Gearing Up

Are you done with all of your shopping? Me? Almost. Mr. UPS knocked on my door and delivered a package today...........I actually ordered this stuff over 6 weeks ago, so it isn't like I was running behind! I started my Christmas shopping this summer This is a good thing, but also bad b/c I have a tendency to forget that I've gotten things for people and then remember later!

Right now I have a gift hidden, and I don't remember where I hid it. We do not live in a large house. I put it in a good place, obviously, but have no idea where! Go figure. The saddest part is that I hid it less than 3 weeks ago! I'm just losing my mind. No worries, maybe I'll get it back in the near future. Maybe I won't and I'll just get used to not having mental capabilities.

Don't lose your mind shopping. I do warn you not to go to the grocery store unless you absolutely HAVE to. ZOO!!! And it was during the day!

Big Bus vs Little Bus

Yes, we sometimes let our child watch Sponge Bob....could we do better? I'm sure. Could we do worse? Oh, yes, I think so!

If you've never watched it, you aren't missing much. Sponge Bob has a side-kick named Patrick and Patrick is definitely NOT the smart one of the two. So, we have a running joke at our house that Patrick rides the short bus (no offense to anyone who really does, just a joke in our house). Anyway, one morning on the way to school, Little tells me that she is Sponge Bob, I can be the squirrel and Daddy is Patrick. I just about died laughing!! I texted hubby to share the news and told him that now he is the official short bus rider in the family.

I know this isn't PC, but it was funny....probably a lot funnier in my head than written here! I promise, it was funny!

New Bed

....did you know that you can sleep better in a big bed? She has taken over the guest room as hers and that also means sleeping in the "big, white, bed." Hey, you do what ya gotta do to get them to go to sleep! :-)

More fair fun.....

Climbing the rails while we wait to go mutton bustin'!

Filling our pockets with dirt. Now that is truly a lot of fun!!! Next is the parade!! More pictures to follow after that!!!

Rained....finally

We are still in a drought, but we FINALLY have been getting some much needed rain. So, of course we had to let her go stomp around in the puddles!!!

Best Dressed Western

Last weekend marked the beginning of our county fair. We entered the "Best Dressed Western" contest and won 3rd place for our age. She was pretty darn excited....more for the trophy than anything else!

Twitter

Are you a twit, I mean twitterer?

Don't know much about it. Am interested, but is it something that will require lots of time??? I don't go to FB a lot b/c of that exact reason. You see how well I've kept up with my blog lately. Any advice would be welcome.

duh.....

It is Fair time in our neck of the woods, and we organize a Washer Tournament. I went to FedEx/Kinkos to make some posters.

"Hi, can we help you?", asked the sales person.

"Yes, do you have a poster maker?", I asked.

"What are you looking to make?", he asked.

"A poster."

Duh, isn't that what a poster maker is for?

Rules

Do you follow them?
I'm not talking the speed limit, but I guess that would count....speed limit would negate all that I'm about to discuss!! :-)

Let me preface this with, I am an observer of people and I find some of the following "incidents" interesting.

It is interesting to watch how some people at my place of employment, follow the rules and some don't. Some are minor infractions, and only once in awhile.....others are ALL the time.

Are you a late person or an on time person? We have some folks that roll in late (more than 5 or 10 min.) on a daily basis.

We have a dress code, as most companies do....and jeans are only allowed on Fridays. I see jeans ALL the time and I even see SHORTS! (and not from the coaching staff!!!)

We have set work hours (from X time to Y time)....and I see people leave DAILY before the buses are even gone (which is about 30 min early)! I know things come up and life gets in the way and you have to re-adjust your schedule...but EVERY day?

The reason I ponder this is b/c I just KNOW that if I wore jeans on a day other than Friday, I'd get called in about it. If I was late, called in on it. Left early, called in on it. I'd just like to know what is going on in some people's minds that they don't have issue with any of this.

That's all for now! Have an outstanding FRIDAY!!!!

Painting

We have a bar that separates the kitchen and living room. The wall under the bar is filthy and I've wanted hubby to tile it since we moved into the house. Well, almost three years later, I finally figured out that wasn't going to happen. Yes, I know I'm slow! :-) I found this faux technique and did the wall. We all LOVE it....so much so that we decided to paint the ENTIRE interior of our house. Yes, you may laugh at me!

Masterbedroom: DONE.

Hall: DONE

Entryway: DONE

Kitchen: Not done....and now hubby has left on a major job for work for 8-10 weeks........as if I'm going to climb a 6 ft. ladder and finish it!!! All that is left is the small inch or so next to the ceiling!

Living room: not even started, but that's better than not being finished!

OOOHHHHHH how I hate unfinished projects that I can't finish!!! So, should your honey do list not be long enough, feel free to send him my way and I can find plenty o' work for him! :-)

Uninvited Guests

We have uninvited guests in our attic and garage: MICE!!! Cute in a story, not when they are leaving poop on your stuff and it is just plain creepy!!!! Thank the Lord they've never ventured into the casa!

We've set traps and have moved onto poison. You can see holes in the insulation where they are burrowing!! I have stuff up in the attic that I need to get to, but I won't go up there b/c I don't want to accidentally run into one.

We think we have curbed the problem, but they have now decided they like the view from the pool and are burrowing in the dirt between the pool and flower bed!!! YIKES! Silly little creatures. So, now there is poison hidden out there (have child, don't want her or the dog getting ahold of it!). Not my idea of fun!!!

News

ETA of Baby Girl: January 17, 2010

Pirates

Did you know that at our local Home Depot we have pirates? Well we have at least one, according to my child.

We are strolling through the HM, in the ORANGE car-cart (which, BTW, is not easy to manage) and there is a gentleman with a lot of hair, not well brushed and a very unkept beard.

"Momma, is he a pirate?"

OMG, did he hear that???? Is he going to come and get us? "No baby, he's not a pirate." And walk as quickly away as we can!!!

Compliments

How well do you take them? When someone gives you a compliment, do you say a thank you and let it go? Or are you like me and have to explain where it came from, or how old it is?

I've been listening to others and I'm not the only one with this weird problem. By why is this????

Just pondering.....

Self-dresser

This is a dress from Hawaii (her dancing dress as she calls it), a pair of purple leggings and slippers! This is what she wore to school today (minus the shoes b/c it was actually raining when we left the house and she didn't want to get them wet!).

No Comments Necessary

So....yes, I am WELL aware of the distance between posts. You think that I don't realize this? If I told you my life was hectic, would you believe it? It is, but whose isn't?

Basically, I need a Blog Babysitter, to come occupy my child for a small bit of time while I blog. Crazy, huh? I have a LIST of things to blog about...just not the time. By the time child is in bed, I'm too exhausted to even THINK about getting on the computer!!

So, yes, feel sorry for me and pray that I find the strength to find my blog list and get off my duff and post!!! Love ya and miss ya!!! :-) AND have LOTS to tell ya about!

Do you have one yet?

I'm not a fan of video games.....has a lot to do with the fact that I dated a guy that could play for hours on end and never know the world was crashing down around him. So, I swore that there would never be one in my house.

A few months back, we were at some friends' house and we played on their Wii. OMG, what a fun time!

So, I bought myself one for my birthday. I LOVE it. I don't play it all the time. But, I did get the EA Sport so that I can do some sort of exercise out of the heat! It isn't the same as running, but it is better than nothing and it is a lot more than the Wii Fit (that's just fun!).

If you don't have one, I would HIGHLY recommend getting one. There are games for almost all ages. Little has a Dora game, but she's not that into it. I'm more than ok with that. I usually play it when she is napping; it is just easier.

Ballet Update

Well, we are going to post pone going to ballet just yet. Don't worry, I haven't given up my quest, but we have a lot on our plate right now and I think that I'll have a better chance of convincing him of it in the spring!

I rec'd a lot of funny comments about it and I'll keep you in the loop!

Radio Days

We are sitting at dinner and Little is singing, LOUDLY. I ask her to please not sing so loudly, please eat.

"Ok, mamma, I'll turn it down." She then proceeds to "turn down the knob". "Is this better, mamma?"

"Yes. But, why don't we turn it off during dinner?"

"Ok." And then pushes the "off button". Makes a square in the air, "This is my radio."

Malc and I looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh!!!! So now during dinner we have to ask her to either turn down her radio or turn it off; and she pushes the appropriate button!

Three months later......

....it has been over three months since I went to yoga. I know, shame on me. I went Saturday morning and boy could I tell it has been awhile! I'm not a very bendy person to begin with, but to not do this for a few months makes it even worse!!!

I enjoyed it, but I'm feeling it today! I have it on my Wii, but just isn't quite the same! :-)

To Ballet or not to ballet

I went by a ballet studio last week to get info regarding classes for Little. I was so pumped, they have a class starting in August. This is a small class and in September the class will have almost double the amount of students. What a perfect transition for her to learn some of the basics of the class.

I told my mom all about it. This is a real ballet studio: specific uniform, must be bought at a certain store, the girls must have their hair pulled back, slick, in a bun! What fun!

I mention it to hubby. Oh HE%& no, that's too "girlie!" She doesn't need that!

OMG!! TOO GIRLIE!!! Whatever. So, we've been having a "discussion" about this for a week now: football players take ballet, it is good foundation for any other sport, Mia Hamm was in ballet as a young girl, if she doesn't like it we pull her out b/c we pay tuition by the month......you get the picture. So then I throw out: if we have a son, he can't play football b/c it is too "boyie", right? Stumped him, he was almost speechless and then came back with "that's different." Nope, it's not....but I think I made headway! I'll keep you posted on my progress!!!

My Little Swimmer

This is my little fish!

On the MAP!!

I am SOOO very excited b/c we have a Thai restaurant in town. To some folks, that might not be a big deal, but to me this is HUGE!!!!

I went by last week and they were closed: Grand Opening on Monday, July 20th!!! So, guess where I went to lunch on Monday??? You got it! I got it to go. The place was PACKED, took a little long for my order, but it was worth the wait!!! I will be going back there OFTEN!!!!

If you've never had Thai food, it isn't Chinese. It is much lighter, more noodles and veggies. But OHHHHH so TASTY!!!!

Come and visit and we'll go eat there!

Did you ever wonder.....

....why it is mainly men who find it necessary to run down a street with bulls racing after them in Spain? I'd love to go to Spain, but not to run with the bulls! There are a few women, but over 90% of the participants are men. Go figure!

Are we truly surprised

I was reading my Reader's Digest the other day and came across a small tidbit of information, that made me really wonder why we are surprised at the finacial situation our country is in, especially considering who we (I use this term loosely) elected for office! The mini-article was about folks that call 911 for their "emergency."

Both people called 911. Why? The first one b/c the drive thru didn't have LEMONAID!!! The second one was b/c the person couldn't get through to vote on their favorite person on the reality game show they were watching.

REALLY, REALLY,....and we are SURPRISED at the state of our nation? I think there should be a test, nothing that complex, that you have to take prior to being given the right to vote. Why? Because if you think that either one of these situations even REMOTELY seem like an emergency, you shouldn' t be able to vote. We really all need to pray a whole, whole lot!

Neighbor Update

So, I did some research, and as I stated, we don't have a HOA, but there are deed restrictions. So, IF someone wanted to get technical, we aren't to have a boat in the drive...but neither is anyone else to have a boat, a camper, an 18 wheeler (regardless if just for a few hours), work vehicles, etc......there is a "group" that is comprised of lawyers by the original developer....but unless they do something....ain't nothing gonna be done!

My swim parents have been more than accomodating about parking and not walking through the anyone's yard but mine. So, we'll see what happens.

Blogging

I caught the tail end of Oprah yesterday and it was about moms and confessions they made about parenthood (more on that later). Anyway, there is a mom in Utah that has a blog that makes over $40,000/month. on advertising from her blog! OMG, how in the world? She has this HUGE following and she and her husband don't work b/c she obviously makes so much money from her blog.

Haven't had a chance to visit it...but I want to see it just to see what' the hype is all about....wow, I just can't imagine. I'll visit it in the next few days, you go too and let's chat!

Happy 4th!!!

I want to wish you all a happy and relazing 4th of July.

We need to all take a moment and thank our veterans and current service members and their families for all of the sacrifices they continue to make so that we can continue to have days, weekends like this with all of our families and friends.

I thank GOD for our wonderful country that we live in and I pray for all service members and all those in government offices that make huge decisions for all of us!

God bless you all!!!

Weird Question

I know, I know....where have I been? In the pool, that's where and I can't bring the laptop with me! ha, ha.....I think of things to write about at the weirdest times....and so it never gets done.

So, taking a shower tonight and I am starting to use new face products...I feel like the sun is just eating away at me and I wear a TON of sun screen, surf shirts, hats......so as little sun as possible is getting to me.....and I'm looking around the shower and I have a handful of gels, scrubs (both face and body), bars of soaps.....what to do with it all? I love all of this stuff, but I RARELY use it. What do you do? Do you have a ton of this stuff in your shower? How do you choose what goes in the shower and what doesn't? Do you pick a new gel each day?

I know, this is random, but this is what goes through my head....don't worry, I have a lot of ponderings going through my little raisin of a brain, so stay tuned for more!! :-)

Neighbor Problems

Going through the mail last night and had a weird envelope that just had our house address, no name on it. No return address, no nada.

Open the letter up and it is addressed to: Dear neighbor....blah, blah, blah, you aren't supposed to have boats in the driveway, according to "the rules and regulations." and then more blah, blah, blah, you are running a business and more cars parked on the street, and blah, blah, blah, work truck and trailer parked on street. Signed, "neighbors." No name, no nada.

I showed it to my hubby and he laughed b/c we don't have a homeowners organization and we don't have rules and regulations. So, not sure where the letter writer is getting this from. Wouldn't it have been more pro-active to approach us? The most cars out front at a time is three b/c there isn't a lot of overlap of parents and lessons.

I emailed all my swim parents and told them to make sure they watch their parking, they can even double park behind me. We moved the boat to the side yard and the other truck is parked in the drive. We will do our best, but we live here so we want to keep the peace. I daresay when anyone on our street has company, there is limited parking on the street. We are the only boat on the block, but not in the neighborhood.

Ultimately, if you have a problem with someone, just go to them. It was pretty spineless of them to write an anonymous letter, especially one with false information!

Swimming

On Monday I started my summer swim schedule. I had over 25 new students. The first day is more for the parents b/c I have to explain all the paperwork and procedures with ISR lessons. Then I get in the pool a few minutes with the students and then hop out of the pool and begin the same routine with the next set of parents. Makes for a tiring day, not to mention the fact that I'm swimming at two different pools, in addition to my own pool.

Tuesday was much smoother and we are well on our way! I already have students almost floating.....it is so very exciting.

I have some interesting parents and students. I have to say my most challenging set of students is a family of three boys, ages 8 mo - 5 yrs. They only speak Spanish. If you know me, I speak very little and I have a very nice Texas twang to it! So, here I am with my limited Spanish trying to encourage them to "float like a starfish" and lots of buenos! It is stressful. I pulled "alto" out of somewhere today (means stop) b/c the oldest was grabbing and holding onto my swim shirt and wouldn't let go.

Regardless, it is tiring, but very rewarding. It is going to be a fun filled, exciting summer!

The Sack Lunches

I thank all the veterans and soldiers that keep our country safe and lay their lives on the line so that we may live the life we do. Enjoy the story!

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight... 'I'm glad I have a good book to read Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time..

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base '

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me.. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got t o my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, 'I want to shake your hand..'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached o ut his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane..Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word.Another twenty-five dollars! Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it..'

News Coverage

KSAT came out to the house on Thursday and taped a lesson and did interviews. I think that it went GREAT. I was the intro story on the 10 p.m. news AND they aired it again at NOON!!! Yippee!!!! Here's the link to the story. Enjoy!!!

One thing I'll miss.....

....not going to miss a lot from this past year...more to come as time passes.....but there is one sight that I will miss if only for the chuckles at 7:25 in the morning.....there is a crossing guard that is an elderly lady. She is almost scary; won't wave, doesn't smile. But, she does calistenics on the side of the road, dances by herself and it is HILARIOUS.....she needs to work on her crossing guard skills b/c she'll see kids a block away and make you stop for them and get the kids to run across. Wouldn't it be safer just to wait 'til they get to the corner???? I'm afraid they will trip, fall and hurt themselves. Alas, I'm just a driver noticing things in the 'hood.

Potty training woes....

Is it really THIS hard to go potty? She's PERFECT at the sitter.....doesn't even wet during nap time.....unfortunately, she WILL NOT poop on the potty. Not scared, just won't. Will NOT tell you when she has to go (just right afterwards)! Doesn't matter if she's in panties or diapers....poops.....do you know how GROSS this is???? I do and it is something I can very well do without in my life!!!!

I bought stamps and she gets one stamp for pee, two for poop.....we only earn one at a time. She'll tell you how many she can earn, just won't do it.

Cookies at the sitter if she poops on the potty....no cookies and is mad at sitter, "going to tell my mommy" b/c sitter won't give her any cookies!!! OMG, REALLY???

Any, any, any words of advice would help and be appreciated. I'm all about bribing, but just don't know what the motivator will be. We were at a neighbor's house playing yesterday and she pooped in her panties....swooped her out the door, went home, bathed and straight to bed. Oh, my, how unhappy she was....but it won't fix the problem.

Please help!

the longest week EVER

....I don't think that time could pass any slower than it is this week. I've finished all my testing, have to finish writing one report......99% of my room is packed, will take the rest home tomorrow.......sit at my computer all day trying to find things to do......VERY excited about next week b/c I'll be swimming FOREVER every day!!! Still trying to work out some times for KENS to do their interview; it won't be until next week. Still crunching numbers in my little brain to make this "swim thing" work! I feel good about it and I think that's the direction we are heading. I woke up at 4:00 a.m. with it RUNNING through my head!!! Talk about torture!

Anyway, I appreciate all the positive vibes and prayers you are all sending me! :-)

Prayer Request

I don't ask for help very often (which can be both good and bad), but I'm at a cross-roads in my career and need some prayers to help me hear what path God wants me to take....here's the deal, in a nut shell: I've resigned from my current position, looking for another teaching position; I have a FULL, FULL book of swimming this summer, in fact, had to take my name off of the instructor locator page b/c I'm too full!!! KENS 5 (local news station) wants to do a full blown piece on me (YEAH!).....so, do I take the step off of the cliff and look for a semi-permanant pool in SA to swim all year/into the fall, or do I keep on looking for a teaching position and swim only in the evenings and the summer......these are my options that I am praying about and need your prayers, too.

Thanks a bunch and I hope everyone has an OUTSTANDING day/week!! :-)

Let the games begin.....

We went to Lake LBJ with my husband's family for the weekend. When we got there, Nana announced that we were starting a new tradition: Memorial Games. The games consisted of hula hoop, egg walk/race, and washer pitchin'. Washers was a team event that Malc and I placed 2nd (yes, I had to carry the team a few times, not good!). I made 3rd in hula hoop and 3rd in the egg race.....so, when the points were tallied: I WON!!!! YIPEE. We even have a plaque and MY NAME will be the FIRST name on it. Little got in on the action with the egg walk. There are videos of the hula hoop that I'll post when I get them! FUNNY!!!

Memorial Day Fun

Babylympics

A few weeks ago (yes, weeks) we had the honor of going to Little's big "show off" of her gymnastics skills. I'd like to say that things went well, but she is two and grandparents were there, along with tons of other people and she acted her age for a large portion of the time! But, here are some photos anyway.

Working hard

Banking

Money, money, money.....never have enough, someone always wants some from you, right? Well, I opened up a Chase account b/c I got this nifty coupon for a FREE $150 if I opened an account. I'm game, who doesn't want a FREE $150. Also, there is a branch that is MUCH closer than my current bank and it makes my life easier when I have to make my swim deposits. There is this COOOOOL feature: you can deposit checks via the ATM (not in an envelope, but just the checks straight into the machine) and it shows you the checks and you can even print out a receipt with the checks on it! Ok, so maybe your bank does this already, but mine doesn't and I think this ROCKS. It can take up to 30 checks at a time! I love technology!

Shout Out!!!

I want to give a shout out to my sister-in-law Jenni. She has started a new business and if you live in the New Braunfels area, and need some help getting everything done, feel free to contact her!

Target Deals

Ok, not sure if you've ever checked out Little People Wealth, but if you haven't you MUST. I'm on her email list and I was scrolling through today's news and she has these GREAT Target deals. I don't go to Target much b/c they built a new one and it isn't around the corner from me anymore.....not a bad deal b/c when I go to Target I always seem to find a ton of things me and Little just MUST have.

Anyway, if you want to get some GREAT Target deals, go to Little People Wealth Target Coupon Match-up.

Scary observation

I had parent pick-up duty this past week. For those of you who don't know what that is, that's the HUGE line of cars that would rather pick up their children than let them ride a bus or walk home. Teachers are on duty to help the kids get to the right car and inside the car.

Here are some scary observations:
*some of these parents don't look old enough to drive
*lots of kids not buckled up nor in child booster seats...some young enough that aren't even in car seats! (I'm referring to the kids that I'm helping get in and the younger siblings that are already in the car)
*wow, the majority of folks have MESSY/FILTHY cars (not talking about the outside, the inside)
*some of the electronics are worth more than the car
*isn't limo tint illegal?

Just some casual observations as I helped the kiddos into their cars!

Have a good weekend! :-)

Held Captive

.....have you seen the commercial where the people in the photos are talking about how long they've been on the digital camera? I'm usually not one of those types of owners! But alas, I am right now. I usually diligently download, save to an organized folder and then blog.....but I haven't done step one, so the rest hasn't been following....oh, I do have a lot to show you!!! Hey, at least I'm starting to THINK about the fact that I need to download photos! That's step one in a multi-step process, right? Small, baby steps!!! :-)

MIA

I am so sorry that I haven't been keeping up with this....but life has been more than hectic, and we only have three more weeks of school (thank the good Lord for that!). I'm trying to get my swim schedule set to begin the Monday after school let's out.....so, yes, my life is CRAZY right now.....but I love all of you and I promise more posts soon....it ain't like I don't have stuff to post, just don't have the time!!!

Almost famous.....

.....so the NB Herald came out to my house yesterday to do a story.....it is in the paper today, on the FRONT PAGE of the paper. The girl at HEB made sure that I wanted to purchase all FIVE copies that I bought!!!! ummmm, yes, that's me on the front!! It isn't a great picture of me, but, then again, it isn't about me, it is about promoting ISR!!! Let me know if you want an autograph! :-)

Kudos

I just want to give a HUGE thanks to my swim moms that continue to blog, FaceBook, email and talk about me and ISR. They are such an enormous asset to my business and spreading the word about this fantastic program.

I have one mom that emails all of her MOPS moms and posts tons of photos on FaceBook. I have another mom that passes out fliers at her Mother's Day out and at her Kindermusic classes. And I have another mom that was very instrumental in contacting our local paper about ISR and getting me an interview today (will post link tomorrow!). She also has contacted one of the local news stations about me, too. And then there are ALL the other moms that just talk about me to their friends, their families and anyone they see, about the program. I have fliers in doctors' offices and in salons. I have families discussing our program over barbeques.....it is just getting out there and I love all of them for talking about it and showing off the swimming and floating abilities of their children!

I just want all of them to know how thankful I am.

Vacation is over.....

We've been out of school for over a week. You know what that means? A "to-do" list pages and pages long.....and along comes a stomach bug that knocks me on my seat....I was out with this yuck for almost a week. I'm still not 100%, but I don't spend my days curled on the couch and/or in the bathroom, so I'm not complaining!!!!

We got "the call" last night and we have to report back to school on Thursday!!! YIKES!!!!!!! That's tomorrow!!! What am I going to do? I could SOOOO get used to this staying home gig; if only they'd pay me for it too!

Seriously though, I'm glad they were precautious and canceled school and not take the chance of spreading this yucky flu.

I did get a ton of stuff done and there is still today and the list isn't complete (is it ever?) You'd think with all of this time on my hands I'd have blogs out the whazoo for you...but alas, this is the first time in over a week that I've even read my blogs! Sorry folks, I thought of you but didn't get around to you. I'm telling you, I was SICK!!!!

I only go back for one day b/c on Friday my dear hubby has his wisdom teeth pulled (ALL FOUR!). Yeah for me, huh? I threatened to ship him back to his mom's and let her deal with his baby-ness! Pray for us; him for the surgery and me for my sanity!

Gotta run. Hugs to all and I'll be posting more soon!

Go Fly a Kite

It has been SOOOO very windly lately, we finally decided to take advantage of it!

Book Talk - Bonus

I finished reading a book on Sunday and figured if I didn't get this posted, it would never get posted!!!!

I've never read a Lisa Gardner book before and this one was recommended to me. Wow, what a page turner it was; Say Goodbye.

It is a disturbing topic: a serial killer that is also a child molester. I didn't know this when I started reading it and I think that your perspective changes once you have children. When I realized this was part of the plot, I continued on. This isn't a central theme of the book, catching the predator is. She does an excellent job of twisting and turning the story, so that there are times that you really have to sit and ponder all the action that took place and you have to sketch it out in your head and see the big picture.

The serial killer is a crazy man (go figure) that also collects spiders. Apparently this is pretty common on the US; approximately 1/3 of us have pet spiders! Go figure b/c I hire a man to come in monthly and kill all the creepy things in my house. You learn a lot about spiders and if you don't like spiders, I will give you fair warning about the topic. At the beginning of each chapter there is a tidbit of information about spiders....things I'm thnking most of us can do without knowing!!!

Anyway, it is a good read. Even took it to the driving range so that I could finish reading it. My hubby isn't a reader and thought I was the crazy one for toting around a book to the driving range!!! If you want to be scared in the privacy of your home, read this one!

Church Antics

To begin, Little thinks going to church is going to the circus. She's been to both, but somehow calls them both the circus. We are Lutheran, so our services are pretty straight forward and neutral. No one is talking in tongues or doing other non-traditional types of things.

On Maundy Thursday, we went to church. There isn't child care for the evening services, so I packed her bag full of goodies so that she could sit with me in the sancturary; this would be a first. I was nervous; it was an adventure for her!

The youth choir sang and as they came to a close, the entire church is silent and my child, YELLS, "YEAH!" and starts clapping her hands. OMG, was I embarrassed. You see, this is what we do during Kindermusic at the end of songs and in the car, so she felt this was the appropriate thing to do.

You could hear the twitter of chuckles flowing through the church. We survived. Went back the following evening and there wasn't any loud outbursts!! :-) Gotta love the little ones!

Book Talk

I finished reading another Danielle Steel book about a month ago...and yes, it has taken me this long to write about it. The book was a rather good read, A Good Woman. This is set in the early 1900's when times were very different for all of us. This woman endures a lot because she loses her family and her spot in society. This might not seem a lot to us, but in these times, that was a huge ordeal.

True to D. Steel fashion, our main character perseveres and comes out on top, but not before going through a lot of trials and tribulations.

I would recommend this book if you want a good story, not too romantic, but a feel good story in the end. It also makes you appreciate how far women have come in society.

1, 2, 3, BLAST OFF

.....Little had her first plane ride today. She's off to Disney with Nanna and Papa. They left this morning and Nanna sent me a text stating that she did very well and as the plane was taking off, she said, "1, 2, 3, BLAST OFF!" Rather, she YELLED this! Gotta love a two year old's enthusiasm.....now what will mom do with an empty house for five days??????

To Blog or Not To Blog

My husband isn't a fan of my blogging. He thinks the boogie man will come and get our daughter b/c of the pictures and posts on my blog. I don't comment to him on this........



I have quite a few friends that are much younger than me and I would think they would be HUGE fans of blogging, but they barely know what a blog is....or FaceBook...or Twitter....etc......



I blog b/c I'm a very opinionated person. (I know, this is SOOOO hard to believe.) In fact, my husband gets frustrated with me sometimes b/c I am so opinionated and I'm very black and white with many things.....but, after this many years, I'm not going to change!!!! My opinions have gotten me in trouble quite a few times, but I'm used to it by now. It is the folks around me that aren't always comfortable with it!



I also blog b/c I do have family and friends near and far and I don't get to see/talk with them often and I want to be able to easily share my life and my family's life with them. I figure that I have it available, they have the responsibility to check in and see what is going on.....



I also like to share funny stories and make folks smile. (See, even for all my opinions, I'm really a nice person. Shhhh, don't let that get out b/c I'd hate for it to ruin my reputation!) ha, ha



A close friend of mine called me last night to tell me that my Monday Humor made a dear friend of hers smile during his last days. He passed this week, due to cancer, but she shared my joke with him and he laughed. Her voice mail made me smile and nearly cry.

So, as we enjoy this much needed rain today, I hope that something you read here makes you smile and have a wonderful day!! God bless you all!!! :-)

This will make you feel old....

I went to a baby shower last weekend. No big deal, right? Well, it was of a former student. Granted, I taught high school for four years and the majority of my students were juniors and seniors, so that makes many of them already in their 20's.

I get to the shower, and my former student is very pregnant. She looks adorable and the shower is beautiful.

Now what makes me feel old is that there were a total of three of my former students there and they had children ranging from 2 years old, to will be born next month!

At least I'm not like some of the teachers I work with at my elementary school that have been teaching for so long that they are teaching the children of their former students!! Now that would make me feel REALLY old!! :-)

Swimming....

....yes, swimming in Texas in April. I'm already swimming my babies at my house. My child sees me come inside from swimming and proclaims she wants to swim. Sure thing, little too cold for recreational swimming....blah, blah, blah....I'm going to go change out of my wet suit. She then comes into my bathroom, butt naked, and tells me that she is ready to go swimming. Oh really. In that case, why don't we put on a swim suit???? Novel idea, right? So, I'm going to let her test the waters and make the choice of swim or no swim, in her NEW suit I bought her. She tells me she doesn't want that suit b/c it isn't hers. Yes, it is, I bought it for you. Nope, other one.....fine, I pull out her one from last year (OMG, what would fashion divas say??) and that's the one she wants. Off we go.....

Check out her hands....COLD!!! She got this far and decided it was too much. We'll try again in a few days.

Monday Humor

Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with that expensivedouble-pane energy efficient kind, and today, I got a call from thecontractor who installed them.

He was complaining that the work had beencompleted a whole year ago and I still hadn't paid for them.

Hellloooo,...just because I'mblonde doesn't mean that I am automatically stupid.

So, I told him just what his fast talking sales guy had told me last year, that in ONE YEAR these windows would pay for themselves!

Helllooooo? It's been a year! I told him. There was only silence at the other end of the line, so I finally just hung up. He never called back. I bet he felt like an idiot.

It's Ok to talk to her.....

My daughter isn't shy...in fact, if she says hello to you and you don't say hello, she'll keep saying hello, louder and louder, until you do. She does the same thing with "Excuse me" if she's trying to get by you.

I've come to the conclusion that folks don't know how to handle a two year old that looks them in the eye and talks to them. I've had more people than I can count just ignore her, or just stare at her like she's an alien. It really baffles me. And bless her heart, she doesn't understand why they won't talk to her. Maybe they had too many lessons on "stranger danger" and they are afraid of a two year old stranger!!! :-)

Cinderella Birthday Party

Last weekend, my best friend's daughter had a birthday party and Cinderella came to help out. All of the girls are six and seven, so they are WAY into Cinderella and the entire princess thing. My child: not so much! She played and had a good time, but playing in the birthday girl's room with her toys was WAY more fun!! Ultimately, it was a huge success and everything turned out perfectly!

Other kid's toys are so much more fun!

Running makes us tired.....

.....this is what running does to some members of my family:

New Old Furniture

Last summer, my husband's grandmother gave us an entire bedroom set of furniture. I'm not into the French Provential White, so I said I'd re-do it....you know, in my spare time. So, I started into it, made a huge dent and then it sat there until Spring Break and guess what? I finished a piece of it. I'd love to show you befores...but I didn't think that far in advance.

I only have three more pieces to go!!! :-)

Cute as a bunny!!

As always: Be True Photography.

Bedtime

My child doesn't like to sleep in her bed anymore. Nope, she'd rather sleep in her "house." It is a tent that her dad bought her for Christmas. I finally got around to making a pallet in it so that she wasn't sleeping on the floor. A few times I would let her fall asleep in her house and then move her to her bed. However, she'd wake up in the middle of the night, trod into my room and wake me up, and then tell me she wanted to be in her house. (Really, you have to wake me up to tell me this when you can just walk ten steps and go there yourself? Yes, she is still doing this weeks later!)

Anyway, I think it is funny that she'd rather sleep on the floor than in a nice bed. Oh well, I really don't mind, what I do mind is that on a nightly basis, she comes in and wakes me up and first tries to get into bed with me, and when that doesn't work, tells me she wants to be in her house!!! Oh, to sleep the night through. I am back to having an infant and midnight feedings!

Did you know?

Did you know that you should take your vitamins at night so that your body has time to process them and you don't eliminate them???? That's the nice way of saying you don't pee them out!
:-) It's true.

Did you know that if you wake up around 4:00 a.m., you are better off staying away b/c you aren't able to complete a sleep cycle by the time your alarm goes off? I know, we do it anyway b/c who the heck wants to get up at 4:00 a.m.???

Just thought I'd let you know these few bits of useful information. Enjoy!

No sticker necessary

.....wow, how much we rely on technology!!! My Blackberry, AKA my lifeline, broke today! I talked to my sister at 7:45 this morning, rec'd a few emails and then I noticed nothing else was happening......I checked it out and on the screen it said, "No Service." My friend teased me that I hadn't paid the bill (it had crossed my mind, so I called my husband and his phone worked!!).

Powered it down, took the battery out, went outside, even when I went to Cosco to get gas (which BTW is the BEST place to get gas b/c it is CHEAPER than most places), no signal, no service. OMG, what to do???? I have two email accounts connected to this, texts, phone calls....all I had was my calendar and to-do list (whatever, can do w/o THOSE!).

Anyway, all is well, I went to the phone store, they did the same thing I did, and fiddled with the SIM card, and guess what? It is broke. Really, did you get a degree for knowing that? Anyway, the lady was very nice and I have a new one on the way. YEAH me!!!

Handicap Sticker Please

I need one of those hang tags for my car window. It is really quite sad, but I have torn the nail on my left thumb so far down that I am unable to use it to text on my Blackberry. If you text often, you know how debilitating this can be. I'm wondering how soon I can get into the doctor and if he'll sign off on the form??? What do you think? If you receive any texts from me, bear with me b/c I am having to type one-handed! :-)

Potty Training Update

Wow, we have made a HUGE hurdle! We are only in diapers at nap time and at night!!!! I am SOOOO very excited. We don't always make it to the potty in time and sometimes it is just b/c we want to go sit in the RR, but overall, we are doing a wonderful job!! The next hurdle is pooping on the potty. We've done it a few times, but it definately isn't on a consistent basis! Oh well, this will come with time.

Kindermusic

We've been going to Kindermusic off and on for over a year now. We LOVE it and we LOVE Mrs. Brooke. If you've never taken your child to Kindermusic, you need to check it out.

Each session, you get a CD (or CD set) and book. This time we got the set and two books!!! Gotta love books!!

In sessions past, I've played the CD, but my child just really wasn't into it...not this time, she LOVES the CD. As we leave the house, she's asking for the "song like a puppy." Or the bees, cats, clock....she sings the songs while she plays, goes to sleep, all the time!

The only downfall of it is that sometimes the songs get stuck in my head!!!! When you are trying to go to sleep, these songs will drive you CRAZY!!!! :-) We love you Brooke!

Bread makers

Have you ever made bread? How about sourdough bread or any other type of bread that requires a starter?

I've made bread. I even make my own pizza dough (you just don't go back once you've done this!)

Breads with starters....nope never have done this until now. Started the starter this weekend. We had to stir the starter twice a day. And of course, I had a helper.

She was the official stir-er for the starter.

The five days were met and it is time to make the dough and then bake the bread. Wow, this is an all day adventure!! After you make the dough, you have to make "old dough" to go into the starter mix. After you make this (I did this yesterday and it didn't rise, so I did it again today .....it has to rise for three hours, hence the reason I tried again on a new day!), you add it to the mix, knead your dough for ten minutes and then let it rise for two hours. After this, you punch it down and let it proof for another 1 to 1.5 hours....and then you bake it for an hour. See? Told you it is an all day event!

I want to make this work b/c my mother-in-law found this WONDERFUL sourdough bread, with cheese and jalapenos at a farmers' market....so surely I can make this, too, right? I'm on spring break, so I have the time.....if all goes well, this will have to be a weekend event!!! I don't think I can take off from work b/c I have to bake bread!! ha, ha

Trip to the Dentist

Children are supposed to start going to the dentist at the age of 2...I waited until 2 1/2 b/c I know my child and if she won't open her mouth for me, she surely won't do it for someone else!!!

We made the appointment and went. So we went and the hygenist was VERY friendly and was great. Gave her a toothbrush and toothpaste. She wanted Little to lay down and let her brush her teeth. Up she went on the table. Wow, this is going to be great and easy......hold on folks, that was the end of THAT! Lay down, nope, no way, no how, get me off this table......so, then we decided to brush our teeth at the sink.

Little let the hygenist help with that. But that was it. I had to hold her the rest of the time. She wouldn't open her mouth, not even for me with the little instrument with the mirror. Finally, the time came for Dr. Cheryl to check her out and I had to hold my little girl down while they looked at her teeth and painted floride on them.....it wasn't bad, but someone was VERY mad at me and everyone else in the world! Hopefully it will be better in six months!

Answers

Here are the answers. How did ya do?

1. The third room. Lions that haven't eaten in three years are dead. That one was easy, right?

2. The woman was a photographer. She shot a picture of her husband, developed it, and hung it up to dry (shot; held under water; and hung). (Gwen, you better have gotten this one right!)

3. Charcoal, as it is used in barbecuing.

4. Sure you can name three consecutive days, yesterday, today, and tomorrow!

5. The letter e, which is the most common letter used in the English language, does not appear even once in the paragraph.

Riddles

This type of stuff is GREAT for your brain. You have to think to ward off your brain from wasting away. I'll post the answers tomorrow.

1. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?

2. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?

3. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away ?

4. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday?

5. This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious as to just how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so ordinary and plain that you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is highly unusual though.. Study it and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out. Try to do so without any coaching!

Who is this big girl?

I always put Little's hair in a pony on top of her head b/c she brushes her hair out of her face and gets it dirty. So, I wanted to see if she'd wear a headband......



...and maybe the added fact that I wear one would help inspire her. Nope, she wore it and then told me it hurt so she pulled it off. Oh well, I did snap a picture first. She just looks like such a big girl!!!

Great Giveaway

http://www.littlepeoplewealth.com/2009/03/long-overdue-thanks-and-dave-ramsey.html



If you haven't had a chance to visit Little People Wealth, you need to do so (after you've read my blog). She has TONS of great information to SAVE money; which is something we ALL need to do!!!

Visit her site b/c she always has a give-away and this week's is a Dave Ramsey book. I'd really like to win it, but if you get it instead, let me know that I led you in a great direction!!! :-) Happy reading!

New book

...I'm not doing a lot of reading right now b/c by the time I get to bed, I'm so exhausted that I don't even remember touching my head to my pillow.

I started reading Confessions of a Shopaholic and just couldn't get into it.

Part of the problem that it is British and I don't DO British humor. I don't like Monte Python and all that....sorry all you Brit lovers...just not for this Texas gal! The other part is that the main character is really not the brightest, so it is hard to have sympathy for her and her spending habits...yes, I should have known some of this by the title, but the previews for the movie looked cute.

So, went to the spare bedroom and found this book, A Good Woman by Danielle Steele.

It isn't a bad read, just not a lot happening and it surely hasn't gripped me so that I have to read it every night to see what is happening with the characters...but, I'll get through it and let you know ultimately what I think about it!

Zoo

I'm a member of the SA Zoo. Why? B/c I thought it would be a good deal b/c I was going to take Little to the zoo all the time. But alas, this hasn't happened!!! I did go with a friend and her son a few weeks ago. We got to go behind the scenes and get up close and personal with an elephant. That was definately the BEST part. Enjoy the pictures!

The hippos were very fun to watch.

Snack time!

She cried when we left b/c she wanted to crawl under the yellow chain and go pet the elephant!

Goats, smelly but fun!

We got to pot a plant.