Fans @ 10910 Arabian Way . . .
So 10 months seems like a long long time in mom time . . . and that's how long it had been since the folks @ 10910 Arabian Way had seen Jared.
So March 19, 2009 was a much anticipated day - the day (or rather late into the night) when he would fly in from his work in Texas.
After the long flight . . .
The little white dog knows who loves him!
He headed off to the Lone Star state the Tuesday after Mother's Day last year. He graduated from Northwest Lineman's College and had been offered a job in Corpus Christie, Texas. I was excited for him . . . but sad to see him go. He had been our sole resident . .. well if you don't count the little white dog and the older folks. . .
Climbin' the pole @ NWLC
Lots of smiles on Grad. day! We'd chatted lots on the cell phone and he always would tell me about his job and how much he enjoyed it and the guys on his crew. . . especially Nate . . . who is from Pennsylvania and graduated with him but came to Texas to join Jared. They get along great . . . considering that they spend their days (many long ones) and the rest of their time together too. He would share stories that involved crackling popping noises . . . balls of fire . . . enough to make a mom's hair curl! But he knows that every pray that's sent from this ol' Ma includes a special "keep him safe" part! He's seen lots of Texas and other parts of the south in his work. One of his favorite parts is the "storm work" . . . I think the paycheck makes that his favorite part. Last September his crew did storm work when hurricane Ike hit the Houston area . . . the hours were long and rigorous . . . but people were excited to see them and their parade of bucket trucks come onto the scene . . . that meant they'd have power again. One week he logged 90 hours . . . I decided that didn't leave much time for sleep. He and his crew spent 24 days straight working on that job.
He also worked up (I'm never quite sure if "up" is the correct directional word) near New Orleans around Christmas time during an ice storm.
Christmas time 2008 . . . we miss you Jerry!
Spent 3-4 days there . . . and Louisiana just didn't make a great impression on him. Didn't like their mud - said it was stinky and sticky. And the folks weren't quite as gracious as the Texas folks during Ike. Then in February they got called out on another ice storm just northwest of Little Rock, Arkansas. Was impressed with the scenery there . . . said it reminded him of the scenery around Grandpa Bells.
I should have known that he would be happy with a "hands on" job . . . He has always liked being a real part of the action . . . Can still remember him as a toddler driving his trucks around the living room floor - I think I could actually hear him going through the gears! Can still see him riding his little red bike at the age of 4 wearing his shorts and his cowboy boots . . . and then movin' on up to trading the little red bike for his 125 Yamaha. Was fun to watch him do wheelies on his motorcycle clear down the block . . . and watching him race motocross was exciting too - sometimes too exciting for a mom - especially the time he collided and lost a moment or two in time. So am kind of relieved that now it's his big white diesel and a bucket truck.
The #1 daughter and the #2 son . . .
happy to see one another!
Christmas this year was difficult without him . . . for us and probably for him too. But he has a great crew foreman (Eric) and his wife who always seemed to make sure that he had some "Texas family" during the holidays. So when he called and asked me to get a plane ticket for him to come home for a few days in March, I was right on it!! It was a great visit - just a bit short - but we'll get to see him when we all head to Texas for Adam and Susannah's wedding in June and hopefully he'll be home in July for a vacation in Idaho. Til then the little white dog and the mom will just be happy for good memories and for the cell phone. Sure do love that kid!
extras they wanted to ding us for. Found our little Kia and headed for the hotel . . . which we actually found quite easily (considering some of the other quests that lay ahead). Then headed down to Miami the next day to get on the cruise ship that would take us to paradise . . . the Bahamas. We were actually supposed to have gone out of Ft. Lauderdale, but the ship we originally were supposed to be on was grounded - and so we were upgraded to a bigger and better ship - but had to go to Miami to board. Checked out the ship - had our emergency practice . . . and set sail. Went to dinner that night and our dinner group had our very own little private dining room - we decided that it was all the misplaced passengers from the other ship - but we liked being together in our own little spot. Two couples were from Massachusetts and two little ladies were from down south in Virginia - and they had that real southern drawl. The next day we woke to find ourselves on a private island, CocoKay . . . it was beautiful! Spent some time wading and exploring . . . the water was so blue and was warm - well at least up to my knees. Then that night we sailed to the main island of the Bahamas and woke up to find ourselves in Nassau . . . not quite so secluded as CocoKay, but still very interesting. Vic and I to
ok ourselves on a little walking tour around the city - had thought about renting a scooter but then realized they drive on the wrong side of the street and thought our lives may be endangered . . . felt safe walking. So we explored some old forts - they had lots of them to protect the island from pirates . . . went to a zoo they had . . . got up close and personal with lots of the birds there . . . and just enjoyed walking around the city. We didn't spend much time near the water . . . but it was always in view. The next morning found us back in Miami, where we picked up the rental car and one of the couples from our dinner group rode back to Ft. Lauderdale with us. She (Lynn) spends half the year near Key Largo working for Mrs. Breck (THE Mrs. Breck of Breck hair products . .. which was THE hair product of my day . . .) and the other half in Massachusetts. The next morning we had to sit through our first time share presentation - to pay for the cruise . . . and then picked up Lynn and drove down to the Keys . . . Vic had wanted me to see that part of Florida as he had such fond memories of it when he and Adam went there long ago (when Adam was in Jr. High). Lynn gave us the grand tour of the private community of Ocean Reef . . . where the upper half live . .. it was pretty amazing. Then Vic and I drove on down through some of the keys and then headed back north. The next day we did our 2nd time share presentation . . . and got tickets to go to Universal Studios. But later that afternoon we found the Kennedy Space Center. Was pretty impressive that we found it . . . and it was pretty impressive after we found it. We were relying on the GPS from the airplane - which works great in the plane, but we found it to be a little challenging on land . . . but it did show us a way to get to our hotel in Orlando . . . by taking us straight through downtown during rush hour - but hey we made it. The next day was spent with all the characters at Universal - and after we left we decided that we were glad we didn't pay our money to go there. It was okay - but that will be our only time to go there. By now we were feeling more confident at getting around . .. though we did find our marriage was in jeopardy a few times. We decided to spend our final day at Sea World . . . and we weren't disappointed - the shows were amazing! We remembered the Sea World from California when we went when the kids were little . . . we loved it then . . . but now we love it even more. The animals hadn't changed so much - 
but the additional things they could add with the new technology was unbelievable! And this time we knew better than to sit in the "splash zone" while watching Shamu. We both looked at each other that night and knew that it was going to take some talking to be happy about going back to Idaho . .. but we were up and ready to leave the hotel by 5:00 EST (which computes to 3:00 MST) . . . found our way to the airport - made it through security and boarded . . . Now back to reality . . . and trying to remember all the little things involved in posting a blog . . . and living where we have 4 seasons . . . but the redeeming thing was that one of my little Sweet William flowers has a blossom on it - so I am assured that spring will come. 
