From spending my first night away from my husband to my brother and sister-in-law leaving yesterday, it has been an eventful and full week. Actually, it began a week ago Friday, when I spent the night in Covington, La., in order to do a conference for the former workplace. We had both been looking forward to this opportunity to get away from home, even if just for overnight. At the last minute he couldn’t go due to his position with the Base Honor Guard, of which the primary function is funeral participation. Needless to say neither of us slept particularly well that night. Once you become half of a whole everything seems lopsided and off-balance when the other half isn’t present. It was fun for me, though, to once again immerse myself in the world of homeschooling, and the buzz of conference season. I do not miss the five-day-a-week work schedule, but working on a contractual basis has some appeal for me. Working so many years forms a well-worn groove in one’s life, I suppose. The most exciting part of the weekend was bringing my nephews home for a visit. I was amazed at how I was able to just fall into caring for them as if I had all the practice in the world. It was an action-packed week, and when it was time for them to go home yesterday, none of us was ready for them to leave. I guess that was best. Had they stayed another week, I might have been ready to take them all the way home myself, and this way everyone left the experience ready to do it again!! Two little people with such different personalities. Oh how I see myself in my oldest nephew. I told my brother that I was sorry he got my child! He asked me if I saw myself in him, and I told him I had since he was a baby. His wife thinks she sees the attitude parts of herself, and I won’t argue since I didn’t know her then, but I felt a very strong déjà vu all week. The younger one is such a ham. The older one wants to know everything—always thinking—and is somewhat reserved. The younger one just experiences everything, and everything he says is said with a cheeky grin, including his smart-offs. Try correcting a child when he does that!! What a constant whirl, from keeping them fed to putting them to bed. It would be nice to live on the same street so they can come and go as they please, and of course it would be great to live so close to family. The house and yard are now too quiet, and I know I’ll get a lot of cute remarks about wanting to have my own now, but that really isn’t so. My nephews are 6 and 4, and children don’t start at that age. My brother and sis-in-law have also done a great job of raising their boys—again, they don’t start out that way. I’m leaving children in God’s hands, as it is no small or short-lived task to undertake.
I have intended to put up pics of the house, so I'll get one put up for now (left). 
To the far side of the yard (right) a good-sized pine tree has been dying, which we found out this past winter when trying to clean up the scrubby mess of vines and plants. Chris pulled away a thick vine and quite a lot of the base of the tree came with it --rotted. A couple weeks ago I decided to call the power company to see if they would cut it down, as it was right beside the power lines. They did, last week, and we have been cleaning up the remains. Poison Ivy!! We got good (?!) cases, and Chris actually had to go see the doc for some medicine. It is drying up, though there are occasional fits of itching. It was worth it, though, to have the tree gone. It really opened up the yard. The neighbor's son was doing some work in that yard and offered to use the trackhoe to dig up the stump. The thing turned out to be bigger and the root deeper than any of us thought. 
