I've come to a fork in the road. Thursday was the last day of school for Tiffany. Out of the blue, she asked me if she could go spend a few days with her Dad. Just the day before, we discovered that her Dad had given her a "herbal gift" when he came to visit earlier in the week. So, I told her NO. She informed me she was going anyway. After explaining the consequences about her leaving without my permission, she stated she would "rather be in "Juvie" than here". She hit me with more...but those bruises are too deep to repeat. Her Dad arrived. In a moment of desperation, I tried to reason with him and they left. Her probation officer will call when they have Tiffany back in custody. Now I have to choose which path to take: the one that allows her to come back if she asks (which would make me a liar because I told her I wouldn't) or the one that would probably lead her to certain destruction. Through tears, I look up at the picture above my desk... I'm reminded that this is exactly the sort of situation that moved me to buy this picture.

On a much happier note, Joe and I went to see Aunt Freda in Anacoco, LA over the weekend. Joe promised Auntie a few months ago that he would return soon to replace an old storm door. He made good on his promise. We shopped, took flowers to the cemetery, played "42", ate a delicious meal Auntie had cooked and we went out for ice cream. It was a really nice visit. Look what I saw on Sunday! This is a nest of baby Barn Swallows that set up residence in the rafters of Auntie's carport. It's hard to miss the "four tenors" but look down low on the far left...can you see the shy little dude staring at me? He's harder to see in this picture but if you look real close you might be able to make out his yellow lips.

And that pretty much covers the last week for me. Except that Trey, Brandi and the girls are back from their trip to Florida. I missed them. It's amazing how much the girls grew in only 10 days! O. C. and Dylan are spending the night with us. The guys are watching a movie that I'm not interested in, giving me this opportunity to catch up. Until next time...

The weekend at the ranch was nice...hot, but quiet and peaceful. It's amazing what a couple of days in the country can do for the soul. Tiffany found a baby bird egg that had fallen from it's nest. It was so small lying there next to the huge pecan tree. Kind of sad that there was nothing to be done to save the baby, but I found it a little comforting to see that the egg had landed "nestled" so close to the tree. I had to "snap it". Hopefully, I'll figure out how to do slide-shows soon so whoever would like can see more of my photos. Tomorrow is the last day of school for Tiff. She and I will be attending a family grief support group beginning next week for eight weeks. The school counselor turned us on to Bo's Place...a non-profit center for grieving children and their immediate families here in Houston. We attended the orientation yesterday and I was really impressed. I'm not sure what else we're doing this summer...continuing the journey I suppose.