Goodbye Sid!

The three years I spent working as a manager at Enterprise (in Oklahoma) is not something I look back fondly on. It was tough work but it did offer me a crash course in business and customer relations. I was an angry person at the end of every day. I was spending way too much time doing something other than what God put me on Earth to do. I despised 99% of the customers, hated marketing and strongly disliked my commute and hours. Can you believe the dress code demanded that women wear panty hose, suits, heels and that we had to wash cars in THAT?!

Although there were many things about Enterprise that royally disgusted me, I absolutely LOVED (and miss) my co workers. I worked at three different branches (Stillwater, Ponca City and Guthrie). I spent lots of time with these people. Among my favorites were the drivers. These were retired men. My driver at Ponca was Dewey - who I still talk to at least once a month. My driver in Guthrie was Sid. Both were neat guys who I was blessed to have met. I thought of them both as extra grandpas! :)

Last week Dewey called with some bad news. Sid had passed away on Easter. At first thought I was sad beyond words. I always thought I would have another conversation with him. He had been in poor health the entire time I knew him. He and his wife, Sandy, were also Texan transplants "lost" in Oklahoma! We both longed to be back in the lone star state and talked about it quite often. Death is part of life and Sid had had a full life. He was 75 years old at the time of his passing. After being a state trooper in Midland for many years, he was prouldy promoted to a Texas Ranger in 1965! He did that until 1988. Sid had some amazing stories and I loved to hear him talk. Sandy convinced him to move to Guthrie, OK to be closer to their two daughters and grandchildren. Sandy passed away last Fall of cancer. Dewey said that he had spoken to Sid numerous times since and he said that without his other half he was ready to go! He was a Christian man and I know where he is today :)

Just another Wednesday in paradise!

Today was a good day. I am down to just one zofran a day....usually first thing in the AM. I still feel sick always but just not as bad. Does that make any sense?! I am functioning A LOT better!

Dance was fun this morning. It was pretty gloomy outside so only a few mommies & girlies showed. Mrs. Lisa had the girls "practice" for the recital. She warned us that this would be tricky the first few times! She directed them to each stand on a silver star on the floor. She then had the mommies sit across the room looking at them. She handed out the maracas, turned on the music and YIKES!! The girls all freaked out! There were maracas flying and tears flowing. One poor little girl was trying her best to escape the classroom. The girls will be performing two dances at the recital but I'm afraid there isn't much time for perfecting. We have less than a month 'til SHOW TIME!!!

After dance Emma & I both got hair cuts then went over to my hair gal's house for lunch and play time. Sarabeth has two kids, "Gus" (age 3.5) and Lola (age 18 mos). We had a fun time.

Is this swine flu scaring anyone ELSE? The fact that a 23 month old died last night AND there are more and more confirmed cases freaks me out! Jarrod called me at lunch to inform me that their regional track meeet has been CANCELLED by UIL. Many school districts participating are closed until mid May. I was leery walking through Wal Mart today. I wanted to wear a mask and ask everyone when the last time they were in MX was. I keep reminding myself that God is in control. He knows everything WAY before it happens. I have peace with that.

San Antonio - day 3

Yesterday we concluded our SA trip with a trip to Sea World. I felt the BEST this day!! We watched three shows including the Sea Lions, Acrobats and Shamu! Emma clapped and cheered! It is amazing how well these animals are trained! We saw the sharks, penguins and other many attractions. Emma is at the perfect age to start enjoying theme parks. The weather cooperated and was in the high 80's all day. It heavily sprinkled for a few minutes but didn't last for long! We enjoyed our day!

San Antonio - day 2

THANKFULLY I felt so much better on Saturday morning when I woke up!! We enjoyed breakfast at the hotel then mapped out our directions. First, we visited the Witte museum. Jarrod is a history fanatic and there was so much for kiddos to do! Emma loved seeing and learning about the animals. She especially loved the interactive exhibit of the sights and sounds of night wildlife in South Texas. There was also an HEB sponsored tree house which was a three story fun place for kids of all ages. After lunch we went to the San Antonio botanical gardens. It was beautiful and smelled so sweet! I wish I had a garden like it :) As you can see from the photos, there were flowers and plans of all colors, shapes and sizes.

After those adventures we went back to the hotel to rest before the wedding. Emma wasn't in the mood to nap, so we went to the pool instead ;) It was right outside our backdoor. It wasn't quite 90 degrees and it was pretty cold!! We went to our friend Dustin's wedding at the Fair Oaks Ranch in Boerne that evening. All festivities were outdoors and it the weather was great! They are going to Jamaica for their honeymoon and I told them to get ready for the most FUN week ever (that's where we went and I'm ready to go back!)

San Antonio - day 1

On Friday we traveled to San Antonio. I was still not feeling great but managed to get myself in the car! It took us about four hours to get there and we went straight to the hotel. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriot off of I10. The mattress and pillows were soooo comfy, I hated to leave!

On Friday evening we went down to the river walk. It was "Fiesta" so there were people everywhere!! We took the riverboat tour which Emma loved!! Throughout the remainder of our trip she kept asking when we were going back on that boat :) Our tour guide, John, was halarious! After that boat ride we walked, and walked, and walked and walked some more. Geez there was a lot of working involved ~ especially for a sick pregnant lady! We had tickets for Fiesta so we decided to check it out. It turns out that there were tight crowds, alcohol, beads, turkey legs and other things that were not at all appealing to me. After five minutes of Fiesta, we decided to find food! We ate at Casa Rio. Unfortunately I couldn't eat. I was ready for bed! We walked back to our car before sunset and were back to the hotel and in bed by 9:30pm.