VINTAGE CHICKEN

Yes.... I'm still alve!

2011-09-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

Just in case anyone was concerned... I am still alive and kicking!

We have survived the long hot summer of 100*+ temps in Texas and NO rain!

We have survived the start of the school year! Bailey is a Junior and Briley is in the 5th grade.

Now on to the really important business at hand... blogging! I just haven't been much in the bloggy mood for the past few months, but hopefully I can get back into a routine of 'thinking' again and maybe have something worthwhile to blog about. Maybe?

About the only productive thing I managed to accomplish this summer was sewing a sweet little apron for my friend's daughter.

Here she is wearing the apron and enjoying her birthday cake!

Next up is the 50's Day Celebration at the Elementary School and of course you know what that means... Yep... one poodle skirt, made to order for Briley!

So the day before this exciting 50's Day, I ran to JoAnn's on my lunch break, found the material I wanted to use and then that night I whipped up a poodle skirt following some extremely easy directions I found on the internet.

Here she is, all dressed and ready for her day at school.

As usual with the hope of Fall and cooler temps just around the corner, I have high hopes and plans for sewing more this fall. As usual, we'll see how my plans work out and how reality has a way of changing those plans! :)

I just have to brag a little....

2011-05-20T14:36:00.001-05:00

As everyone knows... it's almost time for school to be out and we have been busy with all sorts of school activities that are standard for this time of year.

First on the list of accomplishments is my precious little nerdy girl (she knows I call her a nerd) has been inducted into the National Elementary Honor Society. The best part is that she is the first one of our girls to receive this honor in Elementary School - it's always great to be the first at something when your the youngest of 3!

I have to admit that I didn't know such a thing existed in Elementary School, but obviously it does and we have a certificate to prove it! :)

The next night of Awards was for Bailey's athletic accomplishments. This year Bailey has been awarded "Pitcher of the Year" for District 13-3A. She has worked very hard this year in Softball and helped her team win the Bi-District Championship for our area and they advanced on to

Area Play-offs.

Just for the record, she throws a mean fast ball, among 5 or 6 other different pitches! I can guarantee I wouldn't want to face her at the plate, much less have to catch her!

Here she is all cleaned up and ready for her Sports Banquet.

Of course the one time she's interested in having her picture taken and looks nice, the weather is overcast and gloomy and less than the best picture-taking weather; as usual my iPhone pictures are never as good as with my 'real' camera!

Alright, there you have it - my shameless motherly bragging blog post!

Come on summer, it's getting harder and harder to raise the dead each morning!

County Fair Time of Year

2011-03-29T10:30:00.000-05:00

Yep.... you guessed it! It is that time of year again when we haul the piggies to the Fair Grounds and hope they make the weight we want, follow directions in the show ring, and do well enough to make the Sale and win a top spot in their Class. Oh I know, the excitement is almost too much to handle, isn't it? :) Just imagine how stressful it is for those poor piggies; on a side note...if they don't make the Sale, they will promptly become ham and bacon in my freezer!

This year will be Briley's first time to show her pig. The past 6 months have really been challenging for her, because she's had to put a lot of time and effort into the feeding and care of her pig. All the while she's had to endure her older sister yelling at her for not doing 'it' right...whatever 'it' happens to be at the moment. Oh let me just say, we've had our fair share of screamfests in the pig barn!

After all of the trials and tribulations of raising pigs, Briley is mostly excited about wearing her new boots. Oh yes, we had to go buy her a pair of new boots to wear in the show ring. Afterall, what was all of this for, if not to get dressed up in the latest cowgirl gear and be blinged out in the show ring?

Here she is modeling her new boots... and yes, she is wearing her night gown... in the kitchen... in her boots! What can I say? Nothing is sacred in our house!

Here's a close of up shot of the boots - which by the way, took all afternoon to pick out! Apparently Briley has some real issues with the shape of the toes, the color of the tops of the boots (even though noone will see the tops)... and the list goes on.

I'll check back in and let ya' know how the piggies and the girls do after the Pig Show! I'm sure after Briley gets a taste of chasing after her pig in the Show Ring, we probably won't have to worry about her doing this another year. I just don't see her persuing this much further, and quite honestly.... I am not going to be too disaapointed. There are too many other options that she can participate in with the 4-H, besides PIGS! Oink Oink!

Spring Break! Let the fun begin!

2011-03-14T11:21:00.003-05:00

Are you new here?

You should have realized by now and after reading so many of my random posts that there was going to be very little spring breaking going on! :)

Oh sure... school is out for the week, but soccer, softball and pig feeding continues. The only difference is that we don't have homework thrown into the mix this week. For that, I am grateful!

Every day this week, I still have to figure out a way to get Bailey to and from soccer and softball practice during the middle of the day. Because you realize she doesn't drive yet, and I work all week... so??? I'm relying on the patience and kindness of other kiddos that have their drivers' license. JOY JOY!

Every day this week, we still have to dredge down to the pig barn and feed those nasty creatures - twice a day - with a concoction of feeds that is as precisely measured and monitored as if we were making a cake for the Queen. Unbelievable!!! Each day I remind myself that raising pigs for the FFA or 4H groups is most definitely a labor of love for our children. These little jewels are all about teaching responsibility and I get that, really I do. HOWEVER, I didn't need to learn responsibility... I have three of my own little reminders of my everlasting responsibility!

My task at hand for this week is to clean out my car! Oh, I'm sure you can imagine the little flakes of pig poop that have made their way into my car are starting to really stink as the temperatures in the car rise... yes.... you get the idea! Not to mention the bits of pig feed that have spilled out of the buckets and now it smells like a grain barn in the back of my car.

Remember... this is a labor of love! Or else I would be considered stark raving mad to allow this craziness to continue! (See how I have to keep reassuring myself of this fact?)

Anyway, it is Spring Break and that means all of this nasty cold weather and long gloomy days are surely about to end. Bring on the sunshine! I need to feel the heat of the sun and smell the flowers blooming. (Pardon me, while I sneeze my head off.) Spring time is great! (sniff... sniff)

Softball season is starting and I am all about sitting in the stands watching Bailey pitch their team to a District Win. I'm also all about sitting in the stands and listening to Briley whine at me about being hungry, which direction the wind is blowing, and how she is BORED! Oh yes, the joys of spring time! (I need to remember to stock up on sunflower seeds to keep Briley entertained!)

Believe it or not, this is my favorite time of year.

Happy TAKS Tuesday!

2011-03-01T09:42:00.004-06:00

For those of us living in Texas with children in the public school system, today is the start of TAKS Testing for 3rd grade through 11th grade (assuming they pass prior to their Sr. year?). Between today and late April, students will take a series of tests measuring their knowledge of Writing, Math, Science, History, and Language Arts. Each grade level has it's own subject matter to be tested. This is HUGE in Texas public schools. This test is the measuring tool used to advance elementary students from one grade to the next, regardless of their grades for the year.

This test is so very important that school systems are busy teaching the terminology and verbiage of the tests, as well as the subject content. Students are drilled daily about what to expect and how to appropriately answer the questions. Each day, my 4th grader completes no less than 5 worksheets directed at teaching her the TAKS test material. Sometimes it seems like it's overkill!

So with that said, the teachers have continually stressed the importance of getting a good night's sleep, a healthy breakfast, and a healthy snack for the test day. In keeping with the teacher's advice, Briley has been overly conscious about her sleep schedule and our choices for breakfast. In other words, she has nagged me to death about what I was going to prepare for her for breakfast! :) I'm sure her teacher will be pleased to know that we followed the guidelines and both Briley and Bailey had a huge breakfast of pigs in a blanket and fruit. Hopefully their minds are alert and busily writing a wonderful story today. (Today was the Writing portion for 4th and 10th grade.)

One TAKS testing day down!

Oh and since no blog post of mine would be complete without some kind of incident... let me assure you this morning was not without incident! Not only did I awake a full 45 minutes earlier than usual, just so I could make sure both of the girls were bright eyed and bushy tailed... but we still needed to run by the barn and feed the pigs. No big deal - we do this every day --- but apparently today EVERY parent that usually sends their child off on the school bus decided to drive them to school, because the morning rush of school traffic was horrible. We crept and crawled along like snails... UGH! So you know what that means... yep... we were still running late!

After a quick little change was made in our drop-off routine, we were back on track and Bailey was going to feed their pigs without Briley - all is good - until Bailey gets ready to get out of the car and remembers that she doesn't have a PENCIL for the test! Really?? A pencil??? There are no less than 100 extra pencils at the house, easy to see and get to, as needed. Really?? You forgot a pencil?? Don't you carry one with you anyway? Don't you carry MORE than ONE with you?? Oh My Gosh!! Typical Bailey!

Dear Lord, please be with Bailey! I fear this is going to be a long day for her! :)

Happy Birthday Brittany!

2011-02-18T10:40:00.001-06:00

My Brit-Brit is turning 20 today! Who'd a thunk it? I let her live through her teenage years! It wasn't easy, let me tell ya'! There were times of tears, anger, anxiety, joy, and above all several prescriptions of Xanax. We have arrived! One down and only two more daughters to go. I think that since I've been a parent for 20 years now, I should be allowed some time off for MY good behavior! I mean... no one is starving, lost, or living in a ditch. See.... it's all good.

I'm sure Brit has great plans for celebrating with her sweet boyfriend and other chums, so I will just consider this a new stage of maturing for my baby girl. I'm secretly hoping that we can cut the umbilical cord soon...the extra pounds are really starting to make my jeans bulge in the wrong places! :)

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! Enjoy your 20's - they pass by all too quickly!

Lookie! A new toy!!!

2011-02-16T12:23:00.005-06:00

I openly admit that I have far too many crafty interests and toys. It's obvious that I have gone a little overboard when my dining room is no longer available for dining! We have started referring to the formal dining room as the junk room.. ok, I know... that can't be good!

Anyway...how I came to have a new toy happened during the Texas sized snow/ice storm when we were all stuck at home for several days and Briley and I were watching a little too much TV, namely Home Shopping Network! LOL Well really now, you can only watch so much Wizards of Waverly and Hannah Montana before it's obvious that you need to change your viewing choices. When a 41 year old woman can sing along with the show's opening songs, we've got a problem.

Oh I know what you're thinking. I should have used the 'down' time to sew or quilt or do something productive like clean my craft/junk room, but really I just wasn't feeling that as an option.

Irregardless of how many better alternatives there were for me to spend my time, Briley and I stumbled upon a 30 minute demonstration of this little jewel.... A Yudu Personal CardShop Machine/Screen Printer. She and I were both completely enthralled with all that this could do. Of course we were, we were being sucked in by their highly effective marketing ploy. :)

They got me... I called in on the 800 line and joyfully offered my credit card number and soon my very own Yudu was headed to our house. It's amazing how easy and fast that HSN makes the purchase process, there's hardly any time at all to have buyer's remorse and WHAM! That little toy is sitting on my front porch, compliments of the UPS man!

So where am I going with this? I'll tell ya'.... guess where this little joy is in my home? Yep, you guessed it. Right smack dab in the middle of my dining room/junk table with all of my other craft goodies. Still in the unopened box and reminding me that I fell hook, line, and sinker for an impulse purchase.

(I still say I was suffering with cabin fever and that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

Hopefully, Briley and I can dig this out of the box this weekend and get busy playing around with our new toy. I'm sure we will enjoy it and put it to good use, but in the mean time it's just sitting there, mocking me! :)
Now if you would like to see all of the wonderful things this toy will do, click here!

Alrighty... Valentine's is over and that means SPRING is just around the corner!

2011-02-15T10:12:00.000-06:00

So...We've made it this far! Trust me, I wasn't too sure I would survive this Winter in Texas!! With FOUR (4) consecutive snow days in our neck of the woods, and all of my family snowed/iced in at our house, it's really any one's guess who or how many are going to come out alive!!!

At our home, we measured 6 1/2 inches of this nasty white stuff! It was pretty for about 12 hours and we all enjoyed the 'newness' of it all.... and then reality hit! This white stuff started to seriously inconvenience our lifestyle. I mean, I always have enough food in our pantries and freezers to feed a small army, but when you are snowed in and KNOW that you can't get to Wal-Mart, there's just something inside of you that screams to you! It's an incredible craving for some sort of food that you NEVER have the ingredients for in the pantry. It's some sort of dish that you only make in summer months and never dream of wanting in the dead of winter, but just let it snow 6 inches or so... and you better believe you want it!

Also during this time in North Texas, we were getting ready for the Super Bowl. I have never realized that so much hoopla surrounds this stuff. I'm not a big football fan anyway, but the endless days of news coverage about the preparations and how it was all being affected by the snow, was enough to make a crazy person sane!

To add to all of the winter fun and craziness in our home, I decided that I would attempt to move some ice and snow off of our driveway. Notice I say 'attempt'? When I say that ice doesn't move and it certainly doesn't have any bounce in it... at all! I know this first hand!! Oh that's right - I fell smack dab on my big butt and landed with my left arm underneath me. Well......two weeks later I am still suffering with a broken elbow! Luckily I only wore a cast for a week and the orthopedic recommended that I go without a cast to avoid having my elbow lock up on me.

I had no idea how many actions are associated with moving my left arm and elbow - it's been a very painful two weeks, but I can tell that it's getting better and finally the task of buttoning my pants doesn't make me shriek with pain. You can imagine how disconcerting that is for people outside of the bathroom door and what they might be wondering about me. :)

As we all know, yesterday was Valentine's Day; and as with most holidays, I'm less than impressed. My attitude seems to have worn off on Briley. She was totally put out by having to give cards to kids that she really didn't like (ahh, the joys of 4th grade), much less having to bring strawberry syrup for ice cream sundaes they were planning to make during their Valentine Party at school. Briley isn't the normal kid, she does not like ice cream or really anything too sweet, and to add insult to injury she is allergic to the strawberry syrup she was asked to bring. So as far as she was concerned, this whole party business was just a bunch of nonsense! (I tend to agree.)

Oh well.... she took the syrup and the cards to school and was nice enough... I suppose? When she made it home with all of her party goodies, she sorted through the stickers and such that she liked, but the rest will promptly find their home in the trash. Ahhh... gotta love our quirky kids!

What's my point to all of this? I'll tell ya'.... it means that we are almost finished with this nasty winter weather business. Spring is near....flowers will soon be popping their heads out of the ground, and I can get back to wearing my flip flops!

I've made it through another depressing holiday season, another winter of Arctic air blasts, and the gloomy dark skies - come on Mother Nature!!! Don't fail me now!!! Bring on the sunshine and warmer temperatures!

Events of the Weekend

2011-01-25T08:53:00.000-06:00

This past weekend Bailey had her turn at the Ft. Worth Stock Show. She and her heifer did very well in the show ring and placed third in her Class. After all of the poop was scooped...

the cows were washed and blown dry this is what we ended up with...

Another year in the books! As always, this has been a fun and educational experience for all of us. Bailey works very well with all of the heifers and continues to step up to the challenge and responsibility that it takes to make it work. Now on to the pigs and getting them ready for the County Show in March. The fun just never stops!

Just a few more scrapbook pages

2011-01-20T11:53:00.000-06:00

For your viewing pleasure... or not? :)

This is definitely a work in progress type of project!

As if I needed another project....

2011-01-19T09:57:00.003-06:00

Last January Bailey was lucky, skilled, or just crazy enough to catch a calf in the Ft. Worth Calf Scramble . Now with this opportunity, challenge, or headache comes a few responsibilities and requirements that have to be taken care of throughout the year. For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, I'll give you a brief recap. If a calf is caught, then you are awarded $500 to use towards a purchase of a heifer to be shown in the next year's Ft. Worth Stock Show, in return you are expected to make monthly contact with your sponsor and keep a journal of sorts... IE... scrapbook documenting your year working with and showing this heifer.

This is where I come into the picture - - I am helping Bailey put together a scrapbook for the Judges, in addition to the $500 used to purchase the heifer, extra scholarship funds are awarded for the most creative scrapbooks and an essay. This past year I have been taking pictures of anything and everything that Bailey has done while working with and showing her heifer and her pig.

Let's just say that trying to get pictures of Bailey is like trying to get pictures of a raging bull! Literally!! This child does not like to have her picture taken and most of the time her expression is clearly representing what she is thinking....it's not usually nice either! LOL (Notice the expression below. Is there any doubt that she is thinking ugly thoughts about her mother?)

Originally, we were working to put together a more traditional scrapbook with all of the cutting, gluing, paper, and cute little accents, but then I was informed by our County Extension Agent that the Calf Scramble Office really only wanted a 'copy' of the scrapbook? HUH? A copy? I've been cutting, gluing and buying little accents for nothing? They just want a copy? CHANGE OF PLANS!

Now Bailey and I are working on putting together a digital scrapbook which I enjoy doing so much more than the traditional paper scrapping kind. Basically I like working digitally better because it's less messy! Yes.... I realize I have issues with things being clean and not cluttered, but all of that paper stuff constantly drug out over my dining room table was about to send me over yet another edge of insanity. Picture it... scrapbook junk at one end, Briley's homework and school project at the other end. In the mix there is a cat or two taking residence among the constant paper piles and then let's not forget that eating standing up isn't always the best alternative. UGH... Here's how my mind works... (beware)... If I have to clean up the scrapbook stuff every time I need to use the table, then I will NEVER get in the mood to drag it back out and work on it; I hate to make a mess. Therefore, digital works so much better for me and I don't feel so overwhelmed with clutter. ( I know... I definitely have issues! But that's a post for another day!)

So far, Bailey and I have about 12 pages in the digital scrapbook completed and I need to make about 12 more to make myself happy with her submission of the project. Oh and one little detail... it's due Feb 1st! YEP... that's right.... as always we are rushing around to make this happen. It will be great I'm sure - it has to be - we've actually had to get along for a few minutes to make it come together! :) And just in case you are wondering, YES she is going to be trying for another heifer in the Calf Scramble again this year! JOY JOY!

Dear Mother Nature,

2011-01-18T09:45:00.001-06:00

It's time we had a little chat --- I want sunshine! I need sunshine! I must have sunshine to survive! What are you doing to me?

I realize that it is January, but have you forgotten that I am in TEXAS? I don't live in the frozen tundra for a reason. I HATE THE COLD. I try very hard to refrain from complaining about the 100*+ temps in July and August, in return you are supposed to refrain from sending so much cold weather to my little spot in the world. I thought we had a deal? I thought we understood each other?

My plants on the porch are wondering what has happened to their sunshine? The grass is brown? Brown???? UGH!!! I am wondering what has happened to MY sunshine. Have you forgotten that I get very moody and whiny without warm temperatures and sunshine?

Do I need to remind you that I am going on 7 straight days WITHOUT glorious sunshine? Hello??? Are you listening??? I'm getting a little grumpy here?? It's not going to be pretty? Someone is going to get hurt??

Morning School Traffic...

2011-01-11T12:16:00.000-06:00

Have you ever witnessed a crazy mother jumping out of the car and start screaming and ranting at the other mothers in the "DROP OFF" lane?

Well I haven't either, but this morning it almost happened. I seriously could have strangled this one particular mother that obviously has all of the time in the world to drop her children off at school. I say obviously because each and every day, this mother driving a black Chevy sedan gets OUT of her car in the DROP OFF LANE, while wearing her pj's and opens the back door. Now this habit would bother me so badly, but HELLO.... ???? It's called DROP OFF for a reason!! UGH

This particular stay-at-home mother gets out of the car wearing her pink pajama pants, opens the child's door and unbuckles them. WHAT THE HECK? If your kid isn't old enough or big enough to unbuckle themselves and get out of the car, then the DROP OFF LANE isn't for you!   There are plenty of parking spaces that are close to the door, just for you! GRRRR......

Now I realize this process doesn't exactly seem like rocket science or even all that time consuming, but let me tell ya'.... IT TAKES THEM FOREVER to get business taken care of. If you want to give your child some words of wisdom or parting advice, do it while NOT in the DROP OFF LANE, because I can promise you that there are other mothers (like me) that have JOBS to get to - and have other things to do in life that might have some sort of time constraints!

I wouldn't be a crazed mother if this were the only incident of this, but there are SEVERAL mommies that pull these little tricks in the DROP OFF LANE! Surely I'm not the only one that gets aggravated by their behavior? The school has sent home several notes and reminders about just this same thing, but obviously these offending women do not understand that it is directed at them.... UGH...

I promise - one of these days, I'm going to get my own little red flag and I'm going to stand out in the DROP OFF LANE and wave folks through and yell at the idiots that don't follow the rules!

This is driving me crazy!!!

Whew...... glad I got that off of my chest!   I had a feeling I was going to be spending the next several years in jail for hurting someone! LOL

Don't think I haven't considered it!

I'm celebrating...

2011-01-05T14:49:00.002-06:00

Not sure what exactly, but I just felt like treating myself to a yummy lunch!

There is this great little Chinese food place (in an old DQ) not very far from my office, that serves the best food EVAH!

My absolute favorite dish is their moo goo chicken. My Vietnamese nail lady tells me that I'm saying 'duck chicken'? Well maybe so, but this stuff is scrumdilleiscious and I know there's no duck in it! LOL

I have no idea why I decided to blog about my yummy lunch, or why I thought anyone out in blogland would care, but there you have it... I need to get a life and realize that most folks don't care what I ate for lunch! LOL

Ahhh.... now that I've eaten my favorite lunch, I can try to get busy and get my work finished or I can just sit here surfing the Internet and looking for toothpicks to use to prop open my eyelids.

Have a great rest of the day!

2011 Is Here...

2011-01-01T09:22:00.000-06:00

Yes folks, we've survived 2010 and now we can be thankful for another year to get 'it' all right... Whatever 'it' may be?

I suppose we all have dreams and desires for the new year; I certainly do and as usual my first order of business is to do something to effectively increase my level of exercise and hopefully lose some weight! I know... When hasn't that been a goal for me?!

Whatever your resolutions are, I wish you the best of luck and and a wonderful year!

Make it a great day and don't forget to eat your black eyed peas and cabbage--- or whatever the traditional foods are for your family.

Let's all Live, Love, and Laugh in the New Year!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-30T10:48:00.001-06:00

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous New Year!

I don't know about the rest of you folks in blog land, but I'm ready to see 2010 END and hope for a happier and less stressful 2011.

So tell me.... do you make any resolutions? If so... what are they?

Holiday Hoopla!

2010-12-24T09:19:00.001-06:00

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and a very prosperous new year!

I wish I could be yippee skippee happy and excited about Christmas, but I just don't have it in me!

I try... really hard... but it's just not there for me! Oh I understand the 'reason' for the season and I can appreciate all of the many blessings that I have had throughout the past year... blah... blah.. blah... but to me Christmas is a bunch of stress! Too many gifts to buy and wrap, too many unrealistic expectations from other people, too much food that is expected to be cooked by ME, and way too much of MY money spent on all of the above!

So anyway - moving on - I will do what is expected and put on a happy face while continuing to clean up cat poop that clearly shows she (the evil cat) has been ingesting leaves from the fake Christmas tree, carry out bags and bags of trash from the present overload, and make multiple trips to the grocery store because my children have eaten everything in the pantry! Yep... HO! HO! JOY! JOY!

It's here... It's here.... It's here....

2010-12-20T09:32:00.000-06:00

Yippee... Hip Hip Hooray..... Woo Hoo.......

My iPad was delivered today!!

I've already synced it... loaded the iTunes account information and added a cellular plan...

Boy oh Boy - this is a great Christmas present! Uh, uh.. I mean... a wonderful new tool for my job! (Wink Wink)

Glad it's going to be a slow day/week at work - I've got lots of time to play with my new toy! LOL

Dear Apple,

2010-12-16T12:26:00.001-06:00

I am so very excited to have finally ordered myself an iPad! Woo Hoo... I'm sticking to my story that it's primary purpose is for work, but let's get realistic...you can bet I'm going to be using it for a few fun applications on the weekends. Let's just call it my executive privilege.

I'm sure you understand the excitement and feelings of anxiousness that coincide with finally becoming a part of the living, or so it would seem, and finally having an iPad?

Well this morning when Mr. Fed Ex Man delivered a box to my office, I immediately thought it was going to be my iPad. Wouldn't you? WRONG....
Here's what I got...

The docking station!! That's it - that was all that was in the box.... Hmmm? I guess it's coming to me in parts and pieces?

I bet the next box I get will be the charging cord? Or the case for it? What are you trying to do to me Apple? If your goal was to tease and torture me then you are succeeding.

Sincerely,

Not so happy Apple customer

Spiders and Crickets.... OH MY!

2010-12-01T09:08:00.000-06:00

For the past 3 weeks or so, we have had a huge influx of spiders and crickets making their way INTO my house. There is simply not enough room for all of us to live happily, together in one house. These little buggers have got to go! For a while, I passed off the newly formed spider webs as Halloween decor, but now that's not working so well for me. I need to sweep the walls and crevices on a daily basis to keep up with the spider condominiums going up in my vaulted ceilings.

I've heard other folks in our area talk about how many crickets have invaded their homes, as well. What does this mean? Where's the Farmer's Almanac? Where's the Indian Doctor? I need to know...I'm sure it's some sort of sign of impending doom! That's just my luck.

I finally got smart enough to just GOOGLE this quandary and discovered that some theories on the idea say that it means we are going to have an early and harsh winter! OH JOY JOY! Just what I wanted to hear... NOT! See....impending doom!! I'm not a winter person at all... as a matter of fact, I prefer to hibernate from December through March.

I've also learned that having 'house' crickets is supposed to be good luck. Well let me tell ya'... We must be the luckiest folks on the block, 'cause I'm sweeping up 8-10 dead and mangled crickets every day - I wonder if the crickets have to be alive to lucky?

Whatever the 'sign' is, I wish these things would go away. Just this morning I found a cricket hoping happily in my kitchen sink among the breakfast dishes. This poor little cricket's luck just ran out - yep you guessed it - turned on the water and disposal! UGH... how much longer are these things going to invade my home? What do you know about crickets and spider invasions? Should I be prepared for some sort of paranormal phenomenon?

Holiday Hang Over

2010-11-29T16:11:00.002-06:00

Is there such a thing? After all of the turkey and ham have been transformed into other meal options, the stuffing has been reheated more times than I can count, and the pies are gone....I feel like I've got a hang-over! Without the alcohol!

Since we had a few extra days off, I took the opportunity to do some household chores that I had been ignoring. I was so busy on my days 'off' from work - it was crazy! I'm still exhausted and trying to get up at the usual time and back to work today has been a challenge. Needless to say, today was another day of waking the dead to go to school. Briley was protesting so adamantly about not going back to school, I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to drag her out of the car? I've seen parents in the drop off line do that, and laughed to myself at their pitiful parenting skills, but I gotta say - Briley's behavior this morning was starting to have me worried!

I wonder if this throbbing headache and all over fatigue I feel is from too much pie? No! Surely not! I wonder if it's from the pending gloom and doom I am going to feel when I have to go Christmas shopping and be parted from my money? That's probably more of the reason for my headache and yucky feeling than anything else! LOL

I guess I wasn't mentally prepared for it to be MONDAY yet - Oh well - the day is almost over and I've been fairly productive today, even though I think my head is going to explode at any minute? I hope there are some good Hallmark holiday movies on tonight, I just don't expect to have the energy to do much more than veg out!

What about you? Any Holiday Hang Overs out there in Blog Land?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T12:15:00.000-06:00

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with your family and friends!

I'm off from work early this afternoon to head home and prepare my dressing. It was either prepare it myself or suffer through the Stove Top Stuffing my dear Mother-in-law serves! I think we all know my answer to that! :)

My contributions to the family gathering this year will be the ham, which is of course from our very own home grown piggy, the dressing, broccoli and cheese casserole, deviled eggs and some sort of veggie/dip tray.

Eat your turkey, take your naps, enjoy too much pie and watch all of the football or Hallmark movies you desire!

Gobble Gobble!

Aging, Diet, and Exercise AFTER 40...

2010-11-18T12:37:00.004-06:00

Let's not mix words about this... IT SUCKS! It takes work, serious work both physically and mentally to stay ahead of the aging game.

Earlier this week I had to make my usual three month trip the Dr.'s office to have my blood pressure meds refilled. I don't know why my Dr. insists on seeing me every three months (well I do know why, she wants to bill the Insurance Company)- I promise nothing is changing not even my wardrobe! My weight stays the same, my disposition stays the same... and basically my life is a daily rewind and repeat of the day before. So what is the point? Just give me my refills and we can call it good? Ya' know?

As I was sitting in the waiting room with my little baggie of pills, I noticed that everyone else had their own little baggies of pills? What's the deal? Are we all here to see the pill pusher? I began to rationalize with myself and the fact that I'm only *41*, NOT 81 - why in the world did I need a baggie of pills? This entire process is crazy and basically self inflicted. I know better than to be carrying so much extra weight around my mid-section. I know better than to eat noodles, butter, bread, and drink coke! I'm sabotaging myself! (The brain fog was lifted at this point!)

Why do I let myself get caught up in the mindset that I'm too tired to get up and get moving after 7:00 p.m.? Just because it's dark, doesn't mean I have to put on my PJ's and crawl into bed or on the couch to watch the holiday movies on Hallmark. Honestly I've seen them all, several times over...AGAIN....I'm doing it to myself!! I'm sure I would probably feel better if I just got up and used my mind and body?

I've been so busy the past 20 years raising kids, cooking dinner, doing laundry, helping with homework projects and dropping off and picking up at gymnastics and Girl Scouts that I've completely forgotten about ME. I've turned into a scrub women - or at least it feels that way.

There was a time when even on the worst of days, I could pull out a pair of jeans, fix my hair and maybe put on a certain blouse and be assured that heads would turn. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Well.... heads don't turn anymore and I'm someone's raggedy old mom! (insert eye rolling moment and maybe a little tear or two)

This getting old stuff is not for the weak, that's for sure! Each morning when I crawl out of bed I have pain in all sorts of different spots. And if I'm really lucky the pain will move from one location to another, but never fear I have my handy Arthritis Strength Tylenol to get me through the day! UGH!!

So what does all of the pathetic ranting mean? Not sure, exactly? Maybe I've had that light bulb moment? I do know that things have got to change and I'm ready to fight this aging business with serious force. Besides, I'm really sick of spending so much money each month at the pharmacy, when if I would just take control of my health, I wouldn't need any of my prescriptions! DUH? LOL

Let's not get carried away, you aren't going to see me running marathons or participating in body building events, but I do hope to increase my daily exercise by making ME a priority. I am improving my dietary habits with vitamin supplements and better food choices. I didn't say I was giving up Sonic Coke, just yet...but hopefully I can cross that hurdle sooner than later.

What good am I going to be if my grand kids are pushing me around in a wheelchair, when I could have used my 'good years' to get into better shape and enjoy getting up each day?

I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, just catch up to the wagon!

Stick with me on this and if you would like to be a lifestyle buddy with me, let me know! It's always great to have someone else in this fight with you!

The Baby Pigs Have Arrived

2010-11-17T10:38:00.001-06:00

As usual for this time of year, we are the proud owners of two new baby piggies, to be fattened up and taken to the County Fair in the Spring.

This year Briley is going to show a pig for the Jr. FFA in our District. This is her first year to actually get in the ring and show by herself. To say she is excited, is quite an understatement. Briley has already named her pig Hershey; yes, the black one is hers! :)

Another change we've made this year is that we are keeping the pigs at the school's barn, so we will be closer to them and it will make the care and feeding of them easier than driving down to our friend's barn in the next town over. So far, the girls and I have to get up about 30 minutes earlier each morning and we stop by the school barn to check on these little oinkers. Bailey is shoveling poop each morning before school and Briley and I are taking care of the feeding and watering them. I don't know how long I'm going to be up for the morning pig duty? Obviously I didn't read the fine print somewhere? UGH!

Every other evening, the girls will be going to the pig barn with their dad to start working with the pigs to get them use to taking directions/orders when told to move or whatever it is they teach them. All of this effort is in hopes that when the pig gets into the show ring, they don't act like a completely wild animal -which of course they are? Go figure?

So far this has been the extent of Briley's participation...let's just say she's gotta step off of her bale of hay pretty soon and get dirty! LOL

This morning when we went to the barn, Bailey quickly announced that her pig had the 'runs'! Oh lovely! This year of pigs is off to a good start - NOT! Pig Runs - Pig Diarrhea - JUST LOVELY!

Stay tuned for more pig adventures...

Tuesday Product Review - Glade Holiday Collection

2010-11-16T09:55:00.003-06:00

~ I am not paid by anyone to express my biased opinion on these products. ~

The day after Halloween, I saw my first Christmas commercial on TV, it was for Glade Holiday Collection of Scented Oil Candles. Once I got over my initial shock that the holiday marketing surge had begun, I decided that I might like to try these out. After all, I'm always interested in finding something to conquer the kid, dirt, cat, and other nasty smells that creep up when I least expect them.

In my usual Sunday afternoon coupon clipping extravaganza, I found Glade Candle coupons. Lucky me! :) Well you know what this means? Right? I've got to have these wonderful candles NOW - I have a coupon!! That's just a no-brainer!

So in keeping with my normal boring routine of weekend grocery shopping with coupons and sales ads, I struck out to my neighborhood Wally World with the intention of finding and purchasing my very own Glad Holiday Collection. I would just like to say that Wally World was so considerate - they had built an entire display in the middle of the aisle, of what else? Glade Holiday Candle Collection...After sniffing and sneezing my way around the display smelling each of the holiday scents, I finally settled on the Apple Cinnamon scent.

With sheer excitement that I had found the perfect item to bring the smells of the holidays into my home, just as the commercial boasted about...I put two candles, two oil refills and one oil candle holder thing in my buggy. You realize that in order for me to use my coupons, I had to buy 2 of each? Just making sure we are all on the same page here! LOL

As soon as I got home from the dreaded grocery store trip, I found my bag of goodies and knew that I had to try them out, immediately. Hmmm??? I pretty sure they had a scent at the store? However when I got home they didn't smell as lovely as they had in the store? Was there some kind of scent trick? I continue to light them around the house and wait for the wonderful smells of the holidays to wash over me.

That never happened. I didn't smell anything! Hmmm?? After 2 hours the Scented Oil Candle had completely burned out and no one in my household even noticed the slightest smell of yumminess? Never fear, I had bought the oil refills, so maybe our house was just extra stinky and I needed to burn another one - so I did. UH.. YEAH... NOTHING!

I wasn't trying to smell up the High School Gymnasium, just my normal sized living area? Was that so hard?? Still determined to smell something, I lit the candle in my bathroom in hopes that maybe it would smell up a smaller room? I can honestly report that the actual Glade candles did put off a longer lasting scent than the Oil Candles, but then again they were placed in a much smaller space.

What does all of this unbiased review mean? Well I'll tell ya'... Save your money - don't buy the oil candle thingy, regardless of how cute you think the holder might be! Big waste of money, even if you do have the coupon. If you must give Glade some of your money, I would recommend only buying their actual candles.

I would also like to report that one small little Yankee Candle Melt did more to deodorize and wash my rooms in holiday goodness than all three of the Glade things combined. I'm sticking to Yankee Candles, I should know better than to try anything else! I've learned my lesson! For what I spent on all of the Glade Holiday Collection junk, I could have bought one whopping big Yankee Candle that I can be assured would wash my home in the smells of holiday yumminess.

It was a pumpkin carving fiasco....

2010-11-04T16:39:00.001-05:00

(I love the picture because Briley looks like she has horns coming out of her head... The rolling pin lined up just perfectly with her head.)

The girls spent one evening designing and carving their own pumpkins. It really was quite entertaining to watch their different levels of interest and commitment. Needless to say, there is always one the bunch that really couldn't care less if the pumpkin got carved or thrown out the back door. That one in my bunch is Bailey! :)

She did put forth the effort, but in the end she was fine with just chucking it in the trash!

Even Briley dug the pumpkin guts out all by herself!

After a couple hours of trial and error, we did end up with four pretty scary (in a good way) looking pumpkins and the evening was capped off with a yummy bowl of roasted pumpkin seeds, seasoned with ranch dressing.

Of course I forgot to take any pictures of the finished pumpkins! That figures!

15 Years Ago Today - during my Soap Opera...

2010-10-27T09:43:00.005-05:00

Bailey was born! Yes, her arrival into the world happened right in the middle of The Bold and The Beautiful! I gotta tell ya, I was a little irked with her for a while, especially when the Dr. told me that I had to turn the TV off so I could push! Well... I guess it all turned out for the best and now 15 years later, I've got a beautiful young lady that I couldn't be more proud of and the drama between Brook and Ridge still exists in the world of daily soap opera drama. :)

Ironically, Bailey was born on my sister's birthday and those two definitely share a few of the same character ~~flaws~~ traits! When no one else seems to understand Bailey, I have no doubt that my sister will totally get 'it' or completely understand Bailey's way of thinking...that's just how they are?

So Happy 15th Birthday to my sweet girl - and yes...we will be having a double decker chocolate cake with chocolate icing - just the way she likes it!

Oh I almost forgot - I must get busy and order the driver training manual thingy - you know she's going to be nagging the life out of me to get her learner's permit. OY! I feel a need for more Xanax!

Mouse Hunt Update

2010-10-21T09:22:00.002-05:00

Happy to report there were no mouse tracks, droppings, or bodies found in the closet in question! Just lots of junk that was cleaned out and reorganized. I have no answer for the so-called 'squeaks' that Brit heard during the night? Who Knows....

.... To be continued....

I have such good intentions...

2010-10-19T11:31:00.001-05:00

Really! I do!!

I have all of these great pictures on my camera from Bailey showing her heifer at the State Fair to carving pumpkins in our kitchen. Now where do you think that camera is? NOT WITH ME! It's hanging on the linen closet door handle! UGH! Good intentions, I tell ya' ... I really do have them!

Honestly, I can't be blamed for my forgetfulness - I've been feeling puny the past few days and I've been awakened in the middle of the night from all sorts of noises. I've discussed this issue with you before -the stuff that goes on in my house after I go to sleep - well I just can't be held accountable for it! If you're new to my blog, you can check out the after hours activities here.

Last night was no different than any others unless you consider the awakening I received at 3:00AM when Brit announced to me that she heard a MOUSE in her closet! UGH... Seriously!!! It's 3:00 AM - live and let live. So instead of jumping out of bed and rushing to her closet to capture the intrusive creature, I suggested she close the closet doors and sleep on the couch - sorry, but at that time of night I really don't care if the boogy man is moving around in your closet.

My rational thinking mind knows that it's Fall, the temps are getting cooler and the creatures are all looking for a place to snuggle down for the winter. I also have to remind myself that we live in the country - on a hill - in what was once a cow pasture. We are still surrounded by live and active cow pastures - mice are gonna happen!

However, my frantic irrational mind is telling me to get home quickly with as many rat traps as I can find and clean out the closet until I find that nasty little pest! Luckily we've only had ONE enter our sacred people space in the 8 years we've lived here and now there's another unfortunate one! I guess the old mice didn't spread the word to this young one that DEATH happens in our house! Usually it's death by a cat, but now it's up to Mama and I won't stop until I find the squeaky little nasty creature!

I'm also motivated by the fact that Brit will not return to her room again until I bring out a carcass of some creature to prove that it's dead and gone! :) None of us want her taking over the living room and sleeping on the couch -

it just wouldn't be a good thing.

Anyway, back to my good intentions...I'll share with you a couple of pictures that I stole from Brit's Facebook page of the pumpkins she and her sweetie carved.

This was a first for both of them, and they used one of those cheap little pumpkin carving sets from the big W store. I'm really impressed with how easy it turned out to be and that it actually does look like the picture. So of course you can imagine that now Bailey and Briley want to do one too, I guess I'll be stopping off to buy a couple more pumpkins, but NOT before I take care of the squeaky mouse in the closet! UGH!

When Life Was Perfect...

2010-10-11T14:46:00.001-05:00

Inside the walls of my favorite doll house...

Did you have a space in your home that was your escape when you were a kid? Did you have a favorite toy that took you to a special place in your pretend adventures?

As I sit at my desk each day questioning my sanity and wondering how in the world I got tricked into being stuck behind a desk every day, and working at the same boring job... I think back to a time when all was right with the world and I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up! Silly?

Well of course it's silly; I was FIVE years old! :)

For me, my own personal space and place in the world when all was perfect was the time I spent playing in my bedroom with my very own 1970 Fisher Price Little People Doll House. I had the Blue 2-story ski-chalet "A" Frame style house with an orange base model.

((I absolutely loved this doll house and it had better still be in the attic or I know a particular husband that's gonna have to do some fast talking! LOL))

From what I can remember, it seems like I must have spent hours playing with this toy and wishing I could be little and play in the house with the 'little people'.

I knew every inch of this Ski-Chalet and could tell you every single picture drawn on the walls or rugs painted on the floors. Life was supposed to be just like it was in the doll house, perfect. Nice and neat, cozy and clean; or so I thought?

Most days I wish I could go back to that innocent age of 5 when all was right in my world and all I had to worry about was when it was dinner time and I would have to clean up my doll house toys.

Of all of the toys I had as a child, this is by far the one that stands out among them all and obviously still has a special place in my memories. All three of my girls had their own Fisher Price Doll Houses, but sadly I don't think they had quite the same connection to theirs that I had to mine.

What was/is your favorite childhood toy/memory?

Let the fun begin...

2010-10-05T09:31:00.000-05:00

It's finally Fall, so for our family that means cows, softball, pigs, and whatever else we can squeeze into our busy life!

This week 'we' are heading to the State Fair of Texas for Bailey to show her heifer.
All of the preparations are in place, the heifer has been washed, blown dry, brushed, fluffed, and probably folded too?

Seems to me that standing behind a cow holding it's tail and brushing might be considered brave or STUPID?

Bailey is the only one of my daughters that seems to be made to do this 'cow business'. She is not afraid to get dirty or stepped on. She's not afraid to crawl into a pig pen and do whatever it takes to make these animals ready for the show.
She has gained so much self confidence in the past couple of years since working with these creatures - it's a great feeling for this Mom to see her walk out into the show ring strutting her Cow's stuff! :) I am amazed at how much she has learned in such a short time, but then again she is truly interested in working with these animals and the fact that she is actually learning something hasn't really sunk into her head.. ya' know? She just considers it "having a good time"! HA HA HA.... who am I to tell her differently?

Now that the heifer is almost ready for the show, I have to get Bailey ready! She has to have new jeans and a new "show shirt" to wear, and let's not forget that every fashionable cowgirl must have new bling-bling chunky jewelry to wear that will match the cow's halter? DUH?? How can you possibly show a heifer without the appropriate accessories.

The chaos continues....

The Start Of My Pyrex Mania

2010-09-23T08:51:00.001-05:00

It all started with this dish... one single dish....

It just so happened that I was at my grandmother's house a couple of years ago while she was doing some cleaning out of her kitchen cabinets. Well being the nosy granddaughter that I always was, I started snooping around and found her set of three 'Daisy Pyrex' dishes. Immediately she asked if I wanted them? Well of course I wanted them? Do you have any idea how many meals she served in those near perfect condition bowls? I vividly remember having banana pudding out of them, her ever loved 'Nan-Naw Beans' from the garden, tomato/okra gumbo... the list just goes on. These dished are always in my mind of 'Nan-Naw memories' and still are, as I use them ever so gently in my own home.

Just this week, I pulled out the big yellow bowl and served my all time favorite comfort food - ground meat/noodles! Yea... I know... not an original name, but most will recognize it as homemade hamburger helper.

Life is good when I can have my comfort food served in my Nan-Naw dish! I'm sure I will continue to miss her daily, but there is hardly ever a meal served in our house that I don't use one of her dishes or some other kitchen utensil that she handed down to me, probably thinking I would just chunk it! :) The fact of the matter is that those are the prized possessions in my kitchen and now look at what she's done - I've turned into a Pyrex Junkie and can't get enough.

Oh and never think for a moment that I've forgotten about the Pyrex nesting bowls in the Butterprint pattern that my own mother is hoarding in her kitchen cabinets!!! This woman never cooks and certainly doesn't use these mixing bowls any longer, but do you think she would let me have them... not on your life! Well.. not yet anyway! (ha ha ha) I've taken inventory - I know what's there... don't think I won't keep my eye on them!

September is National Chicken Month

2010-09-22T09:43:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it... the chickens have a month of celebrations?
Just in case you are having a hard time believing this, go here to see for yourself! LOL

Since I am not a fan of eating chicken, I will leave you with an adorable quilt of chickens. This is definitely on my 'get to' list!

Hold on to your hats! I was in the mood to sew!!!

2010-09-20T10:11:00.001-05:00

Believe it or not, I had a few minutes of solitude while all of the girls were out of the house doing their own thing and actually sat down a finished a project! Yes, I expect the world to fall off of it's axis at any moment... or at the very least some sort lunar eclipse to occur?

Friday while surfing the Internet at work and watching the clock slowly tick down to 5 PM, I stumbled upon a pumpkin pattern that appeared to be easy enough that someone with a short attention span could accomplish. In fact when I look at projects that I want to take on, my first consideration is always whether or not I will have the mental energy to see it through or whether or not I will be able to squeeze it in during commercials of "Reba" or "Everybody Loves Raymond"? Hey -it's all about priorities in my house!

Yesterday was obviously a slow TV day for me and I had already seen all of the Episodes of "Cake Boss", so I felt it was a safe bet I could actually get a pumpkin made. What do ya' know? I did!

Eh? I wasn't too impressed with the way it turned out. It's cute enough, but it's too short and squaty for my taste. I think I'll try it again using a bigger panel pattern and this time I'll use all the same fabric. Plus the felt leaf and button top just didn't do much for me... so back to the drawing board. At least I know what I do not want to do this time around.

It's the little things in life....

2010-09-15T09:53:00.000-05:00

Right? Isn't that what everyone says will make you happy? The little things?????

Well.... keep that thought in your mind when I show you a couple of little things that make me happy!

Who wouldn't be happy with Vintage Red Pyrex Bowls! LOVE THEM!!

Not only is RED my most favorite happy color, but I'm a bit of a Vintage Pyrex snob! It's a little secret that I like to keep under my kitchen cabinet, but I'm afraid my hoarding is about to overflow...and soon the people that load and unload my dishwasher are going to figure out my little problem!

When I stumbled upon these two lovelies on Etsy, I simply had to make them mine. How could I pass them up? They were only $10!! Uh Hello.... if that doesn't scream "AMY, you must buy us", then I I don't know what does.

I should have these in my hoarding hands in just a few days! CAN'T WAIT!!!

One of these days when I don't have so many witnesses to see me pull all of my vintage Pyrex goodies out of my kitchen cabinets, I will take pictures and show you my treasures! But until then... it will be our little secret. Okay? Shhhhhhh......

Can you believe I finally finished a project?

2010-09-14T10:47:00.000-05:00

It's a miracle!

Earlier this summer, I decided I wanted a bright and cheerful quilted table topper for my kitchen table. I spent a few hours ooohing and awwing over some that I found on Etsy and decided that I could probably make one for myself?

DUH? I do have a sewing machine and I have drawers full of fabric? I should probably make use of what I already have and is already paid for. (What an original idea?)

So I set about to make my own quilted table topper...basically I had no pattern in mind or any sort of organized idea. I discovered that I already had a 4" square pattern template and I had some fat quarters that I thought would work out to be cheerful and bright for the summer. There was my idea - 4 inch squares cut out of fat quarters and trimmed in RED!

I don't know why I bother worrying that the fabric matches or not - it's not as if anyone in my house has a clue that the thing is even on the table? I'm sure I could ask any one of them and NO ONE would be able to tell me what colors were in the topper, much less if they matched or had a theme?

(Please forgive the blurriness... took the picture on my phone)

Oh well... I made it anyway and I actually finished in the same season I started it! Nothing short of a miracle!

Next up is a table runner than I am working on for fall. Any bets on whether or not it's finished by Valentine's Day?

Happy Labor Day and Happy 3 Day Weekend!

2010-09-03T10:00:00.003-05:00

Woo Hoo... Hip Hip Hooray.... Yahoooooo...... and all that jazz! THREE DAY WEEKEND!! No work, No school!

We have now been back to school for two whole weeks and so far, so good. No major diva drama to speak of and if you know anything about my crazy life, you understand this is a miracle! I just jinxed myself, you realize that? Right?

Since I've last blogged, I've turned 41 (SHUTTERING)!! I gotta say that being in my 40's feels much more liberating than turning 18, 21 or even 30? I wonder why that is? I sorta feel like I can say or do whatever I want and I absolutely don't care who may or may not like it? Maybe the 40's are the LIBERATING years? This could be a good thing for me, and a bad thing for others - but then again - I don't care! :)

Since the 100* temps have finally decided to give us a break, I'm dragging out the pumpkin spice candle and calling this FALL! Oh, I realize we still have about three more weeks of Summer, but I"m officially done with it. I need to have something to look forward to, so if you see my blog covered in pumpkin pie pictures or fall home decorations, just go with it and let me have my fun! I now declare it to be FALL in my world!

Blogger Schmogger..... I'm not feeling in the bloggy mood!

2010-07-23T13:38:00.001-05:00

I think I'm gonna try this option for a while... maybe a few issues in my life will just pass by?

I'll let you know how it works out for me! LOL

School is Out!

2010-06-09T09:33:00.000-05:00

Yep, you know the drill... "Mom, I"m Bored!"

It's already started. This is going to be a LONG HOT SUMMER! (Isn't there a movie with that title?)

In the past week, the girls have rediscovered Mario Brothers and their Nintendo Games ...I'm hoping this entertainment will carry us through another few days or so?

Briley has spent a few days with her Mimi and now she wants to live there. They have a Wii and we don't! They have a next door neighbor with a swimming pool, and we don't! I think you can see what the priorities are for a 9 year old?

Bailey is busy with softball and we have quite a few tournaments lined up for the summer. I guess the only vacation I'm going to get this year is going to be sitting at ball parks.... just like every other summer of my life for the past 10 years or so?

Brit is still working and living at home. Yes, I know... shocker there! But then again, as long as that umbilical cord is still attached, she isn't going to get very far away from Mom or Mom's fridge! :) On a brighter note...Brit is doing much better than I imagined with her on-line college courses. Who knew? I figured it would be another example of me throwing money into a burning pit, but she seems to be taking it seriously and doing very well with her grades. Maybe we've turned a corner in Diva Drama Land. (I think someone should make a board game for young mothers. It should be something like Candy Land, but DRAMA LAND!)

Well now you know - it's just summer and we are chasing our tales around in a circle and trying to keep cool from these crazy 100* temps.

Don't give up on me yet, I'll be back soon with pictures of something? Not sure what, just yet?

Meet My New Friend.... Chirp Chirp!

2010-05-04T08:41:00.006-05:00

Now before you start thinking I've got money stuffed under my mattress or I've suddenly won the lottery, let me just say this.... I got lucky on EBay!

Since I don't sleep much at night, I've been lying awake for months watching the scrapbook infomercials and I've really been wanting one of these handy dandy Cricut Expressions machine. However, a $349 scrapbook tool is not on my list of priorities and I am not crazy enough to be able to justify that sort of expense.

So.... long story short, I found an EBay auction that was ending at some horrible hour in the middle of the night, and luckily none of the other bidders were awake at 2a.m. to bid on this machine and hike up the price. I was able to win the auction with a bid that was less than 1/3 of the price of a new machine - oh and this is a new machine in the box with all of the paperwork - yep, I'm bragging! :)

Then I stumbled across a lady on Craigslist that had a bunch of cartridges for sale - Yep, you guessed it - I snatched them up! I was able to find 4 new cartridges, still sealed in the plastic box for about $10 each. Now if anyone knows anything about Cricut, these same cartridges retail for anywhere from $40 to $80 each!

I've been spending time bonding with my new Cricut, but there is most definitely a learning curve. It's not difficult, but there are so many features on this machine, I don't know if I will ever figure it all out. Right now I'm a bit overwhelmed with all of the project ideas and websites that are devoted to Cricut projects, I need some time to digest everything that I've read and just go ahead and jump in with both feet and get busy.

So see... It was meant to be!!! I was meant to have this fun little Cricut!

Now to get busy making Bailey's 4-H scrapbook that is a requirement of her Calf Scramble winnings $$$??? (I had no idea how elaborate these scrapbook get to be...until I saw one at the 4-H Banquet - WOW!!!) Originally I had planned on putting together a digital scrapbook for this requirement and had even started on a few pages....

Apparently, the sponsors want to see honest-to-goodness scrapbooks with paper and glue?? Oh well, back to the drawing board!

Hopefully in the near future, I will be able to share with you some of my Cricut creations?
Keep checking back for glimpses of my creative abilities? If nothing else, my attempts should be good for a laugh or two? :)

Totally Awesome Tie Dye

2010-04-23T09:35:00.017-05:00

Nothing in my life is ever easy or according to plan! The only thing I can predict is total chaos - Always! Last night was no exception!

Here's a brief recap of what's been going on this week ---All week long Briley has been singing and rehearsing a song that she and her class were going to perform this morning at school for their assembly. The song was for a pep-rally of sorts before the TAKS tests next week at school. All week long we've been serenaded by the tunes of "I Will Survive" and different words! It really was a cute rendition, but I was ready to see this morning get here and the practice singing to stop!

Now lets jump back to about noon yesterday.... I suddenly remember that we have to be at the High School for Bailey's FFA Banquet at 7:00pm. Okay, not a problem...it's nothing that she has to dress up for and we'll get dinner out of it, so I consider that a win-win situation.

Oh but wait ---this is where the chaos starts building--- around 2pm yesterday I received an email from Briley's teacher reminding the parents about the Friday morning assembly and NOW they are asking the kids to DRESS UP in 70's attire! (UGH!!!)

You know what this means don't you? It means I have to scramble around to find something that will pass off as a fashion statement from the 1970's! That really wasn't my generation and the only fond memories I have of dressing in the 70's were wearing my matching Geranimals!!! Needless to say this required a bit of conversation with Briley, the minute she stepped off of the bus and called me at work.

The good news is that she already had her own ideas of what she wanted to wear; as far as she was concerned anything tie dyed would work and something with a peace sign would be good too. Hmmmmm? I might just be able to pull this off???

Soooooo.....on my way home last night I stopped by the Big W and grabbed a white t-shirt and a box of Tie Dye stuff. (Oh yes... another $20 excursion for a whopping 10 minutes of wear!) I'm not a fan of Tie Dye... I've never been a fan of it and I've never even attempted it, but what the heck? I like to live dangerously!!

It is now 6:15pm...Bailey has just gotten home from softball practice and is jumping in and out of the shower to get ready for her FFA thing, Briley is running around the house whining about not wanting to go to the FFA thing, my husband is standing in his underwear ironing his clothes (what the heck?), and I'm in the kitchen wrestling with a shirt, rubberbands, and this tie dye mess.... that is all over my hands, dripping down my arms and staining my newly manicured nails - because NO I don't have any plastic gloves? (ROLLING EYES)

I finally convince Briley that she wants to go to the Banquet because they are having her favorite, Bar-B-Q and if she stayed home all she was going to get would be a corn dog on a stick!! :) Now the battle is to get BRILEY dressed in something that we all agree upon - which just so happened to be something that needed ironing! (HANGING MY HEAD IN DEFEAT!) .....remember I'm still standing at the kitchen sink with dye dripping all over me.....

Now it's about 6:30 and I've decided to just call the tie dye shirt DONE! I seal it up in a Ziploc bag and begin my efforts to clean myself up and wash the dye off of my hands. UH... it won't come off??? So I pull out the Clorox Cleanup and start spraying my hands....all the while I'm planning on wearing what I have on from work, to the Banquet! YES and I'm squirting bleach all over myself - and my shirt was black? Well what do you think happened???? LOL

Ahhhhh, I tricked you!! NOTHING happened - no black shirts were harmed in my hand bleaching episode. I really don't know how I pulled that off, but I'm just going to go with it!

Ever so quickly, we all appear dressed and ready for the Banquet. OK really...it's not much of a Banquet, but I guess that sounds better than saying a Bar-B-Q dinner with FFA Awards? Off we go to the High School, my hands are still a little purple in places.

After 2 1/2 hours of FFA fun, we headed home - it's now 9:30pm and I still have another 2 hours of waiting up before I can wash the dye out of the shirt and throw it in the dryer. Finally...the time has come and I can wash this dye mess out and figure out if the shirt will work or if I was going to need to make another run to the BIG W for another white shirt; I had already started digging around in my closets looking for another white shirt that might work in a pinch!

Surprise! Surprise! The shirt turned out better than expected and I was once again a totally rad mom! (ok, so that's my opinion?)

Brit was able to contribute a peace sign necklace to the ensemble and Briley was happy with her 70's outfit. WHEW...another meltdown averted!!!

After I fight the crazy wet-road traffic to get to school this morning and race to get there with my camera in hand, I noticed that not everyone was dressed up in the 70's attire. Actually, there were only a few kids that even bothered? UGH???? Why do my kids have to be 'the ones' to do everything their teachers tell them?? HA HA HA!

The good news is that I SURVIVED it all and only have a slight nervous twitch this morning!

Chirping Birds and Cow Pastures

2010-04-21T09:32:00.014-05:00

Eight years ago this summer, we moved into our newly constructed home sitting on a hill in the middle of a cow pasture. Apparently some land developer got a great idea to offer Grandpa Jones money for 50 acres of his cow pasture and Grandpa Jones jumped at the offer, since he knew the land was basically worthless and not good for anything! Ironically, said developer had the last laugh because he figured out a way to build 40 homes on large lots of land and convince city folk to move to the country and buy their own piece of happiness!

Fast forward a few months and we were the city folk!! We had high hopes of cultivating our yard and developing a lush green landscape with big beautiful trees and lavish flower beds. It seemed as though gardening opportunities were endless.

Then reality struck - the only living green things on our property were a couple of crab apple trees along the fence line and the tons and tons of grasshoppers! I wish I had a picture to share with you, these grasshoppers were at least 2 inches long - seriously- and would eat any and all plants we tried to grow. Every step we took was on top of a grasshopper, think biblical plague - you won't be far off from what we experienced the first couple of summers living in the cow pasture.

Oh how I desperately wanted green grass and trees - we planted several pounds of grass seed the first couple of years we lived there and then it would promptly rain and all of our grass seed went floating down the neighborhood ditch!

Another tribulation we suffered through was the horrid caliche dirt. If you know anything about dirt you know that this stuff is like gumbo when wet and cement when dry! It's not at all easy to grow anything, other than weeds! Never fear, we forged ahead and planted shrubs around the house and eventually some grass seed has taken hold and we have something green that needs to be mowed on a weekly basis. At this point, I really wouldn't consider our green stuff grass, but the weeds sorta blend in where the grass leaves off and when it's mowed, no one really knows the difference. Maybe???

Next up I wished for birds...now I had in mind red birds, blue birds... you know nice friendly birds that will eat bugs and build their nests and come back each year to enjoy the birdseed you put out for them. UH NO! That's not what I got! I got these evil feathered beings!
OH don't misunderstand - they come back each year and build their nests in the exact same spot as the year before! They are just nasty! I don't know any other way to say it - but ICK! These are BARN SWALLOWS and they might as well be attack birds! This is the time of year when I would like to be sitting and rocking on my front porch, but instead I'm dodging these dive bombing birds! The continue to build their nest in the corner of our front porch, by the front door.
They look so sweet and innocent don't they! WRONG! PURE EVIL! I'm sure God had something purposeful in mind when he created these birds, but at this point I'm not sure what that would be, other than just a huge nuisance! Each year I try to catch their nests being built and before they lay eggs, but these little demons are quick!
One day I can check the porch and they are just starting to gather the mud for their nest, and the next day there is a nest full of eggs! UGH! Now how can I knock that down? I can't! I do have a heart, but still - as soon as those little buggers are flying on their own, I'm cleaning their nest down. If I don't catch it quick enough, they will lay another batch of eggs....these barn swallows never go away!!!

Not only do they lay 7 or 8 eggs at a time, but they are LOUD when they protect their young!! This morning as I was getting ready for work, I heard these little evil darlings chirping quite loudly; I'm not sure what was causing the problem, but I'm assuming it had something to do with the fact that I had opened the door and let the cat out... HAHAHA... cause I'm mean like that!
One our our cats will sit at the door and try to climb up the window panes to get to them - it's quite comical to watch, and one of these days I think I might just cheer her on if she catches one.

So now you know, my sunny disposition is all because I awake to sweet little chirping birds flying around our in our green lush lawn and nesting in our beautiful aged oak trees - NOT!! My husband has decided to just start pruning the crab apple trees, at least they look like we want them to be there? It's a never ending process - we water, we fertilize, we mow, and still no green grass, just more green weeds! We are learning to adjust our expectations.

I feel a rant coming on.....

2010-04-15T10:49:00.004-05:00

** 1. Diet soft drinks
I'm not naive or living in a cave - I realize that part of my personal weight struggles are centered around the amount of sugar I ingest from my morning Sonic Coke, but seriously is a REGULAR coke any worse or better than a DIET Coke? Recent studies have suggested that the diet drinks are tricking our bodies and in reality they are hurting our metabolism, thus creating more weight gain.

I can sorta see how this theory might be accurate; the past several months I have been making a mental note of the types of people I witness purchasing diet drinks in convenience stores. These folks are HUGE! We aren't talking about some skinny soccer mom and her diet coke, I'm talking about OBESE!!! So my own personal theory is that maybe the diet drink isn't doing you as much good as you think??? I guess my frustration over this was tapped off this morning while standing in line behind a VERY LARGE woman buying a Diet Dr. Pepper and a package of chocolate donuts! Uh yea... that's a real commitment to better health! Drink more diet drinks, surely it's bound to help? HUGE EYE ROLLING MOMENT~

So leave me alone - I want the REAL THING! Obviously real Coke isn't causing so much weight gain for me personally...I can still fit behind the steering wheel and don't require a motorized shopping cart to venture through Wal-Mart!

**2. TAX DAY
My husband and I go to work each and every day, we don't require any federal assistance to feed, clothe, and shelter our children...which by the way were all born on private insurance and paid for by US, not Uncle Sam! UH folks... he's really not your uncle! You don't have any inheritance, get off your lazy butt and get a job!

Each year we dread tax season and how much money we are going to be required to pay. Neither my husband nor myself are off on expensive vacations and jet setting around the world because we make tons of money. We don't have a driveway full of jet skies, motor boats, and RV's. My closets don't have mink coats hanging in them, and I certainly don't own any bling bling that needs to be covered by insurance!

We are MIDDLE CLASS AMERICA! We pay our bills, we shop at discount stores, our kids don't wear $100 tennis shoes and believe it or not, we don't eat steak every night! It's a hearty portion of Hamburger Helper on a good day! LOL So why oh why are we punished for just being normal and providing for our family.

Neither one of us came from a priviledged life in that we attended some Ivy League Institution - we simply got jobs! Showed up each day and worked our way up through the ranks! Yes, we are very blessed to have good paying jobs, but our jobs didn't fall out of the sky....we got off our butts and went looking for them!

HOLD ON.... does that mean hard work doesn't pay??? Well obviously it does pay - it's pays for lazy slobs to continue to reproduce and have babies paid for with my tax dollars and then expect that non-existant UNCLE to provide for those babies. Oh, and then once they've fed their little darlings with their food stamps, they have plenty of money left to buy their cigarettes and guess what? They get cancer and that same great UNCLE will pay for their cancer treatments? Hmmm??? Notice a system at work here?

OH I could go on forever with this rant...but I'll spare you my angst... it will get ugly!

I feel I should really end my ranting post now - I've stirred up enought anxiety to last a while! What's your rant for the day? Go ahead... it's okay... we're all friends here - Rant Away!

A Sunday Afternoon Jaunt

2010-04-14T11:06:00.019-05:00

Hoping to beat the Sunday afternoon blahs, Briley and I struck out on a road trip! We are just so exciting and spontaneous like that! Two wild girls on the move... I'm sure every 40 year old is jealous that I have an 8 year old as my best friend!NOT!!!

So where did we go? Well Briley and I ended up at the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler. This was really a very nice little afternoon drive and quite a pleasant experience. The wildflowers were starting to bloom along the highway, the dogwood trees were budding out
and the azaleas were well on their way to their full burst of color
...all of these thing I have missed due to living in the middle of a cow pasture!

The most impressive part of all of the Zoo's greenery was the massive wisteria covering a walkway - not only were the blooms gorgeous, but the aroma was wonderful!

Moving along with our zoo visit, Briley insisted on petting the goats, now obviously she didn't get 'goat petting' out of her system, the week before when she spent several days at the County Fair petting all of the livestock she could ever want to touch and handle. Oh well... whatever makes her happy!

It really was a lot of fun to be able to get so close and personal with the animals. This zoo experience is much different than what I remember as a kid, when there were fences and glass between you and the exhibits.

Briley's favorite part of the entire trip was going through the Bird Walkabout exhibit. She could feed the birds with a seed stick and really get close and pet them.

Who Knew??? A popsicle stick smeared with peanut butter and bird seed could offer so much entertainment?? :)

If you ever find yourself in the Tyler area, you should definitely check out the Caldwell Zoo. The admission is very inexpensive, the parking is easy and accessible (free parking) and there weren't large crowds hoarding the viewing area of the exhibits; we actually got to see all that we wanted to see without some pushy fat kid jumping in front of us! LOL

This Little Piggy Didn't Make It To The Market...

2010-04-05T10:01:00.006-05:00

This little piggy went straight to the processing plant!

We aren't exactly sure what happened this year, but Bailey and the pig were both off of their game? Bailey didn't place well enough in her class to make the Sale, but that was really okay with us - we already had big plans for the porker and OUR plans were for her to go straight to the slaughter house and then straight to my freezer!

The expressions on both of their faces tell it all - neither Bailey or the pig were 'feeling' it that hour??? :)

All is not lost, we did discover a new fashion accessory that is sure to start a whole new trend in the Swine Show world.... A blinged out belt with a brush placed in the back pocket, for that unruly swine hair in the show ring.... or the occasional poop that needs to brushed off the pig's behind (while the judge isn't looking, of course?).

Not sure where we are going from here with our animal adventures? I hear talk around the dining room table that there is Heifer somewhere in the next county that has Bailey's name on it? Now Briley wants in on the action and has decided that she can raise and show Rabbits? Uhh....not too sure about that one either?? OY Vey!

This Little Piggy Went To The Fair (version 2010)

2010-04-01T08:40:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year again...time for the County Fair. Again this year, Bailey is showing a pig and this year she has chosen a Hampshire Pig. We are all proud that this pig didn't get sick like last year's bacon in the makin', but this Hampshire pig hasn't been without it's challenges. Apparently, she's quite moody - the pig not Bailey - and won't eat on a regular basis. We've learned all about different types of oats and concoctions that are supposed to make this porker want to eat.

The latest theory on fattening up a pig came from yet another 'pig pro' that suggested we use powdered baby formula mixed with water and somewhere along the way we were supposed to pour in a bottle of straight corn oil? All of this is mixed with the regular high dollar pig food and should fatten this girl up! I say we should just save the money on pig food and feed her the same stuff I eat everyday, 'cause it's obviously fattening me up - with little or no effort!

Apparently all of the suggestions have worked and Miss Piggy is fat and ready for the Swine Show this afternoon. She made the weight class we were hoping for and at last count, I hear she weighed in at a whopping 237 pounds!

I should have pictures of Bailey and the pig later today. So hopefully I can get those loaded for your viewing pleasure tomorrow.

Stay tuned for the next pig story which will hopefully end with ...This Little Piggy Went to the Market!

What's in a name?

2010-03-29T09:58:00.009-05:00

Or a nickname??

Do you have nicknames for your children? Do you and your significant other have some sort of funny little name you call each other?

In our household we really don't have nicknames, per se for each other - and what we do have a tendency to call one another really aren't the kinds of names that I should post on my blog...if ya' know what I mean?

Growing up I didn't have any nicknames and neither did my sister or parents, for that matter. Oddly enough while my parents survived their teenage years flouncing around in poodle skirts and red tabbed Levis, both made it to their adult years, yet to having been called a Skip or a Buffy. (For this, we can be thankful! :))

Our parents simply called us by our first names; I definitely never called my sister, Sis or heaven forbid, Sissy (I can feel the squinty stare from my mother, even as I type that horrid word). I can most definitely assure you that our southerness style (not really the right use of adjectives, but it works for me) of raising would have not allowed for a Bubba in the family either! Even though Paula Dean has given a new sense of dignity to the use of Bubba, it still wouldn't have passed in our household.

All this time I never thought much about nicknames until I called Briley by her nickname last night and she looked at me with this cute little smile and asked me why I always called her 'Fred'?

Yes, it's true...I call her FRED! Well??? Tallulah just wasn't working for me, so Fred seemed to fit? I have no idea why, but I have always called her that - not so much as a direct address to her, it's more like if we are about to leave the house, I'll just simply ask her, "Ready to go Fred?"... she just usually ignores me and we go on about our way. Even when she and I are playing around or snuggling while watching TV, I still call her Fred. Hopefully I haven't scarred her too badly? Oh who am I kidding, that child is exposed to so many other things, I'm sure a harmless nickname will be the least of her worries when she needs therapy!

I was about 8 or 9 years old when I heard my dad referred to as something other than his proper name, David. My grandmother, his mother called him 'Dave'! GASP!!! I had never heard anyone ever call him anything other than David - that was his name - that's what my mom called him, that's what people at church called him... just David. Who was this 'Dave' persona? As time went along, I heard several other members of his own family refer to him as 'Dave'? What the heck?? What did this mean? Did his friends call him 'Dave'? Did it mean he was sorta hip, a cool guy, or have some sort of other personality than what I had known of him as 'daddy' or 'David'? Odd how your mind works when your 9 yrs old? Right?

Along this same time in my life, I discovered that maybe it wasn't quite the norm to have an Aunt BooBoo (short for Beulah)?!? Wait, it gets better!!! We had an Aunt Cap (I don't remember what her real name was), and Aunt Lonie {long o} As if LONIE wasn't bad enough, my grandmother and the other aunts called her DUCK??? Yes that's right - as in quack quack!!!

Didn't everyone have great aunts with these crazy names? On the other side of our family we had an Uncle Dude and an Aunt Punk, never thought anything was odd about this. Aunt Punk is still living and everybody calls her Punk! It's just her name...isn't it?? Oh, I realize she has a 'real' name, but it's just always going to be Aunt Punk to me.

So there you have it- I can't help my crazy randomness of calling Briley 'Fred', because it's just the way I am. So for as long as she continues to answer me, it's FRED!

A Blog Hop Party

2010-03-26T09:43:00.003-05:00

I'm doing the Friday Follow Along...
Want to be a part of this Blog Hop?

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Fish Sticks, Ranch Style Beans, and Mac n' Cheese

2010-03-25T15:59:00.010-05:00

Now that's what I call good eating!! (Hey - don't judge me!)

Yes, I realize it's certainly not the most sophisticated taste pallet, but it works for me and I consider it a comforting meal when the stresses of life get to me or just when I'm lazy and don't have the desire to think about cooking and couldn't care less if anyone else in the house eats or not!!

While I have several other comfort meals that I can whip out of the pantry and freezer, with a moment's notice, and as any of my girls will tell you I am the queen of ground meat and noodles (the homemade version of hamburger helper); I do occasionally reserve for myself a hardy helping of fish sticks. :) ((For the record, I don't care if they are minced fish or whole fish.... just crispy fish sticks cooked in the oven on a cookie sheet will work fine for me.))

With that said, I wasn't raised on quickie freezer foods or processed and packaged meals, but occasionally we would have fish sticks and out of the cabinet would come the blue box of mac n'cheese and a can of Ranch Style beans. I'm sure this was a quickie meal that my mother prepared in desperation and boredom from cooking each evening or it was a quick fix option for the nights when we were rushing out of the house to some after school activity. The fish stick meal was most definitely long before the idea of drive through fast food and I never remember having a happy meal on the way to anything!

If you were to ask my kids what quick fix meal option they would prefer, one will always want McDonald's and one will beg for Taco Bell (the smell of either of these makes me gag), while the other daughter will turn her nose up and say with the most defiant look, "NEITHER"! UGH - it's never easy in my world! NOT ONE TIME can they all three agree.

I can assure you that NONE of them will go for the fish stick idea!! I don't care how many times I've tried to encourage them (i.e...forced it on their plates), each has turned their nose up at me. Not only do they detest fish sticks, but a Ranch Style Bean isn't going to cross their lips? Where did these children come from? They are such food snobs? Why don't they appreciate the thin orange greasy film on the top of the beans in the can? Why???? Where did I go wrong???

Oddly enough I can slice up weenies and fry them in a pan and throw out some blue box mac n'cheese and all three of them use to gobble that stuff up! (another gagging moment for me, but hey - whatever floats your boat?)

Anyway, where was I going with this .... OH yes.... comfort foods, quick easy fix comfort foods. What are yours? You can tell me... no judging here! I promise not to call Child Protective Services, or think any less of you if you tell me that you secretly indulge on a can of Vienna sausages?

Dear Mother Nature,

2010-03-22T14:14:00.004-05:00

I'm writing to you today with much concern over the recent developments in our weather. Have you consulted with your calendar? Have you checked to see that we are already in Spring? Do you realize that you've sent snow to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area in MARCH? Uh hello... is this thing on?

I've included a couple of pictures to submit to you as evidence that you're having technical difficulties on this end or that maybe your server is down? Whatever the cause of all of this icky white stuff, I would respectfully request that you fix this!!!

In case you need a point of reference to work from, our normal temperatures at this time of year are in the 70's... NOT 40* with 20* wind chills!!! While we enjoy a cold blast of winter and a mix of snow/ice during January and February, we've already had our yearly allotment. I do hope this doesn't mean that we will have a debit of cooler temps and have to repay with an extremely HOT summer?

In closing I would just like to say that I have always admired your timely work and always look forward to the fresh crisp green foliage that graces our landscapes with the onset of Spring and warmer temps. I certainly hope you get this little glitch worked out and hope that we can work together again in the near future.

Warmest Regards,

Temperamental Texan

I've crossed over

2010-03-10T09:27:00.004-06:00

To the other side of the technological world!

{You were really expecting me to tell you I had changed political views, religious beliefs, or gone to Dr. Pepper instead of Coca Cola? Weren't you??? }

In January my AT&T cell phone was up for renewal - which is amazing that I was actually able to take advantage of my OWN upgrade option because usually someone that shares my DNA, has already used my upgrade options and I get left using the oldest phone in the bunch. Now this kinda makes me irritated since I pay the darn bill.... but anyway, back to my new phone story.

I decided that I wanted to be hip - in style - and look like a cool mom. So I bit the bullet and upgraded to the new handy dandy IPhone.
I just gotta say - this phone is totally cool!!! There was definitely a learning curve for me and it did take a couple of weeks for me to figure out how to use the touch screen key pad without my fat fingers getting in the way, but once I got over the hump - I've been texting and surfing with the best of them.

I have loaded all sorts of Apps to make my life easier. Well, okay I don't know if it really makes my life easier, but it does make me feel a little spoiled. I almost feel 'cool' and like a hip mom? Almost???

The really sobering part is that while I was struggling through the 2 week learning curve, my 8 yr old brat, picked up my phone and went to town downloading game Apps, texting, taking pictures.... you name it - she was way ahead of me? What the Heck??? How did she know how to work my phone BEFORE I DID????

Are the kids of the younger generation born with some innate sense of how to use the IPhone?? Did Apple Computer put something in the water??? I was struggling with how to even make a call on the silly thing and she's over there playing some silly helicopter game??? UGH???

Last night, I mentioned to Briley that I had seen Brittany playing a game on her phone and thought we could download it on my phone for her to play. Of course I couldn't remember the name of it, but I described it to her as some sort of fish game where you can build your own aquarium. This is no exaggeration, within 30 seconds Briley had already gone on to the App Store and 'searched' for the game and was about to download it. I sure was glad it was FREE!! LOL

In the amount of time it took me to use the ATM machine and get cash - Briley had already started playing the game and had figured out how to buy fish and clean the tank and do whatever else it takes to earn points/money! Now seriously- this was within a time span of about 3 minutes!!! Unbelievable!!!!

For the next hour, Briley and Brittany were both playing their fish tank game on the IPhones and comparing notes on which fish to buy and how to build more aquariums.

I'm still struggling with fat fingers on a touch screen key pad and trying NOT to call someone back accidentally, after I 'end the call'.... UGH!!! Technology!!! Ain't it great?

Internet Habits

2010-03-09T08:51:00.004-06:00

Do you have habits or rituals that you go through each day when you click on the 'blue e', that links you to the World Wide Web???

Well I do - whether you call it rituals, routines, or just OCD habits. Feel free to call them what you like, but in the interest of moving this post along I'll just refer to them as habits! :)

Each morning when I come into my office, the first thing I do is push the big round button on my CPU. Then I usually chit chat with a few folks in the office until my desk top is loaded and ready for me to begin clicking my way through the next 8 hours or so.
The first stop on my agenda is the company email. After all, they do pay me to work occasionally and sometimes there are items that I need to take care of before my work day begins. Once I get past the daily deluge of emails and junk emails, I immediately open up my Internet browser, turn on my on-line radio station, and start checking out the blog buddies that I visit each day. Next up I check the online newspaper from my hometown.

There's nothing so interesting or earth shattering that goes on in a small town with the population of 40,000 or so, but it's my hometown and I like to keep up with the folks going to jail, the divorces filed, the engagement and wedding announcements, and most importantly the obituaries! :) If I check nothing else for the day, I will always check the obituaries. Sounds kinda creepy huh? Well you see.... If I don't know the deceased person, I usually recognize or know a person listed as next of kin or relative of some sort. What do you expect in a small town? Everybody knows everybody, and usually they are kinfolk! LOL

Once I've caught up with the news in Hicktown, USA I continue on about my daily Internet habits and check bank balances for the company and move along to whatever real work I need to get busy handling. Oh and lets not forget my newly added habit/addiction - FACEBOOK! I just can't explain it, but there's something oddly interesting about reading what is on other people's minds for the day. I can't say that I really care what so-and-so from my high school class is doing this weekend, but at the same time I can't stop checking in throughout the day to 'see what's going on'? LOL Let's save the FACEBOOK addiction for another day's post...shall we??

So what are your daily Internet/Computer habits? Oh don't try to deny it - you know you have them! :)

A Mood Change

2010-03-02T15:29:00.009-06:00

Hot Diggity!!

Hallelujah!!

Shazam!!

We made it to MARCH!

(For you viewing pleasure I thought I would add a touch of summer flare to the boring winter blog. )

I could not be happier to have January and February behind us!!! My self imposed hibernation has come to an end and I can get back to the business of living. Oh who am I kidding, I can put the flannel pj's back into the dresser and attempt to wear regular clothes for more hours than I'm at work. For the past couple of months, I have been in a race each evening to rush home, strip out of my work clothes, grab the warm and comfy (but incredibly ugly) PJ's and retire to my cave...(i.e... bedroom) to watch countless hours of cooking shows and ridiculous TV Land reruns.

I am so ready for some warmer temps, drier air, and SUNSHINE -- Bring it on!! I promise not to complain (much) when we are reaching the 100* mark before June 1st!

Life is good again - the days are getting longer and the chances of snow and ice are soon to be out of the forecast. In other words, I've survived the worst of the worst, or as most call it... WINTER!!! Obviously I'm not a cold weather person and would much rather find myself watching endless waves on a warm beach somewhere. (NOTE - when I finally run away from home, you can start looking for me in a tropical location.)

Hopefully with this new mood change I will come up with some wonderful new ideas to post about on my blog. I mean, life in our house is never boring and always a bit out of the ordinary, so surely I can find some antic to report on that will add humor to your blog reading experience. Stay tuned - you know me and my gang of divas - drama is never out of reach!

Bailey's Calf Scramble

2010-02-05T10:45:00.014-06:00

What's a calf scramble? You ask? Well.... for lack of a better way to describe it, it's simply a bunch of teenagers in the rodeo arena chasing steers and trying to capture and halter one. Why do they do this? Well.... it's all about money and scholarships! The winners receive money to apply to their next show animal and some eventually win scholarships from these sponsors.

Here are all of the hopeful participants, waiting for the signal to start scrambling!

It's a fun time, if you're lucky enough to catch one. This year was Bailey's first time to give it a try. She ended up catching one after three tries. Now before anyone starts judging my photography skills, my defense is that I was on the wrong side of the arena, as usual and I was jumping up and down hollering and really was having a hard time focusing my camera. I was trying to take pictures with one eye and watch the action with the other...not the best idea I've ever had! LOL

Let me interpret this blurry mess.... Bailey is actually dragging the steer by the tail, but this slippery little fellow gets away while dragging her around the rink.

The next strategy she tries is to just fall on top of the steer. Uh this didn't work out so well either and Bailey comes away with a hoof print on her left cheek.

BUT...the third try is the charm! Bailey was determined to scramble up herself a calf...(did you like that rodeo talk?) :)) Notice the look of sheer determination!

Here we are back to the 'pull the tail' method!

It worked! She caught the steer and is putting the halter on it.

Ahhhh... sweet success! The calf is haltered and the Judge is there for the hand-off!

Whew! She did it! Now we are heading to the San Antonio Stock Show for their calf scramble! OH and the stepped on cheek was just slightly bruised, but it makes for a good story to her friends at school. :)

Ft. Worth Stock Show

2010-02-03T11:55:00.008-06:00

It's that time of year again - the Ft. Worth Stock Show...

Bailey showed an Black Angus Heifer this year and did a great job. She placed 4th in her Class, which is quite an accomplishment when you walk through the barns and realize just how many hundreds of youngsters and cows are involved in this show. It's really very amazing that these kids devote so much time and effort to these bovine!

Here's a picture of the prize heifer.
This one doesn't have a name, we simply refer to her as 59U, but in a very affectionate way. Most of the time I hear Bailey calling her 'stupid' for stepping on her feet! LOL

I can assure you that the hair on this cow is softer than yours or mine! Bailey bathes, shampoos, and conditions this beast EVERY DAY!
Here is Bailey escorting 59U into the Show Ring. She looks like a pro at walking a cow...I wonder how fast her heart was beating?

Here's a cute picture of Bailey with her cousin, Gavin holding the ribbon for 4th place!
Bailey and Gavin are tight!!

This was a great learning experience for all of us and we did have a great time!

Stay tuned for more pictures of Bailey and the Calf Scramble - more fun in Rodeo arena! :)

The Year of THE SNUGGIE

2010-01-29T11:04:00.012-06:00

Oh admit it! You secretly want one!

Well, this was the year of the Snuggie in our house, whether they realized they wanted it or not! :)

You can see from the varying expressions, that it wasn't as well received by some as it was by others! Oh well - they all soon grew to appreciate the gift and we've got snuggies all over the house.

Well...maybe Brit wasn't too excited about her Snuggie, but Briley was more than happy to model her's for everyone!

For you viewing pleasure, I thought I would show you the 'remains of the day'....

Obviously our festivities weren't exciting enough to keep her awake.

And one last picture of my girls - don't they look innocent and almost angelic? Yep, that's the facade of digital photography - everything can be edited!

Tree Decorating - Family Style

2010-01-28T15:55:00.015-06:00

The Christmas of 2009 - (glad it's over!)

It all started on a Sunday afternoon when the girls and I were putting up the Christmas Tree. Easy enough? Right? WRONG! It was a unanimous vote by all of those living in my house which fail to financially support themselves, that WE needed new decorations for our tree. We NEEDED an entirely new theme. Hmmm??? You can guess what the next words out of their mouths were... "MOM!!! We need some money so we can go buy new ornaments."

Okay really, I had to agree with them; I was sick of the same ole' hodge podge mess. I know, I know...it really wasn't a mess, it was more like every ornament that the kids had made from daycare through the elementary years at school and any other mismatched ornament that fell into the 'eclectic' theme.

Not long after the decision was made to buy new ornaments, we all took off to the store in search of our new theme. Luckily the girls were mostly interested in using the same color of ornaments and not so much a theme that would break the bank. What's even better, I just turned them loose in the Dollar Store and after a mere $50 we had new ornaments and lights that would make us all happy! I guess that means we are just cheap, easy to please, and low maintenance! Or we are always pinching pennies so tightly that I have taught my children to have low expectations! LOL

It was a family function in our house! Everyone had a job to do - and Brittany was there to make sure we all did it right... uh... uh... I mean her way! :)

Brittany was in charge of the light placement - so she had to squeeze in and out from around the tree! Ok, so maybe she's the only one skinny enough to do it?

Bailey and Briley were charged with the task of putting the hangers on the new ornaments and following all of the orders that Brittany was barking out as she went! Oh yes, it was definitely a joyful occassion! Or Not!

At one point, they girls had to wrangle their dad into helping with the lights because for some reason we couldn't have twinkle lights. It was imparative that we have solid clear/white lights.
After about 3 hours of family togethernesss and a few close misses of a thrown ornament here and there, the tree was finished and my living room looked like a cyclone went through.

Well there you have it, our glorious Dollar Store themed Christmas Tree!
Whew.... we made it through that without any injuries!

Good Things To Come

2010-01-26T09:56:00.002-06:00

I promise - New blogging ideas and stories on the horizon! Oh who knows? I might just get energetic enough to redo my blog and add new pictures and graphics? No promises, but you just never know what frame of mind I am going to be in from one day to the next.

First I must apologize and beg for your blogging forgiveness - I know I have left you all in a lurch and wondering what on earth has happened to my tales of woe, grief and total hysteria living in a house with teenagers!

Never fear, my life is still full of hysteria and continues to serve up portions of woe and grief! I'll be back soon with a recap of the holidays and the pictures of the favored gift.

The only good excuse I have for neglecting the blog world is just simple boredom - with ME, Myself and I! I don't do well at the holidays and I absolutely despise January, so I guess I just wish I could hide away in a closet in my PJ's and fuzzy slippers. Sadly, I can't hide - each year the Holidays roll around and wouldn't you know it, January is right there too serving up the cold, wet, windy weather! UGH!!!

Come on Spring!

Don't leave me now .... blogging madness will continue, just as soon as I can remember to download my pictures from my camera.

This poster speaks to me....

2009-12-08T11:24:00.001-06:00

I wonder why?

Turkey Day Hang Over!

2009-11-30T09:03:00.002-06:00

The last four days have been great - sorta? We had a wonderful day with the In-Laws on Thanksgiving, but since then we've all been bedded down and in the house like we were hibernating? I don't know if we've had some sort of virus passing amongst us, but NONE of us left the house for 3 days!

I finally mustered up enough energy to go grocery shopping Sunday afternoon, but then I went right back to bed! We were all grumpy, achy, and just totally tired! I think Brit slept for almost 24 hrs straight - the rest of us slept for 12+ hrs straight each night, then up to eat and back to bed - quite odd for all of us! I'm glad the tv cable didn't go out - there might have been a revolt! Needless to say, we weren't hopping up to get to school and work this morning - it was a long slow process this morning! :)

I'm sure we'll all be back to normal by this afternoon - Yippee!!! (insert sarcasm).

I need to clean out the fridge from the holiday leftovers and do something with some left over ham and turkey I have. I also need to work on cleaning out and cooking some little stuff I have in the freezers...I should have cleaned this weekend, but I could barely get from the bed to the bathroom - quite pathetic actually!

Surprisingly, the house stayed clean - no one cared enough to drag much out - so that's a plus! LOL

Now to deal with work - luckily not much going on in the office. From now until the end of the year it's going to be pretty dull and boring around here - which makes for really long days but I won't have to drum up much brain power to get through!

Can you tell - I'm still not over my grumpiness?

More fun on the farm with Girl Scouts

2009-11-19T12:17:00.017-06:00

It's safe to assume that Briley has mastered the art of RUG BEATING! This seemed to be a huge attraction and all of the kiddos I watched, loved being able to beat the tar out of something!

The girls loved the tractor and wagon ride - I gotta admit, I did sorta wish I could have hopped on too... my feet were killing me.

In this dutch oven was a scrumptious looking/smelling pineapple upside down cake - too bad when we made it back around, the cake was already eaten. Now Briley is convinced that we can do this in the backyard? UH???? I'm not so sure about that? I know it can be done, but I don't think I'm going to start cooking over an open flame and I know I'm most definitely NOT going to dig a firepit in the backyard! Let's just save that fun for Girl Scout Camp.

The girls got to try their hand at quilting... sorta? They made paper quilts with pre-cut fabric squares. Super cute idea and some of the girls were quite creative with their projects. Briley on the other hand NOT SO MUCH! She glued exactly 6 tiny squares on her paper and called it done. Oh well?

Next up was grinding corn to feed to the chickens. This wheel didn't turn as easily as expected, they had to put some muscle into it.

I really thought they should have given out chickens or at the very least eggs to take home in our goody bags! I really want some chickens.....

They even had a school house that the girls could go into and have a little spelling bee amongst each other! So creative! I tell ya', these folks really went all out to make this a memorable experience.

As promised....the cow milking adventure! I had wondered how they were going to get to milk a real cow? Well???? Not so much! It was a 'pretend' cow, but they really did get to experience the whole 'utter' thing and milk came out. So I guess everyone was pleased? The all walked away shaking their cream into butter and nibbling on fresh homemade icecream!

Due to the massive crowd at the Candle Dipping Exhibit and the amount of time it took to actually dip and cool, the candles the girls made weren't exactly what they had in mind. However, since they all showed such a huge interest in this craft, we are going to incorporate Candle Making into one of our meetings and hopefully we can come up with a few candles that are a little more viable than this...

You get the idea - it would eventually be a candle...after about 400 more trips around the hay stacks and 400 more dips into the wax! LOL

The day was ended by a ride on the wagon - pulled by the weary looking mules?? donkeys??? I don't know what they were, but they were hot and tired! (So were we!)

Girl Scout Road Trip

2009-11-18T09:04:00.013-06:00

This past weekend, the Plano Heritage Farmstead Museum had Scout Day for the Boy and Girl Scouts in the area. This event was so much fun for our girls, I was pleasantly surprised at how organized and fun the day turned out. There were so many different activities that the troops could participate in with hands on experiences, and we didn't spend any time at all wandering around waiting for our turn or looking for something to do.

Here are a few pics of the day:
This is the front of the house which was the original homestead built on the property in 1891.

Here is a picture of the drawing room... my main interest was the quilt in the frames, of course. They wouldn't let us use any flashes in the house so my picture doesn't really capture the beauty of the quilt or of the room.

The girls were really stunned when the tour guide talked about how 'early' phones worked...I gotta admit, it did seem like a lot of work to make a phone call?
The next point of interest was the bathroom - I don't think my pictures do the bathtub justice - that thing was HUGE - I'm pretty sure you could have bathed three or four kids in there, at one time?

I absolutely fell in love with this quaint little kitchen - I realize it was small, but oh how warm and inviting....

Check out the coffee grinder - fresh ground coffee! This was obviously before the Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts starting popping up on every corner.

Next, it was time for a little laundry...I don't think I'll see Briley adding this to her daily chore list? She was impressed for about 2 minutes, then the water and the mess of it all quickly turned her interest to something else. :)

Soon it was time to learn how to tie knots! This is not something that I have ever been able to excel in. Just give me a pair of tennis shoes to tie and that's about where my personal skill level ends. Luckily, I don't have any real 'knot tying' needs in my world!

We'll end today's post on one last note.... Bathroom Break Anyone?

Be sure to stop back by my blog tomorrow, as I share our adventures in cow milking, candle dipping, and oh so much more!

The Culinary Talents of Bailey

2009-11-17T09:14:00.009-06:00

Who Knew?
Little did I know or realize that Bailey has an interest in cooking!! This is an awesome discovery - what's more awesome is that she made cookies following a recipe -all by herself. She was home alone and had a hankering for something sweet, so what's a girl to do?

Disclaimer: I had no idea Bailey knew how to read or use a measuring cup/spoon - so this was a huge accomplishment! Up until this point, Bailey is the TV dinner queen and is quite happy just eating whatever jumps out at her and is easy.

Much to my surprise, Bailey went to the trusty Better Homes and Garden, red and white checked cookbook and found a recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies.

This is the very same cookbook that I learned to cook out of as a child and when I married 20+ years ago, I received my very own copy to grace the shelves of my kitchen. I've used it for so many basic starter recipes. It really has become a staple in our kitchen. I guess Bailey has seen me drag it out enough, that she decided to give it a try.

She only needed to call me once to ask 'What is granulated sugar?' .... I guess she thought that was something magical, so when I told her it was just plain sugar she was even more excited that we had all of the ingredients she needed. Away she went, measuring, scooping, and stirring! I did warn her to check the oven before she turned it on - it's my hiding place for skillets and usually dirty skillets that are filled with left over bacon grease - why do I hate to clean those out? Oh well that's a story for another post. Other than my one warning, she went on her way and starting whipping up a batch of cookies.

When I arrived home an hour or so later, Bailey greeted me with these lovely treats...

I couldn't believe it - they were perfect! No smoke filled kitchen, no mess in the sink - It's a Miracle! AND... they tasted great! (Ya' know, I did forget to ask her if she washed her hands before she started...with her ya' never really know?? Oh well... not gonna worry about it!)

She did tell me her arm was tired from mixing the ingredients. I looked puzzled at her and asked, "Why didn't you use the electric mixer?". Her reply, "OH, it didn't say to in the recipe, and I didn't know we had one?" LOL... I guess that big white thing is the Pantry is just decoration? Oh well...live and learn!

Peanut Butter Cookies? Anyone? (And she used Sugar Crystals for an extra zip!)

I'm a Blogging Dud....

2009-11-09T12:15:00.004-06:00

Yep...That's... DUD.... not DUDE!!!

Sorry my blogging buddies, but lately I just haven't had much to blog about? Or at least nothing that sounds noteworthy to me?

Just super busy with work, trying to convince myself that Christmas is coming and nothing I say or do will stop it! Our Thanksgiving plans are already in place and you know what that means... yep... the tree goes up next!

Bailey has finished the softball tournaments for the fall and now we are leaping into showing livestock. As a matter of fact, she has a Jack Pot Show this weekend and that will start up the Heifer/Pig season for us until the big County show in the Spring. Along with High School Softball starting in February!

Briley is busy busy with learning multiplication tables - not so much!!! Let me just say this - they don't teach math the way I learned it, 30 yrs ago! Whatever happened to learning one family of facts before moving on? This is so frustrating to both of us. So, this cranky know-it-all mother is taking multiplication into my own hands and WE are going to learn them one fact family at a time! Geez?? It's flashcard time at our house each night - no excuses - Briley is going to learn/memorize this stuff, if it kills us! Well, you know what I mean? LOL

Brit is less than 12 hrs away from having 1500 hours for a completed Cosmetology Course! That means that she 'should' officially be finished with class by 5PM tomorrow??? Keeping my fingers crossed - with her - anything could happen!
Woo Hoo... I feel like I have personally done each and every one of those 1500 hours with her - or at least I've stressed over her completing this course for 1500 hours or MORE! Now the next big step is to pass the State Board Exam, (which I'm sure she will) but I just don't know what her level of enthusiasm is to get this test scheduled and completed!

So there you have it - nothing exciting - just plugging along with life!

Checking in Mid-Week

2009-10-28T09:02:00.006-05:00

Let me apologize for being a lousy blogger - Life has gotten in the way lately!

First up .... I will share with you THE BALL.......

This is no ordinary softball. This is a ball that Bailey hit OVER THE FENCE this past weekend at a 'college look' tournament. This was actually the second home run for her of the tournament. The first home run ball was a beautiful line drive that happened to hit the top of the fence and dropped. The second one was perfect - cleared the fence and landed in the woods near poison ivy! LOL Not to fear, another softball dad drudged out into the woods to find it for her! I don't think she stopped talking about that hit all weekend! It really was a beautiful hit.

Although she can't be contacted by any of the college scouts yet, these tournaments are doing wonders for her self esteem on the pitching mound and she will be more than mentally ready for college softball, if and when the opportunity arises!

Yesterday was Bailey's 14th Birthday! How is this possible? How can it be that this little monster is growing up on me? LOL She is very definitely growing up to be a wonderful and responsible young lady! Well... maybe? When I got home and opened up the cake I noticed that there had been some adjustments made....

I think it's safe to say that those track marks were made by a finger belonging to the birthday girl. :)

By the time we all made it home last night from our usual busy and hectic Tuesday night schedule, we lit the candles and had cake.
What better way to head off to bed, than after a big plate of chocolate cake and a glass of milk?

Chandler's Tree Farm

2009-10-23T09:08:00.004-05:00

A very dear friend of mine has a wonderful website about their family and their son, Chandler that was lost to Leukemia in 1999. Dear little Chandler was only 2 years old - he was such a fighter and so precious; it's no wonder God needed him so soon?

Please take a minute to check out their website regarding the charity they have established in their son's name. Through their loss of Chandler this precious family has built an incredible organization that through only donations, buys Christmas trees and gifts for the children who are patients in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit of Texas Children's Hospital. You really need to read all about it on their site to fully understand the impact they have on those families in need.

I was privileged to be apart of their efforts last Christmas and it really is a wonderful way to help other families that are fighting for their precious children's' lives. It's also a great way to get the Christmas season started off, as well as reminding the rest of us just how fortunate we are to have healthy children.

The big 'what to be' for Halloween has been decided!

2009-10-19T09:30:00.010-05:00

For the past two weeks, Briley has been nagging me constantly about Halloween and what kind of costume she wanted and where are we going trick-or-treating, and who was going to take her, and... and... and....???!!?? I have literally had to threaten her that if I heard another word about costumes or "WHEN" we were going shopping, she wouldn't even get to Trick-or Treat! When I say Nagging - that word just doesn't do her constant, incessant, whining, moaning, and overall obnoxiousness real justice!

You know, I'm a mean mommy - I can do this and not feel the least bit guilty! Besides, I have teenagers - I don't scare easily and I don't make idol threats! LOL

So yesterday I geared myself up for taking her into the Big Halloween Store near the mall - you know - the ones that are only open for a month or so and sell everything you could possible imagine for Halloween from the fun to the gruesome.

Before we even walked into the store I told her the rules (the same ones each year since Brit sported her first halloween pumpkin baby costume) 1)we were not spending a lot of money on this mess (I absolutely despise the whole ordeal of dressing up for 45 minutes of candy begging!)2) She would not be wearing anything gruesome or scary, 3) She would not wear a costume that I considered inappropriate for her age or SKANKY! and finally 4)I was not going to wander and lolly gag around this store looking at this junk for hours - it was going to be quick and painless - PERIOD!!!

Believe it or not - Briley quickly decided that she wanted to be a Genie, BUT there's that whole showing your belly button issue-- She's not much into that and I can't say that I blame her. Moving further around the corner we discovered the Geisha Girl costume, complete with chopsticks for her hair!

I had no idea she would have gone for a costume that was so toned down and let's not forget - CHEAP! Briley was totally excited about it - I think the chopsticks for her hair cinched the deal.

So there you have it,15 mintues in the store and it's decided - Briley will be a Geisha Girl - completely covered in clothing and not a lot of make-up needed to make the costume identifiable.

As soon as we returned home, she was already trying on her costume and annoying everyone in the house pretending to speak Japanese - ugh - this could be a VERY long couple of weeks!

Oh, and the chopstick hair accessories have been hidden until we need to wear them - 'cause I know if left out in plain view they will turn into drum sticks and used all over the house, or they will become a new weapon of choice to be used on sisters or cats. ** Always thinking ahead or trying to prevent some sort of obnoxious behavior!**

I just don't know what to say...

2009-10-16T11:22:00.002-05:00

***** SERIOUSLY!!???!!!???****
NOT something on my Christmas list!

I like it....I really really like it?

2009-10-14T16:18:00.004-05:00

So maybe it is a Mid-Life-Crisis - But I really do want this car! Possibly it's because I'm a product of the 80's and am grasping on to my memories of the Camaro, and all that having a Camaro represents? Whatever the reason - I really think I NEED this car!

Oh who cares if my kids eat next month? Or who cares if we have electricity and running water? It's just money right? You can't take it with you? Surely I have enough to just spread it around like butter on toast?

Okay - Pinch Me - Back to reality - I'll just longinly glance as these snazzy little numbers pass me on the George Bush Turnpike and I putter along in my Mom-mobile!

It happened.... It really happened???

2009-10-12T11:43:00.004-05:00

Say it isn't so?

Tell me I'm dreaming?

How can this be?

I saw my first Christmas commercial of the season? I was in such a state of shock, I don't even remember what was being advertised, but it was there, in big red and white - a cartoon Santa - as big as day! It took me a few seconds to even register what I was seeing ---

How is this possible?

I'm not ready for Christmas!

I'm not ready to think about the ugly greediness of the 'gift giving' season!!

UGH!!!!

**NEXT - without any notice at all, Brit asks me when are we putting up the TREE?

Are you serious? THE TREE??? It's barely OCTOBER!!! I've still got to get through the whole shopping for a Halloween Costume ordeal and the greedy little candy monsters that will plague my front porch and mess up my cute little pumpkin displays!

WHEN ARE WE PUTTING UP THE !@%^$#* TREE????

I'm not listening.... I'm not listening.... I'm not listening....

You can't make me, You can't make me!

I think I finally understand the whole theory of...

2009-10-09T09:48:00.008-05:00

a Midlife Crisis!

No... no... I don't mean the part about running off and leaving my children....or whatever other irresponsible behavior usually goes along with a mid-life crisis. What I mean is that I understand the feeling of wanting a change in life, the feeling that I've missed something or a sense of accomplishment - not that my life is worthless - not that.... It's more of a sense of things that I really want to do with myself - things that I can finally give myself permission to do - because it's okay - I'm an adult, I'm not hurting anyone, I'm not taking food out my children's mouths... I'm just deciding that it's okay to be ME - no matter how different or how odd it may seem after being so boring and predictable for 40 years. If I feel like wearing purple Nike's with my navy Capri pants, I really can - there's no fashion police that will stop me and honestly I really don't care what anyone else thinks? It's a freeing spirit - I can if I want to, and I just might want to - who knows?

I've worked in the same boring job forever and now I would just really like run away like a mad woman and never look back, but alas - those pesky creatures that share my DNA would really rather I keep food in the pantry and electricity shooting through the plugs for their many hair dryer,straighteners, cell phone chargers, and televisions. Okay - so I can't run away from work or my children (Don't think I don't contemplate it on an hour by hour basis!), but if I decide that I want to watch the DIY channel for 8 hours on Saturday while still in my PJ's and eating fruit loops, well guess what? I CAN! I give myself permission to!

Oh, I'm sure my crazy thoughts of moving to a ranch in some remote area and living off of the land are just that - crazy thoughts - since I don't have any real viable skills that would last me longer than when the sandwich meat and bottled water runs out - BUT what I am saying is that I understand the feelings and the reasoning behind why so many people feel called to drastically change their lives and it just so happens to occur at the mid-life marker. It's an incredible sense of urgency that THINGS NEED TO CHANGE! That I can totally relate to... I just haven't figured out for myself what THINGS I want to change?

Basically, for me the THING that needs to change to get past this feeling could be something as simple as redecorating my bedroom, a new set of kitchen dishes or decluttering a hall closet? Know what I Mean? Oh Who knows... I could just be rambling because I'm stark raving mad?

Yawning - All Day Long!!

2009-10-08T14:39:00.005-05:00

Did you hear that?
It was a large thud sound...my head just hit the desk!

So what's wrong with me that I can't stop yawning ALL DAY LONG? I sleep at night, I sleep during the day, I basically sleep at any given opportunity. Something happens the minute I sit down at my desk and try to work - I start yawning and it lasts all day!!!

I don't mean once or twice an hour - I'm talking about all day long - yawning repeatedly - time after time, sometimes for an hour or so at a time. If given the opportunity I could easily put my head down and go to sleep!

This problem has been going on for MONTHS! I was hoping that once I got my blood pressure all situated and settled that the yawning would stop and I wouldn't be so tired! NOPE, that didn't help. Then I was in hopes that once I could get back to sleeping through the night without any interruptions, I could somehow get my sleep cycles back in order and really overcome this yawning business. NOPE, that didn't help.

I just yawn incessantly - like a big looser - all day! I'm sure the guy sitting outside of my office is sick of hearing me yawn - I mean I try to be quiet about it, but sometimes --not so much! LOL I'm as sleepy as if I had taken two Benadryl or a sleeping pill- it's absolutely crazy!

Oddly enough, when I'm at home on the weekends I don't seem to have this problem. I go along all day, just fine - not yawning myself silly? It's so bad that I have to get up and move around to keep my head from bobbing up and down on my desk - or worse yet - falling face first into the keyboard.

Things to make you go "HMMMM???"

2009-10-06T14:12:00.004-05:00

I probably spend too much time alone and looking at my computer screen - that's got to be the reason I sit around and think of odd stuff?

My first quandary is about the brave men and women that die in combat; when their bodies are brought back to the US, have their bodies been embalmed? Are they still wearing the clothes they had on when they were killed? Are they still covered in blood and etc? Do the families get to see their bodies once they are back on US soil and before burial? I don't ask these questions to be rude or disrespectful, I just really wonder? I've never had a close family member or friend die in combat and I've never had to go through this experience.

My next quandary has to do with Email and People; Why oh why do some people think that they have to come by your office or call you to tell you they've sent you an email? I mean... I work all day long sitting in front of the computer screen, I am constantly checking my 'in-box', why do I need someone to make a special point to tell me they sent me an email and then what makes it worse is that they continue to tell me what it was about? HUH? INSERT HUGE EYE ROLLING MOMENT FOR ME! Last time I checked, I could read?

Thirdly and finally, I'm so confused as to why school dietitians even toy with the idea that some 3rd grader is going to be the least bit interested in eating a TUNA BOAT? Seriously? I'm an adult that likes tuna, but some how I just don't find the idea of eating Tuna Fish prepared and served in the school cafeteria as appetising - much less when you add "BOAT" to the idea?

Maybe it's just me?

Two Days of ME Time

2009-09-30T09:48:00.005-05:00

Yep, that's right...I'm taking my annual weekend to hang out with my girl buddies and we are heading to Canton Trade Days!

I am so excited to not be MOM for just a few hours! I am so excited to be able to eat and drink whatever I want, without someone wanting to sample my food! I am so excited to be able to cuss like a sailor, if I feel like it (not that I will, but you know what I mean?). Even more excited to not have to stop every 30 minutes or so and trek off of to the nearest potty barn -'cause I'm a big girl - I can hold it!

As usual, I don't really have anything on my 'to find' or 'look for' list, so I'll just stroll along with the gal pals and ooh and ahh over anything and everything and wait for the next round of margaritas to be made! :)

Woo hoo... bring on the fun! How crazy - a bunch of 40 year old women acting like we don't have a care in the world! Count me in!

Well???

2009-09-25T09:03:00.003-05:00

Let's just say this... TGIF!

This week hasn't really included anything blog worthy, and I wanted to make sure you knew that I hadn't fallen off of the Earth!

Just not in the bloggy bloggin' mood?

I'm looking forward to the cooler temps that have moved into the metroplex and maybe I will come back next week with some news about my fall decorating. I really want to make over my porch again from summer decor to fall decor, but as usual I'm short on ideas - for right now. I'm sure I'll gain inspiration while visiting all of the wonderful friends in Blogland.

Have a great weekend!

Remember my disillusionment with gardening?

2009-09-22T09:35:00.003-05:00

Little did I know that out right neglect of my plants would offer such a bounty?

I started out with the healthy green plant from the store - so very proud of my efforts to repot and using the miracle grow dirt.

I continued to water and fertilize this little bell pepper plant, in hopes that one day I would have my very own bell peppers to eat that didn't cost me a whopping $.65 each, purchased at the grocery store.

Well... my plans weren't going as well as I had hoped.... my bell pepper plant quickly turned to what appeared to be barren - not going to put out any peppers for me to enjoy - nadda, zip, zilch!

Along the time I accepted defeat and started sluffing off my watering and fertilizing habits, the puny bell pepper plant was just left to fend for itself. I totally neglected this little plant. After all, if it's not going produce for me, well then I'm not going to stand among the mosquitoes and scratch and itch for it? Ya know?

Fast forward about 6-8 weeks and all the while the bell pepper plant has been suffering in the heat with no love from me whatsoever, and suddenly I discover that this plant is covered in bell peppers! It's a miracle! Who Knew? Neglect it and it will grow? Sadly this theory hasn't worked with any of my other plants?

I am so excited. I will finally have some fresh bell peppers to enjoy and maybe even a few that I can dice and freeze for cooking with this winter? The mother in me wants to bring this little plant back under my protective care and start fertilizing it, but no... I'm going to continue with the 'tough love'. Obviously it needs to do it's own thing without any help from me.

Here we go again.... Homecoming

2009-09-17T13:53:00.007-05:00

Yep, it's that time of year again - HOMECOMING! Complete with the mums and all of the week long hoopla that surrounds homecoming activities, including the one time wear $10 t-shirt that WE HAVE TO HAVE, and the Big Sister Volleyball gift that I have to put together for some kid I've never met and don't really care to know what her favorite candy and drink are?

Never mind that our school's football team STINKS and can't win a game. Never mind that we are a little podunk district in the middle of nowhere and we don't exactly have much of a venue for fun homecoming activities.... oh never mind that, 'cause we got MUMS and we've got a hick town parade that wanders down through town - the entire city block - throwing out cheap candy to the few that have off during the day to attend a parade at 2:30 on a Thursday afternoon. (So maybe we don't want to get me started on this soap box. I'm sure you can imagine my sarcasm on this!) Oh and the orange ribbon really isn't orange...it's a very pretty gold that matches the rest of the gold in the mum? Not sure what that's all about?

I remember wearing/wanting homecoming mums from my years in Jr. High through High School. It was the 80's - we were living large, don't ya know? As the mean Mommy that I am, I've managed to prolong the need for my girls to have homecoming mums until they reach High School. Now the real crisis for me during those formative years was that my meager little mum was ordered by ME, for ME, and paid for by my mother? I never seemed to have a boyfriend when I needed one. It was sheer humiliation to have a mum purchased by your mother? What can I say, I guess it didn't scar me as badly as I anticipated.

Fast forward 20 years or so and the diva, Brittany always had grand plans and ideas of what she expected and as usual I did my best to accommodate those plans. Lucky for HER, we have a great store near our town that specializes in MUM junk and Wedding junk and pretty much any other type of party supply or hard to find items you could want. Their prices are half of what you find at Michael's of Hobby Lobby. So yes, I made all four years of Brit' mums (she never seemed to have a boyfriend at the right time, either?). Our school colors are Black and Gold, but one year Brit's mum was black, hot pink and silver with lots of bling. But then would you expect any differently from her?

In direct contrast, Bailey announced to me on Tuesday (yes, two days ago) that she wanted a mum for FRIDAY (yes, tomorrow). She's the kid that would not have even realized it was homecoming if someone hadn't said something directly to her about it! I mean, they could have huge signs hanging around the school and announce it every morning and she would still be totally oblivious! Anyway, since I'm so excited to have her participate in these lovely events, (NOT!) I trek off on my lunch hour and go pick out all of the decorations and garb to create for her a one-of-a kind mum. I can honestly say there's much less stress involved in planning and preparing for Bailey. When I brought in the basic mum that I build and add on to, she was tickled to just have the basic boring stuff. I almost hated to tell her that I would be putting more stuff on it? Ya' know? I would kinda like to keep her expectations of my creative ability - LOW - for as long as I can! :)

So two hours later and only one hot glue gun burn (my pinkie finger will not be the same for a while)... I finished Bailey's mum. I'll tell you one thing, that kid appreciates every little thing I do for her, like that! She's totally overwhelmed by how much effort I put into it. Shhhhhh.... I'm not going to burst her feelings of gratitude and tell her that it's pretty much easy enough a kindergartner can do it? I'm not even going to let her know that there's about a million more things that I could have put on it? It's just going to be my little secret and I'm going to keep letting her think that I ROCK!

The more I look at it, I kinda feel bad that I didn't bling it out like I did Brit's so I might end up making a quick run to the Mum Store for a few more things. I do have a heart, I'm just lazy! LOL

Update from the Dr

2009-09-16T08:43:00.005-05:00

I went to the Dr yesterday for the results of all of my tests and apparently the stuck valve in my heart is not the problem! Whew...the ideas he had thrown out at me about how to fix this little situation, did not appeal to me, AT ALL!!!
The Cardiologist seems to think that all of my issues are related to weight (go figure?), high blood pressure, and mounds and mounds of stress! Gee.... Ya' think? By the time I finally get into the examining room, after waiting for 2 hours... I have developed a slight twitch? Stress? Anxiety? Really now?

I've been trying to tell the Neurologist, the Internist and now the Cardiologist about how much stress and anxiety I have in my life - they all think I'm crazy! MEN!!! They don't have a clue! No one seems to quite understand that the minute my feet hit the ground in the morning I'm running a flipping marathon!! It's a mad dash to get the girls up and out the door and on the way to school. Now, I know what you're going to say... "maybe I should get up earlier?". Well... uh... I don't know how much earlier I can get up, unless of course I just fore go sleeping all together? These people will not get out of bed! They are not morning people - and neither were their decedents....on their father's side! At 70 yrs old, the great grandmother would still be lying in bed at NOON, with a cigarette in one hand and cup of coffee in another? See... this is deep rooted!!! The stress just continues to carry on throughout the day for me - once I hit the office door - the fun starts!

Anyway, after the Dr. elaborated on my issues and what I needed to do to adjust my lifestyle, I left there with 4 Rx's and hopefully something will help. The panic attacks/heart palpitations are getting worse and more intense and just seem to wear me out. Oh and I got a nifty new prescription for Xanax! LOL Woo Hoo......I"m good to go! LOL

So there you have it....I'm not dying yet! I need to loose weight, I need to exercise more, and I guess I just need to keep watching what I eat (as if I don't already!). Now the only sure fire way to relieve my stress is to meet some nice, rich, handsome man to take away all of my worries and promise me the moon!

OUCH!! You didn't have to pinch me! I know I'm dreaming.

Just 'Cause

2009-09-15T13:42:00.004-05:00

Maybe it's the rainy weather we've had for the past 5 days, I'm not sure? I'm in some sort of weird melancholy mood and really missing my grandmother, so I thought I would share some pictures of the flowers in her yard.

I think a coke from Sonic will make me feel better? LOL

OH and the Collage Maker feature on Picasa is really fun too!

Ehhh??? I've got nothing!

2009-09-15T08:43:00.007-05:00

How odd is this? I've got nothing to ramble on about?

I supposed I could discuss the much needed buckets of rain that we received over the weekend?

Maybe I could tell you about how I gave in and sent Briley to school today with her packet of Fundraiser Forms filled out and I'm proud to say that she sold a grand total of FIVE (*5*)! That's just enough to get her into the prize party! I've already told her that we will not be participating in this mess next year - do you think she'll remember that? Well of course not! I'll have to go through this entire process of rant and rage again, next September.

I suppose I could talk about the area festival that was rained out and how disappointed I am to have spent $65 on the arm bands that were designed to let the girls ride unlimited rides, for the three carnival days? But due to rain - they rode a grand total of 10 rides!!!

Or, I could choose to go off on my funky tangent about how I spent my entire weekend waiting on a phone call from Bailey to come and get her from school, because they were finished with their Volleyball tournament. Because you know, it's just too much to ask that they actually follow a plan of events or have a calendar that is accurate? Oh no... it's much easier to just fly by the seat of our pants and have the parents just hang around town and wait for the call... "come get me, we're done!"

Oh well, I really have nothing wonderful and exciting to talk about, so I guess I'll just go about my way and get busy at work. Not that I really want to, but I've got nothing to blog about today?

*** Don't worry, I'm sure someone or something will cause me great angst today and I'll have something more to rant and rave about tomorrow? I'm rarely at a loss for rambling words?***

Do you ever need a good cry to clear things out?

2009-09-09T11:16:00.006-05:00

That's exactly how I feel - but not for me personally! I wish it would rain for a couple of days - just good, solid, down pours! The air is so thick and heavy and the heat is just about to pinch out every life form. Crazy? Yes, well we've already discovered that about me! LOL

The ground around our house is so hard and cracked, it's dangerous to walk across our backyard - you could lose a foot, or worse - a flip flop. Nightly, I venture outside to brave the mosquitoes and stand and hold the running water hose around the edges of our foundation and sidewalk/driveway. There's nothing else we can do - if the ground continues to split open, the concrete will too.

Let's not even mention the dust in the air that's wreaking havoc on my family's allergies - so I have determined that my little part of the world just needs a good cry - let it all out - wash all of our worries away! A few thunderstorms would certainly do the trick, at least in my opinion?

Anyone know a good rain dance? I"m off to google 'Rain Dance'.

Three Day Weekend Blahs!

2009-09-08T09:04:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful three day weekend or Labor Day, if the entire weekend wasn't all that you had hoped for? Crawling out of bed this morning was less than exciting; the girls are suffering with allergies and not exactly the most cheerful folks to wake up. The shortest hour of the day is from 6am -7am... it has to be. There's no way I really hit the snooze button so many times - seems like the time just flies by while I'm lying in bed trying to scheme and plan an alternative idea to working for a living. :)

We are all back into the full and busy swing of life, and I just realized that I don't get another 'free' holiday until Thanksgiving!! That just sounds so depressing, doesn't it?

So now that summer is officially over and I've taken down the 'springier/summerish' wreath off of the front door, I'm going to be encouraged by weather reports that we are going to have cooler temps. How silly of me? This is TEXAS!! The only cooler temps we are going to see will be in the 80's... not much to look forward to -- but I'll take what I can get!!!

Hope you have a wonderful week!

I feel a RANT coming on

2009-09-04T10:56:00.006-05:00

I haven't had a justified reason to RANT OR VENT in quite some time, but NOW I do!!!

Two Words For You..... SCHOOL FUNDRAISERS

I hate them! Make no mistake - I hate them, I want them abolished and outlawed for a few reasons - misrepresentation and being worthless crap!

The promoters of this crap come into the schools and hype the kids up on all of the neat stuff the money does for their school and all of the fun and exciting prizes they get if they sell a particular number of items and the prize items are just junk --Worthless CRAP! Right now Briley is pumped up about the opportunity to ride in a limo and go have lunch for selling 15 items. That doesn't sound too bad right?

Here's the misrepresentation part - What child hasn't been promised and excited for WEEKS over a stupid radio reading light for selling the magic number of wrapping paper rolls or tubs of disgusting cooking dough, and then when this wonderful item arrived it was a dollar store quality item and never worked properly! SERIOUSLY! Where's the form to sign to have my child 'opt out' for this mess - just let me send you a check for $20 and be done with it.

Well - REALITY CHECK HERE!!! All of the items are $15 - it's cookie dough (gag), coffee( we don't drink coffee), or pretzels. NO THANKS! First of all, my kiddo isn't going to walk up and down the neighborhood trying to peddle this mess, it's bad enough that we have a neighborhood full of kids at the exact same school that are selling it too - you can't expect dear, sweet old Mrs. Smith at the end of the road to buy 12 buckets of cookie dough ($15 each) from all 12 of the little innocent faced munchkins that come to her door? It's not practical.

Additionally, how can you expect Granny and Grandpa living on a fixed income, to buy this mess from each of their grand kids (in our family that would be 10 or so? I lost count) that are going to call local or long distance, and hit them up to buy this junk? I mean - really now? It's not right!

In all honesty, if my child were to sell the magic number of cookie dough tubs to qualify for the fabulous prize, the school is only going to earn $20 off of her order - so what's the difference? Just take my check and be done.... don't make my innocent child feel like a failure because she didn't or can't sell 15 boxes of pretzels and can't win the ride in a Limo!!!

What's more, don't make ME suffer for DAYS, by having to listen to her BEG me to constantly sell this crap to strangers or drag it up and down the neighborhood street! Up until this year, I've just always thrown the fundraiser paperwork in the garbage and we didn't participate, but this year the school played hard ball and had a huge pep rally of sorts. Now that she's old enough to remember the promises of grand fun in a Limo, I'm dealing with is a constant nagging to sell 15 freaking items! UGH...she's sold 4, so far - and I'm just about ready to throw it all in the trash if she nags at me one more time!!!

I did call the school to complain and the snippy little *witch* (you know what I really wanted to type) had the nerve to tell me that I'm the only parent that has ever complained! Oh yea right! I'm so sure! Maybe I'm just the only parent with enough nerve to not worry about the public shunning that is going to happen when I/we don't go along and get along with all of the other snippy little *witches* at the click... uh, I mean school!

Okay - so maybe I need to take a Xanax after this post, but this makes my blood boil!

I know I'm not the only parent that feels this way - reassure me that I'm not a heartless mother thinking very ugly thoughts about this and wishing bad things to happen to whomever the head whoohaa is that came up with this idea!

What do you think about Touring Italy in 2010?

2009-09-03T08:52:00.006-05:00

Well? Guess What??? Bailey gets to!! Bailey has been selected as one of 16 girls in the US to play Softball in Italy this summer for the USA team! We are so proud and excited for her. Obviously this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, that we would have only dreamed of for her. Honestly, it couldn't have happened to a better kid - she loves softball and the passion for the game is obvious in how hard she plays! She's always the kid that gives it 150%, each and every time she steps out on the field.

None of us had any idea that she was even being considered, so when we got the official invitation letter last night- we were shocked and excited beyond words!! Luckily the organization will pay for about 80% of her trip costs and then we will have to either raise the funds for the rest or just pay for it out of our pocket.

You can bet that we aren't going to let her pass up this opportunity! This is one of those things that we'd sell the farm over - ya' know? I plan on starting to scrimp and save for MY ticket too, 'cause I guarantee you that my 14 yr old isn't going out of the Country without her mama! NOT HAPPENING! LOL

Next up on my list is to start digging through my fabric stash and selling off stuff that I'm not going to use. This is way more important than any sort of cotton print or quilt pattern that I think I NEED! Ya' know?

This whole idea just brings me to tears in sheer excitement for her and chills to think that she was selected, out of so many wonderful players across the US!!!

**We have until July 2010 to get the money saved up, I'm just going to keep praying that God blesses us with the funds and the way to make up the difference in monies that we are going to need!**

The Cerermonial Change of the Seasons

2009-08-31T09:23:00.004-05:00

Okay - so maybe not so much - BUT - I'm anxious to have cooler temps and feel the fall breezes across my porch as I sit in my comfy rockers. I NEED to have a change of scenery and the best cure for that is to shop for new 'fall decorating' items.

What else is s girl to do, but take a stroll through the stores to see all of the pumpkins and scarecrows that are on display and to smell the new scents of the fall candles! Oh, you know what that means? Right? NEW CANDLES!!! Yep, I succumbed to the apple cinnamon goodness! I just couldn't resist - I already told you I NEEDED a change.

I need FALL, just as badly as I needed Spring and Summer. Now Winter - well that I can always do without - but the other three seasons are doable! :)

All of the goodness of Fall has me so excited; I will be spending a weekend in October with my girlfriends at a wonderful flea market and shopping for whatever jumps out at me and gabbing about nothing and everything. We will spend two nights at a Bed & Breakfast without husbands and kids - Oh MY Goodness - it's the best time of year. The smells of the food booths, the new flavors of fudge, the junk that I really don't need and can't go home without - sheer excitement, I tell ya!!!

I'm counting down to the change of the seasons and to my weekend of fun. Oh I know what you're gonna say - It's only September, and we really don't even have cooler weather until late October, but still - just the sheer anticipation of it all will help pass the month of September along.

Now I must go and light the cermonial apple cinnamon candle!

I need a moment of Silence....

2009-08-27T15:11:00.003-05:00

For my passing youth!

Yes, TODAY is the THE day! I've turned ** 40**!! It's official!

I'll be having cake, 'cause I can!

I'm not so sure what my plans are for this next step in my life - at the moment, I'm mostly interested in learning the cause for my increasing heart palpitations and will hopefully find resolution next week when I go to the CARDIOLOGIST! UGH!!

Or, lets not forget that just yesterday the Dr. told me that I have high cholesterol, I'm hypoglycemic, OVERWEIGHT (as if I needed her to tell me that?),and she increased my blood pressure medication! I say again - I'll be having cake today, 'cause I can!!!

So far the prospects of the 40's aren't looking so great, but then again I guess it's better than the alternative! OH and did I mention that I'll be having cake today?

1st Day of School - In Review

2009-08-25T08:58:00.007-05:00

The conversations around the dinner table last night - were riveting, to say the least...

In case you were wondering - The High School Cafeteria was a huge success! LOL

There was plenty of food for Bailey to choose from and she was eating during the last lunch period - and still food left?! It's a miracle!! Woo Hoo!! (Well, okay - Bailey was pumped!) Briley was less than impressed, but luckily she had taken her lunch and usually takes it everyday - unless I can convince her that the school food will be good that day? She's a hard one to convince - she's not as easily impressed by chicken rings, as Bailey! :) The odd thing about Briley's food choice is that she's strangely excited when the school serves Salisbury Steak and mashed potatoes - basically it's just pre-made, reheated, TV dinner like stuff - but she loves it? Go figure? I may grab a few of the Swanson Salisbury Steak Dinners and keep them on hand for those nights when she's not in the mood for whatever I'm cooking. Who knew?

School went well, the 3rd grade teacher is organized to Briley's liking and she's made friends already with over half of the class, or so she says? Today she plans on making friends with the rest of the class. I guess she's trying to divide and conquer 3rd grade?

This year we have allowed Briley to take her cell phone (well not really her's, but just an extra one we already had been paying for service for and noone was using) to school, only under the condition that it is to be turned off all day until she steps off of the bus and starts walking home- at which time she is to immediately call me. Over the summer she has become quite proficient in texting and actually it's going to work out well that she and Bailey can communicate through texting as Bailey's after school schedule changes so frequently and Briley won't be left in a lurch, wondering why Bailey isn't on the bus. We'll see how well this works out? She's pretty responsible with it, already.

Bailey's review of High School was 'good'. She found all of her classes and made it to each of them on time. She has a little problem with chatting in the halls and being tardy! I'm hoping we don't have this problem in High School; we've warned her repeatedly about staying on task, going to her locker, and proceeding immediately to the classroom. Do not pass Go, Do not Collect $200 - or Go directly to Saturday School Detention!

Bailey did discover one 'cute' boy in her grade. She said he was new to the District and was in her AG class. When I asked her about him, all she said was that he was 'fresh meat'... Hmmmm??? Should I be concerned? LOL

Well - all in all - it was a good start to the new school year! Briley didn't fall asleep on the bus and miss her stop (she's done that before), Bailey wasn't tardy or absent her first day (she's done that before), and there was enough food for all (we've had shortages before on the first day and Bailey came home starving). Off to a good start, I think?

A few more of life's milestones

2009-08-24T14:51:00.009-05:00

Friday evening, Brit walked across the stage at the local Jr. College to accept her 'Certificate of Completion" for the Cosmetology Program. I'm definitely relieved that 'we've' made it this far and I'm sure she won't end up cutting hair for the rest of her life, but in the meantime - this will certainly allow her a way to earn an income while she decides what she wants to do with the rest of her life. So we'll see - this is a good start - I hope?

Next up on the agenda is THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL - Woo Hoo.... Yippee... Hip Hip Hooray!!! Today is the day!

The morning went along well with no conflict or strife and they arrived at school on time. Smiles all around the breakfast table, so I'm hoping that the day was great and we are going to have a wonderful year.

You just never know with girls - the drama could already be brewing and they aren't even off of the school bus yet? Ya' know?

I can't wait to get home from work to hear all of horror stories about their teachers and the lunchroom. For some reason, my girls always worry about the lunch room and instead of telling me about how wonderful it is to spend time with their friends, or how great it was to be busy again, or even how cool their new sneakers are? Oh No - not Bailey (in particular) she finds it necessary to fill me in on how little food they are served, how horrible it tastes, or how expensive a hot dog is. Just wait - I'll be well informed about the food service in the High School, but won't have a clue what classes or teachers she has! LOL

Super Summer Soup

2009-08-22T08:02:00.001-05:00

Desperately looking for new cooking ideas and flavors, I've stumbled upon a new summer soup recipe using the frozen tortellini from the grocer's freezer section. Normally my family isn't accepting of soup during the hot summer months, unless it comes from a Top Ramon pkg. Amazingly enough this recipe received high praise around our dining room table. So for your viewing and dining pleasure, I'll share this delightful summer dish with you.
Tortellini Summer Soup

2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1/2 cup chopped onions/shallots
1 tablespoon Butter
2 (13 1/2oz) cans Chicken or beef broth
1 (8oz) package Fresh or frozen cheese tortellini, thawed (I used more because we like more)
1 (10oz) package Fresh or frozen mixed veggies...ie...brocolli, carrots, and cauliflower
1 (16oz) can Stewed tomatoes, undrained, coarsely chopped
1 (10oz) can of sweet corn
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of squash or zucchini - or both - just whatever you have on hand will be great

2 bay leaves
1 tbl sp fresh cut parsley
Grated Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, cook and stir garlic and onions in butter for 2 to 3 minutes. Add broth and tortellini; heat to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes. Add veggies and tomatoes; simmer an additional 5 minutes. Serve topped with cheese.

What makes this soup so great for summer is the chance to use up whatever produce you may have that has been lingering in the vegetable bin a little too long and that the base of the soup is light and not at all greasy or weighted. This is really a very basic recipe that can be changed as needed and the tortellini gives it an extra kick.

Give it a try and ENJOY!

BUZZZZZZZ.......... SLAM !!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-08-21T09:17:00.008-05:00

The alarm clock and I had a little disagreement! I was sooooooo not interested in getting out of bed. After all it was raining, and it's Friday! Ok - how much do they really need me to be at work? I mean - payroll is finished, money is moved around- there aren't a lot of life threatening issues that arise on Fridays in my office, or as I refer to, the MORGUE!

Yea, yea, yea, I know - I have a job, be happy! But --- UGH!!! I don't wanna work anymore! Okay, so maybe I would go crazy not working, but I just need a few days at home - with the kids in school - and me puttering around the house doing whatever I feel like doing? Is that so hard? Obviously it's absolutely impossible! LOL

Moving on - I've whined long enough!!

Last night was Meet the Teacher for Briley's 3rd grade class. All went well, and she's ready to start the new year on Monday! I think we are going to have a wonderful year - or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

No negative or ugly thoughts from this mama; I have to save my strength for the first year of High School for Bailey. {If you've been following along in the life and times of Bailey, well you KNOW!! If not, then let's just say that anything is possible.... the good, the bad, the ugly! I have to be prepared for whatever Bailey gets into!!}

Now I ask you....Need I say more?

Brittany will walk the stage at tonight's graduation ceremony at the Jr. College! Woo Hoo... she's not actually finished with the program, but she's close enough that she qualifies to 'graduate'. In all actuality, Brit will finish her program in about 6 weeks - that means - she can GET A JOB that hopefully will have normal working hours and won't require her to schlep beer and wings all night long in skimpy clothes. I'm thinking positively - remember?

UGH - is it still Friday? I'm still at work - all is normal and morgue-like - so I guess life is good!
Yep, pathetic as it may be, it's my 'normal'!

I refuse to get older!

2009-08-19T10:23:00.003-05:00

Do you think that will stop the birthdays from coming? Probably not!!
One week and one day until I turn the big '40'...I'm wearing a heart monitor!! UGH. If this is any indication of what the next few years might hold - uh - I don't wanna!! (As I walk off stomping my feet and crossing my arms!)

I finally succumbed to the constant heart palpitations, the headaches, and the sugar shakes and made an appointment with the Internist. I don't do Dr's - at all!! For me to even make the appointment is a huge step - but sitting at my desk doing nothing and experiencing constant body rattling heart palpitations, was enough for me to take notice and take action.

So far I've had an EKG, fasted for 12 hours and had blood drawn, and been plugged up to a heart monitor for the next 24 hours.
Of course this morning when I had blood drawn I had NONE of the sugar shakes that I've been suffering with for the past month or so... of course not! That would be too easy! Also, since I've been wearing this heart monitor - NO palpitations - NOT A ONE! This is so frustrating! It's like I'm a big liar or a hypochondriac, but my symptoms are real - they really are!

So....to be continued.... Will I make it to 40? Will my heart blow up before then? Will my sugar bottom out and I fall into a coma? Who knows? The way my luck goes - it could go either way. I'll keep you posted!

Coffee Cake

2009-08-12T12:04:00.006-05:00

Do you remember many years ago when folks would spend their Sunday afternoon visiting with their family or neighbors for the few hours between the Sunday morning and Sunday evening church service? Well I do... now how old does that make me feel?

My grandmother and her sisters would always have some sort of dessert ready to serve. It was a part of their weekly routine to have something yummy prepared for whomever might drop by for the obligatory afternoon coffee break.

One of the recipes I remember enjoying was a coffee cake. It wasn't until I was about 12 yrs old that I finally got up the nerve to try a serving. I was convinced that it was made using coffee, which is something that even to this day I have not acquired the taste for. Just for future reference, coffee cake really doesn't go well with coke or sweet tea, but milk is a great combination and of course the ever popular coffee!

The past few weeks I've had a hankering for coffee cake so I enlisted the help of my mother to find my Maw-Maw's coffee cake recipe. This is what she was able to come up with:

1 pkg active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups packaged biscuit mix

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tbl spoon cinnamon

Any type of fruit you like ie...blueberries, sliced apples, peaches, pears

*Soften 1 pkg active dry yeast in 3/4 cup warm water

*Stir in 2 1/2 cups of packaged biscuit mix (Bisquick), beat vigorously 2 or 3 mins

*Turn out on surface well dusted with biscuit mix. Knead until smooth, about 25 strokes.

*Butter sides and bottom of cake pan and sprinkle with sugar.

*Place dough in an, pressing out until it touches the sides.

*Let rise in warm place until double (about 1 hr)

*With thumb, punch deep holes/indention in dough every 2 inches, leaving 1 3/4 margin around edge of pan.

*Pour 1/2 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream over dough.

*Fill the thumb 'wells' with the fruit of your choice.

*Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top.

*Bake in hot oven - 400*- 15-20 mins or until done.

You'll notice I used fresh blueberries because I happened to have a fresh package that I needed to do something with, before they ruined. I remember my grandmother using pears and figs, probably because those are what she had on hand, at the time. I think the next time I make it, I will use some peaches -but really now.... how can you go wrong with any sort of fruit, mixed with heavy whipping cream, sugar, and cinnamon?

My food photography isn't great, but you get the idea! Next time I'll have to make a larger coffee cake - there's not any left!

I know... I know... one day I post about weight loss products and the next day I post about cake...go figure? It's no wonder I'm not doing so well with losing weight? LOL

Tuesday Product Review

2009-08-11T09:35:00.006-05:00

So this week, I'm sorta wanting to work on my weight and poor diet choices - but we all know that this new effort will most likely be short lived and I probably won't lose any weight - so why even bother? Right?
I know, I know.... I always start out with great ideas, but the follow through really stinks! LOL

Irregardless, I tried a new weight loss/diet product and thought maybe someone could benefit from my limited experience.

I tried the milk chocolate protein shake - not too bad! I am not much of a chocolate fan, but the thought of vanilla or strawberry makes me sick to my stomach and even less interested - so chocolate it is.

The texture is good, the flavor is good, and the amount of protein and fiber is also good. The thickness of this drink isn't so great? I mean... it's not so thin that you think you're drinking colored water and it's not quite as thick and creamy as drinking Slim Fast. I guess I like something a little thicker to trick my mind into thinking I'm actually consuming something of substance, but this is definitely going to be a product that I will buy and stock in our fridge for a quick grab-n-go snack or mid-morning breakfast. I'm sure the girls will enjoy it also - they've been drinking the Slim Fast can drinks for many years now.

Another feature that I really like is the type of container it comes in and the screw on cap! GREAT IDEA!!

The only odd thing I noticed is that immediately after drinking it, I was incredible cotton-mouth and thirsty? I'm not sure why that is. I'm not complaining - I need to drink more water anyway?

So there you go - This is a THUMBS UP product. (In my opinion - for whatever that's worth?)

Trying to find my mojo

2009-08-11T06:25:00.001-05:00

It's not working out too well. I did mentally commit to sewing this weekend - so I found a clean spot in my dining...er...junk room and drug out the sewing machine (basically I shoved everyone else's junk off). I gathered the fabrics that I wanted to work with, found my cutting board and my rotary cutter with what seemed like a totally dull blade.

So - I finally get a few minutes of peace and quiet when either everyone is gone or the girls are across the street swimming - whew - just a few minutes is all I think I will need to try to 'recreate' a quilt block that I saw on the Internet. Yes, I was trying to bootleg a pattern, without buying it or getting too technical!! So there - shoot me for trying! I had my working space ready to go - ready to be productive and in walks a kid. " MOM, I'M HUNGRY!".... GRRRRR.....

Literally I had the first blocks put under the needle and was just about to start the first stitch - my foot was on the peddle, prepped and ready to go. Well of course the remainder of my spawn started trickling in and demanding food. So much for that sewing endeavor?

Not to worry - I tried it again the next day. This time it was going to go along much quicker - I already had the machine set up and after all, I did have a few blocks cut out and ready to be pieced.

Naively I sat down - began sewing squares together. Everything was going well until I got to my SECOND set of squares -- the bobbin thread get caught and the needle wouldn't budge at all. I mean - nothing! LOCKED UP TIGHT! Not a problem, I wasn't going to get mad - I would just take the bobbin out and poof the wayward thread would be freed. UH not so fast!

It was definitely a job that required pulling out the owner's manual and disassembling the bobbin unit and all of the little parts and pieces. At this point approximately 15 mins has passed and the thread is out - I can begin again!

So away I went - piecing and matching fabrics. I thought it would go much better, but then I realized that a couple of my seams weren't matching up just exactly right and yes, my OCD is huge in this area. So rip a few, sew a few... you get the idea.

Finally after what I estimate to be about 2 hours into this project, I have this to show for my efforts - just this one lone square!

To top it all off - my seams still don't match up and my cutting job leaves a lot to be desired! This is what happens when you don't sew enough - you loose your skill! Really now - it's just squares and rectangles and apparently I can't get that right either! Now I'm going to have to fussy cut any other pieces if I plan on progressing any further with this quilt. I'm just so frustrated with myself!

Needless to say, this wasn't the weekend to find my sewing/quilting MOJO, but I'm not giving up. At least not yet anyway! It's going to take a lot more than a couple of uneven seems to get me to throw in the sewing machine.

A productive weekend

2009-08-10T09:54:00.005-05:00

Surprisingly enough I had a very productive weekend and made a huge dent in my 'to do' lists.

With school starting in less than 2 weeks, it was time to make the dreaded trip to the mall and stock up on school uniforms. This task is quite daunting because Bailey and I each HATE to shop, much less together at a mall, and she needs a size 7 long in pants - now most stores only carry one or two styles in a 7 long and if you are lucky enough to find them you are only going to find one or two pairs. Which was exactly the case this weekend, but we persevered and came home with enough uniform pants to start the year. Now that I know the size and the style, I can order more on-line. Now to find polo shirts in the appropriate uniform colors that will actuall tuck-in and stay tucked in! UGH~

We did it - we found three shirts - all white - but they will work and we have new pants and even shoes to start the freshman year with! Woo Hoo!!! I feel so far ahead of the game- you just have no idea. Usually I'm scrambling around at the last minute trying to find even ONE lone pair of pants for her, but not this year. I don't know what got into me? I'm not sure what motivated me to do it early? Oh well- I'm not complaining.

I also conquered Briley's uniform needs this weekend with a quickie trip to Target. I couldn't believe it - we were in and out of there in less than an hour! She had tried on a stack of shorts, skorts, and pants and was happy with all of them - so mark her off of my lists! Briley even picked out a new pair of sneakers at the athletic store and we were in and out of there in under 20 mins! SCORE!!!! It was a weekend for miracles!

All school supplies have been bought and we are READY for school - with two weeks left to go?
Whew - I guess the trick is to divide and conquer? I took Briley one day and Bailey the next day - and there wasn't even any Xanax involved?

ALSO - on Thursday night, Brit announced to me that she needs about $200 of supplies for her State Board Licensing tests in Cosmetology and she needs all of this gathered and sorted and ready for her final exam at school by TUESDAY - yes - the Tuesday that is tomorrow! I'm sure you can imagine my response - "Oh sure dear, let me just hand you a spare $200 and you can shop till you drop!"... UH NOT!!!!

Well anyway, I made the dreaded trip to Wally World and Sally's beauty supply on Friday and we gathered the necessary items... Surely at some point in the future I will reap some sort of reward for all of this? Ya' know? All is want is a free hair cut everynow and then? Would that be too much to ask?

So... there you have it - I've stimulated the economy once again. I've done my part to contribute to that ever 'free' public education that all three of my children have received.

Jumping back on the wagon...

2009-08-07T08:56:00.006-05:00

And I don't mean the diet wagon! Not that I don't need to watch my weight and increase my exercise or improve my cardiovascular - blah...blah... blah.... I'm just not even going to try to approach that wagon today! :)

I'm going to try to get back into a better routine of sewing/quilting! I've recently discovered several new quilty bloggers and they are spurring me on to try my hand at some different designs using less traditional prints. I really like the funky colors and loud prints that aren't exactly the styles our grandmothers quilted. I certainly enjoy the traditional fabrics and patterns, but sometimes you just gotta let your hair down and throw something obnoxious or less traditional into the mix. Ya'know? (Wow... the closer I get to the BIG 40 - the bolder I get.)

I've also been introduced to Moda Bakeshop. Am I the only one that has never been to their site before? I LOVE their stuff!! I would like to try a quilt made with layer cakes, jelly rolls, and honey buns. Now you tell me... how bad can it be to quilt using such yummy stuff?

I've been trying to de-clutter and better organize the dead spaces in our house. It seems as though these areas have been tured into drop locations for what noone else wants. So - maybe after another day or so of decluttering and throwing out everyone else's junk, I'll have a nice little creative/sewing space arranged to motivate myself to sew.

Two-A-Days...

2009-08-05T08:29:00.005-05:00

Yep, we are slowly getting back into the everyday routine - VERY SLOWLY!!! Bailey has started having two-a-day volleyball practice this week and from the looks of the schedule, these daily practices will continue until school starts on August 24th. (Yep-those huge feet belong to my precious Bailey -all 5'10" of her and her size 11 feet!)

I just have one question. When whomever is deciding when to practice, do they stop to think that maybe these freshmen can't drive yet? That maybe these kids' parents work real jobs, and can't be available to pick-up and drop off at odd times during the day....i.e.. 9:am or 2:pm?
Seriously--- we live in the country - like 30 miles from the down town city area, and trust me it takes a small fortune to live out in our rural community so most moms have full time jobs (but we won't even get started on what I have to pay for trash pick-up since we live in the country. I promise you won't believe me... another post for another day...).

So most of these parents aren't working at the local lawyer's office or the insurance office, 'cause we don't have any!!! To work is to drive - far far away - so my point to all of this ramble?

How the heck do these coaches expect Jim Bob and Sally Sue to make it to these odd practice times when they don't coincide with any sort of work start times or lunch breaks, or end of the day working hours for the parents? It's crazy! It's not as if I can just run grab her from the house and be back to work in 15 minutes - it takes a full hour of trucking it to get her picked up from our house and dropped at school and me back to work. UGH... I'm already tired just thinking about it.

Oh well - we are only in the 3rd day of Volleyball practice and the fun is only beginning, I just better shut up and get off of my soap box (yes, it's one of my many soap boxes!). Not only do we live in the back of nowhere, but we play other schools in our interscholastic league that are even further away from civilization.

I will never know what keeps people from going stark raving mad to have to drive so far to buy a gallon of milk! I'm not a country dweller - I don't want to be - I never said I did - I got sucked into buying a house that I liked and thought I could 'get use to it'. WRONG - 7 years later and I'm going mad - and the sad part is that I'm just sane enough to know that I'm going crazy!

The next time you are driving along what appears to be a deserted country black top road and you wonder if anyone lives around there- well someone probably does, in a double wide trailer with junk cars sitting in the front yard, and there's probably a high school just around the bend and behind the creek and down the valley that is hosting a 9th grade volleyball tournament! :)

Ask me how I know this! :)

A Three Hour Tour....

2009-07-30T15:08:00.015-05:00

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,

A tale of a fateful trip

That started from this tropic port,
Aboard this tiny Ship...

Briley and I ventured over the Captain Anderson's Marina to take a Three Hour Tour to Shell Island.

Luckily our three hour tour didn't end quite like Gilligan's did, and we had a wonderful time on the cruise to Shell Island.

On the boat ride over to Shell Island, the Captain told us that the sea gulls LOVE to eat Cheetos...and they do! It was the funniest thing, as soon as a bag of Cheetos was opened, the sea gulls swarmed the boat. We were on the open upper deck of the boat and were able to hand feed the sea gulls.

Just as the boat was arriving at Shell Island and we were all about to leave the boat and walk up the boardwalk to the beach area, the Captain announced that we had a visitor, or a greeter of sorts! Uh... YEA... right! I wasn't about to offer to shake hands with this - I don't know if the boat folks feed him or not, but it was obvious that this fellow wasn't leaving the dock area as long as we were there! This thing hovered and swam all around us, the entire hour that we were docked.

I didn't realize before we left the marina, that we would be able to actually play in the sand and surf at Shell Island, so Briley and I didn't bring our swim suits along with us - you can see by her facial expression that she wasn't too happy with me at this point! The water was absolutely gorgeous and there were tons and tons of sea shells just waiting to be picked up, but Briley was not about to 'get wet' with her clothes on! It was enough of a challenge for me to convince her to even wade out into the water - I don't think I will ever hear the end of that! The good side of this is that she has quite a collection of sea shells that we were able to dig out of the sand and the shallow water.

On the way back from Shell Island, we were greeted and entertained by the dolphins! There were several that swam back with the boat and played around the boat. I'm sure in all likelihood, the boat folks were probably dropping dolphin food under the boat, just so we could get a good look at these beautiful creatures, but who cares - we were able to see dolphins up close and personal! This was a great way to spend the afternoon... now just so you won't think that we were leaving Bailey and her dad out of the fun -they spent their afternoon riding jet skis in the Gulf of Mexico and ended up getting stuck behind some big shrimp boat and had to ride out some pretty tough waves! LOL... let's just say- they were both pretty sore from holding on and trying to stand up to keep from hurting their hineys in the rough wake!

Vacation Pics - Part Three

2009-07-30T09:03:00.023-05:00

Bailey and her friend took a ride on a Virtual Roller Coaster... They had a blast! Bailey had done this previously, but she never gets tired of these rides, but then again - I guess I didn't tire of them either when I was 13!

Even Briley got in on the virtual roller coaster ride - she LOVED it! I was a little concerned at first since they basically lock you up in this compartment and then you flip and flop around in it while 'watching' a roller coaster ride, but Briley did great and came out laughing!

Point of interest in this picture: Notice the HUGE Goose Egg on Briley's forehead... this happened the first day we were in the Condo. She dropped something on the bathroom floor and when she bent down to pick it up, she hit her head on the marble counter top - UH - yes - she had the goose egg.. ALL WEEK... and everywhere we went, folks were asking her about it! At least her story didn't change? LOL

On another note - The Lovely Plastic HOOK - well that is what you get after you spend $30 in tokens playing goofy little arcade games! I guess it's safe to say that we did our part to stimulate the ailing economy! We left a lot of our money there for the arcade to use! LOL Oh well - it's vacation!

Briley and I taking a turn at the go-karts! Let me just say - those youngsters are rough and really do bump into you... Briley and I were not expecting to have whiplash! LOL But it was fun, nonetheless!

(I'm slowly coming to terms that this is my body and it's going to take a lot of work to change it! I'll be 40 in less than a month - I guess the ole' metabolism has just completely stalled out on me! It's time to get busy, if I want to slim down? Or maybe I could just embrace this whole 'new' me in the next phase of my life? I'll let you know later what I decide! I'm not necessarily motivated at this point to do much of anything!)

I don't know why we only go to these sorts of places when we are on vacation? I mean... they have these fun places in the metroplex, but we NEVER go... probably because it's a huge money pit!

One evening we spent the time walking and looking around at the 'outdoor' shopping mall - which luckily they had a bungee jumpy thing set up and both of the girls felt the need to give it at try.

It was fun to watch - some kids really got into and figured out how to do several flips, however my girls weren't quite as adventurous, but it was fun, just the same. The next day Briley mentioned that her stomach muscles were sore? Hmmm??? I wonder why? Could it be that she had pulled them in all sorts of directions? Ha Ha!

Vacation Pics - Part Two

2009-07-29T09:28:00.012-05:00

Here are a few shots of our trip along the way ... nothing too exciting, but the fact that we made it in one piece without any major meltdowns, is always amazing!

We passed by the Casinos in Shreveport, La...you'll notice the picture appears to be a bit blurry? Well that's because the individual driving (herein referred to as HIM)-absolutely refused to slow down and let me get a good shot....once we start out driving - the only thing that would deter HIM from his mission was a small voice from the back seat that needs to potty, or he's out of snuff! LOL

So with that said - you'll understand why so many of my pictures look like I took then while traveling 70mph - because I DID!

We made it to Alabama - The USS Alabama is absolutely HUGE! One of these days I would like to take the tour of this battleship - but then again -I'll have to be the driver, in order to stop!

Next up is the Tunnel going through Mobile, Alabama. I just really can't explain the fascination we have with this ugly ole' tunnel, but even the girls stopped playing their DS games and turned off the Ipods to watch as we drove through the tunnel. OH, and yes... we honked as we drove through the tunnel? Why do folks do that?

We aren't exactly the happiest gang of early risers when we've been traveling for so many hours, cooped up in a car - so getting started the next day was tough. In this picture Briley and HIM were catching up on a Sponge Bob Cartoon. None of us were overly enthused about climbing back in the car for another 7 hours or so. Oh, I suppose we could have made the 13 hour trip in one day, but really.... how would I have decided who would come back in the body bag?

SHONEY's are EVERYWHERE in the South! There maybe some in the Dallas area, but I can't recall where they are? Not the case in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida... just find any truck stop on the Interstate and I can guarantee you a Shoney's sign or better yet, the restaurant isn't far off! We did make one obligatory stop for Breakfast at Shoney's - how you can go on vacation without at least one stop at Shoney's? It's UN-American!

This pretty much how Briley spent her time on the road - plugged in to a DVD player! Oh what I wouldn't have given to have some entertainment all the years my parents drug me on vacation! At the very best, I had a word search and a coloring book! These kids don't have a clue what bored in the car is! Briley built her little nest around her with pillow and blanket and was nested most of the way!

I did get HIM to stop once along the way at the cutest little road side produce stand. So of course I had to buy something? What kind of weary traveler would I be if I didn't? I found a yummy jar of Red Tomato Preserves and a basket of peaches (which need to be put in the freezer before they ruin).

All in all, the horrible traffic jams getting to the beach and the never ending miles of highway with no decent radio reception were definitely worth it! And - no body got hurt - huge accomplishment!