10 YEARS, OR 5 FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR

That's what the drunk who nearly killed my sister plea-bargained down to. He was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison, but he'll most likely serve only five.

He asked the judge for permission to speak to Tnk, then apologized to her and said that he hoped God would stay with her throughout her recovery. I ... don't know what to say to that. Too little, too late, maybe?

So the saga is nearing an end. Tnk has to have another surgery on her left hand next Monday, but fortunately it's a fairly minor one. She has a new hand doctor, and he's really great. Her last doctor was ready to write her off, but this one is giving her all kinds of hope. I pray that he won't let her down.

ALLLLL BYYYY MYYYYSE-EH-EHLF

That's the way it is around here this week. The kids were all safely delivered to their respective camps on Sunday, and it's been a lovefest around here ever since.

Okay, that's not exactly accurate. Hubby and I spent the first night looking at each other and saying "what do we do now?" We haven't been childless in over 13 years, and I guess we got out of practice. So Sunday night we ordered Chinese food, brought it home, and ate in front of the TV.

Dang, when did we turn into our grandparents?

Yesterday I took hubby's old car to get the oil changed, and the guy who works there told me about a place he knew of that replaces headliners on cars. (The one on the Saturn was REALLY bad, y'all. We're talking ripped-all-to-hell and hanging-down-on-your-head bad.) So I drove the car to this place, which was nerve-wracking because it was not in the, um, best part of town. They only take cash, if that tells you anything. heh

But a couple of hours later, that old car looked almost new! They did a fantastic job, and hubby is thrilled to death. Woohoo! (Wait, is it sad that I'm so excited about a freakin' headliner?)

Last night, I picked hubby up from work (in his "new" 1995 Saturn) and we went to a local sports bar to watch and listen to a live radio broadcast about the Houston Dynamo soccer team. It was very cool. We got to see the head coach and two of the players. Plus, we got four free tickets to next Saturday's game against the New York Red Bulls. Free tickets rock.

What a great evening.

After we got home, we went online to check out pictures of the kids at camp. I don't know if all camps do this, but the ones K, R, & P are at take tons of pictures and post them online every day. It's fun trying to find your kid in a sea of faces. No, I'm not kidding; it is fun. Hubby even made a PowerPoint presentation out of the pics we have so far. If I could figure out how to post it here, I would. (Anyone? Anyone?)

So far today, I don't have any plans. I may be meeting up with an old friend for lunch. We were best friends in school, and I was even her maid of honor. But I haven't seen her in probably five years, even though we live in the same town. How does that happen?!?

Good news: My back is not spasming as much now. I am so relieved - I never want to experience that kind of pain again. Not ever. Thanks for all your comments and concerns; you guys rock almost as much as free tickets. ;)

CRAPOLA

My back is starting to have those painful little spasms again. (See the April 24th part of this post; also this one.)

As the song goes, I haven't got time for the pain. I have SO much to do in order to get the kids ready for camp. They leave Sunday for a whole week. Being bedridden while I have the house all to myself would be just freakin' perfect.

Praying that these spasms don't develop into a full-blown attack...

AND WE'RE BAAAAAAAACK! (Complete with a pictorial!)

We just spent a week at a gorgeous house on Lake Conroe in a home rented from a friend of the family. This place was amazing - it had a pool, a boathouse (complete with brand-new pontoon boat), a guesthouse, a jetski, and oh, did I mention the elevator?!?

To your left is a picture of the view from the kitchen. Or the living room. Or the sitting room. Or any bedroom. Seriously, amazing doesn't even begin to cover it.

(Ah, how lovely to be friends with rich people.)


Here's a picture looking over the balcony inside the house:















Here's us on the boat, docked at the boathouse:















Here's a picture of hubby, K, and me on the jetski:














Sadly, all good things come to an end, and as of last Tuesday, we're back to reality. Reality bites. The kids miss having a pool that they can just jump into at any time, and hubby and I miss the jetski. It was SO nice being able to tool around the lake on a whim. I also miss the boat because...well, it's a boat.

K turned 13 last Friday, and his birthday party was "the best EVER" because we got to have it at the lakehouse. We even took everyone on a dinner (pizza) cruise out to this little island that sits in the middle-ish of the lake. The kids and I and my friend Jen (who had brought her kids up for the party) played around in the water, while the in-laws and hubby made sure the boat didn't float away. That sounds funny, but it was a legitimate concern: "docking" on the island means "run the boat aground and hang on tight to the rope."

After we left the island, we were promptly pulled over by what I like to call the "boat police." Actually, he'd pulled over my sister-in-law, who had K on the back of her jetski, because she'd jumped the boat's wake. When we floated up to investigate, the officer became perturbed at what he saw as interference (we weren't doing anything - just hanging around to make sure K was okay). He yelled for us to stop right there because we were now being pulled over, too. He performed safety inspections on both watercraft, then told us a truly unexciting story about his radar, then finally let us all go.

A couple of days later, we decided to take a nighttime cruise just for fun. While tooling around the lake, who should come screaming down on us but the same boat police again - only this time, he used lights AND sirens. Wooooo, scary. After lighting us up to see if we had on life jackets, he then said he'd come to tell us to turn off our docking lights or else "we'd have every law enforcement officer in the area on our back." Basically, that means, um, him?

Overall, the week was great. We all took turns cooking, and my brother-in-law kept our drinks well filled. The biggest problem was that the temperatures were blazing hot all week - so much so that even the pool wasn't refreshing. Swimming was like taking a bath. Even the lake was warm. Bleh. I am very glad I took a heap of sunscreen, though, as we'd all be lobsters right now if it weren't for that.

I've got tons more pictures, but the film is not developed yet. (Yes, I'm archaic with my 35mm that I love.) I'll post more later.

Hope you have a great vacation this year, too.