My life...just not on the road I expected (but it's still dang good).

The Makeover Part II

After hitting the tub, we headed downstairs to the make-shift spa-station I set up. (I know it's a little cheesy, but she's six so she thought it was quite fabulous.)

The first part of her treatment included a face-mask and a foot-soak  (in the dog's water dish.)

And we both continued on in perfect character; me as a haughty spa-employee with a bad English accent and her as a sophisticated spa-patron.

The next part of her treatment involved  loofah-ing (tickling) her feet until she couldn't stand it any more.

But before her face-mask had even dried, she was ready to wash it off. (She didn't like how it felt.)

And then I took to blow-drying my client's hair.

Never before had I held a camera in one hand and a blow-dryer in the other.

And then I painted her fingers.

And her toes.

And used pink, sparkly polish with hearts in it.

And while I was taking pictures of her on the couch, she broke out of character for a minute and said, "Mom, this is really special to me because you spent all this time just doing this stuff for me."

I just kind of paused for a minute because even though she's so little (She's the smallest kid in her class.) sometimes she seems really big.

And then we went to The Roadhouse for dinner. (Her pick.) 

Because she loves to crack their peanuts and throw the shells on the ground (but she doesn't like to eat the peanuts so she saves them for me).

What she really loves though is their rolls and honey butter.

She ate four of them (and none of her dinner.)

And then she broke out in a song of appreciation for her dinner rolls.

Something only a true-carb loving girl can understand.

The Makeover Part I

Josh and Coley decided they needed a 'mancation', so after school last Friday, they drove down to Redding, California (a 2 1/2 our drive) to have In-N-Out burgers and to watch The Avengers. Then they slept in the truck.

I have no pictures of that though, because my husband didn't take any.

It was just Annie and I left at home (Courtney Lee was at her mom's.) so I asked Annie what she wanted to do.

Her response?...She wanted a make-over (My hopes of raising a tomboy are officially dashed.) so we did just that.

And I (of course) took lots of photos...

Her makeover started with a tub (because she's a grimy six-year-old, who hadn't had a bath in three days.)

And to trick her into thinking that a tub was part of her 'makeover', I added bubbles.

And I talked in my best (worst) English-accent the whole time.

And said things like, "Madam, is the temperature of the bawth-water to your liking?"

But she didn't know what that meant so I asked her if the water was too hot instead.

And then I shot. And shot. And shot some more.

And she giggled every time I said something in my best (worst) English-accent.

And then she'd try to quit giggling so she could get back into character (as a highly-sophisticated spa-client).

And she played. And played. And played some more.

And she did lots of funny things just to get a laugh out of me (like she always does.)

And I'd laugh and then quickly try to get back into character (as a sophisticated, spa employee with a really bad English-accent.)

And then it was time to wash her grimy hair that hadn't been washed in three days. (Ok, maybe four, but who's counting?)

And then it was time to get out of the tub because there was lots more 'makovering' to do. (Will try to get those shots posted tomorrow.)

Until the Battery Ran Out

She was breaking open pods to find larva to add to her ever-growing bug collection, so I just kept shooting until I ran out of batteries...

Have been thinking so much about how big all these kids are getting and how quick it's all going.

Makes me happy that this one is still little and that she doesn't grow tired of having her picture taken like the older ones do.

Love you Yans. (Her name is Annaliesa, but no one has ever called her that. She's just always been Annie. And when she was little, she called herself Yannie and somewhere along the way, I started calling her Yannie too...or Yanners...or just Yan. Mostly Yan.)

Mother's Day

Didn't do a whole lot of shooting on Mother's Day, but I did do a whole lot of stuff...

We hit the grocery store around 8:00 and was at Grandma Jo's house by about 9:00, where Josh and Jamey (Josh's brother) cooked breakfast. (Biscuits & Gravy, eggs and O.J.)

I didn't take many shots of that process though because every time Josh saw my camera, he made that face.

And then Annie sang a little song for all the moms in the house. (Me, Josh's mom and Josh's grandma.)

That's Josh's mom. (Grandma Jo.)

And that's Josh's Grandma. (Anna Mae.)

And then we hung out a bit, played a little softball and helped Annie with her bug catching expedition. (Will try to post some of the bug hunting shots tomorrow.)

Didn't see much of Coley. (He stayed up too late on both Friday and Saturday night so he slept most of the day on Sunday - and when he was awake, he was in trouble for running his big, cranky mouth.)

Courtney Lee was at her mom's and Roscoe-T is living up in Washington now, so I didn't see those two at all. (But I did get to talk to both of them - Courtney called me bright & early and Ross Skyped with us in the evening.)

And I didn't see my own mom either because she spent the day fishing.

Around noon, we headed over to my dad and step-mom's house, but I didn't get any pictures there because my battery was dead.

Around 3:30, we headed out for a softball game.

And by 9:00, I was in bed, eating Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk while watching Friday Night Lights on Netflix.

Doesn't get much better than that.

Hope yours was good.

I'll Be Back...

Having computer problems again so I'll be back once I get them resolved.

I hate computers.

Normal

It seems like everything I heard and everyone I know (especially military members/military wives) was warning me that the transition after Josh came home from Afghanistan was going to be hard.

His boss even called me called me a few weeks before Josh was due to come home to talk to me about it - saying that after six months of being home from Afghanistan, things were just starting to get back to normal for him and his own family and that I should be prepared for the same.

I listened to it and I believed it, but I guess there was a part of me that just assumed that we would be the exception. Maybe because Josh is an engineer in the Air Force and even though the amount of travel he had to do in Afghanistan was unsafe, he wasn't exposed to the kind of action that a lot of military members are exposed to. Maybe because Josh is the most solid, stable, grounded person I know. Maybe because our relationship has always been so good.

I guess I thought that somehow we'd just come back together after those seven months and everything would be normal.

It hasn't been normal though.

It's been a mix of wonderful and hard. 

Very wonderful.

And very hard.

But definitely not normal.

And after a particularly bad day, where we had to sit down and talk about some stuff that isn't so easy to talk about (especially for a non-communicator like Josh Downs) I'm starting to feel like maybe things are finally getting back to normal.

Maybe even better than normal.

And walking down the hall to see this the other night made me realize it...

Somehow they ended up wrestling in Courtney's room even though Courtney was at her mom's. (Josh is protecting his ears because Annie's only wrestling move is ear-pinching.)

And it just reminded me of how much I love normalcy.

How easy it is to take it for granted.

How sorely it's missed when it's no longer there.

And how beautiful it is when it returns.

Friday

Ross and I spent most of the day together on Friday (before he moved on Saturday) just hanging out and talking.

Then we picked the little kids up from school, loaded up the car and headed out to my mom's house. (It's a long story, but my mom used to own this propery, but then she sold it to her brother and now they're both living on it.)

Ross has known this place since he was a newborn and I think it's probably his favorite place on earth.

As soon as we got there, we went for a walk. (It's tick season and even though I checked the kids over before bed, Annie still got one on the top of her head. I just marked a big circle around it with a Sharpie pen per the doctors recommendation so I can keep an eye on it though and all looks well.)

Ross comes up here and sleeps in that teepee all the time.

That sweatshirt is just a much-loved hand-me-down from Ross. (Don't let the name fool you, it's NOT a Christian band...and it's NOT something my 11 year old son is allowed to listen to.)

Roscoe-T really loves his Grandma.

Annie was all about finding animal bones for show-and-tell at school. (She has no aversion to bugs or bones or anything gross like that and I've got a cereal bowl full of snails sitting on my kitchen table right now to prove it.)

And my mom was all about teaching the girls about all the plants growing on the property.

Yes, Shindand is still in his cone. (Just a few more days to go.)

Makes me so happy to have a shot like that one.

Makes me happy to have this one too.

Especially after taking a bunch that looked like this. (Ross tickled Annie too hard so she started crying.)

So Ross threatened to throw her in the creek.

Which only escalated the situation.

And then we hung out in my mom's R.V.

And had dinner. (Bean dip, fruit and Vitamin Water.)

And hung out some more.

Cole wouldn't get off of Annie so she tooted on him. (Apparently, that's her tooting face.)

And then we played Poor Man's Pocker before calling it a night.

Ross played too (he was just laying on the couch next to us so you couldn't see him in any of these shots.)

It drives Annie crazy to have a messy stack of cards (because she's a little on the OCD side like her mamma.)

Miss you already Roscoe-T.

447 Miles

Ross moved up to Marysville, Washington on Saturday.

That's 447 miles away.

I was sad when he moved to Klamath Falls a few years ago, but that was where I went to college and I was excited for him to go to college there too and it was only 78 miles away so I knew I'd see him on weekends. And I was ok when he moved to Grants Pass because Grants Pass has always felt like 'home' to him so I knew he'd move back there eventually and since it was only 22 miles away, I could see him any time I wanted to.

But now there's 447 miles between us.

447 miles if I want to see him. 447 miles if I want to have lunch with him. 447 miles if he needs me.

And I can handle the thought of that if I think of it as a short-term thing - if I think about him staying up there for just a year or two.

I guess what has me feeling so heavyhearted is the thought that I might never live less than 447 miles away from my oldest son again. That whenever I want to see him, it will require an extensively planned trip. That I may not see him more than three or four times a year. That I may not get to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas or his birthday with him.

That when he has a family someday, I won't be close enough to be a part of their regular lives.

And that makes 447 miles seem really far away.

I used to think about this when he was young and since it was just he and I for so many years, I just assumed that when he was old enough to move out that I'd follow him. That I'd just pack up and move wherever he decided to go to college. Wherever he took a job. Wherever he decided to raise his own family.

I was a dental hygienist so I could find work anywhere and since he was all I had, what else was I going to do? 

But I've got a husband and three little kids now so following Ross isn't an option. (And I realize that following Ross around every time he moved wouldn't be healthy for him anyhow.)

So I guess I've got 447 miles to make peace with and I'm just not sure how to do it.

The Date

Josh got a room for us at the Columbia Hotel in Ashland a few weeks back so we could have a night away from home.

We planned everything so I could get there early, go running, walk around town, get ready and meet up with him at 7:30 at The Black Sheep (an English Pub where we went on our first date.)

I almost didn't take my camera out of the bag, because even though I really want to shoot memories like this, I grow really tired of/feel really silly taking self-portraits. But alas, I did take my camera out of the bag and challenged myself to document the evening in different ways from the mirror in our room.

And in the end, I did end up with a handful of photos to document the evening and a bit of fodder for which to mock myself...

That's me after getting checked in.

I guess looking at the mirror just seemed too predictable, so I went with a much less predictable, pondering-life's-greater-meaning-while-looking-out-the-window look instead.

Me before heading out for a run.

When I pressed my arm up against the side of my body, it looked like a big ole' hambone, so I decided to stick it out like a chicken wing instead.

Me after a run.

I bought a salted caramel apple and a bottle of water. (I could have spent the whole evening alone with my apple if I didn't have such a hot date planned.)

Me after a shower and a curling iron, apparently thinking that a good head-tilt improves my appearance.

And us at about 10:30 p.m. when we called it a night (which is apparently when my gummiest smiles come out).

Hope your weekend is great.

Four Failures = Four Successes

1. Josh Downs recently sent this email to our softball team:

Happy Saturday Believers! Tomorrow is going to be a great softball day. Good news first...we're 5th in our division. Bad news...there's only five teams.

The failure: We've lost every game we've played so far.

The success: We're playing anyhow and celebrating with beer and pizza after every game.

 

2. I was supposed to bike 20 miles yesterday in order to stay on track with my triathlon training program. Once I got out there though, my butt was killing me and my back was killing me and I gave up after 13 miles.

The failure: I was seven miles short of meeting my goal.

The success: This time two years ago, I couldn't have biked 13 miles. (And I wore a pair of shorts while I was biking yesterday, which is literally the first time these little sausages have adorned a pair of shorts in the last decade.)

 

3. On Tuesday, Josh and I planned on taking the kids for our first long bike ride of the season (an 8 mile round-trip to dinner and back) and I had been looking forward to it all day. Our plan was to leave the house no later than 5:00 p.m., but at 5:30 p.m., Josh was still busy trying to fix the brakes on Courtney's bike and was getting a little bit crankier with each passing minute.

I know nothing of brakes, so I took pictures...

Nice face chickie.

When I mentioned to Josh that he should bring his flashlight since we'd be riding home in the dark, Courtney Lee lost her ever-loving, fraidy-cat marbles.

At about 5:45 p.m., I told Josh I didn't think we should go because Courtney was going to be upset the whole ride home and at about 5:45:15, Josh told me that Courtney Lee doesn't make the decisions in our house.

It escalated privately in the living room from there (but I'll spare you those details) and ended with Josh Downs and the kids heading out to dinner on their bikes without me.

At about 6:00 p.m., Josh called me and told me that I should try to catch up with them on my bike. I declined. At about 6:03, Josh called me again and told me I should try to catch up with them on my bike. I declined again. At about 6:05, Josh called once more to ask me to catch up with them. I declined more sternly this time and the conversation escalated from there (but I'll spare you those details).

At about 6:07 p.m., I jumped on my bike to catch up with my family (and left my camera at home to save time).

When I caught up with them, some of us hollered greetings, some of us hugged and some of us apologized before going on our merry-way.

Just a few minutes into our merry-way though, Annie had her first-ever bike wreck which resulted in screams and tears and a road-rash on her right palm. While we consoled Annie, Courtney Lee broke into tears once again after realizing that Annie's bike crash had cost us even more precious daylight.

I once again suggested we head home, but was vetoed by Josh, Cole and Annie.

A few minutes further into our (now) not-so-merry way, Josh Downs got a flat tire.

So we headed back, loaded up in the truck and drove to dinner.

The failure: A highly-anticipated bike-ride that turned into a high-drama train-wreck.

The success: We all got over it and had a great time at dinner anyhow.

 

4. I decided to participate in the Clickin Moms affiliate program with the intention of giving away all the prizes and all the money like I did a couple of years ago, but we didn't get enough new memberships to win all the prizes. (We needed 300...we got 96.)

The failure: I don't get to give away the $100 CMworkshop, the Apple 16gb iPad or the new Canon 5D Mark III/Nikon D800.

The success: I do get to give away a $25 Starbucks card, a $50 Amazon gift card and some new camera gear ($925 worth that I earned from affiliate points) to the following three people, which I used a random number generator to pick:

- The $25 Starbucks gift card goes to Shannon Klock.

- The $50 Amazon gift card goes to Patty Seiger.

- The $925 in camera gear goes to Amy Kirschke.

Shannon, Patty and Amy, can you please email me at karen@snapshotsofagoodlife.com so we can work out the details?

 

Just push through the failure and you'll find the success.