Dad!

I forgot to say that my Dad visited this past week......Wednesday night! He made the trek to Devlon's for dinner. Devlon cooked yummy steak, asparagus, potatoes and Dad brought red wine! We had a relaxing time just chatting. I am thankful he makes it up here as often as he does...........it always makes for a nice surprise when he is in town! Love you Dad!

Good to Bad to Worse to Good

So this weekend was CRAZY! Friday night went to dinner with Chris and Heather for his 31st birthday! We had fun and Riley was SO cute and social!

Saturday I went to lunch with my friend Treasure and caught up on life! She gave me a fun iron cross for Christmas that I love! Then we went to IKEA........my first experience there. It was madness but fun. Next time I go back will be on a weekday in the middle of the day! So that is pretty much where the fun ended..........

I went to Michael's looking for the perfect scrapbook. My friend, Shawna, is leaving Dallas and moving to Nashville with her man. The department at work is going to make a little scrapbook for her. 20 minutes later at the checkout, I can't use the coupon....at least not until Sunday. Alrighty, move on to the next stop. Bank of America.......for some cash and a little deposit. Picture this......I am at the last drive up ATM (there are 2 at the one by my house). I enter all the information.........the computer freezes. My card is GONE. I call customer service and was greeted by a not friendly agent. He confirms very rudely that my card is in fact gone.......never to be seen again. 45 minutes on the phone and they cancelled that card and I will get a new one in 5-7 business days. Until then, I need to cash a check for money! I feel so old school! I wrote checks this weekend for groceries, at Home Depot and at Michael's. I held up the ATM line of about 12 cars for all that time, though I did explain myself to everyone.

Alrighty, next stop. CVS to fill a prescription. The guy tells me it will be $32.48. What? It is normally $10.00. He says my insurance policy is not active. I call United Healthcare, who confirms my insurance policy was terminated Dec 31st. Good thing I went to the ER before then! :) Meanwhile, I pay full price for the drug and drive to Devlon's.

Here is where the weekend improves. We went to dinner at his brother and wife's house.......had wine, played games and had a blast. It is nice that they live so close. Sunday we slept in, cooked breakfast, tried to replace the light in my bathroom (without success) and then ran errands. Relaxed last night with yummy venison stroganoff that Devlon cooked and a wonderful episode of Grey's Anatomy!

I got to work today and verified that I do have insurance, but the computer screwed up. Good thing I saved my insurance enrollment verification form, otherwise I would be SOL. DRAMAS!

So, how is that for a welcome back post???

Oklahoma Pictures

Just a few fun pictures from my weekend trip to Oklahoma! As usual, we had a great time! Brooke and I made cookies and muffins, read stories and "played". She is at such a fun age and is so sweet! She kept saying "I want you" as I was leaving. It made me so sad! She slept in my room 2 of the nights so we had a "sleepover".

Becca is also so sweet and fun! She says "Hi" to everyone, scrunches up her face as she smiles, and is so loving! We also did lots of reading and snuggling. Both of the girls have such laid back personalities, it amazes me how easily they adapt to new people and changes in their routines. I hope my babies (SOME DAY) are that easy-going, loving and fun!

Mel and I did lots of shopping as usual........also ate some yummy food and just relaxed. We watched a couple of movies, sat around and talked, and laughed at nonsense (which seems to happen anytime we are around each other). It was great to spend time with them, especially with Ben being in South America right now!

Anyways, I know I will see them in a few weeks as they pass thru Dallas and then in San Antonio for Mel's big 30 party!! :)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my younger brother Josh! He is 26 today........oh so young! I hope he has a wonderful birthday! He is the best little brother in the whole wide world! I am lucky to have him around! :) Have a day of fun, food and festivities! Love you

Oklahoma....

Is OK!! :)

I drove to Oklahoma Thursday morning to spend a long weekend with Mel and her girls, Brooke and Becca! Went with Mel to pick up Brooke from school and she was so excited to see "Aunt Tracy" she totally wiped out in the parking lot running to me! She was a bit shocked, but recovered well and we have had fun ever since! We ran around a bit on Thursday, I met the infamous Karen, we ate at Ted's for dinner (had a yummy margarita) and watched Wedding Crashers last night.

Today, Brooke went to school and Mel, Becca and me went shopping! I bought some fun things, got some good deals, we ate lunch at Chick-fil-a, more shopping and then picked up Brooke from school. We just got done making banana muffins (Brooke helped.....look for pics soon) and we are decorating gingerbread cookies tomorrow. More updates to follow.........

Devlon took the opportunity to hunt this weekend........he drove to SA last night and left this morning for the Ranch with Kevin and his 8yo son. I expect more deer meat.......he can hunt does and pigs this weekend.

Hope everyone is having a good Friday!

Wound update!

I know many of you are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for on update on my wound. Here is the latest............it is CLOSED! Last Thursday I wasn't able to get any packing it in and I decided just to cover it with a band-aid and go about my day.

So I am officially not draining, not open, cleared of staph, and back to a normal person!

Christmas??

I thought I took Christmas pictures of the family........but they aren't on my camera! That means they are either on my Mom's or Bethany's. So, close you eyes and imagine us kids (aka: Me, Josh & Bethany) sitting in front of the tree looking pretty!

Man, I am sad I didn't take many pictures this Christmas! Maybe someone will share.....?

Pics from Rancho La Fe - DISCLAIMER!

At long last, here are some pics from our New Year's trip. I know some people don't enjoy seeing dead animals, but alas, that was the purpose of our trip (along with seeing friends!). So here is "Bucky", Devlon's buck that he shot. He just mounted the horns on a European mount and he is currently looking for "the perfect" wall in his house to showcase it. The first picture is on "The Hill", the highest point at the ranch. That was right after midnight on New Years eve. The monuments are dedications (no dead people there!)......one is the naming of the ranch and dedicating it to Ed's (Devlon's friend) grandparents. The other is dedicating the ranch on the year 2000, and the other is a memorial to a mentor and family friend that helped them with all the logistics of the ranch. Very neat! There is also a pretty windmill on that hill that pumps the water all over the ranch.

The other pictures are of his pig.....which has no name. Devlon said I couldn't name a dead animal. His friend Kevin killed the bigger pig. Those pigs are UGLY and the boy pigs STINK. I was with Devlon when he shot the pig.

So, I know this post leaves some with a yucky feeling in their tummy and others excited (Uncle Kirk mostly!), but Devlon had a great time, which was all worth it in the end!!

I'm alive

I swear......I am alive! I haven't found the time to sit down and blog, and everytime I do, I realize I left my camera at Devlon's........so I don't have any updated pics to post yet. Hoping to post some next week for sure. All has been well...........my leg is healing nicely. I have been off the antibiotics for a while now. The wound is still "open", not really draining anymore, but it hasn't closed yet. I am able to just pack it a little bit......enough to keep it open. Maybe this weekend it will close up. Devlon has been GREAT at helping me take care of it, not being grossed out by my staph and the lovely place it manifested on my body. Fun times......guess he does love me :)

We had a great New Years. We went to Rancho La-Fe (aka "The Ranch")........some land that one of his best friend's family owns. We were in WAY south texas......south of Falfurrias.......4 hours south of San Antonio on 281. Yep, almost to Mexico. So much so that Border patrol was on their property daily looking for immigrants. It was HOT, like 90 degrees, but mucho fun. It was great to see Devlon in his element......with his friends, hunting and relaxing. We rung in the new year with a round of gunfire at midnight, a champagne toast, and then hit the sack for a morning hunt.

We got there Friday night late.....pretty much got settled it, visited and hit the sack. Devlon got up early to hunt with the guys. The girls slept in, got up late and cooked them breakfast. That afternoon, I went to the blind with Devlon. We only saw a few deer, none he could shoot. He shot a buck the morning after new years.......of course I didn't get up to go with him. I watched him clean it and pack it on ice. That afternoon I went with him again to hunt and he shot a pig! I wanted to name it but he said no! I named his buck "Bucky" and as we vacuum sealed the meat I labeled the loin "the fruit of bucky's loins" :)

We also set coyote traps, fed the cattle, drank some beer, relaxed and helped around the ranch (well.......the guys did all the hard work, we just cooked and made sure they had cold beer). We headed back to San Antonio and then back to big D.

Devlon's parents made a trip to SA to have dinner with my parents during the Christmas break. My Mom cooked a YUMMY meal and we had a couple hours of visiting. My Dad had already met his family, but my Mom hadn't........so it was a great opportunity for the future in-laws to visit.

Other news.......heading to Houston this weekend to tile a friend's kitched and visit Josh & Tracy, then to Oklahoma the following weekend. So excited to see Melissa and "my girls". Devlon will make another trip to the ranch and try for a doe or two while I am in Oklahoma.

That is all I've got in me! Look for pics soon.........hope all is well!