The Facts of Life

Being a child of the 80s I loved the television show "The Facts of Life". Being a bit of a tomboy myself, my favorite character was Jo and probably least favorite, although most entertaining was Blair. I had the neat opportunity Tuesday evening to hear Blair or Lisa Whelchel speak at a Ladies Night Out event at the Riverbend Retreat Center. Lisa shared a bit of her testimony about how she became a Christian at 10 years old and how she believes that kept her from falling to the perils of doom that so many child actors fall to. She said we are all made with a a hole inside us and it can only be filled by God. Those who don't find him, or accept him often spend a lifetime trying to fill that hole with a multitude of other things. Her style of speaking was very informal and it almost felt like we were just a big group of women having coffee together. I really enjoyed it.

We've had some very cold weather in our part of the world this week, and for the record I'm not much for cold weather. Bring on Spring.... I'm getting a little bit of cabin fever. I'm ready to be out in my flower beds and garden. I don't think I'd ever do well in places that truly have a winter!

So, as for now, I think I'll go clean out a closet or something so that when spring is finally here, my spring cleaning will be complete and I can play outside!

Until next time...

Beautiful Morning

Kyle and I got up early this morning and after some coffee from the Keurig (I love my Christmas present) we headed to the church to pick up trash along the section of highway our church adopted years ago. We had a pretty good turn out, so it only took about an hour to clean up our section. If you've ever picked up trash along the highway, it sure makes you despise people who litter. We finished off our morning with breakfast burritos from Lupe's and then came home to find the girls up and watching television.

I'm getting the Jones to start running again. Last spring I injured my foot and things just having been right with it since. Every time I'd think it was healed and I would run the top would just ache. I know I should have gone to the Dr., and Kyle thinks I probably broke one or more of the tiny bones in the top of my foot, but I didn't. I guess Mom's are just stubborn that way... but, since boxing up my Christmas decorations and hauling them up to the attic made me so winded, I realize I'm not in the shape I used to be and I need to get back to running. Plus, since that big #40 birthday almost two years ago, things just aren't the same! I guess it's the metabolic slow down of middle age. I know my birthdate says I'm middle aged, but in my mind I'm still about 20.

We're expecting some really cold weather this weekend. I would love one snow this year, then I'm ready for spring. Green grass, suntans, swimming... that's how I love it. We're starting to plan our summer vacation. For years we've vacationed in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, but with all the drug cartel garbage going on, we haven't gone there the last two summers an instead spent on in South Padre Island and last summer skipped the vacation because of Kyle's knee surgery and us building a new office. I need sand and sun this summer. We've been looking at package deals from Grand Caymen and St. Kitts. Both places look beautiful, and as long as there is a beach, the kids will love it. Kacie loves lobster and one of her favorite things was the seafood night at the resort we always stayed in. She and I did our best to completely founder on lobster and shrimp. Glad my kids will try almost anything.

I'm reading a great book on my Kindle by Kay Arthur. She is an incredibly gifted Bible teacher and I've done a few of her Bible studies, but this is the first book I've ready by her. It's called When Hurt Runs Deep and it's very good. I'm not far into it, but it's basically saying that God is Awesome. We don't know what he's doing. He has a plan. We have to trust it. I know through my trials it has always proven to be true. No matter how awful various situations seemed at the time, once I got to the other side of them, God was glorified and it made a little more sense. We have to reap the blessings channeled through adversity.

Hope you all have a blessed weekend! It's a three day weekend for our kids!

Been gone too long...

Kacie & Mrs Nix - 2010

Kylie & Mrs. Nix in 2006

Kacie & Raider

Kacie & Kenzie riding horses

First day of school

Blogger.... I've been gone too long.... There's no way I can catch things completely since it's been almost a year, but I'll try to hit the hightlights.

Total Knee Replacement

In February, Kyle had total knee replacement surgery. Kyle had a pretty bad knee injury his senior year in high school and had surgery the following spring. That was way before the did the laparoscopic knee surgeries, so they cut his knee open and removed the damaged parts. Now, almost 30 years later, he is bone on bone. After years of injections that now no longer work, a TKR was the only option. He was tired of the pain and tired of not being to keep up with his little girls as he wanted to.

TKR is a rough surgery. Very rough. Also, we found out post-op that he is allergic to morphine. Not a good thing when you're hooked to morphine pump, you are hurting and pushing the button every nine minutes. It took the nurses a bit to figure out what was going on. He first felt like he had fire ants crawling on him an biting him all over and his back was itching like crazy... then he started getting sick. I felt so helpless! They had to wait a period of time for the drug to get out of his body before they could try something else so he was in a lot of pain. After four days, he was finally released from the hospital and we got to come home! The next six weeks were tough - home health and a physical therapist came out every day for a couple of weeks, then he moved to outpatient rehab.

Kyle had convinced himself that because of his young age, he'd recover faster. He learned that actually health and age work against you in some areas with TKR. First, he has very muscular legs and since they cut your quad, he had more to heal. Secondly, when you are young, more of your nerves still function properly, so you feel more. And that makes hurt more.

I'm thankful to God for all he provides... I'm thankful that is behind us. I'm thankful he feels better. I'm thankful our business survived the financial losses of him being off work so long. I'm thankful for Megan (our awesome employee) who held down the fort during his absence.

New Office Building

Just as Kyle is getting his step back we began building a new office building for our business. After years of leasing, it was finally time to build our own place. Construction got underway in May and was complete in August... the only problem with that was that our lease was up at the end of June, so we had to move our office home... it was insane! The garage became our supply room, copy room, file room - my home office became Kyle's office - our dining room became Megan's office, and I moved to the room off our living room. It was stressful at times, but the blessing was that it was summer time and the girls could pop in and out of Daddy's office anytime they wanted. We are now settled into the new space and love it.

School Starts

Kylie began her sixth grade year and Kacie started her second grade year. We were so pleased that Kylie got the same second grade teacher Kylie had. This year has had it's challenges without doubt. We've dealt with more girl drama this year than I care to blog about, but I'm proud of how my girls have handled themselves. There was one situation where I wanted to march up to the school and have Kylie's classes changed, but after prayer and an almost all night discussion with my husband, we decided it wasn't in her best interest. She wasn't in physical danger, and God had allowed the situation to happen. It was our job to help her navigate her way through it, make good decisions, and figure out a few things about life along the way. If He allows it, then there is purpose in it... I have to hold on to that through these child rearing days!!! After Kylie's accident I reminded myself daily that God did not spare her life for me to rob her of a childhood. I am not in control. I have responsibilities as a parent, but I am not in control. Now, a few months on the "other side" of the situation, I've seen Kylie grow in maturity and wisdom. God is awesome and we may not understand what he's doing, but he is working it all out. We just have to trust him.

ACL Fest

Kyle and I went to Austin for the fourth (or is it fifth?) year in a row to the Austin City Limits Music festival. Kylie is a lover of music, and being a musician, he loves to see new and upcoming groups. ACL is an awesome venue to catch major named headliners as well as the new acts. It's three days of music across Zilker Park. This year, in a single day, I got to see Nora Jones, Switchfoot, Robert Earl Keene, AND.... THE EAGLES. We had a great time with our friends the Gilley's, the Frasers, the Smith's, and the Cooper's. Can't wait until next year!

As we move into this new year, I hope to blog more! Maybe my writers block has vanished... I feel inspired again....