Girls Gone Wild - Spring Break 2010

They told me this would happen! I just didn't think it would happen so soon! My teenagers AND my 8 year old road in a DPS car our last night of our spring break vacation! UGH! Don't worry...it's not what you think. For those of you that have been following our blog for awhile, you know that the Schroeder's are the "Travelling Disabled." Personally, I think it only happens when Cactus is travelling with us (SHHHH...but don't tell him that!).

After my daughters' high school tennis team won the Texas state 3-A tennis championship, we loaded up my Escalade with 2 adults and 4 children, ranging from 8 to 16 years of age, and headed to Destin, Florida - 9 hours away. Could we see out of the back of the car? NO! Oh, did I mention that the only man was Cactus, so the other 5 people were girls; and everyone knows how girls pack. We decided to stop in Orange, Texas on the way and get up the next day and complete our journey.

We arrived in Destin late in on Sunday afternoon, unloaded the car and headed up to our condo. The weather in Destin was cold and windy. Our condo is on the 11th floor, so it is BRUTALLY cold pushing our overfilled buggy from the elevator to our door at the VERY END OF THE WALKWAY. The reason this is important is when we got to the door, my "keyless" code would not work. UGH! Apparently, our owner's code is changed every year and we were notified via e-mail of our new code. Well, we all know how good technology can be. I NEVER received the e-mail. We are standing on the walkway and I am trying without luck to get hold of my management company. I could not get to a LIVE person and after many attempts, I finally was able to leave a message. They returned my call quickly and we entered into the warmth of our condo. This did not go over well with Cactus. That's for another blog.

The next six days were FABULOUS! We went shopping, eating, walking, shopping, eating, walking...the girls laid on the beach - even though is never got over 75 degrees. On Wednesday, we all went deep sea fishing. Everyone had a great time and we caught a bunch fish. Most were catch and release, but we were able to bring home about 12. Our wonderful guide filleted the fish and put in baggies for easy transport.

We decided to make the 14 hour drive home all in one day, instead of breaking it up over two days. So Sunday morning, we closed up the condo, loaded up the car (still could not see out the back), and were on the road by 8:30. This would put us back in Abilene about 11:oo p.m. Not bad.

SCREEEEEECH!!!!! I knew things were going too good! Suddenly, the ABS light came on as did the stabilitrack light. This can't be good. I pulled out the car manual and read up on these two functions. Supposedly, as long as the BRAKE light does not come on, we should be okay. Still not convinced...I called Cadillac and talked to a technician. He reassured me that we should be okay. We just won't have as much control for quick stops and wet roads. Luckily, it was sunny. We were still 12 hours away.

We stopped in Arlington for dinner and this is when it all fell apart. The rumbling noise had been getting increasingly louder. When I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, I told Cactus that it felt like the steering was pulling. We finish eating and head on down I-20. Rumbling along. In Weatherford, the rumbling got so bad, that Cactus thought maybe we had a flat. He pulled over to check...no flat! That's one for the team. We headed out (slowly, because we couldn't get much speed), made it about 5 more miles and I decided to update my Facebook status with "I think I can...I think I can."

Suddenly, Cactus says he lost the power steering. We limped off of the highway and I called Cadillac roadside assistance. They called a wrecker, but the wrecker only had room for 2 people. Remember...we have 6! A DPS trooper stopped and said he would take 2 of us and another trooper buddy would take 2 and then the other 2 could ride in the wrecker.

Elle and I road with Trooper Jeff. He opened the front door for Elle and she told him, "I am not allowed to ride up front!" Good girl! He told her that it would be okay this time. She loved it! He let her shoot the radar. She "tagged" one going 90 mph and told Jeff to turn around and catch that car. Katie and Caroline road with Trooper Carson. He was telling the girls about the drug bust he did over spring break. Hopefully, it scared the pants off of them. Thanks, Carson!

We arrived at the hotel and the wrecker service was nice enough to bring my car, unload it, let us unload our stuff, load it back up and take it to the dealership. I had talked to our dealer in Abilene and he was nice enough to send a wrecker with a loaner car and pick up our car to be fixed at home. WHEW! That was a godsend. We are in the clear...or so I thought. The loaner car arrives on the wrecker, but the driver had left the key turned and the BATTERY DIED!!!! Then, he couldn't find the key to the tool box with the jumper cables. We finally went across the street and borrowed some from the Sears. Off we go!

Finally, we pull into our driveway at 3:15 on Monday afternoon. So...our 14 hour drive only took 30 hours! All I can say is...travelling with us is an adventure; just ask our "adopted" daughter Caroline. However, it did not scare her off too much...she wants to go back to Destin with us in May!

Keep Gabbin', Gigglin', Grinnin' and Limpin'!

Gabbin' Gal Erin

I was intending on blogging about the great news that my daughters' tennis team won the State 3-A tennis tournament...however...in the light of the news that I was given today, I do not think that is appropriate.

I am currently on spring break vacation with my husband and three girls. I returned from a day of shopping to find an IM from my old high school friend, Mary. I was tickled that she connected with me. Unfortunately, when I opened her message, she was asking me if I had heard about what had happened to another dear friend's daughter. Immediately, fear shot through my body. I looked to see if Mary was still on line and found out she was not. These questions NEVER bring good news. I thought I had her phone number, but found out I did not. I called a couple of other friends that I thought would know what had happened. One of the good things about growing up in a small town and maintaining those hometown relationships is that news travels fast - good or bad.

To my dismay, this was bad news. It seems that my friend Tara Storch and her husband Todd had taken their three children on a spring break ski trip to Beaver Creek, Colorado. On Sunday afternoon, their beautiful 13 year old daughter, Taylor was a new skier and was skiing an intermediate slope when she fell backwards and hit her head. She was wearing a helmet, but the blow must have been VERY hard. She was pronounced brain dead and her parents had to make the hardest decision of their lives - to take her off of life support. No parent EVER wants to make this decision or outlive their children. This is not a natural chain of events.

I have known Tara since we were in kindergarten; I only met Todd when they were married over 16 years ago. Tara was always smiling and happy. She was the "baby" sister to three brothers, who worshipped her and protected her. She never met a stranger and was always willing to help those in need. I am sure these are some of the many qualities that attracted Todd to her. I have only met their children a couple of times when they came back to Abilene and attended church. I could not pick them out of a crowd or tell you their names...what I can tell you is that knowing their parents, I am sure that all three are just as loving, caring and giving as their parents.

There have already been EIGHT facebook pages set up, with over 3,000 members, dedicated to Taylor. That says a great deal about the kind of person she was. I have read many of the posts on the sites, and they all are woven with a common thread. Great athlete, beautiful inside and out, happy and always smiling and willing to help others. The list goes on. Taylor will be missed by too many people to count.

Tara and Todd made a very unselfish decision to donate Taylor's organs. Again, this just goes to show what wonderful people they are. Could you be that unselfish? Honestly, I am not sure. I have heard that her organs have already gone to help save the lives of a 39 year old, a 1 year old and two people in Colorado. Amazing!

As I sit here composing this blog, I am in a total state of shock and disbelief. I DO NOT know how Tara & Todd feel at this point, nor will I pretend I do. All I can say to them is I ache for them and I am here to lend an ear, if they need one. I don't know how they will feel about this blog. I hope it will comfort them, in time. And to everyone reading this blog, hold your children close today and everyday. Count each day as a blessing.

Just simply,
Erin

When it rains...it POURS!

In my house...literally! Cactus & I built our house in 1993 when I was pregnant with our first daughter. It was very exciting. Pregnant...building a house...can you say "crazy"?! Will we survived! Then...eight years later, we decided to add on and do a little remodel while I was pregnant with our third daughter. I guess we thought if we did it once, we could do it again. Survival, again! Four years later, we decided to add a pool and outdoor kitchen...this time, I was NOT pregnant! This is the one that almost killed us!

So, after almost 17 years in this house, we are about to dive into the construction mode once again. This time, enlarging my kitchen. I have been waiting for this for about three years. About a year ago, we purchased the 2 acres behind our house, each with a house. Originally, we were going to fix up the houses and rent them. One was easy to fix up, the other one was NOT! So...we decided to sell the one house to someone that was willing to move it. Then, after the house was moved, Cactus was going to build his office on that lot and put in a tennis court for the girls. I know what you are thinking...isn't that a little too close for comfort? Yes! I love my husband, but I LIKE that he goes downtown to his office in the sky every morning. This will be an adjustment. We put the kitchen on hold until the office construction was going to start so that we could do it all at once.

Last Monday night, while doing the dishes, my sink became clogged. I got up the next morning, intending to call the plumber, only to discover that Cactus has tried to "fix" it. Let me just say, part of his charm is that he is neither technical nor mechanical. It was NOT good! I called the plumber and they said that they would be out after lunch, barring any emergency. Well, I suddenly became the emergency! I am sitting at the kitchen table working on the computer when I hear water dripping from somewhere around me. I look around and see it is pouring from the ceiling above me! This is coming from our master bath up on the second floor. I run up to see what the problem is. Cactus is mopping up water. I guess there is a place somewhere in the plumbing where the upstairs pipes meet up with the downstairs pipes. Since the downstairs was clogged, the water from the shower had nowhere to go but back up and then back down, via the ceiling! I called the plumber back and told them that I had suddenly became an emergency. Four hundred dollars later, no more rain in my house! The good thing about this is that I might get my new kitchen sooner. That was the second time we have had water overflow upstairs, which causes the sub-flooring to weaken and water stains on my ceiling. The bathroom floor will now have to be redone, so...we might as well do the kitchen, too...right? Right!

Keep your fingers crossed! Maybe I will have a bright, shiny, new kitchen by the time my birthday rolls around in September!

Keep Gabbin' Gigglin' Grinnin' and Moppin'
Gabbin' Gal Erin

Valentine...Smalentine!

That's what I use to think about Valentine's Day. I always had high expectations for that day (and don't all women?), and those expectations were never met. You might be asking, what did I expect? Not much, really. Nice romantic dinner that I DID NOT HAVE TO COOK OR CLEAN UP; a plan that I did not have to plan; and a sitter that I did not have to get. I was never into the "gift" aspect of Valentine's Day. I honestly feel that you should love and treat your significant other special every day. However, flowers are always nice. And they MUST be sent to the office, if your valentine works outside of the home. I remember one year when I worked outside of the house, Cactus sent me RED roses to my office. Well, my favorite roses are WHITE roses. I called to thank him for the RED roses and he got upset that they were suppose to be WHITE. He called the florist and they delivered the white roses. I set each dozen on my desk; one on each corner. I told everyone that the red ones were from my husband the the white ones were from my boyfriend, because HE knows what I like!

Sorry...I digress! Valentine's Day has become VERY commercial. The card, candy and floral industries have invented this holiday. I know this for a fact, because since 1999, I have owned a candy store and have had to be there at 4:30 a.m. on Valentines to dip strawberries in chocolate. I felt like the Dunkin' Donuts guy..."Time to dip the strawberries!" After a full day of dipping, I never wanted to go out to dinner and fight the crowds. Half the time, Cactus was out of town.

This year was different! I asked Cactus a couple of weeks before what he wanted to do for Valentine's Day. He is ALWAYS very considerate about this. He said he would do whatever I wanted to do. I told him that I wanted to go to the ranch, cook dinner and spend the night...WITHOUT KIDS! He jumped at this. I had planned to cook something new and different; however, I had been out of town and did not have time to prepare. We did a very simple light menu. I arrived at the ranch and Cactus had a fire in the fireplace, the wine was chilled and no t.v...he had on Michael Buble! So far...so good!

I once read that couples should cook together. Now, we do this on a regular basis, but this night it was different. We weren't rushed to get dinner cooked, eaten, cleaned up and kids to bed. Our evening was VERY slow paced and not tense. LOVED IT! We cooked together, ate together (I usually sit down to the table as the first one is finishing up and taking their plate to the sink), and cleaned up together.

I will not go into the details of the rest of the night (LOL!). BUT...I no longer will call Valentine's Smalentine's. After 20 years together, I finally think that we got it right!

I guess the lesson here is that it's not about the celebration of the day, but the celebration of the people and the relationship.

Keep Gabbin', Gigglin', Grinnin' & Lovin'!
Erin

Strolling Down Memory Lane

My oldest daughter Katie, had to interview a person that lived during World War II. This meant that they had to be at least 70 years of age. Well...unfortunately, my girls do not have living grandparents. But...they do have adoptive grandparents. So, of course, we called Nan's parents and asked them if we could stop over to interview/video them for this project. Of course, they jumped at the chance. I don't think it was the interview, but the opportunity to see their "granddaughter". Much to Katie's surprise, when we arrived, they had lined up an interview with Mrs. Doris Grosvenor. Her husband, Bill, was stationed at Tye Air Force Base (now known as Dyess Air Force Base), as a pilot and had been shot down over Belgium, was taken a prisoner and lived to tell about it. WOW!!!!! Unfortunately, he passed away in March of 2009, but Doris told a delightful story about their lives. I am a history buff and I was totally fascinated. I wanted to ask a ton of questions, but was instructed to just "sit there and take video'.

I could tell by the look on Katie's face during the interview that she was totally amazed! I am hoping to be able to figure out how to download this interview so that everyone can view it. There is a DVD out about the life of Bill Grosvener called "Last Best Hope". How amazing is that? He is a true hero!

I think the lesson that was learned was how much our children have it made today. Mrs. Grosvenor mentioned that her favorite thing to do was to open up the doors of the car, turn up the radio and dance in the middle of the street. NOW...our children have $3,000 worth of electronics and are BORED!!!! What would they do back in 1941? Mrs. Grosvernor was so adorable, I wanted to pick her up, put her in my purse and take her to the school to talk to the students. I could have stayed there all night!

I love to hear stories about how couples met...especially those that met during war time. We could tell that she was sooo in love with her husband and so in favor of the war. She said that men lost there lives so that we could have freedom. How true is that? In today's terms...our men are losing their lives so that OTHER countries can have the freedom that we now enjoy! Please take the time to thank an American soldier whenever you see them...whether it is in the grocery store or the airport. They CHOOSE this career...are you that self-less?

Please remember all of those that have fought for this country, and other countries and have lost their lives for both!

God Bless and keep Gabbin' Gigglin and Grinnin!
Erin

House Projects & Maintenance Resolution

That's right...My main resolution this year is to do get some serious household projects and maintenance taken care of. Oh I can hear all your oohs and ahhs right now! Well if you are thinking it's a cool, fun remodel job then simmer down, cuz it's NOT!!! I did say projects and maintenance! THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE! It's just those projects that we homeowners need to do from time to time, and the ones I usually hate to spend my money on! However, I must! And to be perfectly honest, if we get a couple of them accomplished, I will not mind spending the cash! To hold myself accountable and to also have a place to go to in case I misplace the paper list (because I do misplace things...lots of things...keys, cell phones, keys...Did I say keys? You get the picture), I'm going to put the list at the bottom of this blog! Also, I'll let you know how it's going throughout the year and which ones get checked off. I'll even post before and after pics. Oh how exciting! I can hear all of your oohs and ahs all over again! HA! The main one is getting the outside of the house painted (trim only, not painting the brick) and in a different color!!! This is the one that I am most excited about. Currently, it's white and chipping horribly. I know my neighbors will be thankful and definitely oohing and aahing over that one. The rest will hopefully get done at some point. (It will all depend upon the all mighty dollar!) So we shall see. Stay tuned and here's the list below!

Outside of house painted!!
New Co2 alarms and replace smoke alarms
Shelving in front hallway closet
Built-in shelving in den
Built-in shelving and desk in office
Carpet in bedrooms professionally cleaned and/or replaced
Closet doors in son's room need to be redone
Electrician needed for outdoor lighting, bathroom lights, ceiling fans
New garage doors/openers
Tear down patio cover and repacing with something else
Kitchen island built
Window coverings in dining room and master bedroom (still debating what kind)
MAJOR tree trimming in backyard
GARAGE ORGANIZED!

This Gabbin' Gal has got to get goin' on this list! Gab at ya later.
Happy New Year and good luck on all of your resolutions!

Gabbin' Gal Nan

Bad Things Happen in Three's

WOW! I REALLY hope that the saying that things come in three's is not true! A couple of Wednesday's ago, my 16-year-old, Katie, headed out to pick up a sandwich before church. She had not been gone 5 minutes, when my cell phone rang. I had Elle answer it, because I was visiting with her godparents. I could hear loud voices on the phone. Elle thrust the phone at me and I heard Katie saying that she had been involved in a wreck. I told my guests that their visit was over and escorted them to the door. Of course, I told them the reason. I drove to Katie's location. It appears that a car that was 2 cars ahead of her, stopped suddenly in the middle of the intersection, in the middle of the green light. The car in front of Katie had to stop suddenly, which meant that Katie had to stop suddenly. She was suddenly stopped by the rear end of the car in front of her! The first car fled the scene. By the time I got there, a police officer and ambulance had arrived. The couple in the car that Katie hit were very nice and made sure that she was okay and taken care of. I told Katie that I understood that it was not her fault, but since she was the last car, she would be receiving the ticket. This did not go over well with my "I'm gonna be a lawyer when I grow up" daughter. Look for this law to change in about 2020!

Luckily, no one was hurt. Ironically, Katie's church confirmation sponsor was right behind her and saw the whole thing and stopped to give a statement!
I will not go into detail, but the nice policeman ended up tearing up Katie's ticket, because the driver of the car she hit lied about who was driving! See...honesty pays off!

Then...that Saturday, Cactus calls me from Austin (he is there with Delaney at a tennis tourney...shocked..I think not!). He is asking me where the insurance card is for the Lexus. Why would he be asking for that, I wonder? Surely, he did not have a wreck in my beautiful, red sports car?! YEP...he did! Appears he was switching lanes and a gal hit him on the passenger rear door. His fault? NO! Hers. Does she have insurance? No! Who pays now? We do! (look for that law to change in about 2020, too!). I digress...Cactus could not find the insurance card. I told him it was in the glove box. No, it isn't. I tell him to have the police officer call State Farm and verify we have coverage. He is soooo mad at me! He thinks I lost the proof of insurance card. Turns out, after much thought, that HE LEFT IT AT THE DEALERSHIP WHEN HE HAD THE CAR WORKED ON LAST! I am STILL waiting for my apology! Hmmmph! I am NOT the one that had the wreck. I am obviously the ONLY one in our house that is a competent driver!

Turns out, we are now responsible for fixing the cars involved in Katie's wreck and our car that was involved in Cactus' wreck. We have uninsured motorist coverage, thank goodness. However, we are still responsible for the $1,000 per incident deductible. January has started out to be VERY expensive!

We decided to pay for my car out of pocket, since we did not think that it would cost over $1,000. I take both cars to get estimates. I thought for sure that Katie's car would be more expensive than mine. As you can see from the pictures, the damage to my car looks minimal compared to hers. WRONG!!!!! Cactus thought that mine would cost about $600-$800. WRONG!!!! Any guesses...anyone? Try $2,100! WOW!!!! Guess we will be using our insurance on BOTH cars!

So that's our two...will there be a third? Let's hope not! Hope you all have had a wreck free, deductible making free start to 2010!

Keep Gabbin' Gigglin' and Grinnin'
Gabbin' Gal Erin