in my room

One month ago, my doctor told me to move my bedroom downstairs until my foot healed.
This past weekend while I was out of town, Darren moved us back upstairs to our own bedroom. WOO HOO!

Psssst. Hey neighbors! The show is over! I hope you got your money's worth! bwahahaha

Yep, it's true. For the past month, we've been camping out on a futon in the front room, in front of a big window with sheers for privacy, and a glass-paned front door. It's nice to be back upstairs in my own bed, under my ceiling fan, enjoying the ambience, and able to undress with the light on. And now, I don't have to worry about Mecca walking right into my bedroom! (Love you, Mec! We really WERE just taking a nap that afternoon, though I know you'll never believe it!)

It was good for me to be away, as the old adage proved true once again: absense makes the heart grow fonder. It MUST be true, because I awoke one morning to hear my roommates giggling about the dream I'd had that woke them all up. I wish I could remember it - it sounded quite delicious!!

When I arrived home Sunday night, Darren had a surprise for me. Not only had he moved everything back, he'd also cleaned up and... get this... lit candles! Our bedroom was flickering with romance and smelled heavenly. It made me realize how much I'd missed my bedroom. Everything is just as I left it - the Texas Monthly with Matthew McConnaughey still lies on the floor next to my side of the bed. I think I'll never move it. *sigh*. The stack of books I've yet to read have gathered dust on the side table. The pillow I was using to prop my foot up on as I slept is still shamless. And the walls are still sunny yellow during the day, and golden rich at night.

Today, I'm thankful to be back in my bedroom, thankful to be safely traversing the stairs, and thankful for romance. :)

Hallelujah! You who serve God, praise God!

Just to speak his name is praise!

Just to remember God is a blessing—

now and tomorrow and always.

From east to west, from dawn to dusk,

keep lifting all your praises to God!

Psalm 113: 1-3

playing catch up

For someone who's stuck on her butt, I've sure been busy!

But enough about me.

Here's a quick run-down of what's been happenin' here in FunkyTown.

Dani is a senior! She's having the BEST year of her high school career, socially and academically. Thank goodness! Her SAT score came in last week, and she did great. These days, SATs are graded on a 2400-point scale. She scored 660 in math, 730 in verbal and 710 in writing, for a score of 2100. That's the equivalent of a 1390 on the old-school 1600-point system. :) She's still working for the lawyer downtown after school, but it's only 8 hours a week and she's finding that it barely puts gas in the car. She's looking for a temporary seasonal job through Christmas so she can afford to buy gifts. She auditioned for All-region choir last week and was bummed to place as 2nd Alternate, meaning she still has to learn the music for Area, but isn't guaranteed an audition time. She's been amazing while I've been hurt. She helps get the boys off to school in the mornings, picks them up in the afternoons, drives me wherever I need to go and pushed the wheelchair without being TOO horribly embarrassed, runs a bazillion errands for me, cooks dinner and cleans the kitchen more than she should have to, and does it with a good attitude. Last week, I had to be at a meeting about the auction (more on that in another post), and Darren was scheduled for a 5k race, and it also happened to be Open House at the boys' school. Dani took them, and even took photos of their work so I could feel like I didn't miss so much. To reward and thank her for her hard work and her cheerful disposition about it, Darren and I won something for her at the auction - but that's another post, too. Here she is with one of her BFFs.

Aidan started his first season of soccer this fall. He plays in the YMCA league; they play all kids at all positions at this age, but Aidan's favorite is halfback. It's amazing to watch him play. From the time he was four years old, he could dribble the ball. We couldn't believe it the first time he did it; he knew how to take the ball all the way down the field, dribbling between feet as he went! He's aggressive and FAST. I think he's one of those guys who is just naturally athletic. Speaking of... he's training with Darren again, and will run his next 5k on Thanksgiving morning. And he's growing his hair out. Before school started, he printed out a picture of (The Suite Life of) Zach and Cody and said he wanted his hair like theirs. Crack. Me. UP.

Ian is all boy. All over the place, all the time. He's been sent to the nurse twice this year after smacking his head when the legs of his chair went flying. He can't seem to keep all four of them on the ground at the same time. He loses his backpack, homework, folder, shoes..... constantly. And yet, his teacher loves him. Darren and I had a conference with her last week and she giggled the whole time. He's reading a couple of grade levels ahead of his class, and she's working on a special math curriculum for him. I've said for a long time that I'm not smart enough to raise this kid, and it becomes more evident every day! He doesn't hate girls as much as he used to, but don't tell HIM that.

Darren ran his first 10k a couple of weeks ago. His time was 58:47. I didn't get to go; it happened right after I broke my foot and I was still completely immobile. BUMMER! He's running both the 5k and the 10k at the Turkey Trot next month, and depending on where we have Thanksgiving, I don't know if I'll be here or 3 hours north in Oklahoma. I hope I get to watch him!

NYC-bound!

Darren and I subscribe to the school of thought that says - if you put your marriage first, you're better parents. We try to get out alone together at least once a month, to remember why we fell in love to begin with, and to keep that spark going. I think it DOES make us better parents, honestly. We're more able to give of ourselves completely to the kids when we're not frustrated with each other.

We don't have a lot of money. We have enough, that's for sure. But we have to pick and choose what we do with it. We don't have fancy cars (in fact, we've been sharing one car for almost a year), we don't have new electronics (our stereo is actually just the computer speakers). But we like to travel. Even in our most dirt-poor days, we saved pennies to go camping in the mountains. GOING places has always been one of our priorities. (And let me tell you - we have the art of vacationing CHEAP down to an art form! You wouldn't believe the FREE things you can do and see when you get creative enough!)

Nine years ago, Darren started a tradition: he planned a getaway weekend for us without my knowledge! It was the first time we'd gone away to celebrate our wedding anniversary. That year, we spent one night in a B&B in a quaint little Texas town, and then we spent the next day rummaging through antique shops. I think we only spent about $12 in those shops, though. We wuz po'!

The next year, our 9th, I planned. I scored tickets to our beloved Dallas Stars on eBay - my first eBay purchase! Darren was thrilled, and so surprised!

For our 10th, I jokingly said I wanted to go to Paris. So Darren made it happen. We took a day trip to Paris, Texas! Then we swung through the town where we'd met and married, and took photos at the chapel and other places where we'd stood 10 years before.

For our 11th, Darren took the reins again, so I was doubly surprised. After all, it was supposed to be MY year to plan! While filling out the hospital paperwork for Ian, who was only hours old, Darren brought another form and said, "Here. You have to fill this one out, too." It was a passport application. I thought, "Hmm. Life in Post-9/11 is getting weird. They want passport apps for NEWBORNS now??" Imagine my shock and delight when he announced we were going to Paris again! This time, the REAL one! (Flights were CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP then because everyone was scared to fly.)

The next year, our 12th, I took the reins again. I planned another pro-sporting event - this time scoring tickets to see the Mavericks. Floor seats, even.

For our 13th, in 2004, we road-tripped 10 hours to New Orleans. This one wasn't a surprise - we both planned it together. I'm so glad we got to experience New Orleans before Katrina changed it.

Our 14th anniversary was fun - we sent the KIDS away instead of us leaving. They went to Grandma's for the weekend, and Darren took me on a tour of all the places we'd lived in our marriage, from the run-down roach-infested apartment we had as newlyweds, to the dumpy duplexes we rented for years afterward. All of the locations were within a 90-mile radius, so it was easy to go see them all, and celebrate the blessing of having just bought our first home the prior year.

The 15th year started off with Darren being SLAMMED at work. He was working mandatory overtime, and was hardly home at all. We didn't even celebrate with a dinner out until mid-February. No get-aways that year.

Last year, our 16th, we decided we wanted to see Lake Tahoe, and we combined it with a visit with our friends Norm and Nancy, and Greg and Martha!

Which brings us to this year. It's Darren's year to plan. It's not entirely a surprise for me; we're going to New York City! Here's why. We're season ticket holders to the Fort Worth Symphony. (Darren's a HUGE classical music fan. I snore through the concerts. But, he loves them so much that every year for his birthday, I buy the season tickets. It provides that "free" date night once a month that I mentioned earlier!) This year, when the tickets arrived in the mail, there was a sticker on the back of the envelope that said, "See you at Carnegie Hall! January 26th, 2008". Hmmm. Our anniversary. Turns out, the FWSO is playing in NYC that night! We had to be there, don't you agree? WHAT exactly we're doing in NYC isn't clear to me. He's keeping that much a surprise. I'm so stinkin' excited!! It really started hitting me tonight that we're really going! I've never "done" NYC before. I. CANNOT. WAIT.

23.50

When Aidan was 4, Kristopher and Tristan (his best buds at Fortress) often challenged him to race. Aidan, with his short little legs, always lost. He cried EVERY SUNDAY because he so hated to lose.

My scrapbook room has windows that look out into the back yard and side yard. One day, I kept hearing the padpadpad of footsteps, so I looked out the window and saw Aidan sprinting up and down the driveway, back and forth, back and forth. When I asked him why he was doing that, he said, "I'm practicing my running so I can win." Before long, he was the fastest runner at church.

In December, he ran the Jingle Bell 1 mile Fun Run. Two weeks ago, Darren signed them both up for the 5k Run at the Cowtown Marathon, and he and Aidan developed a regular training schedule. Aidan runs with Darren and his coworkers on Sunday mornings, and with Darren on Wednesday afternoons. (Darren also runs his normal route on days he's not running with Aidan.) Today, Aidan did 2 miles for the first time. He has to take 3 steps for every 2 of Darren's to keep up. His time was 23 minutes and 50 seconds. He'll be ready for the Cowtown EASILY. I can't believe my 7-year old is a runner! I'm sooooo proud of him. (For the record, I can't believe my 38-year old is a runner, either. He clocked his first 9 minute mile last week. So proud of him, too!)