, very centrally located. AND I'm so tired of looking at houses!! I've probably looked at 50-60 houses and have liked 2-3 of them in the price range we're trying to stay in. And as I mentioned in a previous blog, we had about decided to just rent for a while anyway.

OK... so that's what's going on. I'll keep ya posted! Thanks for asking!

It is a cold and windy Saturday morning. It's supposed to warm back up tomorrow and reach 80 by Tuesday, I think. Cool! I love warm weather. Although I have to say we have had such a mild winter. But it's been months since we've had any rain. It's really dry around here.

I sat and talked with a lady for a while the other day about religion. I really didn't say much, mostly just listened, but left feeling somewhat empty and sad. What I heard and what I usually hear from modern day religionists is so man-centered. It's all about us, and what we need to do (or stop doing). I can see how people become so disillusioned with religion. To me, it's so daunting, all the things they say we are to do. Where is the freedom in that?

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. Romans 7:18

Yes, but....

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you FREE! John 8:32

If the son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed! John 8:36

Mason is finished with 10th grade. He took finals this week and did OK. He made B's on Math & History exams, an A on his Bible exam, and D's on Chemistry & English exams. I'm not thrilled with Chemistry & English, but would expect that with what I found out last weekend, and am really happy with the rest. This has been such a tough week for me. I have struggled with all this so much. I have felt so many emotions about it and have just been so upset and worried about Mason through it all. There's a old saying that goes like this: 'You're only as sick as your secrets.' --Now Mason has no more dirty little secrets, just a clean slate and a clear conscience. He can move on and I know he will be fine. More than anything, I want the best for him. He really is such a fine boy, and I love him very much. ---Sometimes being a parent is hard.

Thanks Mary Helen for being there for me!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear GENDY,
Happy Birthday to you!

This is a sad blog entry for me to write and one I really don't want to write, but feel in my heart I should. I am very upset and disappointed about something I found out yesterday and feel it would be wrong for me to cover it up and pretend it never happened, and not at all beneficial to Mason for me to do so. So... here goes. First of all, about 2 months ago I caught Mason cheating on a Chemistry test. He had found the quiz and test keys I kept in a drawer in my office. I caught him pulling out the answers he had written on an index card from his sweatshirt pocket during the test. I was shocked that he would do such a thing. I don't know, I just have thought of Mason as someone who I never had to worry about doing such things. Anyway, he was punished and I moved and hid the quiz & test key books, not saying anything about it to anyone. He seemed very remorseful and tearfully promised me this was the first and only time he had cheated. I (the sucker that I am) believed him. Since then he has done OK on test and quizzes, usually not A's, as before, but OK (B's & C's). Well, yesterday when I was moving furniture, I lifted a chair cushion and found an index card with some writing on it. It didn't take long to figure out, these were cheat notes. My heart just sank. I got out the test key book and found the test key they were copied from and it was the 2nd test of this year! I didn't catch him cheating until a couple of months ago which was over halfway into the school year. Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out he had lied to me about only cheating on one test, so Bo & I confronted him and he tried to say this cheat note was the same one I caught him with before and yes, that was the only test he ever cheated on. After proving to him that it wasn't the same cheat note, he finally came clean and admitted he had been cheating in several subjects, but not all. But who can believe that after all this?? I believe he has probably cheated on most of his tests and quizzes for a long time and probably in the other two grades too. After all, the keys were in a drawer in my office the whole time, although you can be sure they are not there now.

I felt I needed to tell this because of all the glowing reports I have given you all on how well Mason has done in school since we started homeschooling. One reason it is a hard thing to tell is that I, as his teacher and mom feel it is a bad reflection on me. It sure is nice to tell how well he is doing and feel so proud of him. Makes me look like a great mom and teacher! But it's not so easy to tell this story. Also, I think it would be detrimental to Mason to cover this up for him, and he needs consequences for his actions, one of which is loosing the respect (be it ill-gotten) he had gained of others concerning his schoolwork, (--which I do believe can be earned back thru honest hard work).

Well, that's the end of this sad tale. Please know it is heartbreaking and humbling for me to tell it.

I'm having trouble going to sleep tonight, so I thought I'd just get up and blog a bit. I know.... it's only 11:00 pm, but I usually go to bed around 10:00 every night. Bo & I went to Amarillo today house-hunting, but we just didnt find anything that we want. Maybe I'm just too picky, I don't know. The prices and the property taxes are just so high! And I like the neighborhoods with the older houses, but don't particularly like the older houses. I like the newer houses, but don't like the newer neighborhoods. Well, redo an older house, you might say. And yes, that's a possiblity, but so far I haven't really found an older house with a layout that I like. They are just so chopped up with so many rooms. I like a very open layout. It's just such a big decision to make, and seems so permanant. I know it's not really permanant, but you know what I mean.... it's not easily reversed. Now we're even talking that we might just rent for a while.

It has been so cold here the last three days, but it's supposed to warm up tomorrow. Today the wind was really blowing and with the lower temperatures, it was pretty miserable to be out in it. After going to about 15 open houses, we went to eat at Ruby Tequila's Mexican Restaurant. It was pretty good and I only ate about half of my meal to save the room and calories for a capuccino on the way home. It wasn't a real capuccino, just one of those fake ones from Toot n Totem that have about a zillion calories. But I love those things and let myself splurge on one every so often. Bo got one of those strong coffees from Starbuck's.

I was in the mood for a change yesterday so I moved all my breakfast area furniture out and moved the den furniture in there. LOL. I know, sounds very silly, but I figured why the heck not, we'll only be here a few more weeks and nobody ever sits at the table in there (except for Jocelyne, when she's here and on her computer). This way Bo or Mason can sit in there and keep me company while I'm in the kitchen. I kinda like it this way.

Well, guess I'll go try to fall asleep again! Good night.

We have a contract on the house! I can't believe it, we're going to be moving to Amarillo (if everything goes thru OK). And we are happy with the price we got for it. Now we just have to find another house. I worked in Amarillo yesterday until 3:00, then had a realtor take me to 5 or 6 houses. I didn't like any of them, and really felt pretty discouraged all the way home last night, but I know we will find the right house. I seem to like a newer house on the inside, but like the charm of an older house on the outside, and I like lots of mature trees, which you just don't find much on a newer house. So..... we'll just have to keep looking. --A house is just a house and a temporary abode while we travel thru this life. But, this world is not our home and we will only be here a short time compared to all eternity in heaven. I gotta remember that!

We have been working on the house again this weekend (Saturday). Here's Bo fixing the ceiling around a skylight in the sunroom. And we painted Mason's room a beige color. Looks much better. Today some people came to look at the house. --Don't know if they liked it or not.

Bo & I went for a drive around big D while our house was being looked at, and other than that, we haven't done much today. We did have a good lesson this morning on Ephesians 2:1-10. That is such a great passage. Verses 1-3 describes our pitiful, depraved natural state, and would leave us feeling pretty hopeless if we just stopped there. Ah, but verse 4 and following brings such hope! BUT GOD, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us... My, my, how blessed we are that God is rich in mercy to us. After our lesson, we listened to a sermon by Todd Nibert. A passage in Matthew, chapter 16:15-17. I love that passage too. The Lord Jesus asked his diciples 'Whom say you that I am?' And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. The gospel IS a revelation, and cannot be understood thru the carnal reasoning of man. Only thru revelation from God. How blessed are all who have this revelation!!

Well, that's about it for me. Have a great week!

The weather forecast says 65 degrees today. Great! I love this beautiful weather we are having.

I worked in Amarillo yesterday and enjoyed the day. There's a girl named Toni that works with me who is very nice. I enjoyed visiting with her some, along with getting alot done at work.

I got a call about 3:00 or so yesterday afternoon and it was Cody. He had dropped a large concrete block on his finger at work and was at the Emergency room in Hereford. He had broken his finger. The middle finger on his right hand. He said it was very painful! He was out on the job all by himself, so he had to drive around looking for the hospital, finally stopping to ask for directions, and go in and get treated (with no one there to help him). LOL. I know he is 26 years old, but it was so hard for me to just stay at work and wait to hear how he was. I wanted to jump in the car and drive to Hereford to be with him. --But I didn't, and in a little while he called to say he was Ok and on his way home. After work I went to he & Jenny's house and visited with them for a while. He was doing better by then and the pain had subsided a good bit. He's got a splint on his finger that holds it straight out. Looks kinda funny since it is his middle finger! LOL. He is left handed so thankfully it won't effect his daily habitudes too much, although he said that at work, they were going to be laying some new gas lines next week, which meant he would be getting some good overtime, and now he doesn't think he'll be able to. He was kind of bummed out about that.

Before I left to come home, Corbin read some to me. I can't believe he can read so well and is only in kindergarten. He's such a smart little guy! Afterward Corbin & I went to get some ice cream, then I headed back to Dalhart, getting about home about 8:30. I gave Mason 2 quizzes and a Chemistry test, read some and went to bed.

Then & Now

THEN






NOW








My, how we've all changed in 38 or so years! I'm just guessing. I look around 12 yrs old in the first picture, but not sure exactly how long ago it was. I vaguely remember this trip to El Charro's Restaurant with my family. I really just remember seeing this picture all these years, more than the actual trip. I bet Mary Ellen remembers, but Gendy & Buster may not. It was one of the few times we all went out to eat together, especially in a nice restaurant. Nowadays a place like that wouldn't be considered a nice restaurant, but I think it was then, and this particular restaurant is still a nice restaurant today (much updating). We went there for a company party or something with the company my daddy worked for. I think we were all very excited to get to go, and very proud of our daddy for having the 'connections' to get us there. LOL. Funny. --The second picture was taken at Thanksgiving last year. Quite a goodlooking bunch, I'd say!

This is a lazy day. Nothing much to do. Bo worked in Gruver until about 2:00 or so, and I took Mason to Lana's a little while ago. He was bored and decided to call her and see if he could come out and spend the night tonight.

I have been listening to the audio book, 'The Kite Runner,' and just finished it a little while ago. I must say I think it is a GREAT book. I think one of the best I've ever read (or heard). It is about two boys that grew up together in Afghanistan. It is very well written and provokes so much feeling for the characters, --good & bad. It was a very sad story and brought me to tears several times, but I loved it. I'm sorry it's over and will miss the characters. --Oh, and I liked 'Memoirs of a Geisha' too, but not as much as this book. I am really enjoying my membership to Audible.com!

Have a good Saturday!

Goodbye My Friend

Bo & I took the motorcycle to Amarillo this morning to meet the guy who bought it. He and his wife drove up to get it. The transaction went fine and my friend, Val is gone now. I don't really feel sad about it. I would even say I feel kind of relieved. And there's more room in the garage now! But I do have some great memories of Bo & I's adventures on our motorcycles. A few years ago we took them to Yellowstone National Park and Mt Rushmore. That was a great trip! And I've had many good afternoons just riding it around here. As I said before, it is the end of an era in my life. --Time to move on, I guess.

Dyke stopped by the other day and said he just wanted to encourage me about selling the house. He said he drove some people by last weekend, and they really liked the house. They didn't look at it because I wasn't home and they didn't have their wives with them anyway. But, the wives will be here in a couple of weeks and they will want to look at it. Dyke said, 'Your house is going to sell real soon.' Of course, that could just be a salesman talking. I know one thing, it's not going to sell if he doesn't start showing it! LOL.

Bo's Uncle Johnny is in the hospital in Amarillo, so we stopped by to see him this morning and he seems to be doing pretty good. He had a small stroke. He will probably be going to a nursing home though when he gets out of rehab, which is where he is going after his hospital stay. He had a pretty bad stroke several years ago and was already disabled. Now he may not be able to care for himself anymore. Sad, but he seems to be taking it well.

After we left the hospital we went to eat at Ruby Tequila's. It was very good. Then Bo brought me back to Dalhart, and he went on to Gruver.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Well, someone outbid 'ol Steve, thank goodness! The auction was over at 10:00 this morning and a guy from Katy, Tx. made the winning bid. I am very pleased. I have sent an email to him confirming his purchase, but haven't heard back yet. I wish he would contact me. I will just feel better about it when I hear from him. But he has 48 hours to make a payment thru paypal, so it's probably OK. Guess I just got a little ansie after dealing with Steve. This guy from Katy has 438 positive feedback scores with Ebay so he sounds good!

I'm going to work this afternoon for a couple of hours at the courthouse. My friend, LuAnn called yesterday and asked if I could come help out and I said I would. Mason is going out to ride his dirtbike for a couple of hours. It's really a nice day out. Hope you enjoy yours!

Grrrrrr!

I am not too thrilled right now. I got onto the Ebay website a couple of hours ago to see how the bidding is going on my Valkyrie. I saw I had a message from Steve, the high bidder right now. He asked me to please omit his bid -due to foot surgery. Mmmm. Foot surgery? Did he not know he was having foot surgery just a few days ago when he bid on it in the first place? Grrrrr. If I omit his bid, it will delete all the bids and I'm back at square one with only a few hours left in the auction. (It ends tomorrow morning at 9:58 a.m.) Well, I sent him back a link to the
'Retract Bids' page. If I omit his bid, he just goes on his merry way, and I have lost money if the bidding doesnt get back up to where it is now, or it could possibly not sell at all, and I've lost my fees for listing the motorcycle on Ebay in the first place. If he has to retract, it will be investigated by Ebay and it will be listed on his account, so that's where I'm leaving it, I guess. --Hopefully, someone will outbid him by tomorrow morning. (I did get another message with questions from another interested person.) If not, Steve may just not take the motorcycle and I'm back where I started from, except I'm out $70 to Ebay. (Thanks alot Steve!)

I'll keep ya posted!

Corbin & I went for a walk in the canyon this afternoon. 4.25 miles! I couldn't believe he made it that far, but he did and with very little complaining. We walked down to a park that's just on the edge of the canyon and back thru to home again. We stopped and made his initials in the dirt with some rocks and we drug a stick in the sand all the way home, leaving a long continuous line on the trail. He got a drink out of the faucet at the park and played in a puddle it made for a bit. It all took us a couple of hours and was great fun (for me). I really enjoyed it. He's my sweet boy!

Well, it's been a pretty quiet week. Bo had planned to take Corbin & Mason skiing just for the day tomorrow (Saturday), but he called a little while ago and cancelled. He said something had come up at work and he just couldn't get away. So he won't be coming home tonight. He will be working again tomorrow and maybe Sunday too. He is a busy man! Mason & I are going to Amarillo tonight. We will go by Cody & Jenny's and get Corbin, go eat, and then go to see Nanny McPhee at the movies. At least that's what Corbin & I will be seeing. Mason may decide to see something else. We'll see. Then Corbin will come home with us for the weekend.

Mason & I went to Homeschool playgroup today. There's a boy there named Jediah, He's the same age as Mason. A few weeks ago, he told his mother he couldn't see out of one eye, so they took him to the Dr and started running tests. Come to find out, he has a brain tumor! He is scheduled for surgery on Monday morning. They should know by sometime Tuesday if it's malignant. Oh my gosh! My heart goes out to Jediah and his family. Please pray for them, and --may God's will be done.

Well, I guess that's it. We'll be heading out for Amarillo soon. Have a great weekend!

I put my motorcycle on Ebay yesterday and hey, I got a bid today! --A bid for the reserve price I was asking, so it is now sold even if nobody else bids. And if somebody else does bid, they will have to go higher. Wow! That was fast. Maybe I should put the house on Ebay. LOL

I really am glad it sold, but am a little sad too. Its the end of an era in my life. --My motorcyle riding era. LOL. I'll be riding with Bo from now on. But...... he's an excellent driver!

House Hunt

I found my house yesterday! --But we're not going to get it. We just have to wait until we sell this house before we can get another one. We could get a Bridge loan, and we even talked about it, but it's really kind of foolish to do that and pay all that interest on the bridge loan, & property taxes & insurance on two houses, until this one sells. That might put us in somewhat of a bind, and who knows when this house will sell. Could be next week and it could be a year from now. So darn, I guess we just better wait. That's just a little too out of my comfort zone. --But at least I am a little more encouraged that there are houses out there that I like and can afford. So that's good. I know things will work out just as they are 'predestined' to by God, and he certainly knows best!

And we know that ALL things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Saturday Morning Musings

I came across this quote this morning, and it got me to thinking. (I know, that can be dangerous!)

"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence."
Frederick Douglass

I like this quote and believe we WILL incur our own abhorrence if we don’t stay true to ourselves. I believe the reason we wouldn’t stay true to ourselves is really more selfish than staying true to ourselves anyway. It all goes back to that ‘people pleasing’ thing. In trying to make others like us and think well of us, we try to figure out what they would like or what would please them, and then we try to be that or say that, while we are around them. And we convince ourselves that this is a selfless and kind thing to do. But is it really, or is it just our coveting their favor? In doing this, we begin to loose ourselves, and as we loose ourselves, we resent the person we deem responsible for this. And who would that person be? None other than the person we are trying to please in the first place. But who is really responsible? WE are. For selfishly giving ourselves away in order to purchase their favor. (Most of the time, we don’t even gain their favor by doing this anyway. People just seem to be more drawn to TRUE people.) Now is that to say we should never do or say anything nice to others? Heavens NO! But we just should do it expecting nothing in return, do it because we care for them and want to see them happy, or simply because it’s the right thing to do. If those aren’t our motives, then perhaps we shouldn’t do it at all. –--Anyway, when we give ourselves away and are not true to ourselves, we begin to abhor ourselves, and when we abhor ourselves, how can we even be very pleasant to be around anyway? Kind of a vicious circle!

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't." Eleanor Roosevelt


Today's page in 'One Day At A Time':

If I can see myself clearly and honestly in relation to my present circumstances, I will not become the victim of self-pity or resentment. If I do what I should, I will be at peace with myself.

It is only when I compare my lot in life with that of others that the destructive emotion of self-pity is allowed to engulf me. It is only by taking offense at what others do that I will be afflicted with resentment. If I feel that what I am doing is right, I will not be dependent on the admiration or applause of others. It is gratifying, but not essential to my contentment.

I will learn to judge my own motives, to evaluate my own actions, so that, little by little, I can bring them into line with my standards and ideals.

Nothing has the power to hurt my feelings and stir up unwholesome emtions in me unless I allow it. I will do what is given me to do. I will do it as well as I can. That will be my inner security against which all outside battering will be powerless.

My Afternoon With Stew

I went to Amarillo yesterday. First I had a dentist appointment at 8:00, of which I was late for because I overslept. I very seldom ever oversleep. I don't know what got into me! I needed to be up at 5:30 in order to leave at 6:30 for Amarillo, and I woke up at about 5:55. I hate being late for an appointment and was very embarrassed and apologetic when I got there. Dr. Ritchie was very nice and understanding, even though I was his first appointment for the day, and he was having to wait for me. Ugh.

After my dentist appointment, which went very well, by the way, I went on to work and was there until midafternoon. Then I made my way over to Coldwell-Banker where I had a 3:30 appointment with Stew, the Amarillo real estate guy. First he spent 45 minutes with me in the office explaining procedure and showing me some descriptions of properties. He was very much a talker, so it seemed to take 2 or 3 times as long as I think it should have. But, he was a very nice man. Finally we got in his car to go and look at some houses. We looked at 6 places, I think and each one seemed to take much longer than need be. I can usually do a quick walk-thru and tell if I'm interested or not. If I am interested, then I want to spend some time, but if not, I'm ready to get out of there. Only one house interested me at all, and that one only slightly. I am really amazed at how some people leave their house to be shown, --and the prices! I would say three of the houses smelled really bad and were very cluttered and messy. Why would you leave your house like that when you're trying to sell it?? A mystery to me. And I couldn't believe the prices for those cluttered, messy houses! Ridiculous for what you would get. All along the way, Stew and I talked about various things. He was a 65 yr old catholic from Baltimore, MD, who takes piano lessons with his grand daughters and rides a Harley. LOL. As we were talking about updating houses, he told me he and his wife had lived in their house for 30 years and had been updating it the last couple of years. Then he said we were only a little ways from his house and he would like to show it to me (not to sell, mind you, just to show me his remodeling). I thought it was a little odd, but said OK. He called his wife and told her we were coming. When we pulled up to his house, I could see that it was a very nice house. We went inside and I met his wife, Mary Lou, who was also a very nice person. We toured his whole house and I must say it was beautiful. I ended up staying there for about 45 minutes just visiting with Stew and Mary Lou. They kept telling me I looked so much like a friend of theirs, Nancy Coons, who oddly enough, I knew! Her husband used to work for the same company as Bo. I don't see the resemblance at all, but anyway..... they informed me that Nancy & her husband, Lyle were getting divorced. Mmmmm. Interesting. --Anyway, I finally told Stew I needed to get back to my car so I could go get something to eat and start heading back to Dalhart. I got back to my car at 6:45 pm, went to Taco Villa for a burrito (not one bit healthy, but oh well) and got home about 8:30. I didn't even get to make my weekly trip to Walmart because it was so late! It was an interesting afternoon, and I guess somewhat profitable in that it gave me some more insight and something to compare with. And --old Stew was quite a character!

I did get to listen to my book, 'Memoirs of A Geisha' to and from Amarillo and am enjoying it very much.

This morning I drained and cleaned my fish aquarium. I'm really tired of messing with it and asked a friend if she would like to have it. She said yes and came to get it a little while ago. I'm glad to see it go.

Guess I'll get ready and go to the grocery store since I didn't make it to Walmart yesterday.

Have a great day!