Life after 34...

Another page turned yesterday in my life as I turned 34. It was just a regular day - nothing special. I'm not big into celebrating for myself so it was fine. I received many phone calls of well wishes which was very nice. I made myself a chocolate cake, also very nice. I ended up having to go to the doctor Friday due to a sinus infection that came on with a vengence Thursday early AM. It was so painful and I recognized the pain from the infection I had when I was pregnant with JJ. I told Robert I would rather have another baby than go through that again. Thank the Lord for drugs. By Saturday morning I was beginning to feel much better. I'm still blowing my nose today but am able to get things done around the house finally.
Last Thursday I went to the YoungLives Club. It was a small showing according to all involved but a good experience. There were four teens and four volunteers present plus myself and two other observers. I did not feel my best so I did more observing than anything. I need to talk to the head coordinator about my next step. I can see they need volunteers badly. There are three women to minister to around 15 teens. Not much chance for one-on-one interaction. I believe if I make the committment to help out than God will work out my time issues. I know He will make a way if this is His will. So, it's nice to turn that over and not worry about it.
Robert has been working long hours lately. He went three days without even seeing JJ. When he is finally off he is so tired he cannot do much but rest. I hope this schedule is just for this rotation of his training.
JJ continues by to a joy to me each day. He is a full-time crawler now on his hands and knees. He is getting more vocal and more fun all the time. He loves to put things from one "pot" (so to speak) to the other. If I'm not on my toes he will gladly put Scout's dog food into the water bowl piece by piece. He loves to chew on my cell phone too and hates when I take it away. It's all about diversion tactics. I am starting to plan his birthday and do not like all the decisions to make. I think I'm making it harder than it has to be so I'm just going to simplify. It's JJ's first big shin-dig so I don't want to disappoint but as long as loved ones are near it is a no-miss deal.

Hump Day

We are already half way through the week. JJ and I arrived home just fine and it was weird to be back here. Robert had dinner waiting for us. Monday when I awoke I felt like I might be coming down with something, courtesy of Oklahoma City friends. I rested all day and woke up Tuesday feeling much better. I've had other symptoms but nothing that is keeping me down. Tuesday afternoon JJ and I went to a meeting for YoungLives. It is a branch of YoungLife; a ministry for young teen mothers. JJ was in the nursery and I attended the training. It is definitely an area in which I could serve and I believe I could contribute alot. There is a big time committment which is the only thing that concerns me. Well, it is not that demanding but more so than how things are now. I am going to their Club meeting tomorrow so wee will see.

No place like home!

Much time has passed since my last blog. I was in Arkansas and since Tuesday I have been in OKC. JJ and I hit the road Tuesday afternoon and made it to OKC in time for dinner at my aunt Sandie's house with her family and Joe. It was a great meal and Stephanie made a great chocolate cake! I have been busy since then visiting friends and buying some things here that are hard to find in Conway. I was only going to be here a few days but now I am going home Sunday so it was almost a week's visit. Robert encouraged me to stay because he has been busy working. Everyone asks if he likes his job and yes, he does. He is learning a lot! He has odd hours sometimes spending the night out on the rig. Right now he is in a supervisory position. His next rotation starts in April and he will have completed a year in August. Everything is going well at the house in Arkansas. Tomorrow JJ and I will go to church and then head out shortly after. Scout came with us on the trip. She got to play with her buddies that lived on 48th street. I went and visited a friend who just had her baby. It's so hard to believe how small they are and how fast they grow. I'm starting to make plans for JJ's birthday and can't believe it has been a year. It went by fast. Sometime next week I will post some more JJ pictures. Thanks for checking back!

Great game, rough crowd...

The Walkers hosted our first non-family function Sunday at our home. Robert had two men from work come over with their family and girlfriend. It was six people but the perfect amount. I made meatballs, chili, 7-layer dip, cookies, and queso for the event (basically a heart attack). Everyone loved the food and I made just enough. Plus, it was a great game. I wasn't sure who I wanted to root for: the Giants and Eli Manning or the Patriots and Wes Welker. As soon as the game started though I was rooting for the Giants. I think it was the underdog factor. JJ had fun too with two little girls who came and played with him.
We have had great weather here the last two days. Great as in the 70 degree temperature. JJ, Scout, and I went on walks both days and incorporated jogging today in the walk. I got out and voted and Robert and I made plans for dinner tonight. One guy from his work, they call him "Juice", came over Sunday and we made a plan to go out to dinner tonight with him and his girlfriend. The tornadoes hit her town so she couldn't make it and so five other work buds joined us for dinner at Outback. This is where the 'rough crowd' bit comes in. So, I was the only chick sitting there with seven dudes. They are all drillers, oil-men, ruf-nek type guys ranging from 23 to 60 in age. It was eye-opening to say the least. They are all big guys - strong, some fat, and just burley. They were drinking and feasting on bloomin' onions when we got there. It was the first time I ever had someone sitting next to me during dinner dipping with a spit cup on the table. I guess guys don't care about this sort of thing. Then, five young ladies walked by to get to their table and the cat-calls started. I heard a howl (seriously) from the end of our table and then necks started breaking. One man even changed his seat to get a better view. I didn't have to say, "hey, don't mind me..." or "don't let me get in the way of your normal activities". I just told Robert across the table in a low voice, "you know I am going to have to blog about this." It was comical and interesting and meets the stereotype of what you might think of when you hear 'rough around the edges/unrefined type'; an official "welcome to Arkansas moment". At least the food was good and paid for by someone else. I'm glad they weren't all at our house Sunday!
There are no other plans for the week. I hope to get started on making some curtains for our bathroom. The black sheet covering the window is getting old and ugly.

Little Man

We went to the doctor yesterday in Little Rock. I like the doctor but still miss Dr. Albiek in OKC. JJ had a flu booster shot and didn't even cry! I was so proud of him. He's a tough little guy. He had a good report from the doctor but it still small for his age. He weighs in at 14lbs 4oz so he is barely gaining weight. When the girls visited last weekend they couldn't believe how much he ate so I know I'm feeding him enough. The doctor wants to see him in a month to monitor his weight. All of his measurements (head, weight, height) are proportional, just low on the bell curve. I'm not that worried because he is still strong and developmentally on track. You know what they say, big things come in small packages. I feel good about going here for JJ's care. It is much better than the "now calling number 59" service in Conway.
We did go to lunch Monday with Michael and Heather Anderson of YoungLife. It was a good meeting and I think there are definitely opportunities to get involved. Primarily, Heather runs a ministry for teen mothers. I plan to help out there and make a difference in a young woman's life. JJ and I were supposed to go to Heather's house today for a play date with her three kids but one of them got sick. We took a rain check.
Robert is planning to have some of his work buddies over for the SuperBowl. It is a great first entertaining option since guys do not care about details like women. I will probably be planning the food today and tomorrow. Everything else around here is as usual - kind of boring. I think I may go home for a visit in February. A friend of mine is having her baby on the 7th and my birthday is on the 24th so somewhere in there would make for a good visit. We'll see what pans out.