A whole lot of nothing...

Hey Guys!

I don't have very much going on at the moment; the house is clean (somewhat).

I think I'm going to make some changes to my blog...make it prettier (?).

In the meantime, I'll also try to find something to blog about....

Momma Said...

"My, what big teeth you have!"

"All the better to eat PIZZA with!" said the...

scary...

little grandma!Get it? She looks like a little grandma walking with her walker (?).
Aahh, what I think of to entertain myself these days.....

You went where?!

How do you like my post title? Did it get your attention? Lie to me if it didn't; I had no idea what else to name this post.

The week following Phillip's return to Iraq really did suck! I'm not going to lie to you about that. I went back to feeling like I couldn't survive one more day of this damn situation.

Luckily, my brother was driving through on business and called to see if I'd like company for the night. Of course, I did! And so, not this past Sunday but the last, he came over and we had a great visit. He could see that I needed to be with family, so he called later on Monday to ask me to research a one-way ticket so that he could fly back on Tuesday. When I picked him up in Waco (by the way, flying Waco is much cheaper than flying Austin, and because of that, Waco has been the way we've flown ever since we got to TX), he mentioned that he'd love to know where the Branch Davidian Compound was. I was able to get the directions a couple of years ago after much research on the internet, but never made my way out there to satisfy my curiosity. I'd passed by one of the main roads (on the directions) many times, but never had the time to look for it. Going by what I'd remembered of the directions, we found it! I was thrilled to have my brother with me, because Phillip had always warned me of going out there by myself.

I didn't have my camera with me, but I was able to snap some pictures on my cell phone. Here are the pictures:

At the entrance...

Trees marking the place where the original compound was and a new church in the distance.

A monument...

The last picture was taken from the road (a sign saying something about the Trans-Texas corridor). It was a really quiet place and it felt a bit weird to be there; almost like we shouldn't be there at all.

Oh, and to answer the question (if you had one) about how my brother got home to Louisiana...he drove back to Lafayette with us on Friday so that the kids and I could visit for the MLK weekend.

I hope everyone is doing well. I'll try to post again soon. Take care....

What now?

Phillip left yesterday to go back to the sandbox. Though I love R&R breaks, they can be such a tease. Life was wonderful while he was here and now, I feel empty and lonely again; not as bad as the first time he left, not by a long shot, but still, I really wish I didn't feel this way.

We brought Phillip to the airport yesterday morning, and then I brought Gabe to school. He needed to be with his friends, and I needed time to adjust. I did a lot of thinking.

I'm going to go about life as I have been. We have a routine. Our week days go by quickly (though sometimes, time drags), but weekends can be long and depressing. Still, life has to return to normal for the three of us here in Harker Heights, and so I'm making plans...

January will be a busy travel month for us. For the MLK weekend, we will go home to Lafayette, because Gabe has 5 days off. At the end of the month, we will go up to Mt. Pleasant, to Angie's house, to meet up with Phil's parents. Sarah will be a whopping 1 YEAR OLD on February 2nd, so we will have a small party for her that weekend.

February might be a difficult month, but it's a short one and Phillip's mom said that they might be able to make a trip to see us in the middle of it.

March will bring us back to Louisiana for spring break, and hopefully we can make a bump check on Mary in Deridder.

April will hopefully have good news of it's own and I'll elaborate on that when and if the time comes.

We're into our 7th month as of today. If rumors are true, then we only have a few more months before we begin to prepare for the guys to come home. If they truly are stuck there until the end of summer, then Lafayette will see us return for those hot and muggy months, until school starts again.

Phillip's mom went to the Our Lady of Prompt Succor Mass in New Orleans today....we shall see what happens.