An Update...At Last & Where Is My Husband?

Greetings to everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I posted. I was doing so good and then I set a firm goal of posting once a week. Yes, I know it's the kiss of death but I did it anyway and there it all went. :-)
We've had quite a fun March, though. As I mentioned, Josh is home from his sojourn in New Orleans so it's been very fun to see him and spend time with the family. We're also excited that he finally has a job and that it's not in New Orleans. We'd hoped for something local to DFW but we'll smile about San Antonio because it ain't that far. It'll be especially fun when Rob is sent down to Austin for training because we'll be in the south of Austin and they'll be in the northern part of San Antonio; perfect for day visits. This picture is when we took Josh to our favorite burger joint. I just love that picture of Grant. Hatty & Josh are pretty cute too.
We had a great time going to a family get-together to celebrate the 85th birthday of Rob's maternal grandpa, Bob vonBose. It was at Jared & Ginny's place in Arlington. It was the first time Grandpa's 9 children have been together since his 75th birthday party so it was pretty fun. We got to see some cousins we haven't seen for a long time. They're all getting so big!! Yes, I know they're not supposed to shrink but I think there could be some moderation. :-)
The get-together had a Hawaiian theme which was fun and inspired some great food. It also inspired a hula dancing session that Rob ended up joining in on...without realizing what he was agreeing to do. Silly boy. I'll get a couple of pictures on here of him so you can have a giggle. I know the quality isn't fantastic on them but I was pretty far from him. That is his tie wrapped around his head.


Here's a shot of our nephew, Lex (son of Marianne & Dave), because he was SOOOO cute. Then, of course, is a shot of the birthday boy as he shared with us his miraculous experience during a bomber mission during WWII. He was obviously meant to live through it and we're glad he did. He also sang "How Great Thou Art" for us which was a very moving experience. He is a wonderful man and we love him so much.
As many of you may know, Rob was sent to Japan to go to more training on a new thing TEL is making for some of the machines. These kinds of trips are definitely not our favorite thing but also not really optional. We made it through the 2-wk trip last January but were under the impression it would be unlikely he'd be sent to Japan again...and definitely not 15 months later. Silly people. Oh well. He left Friday and will be gone for THREE WEEKS!! I know some of you are probably thinking how spastic we are but we just don't do this kind of thing...and yes, I'm spastic. :-)
We arranged things a little better this time for his departure, though. He took Thursday off and that was our family hang-out day. We goofed off, watched movies , packed and finished up last minute things around the house that I needed his help with or just needed him to flat-out do himself. We went to dinner at our favorite hibachi grill place which was the most delicious it's ever been. On Friday morning, we got over by the airport early so we stopped by Lowe's to pick up some plug adapters he needed. We walked him into the airport this time instead of just dropping him off which was nicer. Unfortunately for him, his plane left the gate an hour late and then sat on the runway for another hour before takeoff. Oh what fun.
We set our computers up so we can talk to him through Google Talk. Oh how we love that feature. We also have fun leaving voicemails for him that he can get when he next checks his email so Kyrie can say good night to him and such. We sure do feel lucky to have such easy (and free) ways to communicate even though he's on the other side of the world. Technology is an amazing thing.
He's settling out of his jetlag quite a bit already which is really nice. We'll see how well it works out after he survives a full day of class and stays awake. :-) He says that the trees are blossoming everywhere; amazingly beautiful. He'll take some pictures and send them to me so I can post them. I know you all have seen blooming trees before but probably not Japanese ones so just enjoy. Hee, hee.
I felt like I was doing pretty good with him leaving. Kyrie & I were both feeling pretty all right...and then life decided it was time to slap me down. So last night, we went to fuel the car and get some dinner. After fueling, we were driving and heard a very loud thump but couldn't figure out what it was. We got to Arby's and pulled into a parking space to check the tires...and got to watch one of the back tires deflate before our very eyes. Yikes! This is our 3rd flat in 2 or 3 weeks. It's the 2nd on Rob's car. I haven't changed a flat in forever so my dear bro-in-law, Tyler, was kind enough to come do it for me. But then, the car wouldn't start because our battery was drained out. It's starting to act old so it doesn't take much to wipe it out. Of course, we didn't realize that until after it died. So luckily Tyler was there to give me a jump. I was almost in tears, though. I know neither of those things are really very bad but I was apparently a little more emotional than I thought. Everything worked out fine though...
Until this morning when I got up to hear Kyrie sobbing. I came out of my bedroom and found her laying on the floor in front of the ferrets' cage, crying. Brody looked like he was about to die. We actually thought he might be dead but then he jumped up. Kyrie immediately wanted to offer a prayer for his recovery, if it was Heavenly Father's will. She sure inspires me to remember to do that more often. She held him wrapped up in a towel because he still seemed weird. He appeared dead a couple more times but would startle and move some. I'm really not sure he wasn't dead for a few seconds at a time. He looked like it. He's seemed pretty fine the rest of the day but it sure has been stressful. I do love him as a very sweet little pet and would be terribly sad if he died but it was even worse to see Kyrie's heart-breaking crying. When she was holding him in the towel, she told me that if Heavenly Father wanted him back so bad, He could have him but she'd sure like him to stay a little while longer. Man, I love that girl.
This is probably much longer than I meant for it to be but I'm so behind. All is well in general. I look forward to having Rob back home so I can sleep easier at night. I don't really care for being the only adult in the house at night as I'm trying to go to sleep. But for those of you who might consider breaking in (and I don't know which of you that would be), remember my motto for home defense that I try to live by: Shoot first and shoot often.
Happy thoughts to you all!