Can I Stop Time?

I admit it, I've been so horrible about updating this blog. I'm sorry to the family and friends that follow this for updates on our lives. It seems like I just don't have time for much of anything extra these days. I will try harder. Yeah, I know... you don't believe me do you? ha ha ha

I can't believe my birthday boy (May 16th) was 7. Yes, I know it's July, lol. Our little man is getting so big. He's lost 2 teeth at 7 and growing everyday. His personality is one of my favorite things. He's definately a leader and not a follower. He thrives on making you laugh then gets tickled at himself. It makes my heart sing! He had a bowling party. I know you are thinking, didn't he have one of those last year and to answer your wonder, yes you would be correct. He wanted another one this year. What can I say, he likes routine. Hah. We tried to get him to do other things but that's what he wanted, so that's what he got.

To catch you up on our lives, the plumbing saga or as we like to call it " The Pinkston Potty Nightmare" continues. It's still not fixed but we are on the list (should be in a week or two). We still are saying a prayer it doesn't require tearing up the street. The 5 trees they had to take are down and cut so we are prepped and ready.

Chris is off for the summer (from school) so he's enjoying being around the house and with CJ. As for me, I've been fortunate too to spend the summer at home and not travel back and forth a day or two a week to the office so it's been wonderful. I love spending time with our little man, day in and day out. I do have to say, there is a part of me that's ready for school to be back in session but, I wouldn't trade my special moments with my boys for anything! We recently had a wonderful vacation as a family, we needed the time away! I wish I was back there now, taking in the water and the sun...

On a positive note, we FINALLY settled with the insurance company and recently bought a replacement camper. It's not new but, it's nice inside and it gets the job done for Chris until he's out of school. He loves it because it has a separate bedroom and has a swivel rocker. For those of you that know Chris, it's important he can continually move. :>)

For those that were praying for Chris' dad (Jim), thank you so much. He's doing so much better and as of right now, they said they can't see anymore cancer cells. He's had his last chemo treatment and is doing well. Praise the Lord. He goes for a CT and PET scan soon so that will confirm or change the future plans. More to come on that. Right now we are looking forward to seeing him and spending time with Janice as well next weekend. We are headed to Tunica for a fun filled gambling weekend just adults. :) Maybe we will win B-I-G!

So, now I'm off to celebrate a belated birthday dinner with a girlfriend. Hope this finds all of you well until next time! Peace, Love, and Birthday Cake!!!

You Have To Find The Humor In Life...

Thursday, April 29th starts off just like any other day in our home. Chris leaves for Memphis at 5:30am and CJ heads off to school and I upstairs to my office for some "quiet" work time and the day progresses normally until I get that ill-fated phone call at 5:08pm. Chris's plan was to leave work early and run out and pick up our new camper and bring it home before the storms roll in on Friday and Saturday (now known as the 2010 Memphis/Nashville disaster) and he had to do it in the rain. Well, that phrase about the best made plans... fits. Chris is at the 40 bridge (new one) and as he comes down the hill (according to the man directly behind him) a horrible wind gust literally picks up the camper and jack-knife's it into the side of the SUV and breaks the tow hitch (above) sending the camper flipping into two lanes of traffic and Chris inside the SUV to the other side of the highway right into the guard rail. Thankfully, the Lord was looking over him and he walked away without a scratch. The officer working his accident told him that if he had been using a "bulldog hitch" which is unbreakable he would have flipped with the camper. In my mind a big reason to not have that kind. The SUV and the camper however, are completely trashed. The camper is a total loss and the SUV remains to be seen (probably a loss too). The fortunate thing is that I had written a check for the camper insurance on Tuesday before Chris had the wreck on Thursday. So at least that's covered. :~) I'm trying to find the humor of the situation. I'm sure State Farm won't find it humorous when they replace the camper after one payment for coverage. At the moment, they can't even start the claims processing since they don't have a policy number to match to the camper. Allegedly, that will be done in the next week or so.


So, we think it can't get much worse well, let me just say it can. While we spend the weekend having a "pity party" over our above loss, we start having our plumbing back up. Just thinking a simple back up or at the worst it's tree roots that have worked their way into the line, we call the plumber to come out Monday morning. Low and behold we find out that it's a collapsed pipe before it gets to the sewer system. Note I said BEFORE. So after a ton of phone calls and visits from various pipe guys and plumbers and city workers, it's determined that it's on our dime (city pays if it's a problem on our property caused by the city sewer but, if it's a problem from our home getting to the city sewer pipe, it's on ours. It gets worse, they tell us that we must go 18-20 feet into the ground to get to the pipe, break up the street and go into our neighbors yard to get the pipe replaced. Oh and I forgot, they also have to take 4 tree's from our front yard (we have to pay for that too). From there we go talking to pipe / plumbing guys to see if we can "boar" under the street instead of breaking it up because even though it's asphalt, the way the city laws read, we have to replace it with concrete. Yep, you read this right. Once we are told that this is not an option because years ago before this was a housing area, it had gravel pits all around and they are concerned that the street could collapse under the weight then we would have to replace the street, I'm ready to cry. So after 4 quotes from the only 4 people in town that can do the work, I do cry. I'm sick at my stomach. I was seeing a new car in my distant future, I was definitely not envisioning spending that money burying it in the ground, literally. But, what can you do? Build an outhouse? ha ha. Now, that's a thought. In all seriousness, now that we have all our ducks in a row and are ready to go, we are told we have to wait 3 weeks before they can get to us. So maybe we should build that outhouse after all. So, that's my May and where I am, I'm still trying to find the sunshine and the humor amongst what I refuse to call my living nightmare. How's your May? LOL!

"It Was The Best Of Times & The Worst Of Times"

That quote pretty much fits how our 2009 ended and our 2010 is beginning. I know I haven't posted in a long time. Sorry about that but, it's been the last thing on my mind lately. In short, I'll catch you up since August and explain my quote.

CJ started private school (first grade) this year and we love it and so does he. It was truly the best decision we could have made. Public school wasn't right for him or us. He's thriving and a smaller classroom was just what he needed not to mention his teacher (Mrs. Jones) is FABULOUS!!! He's wanting to start piano lessons so I think that's next on our agenda along with going back to karate. As for Christmas, he was so excited that Santa brought him a Nintendo DSI and WAY TOO MANY games that go with it. Oh, and I can't forget the purple light saber (or as CJ calls it, "his purrrflll life saver"). ha ha ha. Apparently, having 2 is not enough so Santa granted him that one last wish for the third. Not really sure what Santa or Mrs. Claus was thinking, maybe it was too much eggnog?? LOL. I guess that's what you call "spoiling them rotten". :~)

As for Chris, he's great. He hit the 4 year mark in December that he's been cancer free, yippee! However, I think in late summer he had a mid life crisis at 41! I woke up one day to him telling me that he had been praying about this and had decided to change careers and go back to school and get another major (child psychiatry), he wants to work with children and families of kids with ADHD and sensory issues. Huh.... Yep, you heard me right! He's decided that he really wants to do this so as a good wife, I'm standing behind this decision and letting him go for it. I guess God has a bigger plan for him and it's not what he's doing now! So, in August Chris went back to school and CJ too. I laugh and say I have two boys in private school. ha ha ha (one in college and one in first grade). Eeek.

I'm pretty much the same no really big changes in my world, just trying to turn over a new leaf and exercise more. I know I need it and I'm trying to find that calm in the storm called my life. ha ha ha.

As for the "best of time and the worst of times"... Chris' dad, Jim got married on Halloween to a woman that we all L-O-V-E, her name is Janice and she's bubbly and fantastic for him (the best of times). They seem very much "in love" and they are happy. However, the worst.... right before Christmas he was diagnosed with esphogeal cancer. He's having surgery tomorrow (January 7th) in Little Rock and will be in ICU for about 10 days. From there the prognosis and treatment is really up in the air right now as the dr's are REALLY concerned about being able to bring him off the vent after the surgery. He is generally in poor health (diabetic, smoker, has had lots of heart surgeries, etc..) and he's only 65! His lungs are not really very strong so the longer he's on the vent the harder it is to take him off and he'll be on it for a few hours during the surgery tomorrow. We can really use your prayers so please lift Jim, Janice and our entire extended family up that this surgery will go well and if it doesn't that God will grant the family peace with whatever is placed before them and the decision that they may have to make. I'll post an update on the surgery as soon as I can.

Until then, I hope you have a blessed and wondeful 2010.

School Bells Are Ringing & Vacations Are Ending...

Well, we started the summer with CJ going to Dallas to stay with Aunt Kristi & Aunt Mandy for 10 days while Chris and I got a much, much needed get away. CJ had so much fun with his Aunt's swimming, playing with Josh and Joey, going to the see the Ranger's play while we took a spider convertible and road tripped having a FANTASTIC TIME. We first headed to Las Vegas. Shock, shock, I'm sure - lol since it's one of our favorite getaways and then from there we just "winged it". We hit 11 states in 10 days and had a blast. Some states we had been to before but what the hey... We went from Vegas to Utah and saw Bryce Canyon (really beautiful) then from there went to Estes Park, Colorado and enjoyed tons of animals and gorgeous weather. Chris was sad that we couldn't fit fishing gear into that convertible. The streams were amazing and the Elk were plain AWESOME! One got mad at Chris and started snorting (the one above actually). From CO, we decided to go to South Dakota and visit Mt. Rushmore. That was definately a one time wonder for us. Yes, we took in many extra miles by not planning in advance but, that's part of the fun, not knowing where you are going to be tomorrow! From the Mt. we headed back towards Dallas to pick up our little man and head home. We had some exciting times (like downhill at midnight) with nothing but drop off's on either side, our america's funniest home video's episode of trying to get the above flowering cactus pictures (we got stickers all in our shoes) - I had on flip flops need I say more, ha ha. Elk snorting, moose stopping etc. We have some tails to tell. But, we had fun and made memories and that's what's important!

Now, the real world begins... CJ started first grade and seems to be doing well so far. He's excited about what this year will bring and he's reading, reading, reading and learning so much. I feel blessed every moment I have my wonderful family and I love seeing him grow and learn. It's an amazing process and one that I'm so grateful for! I've learned that when life hands you lemon's you put them in your sweet tea and put a smile on your face and be happy your from the South! Women are strong here!!!

Our fall is going to be filled with FOOTBALL and some "mini" family vacations. We can't wait! From ASU games at home and out of town games too. We are also trying to plan a trip to Jeff. City to see Missouri and Texas (GO TEXAS) in October. We'll see what happens from there. Our lives are crazy and we wouldn't trade a moment! Hugs and Kisses until next time...