And The Blogging Family Grows

Yesterday Meagan started a blog.  She has titled it Desi's Song.  If you would like to read about her journey of loss and healing, please click the title in my sidebar (to the right of my posts). It will take you directly to her page. 

Thanks for all of your support!

Love,
Fonda

The Week That Just Keeps Going...And Going...And Going...

What is up with our out of control life?  I haven't been able to post all week due to the craziness of it all.  So, here is a (not so) quick 'Week In Review'.  I will try to post pictures later.

Last Thursday:  We had a slow day in the office as Porter and Jim were both out dove hunting for Opening Day with a client.  They had a successful and fun filled morning.  That evening we went to watch Will play in the JV Maroon game against Terry.  The weather was nice, the company was great...but Will pulled a groin muscle and had to sit out about half of the game.  It was a nail biter, but this time the suspense did not end in our favor.  The final score was Waller 7, Terry 13.  We ended our day with a great Mexican dinner after the game.

Friday: A quite night for Jim and I as Bri was out with friends and Will had to Maroon Man the Terry game in Fort Bend County. Jim and I finished up the irrigation system to the new food plot at the 17 acres.  (What a romantic evening alone, right?)  Will had the privilege of donning the 'Wally' costume for the game.  He had a great time...but I will be honest with you that in this Texas heat, he didn't smell great when we picked him up!  When you wear Wally, you have to bring him home and give him a bath.  Let's just say he got a strong dose of Fabreze!

Saturday: While Jim and the boys trimmed limbs down at the 17 acres, I headed to the Katy/Richmond area to meet up with friends.  We had tickets to see Kid Rock at the Cynthia Woods Pavilion!  (Thanks, Robin!)  We all gathered at Robin's for pizza before the limo picked us up for the ride to the concert.  Fun!  Fun!  It was a great concert and we had AMAZING seats!  I can hardly wait to show you the pictures I took on my cell phone with NO zoom!  So close! 

Sunday: I arrived home just as the family was beginning to stir.  Jim made a delicious breakfast and then we headed back down to the 17 acres to shoot skeet and target practice with my new 22 rifle. It was Bri's first time to shoot a shotgun...and the pictures are priceless! Will won the skeet contest...and Bri won the target shooting contest. 

Monday: Jim and Derrick took the morning to play a round of golf.  The weather was much nicer, but the winds were wild!  I spent the day cooking ribs and all the trimmings and desserts.  In fact, I made so many appetizers that we weren't even hungry when it was time to eat.  So, we decided to go back to the acreage to do some more shooting. 

While we were shooting, Brian received a phone call from a friend who told us that a fire was burning about 10 miles away from us.  We thought little of it and finished our competition before heading home to eat.  We had just finished eating and were getting ready for dessert when a police officer pulled into our driveway and told us that we had 15 minutes to evacuate. 

We grabbed clothes, a few pictures and pieces of memorabilia before heading out.  Oh, yeah, and we grabbed Wally!  We didn't have time to evacuate the cows or even to load up the motorcycles, four wheelers or the boat.  We went to Meagan's and Derrick's to spend the night and really thought we would be back home the next day.

Well, we are still out!  The fires are still burning and in fact have recently flared back up.  Jim and I spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday sitting just outside of the evacuation zone trying to get a visual for ourselves of where the fires were. 

Wednesday night we celebrated Brian's 21st birthday!!!!  We plan to celebrate without the wildfire  stress hanging over our heads as soon as possible!

Thursday we went into the office, but still made two trips out to Waller to check on the status. 

Today I made the trip to Waller by myself.  The skies were clear blue and all was looking to be almost over.  I even watched the big DC10 fly over with the first load of flame retardant to smother the fires.  THEN about three o'clock, the winds picked up and the fires began spreading again.

 We no longer think we will be back home in 48 hours -- short of a miracle.  We have taken up residence at a Holiday Inn for a few days to give Meagan and Derrick a break and to be closer to the house just in case things change and we can get in to check on the cows.

If anyone is still reading...thanks for keeping up with us!  I hope to get pictures posted next week.  I just need my card reader...which is at the house that I haven't been able to get to in four days! 

Talk to you all soon!

Needing More Margin

We like to tease Jim that he may meet a stranger, but he never parts from one.  For instance, a few years back we were in San Antonio with friends for the Pro Bull Riding Ford Tough Series.  After the night's event we went to an Irish Pub to hang out.  Next thing I know, I look over and Jim has turned his chair around to face the table behind us.  He is hanging out with a couple of guys in town for an international seminar...a couple of Russians, an Aussie and a young man from Scotland.  And he sat there with them for over an hour!  I told you, he may meet a stranger but he never parts from one.

And then there is my sister, Rosa.  When we are visiting with her family back home and go out to eat, we tease her about her 'politicing'.  She is making her rounds "shaking hands and kissing babies".  I don't mean that in a bad way either, she knows a lot of people and is genuinely interested in their lives.

And lastly, my dear friend, Stacy, who can talk to anyone and learn their whole life's story in a matter of minutes.  Honestly, if we go to eat at the same restaurant more than twice she usually knows the names of every member of the wait staff and they know hers!

I consider myself to be a social person too.  I love getting together with family and friends. While I am not as outgoing as my husband, my sister or my friend, I still need to be around other people or I begin to feel antsy.  But if I spend TOO much time with other people, I need some solitude.

Even on our most treasured family vacations, I need some solitude.  Heck, even if Jim and I spend too much time together I get to where I cannot string two thoughts together!  That is why I took a morning to stay back in camp during our South Africa trip...and I often turned in while Jim was still visiting around the campfire.

If there is one thing I know to be true about me, it is that I need space in my life.  And that brings me to my second Personal Commandment:

#2: Leave Some Room For Margins

An article at Intentional Parents Blog describes 'margin' as follows: "Margin is the space you leave around the events in your life."

Jim and I have been talking a lot about 'slowing down' lately.  I don't know how we are going to do it with football/holiday/hunting seasons all upon us.   But we both agree that we need some space to breathe. 

I call it needing margin...like the margin on the pages of a book.  Otherwise all the words would overwhelm me and I wouldn't even know where to begin.  It is okay to fill the margins of a book with notes from time to time, but when there is no 'white space' there seems to be no place to just be. 

The difficult thing about margins  is that they have to be made intentionally.  Just as I have to tell my Word document where to begin and end...I have to guard my calendar from becoming too full. We keep a very full schedule during the week with work and football practices/games.  It is for that reason that we are consciously committing to leave at least one weekend a month completely unscheduled.  I can't do it for all of us and I am not sure that we will stay at home the whole time...but we need space to do the things we want or to not do a thing if that is what we need. 

I also try to spend a little bit of time every day in solitude.  Whether it is just my quiet time in the morning or going to bed a little before Jim to do some reading, I know that I need some time to process and to contemplate.

I realized at the beginning of the year that I needed margin in my schedule as a time management tool, but I am learning that it is a much bigger issue than just making it to appointments on time.  It is a way of life that helps to keep me sane!