It's All Relative

My dad had a mass of cancer removed from his neck. Ever the protectors, my parents didn't tell me until the second procedure, which removed the last of the unwelcomed ailment. The inch and half incision proves our family is not immune to my biggest fears. Does life bring on these situations to make the daily worrisome woes dissapate in comparison? I assume so since I was unitentionally dwelling on the minor setbacks of each day lately.

There are days when you favorite meal leaves you hungry, your best hair day can't fight the humidity, successfully managing more projects at work doesn't make you feel any more accomplished, a happpy husband doesn't make you feel like a good wife, and a clean house and sheets doesn't help you sleep better. Sometimes the world knows better and humbles you with blow to the back.

Eventually all the waves mellow down and you realize you have overflowing gratefulness for the doctor who's hand so delicately removed the ailment that will allow your world to stay intact.

Party of 1.

Marriage makes you realize how much free time you use to have when you lived on your own. You cooked for one, cleaned for one, and watched tv for one! Bo's had some busy evenings the last few nights allowing me to catch up on girl tivo. How wonderful. I think I'll watch Sex and the City tonight and all 6 tv seasons. Just because I can. :)

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

I went fishing. Came home with cleaned, ready to cook fish. And never touched a fish. That's my idea of fishing. :)



I caught this fish, but Jimmy took care of it for me.



Slimy fish..

The Girls of Highland Ridge Reunited

As I was uploading this photo, I realized all of the girls in this photo are now married. Wow. We've come a long way. Will there ever be a picture of us four as moms? We shall see.



Just for laughs, the last picture I could find of us four before the "Mrs."...

V-Day

In years past, we haven't given Valentine's Day much respect. Last year was Blockbuster and Taco Bell. This year, Bo decided to spice it up with a suprise for this Mrs. We spent Valentine's at the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine and had some much needed married time without puppies. We had some champagne and cake balls greeting us in our room followed by a dinner buffet where we ate ourselves sick. We returned again for breakfast buffet this morning and repeated the insane discomfort of too much food in our bellies. A great way to spend a great weekend. Love that man. :)

White Valentine's Weekend

I'm beginning to think the NBA all-star game should have been played in Vancouver and the winter Olympics in Dallas! Seriously, folks we have too nuch snow while those Canadians we're shipping it into town! Our record 11 inches at the Rickner house has turned us into mentally degenerative shut-ins. We did all things winter -


....built a snow giant...





....made homemade hot chocolate (twice)...





....and homemade ice cream from snow in our front yard!...





It's amazing how creative two people who spend their lives working 12+ hours a day get when they can't go to work and start to lose their minds! I finally had to get out this evening and braved the roads just for dog food. They turned out to be much improved from my inital attempt to drive in snow on Thursday...

I was heading out Thursday morning for work...we probably had 2 inches of snow at the time...left our street and made my way to the freeway, slid of the road slightly, made sure my heart was still beating and finally made it up to the freeway. I was having trouble stopping and decided the roads would only get worse - I would work from home. I made the turn to head back to the house (a different road than I can from in attempt to keep driving straight and not have to turn around). Well, I missed the sign and ended up passing it. I had to turn around and chose a driveway that appeared to be cement. Nope. As I was trying to back out, my tires spun into a mud ruts and I was stuck. Took a little maneuvering, but I worked my way out, got home, and didn't leave for two days!

The first inch of snow was pretty, the second required soup, the third was fun and demanded a snow man, the fourth made me unable to drive and missed my hair appointment this morning, and the fifth made Stella disappear when she went into the back yard. Every inch after that just sucked!

No No Bad Dog

My baby Shooter has discovered the toilet. And not for pottying. Bo and I were in our bathroom last night pick out his outfit for tonight's game and realized Shooter was drinking out of the toilet. How did this happen? Who taught him this...trashy tv, his friends, his sister? "Hey Stella, try this out. It's like a big water bowl." I sure hoped it was a fluke until when I got home thing evening, I was in the bathroom and he went straight for the toilet - and tried to convince his sister to do it too. She's not as tall as him though so she had her front legs flung over the edge teetering on the dive in. New rule in our house - toliet seats down!