I had gotten used to sleeping alone and when Ray returned from Midland, I bought a new fan to drown out the snoring that comes from his side of the bed. And it does make some noise.
I had the fan turned on high, the tv up loud enough to hear over the fan and was comfortably tucked into bed when Ray entered the room.
Ray: "Wow, that thing's loud."
Me: "WHAT??!"
Ray: "Yeah... TURN THE TV VOLUME UP TO 79!"
Me: "WHAT??!"
I'm just about done packing to head off to Oklahoma City tomorrow for the Regional soccer tournament. Caitlin and I will be enjoying some soccer, shopping, eating, etc. Robert, a family friend, will be joining us. Should be an interesting weekend. I'll update with scores as we progress and hopefully some pictures.
We were in the living room and Hayden was standing near the window, making panting-like breathing noises. I turned to look at him with a "that's disgusting, especially for a 12 year old boy" kind of look and he just starts laughing. Later on Caitlin and I were asking him why he was doing that earlier and again he started to giggle. His comment? .... "Good times."
I'm really feeling my age when I walk. If I'm not having difficulty breathing then I think I'm going to die of sweating too much. Maybe it's the humidity. Either way, it's not worth it. And it doesn't help things that I keep making nachos to eat. Today I made nachos and fat free pudding. The pudding balances out the fattening nachos, right?? I thought so.
I need to start posting about some important things that I would want to have on record (as if this blog will be saved for all eternity). I should make a post when I talk to Daddy. Like when he was talking about a book that he could write of poetry. I suggested he write a biography instead but he thought it would be pretty boring, but he was quick to come up with the title: "I Are... A Truck Driver". Recently, his attitude about his life has changed from negative to positive. This is especially remarkable since this change took place since he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer. I'm really glad that he's made efforts to sound more positive about things. Some people just don't get it that you should always re-evaluate your annoying personality traits and make self improvements. I hate when people think you should accept them the way they are. If that's how they are then I don't have much to do with them. Why would I want to surround myself with annoyance?
Our lovely cats have been doing some interesting things today.
This is Kami using the grass cuttings to cover up her "poo".
And this is Mojo getting some exercise chasing the red laser light that we like to get out for our amusement.
Tanya, Bailey and Bailey's friend, Marlee, came to visit this past week. We spent the day shopping on Tuesday. The boys didn't go because that just isn't their thing. Tanya and I shuffled Caitlin back and forth to soccer practice on Wednesday and left everyone else at home to play games and jump on the trampoline. We finished the visit off by going bowling on Thursday. We witnessed a few strikes and a few spares but no person bowled a perfect score. This was surprising because afterall, Tanya and I did take lessons back in the '70s. 
When the week was over, we were sorry to see them go. I hope that they weren't too bored and had as much fun as we did.
I killed a snake today. My first ever.
But, Hayden wanted to kill it again.
I was working on getting these shrubs planted and when I was peeling back the stuff that keeps weeds from growing, there it was. 
Caitlin thought it was mean of me to kill it, but my thinking was that it would reproduce and I couldn't have that!!
Anyway, I still need to add mulch to my newly planted shrubs and when that is done, it will look really nice.
I've been busier staying at home than I ever could being employed outside the home. I try to fit in a day of rest at least a couple of times a week. If I don't, I'm going to kill myself.
I spent one full afternoon putting a patio set together for the back porch.
Hayden and I worked on getting the yard mowed. He mowed and I used the weed eater to get the hard to reach spots.
I've also been planting flowers which is something that I completely neglected last year. 
I seriously don't even think I sat on the back porch last year.
I finally repainted my kitchen.
This is the second consecutive year for Caitlin's team to win it and the first time for Hayden's team. Congratulations to both of them!!
We've had our Purple Martin birdhouse for about 8 years now and we enjoy the birds who return every spring to their summer home. This year was the first time that our bird family didn't return and I believe it's because they knew something we didn't know; this humble abode was on it's last leg. And before we were aware of just how urgently we needed to find a new condo for our visitors, the wind assisted with the removal of this old, rusted out shack. The house hung teetered to the side until Ray took the final step of bringing it down. But, before it's removal, we encountered casualties as the house leaned over and spit baby birds onto the ground.
I assembled the the new home and Ray installed it on the pole. I think it looks perfect and any bird should be proud to call it home. 
Well we've succeeded with getting one of our children through high school. We attended the Claremore High School 2007 graduation tonight. The weather was great and the ceremony was nice but it was a little too long for Hayden and Cody.
After a long wait we finally watched Dylan cross the stage to receive his diploma. I hope we get a good picture from the photographer because our seats were not close enough to see him very well. I looked forward to the end where the entire class celebrated by throwing their caps up in the air. They also sprayed silly string at the end and threw beach balls around during the event which was fun to watch.
Caitlin, Cody and I were eating dinner out tonight when I spotted a painting hanging on the wall and I couldn't place where I had seen it before.
Me: "Where have I seen that picture before?"
Caitlin: Shrugs.. "I don't know."
Cody: "Oh that's a painting by Henri Matisse or it could be Roberto Clemente."
Me and Caitlin: (staring in disbelief at Cody) "What??"
Apparently he learned this in art class at school. Was he right? Who knows. But he named artists that I wasn't familiar with and we were impressed. Kudos to Roosa Elementary.
This week has been extremely busy and I was only too happy to be confined to my room for most of the day due to having the house fogged because our pets have fleas. I haven't actually seen fleas throughout the house, but I wanted to make sure that if any were lurking around, they wouldn't be lurking for long. I fogged the entire house and stuffed a towel at the bottom of my door to keep from being gassed while I hid out in the only place I had to go today. It already feels pest free and I think the dogs and cats are thanking me with every scratchless moment they have.
I cleaned the garage on Monday and took Hayden to his soccer game that evening. I went to Tulsa and picked up my new computer desk on Tuesday and starting the assembly. I took a break to take Caitlin and Hayden to practice and continued my project later that night, finishing at nearly 1:00am in the morning. On Wednesday I moved the computer to it's new location, including running the wiring from it's current location to the other side of the wall. I had to move files and office supplies which sounds easier than it was. Then I was off to take Caitlin to her soccer practice. I made a point today for all my tasks to be less laborous. I'm exhausted and still have things I need to do, but today was nice and relaxing. I think I'll reward myself with another day of rest. Afterall, a couple of events that made it an extra special week consisted of me almost blinding myself and Caitlin with flea spray and nearly killing my favorite cat.
Look what I found crawling through the yard this morning. At first glance I thought it was a scorpion and then you can't help but think "a lobster?". :-)
I haven't seen a crawdad in our yard in quite a long time. When we first moved into our house, we had rain by the buckets and so we had lots of crawdads. This season has been very rainy so I should have expected to see them return. When my mom was here visiting one year, we went out to the yard to try and find them, she suggested we catch them and eat them. I suggested we NOT do that.
This little guy was very angry with me for trying to take his picture... I think he snarled.
Taking baths now have to be minimal and there are restrictions on toilet flushing because the septic is backed up.
I also discovered that our carpet in the living room is wet along one of the walls. I'm sure it's seeping in from outside.
As soon as it dries up a little, we need to get out there and clean that gutter spout.
It takes a lot out of her being the alpha cat! 
