Hello! My, but I have been neglecting this site rather badly. I must get back in the habit of being regular here. As soon as I figure out how I will let you know LOL

Things have been great here! They are even better now.

At the end of May, Sidney's Dad came and picked him up for a visit back to Texas. This was out of the blue and we only had a day and a half of notice. (He had not seen him in 8 years). Sidney was on cloud nine. He was so excited and wanted to spend the whole summer there. But things didn't go as planned. He was supposed to spend some time with his sister Kim, while she was off work for a week's vacation. Then he was to go back to his Dad's house. They live about 2 hours from each other. He spent about 3 days at his Dad's house, and was able to go fishing which had him excited. He then went to his sister's house. Most of her vacation was already gone, and she has two small children of her own. Her boyfriend would come over and they would have the most horrible fights, complete with physical hits and name calling. He was also left alone in a run down apartment complex, while the kids went to daycare and she went to work. I was horrified!!!! I wanted to immediately get him on a plane home. I was trying to arrange this when my daughter Julie voluntered to drive a long ways to go get him and take him to her house in San Antonio. That was awesome!!!! She hadn't been able to see Sidney in a long time and I knew he would enjoy getting to spend some time with her. It just happened to be Father's Day when Julie went to pick him up. His Dad was not happy about that, but he wasn't at his Dad's like he was supposed to be. And Sidney did not want to go back there. While he was able to go fishing one time, his Dad didn't fulfill other promises about horse riding or really seem to show any interest in his welfare. Since he left him at his sister's house, knowing Kim wasn't there with him,....get the picture? But I insisted that Julie be allowed to pick him up. I have to say this. Kim is a good person. She has a heart of gold and she cannot help that she is a single Mom, doing her very best. But this was my child, being left alone in a big city, in an apartment complex that had seen better days. Sidney also has never seen a knock down drag out fight like he did there. I had to get him out of there! So Julie came to the rescue.

Sidney had a lot of fun with Julie! He was able to go several times to Sea World, and really enjoyed himself. He was able to go swimming, and even got to spend time with Glynnis and Todd, as they flew in from England for a week!!!! Awesome! He had not seen them in about 3 years. Kim had bought Sidney a couple of pairs of shoes. Julie also took Sidney shopping, and got him some more clothes. He even tried them on and Julie emailed me the photos. That was great!  He spent his birthday there, and I mailed his birthday gift to him. It was also Todd's birthday, and of course I never send anything without including something for all the kids. So I sent a package with things for Sidney,Todd and Glynnis. Sidney and Todd got a DS and a game each. Julie bought Todd his DS, and Sidney's game, while I sent Todd's game. I sent a couple of things to Glynnis including a necklace she seemed to enjoy.

But Sidney came home a week ago today, after being gone for two months! It was odd not to have him here, but I was happy for Sidney that he had a most unforgettable summer. He had experiences he will never forget. Most of them good ones, thanks to Julie. Sidney was very nervous about flying for the first time. And alone at that. I went through a local travel agency to arrange his flight, and he was originally scheduled to fly out last Sunday evening. But when Julie went to the airport to get him on board, they refused to let him fly! Seems unattended minors cannot take the last flight out of the day. He was scheduled to leave there around 6:30 p.m., and finally arrive here around 10:30 p.m. Sunday night. I instantly panicked LOL. But the airlines calmly rescheduled him for the next morning. Poor Julie, having to take him twice. I had arranged for him to fly out on Sunday so it wouldn't interfere with anyone's work schedules. But it wasn't meant to be.

He arrived at 3:22 our time, and I was able to secure a boarding pass, and be right there as soon as he stepped off the plane! The kid has never played football, but he should as he tackled me in a run, and gave me the biggest hug! He almost knocked me over LOL. I squeezed him in a big hug, and he made the comment that I barely left any air in his lungs LOL. I had teased him over the phone, that when I saw him I would leave a little air in his lungs so he could breathe LOL. A gentleman who got off right ahead of him, saw us together and made the comment that I had a great kid. As we went over to claim Sidney's baggage, the same man was standing there. Sidney said it was his seat mate on the flight. I introduced myself, and it turns out that the man worked in Bentonville, AR for Wal-Mart! What a small world we live in. He had more good comments about Sidney and I was saying a prayer of thanks that God has indeed made sure all went for Sidney.

Sidney said the airline really made him feel good. They announced over the loudspeaker that he was on board, and that it was his first flight. They also gave him a tour of the plane, including the cockpit, where he met the pilot and co-pilot. They showed him the instrument panel and even told him about the main controls. I was so impressed when I heard that. Since 9/11 and security being so tight, I didn't dream they would do that for him. But they did. I am very grateful to American Airlines for treating him like royalty!!!! He now knows what it is like to fly, and should he ever need to again, he won't be afraid.

It's been so good to get him home again, and we have spent this last week, trying to get things back to normal. He has an eye appointment this afternoon, as we always do every school year. School doesn't start here for another week yet. And at his young age, he needs new glasses every year. Sidney is also looking forward to taking walks to the lake with Dillard, and has shown an interest in fishing as well. He actually was showing that interest earlier this year. Gene left two fishing poles here for him, and it will be no problem to develop that interest!!!

I was so impressed when I saw Sidney after he had been gone for two months!!! He had grown some, but he looked better than ever. He had good color to his skin, due to Julie having him swimming, and out at Sea World. He was no longer the white skinned child, and he seems to have a glow and extra energy about him. Spending time with Julie was the best thing that could have happened and it made his summer a great one!!! He has no desire to be in touch with his Dad now. What a shame that after 8 years, his Dad didn't take more time with him, or show much interest. I still wonder why on earth he would drive all that way to come get him, just to basically ignore him. It was a good 14 hour drive one way. Obviously I had my misgivings about letting him go, but if I had not, he would have always resented me for that. He had to learn. This is one time I am so sorry my misgivings turned out to be true. But it all worked out great in the end, and Sidney had a good summer after all.

I share al this, in case someone reading this, has had the same experiences, or will have. There is always a silver lining to everything. It may be hard to see sometimes, but I assure you, it is there!

Sidney missed out on seeing the garden grow but I did email him pics of the 4th of July celebration we have here every year, including pics of the garden. When he got home, we have since gone out into the garden together and harbested the last of the yellow squash, and several tomaotes. I am freezing what I can't use right now. Later I can slip off the tomatoe skins and use them to make sauce. I was able to harvest and store some lavender, and a bit of spices. I am so behind on doing that though. I need to dry some sage, and more rosemary. Chives too! My basil didn't do as well this year. I didn't replace the original plant from last year, and it was very woody in growth. But it's all okay. Dillard harvested a lot of corn and froze it still on the cob. It is great to think about enjoying that this winter. And we had oodles of green beans we have frozen and a lot of it we have shared with family and co-workers. It is a great feeling to share. While I froze some of the squash and zuchinni, no one but me will eat it in our family. So I didn't keep much, but gave away a lot of it. My melon plants are not doing well. They are still very small and still making blooms. But no fruit is even trying to form. But I will try again next year. I give up on them as it's too late now to get anything in time before fall sets in.

And I have been very occupied with continuing to make graphics and learning. There is so much to learn!!!! But I have really enjoyed it. I am now able to make and offer graphics for request in one of my groups. Another group has invited me to also share, but I just don't have the time to do so. It really is a time committment, and I have so many other things to do around here LOL. Boring stuff like housework, running errands,.....LOL  And sometimes other things suffer as I try to learn new techniques for making good graphics. But I am glad that I want to learn new things, and I hope I always learn new things. Here lately I haven't been repairing computers on the side, although I did bring home a laptop and clean out the nasty spyware and trojan that had gotten on it.

Be blessed and I will be back SOON!

Here is a tag I created recently. Feel free to snag or request one with your name on it. Email me at moonifa at gmail dot com and I will fix it and send it back to you! Unlike some, I do not request credit. I did this from a tutorial, and it was not my own creation. Sometimes I am able to do one completely on my own, but not very often LOL. I'm getting there,...just takes time.