HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADDY

Today is Father's Day. I really wish I was down in MS with my dad today. He's been in the hospital since Friday. He's having a venogram done on Monday. I was supposed to leave Saturday morning to be with him, but a variety of things kept me from making the trip.

My dad and I have had a some what rocky relationship since my mom died in 1991. But as of the past year we seem to have gotten better. I think it got better after what transpired this past summer with my brother. We have made peace with each other, my dad and I.

He's been more willing to talk to me about family things, acknowledging things that can't be changed but knowing he did the best he could at the time.

My dad taught me to fish, to ride a horse, to drive a truck. He made me a wooden toy train set when I was little and always let me sit on his lap to drive the car. He's a wealth of knowledge and a bit of a hoarder. Do you need a toliet? My dad has 2 of them in his barn. Need a phone book from 1980, he's got one of those too. He can tell you anything about farm animals or how to grow the perfect crop of tomatoes.

My dad hasn't always been perfect, but he's always been my dad. And I love him very much.

Graduation Day

It was a long road. Been alot of struggles. Heartaches. It hasn't always been easy, but she finally did it. My neice graduated high school May 18, 2012. She turned 18 five days before too. Two milestones down. Many more to come.
I'm so proud of her!

Do you Pinterest?

Pinterest is my new addiction. It's my virtual crack. If you haven't heard of Pinterest, then you must have been under a rock... just kidding.  You need to go right now and sign up. Don't worry, I'll wait.
Oh you need the website? .http://pinterest.com/ There ya go.

What is Pinterest you ask? From the website:

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard.

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.
Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

It's like all your favorite things all in one place. Like ripping out your favorite things from a magazine and putting them on a bulletin board. And you can make tons of boards and name them.


Here's mine: http://pinterest.com/kristebrown/ And then start following me. I'll follow back too.

I have found tons of crafts, recipes and ideas that I love. And surprise surprise I have actually made some of the recipes.
Pizza muffins and banana bread pancakes. SOOOOO GOOD!!!

So go, start your own virtual board, and join in the addiction.

On Your Mark, Get Set...

GO!

Katie decided to run cross country this year. I know. We were just as surprised. She had said she wanted to do volleyball but then changed her mind and joined the cross country team this summer. She started running almost 5 miles a day in practice this July. We went and bought some cross country shoes and told her once we invested money in this sport she was going to do it for the full season. No quitting!

This past weekend was their 1st meet. It was split into Freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity. I have to say this course was a tough one. It was 2.1 miles with lots of hills. Katie pulled through it. She dug down deep and ran that race with everything she had.

She finished 7th for her school in the Freshman division and top 25 overall. This weekend is a 3.1 mile course. Not so many hills this time.
She really has come into her own this year. Maybe its the going to high school growing up or maybe turning 15 and getting closer to that magic number of being 18. Whatever it is, Katie is having a blast!

Playing Catch Up

It's funny how life gets away from you. I finally signed back into my blogger account last month. First I couldn't remember what email address I had used. Then I couldn't remember the passwords for anything. It's like a sudden case of password amnesia! I started to blog about everything that has happened in the past 5 months and got distracted by some serious issues in our own household and in a family member's home.
So just what has been going on for the past 5 months?

1. Issues with the house we were living in. Yes I said WERE living in. There will be a blog post on that debacle. Many posts on that. That took up May, June and July. Husband moved everything while I was out of town and secured a new place.

2.We had some excitement due to the "police" where we used to live. Apparently some people get their panties in a bunch if your teenagers have too many people coming to your house and rumors start from neighbors that you are dealing drugs, having the teens steal for you or god knows what other things these people came up with.

3.I went to spend time with family down south and all hell breaks lose. Both up here and down there.

4. My oldest daughter, Katie, became a Freshman in high school and started running cross country. Time trials are tomorrow at 730AM. Hoping for a good season!

5. I quit the distance learning college I was enrolled in. Very disappointed in how it was all run.

6. We got a new dog. Well, husband got a new dog. He picked her out. She's a border collie mix and thinks she is a lap dog. She barks at anything that moves outside.

I think that almost tells everything that has happened in an abridged version. The past months have been extremely stressful. I am still recovering as is my husband and the girls.We're slowly getting things back organized and back on track.

Things have happened that have destroyed family bonds, feelings have been hurt and trust has been broken. I don't know if some people will ever get over some of the things that have been said and done.

I'm not sure if I will blog about the family issues mentioned above. It seems like such a personal thing. I just don't know.....