Another Marshall Update

We finally heard from Marshall again!! It's been awhile since we heard from Marshall. It was only a brief phone call, but we'll take it. His 21st birthday was October 24th and he's been pretty busy with his job in Iraq and also studying for his CDC's.

Marshall said he has gotten a lot more letters and packages and he is so appreciative of all the well wishes for his birthday and support. He said some of the most unusual items he has received were a gelled eye mask to help him sleep during the day and that he was also sent a box of tampons!! He said he didn't have any girls in his troop to give those to, but maybe they can use them to absorb something!!! LOL!!

I'll continue to post on my blog updates on Marshall when we get them. He said he did send a package back to us and I'm hoping he put the cameras in that. If so, I will post the pictures we get back.

Again, thank you to everyone in helping to make his 21st birthday a memorable one!

Marshall in Iraq!

October is a busy birthday month! Not only is it my birthday, but it's also one of my son's birthday too!! Marshall will be turning 21 on October 24th! Not only is this one of those special birthdays, but he is in the Air Force and is currently in Iraq. When we found out he was going to Iraq, it was a bit upsetting, but being in the Armed Forces it was to be expected. When I realized he was going to be spending this momentous occasion there, I got really upset. As I've said in my previous posts, birthdays are very important to me and it just really got to me that he was going to be celebrating a rather poignant birthday without family or close friends.

Before he left we threw him a surprise 21st birthday party with friends and family. He enjoyed that, but it was more like a going away party as it was two months before his actual birthday. We did have a birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday. And even though we tried to get the feel for that moment, it's just not the same when you are doing it two months in advance.



Then, I thought of a great idea!! If he can't be here for the party, we'll just bring the party to him. I am fortunate to be on a LOT of group lists, so I called out to the members of those lists to help participate in a mail in type surprise party for my son!!! It entailed sending a birthday card or note to wish Marshall a Happy 21st Birthday!! The response was overwhelming!! People from all over the world emailed me to let me know that they were going to send a card or letter or even a package to let Marshall know that they were thinking of him on his birthday!

I cannot thank everyone enough of how I appreciate each and everyone one of you and how heartfelt it is that all of you would do that to make my son's birthday so special.

One woman even emailed to let me know that her husband was there in the same area as my son and is the Seargant Major of his unit! She said that she was going to email him and ask him to do something special for my son for his birthday! How awesome was that!

Even though I wanted this as a surprise to Marshall, I knew I was going to have to let him in on the secret just a little. I sent him an email to say I had something cooking for him and he was going to have to make sure and check his mail!

This is what he wrote back:

Hey I got your Birthday gift From The Master Seargent lol in front of Guardmount ( which is the flight i work with and guardmount is we get briefings before we go work so we know whats going on and what to be aware of) He came in and said "Brown where are you", i stood up and he said "Get to the front." so i was like uhhh i have roll call training but then he said" your mom emailed my wife in a soap forum and she told me to give you this gift," willingly i said "okay"..... he said "CLOSE YOUR EYES" ummmm whats going on ....... i closed my eyes and he gave me a hug with everyone watching i looked up in surprise and said " uhhhhhhhh wow, thanks i guess" so uhhh thank you lol ha ya that was weird but cool its a small world i guess you got to talk to the flight chiefs wife in a soap forum awesome!!!!! anyways ya i have been checkin the mail every day and hope it gets here okay!!!!
He also went into further detail about what happened with the Seargant Major when we were on the phone. Marshall is in Unit B and the Seargant is in Unit A of their troop, so seeing the Seargan Major was completely unexpected which made it even more special!

I talked to him last week around October 12, and since then he said he has received 75 letters and two packages! The mail person told him he is loved! He said they couldn't all be for him as he didn't know that many people! He said, once he started reading the letters and realized that they were all from people who knew his mom, and that they were all wishing him a Happy Birthday, he thought it was really cool. I sent him a box with disposable cameras in it and he said he put all the cards and letters on his bed and took pictures of them.

As soon as I get those, I will develop them and post them here for everyone to see. I will also continue to update my blog when I hear from Marshall. Again, thank you to everyone for making this happen!

It's My Birthday, It's My Birthday!!

Name that song! I know one person out there that would probably know that answer!! Really, my only reader!! :)

On October 9th a long time ago, and sharing the date with a famous Beatle, I was brought into this fabulous world!

Through all the ups and downs, the most outrageous moments and the quietest of times, it has been an asbsolutely fantastic journey that I am still traveling. It's always fun and exhilerating to see what the next day will bring, whether it's just hanging out with my daughter and husband, or attacking rodents in the barn! There's always something going on in the Brown world!

Usually, over the past few years, my birthdays have been somewhat uneventful. The major ones such 16th, 21st, 30th, 35th, 40th have been marked with something special. Such as surprise parties, throwing myself a HUGE party, navel piercings, going platinum blonde, throwing myself another party to make sure it was done right!! The years in between passed quietly with family and friends. Don't get me wrong. Birthdays to me are ALWAYS a major occasion even if they are not celebrated with a grand hoohah every year, just as long as they are celebrated.

But this year was a little different. Turning 43 is a regular number, nothing to scoff at. It's in the middle. Just past 40, but not quite 45! The eyes seem to not want to work as well, but the fight for getting glasses goes on. I thought this year would be another quiet year, but surprisingly it has turned out to be a wonderful celebration week!

On my birthday, my daughter cooked up a nice little birthday party for me which started off with me locked in my room while she got everything ready!! When the time was right, I was blindfolded with my tiara on my head and led into the living room where she had filled the floor with balloons! My in-laws even came to visit and joined the party with my husband and daughter! I had a vase with some roses, and was regaled with a few gifts. I was even presented with a cake! It was very nice and cozy and I was pleasantly surprised. I was then taken to my favorite sushi restaurant where the owner and chef treated me to a wonderful birthday feast of all my favorite items and then some. It's great to know the chef who also happens to be the owner too!!

The next evening I went out with some girlfriends of mine who I haven't seen in years and years. Did I mention years!! Another fantastic birthday surprise!! We all looked like we did back then and it was if we had just seen each other a few week's ago. It was so wonderful and great to see them and catch up. Although it would have been fun to hear them sing karaoke!! :) Come on Johnna, you know you wanted to! :)

Tonight, is Mom's Night Out, done special for my birthday!! Guess where we're going!! Hmmmm...can we say sushi? Did you even have to guess? Back to my favorite restaurant we go! I've already informed the chef and he's ready!! I can't wait!! Even if it's just me that shows, I'll still be a happy camper!! Although, I know we'll have a great time!! Eatin' sushi!! Yummmm!!

Well, that leaves tomorrow!! Of course, the week couldn't end without being with family again. And my birthday week will finish with dinner with my dad and stepmom. Try as I might, I could not swing sushi again. I will have to eat cooked food and since I do, it will be Italian!! My dad has his favorite restaurant and that's where we will be going.

My birthday week started with family and it will end with family and for what I thought would be an unmomentous occasion turned out to be a very memorable celebration!!

I wonder what's going to happen next year?

Avenue Q Tickets on Sale in Houston

Order now through October 12th for Avenue Q at Hobby Center in Houston.

This is currently the only Texas stop scheduled for this show.

Performance dates are:

Thursday, November 1st at 8pm
Saturday, November 3rd at 2pm
Sunday, November 4th at 7:30pm

Take advantage of a special Student/Educator discount on select price levels until the deadline of Friday October 12th. Variety of seating/pricing options.

Show description:

Avenue Q is Broadway's smash-hit 2004 Tony Award winner for BEST MUSICAL, BEST SCORE, and BEST BOOK. A hilarious show full of heart and hummable tunes, Avenue Q is about trying to make it in NYC with big dreams and a tiny bank account. Called "one of the funniest show you're ever likely to see" by Entertainment Weekly, AVENUE Q features a cast of people and puppets who tell the story in a smart, risque and downright entertaining way. The New Yorker calls it "SUBVERSIVE and UPROARIOUS!"

Order your tickets by logging on to:
http://www.broadwayacrossamerica.com/groupsales
and enter your special password:
Homeschool

DISCLAIMER: This show is not for everyone. Who is AVENUE Q appropriate for? Adults love AVENUE Q, but they seem a little, er, fuzzy on whether it's appropriate for kids. Avenue Q is good for teenagers because it's about real life. This show is not appropriate for young children because AVENUE Q addresses mature themes including drinking and sex. It's hard to say what exact age is right to see AVENUE Q- parents should use their own discretion based on maturity level of their children. But, we promise you this - if you DO bring your teenagers, they'll think you're really cool! Also, if you are easily offended by satire or adult themes, this is not a show for you.

Feel free to pass this info on to friends and family. You do not have to be a homeschooler to purchase these tickets.

When it Raynes it pours!

What's the old adage? Computers can't live with them, can't live without them! In this day and age we've come to depend on technology so much that if we didn't have our cell phones, blackberries, computers, ipods, we would probably just curl up in a ball, rock back and forth and whimper.

The past couple of days have been wreaking havoc on my business life. If it were something I did, that would be one thing, but I didn't do anything! It seems that the people of Go Daddy decided to switch their servers around and my website happened to be on one of those servers. But did my website get switched? Apparently not. Imagine my surprise when I was checking several sites that my images are on and they weren't there!! Hmmmm....then I began noticing that the last email I received was at 3pm that afternoon! It was now 10pm! I decided to check my home page and POOF! It was gone. All of my other websites seemed to be working. DSL modem working. Rebooted the computer, all working.

Call GoDaddy. Hmmm...looks like your DNS is pointing to a server that doesn't exist! Oh, well that doesn't bode well, now does it! Here, click this button, choose this server and you'll be good to go in the next 5 minutes to 24 hours!!

Well, 24 hours later and still nothing is working. Call the good people of GoDaddy back and now they've upped the wait time! It's no longer a 5min - 24hour wait before they'll do anything, it's now a 24hour - 48 hour wait!! I'm sure if I was Danica Patrick, they would be stumbling over themselves to get her site up. But, it's just me. A customer who's been with them the past 7 years and really, that doesn't count for much!! Plus, I don't drive a race car or look like her! :)

So, I sit and wait and ponder about the good ole days when we wrote letters, worked out of file cabinets and talked to people on the telephone and whimper!

SquirrelyMan!

About 4 weeks ago we became parents yet again! You'd think we were tired of boys, but no, not in this household. We didn't plan on adopting, but he kind of dropped in our laps and after taking one look at him we just couldn't say no. Rayne actually found him lying there helpless without a mother and when she showed up with this poor baby in her arms, we just couldn't say no.

How could you pass up a little boy that looks so cute as this?

This was taken when he was about 4 weeks old. When Rayne brought him home, he was still pink and no fur on him! Without having a clue on what to do, we knew to go to the internet! There we found The Squirrel Board and with their help we gave him warmth, food and shelter (well Priority Boxes do make for good shelter!). Since then, what we thought impossible has happened! He has flourished and grown. When he turned 5 weeks he opened his eyes and found that his mommies looked a little different from him, but he doesn't seem to mind. He's gotten used to the noise in our house, but we're hoping that doesn't affect him when we release him at 12 weeks.

He's now 6 1/2 weeks and is learning the enjoyment of tomatoes!

He's now too big for his Priority Mail box and has been upgraded to a high rise cage! It has tons of amenities and as Rayne puts it, if she were a squirrel, she would love to live in it!! He has a cozy log home with his fur bed and a couple of small fuzzy stuffed animals, one of which the pet store thinks looks like a squirrel. He has ladders to climb, wooden sticks and ropes to hang off of and wood perches that we got from our own yard! Although he likes to play, for now he seems quite content to still curl up on his fur rug and sleep like most young uns do after eating.

So while we do have our run-ins with snakes and rats, every once in awhile we have fun animals out here too!

Ding Dong the Snake is DEAD!!!

Rats, chickens, dogs, what else? Well, those who know me have heard the story of Cocoa and the snake!! Seems a couple of months ago a snake with about a 1" fang span decided it wanted to have my dog for lunch!! Of course, me, not even thinking snake bite, thought he had gotten stung by a bee!! The poor dog all day had his little paw swollen until he looked like he was going to be a big dog when he grew up!! It wasn't until that evening when he rolled over and his entire leg and chest had gone black that we realized it was a snake bite and not a bee sting! Luckily, Cocoa survived as I had been giving him Benadryl all day and then all the "happy" drugs that the emergency vet gave him! A couple of weeks ago, Tom went around my soap shack and found two snake skins. The first one was slightly bigger than the other and both were longer than I am tall!! I know, not hard to do!

I had thrown down some ceramic eggs thinking that maybe I could trick that ole snake into eating them and killing it. But every day that I looked, those eggs were still there.

I was just thinking the other day that maybe that snake had moved on. The chickens don't really come around here anymore and our rat problem has gone away, so there isn't really a food supply for it.

So, this afternoon as I was heading happily to the soap shack, I had just called Tom on the cell phone and right when he picked it up, the only sound he heard was me whispering.......SNAKE! There on the path, right in front of me was a big snake! It looked about 3 feet long. Tom said, go grab the shovel and chop off it's head! Well, I would but the shovel was in the barn, meaning that I would have to step over the snake to get to the barn. Laughingly, I asked if I could go get the rifle! Heck, I think I did a good job on that rat!! But, Tom said no!! :) I walked slowly towards the snake as it stared at me and made a long arc around the back of it. As I passed it to head towards the barn to get the shovel the snake slithered into a crack in the wall of our well shed. I grabbed the shovel anyway and placed it by the tree cause I wasn't going into the well shed! No telling where that snake was.

When Tom came home this evening he wasn't in the house. Seems he was out in the well shed hunting snakes! He said he opened the door and the snake was under and old desk we had in there. He tried to get it with the shovel, but it was cowering back in the back. He thought he got part of it. After several tries, he grabbed the rifle! At that point, Rayne wanted to watch!! I was in the house but after hearing three gunshots, I went outside! I don't know what it is with several shots and trying to kill varmints, but it just seems one doesn't do it in this household!

When I got to the well shed, Tom had pulled part of the wood out and you see the snake trying to snap at somebody!! Tom had hit it in the middle. We got it pulled out of the shed where it finally died. Apparently, my sense of measurement is quite wrong. After getting the measuring tape out, this guy was a full 5ft 6inches long! A lot bigger than me!!

But now the nasty, dog eating, chicken snake is dead!! Whoo hoo!!! Our yard is safe again. Till next time!! :)