Seriously!?

I seriously do not know where the time goes!  So much time has gone by, life has not changed.... much!

My son came home from Iraq in one piece, in September 2011.  By mid-November, his young little wife decided she wanted to be a free woman and left him with two babies.  His world slowly crumbled. 

In February, 2012, he asked if he and the kids could move in with me.

I absolutely love, love, love having these babies so close.  Being a part of their everyday life is just the sunshine of my each and every day.

My son is bitter that he has to live with mom.  At 24 years old and a father of two, I don't blame him.  But, he doesn't seem to understand just how fortunate he is to have a place to call home, the ability to go to school full time, and a safe place to raise his babies, for now.  It won't be forever.  Soon enough, he will be on his own again.

Once Again, Where Does the Time Go?

I just read my previous post.... posted more than a year ago!  In September 2010, and we were expecting another grandchild and hoping for a 01.11.11 date of birth.................

Our little guy will be 1 year old this week on Wednesday....  January 11, 2012!  Yep, he came naturally on 01.11.11 and get this, at 11:11am!  Our little guy made the local news, then national news, and finally went viral around the world, for all those ones in his little birth date and his daddy being there via Skype during his tour of duty in Iraq.  If that wasn't enough excitement... our little guy joined a big sister who was born on 09.09.09!

Of course, this Gramma could not be prouder.

A year later, daddy(my son) is home safely from Iraq, babies are growing like weeds.

It's a Boy!

Yep!  My second grandbaby is a boy!  Due date in January 2011, hoping for 01.11.11.  I do feel bad that our little BeeCharmer won't be "the baby" for much longer but she will always hold that special something between a Gramma and her first grandbaby.

We took our BeeCharmer to the fair last weekend.  She had a BLAST!  We were there only for a short time, enough to see the quilts and amateur photographs, and of course, the livestock! 

Our BeeCharmer thought the cows were hillarious!

Sunday Drives in Idaho, July 11, 2010

Normally, on Sundays, our day without our BeeCharmer, we take a drive to the mountains, our day adventures to places we haven't been before.  A few Sundays ago, we found ourselves at Blacks Creek Canyon...  what an AMAZING site.  My photo does not begin to do this scene justice.  It was absolutely breath-taking!

This canyon is deep, very deep!  You can barely see the dirt road we had ahead of us still, in the upper right third of this shot.  At the bottom of the canyon, was a beautiful, turquoise-bluegreen, bubbling river, Blacks Creek.  Look at those Ponderosa Pines... those are huge trees, dwarfed by the size of this canyon. 

Our drive that day was a long one, starting at east Boise and heading to Lucky Peak.  We continued on to Arrowrock Dam, taking the National Forest road along the reservoirs edge to the far end, where the Boise River becomes the reservoir.  It was there, at the head of the reservoir, that we crossed the river and headed up over the mountain on Slide Gulch Road.  We followed this all the way to Long Gulch Road.  Idaho mountains are amazing.  They are so much taller than the coastal mountains I grew up around in the Monterey Bay area of California.

After coming up over the mountain from the Boise River, we finally came to junction in where we could go three miles to the left and see the town of Prairie, Idaho.  Or, we could turn right on Blacks Creek Canyon Road.  We decided to check out Prairie, Idaho, first. 

Prairie, Idaho, is a very small town of just three streets.  It seems very peaceful there.  I often wonder, how people manage to live in such beautiful, out of the way places like Prairie, Idaho.

Back to our junction, we decided to take the Blacks Creek Road, a 42 mile ride back to Boise.  This is where we came across that amazing sight, the canyon pictured above.

Our travels took us up to another gorgeous view of Idaho country... where Blacks Creek drops into the Boise River and Arrowrock Reservoir.  We had no idea that what a pretty ride we would end up on that morning when we left the house.

This is the shot looking back at Blacks Creek as it merges with the Arrowrock Reservoir.  We dropped down from here into the desert and ended up at Interstate 84, near the Rest Stop, just east of Boise.  What a beautiful drive this day was!

Won't Be Long

This weekend my little BeeCharmer was standing in place, doing squats, and almost taking that big, brave step forward.  Won't be long, and she'll be all over the place!  I bet she's gonna be the best Yorkie herder ever! 

Baby?!!

The kids announced this past weekend, I'm gonna be a Gramma again!!! Yep, the kids are 14 wks along with their 2nd pregnancy. I wish our little BeeCharmer would be the only baby for a bit longer, but she will be the "Big Sister" at just 16 months. I'm excited, and nervous... my son will be in Iraq when this 2nd baby arrives.

Really?

I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted again!

I took a week and a half off work the end of June and got ready for a family get together and camping trip at McCall, Idaho. It was great to see family from California, New Orleans and Idaho, all in one place for a few days together.

My son, his wife & our little BeeCharmer from Idaho were there. My daughter was in from Southern California. My youngest brother and his wife and three kids from the Central Coast of California were there. My parents from Idaho were there. My nephew and his fiance from New Orleans were there. We had a great visit, a great time, memories that will last a lifetime were made.

Our BeeCharmer enjoyed her first fishing trip, the day before me and MyGuy made it up to McCall.

Oh, yes, she has legs... she just learned how to tuck her feet up under that tray. So cute!

The morning after we arrived, we were up early for an hour's drive to Riggins, Idaho, for the thrilling, whitewater raft trip down the Salmon River, The River of No Return.

That's my brother and his wife and son sitting up front. Me and MyGuy are behind them. An incredible experience!

After rafting we took another hour drive north, to Grangeville, Idaho. My brother's boss owns a 1540 acre ranch there and they had a feast waiting for us all. What a treat! Great people, great food! A good time was had by all. Beautiful country there.

We drove two hours back to camp. It was late and dark, and we were exhausted. What a beautiful day.

The next morning we had a pancake breakfast for the kids and just relaxed. Family started departing, as they had been there for a few days before we arrived. My son and his wife took their beautiful baby and were the first to leave. My brother and his family, and my nephew and his fiance had to leave the next day. My daughter had to leave the following day. So in the end, it was just me and MyGuy and my parents.

Our last full day there, MyGuy and I enjoyed a calm and peaceful canoe cruise up the Upper Payette River at the north end of the Payette Lake. We were out about two hours, and enjoyed every minute of it. We went around one bend and heard a tree crack crackle snap and fall to the forest floor. It was amazing. Then, into an inlet of a large pond off the main river, we came upon a young female moose feeding on the grassland there. Amazing again!

We had an amazing visit and fantastic time with family, full of beautiful campfires and wonderful food. It was a good for the soul kind of trip.

Oh! I forgot to mention a huge wind storm that blew through our campground, our last night we were there. We had been amazed by the timbering of a huge ponderosa pine in the wilds as we canoed around earlier that day. Then, later that night, I was scared to death by the falling of trees, one after another, in a horrific wind storm that hit the Long Valley of Idaho. The sky turned yellow from all the pine pollen as the storm hit. Lightening and thunder soon followed, darkening the sky. We were fortunate to only have a branch of one of these trees fall on the roof of our truck and bounce to the hood, putting a baseball size dent in the roof with a few scratches. There was no damage to our trailer.

Calling All Knitters

About a week and a half ago, I received an email from my local fancy yarn shop stating they have accepted a challenge to knit 2700 caps... in honor of our Troops.

The email went on to say, as many of us here in the Boise, Idaho area already know, the 116th Brigade from Idaho, Montana and Oregon is shipping out to Iraq in September. There are about 1500 soldiers from Idaho and 1200 from Montana and Oregon involved in this deployment. The Yarn Shoppe in Meridian, Idaho, has accepted this challenge to recruit knitters to help them make 2700 knitted caps to be given to the soldiers as they deploy. These caps will be used to keep the soldiers warm in the winter, and can also be soaked with water to keep their heads cooler in the summer under the military helmets.

You see, my son is in the 116th Idaho Army National Guard, and he has received orders for deployment to Iraq this September. He'll be sent to Fort Shelby, Mississippi, for a two month training before actual deployment to Iraq in November. His trainings have already increased to several two and half week trainings. He's completed two of these shorter trainings already. Sometimes, I can't breathe with the thought of him being deployed...

I took this photo of my son at his Basic Training Graduation, June 2008, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

I've completed my first cap (pictured above) and I'm on just my second cap, and plan to make as many as I can to help this crusade in honor of my son and his fellow Brigade brothers. In just one week, the empty basket at the Yarn Shoppe has filled with caps from so many others who have knitted in honor of our Troops. More caps are needed, I'm hoping to spread the word and meet the challenge of completing 2700 caps.

These caps must be made of 100% wool for safety and must be in medium to dark earth tone colors. I know the Yarn Shoppe has order plenty of Cascade 220 yard in these colors.

2 Weeks Later

I believe I have the BEST grandchild out there, though I know there's at least a few of you that may beg to differ. My little BeeCharmer, as I will refer to her for this blog sake, has just turned 9 months old this past week. Above is a pic from yesterday, my BeeCharmer was letting me know just how much she loved me..

I work fulltime outside the home, four 10-hr days, Monday thru Thursday which allows me to help with babysitting most Thursday nights, Fridays, and weekends. Not all weekend, the days do vary, but I will never say no to helping out the kids with watching this little girl.

Our BeeCharmer arrived on a beautiful, late summer morning, September 9, 2009. Below are pics from the hospital...

I will upload more pics later. Enjoy!

WOW!!!

OMGosh!! I cannot believe it's been more than a year since I've posted! Wow!!! A whole year!

Well, I am a very proud Gramma of a beautiful 8 month old granddaughter. She is the light of my life! A total Bee Charmer! I have never known a more happier baby. I'll share pics soon!

I've taken up knitting too. It was an old hobby of mine, long forgotten when I divorced the father of my children, all so many years ago (in 1993.) Divorce affects everyone differently, but for me, a huge part of me died when I divorced my one and only love of my life. Seems everything about me died with that horrific life event. I am so glad I've found my way back to knitting, and I will be posting pics of some of my projects.

And, for those of you who remember me... I love taking pics! And Santa brought me a new digital SLR this last Christmas! I'm so excited to get out and do some shooting! It's been so darn cold here, I haven't really had much energy to bundle up and go out. Especially, with a new baby to play with here at the house!

So, I'm going to try to get back to blogging, and hope I don't bore you to death with baby stories, knitting projects, and photos of my day outings.

Surviving Life

I started this blog when my guy went long haul trucking. I thought this would be a good venue for him to see what I'm up to, what I'm thinking, another source for us to stay connected. An old fashioned twitter of sorts, huh? lol

Well, as the years roll by, we seem to never see each other. Life's struggles are just as bumpy when you're not in the presence of your significant other on a daily basis. And maybe, life is even harder to deal with when you only have 24 to 48 hours to share in person with your man.

I find that I skip over all the real issues - bills, chores, things that just need to be done - and get to the fun in life, leaving the "to do" lists undone when he's home. Then, when he leaves, the list of "to do's" are still there, and I feel overwhelmed that nothing ever gets done unless I do them. And to be honest, some of the things, I just cannot physically do them. I feel bad for even mentioning this, I feel guilty even, knowing he just cannot be home. He has to work.

Then I remember, sure, he's not home every night, but he is home two or three days in a row before leaving again. Not as often, but sometimes he's home four to five days at a time. Many times, he's home during the week while I'm at work. So, in my mind, he's got time to do some of these "to do" things.

Then I think about how he's been gone on the road, and just sitting at home doing nothing, seems perfectly okay. I understand.

But then, I think about how darn tired I am after working 10 hour shifts with an hour and half lunch in the middle... makes for 12 hour days! I don't want to do any work when I get home either. But, come my days off, the dishes and laundry and mopping and cleaning, etc.... all needs to be done!

Don't get me wrong, I love my man, I love having fun with him.

Since I told him the other day, I want a husband, I have been thinking. Thinking long and hard about "us." What is "us?" Who are we? What are we doing? Gosh, I just turned 49 this year, he's in his 50's. I realize now, I want more from our relationship, and it's just not gonna happen.

It's just never easy.

I have a funny story... I get wound up and scared, pretty easily.

The other night, I'm sitting here, watching t.v. alone when I thought I heard someone at the front door. The door is dead bolted locked. Then, I heard a twist of the handle, a jiggle back and forth. Hmm... some one's out there and they seem to want in. I even thought I saw a shadow through the stained glass window next to the door! All of a sudden, I hear the weirdest sound, "zzz-zzzzz-zzz-zzzzzzz!" OMGosh! Some one's actually trying to drill their way into the house! OMG!!! It was about the time I thought my heart was going to LEAP out of my chest when a VHS tape popped out of the VCR!!! :::::::::try to breathe::::::::: (Auto eject!)

One of my dogs had probably stepped on the remote control (we have remotes all over the couch), turning the VCR on and there was a tape in the deck. The tape played, unbeknowned to me, all the way through, and when it reached the end of the tape, it automatically re-wound! (click, click, zzzzz-zzz-zzzzzzz-zzzzzzzzzzz...) OMGosh!!! I could have just died!!! LOL

I really do hate being alone!