I'm back!

Okay, so it's been awhile. Even though there has been a healthy amount of fun and adventure with our new town, we have been very busy as well. I know, excuses excuses right? I believe my last post was about traffic here and how cool it was to be doing the city commute thing....well times have changed. Everyday as I face the endless sea of tail lights I think of the entire line of 8 cars that commuted with me to Mt. Pleasant. Ahhh the good ol days. We hosted our dear neighbors from Naples here this weekend, what a blessing it was to have them in our home. We did not go to the Capitol! I say that because my sister and her children, and two of our other nephews have visited since we moved and the token Wagner trip is to go to the Capitol. It is beautiful and I never tire of it, but the familiarity of my great friend was enough entertainment alone, we didn't need any touristy stuff. I do enjoy our new town, city, whatever. We have upscale shopping centers as well as Kohls and Super Target, great movie theaters with amazing park-like fountains and seating outside, restaurants, parks, museums, ... anything the heart could desire at our finger tips. However, there is no replacement for running down to Brahma Mart for a gallon of milk. Really! If I need milk I can either go to the stop and rob nearby and pay 5.50 a gallon, or go to HEB Plus, the second largest grocery store in the State, and spend an HOUR trying to get milk and get home. Now the store is only 3 miles from my house, but miles here are quite different than miles 'back home'. Three miles means at least 4 red lights. I hate red lights! All the complaining aside, I love our new home but I will always be from Naples. It is fun to watch the kids merge to this new life. P is still a country boy and will pee on anything green and shoot any small furry animal that moves. The neighbors love us. K just participated in a UIL ensemble with her flute and scored two 1's! We are so proud. S is working and has a special friend. We are filling out college visit forms and getting ready for senior year next year. It still seems odd she won't graduate from Pewitt. P still talks about his "Pewitt friends". TM, JF, and CV hold a special place in his heart. It is odd when we hear of his adventures at school and those people we took for granted would always be in his stories are missing. Recently we went to Devine Lake (again, less than 1 mile from our home) for the afternoon. The Lake is nothing more than a fancy park with a dry lake bed (there has been a drought here?). P loved it, he called it treasure land. As he walked around he picked up many things but I saw him studying a set of shells for longer than expected. He finally selected one, the most special one I guess, and brought it to me. He said, "Mom I just know (TM) will love this. Can we mail it?" I sent it back with our friends as anyone who knows me, knows I will likely never get to the post office! I am going to post some pictures below, if I can figure out how, of random shots of our newest adventures. I am still getting the hang of "blogging" so bear with me. I have a ton of stories to tell so keep checking back, I plan to be vigilant from here on out!