tidbits

yesterday i drove to big spring, texas to pick up sniggles from her weekend with her biological father. during the brief 5-hour drive there i normally a) listen to talk radio, b) drink excessive amounts of coffee and c) consider things to blog about.

apparently the DR was good listening because i only came up with blog tidbits...

• i'm EAGERLY awaiting the arrival of my new lens...drew and i made a deal that if i were hired for the pecos prom, i could purchase a new lens for the upcoming wedding season. i'm terribly hesitant when it comes to buying new equipment for photography. thank you to drew for your encouragement. i love new toys.
• stroman's sentences are amazing me daily. when i pick him up from "school" he says things like, "I fall down on playground. I have owie on hand. Maria tiss (kiss) it for me. It get better. And I watch movie with Diego. Go Diego Go. I play with Avery and Soren and Luke."
• cyd is registered for kindergarten. she'll be going to generations and we're using it as a year to continue education and see if she's ready for public school. her august birthday gives us the option of waiting another year before she hits the big leagues. she'll have about 6 classmates and an incredible teacher.
• we had a garage sale a few weeks ago and cleaned out SO much stuff. i'm thinking we may set one up for next weekend...i have a couch that i am tired of & ready to replace.
• our next wedding is at this little dive. we can't wait to go back! have done a couple of weddings there before and it is an incredible place with terrific food and hosts.
• baby lexi is a mere 10 weeks away (or less!)... we've rearranged the kids rooms, gotten new bedding for them and for lexi. i'm a nesting fiend. cleaning, organizing, re-organizing what i've already organized, decluttering, thinking i'm totally running out of time...

have a great Tuesday!

what would you do?

we received a call late last night...about 10 p.m. on our land line, which is never good.

it was a girl who has babysat for us before.

she wanted us to cover for her because she told her mom she was here keeping the kids...i asked where she had been.

she told me she was at the movies with her boyfriend.

her mom is calling this a.m. to confirm that the girl has been at our house keeping our kids several times in the past few weeks.

she hasn't.

would you cover for the 16-year-old who is dating even though her parents don't want her to?
or would you give her up?

simply that time of year...

when coaches move.

and discuss job opportunities.

and dig out the resume to shine it up if something seems interesting.

it doesn't always mean that life isn't good. more often than not, looking at a new job is simply part of going through this time of the year.

here's my theory. coaches are constantly looking for the next challenge and when they hear about a program that needs revamping, most of the coaches think about how they could take on that challenge.

lately, drew has had some interesting options brought to the table from some different schools. and we are investigating the options.

but don't think that we won't be thrilled if we stay here. we have friends. the kids have a great school. we have a beautiful house. why wouldn't we want to stay?

the main draw is getting back to Texas. getting closer to family and being around more people who "get" us.

roswell hasn't been the MOST welcoming place i've ever lived. one man that i worked with on a project flat out told me not to try to hard to socialize with natives. "It just isn't worth the effort," he said. "If you didn't grow up with them, they won't ever let you in."

i'm a stubborn chick and didn't think that could possibly be true, but i've found that it isn't far from the truth.

example:
one night we were at a social function and a few ladies were raving about how much fun they have at book club. ignorantly, at the end of the evening i said, "next time you guys get together for book club, let me know. i'd love to come."

my vision of meeting new people was quickly shattered as it was awkwardly explained that the book club already had ten members and was, well, slightly exclusive.

i felt like an idiot. i never meant to put the woman in a strange spot by over-inviting myself. drew was dumbfounded as to what to say when i was in tears on the way home. i just felt stupid deep down in each cell of my body.

i woke the next day a bit past humiliated and was mad. i'm a decent person and damn it, a published author - of two books - and i'm not good enough for their book club? if i had any friends of my own i would have started my own club that day...not exclusive...everyone invited. i wouldn't even require them to be able to read. come one, come all!

disclaimer - i realize that not many people want to delve into a horse training book, but the point is that these people didn't know me or even care to take an hour one evening to see if i could put a sentence together.

back to today:
things are better. i have met some great people & made friends and drew & i even have couple friends that we hang out with. and, i need to give credit to those natives that i've become friends with now!

and we are 98% sure we've decided to stay put for a while.

of course, drew did get a call last night about an opportunity.