One Year Later...

folks, it's been one whole year since i left Hays America to come to work out here in beautiful Wisconsin! (love the cheese!) amazing how time flies! Dallas in now in EIGTH GRADE and approaching 14 years of age! Mei Mei has turned two in June and both kids are adorable as can be! i feel very blessed although right now, as i write this, i am exhausted and sweaty from working around the house doing chores all by my lonesome. kim is currently working nights and that has left us all with a sour taste in our collective mouths. yuck. i wish that i could post some pictures of Dallas at practice but i have yet to see him at it! he's having so much fun! i am very glad and thankful that he went to Kansas this summer and made peace with himself. he is now starting the school year fresh, from the beginning, with new friends. he is very excited about most things again and the general attitude around the house has lightened noticeably. we are still up to our eyeballs with work around here and the house is in a perpetual state of dissaray but it is a happy mess! just ignore our grumbling as we enter the door each and everyday though! will this stuff ever end? didn't we JUST clean this and that? amazing.
even though we are working our buns off, we may not be able to head to Florida this November! our projects around the house and responsibilities are keeping us mired in a perpetual bog of work and general 'fixing up' of, well, things! we need to get ready for the winter and the house still has some issues that need tending to. we are all in need of fresh winter undergarments and whatnot too! i love it! we still try to get out and live a little but the checks and balances of life sometimes dictates that we forego certain items to do others. we need to rearrange priorities regularly as lifes' events come rolling our way. time will tell. (gas prices will be most telling too)
my trip to Florida was bittersweet in that i really enjoyed going and driving around to reminisce but on the same token, i realize just exactly why we left! it was a good decision even though we left many loved ones behind. i miss my parents, friends and Kim's family too. i felt surrounded by a bunch of wonderful people but then again, i spent 17 years of my life there! SOMETHING good is bound to come of that! life is too crazy there though and the humidity! oh the humidity! it's a killer... simply standing at mom's wedding left me sweating profusely! yuck! trying to hold on to a sweaty slippery daughter in one hand and a slippery sweat infused camera on the other sure was interesting! sorry that i didn't take/post more pictures!
speaking of the wedding, my new family is very good looking! wow! what a great bunch! hey mom! you did great! what a catch! Louis is amazing, what a guy. his kids, though quiet, are kind and very intelligent, hard working people. i enjoyed thoroughly listening to Louis talk about his life's exploits and all that he has done and accomplished. what an amazing man. he seems content with life and i like that. he and mother go bike riding together and enjoy each others company in ways that only age and experience can accomplish (or polish!). i felt very relaxed in their home and felt welcome too. Mei Mei sure spiced things up for all of us too! what a ham! she is a riot! such a wonderful child! she tolerated the plane trips better than daddy did too! i received many comments on how well behaved she was and i was very proud. we had many setbacks and delays but she took them all with aplomb! only during the very last flight towards the middle of the flight did she finally let go and start crying. what was i to do though? we had exhausted all of our food and drink! i could not console her and i thought that this was just going to make us all very miserable for the last half our of the (late) flight! but wait! what's this? the young, beautiful and sexy stewardess come to the rescue? did someone prompt her to do this? NO! this gal, though serving drinks near the back of the plane, came all the way forward to tend to Mei Mei's cries!!!!!!! i fell instantly in love with that woman! an angel come to rescue us all! i don't think that she realized that in that one minute of her time, and the rest of the passengers time, she totally changed the demeanor of us on board. Mei Mei instantly quieted down and started singing again and just went back to being her regular happy self! wow. Chandrie, thank you so much! suddenly, all of the days problems just melted away and my thoughts turned happy once again and looked forward to seeing my family reunited again! once i arrived at the airport though, what happened? happy ending? of course not! one last blow needed to be dealt. no luggage. no surprise there though so i was not upset, just extremely tired. Mei Mei? still singing and playing quietly and unobtrusively! amazing precious child. air rage was averted. no stiff drinks were consumed or profanity was uttered. the thoughts were certainly there though! my luggage arrived at home promptly the next day too. gotta love DELTA. yes, the trip was an absolute success! loved it! i wish that i could've seen a few friends and family but it felt good to relax and enjoy the company of my parents. both sets of them!
Thank you all! I love you all very much!
Sincerely and forever,

Nixy
p.s.
'Uncle' Joe, though unmentioned in my post, played a crucial role too! thanks go to him too!
:-)