From The Corner Of My Mind

* It's hot again, but cooler temperatures are expected by the weekend. The next two days are going to be over 100 degrees.
* It has been a busy week. We spent 4 days down at the hospital with W-mom and the weekend just flew by. A normal Labor day weekend would have found all of the family at the lakehouse, enjoying the lake. Instead we spent it enjoying each others company at the hospital. I didn't mean that in a bad way, because W-mom in no way needed to postpone this surgery any longer. It was just luck of the draw that it happened on a holiday weekend. It was actually a blessing that no one had to take off of work to be there. We were all off anyway for the holiday.
* W-mom is home and recovering well. She had a restless night on Tuesday night. Possibly because she changed the order in which she had been taking her medications, or it could have been just the ride home. Either way, she didn't sleep to good, but she made it up during the day yesterday. I went over there after I got off work yesterday and she was up walking around and was pain free. Her spirits are good and we are exceptionally proud of her recovery process so far. Although she is already starting to get restless sitting around and being cooped up in the house. Anyone that knows my mother also knows that she is missing out on watering all of her gazillion flowers and potted plants.
* Ratherbesailing. I won't mention any names, but your old next door neighbor (washer throwing neighbors) was admitted to the hospital on Monday. They took two feet of his bowel out and he is currently in ICU at Wise Regional in Decatur. We just found this our last night, so I haven't heard any details or updates. Just thought you would want to know.
* Things are getting tense around our house. Reality is starting to set in about W-stepson #3 shipping out to the US Army on the 17th of this month. W-spouse isn't saying to much about it, but I sense the apprehension in her. She is going to need a lot of support over the next few weeks with her baby leaving the nest.
* I am going to miss the kid that I  helped raise for the last 7 years. All of our children but one has lived with us at some time or another since we have been married, but he has been with us the whole time. Although we have had our issues and he sometimes drives me nuts because he's a "teenager" changing into an adult, I still love him and will miss him dearly. I am so proud of him and his choice to serve our country and soon become a mature, strong man honed by the ways of the US Army.
* I am also either going to have to find someone to mow and weedeat the yard, or start doing it myself. He does a pretty dang good job of taking care of that for us.
* For those of you that follow along here faithfully, you know that we have 5 kids and two grand kids. W-spouse has three boys and I have two girls. As stated above, most have lived with us at one time or another. Folks, THAT AIN'T EASY. When we got married their ages ranged from 11-22. Trying to blend them together and keep everyone satisfied and happy seemed to be a chore that was impossible. Even today it becomes unbearable at times. W-spouse and I have used different methods to try and achieve happiness and  to maintain order. Sometimes it seems impossible to please the different scenarios that arise within our family, and sometimes things just roll along without any issues or problems. Just trying to schedule a family picture session is a nightmare. Trying to juggle schedules within their individual families, and then try to meet at one place, at one time is not easy. One of our sons has two stepdads and his own father. He works overtime just to maintain a relationship with all three different families and to just have time to spend with himself, his wife and child. I have tried hard to be a role model (father possibly) to my step children, and it seems to me that I sometimes fail miserably at that. I also hope and pray that they have learned a few things from me and that they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am here for them and their mother and I will continue to support them in the best way I know how. W-spouse has been good to my two girls also. She has never once tried to step over the boundary of replacing their mother. The girls have a good relationship with their mother and W-spouse would never do anything to ruin that. She has always maintained a strong and fierce attitude towards situations that have been thrown our way, and without fail, always has a clear head in the face of adversary. When I struggle with getting mad quickly and spouting off something I will regret later, she has a way of talking me off that ledge and making me stop and think about it. She does this same thing within the core of our family and usually has a response or a solution that helps to maintain peace and harmony within that core. Will all of our children ever be like "brothers and sisters" to each other? I doubt it. Will we EVER all see eye to eye on everything? I doubt it. Will they all treat each other with respect and dignity? They better, because that's all we ask. I don't recommend a blended family to anyone. It's not easy, and I don't think that neither W-spouse or I had any idea what we were getting in to 7 years ago, but I can say this, I am proud of our family. I am proud that each one of our children is working hard to contribute to starting their own families and moving on in their lives. Am I happy that W-spouse and I are going to be "empty nesters"? Sure I am. Is W-spouse happy that we are going to be "empty nesters". Yeah, I think she is also, but at the same time she is going to struggle daily with not having a child in her life every day, something that she has had every day for the last 29 years. I am very happy that W-spouse and I have survived this far and we look forward to moving forward and spending the rest of our lives together. I also look forward to seeing our children grow up together happily and hopefully have a house full of grandkids at some point.
* Thanks for following along, see ya Around The Corner!