Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Keeping busy
Just for my loyal reader (smile). Things are busy as usual here at the house of K. We are preparing for our family vacation. This year, we're switching things up a bit and traveling down to Southern California to see Megan rather than the opposite. We're going to rent a beach house in San Clemente, CA for a week, take Kaylee to Disneyland for her 11th birthday, and visit friends and family that a good portion of our family (Kara and Randy) hasn't seen in a while.
It's been a pretty good summer so far even though we miss having the older girls here. It's strange not having them around but we're handling it pretty well because we'll all be together in a few weeks. Kaylee has been busy with church and dance and I've been driving her all over the place so that keeps me busy. And although business is slower this year for Randy, he's busy too. And things are picking up so that's nice.
Other than that, we've just been hanging around the pool, having friends from out of town visit, and pretty much just enjoying summer!
Hope summer is just as much fun for you!
See you in Cali!
It's been a pretty good summer so far even though we miss having the older girls here. It's strange not having them around but we're handling it pretty well because we'll all be together in a few weeks. Kaylee has been busy with church and dance and I've been driving her all over the place so that keeps me busy. And although business is slower this year for Randy, he's busy too. And things are picking up so that's nice.
Other than that, we've just been hanging around the pool, having friends from out of town visit, and pretty much just enjoying summer!
Hope summer is just as much fun for you!
See you in Cali!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Letting Go
I just had a conversation with my daughter Megan about letting go of childhood and embracing adulthood. I never realized that there is this possibility of teenagers actually not wanting to get older. It was a new revelation! It wasn't until I was already an adult and trying to survive in the big, bad world that I realized I missed childhood and all of the things that that represented, like spending time with my parents. It was sweet and heartbreaking to hear her talk about letting go.
She's 16 now and just received her driver's license and naturally wants a car to experience this new found freedom. The only problem is, she has to work for it. Her dad suggested selling her dirt bike to help pay for "freedom" but she didn't like that idea. Even though the bike is too small for her and her dad was selling his anyway and, even though they only do it about once a year, it represented a piece of her childhood that she's not ready to let go of.
This was the last activity that she and her dad had together and she didn't want to lose it. She was afraid that they wouldn't have anything else to share together and that would be it. Most teens wouldn't have blinked an eye if there was a way to get even one step closer to having their own car. At the same time, most parents would LOVE to know that their teenagers actually like spending time with them. And although Megan really wants her own car, the thought of not having this with her dad, I believe, scared her.
She and her dad will always be close. I believe that if she told him how she really felt, he'd understand and find another way to spend that precious time with her. Plus, I explained that she'll have the opportunity to create this same type of relationship and memories with her own children by doing with them the things she loved to do as a child.
I'm really proud of and admire her for recognizing what she was feeling and hopefully I helped her in some small way to let go a little of her childhood and start embracing the inevitable...adulthood. It's a slow, painful process but one we all have to face and hopefully, with the help of family and friends, she'll face it with strength, love and dignity.
She's 16 now and just received her driver's license and naturally wants a car to experience this new found freedom. The only problem is, she has to work for it. Her dad suggested selling her dirt bike to help pay for "freedom" but she didn't like that idea. Even though the bike is too small for her and her dad was selling his anyway and, even though they only do it about once a year, it represented a piece of her childhood that she's not ready to let go of.
This was the last activity that she and her dad had together and she didn't want to lose it. She was afraid that they wouldn't have anything else to share together and that would be it. Most teens wouldn't have blinked an eye if there was a way to get even one step closer to having their own car. At the same time, most parents would LOVE to know that their teenagers actually like spending time with them. And although Megan really wants her own car, the thought of not having this with her dad, I believe, scared her.
She and her dad will always be close. I believe that if she told him how she really felt, he'd understand and find another way to spend that precious time with her. Plus, I explained that she'll have the opportunity to create this same type of relationship and memories with her own children by doing with them the things she loved to do as a child.
I'm really proud of and admire her for recognizing what she was feeling and hopefully I helped her in some small way to let go a little of her childhood and start embracing the inevitable...adulthood. It's a slow, painful process but one we all have to face and hopefully, with the help of family and friends, she'll face it with strength, love and dignity.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Our Time in Texas
San Antonio, Texas is a great city. With an abundance of old west architecture, mission row, The Riverwalk and it's outlying countryside, it definitely has a lot to offer the first time tourist. Randy and I had a wonderful week relaxing, taking in the sights and celebrating our 10th year together!
Texas also has some of the best food and the nicest people in the U.S. Everywhere we went, we made friends and I think between the two of us, we gained enough weight to equal the amount of time we've been married! But it was worth every bite!
We really enjoyed ourselves and in the quaint town of Fredericksburg, we came across this sign in a storefront window that pretty much describes our trip to Texas and our new motto in life!
We really loved the German town of Fredericksburg. Only about 30 years ago, if you didn't speak German, the townspeople would not help you or sell you anything. That's how deep the German culture ran. But the need to survive surpassed the need to retain a cultural "island" and they let go of their rigid expectations. But the town has maintained it's uniqueness and beauty and it was one of the best days spent on our trip! By the way, you're allowed to drink outside of the pubs and restaurants. Needless to say, Randy was a happy camper and so was I! Who wants to sit in a dark pub when the sun was shining and there's shopping to be done!
This was our last day and we visited the Marketplace where one Mexican-American family built an empire starting with a little restaurant counter. This soon became Mi Tierra, the best Mexican Restaurant in San Antonio, or so they say. We had to try it for ourselves and we weren't disappointed. Across from the restaurant/bakery was this neat Mariachi Bar, complete with the painted brick wall that used to be a billboard for cigars.
Our neighbor, George Southern, is a San Antonio native and he gave us many suggestions on what to do while we were there. The best one was driving an hour out of town to visit his daughter's restaurant "Rails". We thought it would be cool to meet her and tell her we're friends with her father but unfortunately, she had left early. However, even after only eating an hour before, we decided to have a light lunch there because the food sounded so good and the service was outstanding! Again, we were not disappointed! The food was out of this world and the restaurant really has a nice, relaxing feel to it. We sat out on the patio and afterwards, toured the inside since it used to be an old train depot and has a really rich history to it. Ironically, Southern Railroad used to run by this station and so it's befitting that a "Southern" owns it!
In downtown San Antonio, the place to be is the Riverwalk. With every restaurant imaginable, a beautiful park-like setting and happy people everywhere, this IS the place to be on a warm summer night. Another place where you can take your drinks with you! We enjoyed the gondola ride and learning about the grassroots history of this fine city!
Of course there's the Alamo. It isn't as big as you think but it's BIG on history and learning of the history and the battles that this little mission endured, is a wonderful experience. Our hotel was right next door and across from that was a federal building that was haunted because it sat on the ground where the most lives were taken in battle. And another thing that was interesting to find out was that because it's a national monument, nothing can be built around it that would cast a shadow on it. So all of the city that has been built around this mission is either low to the ground or faces away from the monument so as not to cast a shadow on it.
Let's not forget that prior to our wonderful anniversary trip, I had to attend a conference, which was great by the way! At our hotel, which had a country-western theme of course, there was the long bar for those evenings after the conference when all you wanted to do was listen to the juke box and drink a cold one! This was the place to be!
Well, that was our trip to Texas. We had a great time and would like to go back someday. I think Randy wants to be a cowboy and move there! We didn't find a real country bar with cowboys dancing around but I did get to wear my boots so I was happy! We did however find some good BBQ, great Mexican food, wonderful cuisine, and some very lovely people!
Thanks Texas! Y'all got big hearts!!!
Texas also has some of the best food and the nicest people in the U.S. Everywhere we went, we made friends and I think between the two of us, we gained enough weight to equal the amount of time we've been married! But it was worth every bite!
We really enjoyed ourselves and in the quaint town of Fredericksburg, we came across this sign in a storefront window that pretty much describes our trip to Texas and our new motto in life!
We really loved the German town of Fredericksburg. Only about 30 years ago, if you didn't speak German, the townspeople would not help you or sell you anything. That's how deep the German culture ran. But the need to survive surpassed the need to retain a cultural "island" and they let go of their rigid expectations. But the town has maintained it's uniqueness and beauty and it was one of the best days spent on our trip! By the way, you're allowed to drink outside of the pubs and restaurants. Needless to say, Randy was a happy camper and so was I! Who wants to sit in a dark pub when the sun was shining and there's shopping to be done!
This was our last day and we visited the Marketplace where one Mexican-American family built an empire starting with a little restaurant counter. This soon became Mi Tierra, the best Mexican Restaurant in San Antonio, or so they say. We had to try it for ourselves and we weren't disappointed. Across from the restaurant/bakery was this neat Mariachi Bar, complete with the painted brick wall that used to be a billboard for cigars.
Our neighbor, George Southern, is a San Antonio native and he gave us many suggestions on what to do while we were there. The best one was driving an hour out of town to visit his daughter's restaurant "Rails". We thought it would be cool to meet her and tell her we're friends with her father but unfortunately, she had left early. However, even after only eating an hour before, we decided to have a light lunch there because the food sounded so good and the service was outstanding! Again, we were not disappointed! The food was out of this world and the restaurant really has a nice, relaxing feel to it. We sat out on the patio and afterwards, toured the inside since it used to be an old train depot and has a really rich history to it. Ironically, Southern Railroad used to run by this station and so it's befitting that a "Southern" owns it!
In downtown San Antonio, the place to be is the Riverwalk. With every restaurant imaginable, a beautiful park-like setting and happy people everywhere, this IS the place to be on a warm summer night. Another place where you can take your drinks with you! We enjoyed the gondola ride and learning about the grassroots history of this fine city!
Of course there's the Alamo. It isn't as big as you think but it's BIG on history and learning of the history and the battles that this little mission endured, is a wonderful experience. Our hotel was right next door and across from that was a federal building that was haunted because it sat on the ground where the most lives were taken in battle. And another thing that was interesting to find out was that because it's a national monument, nothing can be built around it that would cast a shadow on it. So all of the city that has been built around this mission is either low to the ground or faces away from the monument so as not to cast a shadow on it.
Let's not forget that prior to our wonderful anniversary trip, I had to attend a conference, which was great by the way! At our hotel, which had a country-western theme of course, there was the long bar for those evenings after the conference when all you wanted to do was listen to the juke box and drink a cold one! This was the place to be!
Well, that was our trip to Texas. We had a great time and would like to go back someday. I think Randy wants to be a cowboy and move there! We didn't find a real country bar with cowboys dancing around but I did get to wear my boots so I was happy! We did however find some good BBQ, great Mexican food, wonderful cuisine, and some very lovely people!
Thanks Texas! Y'all got big hearts!!!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day!
Today is Mother's Day and we've celebrated it somewhat quietly. We're also trying to get ready for our trip but even with all the work that needs to be done, my wonderful husband took time out of his busy schedule to take portraits of Kaylee and I.
The picture you see here is not a part of that session, but I thought I'd throw it in to give you something to look at until the real thing is ready. It was a very nice surprise and something I'll cherish always. He also gave the two of us (Kaylee and I) pedicures. So my Mother's Day has been VERY nice!
Now we're busy packing, charging our iPods and getting everything ready for a week away.
Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers in my life! Aunt Mary, Aunt Towana, Sandy, Karen, Lee, Gloria, Brenda, and Thao. All of you have made a difference in my life and I love you very much.
And a special thank you to my three daughters who make being a mom easy and VERY rewarding. I love you girls soooo much!
Thank you my love for making this and every day special and wonderful because you and our daughters are in it! I love you all ways!
T
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