OFF to COLLEGE goes MY BABY GIRL!

This was written on Sunday, after getting Shan all moved in- though posted today………..

Well, I don’t know where to start. Full of emotions. My Baby Girl, Shannon has just left to head back to Huntsville. She starts COLLEGE tomorrow. I am sitting at the kitchen table in my son, Dustin’s house. He and Tim are on the back patio replacing some siding and putting up gutters. Tim and his brother own 100 acres here in Saratoga. It is right by the Big Thicket National Forrest in East Texas. I love to be here. VERY PEACEFUL. At night you can see a million stars in the sky. It is dark at night. Not a streetlight in sight. Quiet as can be except for the creatures God created to sing or talk with the wind.......oh yeah, or bark, no HOWL, as the case is sometimes with Doc, my son, Eric's hound-dog!

Tim woke up very early yesterday morning to head to Saratoga so he could help Dustin this weekend. Shannon and I slept in a little bit then loaded her truck to move her in to her dorm at Sam Houston State University (SHSU). We could not have fit another thing in the back seat of her truck. I wasn’t driving which means I sleep on a road trip and my seat was so straight up it was quite difficult to sleep. But, never fear, I managed somehow!!!!!! Until the skies opened up to some mighty rain. We pulled off 45 and under the overpass to bring Shan’s suitcase FULL of clothes up front with us. “Where was it going?” was all I could think. We shoved in on top of my feet for the rest of the trip……fortunately was only 3 more exits down.

We pulled up to her dorm and it was still raining cats and dogs. We sat there for a while just looking at each other and finally decided to make a run for it to at least get checked in and get her key and go see her new living quarters. You can’t call it her room because she said “her room” is on River Park Drive and not at SHSU! OK, living quarters is the best I can come up with then. We were drenched but got the key and went to see the LQ………………ON THE 4TH FLOOR, MIND YOU, WITH NO ELEVATOR.

We decided it may never stop raining so we decided to "get ur done"! We made about 10 trips back and forth to her truck with arms loaded, things hanging on our heads, however we could tote it UP 4 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS. By the 2nd or 3rd trip, Mama was needing a break. I am too old and way out of shape. Reminder to my self that I need to EXERCISE. I told Shan, she was definitely going to get in shape with all the walking!!!!! Glad it’s her and not me! Just joking…………………. Oh yeah, another break was needed after the 4th. After the 5th. After the 6th. Long break after the 7th....8th....9th and 10th.

Anyway, below is her very cute and very cool new LQ!!!! We did good, Baby Girl!!!!!!!

Afterwards we headed to Saratoga to just relax and spend the next 15 hours or so chilling and enjoying peace before the SEPARATION.

Another blog to come about the SEPARATION……..

2 Years Today.......................

I am laying in the bed just chilling. It's been a strange day. A very strange day. First of all, today Tim and I celebrate 2 years of marriage. No, that's not strange. That is wonderful. That is joy. That is happiness. Strange is celebrating it with a tropical storm and funeral.

The tropical storm was really not much for us other than some very much needed steady rain. My flowers are grateful. The grass is grateful.

A dear co-worker of ours passed away on Thursday. He was a character. He was someone I will miss at work. A life cut way too short. He was struggling through some personal issues and dealing with a lot. It breaks my heart that he left this earth with so much going on. He leaves 2 sons, 19 and 25, who I watched today at his funeral be so strong. How sad they no longer have their dad around. Another reminder to me, life is precious. We are here on this earth but a breath. We need to live each day as if it were our last. One of my memories of David is that from the day he met me he called my Kimmie. I haven't liked anyone calling me that after my divorce. Mike called me that. But, I never minded David calling me Kimmie. I will now miss being called Kimmie.

Another reminder to me of what I have. My husband means the world to me. He is my fairy tale come true. He is all I have ever dreamed of. I look at him and see someone so very handsome. But that's not why I love him. He is a man of integrity. He is the real deal. Sometimes that is hard for me. I still struggle sometimes with my past and he is the one who suffers from that. BUT, he is patient. He is loving. He understands me better than I do myself. He loves me unconditionally. I am so grateful the Lord blessed our broken roads.

I'm in a mellow, melancholy mood. I am happy. I am sad. I am grateful. I know God has HIS plans in everything that happens. I know David is no longer suffering from the pain he was in last week. I know life is precious. I realize that. Life is good. Life is hard.

I love my Lord. I love my husband. I love my kiddos. I love my precious JD and Kenzie girl. I love my family..........my parents, brothers, sister-inlaws, neices and nephews, uncles, aunts, cousins......................I love my friends.......ones I don't get to see much anymore. Ones I see every day. I am grateful for them all. They are all life.......................................