Man, I've been slacking!

Goodness, I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted, I feel like a loser, LOL. Admittedly, I fell deeply into the land of Facebook and the little games on there. I tell y'all, if you get hooked on those games, it's HARD to get away! All those cute little farm games just call my name and I keep going back like a junkie for their next hit, UGH!

Since my last post, my oldest daughter has turned 13 and my husband turned 40. Both HUGE milestones. Hubby's still driving and he's currently in Laredo, TX. I've had C home for the last 3 days with the flu. Her fever finally broke this morning so, praise God, she can finally go back to school tomorrow!

Really, not much has been happening. We've been living life in the best way that we know how. Now that my daughter is 13, going on 21, and thinks she's an adult, I wish she was a baby again. I miss those pudgy little arms reaching up for me to carry her. Sometimes I long to hear the words "Mommy I need you". I'd come running, for sure. Life pretty much isn't the same now that she doesn't want me around anymore, and it's heartbreaking. I dread the time when H does the same thing. Parenting is so HARD! We work our tails off and put our heart and soul into the children, only to be laid off in about 18 years and told that we're not needed anymore. I don't think we can get unemployment for a job that we never got paid for to begin with....

Oh, on a lighter note, we got a new dog about a month or so ago. Her name's Lolli Pop and she was wondering around my mom's neighborhood.

She's a full blood cocker spaniel and just as sweet as can be. She's nearly totally blind with cataracts and her back feet give her trouble. She was someone's breeder dog until they decided that they didn't need her anymore. I couldn't just walk away from her so she's part of our family now.

I guess I'd better step away from the computer for now. C and I have to run to the library and take a movie back. I pray that you're all blessed. Nicole, if you read this, send me an email at minidrivers2000@yahoo.com. I'd love to be able to talk to you a bit! TW

This is the life I've chosen

Let me tell ya', it's not easy being a trucker's wife. With Hubby gone, I have to do EVERYTHING, including attend the "Donuts for Dads" thing at the school next week. It's really not a big deal and I've become independent over the last few years. Today is yard work. Spring is here and that means mowing, trimming, planting the garden, and spraying weeds. I really enjoy doing this stuff but it takes away from other stuff that I could be doing.

I've done a lot of "man" things over the last few years including replacing sink faucets, putting up a wall kit around our bath tub (that was fun!), building steps for the porch, and disposing of snakes. I've fixed the refrigerator when it started messing up. When the heater quit, I finally broke down and called someone. We're on natural gas and I don't mess with that stuff. Oh that made me MAD, too, LOL. I've picked up starved horses (had to call for a trailer for that one), caught them when they got out of the fence, fixed the fence (LOL), and built things. There's not much that I can't do anymore. I'm also available at all times for field trips and other school functions. I stay home most of the time to be available to the school, kids, or hubby if I'm needed.

I don't say all this to brag on myself. A lady at the school always gives me funny looks when I say that I've been doing "man" things. She's one of those moms that only cooks, cleans, and shops. If that was my "life" I'd go crazy. I can't wait for a man. If I waited on Hubby to get home to mow, the grass would be a foot tall when he did it. The same with most other things. And why should he have to work on his few days off? Sometimes I'll ask him to help me with hay and dog food but that don't take long.

I know that I've had a few lurkers and I just want to say that being a trucker's wife isn't all fun and games. Aside from having your husband gone 90% of the time, you have to take care of everything while he's gone. I know a lot of women that just couldn't handle that.

An introduction to some of our "residents"

I'm a tad bit bored so I thought I'd introduce some of the residents here. I am a huge believer that God brings people, and animals, into our lives for a certain amount of time. Sometimes that time is shorter than others. I believe most of what is here now are "lifers" unless something drastic changes.

This is Maxi. At 10 years old, she's currently our oldest. Most of the time she's too cool to play with the younger kitties. She's the picture of a lazy cat and sleeps most of the day.

This WAS Highway on the day that we brought her home. My youngest daughter and I were going to the store and almost hit her. We brought her home, she ate half a can of cat food, then her body started shutting down. I had to force feed her for a week to keep her alive. I don't know why this tiny kitty caught my heart like she did but she was well worth the effort.

This is Highway NOW. Isn't she beautiful! She amazed everyone, including the vets. After her first week with us, and just when she started eating on her own, she got sick. I went to the vet's office and got some medicine for her and their words were "IF she makes it through the night, bring her in tomorrow morning". They didn't even think she'd live. Highway is, without a doubt, my favorite kitty. The bad thing is that she HATES being cuddled and I want to cuddle her so bad!

Ahhh Henry. We've had Henry for almost a year now. In the middle of July last summer, Henry somehow found his way to our church bus's engine. It took 2 days to get him out and we ended up with him. He is the picture of a crazy kitty, no joke. One minute he's a sweet as can be, the next minute he's biting a clawing.

Most of the time Henry wants to be right in your face. He's such a love bug that pictures like this one of his nose are most of the pictures that I have of him.

There he is! He loves lounging on the bed. He's one cat that you don't want to turn your back on. If you make him angry, he WILL chase you down and snag your leg. But we love him anyway.

Next time, the doggies!

It's Been a While

Hello! It's been a while since my last entry. I guess sometimes "life" just happens and eventually you realize that it's been almost a month since you've last posted on your blog. (BTW, please pardon any type-o's that may appear. I am in bad need of a new keyboard but Dr. Pepper comes first. I have my priorities.)

Anywho, we went to the store the other day and came home to find the cute little guy that you see pictured. He was heading up our driveway so it's amazing that I didn't smash him. Sure is a cute little red-eared slider turtle. Ok, so he wasn't that little. I'd guess he was a little bit smaller than your average dinner plate. I'm sure he was heading to my neighbor's cow pond but he wouldn't of made it.

You see, in between our driveway and my neighbor's pond is my fence and he was too big to fit through the squares in the fence. Hey, we've had bigger turtles here. Last year we had a snapper turtle. My horses were saying hi to him. Good thing no one got snapped because that dude was MAD!

Most of the turtles that I find get a free ride down to the creek. It's not far, and it gets them out of my hair. Of course, they have to take time out for a photo shoot before they're allowed to leave.

I don't think I'd want to live anywhere else :o) God sure has blessed us!

Gotta love semi-country life

This reminds me of those pictures that we used to see when we were kids. There'd be a super close-up of the picture and we'd try to guess what it was. Ok so what's black and white and sitting on my carport? (*Note* Skunks still smell when they haven't sprayed, it's just not NEAR as bad) I have to admit, this guy was pretty cute but there's no way I was gonna let him stay. After all, I have dogs, cats, horses, and KIDS. In fact, my kids and one of my house dogs was outside when this guy showed up. I can't imagine what would've happened if someone would've gotten sprayed.

Come to find out, skunks don't like water much. After several glasses of water throwed at him, he decided to find a drier place to sleep and went on his way. It's never dull around here. We've had raccoons, opossums, snakes and skunks. That's not counting the stray dogs, cats, horses, and CHICKENS that we get. Life is definately fun.

Here's a better picture of Mr. Stinky. I could've gotten even better pics but I was busy watching which end was pointing at me :o) Thank God I'm not here begging for air freshener!

A New Love, Crescent Rolls

I must admit that I have a soft spot in my tummy for bread. I don't really like the fancy breads but give me home baked hot rolls any day. This new recipe is no exception. I found this online and I'm in love! Here's the original recipe, how I found it.


Ingredients
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, softened

DIRECTIONS
Dissolve yeast in warm water.
Stir in sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in remaining flour until smooth. Scrape dough from side of bowl. Knead dough, then cover it and let rise in a warm place until double (about 1-1/2 hours).
Punch down dough. Divide in half. Roll each half into a 12-inch circle. Spread with butter. Cut into 10 to 15 wedge. Roll up the wedges starting with the wide end. Place rolls with point under on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until double (about 1 hour).
Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 12-15 minute or until golden brown. Brush tops with butter when they come out.


Now here's how I tweaked it. I added all of the ingredients to my breadmaker in this order: all flour, sugar, salt, eggs, butter, shortening, and yeast dissolved in warm water. I then turned the breadmaker to the "dough" setting and did my own thing for an hour and a half. When it was done, I dumped the dough onto a floured counter and kneaded then cut it in half and rolled it to about 1/4 inch thick. Then I cut the dough into triangles (which I'm obviously not good at doing) and rolled them up, fat end first. I placed them in the pan and let them rise another hour or so, until doubled in size. Then I slapped them into my oven, preheated to 350* instead of 400*. I'm not sure how long I cooked them for, but it was until they were done :o) I brushed them with butter and burned my fingers trying to eat the first one, oops! Anyhow, these are AWESOME! I'll never buy the canned ones again! TW

More Scenes From a Truck

I adore the pictures that Hubby sends me. He has an old 2 mp Kodak EasyShare camera that he takes with him and after years of being banged around in that truck, it still works like a charm! I loved it so much that I bought a newer and better model.

Anyhow, here's some more pictures from the last few years that Hubby's sent me. He gets to see a LOT of beautiful scenery!

I hope you enjoyed this installment of "Scenes from a Truck". Have a great evening and God Bless you all! TW