Battling possessions

I am in a war with stuff. I like stuff. I like furniture. I especially like having a house with furniture. However, I have this goal that I want to be unburdened. Since we lived in a huge monstrosity of a house which we totally filled up- somewhere around 3500 square feet + enormous garage, and now live in a normal 1900 square foot house with 2 car garage, it is a constant source of stress. Add to that my Mother's belongings that I brought home. So I spent a good part of last weekend rearranging furniture and boxing up some things, which I took to the Goodwill store. And I am trying to get rid of some larger items, and got my father's bookshelf that he made in college, and got a TV for the bedroom but need to get cable to it and now have books to go through.... and on and on. So I deal with it a little at a time, take time out to write and crochet and other stuff, and look forward to a day when I am unburdened.

Plano, Texas

The main thing I have to say about Plano is that it is hot, flat, ugly, and boring. And traffic is awful. People that complain about Baytown should come to Plano. At least Baytown is close to the ocean. Weather.com said 89 in Baytown, 97 in Plano.

Carol and I are here with Ames for his life-changing surgical procedure. We have been looking forward to tomorrow for several months. I am so glad to have a happy son!

Texas Heat and completing another 10k

Funfest on the Bay. Enjoy the gulf breezes and watch the pelicans. Sounded nice on paper. It was close--Texas City, and by the water. I like to set goals and pay money so that I will not get lazy. So Johnny and I signed up for the 10k.

Well, we did it!!! But it was so hot, starting at 7:30, when the sun was already getting high in the sky. We did walk along the water, on skyline drive near the Texas City Dike. No breezes, few pelicans. No portacans, and not enough water along the way. I was glad I carried my own.

I finished (mostly walking, run on a few slight downhills) in 1 hr 32 min, which is how long it usually takes. Johnny was about a minute behind me. Ice cold cloths, water, orange slices, shade---and the feeling of accomplishment once again! I won a door prize, which consisted of a sweat band, pedometer, and freezable BPA plastic cup. Johnny won a third place in his age medal!! I told him there were probably only 3 in his age group! :)

So we came home and looked through the ads we got for upcoming events. I sorta want to do this 5k at night coming up in Galveston, haven't signed up for it yet. But we DID crazily sign up for the Baytown Heat Wave on July 4!

www.budheatwave.org. That's only 3 weeks away. Gotta keep going!

Sore today, but feels good.

This past weekend we also attended the first workshop in Houston for gender variant youth and families (the four of us went) and it was informative--glad we went. I am amazed at what a variety of people there are in the world! I used to try to put everyone in a box.

Sunday- after church Johnny and I went to Jeff's where Ellen, Jeff, and I went through a couple of old trunks from our parents house. One contained mostly mementos of our sister Laura's life, and I took her well worn leather wallet.

The highlight of the other suitcase was the many letters that our parents wrote each other during their separation before marriage while Daddy got his bachelor's degree. Much interesting reading lies ahead. ! :)

Graduation--one more to go!

It was a busy weekend! The highlight was that my next to the youngest kiddo graduated high school! Although it is an accomplishment, our family is smart and we tend to take it for granted. However, I am SO HAPPY that Ames has graduated and making plans for the future-- two long years ago, I wasn't so sure it would happen. I do thank God for grace and mercy. I am proud of you Ames!

HOT. SUMMER.

June 2. After a dry, cool spring, it's definitely summer. I walked out of the airconditioned controlled environment of the hospital into a wall of hot humidity. My car thermometer said 102 degrees when I got home.

On the upside, my sunflowers are blooming. :)