Stop the Ride......

I wanna get off! If only I could say that about life and work in general. Can you tell? I'm definitely ready for a week away from work and just the usual grind of the day-to day!

10 more days until we leave for Panama City Beach, Florida!

These next 10 days are going to be the longest days of the summer, just from sheer anticipation -and the week that we are actually in Florida is going to fly by, like no body's business!

This weekend was pretty much the 'norm' around our house - nothing fun and exciting to report.

We attended a firework show in the little community down the farm-to-market road from our house. Let me just say - it's a community wide event that closes down the highway as lawn chairs and pick-up trucks line up and down the road and church parking lots to watch rounds and rounds of fireworks go off! Briley and Bailey enjoy the evening of running wild and free with their country friends and occasionally you catch a glimpse of one of them on someones golf cart as they roam up and down the little town. It's a lot of fun with lot's of BBQ, music and mosquitoes. I might enjoy the evening more if I knew I didn't have to smell of Tropical Fresh OFF, just to stay alive! Otherwise, I'm a mosquito buffet - free for all that need to nibble!

Needless to say- the mosquitoes and fireworks were the highlight of the weekend! Just more of the same - laundry - laundry - laundry! Seriously -- how many outfits and towels can three girls use in a day? You don't want to know! It's astounding!

I've just about given up on my cucumbers and have decided that if I don't see something that resembles a little cucumber by the end of the week - the plants are getting relocated to the compost pile and I'm just going to throw out my efforts to produce my own pickles this year! I'll just resort to visiting the Farmer's Market and buying their cucumbers!

I feel about the same way with my tomato plants... and according to my Texas Gardener Magazine, it's almost time to start planting new tomato plants for the Fall? Should I even attempt it? Should I really set myself up for another failed tomato crop? More news on that later - I still have three weeks or so to decide. Right now my heart is hardened towards even trying, but by then... the scars will be healed and I'll probably stumble into another set of tomato plants, yearning to grow my own!

Let me just say again **10 more days** !!!!

Disallusioned with gardening!

I'm so frustrated!

I did everything I thought I was supposed to do and still NOTHING! I started out with fresh new and yummy Miracle Grow Potting Soil, gingerly planted my little cucumber plants (all 12 of them into various pots) and I watered almost daily and fertilized once a week, just like the Internet experts on cucumbers suggested and look at what I've got!

NOTHING! Oh these plants were covered in blooms about a month ago and I just knew that I would be having a bumper crop of cucumbers to pickle and enjoy throughout the summer. WRONG..... I've got a dead and tangled looking mess! Not ONE SINGLE cucumber in the bunch! Next up are the infamous tomato plants - oh anyone can grow tomatoes... right? WRONG AGAIN! I prepared these little baby plants the same way as the cucumbers - fresh potting soil, faithfully watering and fertilizing and basically I've gotten a small handful of yellow nubby tomatoes off of the plants. I have to pick whatever I can get BEFORE they are even ripe, because the darn birds won't leave them alone.
And this lovely plant below...well it was supposed to be the BIG BERTHA TOMATO producer and yield large red lusciousness... Oh it was covered in blooms about a month ago and I just knew I had finally achieved gardening success.... Uh not so much! This plant has NOT produced ONE SINGLE TOMATO! What the heck happened to all of those blooms? I water these plants every day - by hand - standing among the vicious mosquitoes that ravage my legs and arms - you'd think these stinkin' plants would offer me some sort of reward or recognition for my efforts! BIG NOTHING! And here is my gang-buster crop of jalapeno peppers - a whopping *4* peppers! I had high hopes of being able to make a few quarts of pepper sauce, like my grandmother use to, but I guess not! My husband sampled one of the first peppers and he said that they weren't even hot! UGH! Maybe I'm not meant to garden? Maybe I should just stick to buying from the Farmer's Market? On a brighter and happier note - I will be able to harvest FIGS! Oh I do love a good fresh fig! Check out the crop on my fig tree - which I so lovingly tend to year by year! This is a very old fig tree, it was transplanted from my husband's grandmother's house after she passed away. I am very happy that it has found a home in my yard! Did I mention how much I love fresh figs?

For anyone that knows me... they all know that I don't share my figs well .... and I don't play well with others, but that's another post for another day! :) I've never had to use a net to cover my fig tree before, but after seeing what these pesky birds have done to my helpless tomato plants, I just might have to use a net this year! We'll see? I'm not playing around with my figs! This is serious business!

When it's 103* in the Shade....

What's a girl to do, but hit the water park!

Briley's Girl Scout Troop had a little get together at one of the area water parks for a few hours of refreshing fun. Let's just say - when the temps are registering 103* on my car which is parked in the shade... uh... we have a problem!

It was so hot in the Metroplex this weekend, the only options for outside fun were either floating in a pool of chlorinated water or slipping down a slide rushing with chlorinated water!

The girls had a great time and we went to a park that we had never been to before. I didn't even realize how close it was to us or how cheap it was for a few hours of sloshing fun. We may have to plan another trip to break the boredom and the heat of the summer.

Summertime Boredom has hit...

Last night or should I say at 2am this morning - I hear the vacuum cleaner? Oh yes, my dear Bailey was cleaning her room. Now I don't just mean the usual 'stash and grab' type of cleaning that gets me to stop nagging - I discovered she was doing some deep down, under the bed, hanging up clothes cleaning. I'm not quite sure what prompted this spurt of energy, but I'm not really going to complain.

I wasn't too happy to hear the vacuum running at 2am, but then again - she was bored!!! I didn't even think about doing a quick check of her room when I left this morning, but I'm hopeful that she will keep it clean, for a day or two.... at least?

Next up, I get a phone call at work this morning, from Briley telling me that she too had cleaned her room? WHAT? Could it be that they are so bored, they have resorting to CLEANING? It's a miracle? It's a little odd, but hey - who am I to complain? I'm just happy that maybe - one layer of cat hair has been vacuumed up? I'm happy that there might actually be clothes in the dresser drawers instead of stacked on top of the dresser or in the floor?

I'm just going to be happy with whatever little bit they've done on their own! I'm going to rejoice in the fact that I didn't have to nag at them to clear a path! :)

Maybe there's something to be said for summertime boredom?

In all seriousness...

Is there a guide to raising teenage daughters? In particular...how to live with an 18 yr old teenage daughter? Have you read a parenting book that helped you survive this turmoil of emotions and mood swings? Have you got some advice to impart upon a weary mother of 3?

Did I miss the fine print somewhere? 'Cause I'm pretty sure I didn't sign up for this?

Counting Down....

26 days and counting down.... until we leave for Panama City Beach.....

I NEED some sand between my toes and some salt water on my face! It's no longer a want....we're talking need!!

Softball Camp

Was a good thing!

As soon as we cleared the traffic of A&M and University Drive, we stopped for some lunch and within seconds, literally, of getting in the car and heading down the road -this is how the rest of the three hour trip went! Bailey - sleeping and even a little drooling - all the way home! :)

(I'm glad she had so much fun, but I'm also glad to have my mini-me back home!)

She's already planning on going back next summer! I think I've got an Aggie in the making!

Sleep-A-Way Camp is a good thing!

Sunday afternoon, we loaded the car and headed to Texas A&M with Bailey and her softball gear -ready for a few fun filled days of SOFTBALL CAMP! She may only be staying for three days, but we had a suitcase big enough and full enough to last a month - or so it looked like. We had to take towels, sheets, water, Gatorade, snacks, and let's not forget a couple changes of clothes for each day. No one wants to be around a sweaty and stinky 13 yr old girl! Trust me...it's not a good thing! :)

The only other sleep-a-way camp Bailey has ever attended was a Cheer Camp at SMU and for as far as learning anything? UH?? Well??? She basically learned that those little Jr. High cheerleaders were EVIL and the Cheer Sponsor wasn't much better!! The entire week at SMU was filled with daily drama fests and gossip sessions about EACH OTHER and the ridiculous insistence that everyone wear the exact same freakin' bow in their hair! LOL For the record, Bailey doesn't do bows!! So enough about the horrible experience at cheer camp -moving on...

Bailey had been a little apprehensive because she was going 'alone' and didn't have anyone from her team or school going too and didn't know who she would be rooming with. I tried to reassure her that the best year at camp for me personally, (yes that would be BAND CAMP) was the year that I went alone and just took my chances with whomever they stuck me with for a roommate. It was great! I met so many new people and had so much fun without any drama!

As of this morning - Good news!! I received a text message from Bailey this morning that said, "Mom you were right! I'm glad I'm not here with anyone I know. I'm having a great time!"....Okay - now my eyes are welling up and I'm so proud of her for putting herself out there and just going with the flow! She's always been my little survivor and I don't know why I was even worried! At this point, I don't care if she learns anything new about softball (shhh... don't tell her dad I said that!). I just want her to enjoy and learn from the experience of meeting new people, learning her way around summer camp and hopefully picking up on a few ideas of how to become more independent, in a positive way? Ya' know? Without me! (I will regret that I said that, won't I? LOL ) I want her to build up a yearning for going to a University in the next short 4 years... I want her to crave that independence she needs to better herself and to move outside of the small-town box we live in!

I'm not asking for too much? Am I?

The Audit is over and we passed with no problems at all!

Now I can get back to my 'regular' level of STRESS!

My company is being audited... by the You know Who... and I'm just a bit stressed this week. I guess it's safe to say that I should probably try and focus on work and not on how much laundry is piled on my couch or the dishes that need to be emptied from the dishwasher?

Check out a great blog!

I just gotta share with you a wonderful blog I read - EVERY DAY - even on the days that Ms. Sharon doesn't update, I still check-in with her, 'cause you just never know what she is going to be into next and I don't want to miss a minute of the fun!

I was first drawn to her blog because of all of the beautiful quilts she makes, but I soon discovered that her blog was great comic relief - for me!

Currently Ms. Sharon and her husband have moved across the country and she has shared the delightful incidents that they have encountered along the way. You can't even begin to imagine the STACKS and STACKS of quilts that she moved across the county or the fabric! It's a quilter's wonderland, I tell ya'! A sheer wonderland of quilting joy!

While the move has been a very stressful time for her, she manages to put it out there in the most humorous way and I generally leave her blog having laughed out loud hysterically while tears are streaming down my face!

You just gotta take a minute to drop by the Red Geranium Cottage, you will be glad you did! Although she isn't someone I know in real life - I can honestly say that she's a wonderful person and a great blogger!! Oh, and one of the days when I don't have kids in tow demanding to be fed or drug around the metroplex, I'm going to wander off in Ms. Sharon's direction and show up on her doorstep with chocolate - then maybe she'll let me in! LOL

Sharing

These are a few pictures of my grandmother's yard; I took these on Sunday while I was there picking the last of the green pintos that needed to be shelled. While she is in her final season of life, her beautiful yard lives on, as do all of the beautiful plants that she lovingly nurtured - for many many years.

Says Who?

Just exactly whose idea was it to wait until these lovelies turned red, anyway? I am having a very hard time NOT PICKING these! I really....really like fried green tomatoes! I realize that I should hold out and enjoy the yummy goodness of fresh ripe tomatoes, but on the other hand - I really... really like fried green tomatoes!

Another school year behind us...

When we started the school year -
2nd Grade - August 2008


















And now we've finished the 2nd grade school
year as a Super Speller!! Which means that she was the only student in her class to make 110 on all of her spelling tests during the year. (I knew she was my precious little nerd, but I just never realized how much so?? LOL)

Oh she got plenty of other awards, such as Perfect Attendance, Citizenship, Outstanding Reader, and some sort of award for her Physical Education Agility Tests...

3rd Grade here she comes!

**I promise she has other clothes than a white Polo shirt, but we wear uniforms and she will ONLY wear a WHITE POLO SHIRT with tan pants/shorts! **

A new twist on the traditional day at the spa...

You can never predict what I'm going to come up with next? Can you? Trust me, as sporadic as my blog posts are... so is my life!

This is a the daily activity around our house - Bailey gives this heifer a bath - every evening! Apparently this is supposed to make the hair grow in a particular direction and keep the hair/skin looking good? I guess we'll find out in a few months if this is true or not? I think it's going to help when we send her off to be bred in a couple of days? You know all of those hunky stud-bulls are going to go after the heifer with the shiny hide!

In the next picture, Bailey has discovered that Miss #8 (her name, at this point) had been lying in a large pile of her own poop... LOL... well... get busy... you've got poop to clean off!!! (YUCCKY!!)

The life of a show heifer...

It's all about how you look.... Don't you know?