In The Weeds

8 Reasons You Didn't Get A Photo Card for Christmas

2011-12-26T21:09:00.010-06:00

Hope you all had a fun and blessed (not stressed) Holiday!

No. She's only 9.

2011-09-18T18:08:00.002-05:00

"So you're saying that when I fix my hair it's ugly and when you fix my hair it's cute."

"No. That's not at all what I said."

"Yes it is. You said it didn't look good when I fixed it."

"No, what I said was, you need to brush your hair."

"No. You said my hair didn't look good. Then you fixed it and then you said it looked cute."

"No, that's not what I said. Did you brush your hair?"

"No, but I didn't want to brush the curls out."

"Well, you have to use a pick, or your fingers so that you don't brush out the curls, but you have to do something so it doesn't look like bedhead."

"That's not what you said."

"That IS what I'm saying."

"You think I'm no good at fixing my own hair."

Eye of the Tiger

2011-03-28T14:04:00.004-05:00

Okay, maybe not a TIGER but definetley a really, REALLY, big Tabby. He scored his first goal this year. Not this game, but if he had been able to play offense, who knows! Of course, when he's not engaged, he's standing around kicking dirt. I have pictures, but I'm not going to show you that.

I'm gonna show you his smooth moves instead.

Look, she's getting ready to applaud!

Little Miss Beauty Pageant

2011-03-26T18:33:00.006-05:00

The "Western Wear" portion of the county fair pageant was held Friday night. It was her first time to do anything like this and it was her big idea. She brought home the packet from school and begged and pleaded to "Please, please please be in the pageant?" I said yes, which brings us to this... and this...(Daddy forgot to pull back far enough for you to see her bright pink boots with her jeans tucked inside.) She drew number one in her age group 7 to 9 and so she had to go first. I had to walk her around the outside where the girls entered the stage and so was forced to sprint around back to the front and watch her from the back of the crowd. They had called me to work at the High School Friday and the combination of being in charge of a days worth of teenagers and responsible for the beauty of a beauty pageant contestant got the better of me and there was no charge in the video camera and only enough juice in the camera for about 5 pictures.

A nights reprieve and a chance to regroup and recharge batteries and we were back for "Party Wear" today at 4:00. Yep, she's an uptown girl.

The competition was tough and I was very glad I didn't have to be a judge, because really, how do you choose between all this cuteness?

In the end she didn't make it to the final four, which hurt her feelings for a quick minute. But we reminded her that she was one of the only girls who had never been in a pageant before and did super for her first time! And John quickly added that it probably had more to do with the fact that we didn't sell as many tickets and add space in the program. :) The boys all rallied around her and we went out for a bite of pizza to celebrate her beauty and bravery. She's the "Queen of Us" for sure.

Wordless Wednesday (My favorite kind of Wednesday)

2011-03-23T15:10:00.005-05:00

Love Stinks

2011-03-22T12:48:00.002-05:00

I often think about what I would have liked people to tell me before I had kids. You know, warned me about. Like, "Do you have any idea home much kids throw up before the age of eighteen?" or, "Do you know how much it costs to cloth and feed teenage boys and how fast their feet grow?" Well, I've got one today. A little nugget that my forty-five year old self would like to pass down to her twenty-five year old self.

Remember when you were a sophomore and somehow got the guts to ask Eddie Wagner to the Sadie Hawkins dance and he said yes? Okay, remember how your Mom decided it would be really funny to take him a bouquet of flowers and a chocolate bar, because boys are supposed to bring flowers and candy to a date? You said no, you were too shy, but she prevailed because she's the boss of you and eventually you thought, "yea, that's kinda funny". Then thirty minutes before the dance he called and said, "Why don't we just meet at the dance so we can hang out with our friends?" And your Mom made you go to the dance anyway, even though you wanted to crawl in a hole. Then, he took pity on you and drove you home and gave you your first kiss and the next day told all his friends it was like kissing a Saint Bernard? You remember that, right?

When your kids get to High School, you get to relive that ALL OVER AGAIN. And since you had the brilliant idea to have four kids....use your multiplication table. Yeah. And even though he says it's all fine, and they seem to be acting very mature and responsible about the whole thing, even though he says they really like being friends without the romance. You may as well be holding the phone when Eddie calls to say he'll meet you at the dance instead.

In Honor of Somebodies 17th Birthday....

2011-01-01T20:32:00.007-06:00

Minute to Win It Christmas Edition

We Love Our Eagles

2010-11-03T20:34:00.008-05:00

How the Cookie Crumbled

2010-11-02T17:59:00.002-05:00

The kids marched 4th in the preliminary in the State Competition Monday. They were in second place after all twenty-three bands marched. We were second, behind 2008's gold medal winners. The ten finalists marched their shows and when the top three schools were announced, we were not among them. The kids placed fifth according to the five fresh judges in final competition. The kids were fairly devastated and their director gave them a good talking to and by the time the adults showed up at the bus, he gave us a good talking to, too. "I don't want to hurt any body's feelings here, but you parents need to get those sad looks off your faces and cheer for those kids. They did a great job. They did exactly what we asked them to do, and this is about them, not me and not you."

He got the kids together at the hotel and talked to them about scores. If I heard and understood correctly, there are five judges and they rank each band as they see it, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and so-forth. All five judges rated the gold medal winner 1st, so 5 ones added up to a score of 5. If every judge agreed on the 2nd place band, the best possible score would have been a 10. The 2nd place band scored a 23, third 24, fourth 25 and fifth 26. He said he had never seen anything like the disparity in the scores, but "that's the way the cookie crumbles."

He's right, they were terrific. I'm only sad, because I know how badly they wanted it. For the Juniors and Seniors this was their last shot at a medal. It was late last night when it was all over. We headed to the hotel, slept it off and headed home this morning. We picked up John at about 4:45 and everyone was subdued but not destroyed. Tomorrow's a new day. He said his new goal was to be an All-Stater in the individual UIL competition coming up later in the spring. We could not be prouder!

2010-10-30T21:52:00.002-05:00

Wow! What a week!
After the excitement of Saturday, we started Sunday with having our cars painted and papering the band halls with every poster you can imagine! There were posters for every section of the band with the kids pictures on them, "State" posters, "Congratulations" posters, smack talk posters, corny posters, inspirational posters, you name it, the Band Boosters covered it. And we covered it in lots of glitter.

There was more car painting and getting things ready for goody bags. Monday night practice and prayer meeting. Then signs painted with the kids names on them. We fed them Thursday morning after their last morning practice. The football boosters fed them breakfast on Friday morning. We had a big game on Friday (we lost, our perfect record marred) and then this morning their last practice before State followed by a prayer service and pizza party. Yes, we've been praying alot.

In addition to all this band fun, I went to two Halloween parties for the Littles on Friday. I got to Ace's party with a box of Capri sun coolers in my hand. His teacher said "Girlfriend! Keep your juice boxes I've got plenty!" So I went to put them on the shelf where his packpack sits, which is right behind his desk. As I approached, he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, "Leave the juice and go away." Can you believe that!? Well, I never! Actually, it made me laugh pretty hard.

Tomorrow roll call at 10:30 and rolling out to San Antonio around 11:00. The kids will be eating dinner tomorrow ni.ght at Mi Tierras. Monday morning we march 4th in preliminary competition at 9:45 a.m. I'm going to try to keep you updated on Monday if I can remember to pack everything, and the chargers to everything....

Guess Who Advanced to State Yesterday, Again!

2010-10-24T19:29:00.003-05:00

WE DID! (okay, John and the Band did.)
This is a picture of them at Region where we competed to go to Area. We then went to Denton on Saturday to compete in Area. The region performance was a little rocky, not their best effort. They knew it before they ever left the field, but it was enough to qualify.

Yesterday at Area, was EPIC! First, our Band Director's wife's father passed away this last week and he was unable to be here. For Area. Our thoughts were with them, and we were worried about how the kids would handle it. The forecast was rain; scattered rain, with a possibility of severe weather in the afternoon. John's Aunt and Uncle flew in from Amarillo to see him march. We were scheduled to march at 10:45 so roll call was 6:00 a.m. We dropped John off and went over to Walmart and picked up some poncho's and a couple of umbrella's in case it rained.

Their assistant director said, if it was light rain, they'd probably march. If it rained hard, it would be postponed. If most of the bands made it through preliminaries and THEN it started to rain hard, then the preliminary scores would be used instead of finals. Otherwise we would have finals and winners announced, five would advance to state.

We got to the stadium at about 10:00 a.m. It was cloudy and cool, pretty nice weather if the rain held off. We got into the stands, at 10:15 the judges had a fifteen minute break, it sprinkled just long enough for us to break out our ponchos and put them on just in case. At 10:30 the band before us took the field and our kids lined up four minutes later. At 10:45 as they were about to move out onto the field, the announcer came on and said "We need to make a public service announcement. There is lightening moving into the area in ten minutes and we must postpone the competition. We ask that all participants please get back on their buses and we recommend that all spectators leave the stands and wait in your cars until the weather has passed." We were stunned. They were 5 minutes from marching their show, the show was 8 minutes long and 2 minutes to exit the field. We missed it by FIVE MINUTES. The kids went back to the bus. Mind you, the pit has to roll All the heavy equipment back to the truck. It's a lot of equipment. We grudgingly started back down the stairs toward the exits. We started to sprint as the rain started halfway to the car. There was big lightening and a pretty good downpour. When it started to lighten up, we checked the radar on some one's cell phone and it looked like it was right on the edge of where we were, if it kept to the west it was fine, if it crept to the east...more to come. It stopped raining long enough for us to decide there was a chance it had passed, so we left the car and went back in the stands with the rest of the spectators that were in agreement. They had a picture of the radar on the scoreboard, so we could see the storm just to the east of us. Peach didn't want to wear her poncho because it felt cold and wet, she wanted an umbrella, which I told her she couldn't have because if the competition continued, the people behind her, wouldn't be able to see. So she grouched and complained and it started to rain again. Poncho hoods up, and after the first few minutes it came a flood, of cold heavy drops, I gave her an umbrella, while struggling to keep myself covered. It didn't let up, so finally I yelled down the row at Charlie, "This is crazy! We should go back to the car." So up again, down the stairs Charlie and the rest headed for the car, but by the time we made it to the front gate, it was barely sprinkling again, so I stopped at the Pep Wear wagon to buy John a T-shirt, Melee' was with me and as we stood there wrapping up our business, one of our parents came by and said, "They're coming! The kids are getting out of the bus, they're going to march!" So we ran out to the car to tell Charlie and throw my bag in the car. We run up and it starts to rain again. Melee' and Peach decide they don't want a poncho and they take an umbrella and I say "Fine, but we'll have to stand at the rail instead of going up in the stands." They had a bench near the rail so we squatted there on the bench as our kids stood in a circle near the end zone and began to warm up. And THE MONSOON BEGAN! It came down the hardest coldest rain, I have ever had the privilege of sitting in.

Those kids warmed up, turned around, stood at attention and marched out onto that field like nothing I've ever seen. Our parents and fans in the stands started screaming, the kids yelled "PRIDE!" and I started crying. I've never been so proud in my whole life. They marched out there in the driving cold rain and marched an eight minute show. I don't know how they could see anything. I don't know how they could play anything. I don't know how they could twirl anything. They marched that program as if they did it in the rain everyday and twice on Sundays. It's something we'll be talking about for years. They'll never forget it. The rain started to let up just a little toward the end, but not a lot. And one more band performed after we did before they postponed again.

We left and the kids went to lunch and they were SO PUMPED! They were so thrilled with how they did and playing in the rain gave them a hardship story they will tell over and over! They bonded and the atmosphere was unbelievable. It was an hour or two before the competition began again and we were on our way home, there would be no finals. Our arch nemesis marched in the sun, no rain for them. They came in first, we placed second. They beat us by one point. One point.

We are on our way to state this week, with a new confidence and excitement that I've never seen and we can't wait to see what happens on Monday the first!

Cue the Deliverance Music

2010-10-11T10:45:00.003-05:00

We live in a fairly rural area, so when the birthday party that was supposed to be at the local park, had to be moved due to rain, the Mom called me and gave me directions to the house. You know when you're jotting down directions, and you're usually one sentence behind what the person is actually saying?

This is what I wrote down as she was speaking...

My brain started to slow down when she said something about an orange and purple fence, but it came to a complete halt when she said the word "goat". So as Charlie was driving down this god-forsaken, pot-holed, one lane country road, I was trying to navigate, it started to get a little tense as we kept going further and further and couldn't find what we were looking for.

I said, "I don't know, she said something about a purple and orange fence, we can't miss a PURPLE AND ORANGE FENCE CAN WE? ACROSS FROM A TWO STORY HOUSE? And evidently they have a goat."

"What kind of boat?" he asked.

"Not a boat, A GOAT." I whispered, as I showed him the note.

You could hear the hysterical laughter for miles.

Melee' the Ultimate Survivor

2010-09-20T13:50:00.006-05:00

Well, he HAS survived 14 grueling years. And since his birthday fell on the premiere of Survivor this year we present to you...

Survivor Jermjau

That's me, Jeff Probst, in the hat. And our contestants for the challenge.

They had four stations in the wilds of the backyard. At each station they preformed a task and were rewarded with a bag of puzzle pieces.

That's Ace holding his front teeth in with his lips and tongue. Survivor can be a brutal game.

Melee' in the lead, with his big brother being a good sport and letting him hold the lead.

All participants, sweaty, fatigued and one might have been upset that when I said "Everybody would win a prize." I didn't say it was only gonna be candy. At least it wasn't chicken gizzards!

First Day of School 2010

2010-09-17T14:45:00.002-05:00

Ace had worked himself up into a good set of nerves, so he was MAD at the world. He was mad that I wanted to take a picture. I was dancing to try to make him smile, and he was having NONE, thanks.

Home again after a hard day. See the bus that I love and adore?

Roses and Thorns

2010-09-15T15:20:00.003-05:00

A few years ago, I started asking the kids "What's the best part of today?" and no matter what good things they had to tell me, it was equally important to them to tell me the worst thing that happened to them. In fact, my kids seem to like to dwell on the negative. I have no idea where they get that, but to appease them we went with "One bad thing and One good thing." Ace can never just stop with one bad thing, he has to ask "Can I tell you two or three?" and then sometimes we struggle to come up with the opposing two or three good things. I figure, I little person needs to get a few things off their chest from time to time, so what the heck.

One day I was reading through a Family Fun Games book and found that our little night time ritual has a name. "Roses and Thorns" it's called. That tickled me, so I told Ace about it, he doesn't care much for new things so the name never much caught on. Or so I thought.

School being tough as it is in the First Grade, he often blows in the door with as much bad to say as the nightly news. Monday he exploded through the door, threw down his backpack, tossed his lunchbox, and kicked his shoes here and there. I said, "How was your day?" "HORRIBLE!" he replied. "HOR-RI-BLE!" "Oh man!," I said, "what happened?" "Nothing HAPPENED, it's just WORK, WORK, WORK! AND I'M BURNING! It's so hot outside, I'm sweatin' like an ANIMAL!" (He's so funny!)

Yesterday, he slammed through the door, unburdened himself, shimmied out of his shoes, jumped in my lap and said, "I had another terrible day!" "What happened today?" "My best friend won't play with me anymore because he said I act weird." "Well, what did you do?" "I don't want to talk about it." He hopped up, ran for the bathroom and snacks and I didn't much hear from him again until he breezed through the kitchen as I was cooking dinner. "What's for dinner?" he asked. "Breakfast!", I smiled. "NO! I DON'T WANT BREAKFAST FOR DINNER! THIS IS THE BIGGEST THORN OF THE DAY!"

He cuts me. He cuts me deep.

I'm having too much fun to blog.

2010-07-19T17:17:00.000-05:00

Fun doing what, you might ask.

Nuthin.

It's all about Perspective

2010-07-01T14:21:00.003-05:00

I've been in Houston for two weeks and have received an attitude adjustment.

#1 My very good friend who we stayed with, is in the midst of a big remodel of her house, which closely resembles my old house. I came home, breathed deeply, smelled that still new house smell and fell in love with my house again.

#2 Two Littles and two Bigs are easier than five Littles. Although my friend and I are alike in a lot of ways, we are different enough that the kids noticed. One afternoon, Ace came circling back into the kitchen after eating a mini ice cream sandwich and said "I'm still hungry, can I have some cookies?" I said, "No. You've had a sweet, so find something else. How bout some string cheese." Meanwhile one of her kids was digging through the pantry for something else to eat. She said, "What did you just eat?" He paused, looked around, then finally admitted, "An ice cream sandwich." She said, "You can't have another sweet either, find something else." To which he replied under his breath, "Man, this is just like Wife Swap."

Txt mssg to Hawaii

2010-06-15T10:38:00.003-05:00

How are you liking those three minute Navy showers? Or is that just urban legend?

Ummm, 3 minute? It's 38 seconds!!!!!!

How is that possible?

5 seconds to wet, water off. Soap, water on, 33 seconds to rinse.

I hope ur learning to love it. That frees up a whole hour of ur day!

Me no likey.

Me no hablo englais.

Deployment of Teens

2010-06-10T14:20:00.002-05:00

The boys have left for Hawaii. John and his bestie have gone to have some fun, sun, and life lessons with my Uncle Trip and Auntie Jan.

We took them to the airport this morning. I can't show you any pictures because I left the camera in the car in the fifth floor garage. I left my breakfast somewhere in the second floor garage. And I left my baby after he exited the security checkpoint and waved his last as he turned the corner to gate E20.

They don't have a cry room at the airport. And husbands like to make fun of their crying wives when they're not the ones going to Hawaii.

I'm going Margaritas and Poolside, as I muster the strength to throw my second oldest to the wolves at Uplift Christian Camp tomorrow.

What? WHAT?

2010-06-08T18:43:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, Melee' came home with a piece of paper he wanted me to sign which would say that we wanted to nominate him for the Gifted and Talented Program. They send home paperwork with the kids from time to time telling that it's time for nominations. I always figure that YOU'RE the teacher, YOU should nominate them if you think they might qualify, so I've never asked for a nomination form. I was a little hesitant to sign it, but he was super gung ho about it So the next day I called the counselor to find out what the GT program was all about. He already takes AP courses (Accelerated Program) and I didn't know what the difference was.

The counselor explained that at the Jr. High level, there's really nothing to the GT program. If they're in GT they're required to take at least one AP course (which he is already doing) and they get to go on a Field Trip every year. She said that all the kids that she has in GT, got their designation at the elementary school level. She said that some kids just really had an attachment to the label of GT. She always has a few kids every year who try to test for GT in Jr. High but that the I.Q. test in Jr. High is a higher level test than the elementary level, and that she has never had anyone qualify in Jr. High. She said that if the kids who qualified in elementary had to re-qualify there would not be near as many kids in the program. She went on to say that as long as he understood that if he didn't qualify, it was not a negative reflection on him in any way, she thought it would be fine for him to take the test. So we gave him the pep talk, made sure he understood that no one had ever qualified in Jr. High, and told him we were proud of him for wanting to try for it.

Guess who the first kid to qualify for GT in Jr. High is????

Kindergarten Playday the Ace Edition

2010-05-27T14:32:00.004-05:00

They didn't require as much herding as I thought they would, but sitting with a big group of Kindergarten boys at a picnic lunch can kinda make you loose your appetite. What with the arm farting, smooshed crust balls, "Hey, look what I'm eating!, and the burping...the burping is ridiculous!

I'm getting on the record first.

2010-05-24T17:53:00.002-05:00

This is what happened.

After he got through fighting with his sister, he breezed through, on his way to the bathroom, where I knew he would be spending the next half hour, so I said,

"Tell me everything I need to know about "Oklahoma!"."

He stalks back in my direction and says,

"What."

"Tell me everything I need to know about "Oklahoma!" this week."

"LIKE WHAT?"

"Like, what time is the show? Tuesday? Thursday? How much are tickets? Where do I get them? We'd like to come to at least one of the shows."

"I don't know. Like seven or something. I don't know how much the tickets are. You have to get them from somebody in Drama or Choir."

"Do we know anybody in Drama or Choir?"

"No."

"You don't know anybody in Drama or Choir?"

"Well, Amanda and Jodi."

"Don't you have Jodi's number?"

"Well, yea."

So then he stalks off in the direction he started.

Cut to 5:00. I get up from watching Oprah to continue my laundry efforts. Some disturbing thing starts in on the news, so as he sits down on the couch I have him change it to some cartoon instead. After folding a load, delivering said load, putting a load in the dryer, another load into the washer I decide I can't take another moment of being in my sweaty black workout gear from this morning. I go to my room pick out some shorts and sundries and head for the shower. I step in the shower, get wet, reach out and put some soap in my hand, transfer the soap onto my wet head when someone pounds on the bathroom door. (Startling but never unexpected.)

"WHAT?"

"AAHH FLAA WAA TA FLAA 5:30!" (commence furious rinsing of the hair.)

"WHAT?"

"FLA TE FLA FLA FLA 5:30!"

"I'LL BE OUT IN JUST ONE SECOND"

You know what he said, don't you? "I need to leave for practice at 5:30"
You know what practice, don't you? "Oklahoma!" practice.

Band Awards

2010-05-22T14:03:00.002-05:00

Yes, he's taller than me.

He's almost taller than his Dad.

He won one of four awards given for most improved woodwinds. When we got home, Melee' looked at the award and said "So you got the award for sucking less than you used to suck?"

That's what brother's are for, right? Always there to keep you humble.

Things they didn't tell you about having kids. #3452

2010-05-18T12:26:00.002-05:00

That if you decide to have a couple of kids, and they turn out to be boys, you'll be living with these two guys for four or five years.

T minus Four Weeks and Counting...

2010-05-08T09:07:00.003-05:00

School's out in four more weeks!! Yee-ha!

Melee' had a field trip to the water park yesterday, he has one more water park field trip and a field trip to the new Texas Stadium. What a life!

Peach had a field trip to the Alligator Park yesterday, and came back with all her digits.

Ace has a "Field Day" celebration at some point in the next few weeks. Kindergarten always gets the shaft.

The sixteen year old has a schedule like you wouldn't believe. His projects include a homemade kite, a Popsicle stick bridge, 75 lines of a poem memorized, a five chapter autobiography, he volunteered (was guilted) to play music in the High School production of Oklahoma, has a Sound Post recording and water park day, Spring Band Camp, a CT scan of his sinuses, Band Banquet, Band Bar-b-Que. A small price to pay for getting to go to Hawaii with his best friend in June.
Summer Band Camp starts August the 2nd, but right now I can't rule out the possibility that they might ask him to help with the incoming freshman, July 28th thru the 30th. Plus I've committed to homeschooling him for driver's ed. (Yeah, I know. I should be committed.)

Who said anything about a summer vacation?

Oh yea. We just started a new little project. Painting the ceilings white......

Not to be a buzz kill...

2010-04-27T17:01:00.002-05:00

but has anyone seen Food Inc.? I missed it the other day on PBS but you can watch it on PBS.com if you can stand the pause-load-play, pause-load-play circle. Or you can rent it.

But Geez Louise! Which came first the chicken or the egg substitute? Seriously. Just when I thought I knew what to avoid on my diet! Jaime Oliver gets me all motivated on the Food Revolution then BLAM! Chickens aren't chickens, hamburger meat is washed with amonia, and a certain chemical company-who-must-not-be-named is running the government.

It's enough to make you run for the hills with your guns. Except I don't like guns.

It's enough to make you want to buy your own cow. Except then you really wouldn't want to eat it would you, because then it would really be more of a pet, wouldn't it?

It's enough to make you want to be a vegetarian. Except doesn't that have something to do with cruelty to illegal aliens and diabetes?

It's enough to make you go out and buy a gallon of hormone-antibiotic free, organic milk. Except that shit is EIGHT BUCKS A GALLON!

I'm so confused.

The Cuteness Edition

2010-04-25T19:12:00.008-05:00

See, it's not just me. You can't resist either, can you? On Sunday, a stranger tapped me on the shoulder after mass, with her rolled up bulletin, pointed it at him and said, "That is the cutest little boy I've ever seen. Every time I see him at church...he's just the cutest." Does someone know any talent agents? A girl's gotta retire someday, you know. This is Ace with his "All-Star" Award for Accelerated Reading and Good Work Habits and Extra Chubilicious Cheeks.

The Peach Princess wearing her "Crazy Hat" for Hats for Haiti fundraiser. We've already put away her Reading Award for best Accelerated Reader Comprehension in her class. Brains and Beauty, she's got the whole package.

Furgie, checking out grass for the first time. Momma is not far away, waiting for us to go somewhere else so she can drag them all back to the safety of the barbeque grill, but a girl's gotta eat sometime.

Puff Daddy with his yummy colored ears and tail.

Furgie and Big Black, wrestling. The cuteness can not be fully conveyed in a pictoral.

Vanilla Ice is a white Fluff Monster.

(Kitty Photo Credits: John)

Happy Earth Day

2010-04-22T17:08:00.005-05:00

"I told ya so." Let me count the ways....

2010-04-21T12:10:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I had the greatest day.

If my life were a Broadway musical, which we all know it should be, when I got the email yesterday from the President of the Homeowners association saying that the new community mower's transmission went out....I would have been Ethel Merman and I would have thrown open my front door and run out on the front porch, waved my hands in the air and belted out..

"EVERYTHING'S COMIN' UP ROSES ....."

Gloating. That's a deadly sin isn't it? I can't help it. I want to help it, but I can't. I want to write an email to everyone in the neighborhood and sing, "I told ya, I told ya!" Or "Can we agree that this was a bad idea and we shouldn't do it again?" or "Was somebody's thirteen year old using it when it went out?" But Ethel and I are going to keep our trap shut and they are going to try it again with a different brand. But please keep the band warmed up, because I feel another song coming on.

The Trouble with Ace

2010-04-16T17:39:00.003-05:00

.. is that he is irresistible. It doesn't matter what kind of trouble he gets in, I can't stay mad at him. Of course he's cute, but he's cuddly too and after he's done something wrong he's always ever so sorry. Like Wednesday when he took his giant pencil and wrote on his armoire. Charlie caught him in the act. Or on Saturday, when I relented on my rule about no one under the age of 10 can have chewing gum. He begged. I said, "No playing with the gum, and you have to come and tell me when you're ready to throw it away and show me when you put it in the trash can." You can click on the picture above and see that the little stripe at the top of his head? It's gum in his hair.

Last night when I put him to bed I said "Tomorrow is TGIF!" and he said,
"Why are you glad it's TGIF?"
"Well, school's over and we have the weekend."
"Don't you like learning?"
"Sure. I like learning, but I like relaxing and doing whatever we want. Night-night. Love you."
"Love you too."

(Mom exits the room and wanders down the hall to fold towels.)

"Mom.

Maaahhhm.

MAAAAHHM."

(Mom sighs and shuffles back down the hall.)

"What is it baby?"
"Do you know why I like TGIF?"
"Video games?"
"I just can't resist."
"You could use your awesome powers of will."
"Nope. I'm addicted."

Best Investment I Ever Made

2010-04-14T18:27:00.005-05:00

What were they playing on the Trampoline? I have no idea, but it involved tennis rackets and a mini nerf football. And flourishes that Evan Lysacek would be proud of. Come to think of it, Melee's hair does look a little Dorthy Hamil-ish. Time for a trip to the barbershop.

OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING!

2010-04-12T06:46:00.006-05:00

Man I feel better! I wonder if I've had S.A.D. If so I'm gonna have to buy one of those sun lamps cause that was ridiculous! Now the sun is shining and it's beautiful and LOOK! I'm back on the mower again!

And then there's this. That's in my backyard. (Charlie gets the photo rights.)

And this is from the lot next door. (Photo: Charlie)

And then on Saturdays we get to do this. (Which is SO much fun as long as we don't have to roll out at the crack of Saturday.)

Ace has decided he's not near as excited about soccer as he used to be. I can't decide if that's because they're on a three game loosing streak or because the girl who was never gonna play sports is getting alot of attention, because she's not bad for a beginner!

Going to another school board meeting tonight, we'll see if my mood holds. But rumor has it that the Superintendent is moving (Fair Warning Midlothian ISD), yeah! So now just three school board members to overthrow, and my job here is done.

Oh! and tomorrow is my 19th Anniversary (poor Charlie) send him your sympathies, but he won't be here to read them because he's taking the day off and we're gonna go watch Movies at the Theater and then we're going to eat steak.

Word to Your Mother

2010-04-11T12:40:00.007-05:00

We have Kitty Fever around here.

Well, some of us do. Me, Peach, John and Zoey have Kitty Fever. Charlie, Melee', Ace and A.J. can take em or leave em. But they're sooo cuuuute! And even though Charlie keeps saying we aren't keeping any and I keep saying "Well, maybe we'll keep one.", three of them had names as of yesterday noon. John had decided the white one was Snowball, the off-white one was Cream Puff and the spotted one was Tiger Stripes. Then John, Melee' and I decided to see if we could tell if they were boys or girls. Turns out the three solid ones are the boys and the small spotted one is the only girl.

Melee' decided we'd name the black one Big Black. (After Rob and Big fame.) So I said, "You can't name a boy Cream Puff." Melee' said we'd name that one Puff Daddy, and I said "Then you have to call the white one Vanilla Ice." The little girl, by default became Furgie.

Here, gaze upon the cuteness...

Ice, Ice Baby

Big Black

Puff Daddy

Furgie, The Duchess of Cute

Curious George

MY BRAKES DON'T SQUEAK!

2010-04-08T22:16:00.005-05:00

Charlie put new brakes on my truck this weekend. They were so squeaky that the kids were embarrassed for me to pick them up at school.

The boys were supposed to be helping.
This is what I found when I went out to check on their progress.
This guy has clearly "conquered" the tire.

And this guy right here...

He's in charge of driveway security.

An Inappropriate Comment from the Gynecologist and My Imaginary Responses

2010-04-07T18:31:00.004-05:00

"Well, it feels like a uterus that has had four pregnancies."

A)"Thanks!"

B) "What makes you say that?"

C) "That'swhathesaid."

D) "Seriously?"

E) "Can I change my mind about that antidepressant?"

F) "Could you be more specific?"

G) "The McKinney women are known for their hearty uteruses."

H) "Would you please put that back where you found it?"

Feel free to leave a response of your own....

Mrs. Ne-Nash

2010-04-07T06:50:00.002-05:00

We have a kitty. Last spring sometime, a young stray cat started hanging around in the evenings. She came from the creek area. She would see the kids jumping on the trampoline and come over and try to get their attention so they would come and pet her. The dogs chased her a lot, and in the beginning she was living under the neighbors shed. She continued to come over in the evenings when the kids were out and we eventually started feeding her. We found out later that she was having breakfast at the neighbors and dinner with us. Despite the fact that Charlie claims to hate cats, he named her Mrs. Ne-nash and even pets her. Most of us are somewhat allergic to cats although the Little's don't seem to be bothered too much. When it got cold outside we put a light down under the barbecue grill and made her a bed to stay warm.

Growing up I always wanted a cat. I would beg and plead and one time, for about a week, I had one. Mom went and bought some expensive Persian fuzzy beast and I was thrilled! It came out of it's cage, shot under the sofa and stayed there for the week until she finally came out. Mom found out she had some sort of eye infection and she went back from whence she came and that was the end of my cat ownership.

The dogs have gotten used to her and don't chase her anymore. She even tries to eat out of their dog bowls sometimes. She's super sweet and not shy at all and of course I think she's the prettiest cat I've ever seen. We decided we were feeding her too much because she was getting a little fat and there's been some speculation that she might be more than just fat.

Yesterday we got home and the kids ran outside to play and Melee' came in shouting, "The cat had kittens! The cat had kittens!"

We have four babies! One white, one cream, one black and one black with spots. We're all Really excited. Except for Charlie, who says he's gonna put them in a pillow case. Bad Charlie.

Above Ground Garden Boxes

2010-04-05T17:21:00.007-05:00

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T18:34:00.005-05:00

2010-04-01T14:12:00.007-05:00

I'm off the juice. Wrote a letter to the editor anyway. Found out I'm anemic (WTH?), symptoms include not just being tired, but also grumpy. Go figure.

Had a really good day yesterday helping with the hospitality room for the UIL Band judges. Our kids got straight ones and a big trophy. Thanks in large part to my hot sauce.

Had a good morning, went to my training appt. Killed myself trying to do "Rockettes", don't even ask, it's ridiculous. She told me I looked skinny today, which I totally agree with. And then came home and now I'm supposed to be cleaning. GAAHHHD I HATE CLEANING! But company's coming for First Monday tomorrow and the house is a wreck. But GAHD I HATE cleaning!

Called a lady to volunteer for the book fair next week. Got off the phone after leaving a message and realized that if she's read the paper, she may be mad at me since I said the school board members should be held to a higher standard. And she's on the school board. yeah. nice. Had to call back and leave a lengthy message explaining that when I said "school board" I really wasn't lumping her into that category. Which is totally true, but didn't keep me from crying on the phone. I am such a loser.

So now my day's shot, the house is only half picked up, I just want to go sit on the couch now, but I still have to take a shower and go to Holy Thursday services.

Plus I'm supposed to get up and go with my Mom, Aunt and Co. at seven to first Monday and it's supposed to rain tomorrow.

Oh yeah...but this really cracked me up...

"Spring has sprung, ma Lady!"

2010-03-25T20:17:00.000-05:00

Wellbutrin Post Number 2

2010-03-24T18:02:00.004-05:00

Hell yes, I'm still cussing.

I've gone and stood in crowded school board meeting to protest the non-renewal of the Vice-Principal's contract.

I've subsequently painted a "Renew Mrs. XYZ's contract!" on the window of my Suburban. I scraped off the other two windows where I used stronger rhetoric.

I called several of my neighbors to protest the idea of the home owner's association buying a mower to mow the right of ways and a storage building to house it. I got outvoted.

I've had to sit on my hands so as not to flip off my neighbors.

Today I got on WebMD to look at meds and you know what one of the side effects of Wellbutrin are?

It makes you want to fight somebody.

The Second Day of Spring

2010-03-21T11:40:00.003-05:00

As captured by my new D-SLR camera! (Happy Birthday to Me...) I now have new and sophisticated ways to mess up photos. Be sure to click on each one to see them in all their glory!

They did say Saturday was spring right? Lord, Thank you for not letting me live in Oklahoma, Amen.

Suicidal Bunnies

2010-03-10T09:29:00.003-06:00

Thought ya'll might appreciate some Carlsbad Caverns humor.

I couldn't find one that depicted Death By School Board Meeting.

Heading to Colorado for the Band trip tomorrow night. Can't decide if I want to chaperon the boys bus or the girls bus. Giggling and chatting or wrestling and wedgies? The choice may seem apparent to some of you, but not me. I'm leaning toward wrestling and wedgies, because I think they'll get bored and fall asleep faster. Then again they might throw skittles at each other all night.

Happy Belated Uncle Johnny

2010-03-06T19:59:00.004-06:00

We made this Birthday Video to Uncle Johnny for his birthday in January. Right around the time the USB Ports went down. It's the thought that counts right?

Better Living Through Medicine, Damnit.

2010-03-03T09:48:00.003-06:00

So I'm on the juice. I was on the Wellbutrin for two weeks before I upped the dose to two a day. (per my doctor's instructions) And the only difference I can tell is that I'm cussing like a sailor. So far my shitty attitude about living in this one horse town has not improved. I'm on the brink of another Letter to the Editor...

POWER TO THE PEOPLE, YOU COWPOKE POLITICAL SHITHEADS!!!!

If my neighbor sends me one more bad political joke, likening my black lab to a welfare recipient I'm gonna burn this mother down. (Thus the trip to Doc Pritchard's for a Happy Pill) I'm renaming this joint Skunk Trails. And how bout the old dude who formally met my husband the other day and said "Oh! I've seen your check in the collection basket and I was wondering who you were!" What the hell. Really? I've got one foot out the door there as well. My best next door neighbor is moving because he's the Athletic Director at the High School (Read Head Football Coach) and god forbid we have a season or two in a row where we don't win district. The last head football coach was shot by a disgruntled parent. And I'm thinking, what have I done? And guess what, you can't write a Letter to the Editor or call BULLSHIT on anything because then your kids will get blackballed. Because you're a nobody. A newbie from somewhere else, whom they're just as happy to see go, as stay.

DAMNSHITASSWIPECRAPPYSHITJACKASSFUUUUUUUUUDDDDGGGE....

And I didn't even give up candy for lent. Imagine it.
(Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Maybe I can still write all my Letters to the Editor right here.)

On a funnier note, yesterday I was looking for Peach so that we could get ready for our first soccer practice and I couldn't find her.
I said "Ace, where's Peach?"
He says, "She's in her prayer place."
"Her what?"
"Her prayer place."
"Prayer place?"
"Yeah, she built a prayer place outside with bricks."
"Oh! That's nice, is that for lent?"
"What's lent?"

Bum-dum-pah!

What HE said

2010-01-28T12:25:00.001-06:00

"Mom, you're awesome!"

"I am?"

"Yea. You bought the two best deserts for my lunch box in the whole world!"

Brett Favre Rocks

2010-01-24T21:49:00.002-06:00

He's Got a Way with the Ladies

2010-01-21T17:39:00.004-06:00

It's always so nice when Mom comes to help me and keep me company when Charlie is out of town. I can't say it enough times. In my next life I'm gonna marry a Sagittarius. Well, as long as the rules of the Sagittarius don't apply to me. Okay, in my next life I want to be a man and, oh hell. What I'm trying to say is that it's really nice for somebody else to be in charge. I hate being in charge. I thought being a Mom was all about being patient and kind and mushy and smushy and not at all about being in charge of anything. When she's here, everybody stands up a little bit straighter and wipes their bottom a little more carefully, you know what I'm saying? So even though she's been up on a ladder as much as the guy I paid ten thousand dollars to paint my house this week, she's still down in the trenches telling the kids what to do. She says all the same things I normally say, but she says it about thirty minutes before I do and with more authority. They mind her better because nobody want to see Nana with her mad face. All except John, he makes me feel normal because he gives her the same amount of trouble as he gives me.

So last Tuesday, everybody was fed, showered, in their pajamas and we settled in to the enormous new sectional sofa to watch American Idol. I'm sitting in one corner where it reclines and Nana is sitting across the way, where the other piece reclines and she's flanked on each side with Peach and Ace curled up under each arm. We're watching the show when I look over at some commotion and Ace is giving Mom a pat down. He looks like he's searching for weapons, right around the boobage area. I started laughing so hard I almost fell off the couch, she waved him off but not before he'd gotten to second base. There's never a dull moment when she's here and there is ALWAYS Lot's of laughs.

Thanks Mom.

Thanks Ace.

Paint, Part II or The School Nurse Calls Again

2010-01-20T08:52:00.005-06:00

So we took the dented can of paint in and commenced to painting the Potty/Shower/Tub room. Mom wants the tall ladder. The eight foot industrial size ladder. So we have to maneuver it down the hall, into the first part of the bathroom, then try to turn it, duck under the next doorway, up and over. We put part of it in the tub, part of it in the three foot space that remains. She starts to cut in because our (her) original idea is to paint the ceiling white and stripe the bathroom incorporating some of the old color. But I chose rough texture and had the painters paint the ceilings the same color as the walls, which made it a no-go for cutting in with a brush. So the backup plan is to just paint the entire room and we'll think about stripes latter. Up the ladder for cut in, down the ladder to move it. Wrangle the ladder in the five foot square space. Up the ladder, hang over backward because you're too close to the ceiling at the wrong angle. Trade. Up the ladder with the roller. Down the ladder to get more paint. On and on etc.

Although I have been working out with Bob Harper of the Biggest Loser, Bob has not prepared me for painting. We finish up the first coat of paint around the time the kids roll up on the bus. (Have I sung you the praises of The Bus?) Mom is completely wiped out, she likes to start her projects when the sun breaks and end around noon. Then the afternoon kid shift begins and we have aspirin for dinner.

The next day get the kids off to school and start second coating the Tub room. Fairly quickly we then move on to the sink area. Much easier square room, with the expanse of the counter to stand on which makes it easier for two people to work at the same time. We get the room done with it's first coat and take a break around 10:30 or 11:00. Just as we settle in to our chairs, my phone rings. It's John. He forgot to have me sign his exemption form for finals, which are Thursday and Friday, and it has to be turned in today, could I please come to the office and sign it for him? Sure, not a problem we're on break. So Mom and I hop in the car, run to the high school and sign his paper. We take this opportunity to run by her house to pick up some wire to hang a mirror with and head back to my house. We determine that the paint is dry enough to start the second coat. We get done around one o'clock and as I'm cleaning up and Mom's putting on the final touches, my phone rings. It's the school nurse from the elementary. "Mrs.? One of the children in Peach's class's Mom called to let us know that they have lice. We did a check of all the kids in the class and three of them have lice. Peach has eggs, but no bugs."

And the hits just keep on coming. I say "Could you please check Ace for me before I have to run to Walmart for shampoo and new pillows?" She was kind enough to overlook my previous bad attitude and called me back to let me know Ace was clear. So after I stripped her bed and started scalding everything I could get my hands on, I threw on my glasses-fake nose-and mustache disguise and head over to the Walmart for lice shampoo. Got home put the scalded sheets in the dryer and start scalding the comforter, spray her bed. And that's when the scope of this job hits me. This isn't like the time I joined that gym when John was a baby and after one day in the daycare he got lice. He had hardly any hair, he slept in his little crib, sheets some clothes, bing-bang-boom. No. She's eight. She has two drawers full of hair accessories, one hundred and thirty stuffed animals which rotate in and out of her bed on a constant basis. It's winter and we've kept it so cold that everyone is walking around with a fleece throw at all times, all of which are the same color. AND I CAN'T QUIT ITCHING!!! They hop off the bus as I'm putting things in the washer, so I bring her immediately in and wash her hair with the medicine. When we're all done I sit her down and start to comb through her hair with the nit comb. I get all the way through her hair and have yet to find one. John's morbid curiosity gets the better of him and he picks up a comb and starts searching, "Here's one. Oh, here's one. Here's another one."
I can't see any of them, it's like he's puttin' one over on me.
"Where?"
"Right here. See."
"NO."
"Right here."
"I don't see anything."
"Mom, go get your reading glasses."
Her hair is so fine, that the nit comb doesn't work, we have to spot them then use our fingernails to pull them off the hair.

Grossed out yet? Don't itch your head. I double dog dare you.

So we stood like monkeys going through her head for the better part of an hour. And I say "Now Peach, tomorrow when you go to school, I don't want you talking to the other kids about lice okay?" "Why." "It's just not a good idea." "Well what if somebody else says they have lice, can I tell them?" "Well, I'd rather you wouldn't." "Why?" "Because when Mommy's find out about lice it makes us nervous." "But if somebody asks me if I have it, I'll just say that I didn't have any bugs, I just have eggs." "Oooo, I wish you wouldn't." "Why?" "I just don't want you to talk about it okay?" "But what if somebody else is talking about it?" "Just don't okay?" "Why?" "Cause I said so, K?" "But why?" Of course I haven't started dinner. I was planning to have the spaghetti sauce all done and in the crock pot so that all I had to do was the noodles, but that plan fell in the toilet somewhere around 10:30. I throw everything I can think of that might have touched her head and is not washable, into plastic bags and hide them in the closet for the next month. Then I head to the kitchen and start dinner, I pass Mom in the hall and say, "If I don't get to sit down soon, I'm gonna start crying." We eat dinner, I put Peaches bed back together then beg John to look through my hair because I CAN FEEL THEM CRAWLING ALL OVER THE PLACE I'M INFESTED!!!! "No, Mom. I'm SURE. You just need to use my Head and Shoulders, you've got some dandruff." "But it HAS to be bugs, I CAN FEEL THEM CRAWLING!" "Chill Mom. I promise there's no bugs."

The next day when Peach got home I asked, "So did you say anything about lice at school today." and she gave me this huge grin that said "Silly Mommy, of course I talked about lice today. Did you really think that I could go to school and NOT talk about lice?" A grin that said, "I did. But you can't blame me right?" "Oh P. Who did you talk to?" She discussed it with at least two boys that I know of, one of which she swears said he had lice first. *sigh*

It's a week later and no amount of Head and Shoulders and Lice shampoo can make me stop itching. Yesterday Mom and I striped the bathroom and she is in there right now, touching up all the places where the paint bled through under the tape. I'd show you a picture, but my USB port... yeah.

Why Painters Charge SO Much

2010-01-19T11:23:00.002-06:00

Boy, what a week we have had! Charlie was in Oklahoma last week (again this week), and Nana's been here crackin' the whip and takin' names! I have some pics and a video for you but guess what? My USB ports - she no worky.

So Day one last week, we decided to repaint the kids bathroom. It's really dark in there. Yes, the builder was right and I was wrong. It's a little like being in a cave. (This is where I would insert the first pic. Can I tell you how frustrating it is when things don't work and you can't figure out why? I blame Microsoft.) So we looked over some paint chips. I'm looking for something with a gold undertone instead of the Everyday Taupe I've got everywhere in the entire house. So we picked Cocoa Creamy for the sink area, and Whipped Cream Topping for the Tub/Shower/Toilet area. Which doesn't sound all that gold toned now that I see it on paper. Once we got it on the walls, it's basically white and off-white. But getting it on the walls...that's where my story begins.

We decide to go to the local hardware store where the trade-off is the paint costing thirty bucks a can, versus driving all the way to Lowe's and using a half a tank of gas or better. So we go get the paint, but go over to Walmart for our other supplies so we don't buy seven dollar a roll tape. We drive back home and I open up the passenger side door and BOOM! the can of Whipped Cream Topping falls out, hits the driveway and explodes everywhere. My stomach cramped up immediately. First Charlie's gonna give me hell for getting paint on the driveway. I say "CHARLIE'S GONNA KILL ME!", which really doesn't mean he's gonna kill me, or even so much that he'll be mad at me. What I mean to say is "Charlie's gonna be really irritated that I got paint on the driveway and he's never gonna let me hear the end of it for the rest of my life.". He's gonna say "Why did you have the paint stacked in the back seat? Why didn't you put it the back." Which brings up point number two, and that is, that I couldn't put the paint in the back because it was full of the recycles. Recycles that I haven't taken to the Reclamation station since before Thanksgiving because the Reclamation Stations is only open on Thursday, Friday and every third Saturday of the vernal equinox unless such time as it might be raining or a First Monday or holidays or Your Momma.... Charlie hates that I try to recycle all the paper and cardboard because it takes up a huge space in the garage, it's a pain in the butt and I never get it taken. Every time I say "Well take it this Saturday! You and me! It'll be a blast!", and then we haul it over there and sure enough it's the third Saturday of the Fingernail Moon and it's closed. So of course, THIS last Saturday we went to take it, (he and I because, you know, I wanted to save it till Saturday, when he could go with me because it's gonna be SO much fun, don't you know.) And we pulled up and the gate was closed and I thought he was gonna turn purple and have a stroke right in front of the Reclamation Center. He said "That's it! I'm throwing this stuff out right here and they can pick it up when they get here!" and I said "NO! You can't do that! If it gets wet it's no good! They can't use it if it gets wet." and he says "Bullshit! What's all that right out there?" And sure enough back behind the fence there are these huge bales of cardboard littered all over the grounds, but I persisted. "I just know when I went the last time he asked me if any of it had gotten wet because they couldn't use it if it got wet." to which he just stared at me so I said "Okay. I don't care. Dump it out here if you want to." to which he said "No, I don't want to dump it out if your gonna be mad at me for the rest of the weekend." Which settled the matter, because we're passive aggressive like that.

SO THE REASON I DUMPED PAINT ALL OVER THE DRIVEWAY AND WASTED THIRTY DOLLARS WAS BECAUSE I DIDN'T LET HIM DUMP THE RECYCLES ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD SATURDAY.

I know, I'll never hear the end of it. So Mom and I sprang into action, like only the keystone cops could. I found a plastic cup and started scraping paint and putting it back in the bucket. She ran inside and got me two paper plates to do the job more efficiently, then she went and got the little broom. I finished putting back all but about two inches of the paint back in the bucket and go and grab the nearest hose while she moves the truck. I have to take off the hose cover, screw on the hose only to find that at full blast, all I'm going to get is a trickle of water and chunks of ice. I go to the next hose bib looking for the power sprayer, not there. I go around the house to the next one, not there. I go around to the fourth one, not there. I have now run a full circle completely around the house to find the sprayer at the last hose location. I come around to find that although the plan was to shoot the paint straight off the driveway onto the grass, there's not enough pressure so although Mom is trying, the water/paint is running all the way back down the driveway. I turn off the water, put on the sprayer, give it back to Mom, run in the house and fill two two quart pitchers with hot water and soap. I run back out and dump this on the paint, run back in the garage and get the industrial size broom and start scrubbing. This went on for about 20 minutes in the freezing cold weather till I finally decided you wouldn't "technically" be able to see that I spilled paint on the driveway.

Then we still had to go in and paint because the can was dented and we couldn't put the lid back on.

Good times.

Try as I might...

2010-01-09T14:00:00.002-06:00

Hello, cubesteak, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision
That was planted in my brain
Still remains
With lot's of gravy.

Dear Me, Please Open Late September 2010

2010-01-07T12:11:00.002-06:00

I know what you're wondering and so I'm taking the opportunity to answer.

Yes. Yes it DOES get cold here. There is a reason you've got a couple of sweaters in your closet to go along with that ridiculous sweatshirt you like to wear. In fact I'd appreciate it if you would go and buy us some more warm things to wear. Like socks, socks would be nice. It's 23 degrees outside today and the wind is howling. Howling. And I know you don't remember it today, but the socks in the sock box are not adequate. Maybe something in a nice Hiking Boot sock. Better yet, maybe they're selling sock warmers over in the hunting isle at Walmart. Get them now, because they won't have any when it's 23 degrees outside and the wind is howling. And yes, Mom did buy us the fuzzy boots for the trip to Colorado last March, but I'm thinking about putting them on right now just to wear around the house. Don't get rid of the long pajamas, I know right now they're taking up valuable shelf space and it seems like you should take them to Goodwill to make room for more tank tops, but don't do it.

Love,
Me

P.S. Make sure the kids are still riding the bus. Despite what they might say, the bus rocks!

Channeling Eric Garcia

2010-01-06T14:23:00.002-06:00

Day three of getting it together in the diet and exercise department. Remember when I had a trainer? I know. Those were the days. I found some old photos in the closet the other day and called John in to look, because he had some WOW pictures of what he looked like just two or three years ago. The kid's taller than his dad now, it's amazing. In one of the pictures of Melee's birthday party, right before we moved from Houston, he said "Wow Mom. Look at you!" "I know", I said, "wasn't it great?" He said, "I don't even remember you looking like that." "I know, it's sad isn't it." Sob. It makes me sad. I had it. I had it for a short moment of time. I didn't even have it long enough to enjoy the fact that I had it. And then we moved to this damned place and I've been stuffing my feelings with food ever since. I wasn't stuffing them while we were building the house. That was pure fun! I loved every minute of it, but I did take a major vacation in the intensity of my workouts. See the thing of it is, I haven't stopped exercising. I don't mind the exercise, but it's just not as fun anymore.

So I'm trying to channel my inner Eric Garcia. I've started my food journal again. And I'm gonna give myself smiley faces when I do good, and sad faces when I don't eat enough protein. And I'm working out with Bob, from The Biggest Loser, he's been fun. I like his sense of humor. I think Jillian may be week 2 and I'm kinda scared of what she's gonna say, if I were on the ranch I'm tough enough to take what she dishes out, but I don't think she'll be an effective bully on DVD. I'm gonna try to stay on the positive side, cause that's what Eric would do.

OM

2010-01-05T13:34:00.002-06:00

One of the reasons I haven't blogged as much over the last year or so is that I have a bad attitude. I keep thinking I'm going to wait it out. I just need to get adjusted to this new place, I keep telling myself. Just give it a little more time, I think, eventually I'm gonna find my spot in this weird new universe. But the longer time goes on, the more disgruntled I seem to get. I keep having these little "episodes", that yes, happen to coincide with a particular time in a woman's cycle. It feels like PMS on steroids. I admit I used to get a little grouchy every 30 days or so, but this is different, this is much bigger. And the hard thing, is that I don't see it when it shows up, it takes me a while to realize what's going on. There have been several occasions now, that have been big enough that even Charlie knows what's going on and sometimes before me.

Last month something set me off and after the second day of fuming around the house I finally had my "aha" moment and texted Charlie "Hey, do you think it's time for the craziness again?" He texted back and said "The unwritten rule in our family is that if Momma won't let Ace sit in her lap, she's gonna blow." The night before Ace had been trying to sit in the rocker with me and I kept deflecting him and finally turned to him and said "Momma needs some space right now." Not one of my proudest mothering moments. Not that there's anything wrong with a little space...and that was one of the milder episodes. There was "The Honking Bastard", and "The Great Beenie Weenie Incident" and today. I'm naming today "Bullshit Day."

Today is the first day that the kids are riding the bus home. Originally, I couldn't see putting Ace on the bus, but after four months of sitting in carpool lanes for a total of almost two hours a day, I decided (with a little nudge from "The Honking Bastard"), that maybe I could afford to let go a little. Perhaps this would give me some peace, which I'm desperately looking for. The bus beats us home everyday. I tried to warm everyone (and by everyone, I mean John) up to the idea and in one of his moments of weakness, when he was not outright screaming protest, I put the plan in place. It would start the week after Christmas break. I called the bus barn yesterday and made the arrangements. The Little's are put on the bus by teachers, the Jr. High and High School crowd are on there own. So the arrangements were made, and of course Ace and Peach are just chomping at the bit, they can't believe I have finally relented and am allowing them to ride the "magical" school bus!

So the first thing to go wrong was a note from the nurse in Peach's bag yesterday. I can't say Peach is a hypocondriac, but she does cry wolf from time to time. And there's something about this school, if they even pretend to have a fever, they call you immediately and want you to pick them up. This has happened at least two times this year. Once, they took her temperature when she came in from recess saying that she didn't feel very good. OF COURSE SHE DIDN'T FEEL GOOD, SHE WAS RUNNING AROUND IN 100 DEGREE HEAT!!!! THUS THE TEMPERATURE!!!! So then I have to pick her up, she comes home and within 10 minutes she miraculously feels better and wants to play and have my undivided attention which I am in no way prepared to give, because you just faked your way out of school and I can't send you to school tomorrow because you have to be "fever-free" for twenty-four hours before returning to school! Which means I get to replay this whole scenario of you wanting to play and watch t.v. and play computer and Momma, Momma, Momma ahhhhhhh!!! (see, this is part of the monthly thing that has me screaming inside my head with no way to turn it off) Ahem. So, as I was saying, there was a note in the bag from the nurse stating that she came to the office complaining of a sore throat with a temperature of 98 (Thank the lord it hadn't been 99 or she would have called my ass) and by the way, her tonsils looked very swollen and red. (And of course my response was required)

My response: "Wonk, wonk lady. Her brothers have all been sick with a sore throat and a cough, she's third in line, destined to have it. All my kids have large tonsils and adenoids, which make them terrific snorers in case you were wondering. No one has had a fever. I repeat no one. Please file my response where the sun don't shine. Sincerely, Her Loving Mother.

I waxed PC philosophical with her, stuck my response in the backpack. And don't get me wrong, I did my due diligence, and not even with any attitude. Was she feeling okay? Let me take your temperature again. Does your throat hurt now? Then this morning, How you feeling this morning? Is your throat hurting? Felt her head the whole nine yards. Everything was sunny side up and a Go for project Bus Ride. After I dropped them off at school I went over to Mom's (just a couple of blocks down from the elementary) and chatted with her and my Aunt and arranging for backup if the Big's miss the bus today. We had some hot chocolate, discussed day two of the "healthy eating plan" (hot chocolate not-withstanding) and I headed home to do whatever it is I do to pass the hours of the day. I had not been inside my house two minutes when the phone rang, "Mrs.? Peach's here in the office and she's got a temperature of 100.1 and we need you to come pick her up."

Yeah. I'll let you sit on that for a minute.

She lit the fuse. They wound me up yesterday and today that bitch called and lit the fuse. I'm not sure what I said, I was polite but evidently my voice was strained. I asked whether or not they could get a note to Ace's teacher as THIS WAS THE FIRST DAY THAT THEY WERE GOING TO RIDE THE BUS HOME TOGETHER AND NOW HIS SISTER WON'T BE ON THE BUS WITH HIM, COULD THEY? COULD THEY GET A NOTE DOWN THERE?????? I drove angry to the elementary school, God forbid they could have called me when I was two blocks away at my Mother's house. NOOO they had to wait till I got ALL the way back home! And don't think Charlie didn't get an ear full. Just because you're AWOL on you way to Oklahoma doesn't mean you don't get to hear a play by play of how shitty my day is and how NOW THE PRECIOUS HAS TO RIDE THE BUS HOME WITHOUT HIS SISTER!!!!! I went into the office to pick her up and no one said a word. No "Hello", no "Sorry to hear she's not feeling well.", no "If it were up to me we'd send her back to class, but that pesky ole thermometer...yuck, yuck, yuck" just silence. I signed the notebook and said "Were ya'll able to get a note to Ace's teacher so that he knows he has to ride the bus by himself?" and she says, "I don't know, did you ask whoever called you?" I am using every muscle in my entire body, every ounce of restraint I can muster not to slide over the counter and put my hands around her neck and squeeze until she can't speak any more. I said "Yes." and she turns to the other lady who's standing right there and asks if "blah blah blah?" and "Yes blah, blah blah." and I think I said "Thank you." but maybe I didn't, and walked Peach out to the car.

I've dressed her down accordingly. We had this discussion the last time she came home crying wolf. She has no temperature and as soon as we walked in the door she said "I'm hungry, can I have something to eat?" She's asked to play on the computer, she's asked to watch t.v. upstairs, she's asked me the answer to every other problem on the 14 pages of homework she brought home.

I was so upset at the elementary school staff's lack of any human decency to my concern about the Precious that I called the Jr. High instead and said "Could I get a note to my son Melee'? Today is the first day that my kids are riding the bus home and I had to go pick up his little sister at the elementary because she's sick and I'm afraid he might be worried when she's not on the bus." "Oh! Certainly!" She said, with just the right amount of care and compassion. She's the only reason I'm not putting a for sale sign out in my front yard today.

Messy Christmas to All..

2009-12-24T19:20:00.004-06:00

Wishing you all the Merriest of Christmas' and the Happiest of New Years!

Love, Cool and the Gang

Guess Who Turned 16 Today

2009-12-24T19:03:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday T!

Sorry it was called "My Super Sucky Sweet 16"

But look at it this way...you now qualify to be on "Pimp My Ride"!

A Few Thanks

2009-12-04T17:37:00.002-06:00

The cloud I was sitting on this week has seeped out from under my butt and has rearranged itself around my head like Pigpens dirt cloud, I guess Thanksgiving is officially over. So I thought I'd give you a few highlights of last week.

I'm thankful for a house that allows for twenty-one of my favorite people to come spend the week with me.

I'm thankful for a brother who was not only able to come for Thanksgiving with my niece, but who called me this week and said that he had the most awesome time and that his favorite part was cooking for a big group of people, and would like to help me plan what we could cook next year.

I'm thankful for sisters-in-law who brought me three (count 'em) THREE chocolate cinnamon sheet cakes, which we ate, and which I tried desperately to finish, but took the last one to the Band Booster Pot luck this week and scored points with.

I'm thankful for a mother-in-law who tried to wash every single dish and piece of silverware by hand and who I found scrubbing the grill of my stove, in her spare time.

I'm thankful for gift cards that helped me feed twenty-one people and for those who took turns making the Walmart runs at their own expense.

I'm thankful to the man at Whirlpool corporation who replaced my washer last year. The washer that allowed me to wash towels for twenty-one people for a week.

I'm thankful for the Guardian Spray Bark Control Collar that not only rendered my Chihuahua speechless, it keeps her smelling Lemony Fresh.

I'm thankful for getting waxed at Bananagrams and Scrabble Slam.

I'm thankful for brothers-in-law who are tolerant of being held around the ankles by small children who harass them for hours on end.

I'm thankful for neighbors that did not call the Sheriff's department when the crowd started singing Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen around the bonfire, somewhere near 1 a.m. Tuesday morning.

I'm thankful that no one was injured while using the new propane blow-torch Charlie bought for starting the bonfires.

I'm thankful for Cinnamon Crunch Bagles by Panera Bread, that were brought by request from Houston.

I'm thankful that no one got sick over the holiday. And by that, I mean, I'm thankful that none of my kids spewed while we had company.

I'm thankful for the honorary brother-in-law who spoils my kids with thoughtful gifts.

I'm thankful for the brother-in-law who likes to make pancakes. (p.s., I'm investing in a griddle or a waffle maker (your choice) before next Thanksgiving and assigning you a couple of mornings.)

I'm thankful for neices and nephews who are, at once, too old and too young to want to hang out with Aunts and Uncles, but come from long distances to do it anyway.

I'm thankful for my mother and aunt, who came over on Monday after all my company left, and helped me clean house from top to bottom and redecorated to boot. (And when I say "helped me", I mean they cleaned and redecorated while I put all the random things away that they didn't know where to put.

And that's what I mean when I say I'm thankful for family. I'm not sure what it means when Ace says it...

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-07T07:19:00.000-05:00

Handy Charlie

2009-10-05T17:23:00.007-05:00

The projects roll on...
My Mom got a new countertop in her kitchen and we talked her in to letting us do the backsplash ourselves. Charlie dove right in. This one was MUCH easier than the one we did for our backsplash in Houston. The tiles were 2 x 2 tiles on a mesh 1 ft square, very little cutting and it was a really good fit. I'm sorry honey, I mean...Charlie used his awesome skills. Geometry skills, sawing skills, troweling skills, measuring skills, artistic skills.... and here is the beautiful result....

Well, it gets more beautiful down at the bottom...

I know Mom was really nervous because she has the perfection gene, which did not carry down to me. I limited my participation accordingly...

I did some of this corner...

Ta- Da! after grouting. The counter is really nice solid surface. It's not as speckled looking as it appears in this pic...

He had to go back and work on the plugs. And I'm not sure if the undercounter lights have been put back up yet.

But it looks GOOD, if we do say so ourselves....

Karma For Captain Underpants

2009-10-02T19:18:00.002-05:00

The dogs have been a menace lately. A.J. was always very good about staying home despite the fact that we have no fence. She might go say "hi" to the neighbors every once in a while, but not too often and she didn't stay gone long. After the addition of Zoey, however, they've become a couple of neighborhood hoodlums. For the most part it's penny-ante stuff. Don't leave your trash bag unattended, they've pilfered twice that I know of. But they're a general nuisance and I keep waiting for someone to knock on my door and tell me enough-is-enough.

So of course being the worry-wart that I am, I keep discussing with Charlie the fact that we need some kind of fence.
"Some body's gonna say something!" I say.
"Oh, they're not hurting anybody." he replies.
"But you would have a fit, if some one's dog was in our yard.", I say.
"Only if they poop in the yard.", he answers back.
"Well, I'm sure they've pooped in somebodies yard!", I retaliate.
To which he scoffs at me and says "They're just fine."

Lately, I can hardly keep them home at all. Yes I have a pen, that we use mostly in the house, but Zoey climbs it like a ladder if I put her in it outside. I haven't tried it on A.J. because she's mostly a follower and not the leader, until about two weeks ago when a friendly stray cat took up residence under our next door neighbor's shed. Mrs. Ne-nache has caused such a ruckus that I can't keep A.J. home if she's caught wind of her. Zoey likes to chase her, but knows the cat would eat her for lunch if she got too close. A.J. wants to grind her bones. Mrs. Ne-nache loves the kids and comes over when she sees them jumping on the trampoline and meows and meows and meows. Now sometimes in the middle of the night, Zoey thinks she sees her and starts barking and barking and just WILL NOT shut up, so most nights Charlie gets up and moves her to the garage.

One night last week at about 1:30 in the morning, Zoey starts in and after about three minutes, Charlie grumbles, rolls out of bed and shuffles half asleep, into the kitchen. All of a sudden I hear "HEY! GET OUT OF HERE!!!" The back door slams and I hear this banging around on the back porch and Charlie's yelling and the dogs are going crazy. When Charlie gets back to the bedroom I mumbled "What was that all about?" and he said "There were TWO HORSES ON OUR BACK PORCH!"

He goes to get Zoey out of the pen and looks out the back door and sees this huge shadow on the back porch and yells, "HEY GET OUT OF HERE!" he said "I thought I was gonna have to go out in my underwear and fight somebody!" and then he turns on the light and sees it's a horse, and the horse is taking it's nose and trying to scoot the big metal pail we keep the dog food in, off of the table it was sitting on and right as he gets the door unlocked the horse knocks it off the table and it hits the porch and explodes dog food all over the porch. He starts shooing it and it backs up and steps in the dogs plastic water bowl and shatters it and slides off the porch. The other horse was out further in the yard and he couldn't scare them off any further that that. He said "By the way, thanks for coming to my aid when you heard the excitement!"

The next morning there were a couple of fresh piles of horse poop out in the back yard and I said "Karma's a bitch, ain't it!?"

Still no fence....

Who Loves You, Baby?

2009-09-03T21:47:00.004-05:00

Teenagers. You can't live with em, you can't shoot em.

This is a picture I tried to take of John as he got out of the car as he shouted "Don't even think about it!"

You can see how happy he was when I rushed him out so I could take the group "first day" pictures. I'll pause here so you can click on it and see up close and personal the contempt in his eyes. Is that really the face you want to make at the person who holds the fate of what you'll be driving to school everyday for the rest of your high school career? Really?

On the upside, he's had a very good first two weeks. Likes all his teachers (so far). Has done a little bit of homework (so far). And I haven't received any emails from teachers (so far). He's having a very good time. He's even talking. At school. In front of other kids. The first football game was last Friday, we didn't get to see much of the kids marching, but the Grease program is gonna be a LOT of fun this year. And the Eagles won the game in a blowout. And we continue to embarrass him by working in the concession stand with the rest of the "crazy" band parents. (his description, not mine)

One of the 500 7th Grade Wide Receivers

2009-09-01T21:29:00.003-05:00

This is the busiest boy I know! He's happy to be back in school, at least so far...

He has to be at Football Practice at 7:15 in the morning, athletics is first period, he has a day full of Pre-AP classes, then he follows it up with Football Practice after school till 5:00. He's got the strength and size for the offensive line, but does he have the stamina...that's the question!

The first week of school we have SO many papers that I have to sign, enrollment, health, bus riders, on and on. When we got to the Athletics paperwork and they said "Athletics is a Dangerous Activity which could result in concussions, broken bones, pulled muscles (blah, blah blah) up to and including death..." I passed the papers to Charlie and said "I can't do it." So Tuesday Melee' unloads papers for me to sign, one set from each of his teachers. Each one outlining the teachers expectations, grading policies, etc. and by the time I got done reading them I had a stomach ache! Then he tells me that the coaches have told them they HAVE to take a shower after athletics. I know he was nervous, but I was equally nervous. There is a down side to being able to put yourself in somebody else's shoes.

The Good Nacho

2009-08-30T12:30:00.005-05:00

Peach got a great teacher for her 2nd grade year! Mrs. R was actually Melee's history teacher last year and she was able to move to the elementary this year which is what she was hoping for. She loved having Melee' in her class and she was one of his favorite teachers so she was very excited to have his sister in her class.

We were running a little late because she was the last of the Mohicans to be dropped off.
A quick pic and we exited the building. Nope, I didn't go to the "Cry Party" in the cafeteria. I didn't even cry. She had a great first day! On the second day she came home and I asked her how her day was and she said "Good. I'm a good nacho."

And I said "A good what?"

"Our names are on a nacho and our nachos are on a platter and if we get in trouble we have to move our nacho to the yellow platter and if we get in trouble again, we have to move it to the red platter."

By the third day she said "I don't like school, it's just work."

"Well you like going to recess and playing with friends."

"No I don't like recess, cause I get all sweaty and all my friends just like to run around and scream and I don't like to run that much."

So much for the school year. The party's over.

The Precious Goes to Kindergarten

2009-08-29T22:10:00.005-05:00

The night before he was SO excited. As I was helping him into his pajamas he said, "I hope the teacher is really, really, really, really, neverlasting nice!" And I said, "You mean "everlasting" nice?" He said, "NO, NEVERlasting, like INfinity."

We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us.

How can you leave a face like that! Oh sure, it looks like a cute teddy bear coloring page, but it's a slippery slope that leads to Geometry!
He had a really, really, really neverlasting good day. The second day he said he wanted a tray for lunch and he had a horrible day because all his friends ride the bus. The third day he said he had a terrible day!

"Four bad things happened. Number four, all my friends get to ride the bus, and I don't."

"You can't ride the bus, we've already talked about that."

"Three, I spilled my water."

"Your water bottle?"

"No, one of the little ones."

"Did you have a lot of papers on your desk?"

"No."

"Well, good, you didn't make a big mess."

"No, it was a BIG mess. Three, I got a time out."

"But you said you had all your stars at the end of the day."

"It was on the playground. I picked up some rocks. I forgot the rule."

"And what was four?"

"I fell down and my knee got blood."

I cried on day four because he wanted to walk to his room by himself. I said "Okay, I'll stay here till you go down your hall." So he would go a little way, then turn around and look for me, then walk a little further and turn around and try to find me through the crowd of people, then walked down to his hall and turned around one more time before he headed down to his class.

The next day, I said, "Do you want to walk to class by yourself again?" and he said, "No, I want you to walk with me."

I still got it....

Ace Goes to Kindergarten

2009-08-23T21:15:00.002-05:00

WWAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! *sniff*

Charlie says, "It's like having them all out of diapers."

"Uh, no. It's nothing like that."

Tomorrow is the big day. He's excited. So I've got that going for me.

Headed for bed, so I can toss and turn and not get much sleep.

More news tomorrow.

Fantasy Football 2009

2009-08-12T19:48:00.003-05:00

Because of conflict of schedules, I was unable to be at our family event, where we had a live draft for the 2009 Fantasy Football season. I let Charlie pick my team because he normally helps me with my picks anyway. So he texted me to let me know they were getting started with the draft. Where was I? In the movie theater watching Harry Potter. So he asked me if I wanted Tony Romo if he was available when my pick came up and I said yes. So he texts me later to say sorry, but my brother in law took Tony before my pick. Easy come, easy go I suppose. So when he gets home from Amarillo, he hands me my sheet of players and his sheet of players and says casually, "If you don't like my picks for you, I'll trade you anybody off my team." I look down at his sheet and I have only two words to say...

~~TOM BRADY?~~ PEYTON MANNING? (Tom Brady, Peyton Manning...whateves)

~~TOM BRADY?!~~ PEYTON MANNING?!

REALLY?

HE PICKS CLINTON PORTIS AS MY FIRST PICK (I ALWAYS PICK MY QUARTERBACK FIRST) AND THEN HE TAKES TOM BRADY! I GET HOSED ON THE TONY ROMO PICK AND END UP WITH MATT RYAN. TO WHICH I HAD TO SAY, "WHO THE HELL IS MATT RYAN?" I HAVEN'T EVEN LOOKED AT THE REST OF MY TEAM. I THINK I HEARD HIM SAY HE DID ME A BIG FAVOR BY PICKING THE RAVENS FOR MY DEFENSE. I DON'T THINK THERE IS ONE PLAYER ON MY ENTIRE TEAM THAT I HAVE ANY INTEREST IN WATCHING.

But I'm not bitter.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-29T21:18:00.003-05:00

Wait!

2009-07-28T20:56:00.008-05:00

I forgot to show you around Carlsbad Caverns!

It's all fun and games until the smell of bat poo hits you!

Are we really going down THERE!!

Evidently we are...

Peace, Love and Rocks.

Too cool for the Caverns...

Do they have earthquakes in New Mexico?

Okay. Where's the elevator?

Why I Hate School # 52

2009-07-27T20:58:00.003-05:00

Band Camp starts in 8 days and 11 hours and I have just had to put my foot down. (With the help of Charlie holding said foot to the floor.) John is now squeeing away on his clarinet in a loud Squidwardesque fashion and Charlie and I are in the living room giggling. He's sure showing us. He's teaching us a lesson alright. He can be totally loud and obnoxious and can wake up the Littles if we're going to force him to practice. E gad, we've got a lot of nerve!

The shame of it is he's been on his best behavior lately. Heck, he's been displaying behavior that is normally reserved for his grandmother. I keep wondering what he's fixing to ask me for. That's awful of me, I know. But in the last twenty four hours he's washed my car, cleaned the inside, vacuumed it, and spot cleaned the carpets. This morning he got up at 7:30 in the A.M. to start getting himself ready to get up for Band Camp. (He usually doesn't make his morning appearance until noon.) Then this afternoon, he vacuumed the living room, Ace's room, his room, Melee's room and Peaches room. Nobody asked.

Then I had to go and ruin it by demanding he practice his clarinet.

School is a few short weeks away and the illusion of a carefree summer is quickly melting away.

Transformers 2. Seen it.

2009-07-14T21:24:00.005-05:00

(Spoiler Alert!)

Despite the fact that Transformers 2 was rated PG-13, I was hoping I could still let Ace see it. I was afraid there would be too much violence maybe some language but I really wasn't expecting this...

of course I'm not a 13 year old boy so maybe I misread the target audience. Then a few minutes later we get to see this one...

with a camera shot up her dress, we get to see her underwear and a creepy metal tail come out from somewhere, and then her tongue shoots out of her mouth and tries to strangle Sam as we figure out that the hot college girl trying to seduce him, is actually a Decepticon.

Good clean kid stuff.

Of course in the first five minutes we've already ruled it out for Ace because in the first action sequence a couple of the new Autobots are cussing at each other.

Overall it was a disappointment. I just can't give it a fair assesment because I thought they could have done it in a way, that I wasn't embarrased to watch it in front of my seventh grader.

Harry Potter, don't let me down!

If I Can't Post a Picture, Well it's Just Not Any Fun.

2009-07-11T22:11:00.003-05:00

Can't find my camera cord.

Summer is sailing quickly by.

I haven't had one blow-up with the kids.

It's only taken me 15 years to get used to them.

100 degree weather is no good for me.

Sleeping late every day is really good for me.

John and I have been reading books for two weeks.

I have a crush on a fictional Vampire.

I still haven't seen Transformers.

Mostly because I don't want to take the Little's to see Ice Age #6?.

More of my plants are dying in the flower bed.

Disneyland. I'm not over it.

Indiana Ace and the Tower of Terror

2009-06-25T22:06:00.004-05:00

Day two at Disney started with a trip to the Indiana Jones ride. At the end of day one, we agreed that that particular ride was the number one thing we wanted to do that we were unable to get to. Despite the fact that I had read all about Fast Passes, we really didn't figure out how to work the passes until it was too late in the day. By the time we got to the Indiana Jones ride the wait time was 2 hours or you could get a Fast Pass and come back and cut to the front of the line between 11:30 p.m. and midnight...

Ace could hardly wait! It was all he could talk about. The line was short and the next thing we knew we were exploring the temple and getting in line to take our ride. It was exciting and bumpy and Charlie tried his best to take a picture of us as we bumped and turned through the tunnels. This is our favorite picture of the entire vacation. The eye says it all...

Despite the look of terror, he loved it! Later as Peach and I were waiting in the Princess line, Charlie texted me that he and J and A were riding the Tower of Terror and E and M were gone to do something else. I looked at the text and put my phone back in my pocket. About 15 minutes later I realized what I had read and I called him back and said, "Did you just say ACE rode the Tower of Terror?" "Yea! He LOVED it!"

(The Tower of Terror is the "Elevator" that goes to the top floor and plummets back down to the bottom.) When we met up with the boys it's all he could talk about, "Momma, you HAVE to ride the Tower of Terror!" "Well, I don't know if the Tower of Terror is for Momma." "You'll like it!" "Well, I don't think I would like it." And he went on and on for the rest of the day. Later as we got close to that side of the park they decided to go get some Fast Passes for it and Charlie, John and Ace were pushing for Melee' and I to ride it so I said, "You can get me a pass, but I'm not guaranteeing that I'll ride it." But the three Tigger's persisted and the two Eeyore's were talked into riding.

We were standing in line with an older couple who were riding with their son who had some type of disability, she said "Oh, we rode this at Disney World and he just loved it!" and I saw some other kid in a wheelchair who was being pushed into line and I thought. Well, surely I can ride this ride if it's not too scary for kids with disabilities! And if that old broad and her husband can ride it, so can I! So we get in the "elevator" and I'm sitting next to Charlie, but separated by an isle, Ace is sitting on the other side of me and I'm trying to think about how I can hold on to him, but not crush him if I hold on too tight. Ace held on to my arm, I held onto the handle with one hand and clutched Charlie's hand to my chest with his arm outstretched over the isle. The "elevator" goes up and drops a little and then back up and down just a touch and then all the way to the top where you can see outside and then all of a sudden, you're plummeting to your most certain death. I screamed so hard that my throat hurt, we went up and down like that three times, each time I screamed like a girl and when it came to it's final stop I said "Oh, God, please let that be the last time!" and Ace said, "I think it's over Momma." and Charlie said, "You can let go of my hand now." (I think I left fingernail marks.) As I shakily unbuckled my seat belt, Ace hopped in front of me and said, "See Momma. I told you it wasn't scary." I could have punched that boy. John said "That was YOU screaming? I was looking around for a teenage girl!"

Thankfully for Melee' and I, there is no picture to show you of the Tower of Terror.

Princesses and the Peach

2009-06-24T21:41:00.006-05:00

The first day at Disneyland we found out there was a Princess Walk, we went over so that Peach could meet the Princesses and as we got in line one of the cast members said, "Just to let you know, the wait is about an hour and a half. " Well we hadn't been there very long and we didn't want to burn an hour and a half, when the boys didn't have ANY interest in anything that wasn't a ride, so we thought, "Eh, we'll come back later." So later we dropped by and they said the wait was two hours and that was as good as it would get for the rest of the day. Can you believe it? So we rolled in on Disney Day Two, ran straight to Indiana Jones and then Peach and I hightailed it over to the Princess Walk, where the wait first thing in the morning was only an hour! We were very patient for the first 20 minutes. Then she decided she was hungry. Of course I couldn't get out of the line to get her something, although one of the concession stands was within sight, I couldn't leave her alone in the line. So the whining started. Then the little girl behind us got a bag of Doritos. Then the mother in front of us went to get her little girl some popcorn while her friend held their place in line. The whining grew louder. Then she got tired from standing. Cause you know, we've been standing for at least 25 minutes now. It turned out to be a grueling hour and twenty minute wait. A wait in which at approximately 40 minutes in, you could have heard me say "NO! We're not leaving! You wanted to see the Princesses and we're gonna see the princesses!" There was some pouting a little more whining, some cajoling, and then FINALLY, it was our turn for this....

EEEK! It's Sleeping Beauty! And she gave Peach a big hug and said "Look at your cute hair, you look like you could be my little sister!"

And then we went and met Snow White and in a very high little "Snow White" voice she said "How old are you?" and Peach said "Seven." and she said "Ohh! That's my Favorite number!"

And then we went and met Belle, Peach's favorite. She told her she was one of the bravest little girls she knew for riding on the Indiana Jones ride.

And they were all so sweet and she was so sweet and it was all so sweet that I got teary and started to cry...

Then we went and had her face painted with swirly glitter paint with little pink hearts and a little pink on her lips and if I'd had all the money in the world we would have bought one of everything in the "Princess Boutique" starting with the $50 white Belle gown. Walt Disney was an evil genius.

In Flagstaff with a Fever of 102 @ Four in the Morning

2009-06-20T11:04:00.004-05:00

It wouldn't be vacation without somebody being sick! Peach already threw-up at my sister-in-law's on the carpet. You know, the house that's for sale.... Charlie had to go fogging around Flagstaff at four in the morning for a pharmacy for the fever. (Alliteration is fun.)

So without further ado... another vacation photo...

Notice the absence of teenagers?

(Charlie says I should clarify. Those were 2 seperate occurances of Peach being sick. The first was a combination of too much junk food and sun. Today's occurance is yet to be determined, she has a cough that has grown steadily worse for the last three days and I suspect she may have an infection. It better not be pneumonia.)

An Old Adage

2009-06-19T23:33:00.001-05:00

You can take a teenager to Disney, but you can't make him smile...

The Caverns

2009-06-11T18:34:00.003-05:00

Got into Carlsbad at about 11:52. That's New Mexico time, those of us who are from Texas had the feeling it was a little more like 12:52. Pulled into the Best Western and rolled around to our two rooms. It was old school but the beds were comfy. Ace slept with me and around 2:00 I woke up to discover that he was sleeping with his feet on his pillow, I tried to turn him around but he was sleeping angry. At around 4:00 he got cold and turned himself around and got in the covers. I woke up every hour or so and gave up around 7:00 to find Charlie loitering outside our door with bedhead. Everyone slept well and after a little free breakfast boo-fay as John likes to call it, we headed to the Caverns. We got there just shy of the 10:00 guided tour so we had to do the self-guided tour.

When they say the tour is "strenuous" they're not just whistling Dixie. Like a workout you start and after twenty minutes you think "Crap, what have I done, I can't finish this." As we started down the main walkway down into the Cavern and Peach started to cry and said she'd changed her mind and didn't want to go in the cave, I was right there with her. But we persisted through the scary decline and the smell of bat poo. For the record, it was cool and awesome and all that, don't get me wrong...but after you've seen the first hour of stalactites the next hour and a half becomes an exercise in not scaring the crap out of yourself thinking about possible earthquakes or cave ins. And all I wanted to know about the history of Carlsbad Caverns was, "How many people have died in here?" Melee' and I hugged with joy when we finally made it to the elevator that took us back out. (I'll have to show ya'll the pics at a later date as I forgot to pack my cord. But we're not lamenting anything we forgot to bring. Charlie said so.)

The other thing that happened right as we walked into the cave was that I discovered I didn't have my phone. I didn't know if I had dropped it, or left it in the car. The most upsetting thing about that was that I cannot tell you how many steps I walked in Carlsbad Caverns, I'm a little addicted to the pedometer feature of me cell phone. It was safe and sound in the car when we got back. I spent the next hour and a half tapping my phone up and down on my knee to try to simulate how many steps I might have taken, but it's ruined. And I can pretty much say that was probably my one shot at the Caverns.

We're back on the road at 5:58 New Mexico time, my watch says it's 6:58 Texas time and the borrowed GPS says we will arrive in Tempe AZ at 10:04, but I don't know if Arizona time is another hour off. I'm starting to get confused. If I'm right, that would be 12:04 a.m. Texas time. Praise God Charlie likes to drive!

On the way to Cali...

2009-06-10T19:39:00.002-05:00

And we're off as of 3:30 p.m. Texas time....

Our first car-sick stop coincides with a tornado warning at approx. 6:00 p.m.

Back on the road after large portions of the most deliciously bad for you truck stop food you've ever seen on a plate at approx. 7:30 p.m.

Clear skies deteriorating to a pounding rain at around 7:46.

Estimated time of arrival in Carlsbad according to the GARMIN, 11:52.

Rolling Out!

I'M ON VACATION,

2009-06-05T21:17:00.002-05:00

I'M ON VACATION,

I'M ON VACATION!

Chicken Pox. The Sick. Streak. Continues.

2009-05-30T13:12:00.002-05:00

Chicken Pox.

Seriously?

Chicken Pox?

Why would we have Chicken Pox? They have vaccines for that, right? Vaccines which were given to my children as I held down their flailing arms and nervously giggled under my breath while they screamed, because it makes me supremely uncomfortable to be doing something to my kids that feels like torture.

Turns out you can still get chicken pox even if you've had the vaccine. The difference being that you only end up with eight chicken pox instead of eighty. It took me a week to figure out that they had chicken pox, even though I took them to the doctor on Wednesday. Ace had just started to get a little rash on Wednesday that I didn't happen to notice until AFTER we had gotten back from the doctor.

They called me from the school last Thursday to say that Peach had a fever and didn't feel good. I went and picked her up and she said her tummy hurt. She barely even had a fever and she said that she had been outside running and then couldn't cool off. So I kind of wrote that off as a fluke, the nurse just took her temperature while she was hot! I went ahead and kept her home, because you need to be "fever free" for twenty four hours before they go back to school. She continued to complain about her tummy hurting, but she never really slowed down her eating. By Sunday she was saying her throat hurt and by the end of the day on Monday, Ace had a low grade fever and said his throat hurt. I sent Peach back to school on Tuesday but decided to take them to the Dr. on Wednesday because they both looked like their tonsils were swollen. I was afraid it might be step throat.

The Dr. wasn't much help, he didn't really address the fever and then we got the whole "allergy" rundown. I'm SO TIRED of the allergy run-down! The sneezing, the runny nose, the claritin, the benedryl, the kleenex, the snoring. Now he wants me to start teaching these two how to do nasal washing. AAAHHHH!!!! I was so desperate the other day, I had just mowed the yard and I was having a sneezy fit so I decided to get out the Nettie Pot that I had gotten for John (that he never uses) and try it myself. All it did was remind me why I pinch my nose when I jump in the swimming pool. There is NO way the kids will do that. And remember how I feel about holding them down and torturing them...so No. I got home after spending thirty dollars for the appointment and another sixty-five for an array of allergy products, and that's when I noticed the rash. I didn't give him any of the medicine that day or Thursday because I couldn't figure out what he was rashy about. Peach came home and I noticed she had a little bump on her cheek. Friday morning Ace came in with four bumps on his face and after further inspection had three more near his belly button, at which time I remembered the converstation I had with Peach last Thursday when I picked her up from school.

"Has anybody been sick in your class."

"Yeah. Ashley and Callie and Jose. Oh, and Brent got Chicken Pox."

Five more days till the official start of summer!
Achooo!

Elmo the Elephant

2009-05-25T10:49:00.004-05:00

Ace's "graduation" program was Friday night.

About a week ago, I was told (by way of a paper, stuck somewhere in the depths of his backpack) that Ace had chosen "Elmo the Elephant" as the character he wanted to be for the program. Which meant I had to create a costume for Elmo. You know, the note said "using stuff you have around the house", "be creative" it said. An elephant. In May. As opposed to October. And because it was stuffed in to the bottom of his backpack. It didn't get the attention it deserved until the Monday before the costume was due. But not to worry, I AM creative. So around the house I went and the costume was created.

What I am is Creative.
What I am not is technically gifted.

So in the following video of Elmo the Elephant, you will see his costume disolve before your very eyes. I stayed in the room with him as long as I could, in the 30 seconds after I put on his nose, but before I walked out the door, a kid came up, grabbed the nose and "snap" went the elastic. I had already been to the office once to restaple the elastic after Ace pulled it the first time. By the third time I had to tie the elastic to the inner "skeleton" if you will, of the nose. Therefore, the skeleton was starting to become exposed as he walked to the stage....that's where we start....

He walked in with a crooked nose AND he had lost an ear! Teacher picked it up and brought it to him. Charlie said, "How did you attach those?" and I said "Duct tape." We laughed through the entire program.

As soon as I saw the Tiger I was like "DOH! ZOOPALS!!"

Then for his legs. He was wearing a too short pair of sweats, so I took some sweats that one of the big boys had outgrown and I cut the legs off at the knee, then I turned them upside down and glued elephant toenails on the bottom and he put them on like legwarmers. What I SHOULD have done, was go the extra step and actually sew them on! But noooo....and as he squirmed on stage, he kept resting one foot on the side of his other leg so that halfway through, he had rubbed one leg all the way off. Then he sat down on the floor to fix it and set down his ears and took off his nose. The elastic that was holding on his nose came down from above the ear on one side and kept sliding down the side of his neck so that he looked like he was eating the nose.

"Elmo the Elephant was Excited,
He called all his friends to come.
He was having an Easter party,
Hiding Eggs and Eating some.

Elks were dancing Elbow to Elbow,
Eskimos came south from Nome,
They Enjoyed the Elegant party,
Excused themselves and went back home."

Wheeew. good times.

Happiness is ....

2009-05-10T19:07:00.002-05:00

... being adored from afar.

Happy Mothers Day!!!

I'm NOT READY!!

2009-05-04T20:03:00.004-05:00

Melee' jumped in the car Thursday and said, "Mom, I've got to tell you something." Usually that's followed by, "I forgot my lunch box." or "I got a 79 on a test today." or something else from the "goodie-two-shoes file". So when he said, "I want to go to the dance tomorrow night. And you can't tell John, but I asked a girl to the dance." you can't imagine my shock and awe. John's in the 9th grade and he still hasn't asked a girl to a dance. This was NOWHERE on my radar.
"Ub-a-dee, uh, um...does that mean we have to pick her up?"
"No Mom. (roll of the eyes) That's like college!"
"oh."
"I'm not gonna tell you how I asked her, because that's personal."
"Okay, I'll just assume you passed a note during class."
"Well, yeah, but I'm not gonna tell you how I asked."
"That's cool. (Thinking, thinking, processing, processing.....) Is this a "girlfriend" thing?"
"Well, I asked her to go out with me, but she just broke up with a boy and she's not quite over it yet."
(Having a stroke...) "By "going out" do you mean "going steady"?"
"Yes. (More eye rolling) But I don't want you to say anything in front of anybody."
"10 - 4."

Of course he didn't have anything to wear to a dance, and I had to scramble Friday to find him something. Does he need a wallet? Does he pay for her to get in the dance? Should he spring for a soda and a candy bar?

I may as well have asked a girl to the dance.

He was way less nervous than I was. He gets points for bravery, cuteness and just being a very good boy. Oh, and if this could just stay between you and me, he'd like to keep this on the D.L.

Zoey in our First Ever attempt at Video

2009-05-03T15:00:00.009-05:00

Note to Self

2009-04-27T18:36:00.006-05:00

It happened this weekend....

My oldest son is now taller than I am. It seems like it's all sort of a blur. I was on bedrest one day and then I hollered at Charlie and said, "I think I just peed my pants!", next thing I know, there's this big kid with a deep voice hangin' out in my pantry chanting "I'm starving! I'm starving! I'm starving!".

She's in Like Flynn

2009-04-26T17:57:00.021-05:00

Mom closed on the sale of her house and has finally moved in to the "Dog House". I took some pics so you guys could get to see how good it looks. But first take a look at how it looked when we were there...

This is the front drive-up, big appeal for her is there is no real lawn to mow. Of course she has some yard in the back, which she and her sister just got through pulling weeds and then she ran out and bought forty or fifty squares of St. Augustine, so I guess she'll be mowing after all.
This is the view from the front right angle. Note the two concrete statues of greyhounds out front, thus the name "The Dog House".

This is the side porch on the left side of the house. This entrance goes into the second living area.

View back toward the front of the house. When we lived here, the porch had no decorations, and was littered with scooters and shoes.

Front entry has vaulted ceilings, which she painted herself. This nifty new chandelier and had room for one of her biggest furniture pieces.

The front living area. (another one of my bad pics. I can't tell I've taken a fuzzy pic on the

3" x 2" screen on my digital camera.) This is the same room you saw at the top of the page with no furniture and a t.v. on a cardboard box.

View from that room into the eat-in kitchen.

More of the dining area.

To the right, the kitchen...

This is bedroom number one off of the dining area. It is the second largest bedroom, and each of the bedrooms has it's own full bath.

This is the second bedroom, off the central bathroom. Keep in mind she has painted each one of these rooms, this one she striped a pale blue and white.

This is the third of the bedrooms, across a hallway from the second bedroom.

Cute desk in the third bedroom.

The second living area, with the large french doors to the porch.

The room is large and bright with two skylights. It has really pretty dark stained concrete floors.

The Master bedroom, is huge!

The bedroom has a sitting area and a huge walk-in closet and a big Master Bathroom.

She loves the house and is excited about getting moved in. However if someone were to come along with 200 large, she might be persuaded to part with it.

Her Name is Zoey...

2009-04-15T20:15:00.003-05:00

She was a showgirl...

okay, it's not Lola, but that doesn't mean I can't sing! :)

It took me a week, three mock elections, and finally a secret ballot. She now has a name. Everybody is still in love with her. She's only slept through the night once. I may as well have another baby. Well, I can leave her in her fence for a couple of hours while I go places. A.J. has still not warmed up to her. When Zoey is outside, she wants SO badly to be her best friend but A.J. will have NONE of it! We've been trying to pay her alot of extra attention so she's not jealous, however, she knows Zoey is staying in the house and she's not.

And the big P.S. for the week?

John has Pneumonia AND Bronchitis. And no, I didn't give it to him.

Puppies and Algebra. I'll take puppies.

2009-04-07T21:01:00.005-05:00

I sit here with the puppy sleeping around my neck like a scarf, while Charlie and John sit at the kitchen table arguing about John's Algebra homework. Boy what memories that brings back! Charlie was the one who argued with me about MY algebra homework when we were in the ninth grade. I still don't get it. Guess who got my algebra gene? The funny part is that Charlie has been at the table the last hour trying to solve the problems himself, so they're really not getting much accomplished.

Meanwhile I promised Peach that today we would finally decide what name we were gonna give the dog.

(John is commenting about his Science class today...then whistles a part of his clarinet music and breaks out with a story about band...then talks about something they're doing in Spanish...the kid never talks about his day...then you've got Charlie mumbling under his breath "...minus 14, then positive two minus 4....there's your factor... everytime John starts humming his music, Charlie has to tell him to be quiet. "okay, tell me the answer, No that's not part of the answer, it's negative 2, now show me the rest...")

I hate school.

So we have a very large pool of names and six people who disagree. Here are some of the contenders....

John : Skittles

Melee' : Motsey

Peach : Zoey, Chloe, Muffsey, and Panini

Ace: Doesn't really care what we call her

Charlie: Nachos Bell Grande

I like Carrie's Lolita because then we can call her Lola and therefore I could continue singing Copacabana around the house "Her name is Lola, she was a showgirl, with yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there..." To which the crowd starts hissing and throwing things.

Other suggestions in the comments of the previous post, plus Baby, Sasha, M and M, Mighty Mouse, Layla, and every item found on a mexican restaurant menu...

SHE'S SO CUTE!

I have been informed, that boys of a certain age, cannot be seen snuggling a Chihuahua, therefore, Melee' quickly pulled her down from his neck and gave me a "What? I'm not snuggling a Chihuahua!" look.

Lola and Hammy.

I can't take a good picture to save my life, but she's really cute and frisky. The kids are just out of their minds crazy about her. (so far) We took the two Little's with us to Dog Town, with no intention of getting a dog (so why did we take the two Little's to Dog Town?) and gave them the whole "We're just here to look." lecture. On the way from the car Ace started in with a running commentary, "Can we take one home? What if we find one that we like? Could we just adopt one? I don't even care which one. I'll like which ever one you like..." And it didn't take long to figure out Dad was being a soft touch. He ended up saying "I don't care. It's up to you." which means, "Yes, they can have the dog, but I'm gonna blame it on you when it all goes wrong." They asked to hold every puppy, we said yes to hold about four different ones, and then settled on The Taquito, while the lady was filling out the paperwork, Peach had tears in her eyes and said "It's a dream come true!" She totally means it. Ace has been saying "Thank you" non-stop since Sunday. Today he said "Thank you for letting us hold all those puppies." Crap, if he keeps it up, I'll have to go get more. They argue over who gets to hold her first, longest, feed her, walk her, etc. John gets to hold her on the way to the High School, then Melee' gets her, then Peach, then Ace.

Now if I could just get someone to volunteer for the 3:00 a.m. shift.

OH SNAP!

2009-04-05T22:05:00.001-05:00

WE HAVE A NEW BABY!
We could use a little help for some possible baby girl Chihuahua names! :)

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...

2009-04-05T18:43:00.007-05:00

GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!!!!Soccer season has officially begun!

Okay, I'm cheating a little. This shot was during the warmup. But he's got style right?

A little stretch before the action begins.

Leader of the Pack.

Pack Mentality.

The Blaze won the game 5 to zero, but whose counting? We are Under 6 but one of the boys on Ace's team is in Peaches first grade class. Not sure how that works, but we clearly have a size advantage. And comparitively we only had one kid crying and they had a hard time keeping five kids on the field at a time because of all the weeping. Everytime their coach asked any of the kids on the sidelines if they were ready to go in, they would bust out crying. It was totally fun!

Go Fly a Kite!

2009-04-05T17:43:00.006-05:00

Best $10 spent!
Ever.
It was freezing outside and the wind was crazy, I don't know how we got any kites up at all!
We did have several tangle delays and one small meltdown. But the boys stayed out almost the entire day, and they haven't had that much fresh air since the last time we went camping.

Working on the Railroad

2009-03-22T21:07:00.009-05:00

This is a picture of my sad, sad flowerbed. This picture is AFTER I spent two days pulling grass out of the flowerbed.

Mom and I went to Lowe's and bought six plants and six bags of mulch and three rolls of weed control.

Saturday Charlie and I got out and started working the weed control. I had saved boxes and boxes of paper from the move. So we planted the three hibiscus, and layered the paper and covered it with the weed control.

Then we poured on the mulch. We only got this first section done when we realized we were going to need more mulch. So back to Lowe's we went, where Charlie got flower happy. We came back with 8 bags of mulch, 12 lillies, a flat of verbena, 3 one gallon african daisies, 9 small crotons, and three lantana.

John loves to jump in and help. Right as we're finishing things up. :)

This is as far as we got by the end of the day on Saturday. We broke at 5:00 so we could shower up and take the kids to play putt-putt golf, and laser tag. I can't show you those pictures, because I forgot my camera. The good news is that, it was 3-D golf in blacklight, and laser tag outside in the dark, so you wouldn't have been able to see anything anyway. This morning, we could hardly move. Keep in mind, I've already put in two days, so I've been limping around the house for a few days. Now Charlie feels my pain. Today we finished planting, and mulching, plus Charlie had to dig a trench and put a drain line from the down spout under the sidewalk to drain out in the yard. Then after we went out for dinner, he went out and mowed the front yard and weed eated. Back to school on Monday and the daily grind continues. Tomorrow, I'll show you the finished product.

A.J. thinks she's the Queen of Sheba.

Duece of Cakes

2009-03-17T21:49:00.006-05:00

We made our very first scratch cake today for my birthday. It's a Chocolate Mint Cake with Chocolate Mint frosting from the Nestle Toll House recipe book. John helped me make the cake, Melee' greased and floured the pans, Peach helped me make the frosting, and Ace helped me frost the cake. Of course everyone helped me eat it! We declared it DELICIOUS! Not beautiful, but definitely tasty.

This was my best birthday yet! When I got up I found that Charlie and the boys not only stayed up till midnight watching Lord of the Rings, they also decorated the kitchen and hung clovers all around, complete with a princess crown! Went to the Dr. got a clean bill of health! Got a new Tony Romo jersey, some Paula Deen cookware, and a gift card to Old Navy! For dinner Mom came over and we had steaks on the grill, some roasted potatoes, a salad and garlic bread.

I think I could get the hang of this birthday thang! :)

What Cures Pneumonia?

2009-03-13T20:32:00.003-05:00

Chocolate covered strawberries!
(Sigh!)

Have I mentioned, lately that I have the best In-laws!

I FEEL GOOD...

2009-03-08T11:43:00.002-05:00

I DIDN'T THINK THAT I WOULD....

I FEEL NICE, LIKE SUGAR AND SPICE...

I FEEL GOOD, SO GOOD, I DON'T HAVE FLU! DUM, DUM, DUM!

Happy Breathing!

2009-03-06T18:26:00.003-06:00

I almost feel human. Much better today. I went back to the Doc for a recheck, they were kind of worried. I looked so much improved that he gave me a big hug when he walked in the door.
Trinity Mother Frances is just like Cheers, and I'm Norm. Everybody knows my name. I walk in and they all shout "Justine!"

My orders are to keep doing what I'm doing, and I have to do breathing treatments for a MONTH! At this point though, I'll stand on my head if that's what they tell me to do because there is no way I can ever have this again. Talk about grateful. Never has a person been so grateful for being able to take a breath. That whole oxygen thing is NOT overrated! And evidently my body LOVES oxygen. I go back and have another chest x-ray on my birthday. Oxygen, X-ray, cake. I told ya'll this thing would end with cake, didn't I.

Mom went with me and said "No exercise, right?" (As if I'm complaining about not getting my workout in.) And he says, "As tolerated. For instance, if you went home and got on your bike and drove out of the drive-way, you'd probably fall down halfway down the block. I call that a sign from above."

At this point I need to take a minute and do a public service announcement and say, for everybody who still has a pack of cigarettes in their possession. Shame on you. Shame, shame, shame on you. Put em down, walk away, take a big ol' breath of air. I'll say it again, I have never felt so horrible in my whole life. I detest guilt as a form of manipulation, but shame, shame, shame.

John's Spring Concert is about to get underway. He was of course disappointed that I wouldn't be coming, but when I had to bow out, that meant none of the kids went either. He was pretty upset. But hopefully Charlie will get some of it on video.

More Thoughts on Pneumonia. Don't Worry, I've Still Got a Million of Them.

2009-03-05T18:19:00.002-06:00

I'm cautiously optimistic today. It's been a pretty good breathing day.

Yesterday I went back to the Doc cause it still wasn't good. They were suprised to see me. I got blood work and another x-ray, after he looked at everything, he came in shaking his head and I said, "I'm gonna live, aren't I?" "Yep, but it's gonna be a rough couple of days." He tried to get me a hospital bed but they didn't have any room at the inn. My only option was to go sit in the ER. And those are my standing orders if I get any worse. Straight to the E.R. But I got two more shots and we upped my breathing treatments to five a day. I had another good nights sleep and woke up feeling a little better. The worst part today is just that the breathing treatments upset my stomach, so just overall I still feel crappy. But I'm hungrier today, so I think I'm coming around. I feel like overall I'm coughing less, but that feeling goes away quickly when I start having one of those hacking fits.

Tomorrow is Tyler's Spring Band Concert, and I had resigned myself to not going. But tonight, I'm thinking maybe I could make it. It's just whether or not I had one of those coughing fits in the middle of the concert....

The Z-dog keeps a smile on my face while I'm recouperating. With things like, "If we had bars on the walls right here, and then some bars, over there, I could just swing, swing, swing." That's my boy. He also insulted my number one Nana today, I was still in bed when she got here and when she walked in he said, "Why are you here?" and she said something about helping out to which he replied, "You should be invited before you come over." I'm gonna have to put the smack-down on that boy! If he runs off the lady that makes me toast and scrambled eggs when I don't feel good enough to do it myself, I'm voting him off the island.

One for the Grandkids

2009-03-04T16:41:00.002-06:00

Hopefully this blog will be saved for you guys in one form or another and when you get to this entry, I want you to bookmark it for me, because this will be the section to read "When Nini got Pneumonia."

One day your Mom's and Dad's are gonna say, "Come on kids, get in the car, it's time to go see Nini and Pawpaw." and you guys are gonna groan and somebody near the back will say "I don't want to go to Nini and Pawpaw's" and somebody's smart Momma will say, "But Nini always has chocolate cake and ice cream when we come." and somebody will pop-off and say, "Yeah, but Nini will want to talk about the time she got Pneumonia!" and the crowd will do a collective eye roll.

You guys can read all the entries so that when you come over, you can join in and commiserate with me. And when Nini gets teary-eyed at the part where they would have liked to put her in the hospital but there weren't any beds, you can pat me on the back and say, "Take a big deep breath Nini, and let's have some more chocolate cake!" And you'll make a little old lady so happy, because I see this thing ending with cake and ice cream.

Guess What I'm Giving Up For Lent? PNEUMONIA!

2009-03-03T19:10:00.002-06:00

EASIEST

LENT

EVER!

CAN I GET A WHAT-WHAT FROM THE SENIOR SECTION??!!

How Do I Feel?

2009-03-03T04:38:00.002-06:00

Like I've had it.

I'm at the end of my rope.

How long can a person be sick without going crazy.

About 8 days.

I went for my recheck yesterday and I'm feeling better. I've made it up the scale from "speed of a sloth" to "speed of a turtle".

P.A. Mike said, "You want to see your x-rays?"
"Oh! Can I?"
"Sure! You should, it's a Doozie!" (I like Mike the P.A.)
So I got to see my lung that looks like it's almost filled to the top with smoke.
"Do I have to cough all that out!?"
"Oh no, it just clears up." (thank the lord, cause that would literally be hawking up a lung.)

Mom had spent the day with me, so she helped me put the house to rights. And by help me, I mean she put the house to rights, while I waited for her to sit down so we could watch Celebrity Apprentice on my DVR.

When I got home from my appt. she brought the kids home from school and we lined everybody out and I took Melee' with me to go to Ace's first soccer practice. He was my legs and lungs on the field. It was slightly amusing watching them herd chickens for a while. The best part was that we're practicing by a lake, the field is fenced off with chain-link and just when she had gotten every one of the five year olds into position, one kid yell's "I SEE A GATOR!" and they all go tearing over to the chainlink fence. Priceless.

Then when we got home Mom was gone and Charlie was finshing grilling the chicken I had left for him. And with the help of two tums and a prilosec (Dr. approved) I was able to eat a small piece of chicken and some green beans. All in all sounds like a two-thumbs up kind of day right?

There's just something about going to bed that's just killing it for me. I was exhausted when I got home. I haven't driven a car in a week! A WEEK YA'LL! I could hardly hold my head up at eight. After I kissed the Little's goodnight, I hung in till around 8:30 and then finally just had to give in and go to bed. My body is tired, but I'm not tired. I want to go to bed and sleep, but I can't. I've had my breathing treatment, I just want to lay down. And then the coughing starts. It's not gut wrenching or anything, just a nusance. And I cough and I turn and I cough some more and I roll over again and then I blow my nose and then I cough some more and then I get a drink of water and wai t - I got it - I got it - no. More coughing. cough. cough. roll. shift. cough. cough. 20 minutes later. potty break. We start over again. By nine thirty my mind is racing like I'm running a marathon.

What is WRONG WITH YOU!
I'M NOT TIRED!
YES YOU ARE, YOUR EXHAUSTED GO TO SLEEP!
I CAN'T, YOU WON'T QUIT COUGHING!
YES I CAN just give me a sec.
IT BEEN AN HOUR!
It's all got to settle to the horizontal plane.
YOUR LUNG'S NOT THAT BIG!
YOU HEARD HIM SAY IT'S A DOOZIE!
IF YOU'RE NOT ASLEEP IN FIVE MINUTES, I'M GETTING BACK UP.
OKAY THEN SHUT-UP!

So when I got up at three-thirty to go to the potty and started coughing as soon as I layed down, I should of just gotten right back up. But I rolled around for an hour before I decided to get up and have a banana and make a glass of ice tea. If I drink another glass of water I'm gonna hurl. So I decided to take my crazy talk and write it down because I don't think I should be eating banana's, drinking tea and and talking crazy to myself at four-thirty in the morning. I'm not sure the Dr. would think I'm getting well.

Flu, Shmoo

2009-03-01T15:37:00.002-06:00

I went back to the Doc at 1:00 today and he says I have "Big Honkin' Pneumonia". A breathing treatment, two shots and new anti-biotics. I'm so relieved. I felt so bad this morning, that I thought I was a little bit crazy. I've been waiting for the clinic to open since I got up sometime around seven this morning. We got there 15 minutes early and were fifth in line and by the time they opened the door at one, there were thirteen people in line. Wow!