Donna, Faery Queen and Cynthis Tagged me?

I was tagged. These are the rules...each play startw with 7 random facts about themselves on their Blog. People who are tagged need to blog seven facts about themselves and post the rules as well. At the end of the blog list 7 people you are taggging. Let them know that they are tagged by elaving them a comment.
1. My mother was a war bride from Australia. Until I started school, I was the only little girl in my part of Oklahoma who had an Australian Accent.
2. I have a broadcasting degree, but have worked in mortgage lending most of my life.
3. I still have friends I keep in touch with that I have known since junior high.
4. We moved 17 times the first 15 years we were married and have lived in the same house for the last 27 years.
5. I collect Hard Rock Cafe pins.
6. I drive a convertible, with the top down as much as possible.
7. I started turning gray at 17.

I am tagging Toni, MountainMama, April, Amy Z, Barb, Julie, Missy, Cynthia

Happy Fourth of July

July 4, 2007 is over and we had a lot of fun. We had a fish fry and a lot of the kids friends came over. The weather was great until it was time to shoot off the fire works then it started to rain again. This is certainly on year when the fire danger is non existent. This is a picture of Nick and Wyatt in the hammock chair. Wyatt has always like swinging there, but he thought it as even better with Dad.

Are we dry yet?

It has been two days without rain. The sun has actually shone, although it is questionable whether or not it will today. I am truly not a rainy weather person. The humidity makes me uncomfortable. I turned the temperature on the air conditioning down low enough to be uncomfortable just to reduce the humidity in the house. I know that we will have scorching days soon enough, then we will be wishing for rain. Kansas is just full of extremes.

Ray is off this week, he is doing some things with Andrew while he is home on leave. I had always hoped that the conditioning we did when he and Nicole were young would deter some behaviors we didn't want. No such luck. Our first failure was the anti tattoo campaign, Andrew has two that we know of. At least he knew we would not approve and tried to keep us in the dark for as long as possible. My second failure was this week when Andrew bought a motorcycle. He is using all the reasons, gas economy, etc. I still am worried about his safety on a motorcycle. He laughs at me. What do I know, he is young and bullet proof. All I can do is pray for safety.

I am now trying to decide what to brainwash Wyatt about. Maybe I need to start the anti motorcycle campaign now.

Wyatt's Swimming Lessions

Wyatt is taking swimming lessons at the YMCA. He really loves the water. He smiles and laughs all the way through the lesson. He kicks in the water and is learning to use his arms. We have been late in opening our pool this year, but will have it done by the end of the weekend. It will be not soon enough as far as Wyatt is concerned.

A general update

This is a photo of a trestle for the old mining rail line going up to Cloudcroft New Mexico from Alamagordo. There is a hiking trail that takes you closer to this one and another trestle. I want to hike it next year. I was crawling over the guardrail and getting too close to the edge of the canyon for Ray's comfort trying to get the pictures I took this trip.

The picture is just decoration for this post. Before I left on vacation, I whined about things that were going on. Nothing has been totally resolved, but people are moving on. My son in law has part of his legal issues taken care of and the attorney is working on clearing up final issues. My mother in law is going to be moved up here to live. Her doctor has declared her unable to live on her own. It is now up to Ray and his sister to settle where she is going. It is stressful for both of them. My car has been repaired and I am now very cautious when I put the top down. Life is not back to dull yet, but it is improving.

Wish we were there, Ruidoso, New Mexico

Here are some of the photos from our trip to Ruidoso last week. As always we had a great time and did not want to come home. This year was very low key, Ray didn't want to drive a lot of places because gas in New Mexico was $3.37 a gallon, so we stayed close to home. That is the joy of Ruidoso, you don't have to go far to have a good time.

Grant me the grace....

I like to thing that things are going well. My life mantra is "Dull is good." However, the last three weeks have been testing you tolerance for this.
The least important has been getting my car back to working right. I had a broken tie rod end and a rear window would not go down, then there was the issue of something going on with the transmission. The plan for May was to fix the first issue so the important stuff like putting the top down was taken care of, then to do the transmission work. This was good, but in between the two, I broke the rear window, putting the top down. (Shrug, stupid) So, I had to do that as well, and I must note it was the most expensive work of the three I had done. Cost - $900.00. It took me a week to work up the nerve to put the top down again, but I think my relationship with my car is back to normal.

The next issue isn't really my problem, but it is family, so it is mine. My son in law is having problems with his family. It has spilled over into legal problems. He and my daughter are both upset by the whole situation, and to be honest, it is something that should never have gotten to this point. We are being supportive and praying that it is resolved and the legal issues are dropped.

Next, a client of mine called to let me know he was dying and to say good bye. My type of work would not usually have a relationship with borrowers, but this guy would come in and visit, and we all really like him. I sent him a card, and will keep in touch, but it is distressing.

Last of all, we are dealing with the fact that Ray's mother will have to go into a nursing home. She doesn't want to, but we have all realized for a while that this day is coming. She cannot care for herself properly and needs to be in an environment where when she has health issues, a skilled person can take charge. She will need to be moved up here for the long term, but we have been told she had to transition from independent living to a nursing home where she lives before we can move her up here. I am not making the decisions, but Ray and his siblings are all disturbed by having to make these choices. Pray would be appreciated with this.

There, I have laid out all my stressors for the world to see. Things et better, but right now, time just has to work things out.