Growing up by faith....

Side Seat Drivers BEWARE!!!!

2008-11-30T04:38:00.000-08:00

My dear fellow side seat drivers, our titles are in jeopardy! My MIL got her son a cute little "GPS for Dummies" as part of his christmas and gave it to him Thursday. Oh how cute, I thought, just what he needs. Little did I know that this GPS "thing" was also another side seat driver.

We leave his parents house Thursday afternoon to head to my Mom's and he is so excited about his new "toy" that he just about drives us off the road several times trying to install it & turn it on. Finally he gets it all set up & we're driving along when out of nowhere we hear "You're exceeding the speed limit". Hmm, well that reminder is a good thing for him. Then as we got into town it starts going off, annoying I might add; in 3 tenths of a mile turn left. I turned to him & said "That's MY job!"

"I have ONE LOUSY JOB ON THIS SHIP. It's stupid but I'm going to do it!" I started saying while he's laughing so hard he can't drive straight. Wait, he can't drive straight not laughing either! So anyway, IMHO a GPS system is just another side seat driver who I guess according to Men is allowed to tell them how to drive while we get to sit there annoyed that we no longer have anything to do in the car anymore! I'm seriously thinking about throwing it out the window the next time we're on a trip or banning it from being on.

Never Forgetting

2008-09-11T06:12:00.000-07:00

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Several years ago I partcipated in blogging event that remembered those lost on 9/11. As I do every year since, I pull that passage forward as I will never forget Allan Shwartzstein. He's the gentleman I blogged about. Not a day goes by that I still don't think about Allan, his family & all the others we lost on that horrible day 7 years ago today. Obviously others have forgotten because several ppl were asking why the flags were flying low today. I know life goes on, I know you can't & shouldn't hang onto the past but somethings shouldn't be forgotten. All those innocent people that lost their lives on that day shouldn't be forgotten. We've moved past mourning them, but we shouldn't move past remembering them or celebrating the lives they had. At the same time, we should never forget our troops who are still over there fighting. Even if we don't agree with them being there; they are still there needing our support & prayers. This Texas Mom will NEVER forget the people lost on 9/11 or the Troops fighting to ensure our freedom & our rights. God Bless the fallen, our troops & America!
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We will honor them by remembering their lives,
and not by remembering their murderers.
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I Remember Allan Shwartzstein
World Trade Center ~ Tower 1

There's not much on the internet about Allan Abraham Shwartzstein, 37. He wasn't famous, just a face in the crowd of thousands ~ an unknown to you & I. But to his family & friends he was a bright start that faded out too soon & now a hero to us all.

Allan was best known as a husband to Amy, father to Matthew & Jessica, a brother, a son & a friend. He was named after an uncle who died in Israel in 1948. He was a simple man who preferred ratty t-shirts & worn out shorts to the suits & ties he wore to work. After 15 years on Wall Street, he still wore the watch he had received for his bar mitzvah. According to those that knew him, he was genuine, what you see is what you got. He didn't worry about his appearance or what came out of his mouth. When I look at his photo I can imagine that he told it like it was.

In March of 2001, Allan had joined Cantor Fitzgerald as a managing director and partner & his office was located in Tower 1 on the 104 floor. His wife Amy said that Allan was just the kind of guy that would put others in front of his own needs and he was probably busy helping others when the towers were hit instead of thinking of his own safety. He was an avid tennis player and skier and an amateur guitar player. According to his younger brother, Michael, he was a humble & down to earth guy. He had a quality about him that made others feel really good.

Every day we encounter countless people, people we never smile at or greet. We are too absorbed in our own lives. One thing I have learned in researching Allan is that life is too short. We never know what could happen next in our lives. I imagine on the morning of September 11, 2001 started out like any day for the people in New York. Their commute to work was like the day before. The ride up the elevator filled with conversations while people on the street pushed past one another in silence. I can only imagine how the rest of the morning went as I sat safely in my home thousands of miles away. Since September 11, 2001 I've become aware that a simple smile from a passerbyer can change my day. Whose life can we touch by suddenly becoming more aware of those around us & taking a few seconds to call out a greeting? I wish I had known Allan. I'm sure those in his life were blessed beyond blessed to have counted him as family or friend. I will never forget you Allan Schwartzstein and I will continue to pray for you, your family and to all those we lost.

We're 6!!

2008-08-13T09:58:00.001-07:00

So our little man turned 6 last week. We went to his favorite resturant "The Rain Forest Cafe". We surprised him a volcano dessert complete with sparkler & waiters singing happy birthday. Needless to say he was thrilled with the attention. We also did an evening trip to Six Flags, riding all the rides he wanted to ride. Saturday we had some friends over & had the whole cake/ice cream & finally his gifts. By Saturday night we were all partied out!

We're now counting down to our first day of school. 12 days to go!! Col-Cr & Neo-Pa are both excited. Pac-Cr isn't sure what to think really. We've been reading his favorite book "How does a dinosaur go to school" hoping it will help him. Wee-School was a nightmare but I kinda look to his teacher for that, she was older & didn't really have a high level of patience. There is one K teacher I'm really hoping we get, she's been there since Col-Cr was in K & he really needs a firm, keeps to her own rules teacher. Please cross your fingers for us. I've been told the older two were very much like he was at this age but memory has dulled alot & I don't recall them being like this. I'm majorly stressed out!

Home Projects

2008-07-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

This is what our patio looked like last summer before this spring/summer's high winds ripped it apart. :-(
This is our new gazebo we got from the Academy & Xachr beginning work on the patio expansion.

Here is the patio expansion.....

Here is the finished project.

Side view from walkway.....
Evening view with our solar tiki torches & rope light. :-)

This is about the only thing I love about summer, the BBQ'ing on the weekends, the evenings stretched out on the lounge chairs watching the kids play in the pool. *HEAVEN*

1 more year to go & he'll be a teenager!!!!!

2008-07-11T13:57:00.001-07:00

Goodness gracious how time flies! Hard to believe just 12 years ago this shaggy headed boy was born!

I had big plans on making him an ice cream cake for his birthday; nothing as fancy as Neo-Pa's ladybug cake but still something special. Needless to say it's been YEARS since I used the Betty Crocker Bake n Fill cake pans & I know I put the instructions somewhere but I couldn't find them. Silly me, I put the cake still in the pan in the freezer while I waited for Xachr to bring home Col-Cr's fav ice cream without popping it out of the pan first. Next morning I couldn't get it out & while soaking it in hot water in the sink I tipped it & of course it got soggy. So Albertson's Bakery to the rescue!! Xachr picked this out all by himself. (He was so proud too) Of course Col-Cr thought it was a HOOT as he just loves hamburgers; meat, cheese & ketchup only please!

Here he is blowing out 12 pink candles (I could have sworn I had a #2 somewhere but nope just pink candles good thing he's such a good sport). As always I offer him $200 or a bday party & he took the cash. With football & band on his agenda for the school year he wanted a cell phone so that's what he got with his $. To help pay his monthly fee of $30 he is mowing our yard & doing his chores without complaint. (yeah I'm still waiting on that last one) But the house phone has sure been quieter, Erin drove me nuts during the school year!

He took the rest of his $ and got his ear pierced. Yep hard to imagine me letting any son of mine do that & grow his hair out too. (Go Me!) I just itch to get the clippers after him but I'm doing my best to allow him some freedom to express himself. However I draw the line at hair any longer than this. Thankfully the new student dress code will help me in that area. (Yeah don't get me going on that topic!!)

Going Out The In

2008-05-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

Every Saturday morning Xchar & I do our grocery shopping. Col-Cr babysits so our trip to Wally-World is less tramatic. Each time we go, during any time of the day, we have to stand & wait to go IN through the ENTERANCE. Why you ask? Because people are too wrapped up, lazy or just don't know how to read & they stream OUT of the ENTERANCE like little ants taking their finds back to their queen.

I'm not a bold female. I typically hold my tongue & opinion to 97% of the peopleI know. Just easier for me to bite it than tell them what I really think. However I've been spending too much time with Xchar & his rubbing off on me. Now when we go to ENTER ANY STORE & people are going OUT the IN I polietly point out that there is an ENTERANCE & AN EXIT & would the please learn to read which door they should be going out of! Yeah I get a few remarks back but I hold my head high & savor my victory. ONLY to see Xchar trying to go out the in every darn time. Now him; I don't have to be so polite too & he dutifully swerves & uses the right door.

I guess my vent today is to just point out to my few readers that the next time you go to a store PLEASE use the right door!

How Cliche!

2008-05-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

So Xachr & I have been doing ALOT of yard work this spring. We extended the front flowerbed a good few feet as you see here in the picture. This past weekend I planted fiber optic grass. Those are the 3 green lumps you see around the rock. Now what you don't see clearly is the pink flamingo. Xachr had left me alone in my flowerbed to run an errand & when he returned I planted "Pinkie". Needless to say he was NOT impressed with me putting it in the front yard. I told him there was no reason to hide it in the backyard since it wasn't a cheesy plastic flamingo but a artsy wire one with a pretty pink & green gazing ball HE had picked out as the belly.

"How cliche" he said. I really started to get upset cause it's not like it's a garden gnome. You can barely see "Pinkie" from the street much less even in this up close picture. Xachr just thinks it should be hidden in the backyard & not the front. What do you think? Are flamingos over done in landscapes around the world? And what decor do you have out for your neighbors to see?
I have seen a few neighbors WAY over do it but I think I've done a good job to keep it light & clutter free.

Also this year I decided to plant a tree in our front yard. Xachr has been fighting about this since we moved. However we get the evening sun smack in the kitchen windows there & it gets mighty hot in the summer. I picked a lovely Cleveland Select Pear but the wild spring weather we've been having has me worried. Most of the little limbs have been blown off. We had to stake it into the ground as the high winds had it tilting. I really hope it's going to make it.

So what spring clean up have you been doing around your home? Over the next few weeks we hope to get the patio in the backyard redone & ready. When we aren't having all those windy wild weather, it's been down right GORGEOUS & we're all beyond ready to sit under the awning with our supper & relax.

We're 8 & it's just GREAT!!

2008-05-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

April 26th found Neo-Pa turing the big 8! I look back at the years past & feel blessed to have this beautiful girl in my life. Despite her diva-ness, she really is one in a million! This girl never ceases to amaze us. She's clever, charming, funny & oh I could go on. Here she is almost 2 yrs old & I will easily admit to this being one of my favorite pictures of her. Not to mention my favorite outfits she had as a baby.

She wanted to go to Six Flags for her birthday & so of course that's what we did. Here she is on the carousel in her batgirl cape. We got her a pink iPod nano, engraved with name & phone number just in case. She adores Littlest Pet Shop and spent most of her bday $ on that.

I made her a special Ladybug cake with lil ladybug cupcakes. She was thrilled that I took the time to do this for her. And it was really yummy! However I've decided baking my own cakes is NOT for me so we'll do bakery from here on out. (Homemade icing; need I say more???)

Anyway, it was a great bday & weekend. At least I have a few months til Col-Cr's hits & thankfully all he wants is a cell phone. :-)

False advertisement

2008-03-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

Nyquil; the night time sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head medicine so that you're up all night sniffling, sneezing, aching, stuffy headed & COUGHING YOUR HEAD OFF!

*screams* I swear I'm not normal. Everyone else swears by this stuff & yet it does nothing for me. I'm so tired & cranky right now.

A quick up-to-date

2008-03-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry everyone; it's just been rather "blah" here since Christmas. No nothing's been wrong we've just been sharing the cold/flu bug with one another. We've had an unseasonably warm & yet weird winter. Just when you think we've shed our winter coats it snows..... I can't even begin to tell you how much I'm looking forward to Spring. The trees are budding around here; the stores have put out their Easter stuff; of course they did that back in February but for some reason Easter screams SPRING'S HERE! Only in Texas, Easter means IT'S SNOWING!!! Ugh such an odd state we are. Oh well at least white's a color that goes with everything. LOL!

I can't really believe we are almost halfway through with March. I don't know why it amazes me so at how quickly time flies by but it always does. Before I know it everyone will have grown another year older & several inches taller. I'll try to bring everyone up to speed with all of our comings & goings as quickly as I can to keep from boring you. Do be aware that this might still be a long one. :-)

Col-Cr is rapidly approaching 12 yrs old & with it has sprouted forward underarm hair & to his excitement; peach fuzz on his upper lip. He spends every morning "inspecting" his new hair growth. Thankfully the bo phase hasn't hit us yet but he discovered Axe body wash & deoderant last year & is good to use it daily. Now if I could just get him to understand how important it is to shower we'd be in good shape. Despite my protest he is trying to grow out his hair & I try like crazy not to chase after him with the clippers to cut it. For a good number of weeks he had him a little girl who called CONSTANTLY but right before we were to take them to the movies they broke up. With his last 6 week grades not looking so hot, not failing just not good; I've asked him to avoid girls for awhile. This August he starts Middle School & has signed up for athletics & band. Would you believe he is already doing his own count down to the first day of school? Shocking I know.

What can one say about Miss Neo-Pa? She is enjoying 2nd grade & just loves her teacher. She's blossoming into a lovely young girl with more attitude & wildness than either of her two brothers. There is nothing this gal can & won't do. We recently helped escort her class to the zoo. It was a rare treat Xchar & I got to enjoy. She's recently received her orange belt in karate. It's something she & Col-Cr enjoy together. (He is also an orange belt) Xachr looks to take them to a tournament next month so we can see what that's all about. They are not required to participate in one yet for raking purposes but they will have to eventually. Look out people this karate princess has an awfully high kick! Neo-Pa has discovered the world of Littlest Pets & her collection grows with every good report card & holiday. Each day her cleverness amazes me & really she's more boy than the other two are. Hard to imagine that in a few short weeks she'll be turning 8 years old.

Pac-Cr is as fiesty as ever. The things that come out of his mouth typically has us rolling on the floor with laughter. Sadly not everyone finds him funny & he spends a great deal of time in the office at preschool. However I think it was more his other teacher's problem & I was able to get him moved into another class. I'm hoping in doing this; it will encourage him to explore who he is vs always being in the corner cause his teacher couldn't & didn't want to really get to know him. We've had a not so pleasant experience with preschool & I worry this will affect how he looks at Kindergarten this fall. I guess all we can do is see if this new class suits him better. I'm seriously thinking about pulling him despite the fact that there is only 11 weeks left. Pac-Cr is such a delight & I have no idea what I'm going to do when he goes off to full time school in August. His main love these days are these little toddler sized star wars people. He can spend hours playing with them & his dinos. I've walked into one too many battles in the living room; much to his dismay. LOL!

With the weight of the world on his shoulders; LOL; Xachr is still a work-aholic. He's celebrated 1 yr at this new company & I have to say it's made him a new man. Oh he still stresses like you wouldn't believe BUT it's different. Tim, his current boss; appreciates him not just by giving him bonuses & a raise this last month but genuine words of praise & appreciation. It's amazing what a boss can get out of their employees but just simply thanking them for a job well done. It definately pushes Xachr harder to get to hear them again. And for the first time in forever we're able to just breath easier in the financial aspect. However if working 60+ a week there wasn't enough he's currently teaching 4 nights a week at the jr college. As it's something he loves I try my best to encourage it. Each semester we never know if they will need him or not so we ride the train as long as we can. Xachr has some spring projects around the house he's waiting to tackle. The weather a few weekends ago was awesome & we actually planted our first tree in the front yard. We're all anxious to see if we can keep it alive. LOL!

And last but not least; me! I'm down to working one night a week at the boutique. However that 's suppose to come to an end soon. With summer approaching & after school activities getting busier; it's just not possible to work right now. Plus I haven't enjoyed it like I had before. I had forgotten how things were I guess & things never change I guess. When I do stop working Xachr is going to take karate too. Not sure what's come over him but the class is right after theirs. I haven't been doing well with my flylady routines but I got a weekend to myself recently & spent it cleaning from top to bottom. Now that it's not so overwhelming perhaps it will be easier to get back on track. I have to say a messy home doesn't help with depression. In 30 days we will celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary. I'm hoping I can talk a friend into babysitting over night for us so we can have a "us" evening. Just looking for a quick trip to Waco to eat out our fav resturant & spend the night. Cross your fingers for me please. I'm still checkin my curves three times a week; or trying to. My workout buddy & I are doing our best. :-)

I think that should bring you all up to speed on the 5 C's. I'll try not to make it 3 months before I post again. Til then know you are loved & thought of often. God Bless.

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-26T06:11:00.000-08:00

My attitude has drastically been changed; funny what a bonus check will do to help pull one out of their depression. I don't feel as angry as I had been feeling, which is a good thing. I didn't like being angry all the time over the loss of our van. No I still don't care for the one I'm in now but the light at the end of the bankruptcy tunnel is shining brighter today. :-)

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. We went all out this year & the kids got everything they could ever want. Pac-Cr kept saying after every gift he opened "This is the best Christmas of my entire life!" And it brought so much joy to us to hear that. Of course Christmas pasts weren't shabby but it was nice to not worry so much about how to pay bills & give the kids gifts. Xachr was surprised with an Ipod Classic, I think that's what they are called & in return I was given one of the new Nano's & an alarm clock to go with it. I've enjoyed waking up to Micheal Buble. (Man that guy has quickly become a favorite of mine. His voice just makes me melt!)

We had wanted so badly to go home for Christmas but with this van we're in, we just didn't feel comfortable driving it. At 10am yesterday someone rang our doorbell, thinking it was one of the neighborhood kids wanting Col-Cr to play, Xachr goes to the door with attitude & do you know who was standing on our front porch????? My Mom!! That alone was the best gift anyone could have given me. We had no idea she was even thinking about driving the 2½ hrs to see us. Even now I tear up thinking about the awesome surprise she gave me. I have not seen my Mom since Pac-Cr's birthday in August. She stayed for a few hours, her dog is really old & can't be home alone for too long; but it was the best few hours of this holiday I could have ever wished for.

So much more to blog about & I will but the after holiday sales are calling my name. Thankfully we only have 2 things to return so we won't be doing that all day. With all the stuff Col-Cr got I need some storage solutions so off into the cold rainy morning I go. After I hit Starbucks that is........

Time sure flies

2007-12-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

Can't hardly believe we sit here in the middle of December & the end of the year is staring us in the face. Wow! Where did this year go?

I find little to no time to post much I apologize for not having anything to say since October. Well I've had plenty to say but nothing I'd want said outside my home. We've both been really frustrated with the car situation. My Dad helped us get a used minivan; the gesture was certainly greatly appreciated but it's been a money pit. Since October we've spent over $700 in car repair. Seems like when one vehicle gets fixed the other one goes into the shop. It's made my job a nightmare & I took a month off. Jane doesn't make it easy when there is a crisis at home & I just couldn't handle the extra stress. I started back last Friday & told her all we can do is see how it goes. I definately don't like posting too much negative here as some passing by readers seem to like to be hateful in their response. One of my friends on blogger knows this all too well. People are just get a high off being rude.

Both Col-Cr & Neo-Pa got their yellow belts in Karate a few weeks ago. They are enjoying the class very much & we've kicked around the idea of having Pac-Cr try come January. Beats trying to get him to sit quietly & watch the other two. Figured a month trial to see how he'll do. We still have issues with going to preschool, some days are better than others. The Christmas break probably won't help much. But he at least he's stopped fighting me on going & this morning asked if he went to school today. That's a good sign.

Xachr is loving the company he's with. Hard to believe he jumped ship a year ago this month. His boss, Tim, has been so good to him & of course he's a company man so IMHO Tim's damn lucky to have him on board. Xachr did some teaching this semester & he's on for 2 classes come January. Just have to wait to see if they make. If they do it will be impossible for me to work as they are Mon-Thursday & we'd like to be a family sometime during the week. I'm not getting ahead of myself as we also want very much to get out of bankruptcy so we can get a more reliable vehicle. 17 more months to go......YIPPEE!!

In case I don't get back on; which I do try to more than not; I hope each of you have a very Merry CHRIST-mas!!

& a very Happy New Year!

Much love to all!!

Might be a possibility

2007-10-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

Dad called Thursday & said he found a mini van he thought we might be interested in so we went to Graham on Saturday. It's a 2000 Pontiac Montana (or something like that) wasn't in too bad of shape, high miles & the breaks seem "iffy" but the guy's only wanting $2600 for it & Dad said he'd take care of it if we wanted it. We said yes if the breaks could be looked at; so tomorrow he's suppose to go talk to the guy about it & possibly by Wednesday we'll have a 2nd car. We will have to wait & see if it is reliable enough to get me to work 2 nights a week. I think I will go ahead & take off this Friday so I can watch the kids at karate at least once.

I'm still highly stressed out & the small % of compassion I had for the guy that hit me has been replaced with anger. I know I shouldn't feel the way I feel but I do. The guy is only out $400 for a no insurance/no drivers license & our families are having to help us out. Sad & frustrating; ya know? At least we only have 22 more months in our bankruptcy & I can't begin to tell you how ready I am to be out of this. If you ever think of filing; please rethink it. Mom always talkes of Dave Ramsey, I'm not a fan of the guy since he wants you to pay to learn how to save, but maybe he can help you. Anything other than filing bankruptcy!! Do all you can to avoid it!

Pac-Cr finally decided on being a pirate for halloween. Not sure how it's all going to come out but hopefully it will. Col-Cr is going as death & we are hoping Neo-Pa's witch costume will fit from last year. No word on if Izzy will go dressed as anything. The holidays are banging at the door & I really want to scream at them to go away.

And so it goes......

2007-10-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

whew what a September! I was in my 1st auto accident on the 27th of last month. Thank the good Lord no one was hurt. I had just picked Pac-Cr up from preschool so he was the only one with me. An uninsured (of course); no driver's license, 26 yr old ran a stop sign & tagged the front driver's side of the mini van.

The thing that irritates me; other than yet AGAIN another uninsured motorist has hit us; the van was put in our bankruptcy & that causes so many frustrating issues. The main one is our attorney doesn't seem to want to call us back. She has to be the one to file a motion to incur debt so we can shop for another car. The bank back home said they'd be willing to work with us once we know what's going to happen.... but waiting for the insurance company to give us a figure, waiting for the attorney........ I'm tired of waiting, ya know.

I had to kinda quit my job last week. We do have a rental but not for too much longer. Once the insurance company makes an offer we only have 7 days before we have to turn it back in. Jane doesn't want to ask Jan if she would be willing to try to work weekends with me so she's one employee less. I'm not too upset about it since when I called to tell her I had been in an accident she didn't seem to concerned about me, only what it meant about my work schedule. *sigh*

Xachr's parents have located a minivan they'd like for us to look into but until we know about financing, just seems like a mute point. Thing I keep trying to tell myself is, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We may not be able to see it at this point; but it IS there.

Did you notice......

2007-09-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

The ticker at the top.....97 days until Christ-mas???? Ugh! Although I'm always ready to celebrate Jesus' birth, I'm never ready for all the chaos it tends to cause. I'm already dreading it....

Things are going pretty well. Kids have finished the 1st 3 weeks of school; Neo-Pa's grades are ok but there is room for improvement. I'll wait until the end of this 6 weeks before I talk to her teacher. Col-Cr should be bringing home his 3 week report today & I'm curious to see how he's been doing.

Pac-Cr is doing well at Weeschool. So far my biggest challenge is getting him to want to go. Seems he'd rather stay home instead. Thankfully it's not too big of a fight but it would be nice if he'd be excited about going. I'm really iffy on the main teacher in that room, she may be good with kids but she stinks with adults. She hardly ever greets me or tells Cooper goodbye at the end of the day. Kind of a wet fish personality IYKWIM..... Thankfully there are only 5 kids in his class which is nice. :-)

Work is going well. I wish people would stop talking about Jan & I though. It only seems to keep things going & it needs to just stop. Found out on Monday Elaine asked her if she could work with me & she answered she isn't sure & did I ask Elaine to ask her. Of course she said no because I didn't honestly care but now it looks like I'm talking when I'm not. I'm tempted to call or email her but Xachr says I shouldn't. I don't know yet what I'm going to do but I don't really have issues with her & I think she needs to know that before things really get out of hand.

Xachr has been working late the last few nights so now that everyone has headed off to school I think I'm going to try to get some more sleep. Love to all!

I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ~ HAVE YOU?

2007-09-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

Another year has come & gone. 6 years ago today all of our lives changed. I doubt anyone of age will ever forget this date. It will forever be burned in our hearts & minds. Col-Cr woke up this morning asking if the evil behind what happened had ever been found & I had to tell him no, he's still out there. I can't say I even have a false sense of security, I don't feel we as a country are any safer. The war is also heavy on people's hearts & minds; I won't forget what our troops sacrifice for me & my family. Doesn't matter if I support the war or not; I support our troops, I pray for them & their families constantly. I hope you do the same. This family will NEVER forget!!

Last year I joined in with hundreds of other bloggers from around the country; maybe even the world, to remember those lost. We kept the evil out of it & tried to focus on the individual person instead. I didn't participate this year, not even sure they did it again, although I hope they did as it was a beautiful way to remember & honor; but I'm pulling forward my blog on Allan Shwartzstein because not a day goes by that I don't remember his name or his face and I hope you haven't/won't either........

I Remember Allan Shwartzstein
World Trade Center ~ Tower 1

There's not much on the internet about Allan Abraham Shwartzstein, 37. He wasn't famous, just a face in the crowd of thousands ~ an unknown to you & I. But to his family & friends he was a bright start that faded out too soon & now a hero to us all.

Allan was best known as a husband to Amy, father to Matthew & Jessica, a brother, a son & a friend. He was named after an uncle who died in Israel in 1948. He was a simple man who preferred ratty t-shirts & worn out shorts to the suits & ties he wore to work. After 15 years on Wall Street, he still wore the watch he had received for his bar mitzvah. According to those that knew him, he was genuine, what you see is what you got. He didn't worry about his appearance or what came out of his mouth. When I look at his photo I can imagine that he told it like it was.

In March of 2001, Allan had joined Cantor Fitzgerald as a managing director and partner & his office was located in Tower 1 on the 104 floor. His wife Amy said that Allan was just the kind of guy that would put others in front of his own needs and he was probably busy helping others when the towers were hit instead of thinking of his own safety. He was an avid tennis player and skier and an amateur guitar player. According to his younger brother, Michael, he was a humble & down to earth guy. He had a quality about him that made others feel really good.

Every day we encounter countless people, people we never smile at or greet. We are too absorbed in our own lives. One thing I have learned in researching Allan is that life is too short. We never know what could happen next in our lives. I imagine on the morning of September 11, 2001 started out like any day for the people in New York. Their commute to work was like the day before. The ride up the elevator filled with conversations while people on the street pushed past one another in silence. I can only imagine how the rest of the morning went as I sat safely in my home thousands of miles away. Since September 11, 2001 I've become aware that a simple smile from a passerbyer can change my day. Whose life can we touch by suddenly becoming more aware of those around us & taking a few seconds to call out a greeting? I wish I had known Allan. I'm sure those in his life were blessed beyond blessed to have counted him as family or friend. I will never forget you Allan Schwartzstein and I will continue to pray for you, your family and to all those we lost.

Don't be so sensitive!

2007-09-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was opening day for the majority of the NFL teams. You know I can't live without MY BOYS so as usual we have the Sunday Ticket from Direct Tv. Oh my it was a stressful day in our household! For awhile there I really thought we weren't going to pull it off; especially with Elam missing 2 field goals; which for him is like not typical. But somehow MY BOYS must have felt my vibes & they marched down the field in the last few minutes/seconds of the game. Elam rushing out & as the last second ticked off the clock; he kicks the game winning field goal. *WOOHOO* I screamed. *WOOHOO* I kept screaming before collapsing onto the couch.

I guess poor Izzy hasn't ever heard me get that excited since she came to us 3 years ago that she totally shut down. George started hollering cause she was gagging, I let her outside where she collapsed on the grass by the fence & wouldn't move. Storm clouds are moving in; we're trying to figure out if she ate something or what was going on. I somehow manage to coax her into the house & on very shaky legs she manages to get inside before she collapses again. Huh? Finally we decided it was from all the screaming. And today she's still not acting right. Not that she wasn't odd to begin with....but dang do we need to be that sensitive?

I still think perhaps she was abused before we got her, her every day behavior is weird. But hopefully she'll bounce back soon. I can't even get her to get out of bed this morning. Guess I'll have to take my screaming outside next Sunday???

Hi Ye-ha

2007-09-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

Or however you spell it. Col-Cr & Neo-Pa had their first karate lesson last night. Below are some pictures, place your pointer & the picture enlarges. Xachr said they both did very well & each have a page of instructions they can NOT lose or they will have to do 100 pushups. So far Neo-Pa has been too divaish to show me what she learned. We have to have their names "professionally" screen printed on their uniforms by lesson #3 which I may have some issues about because IMHO this page should have been given to me when I signed them up & not the night of. There is also a list of additional equipment we will have to purchase but hopefully not right away. Col-Cr is really exited & will probably go further than Neo-Pa. Both are committed to this 1st month at least so I will know more in 3 lessons than what I know now. With me working I wont be able to judge how she is taking to the classes so I will definately wait to purchase anything for her.

Work is going ok. A former employee is being a twit so I'm working 2 week nights instead of Friday & Saturday. It's nice to be back until I miss getting to see my kids at karate class. If they want to proceed to the yellow belt they will have to sign up for a tournament which I will not miss. But working does create problems, more so with the holidays approaching. At least Christmas Eve & New Years Eve falling on a Monday my excuse for not being able to work is Xachr having to work & the mall closes at 6 those nights. Not sure about the day after Thanksgiving though as we promised Xachr's Mom we would be there this year. As much as I don't want to, I will have to talk to Jane about it ASAP & tell her she's welcome to tell MIL we can't go. ROFL!

Have a great weekend, off to mow the backyard & start dinner.

Gotta LOVE August!

2007-09-05T06:29:00.000-07:00

August 27th saw Col-Cr & Neo-Pa head off to school. What a relief it was that we got the teacher we wanted for Neo-Pa. I feel like I can rest easy this year & know her teacher will get her back in line. Col-Cr wasn't too excited when he met his teacher prior to the 1st day of school. But his feelings changed by the end of school on the 27th; me thinks there's a cute girl in his class??? Both have had fairly easy weeks, I'm sure that will change soon.

Pac-Cr had his 1st day of WeeSchool yesterday. My stomach ate itself all day long, I was so worried he'd be the "problem" student. Much to my delight he had a wonderful day & I'm so proud of him. Fingers crossed & prayers please that this continues. :-)

Nothing else too "major" going on. Xachr got a fall class to teach but he's home by 8:30 so he's able to spend time with the kids before they head to bed. I've gone back to work at the boutique. There's been some issues with Jan telling someone she'd quit if she had to work with me so instead of working Friday & Saturday night, I'm having to work a school night which makes it a little stressful. Xachr can't seem to follow the routine I laid out for him but it's only week 2 of school so hopefully things will improve. Col-Cr & Neo-Pa will start Karate this Friday. The YMCA is having it for only $40 a month per kid so we thought that might be fun. I will miss most of it but plan to take off on belt test nights. Not sure Pac-Cr is old enough right now to join in but maybe in a few months of WeeSchool he'll be able to endure mroe structure?? Who knows.

I'm posting a quick slideshow of the kids on their 1st day of school. I hope you enjoy. Surely with things claming down I'll have more time to post?!?!? Until then know I love & miss all my blogging buddies!

Potter Book

2007-07-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

At 12:01 am today the final book in the Harry Potter series went on sale. Xachar & Col-Cr were at the bookstore waiting to get our copy. Because we had thought ahead, we had a book on reserve & collected our pick up # early in the day, Friday, so the book was in our possession by 12:30am & the boys were home by 12:45am. Even as eager as I was to crack it open & begin reading, I waited until 8am & did not look up until a horrible headache struck at 2pm. By that time I was 3/4 done. A friend came over for dinner & we relaxed a bit. My headache was finally gone & I resumed reading around 9pm finishing the last typed word at 11:20pm.

As Col-Cr currently has his nose stuck in the book; Xachar is buggin me for details. He won't read the books but will watch the movies. I was shocked, a bit sad & pleased with the ending. I pray when they do shoot the final movie, they won't leave anything out.

If you are a Harry Potter fan, do not miss this book. I had purchased the paperback but refused to wait one single day to read the final installment in this special series. I've really enjoyed the special bond J.K. Rowling has helped to form between Col-Cr & myself. It's been a wonderful journey that we will both treasure & miss.

I'm Pooped

2007-07-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

Oh my how exhausting this summer has been!

Last week saw Col-Cr turning 11. Wow hard to believe he's lived this long without serious injury. He got his gift weeks prior but was ok with just cake on his big day. The wait for the Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix movie was ended at 11:59pm on Col-Cr's bday. Yep I actually took him to a super late night movie & I managed to stay awake for the entire movie. (GO MOM) We certainly enjoy having this in common. This Friday the last book in the series becomes available at midnight. The local bookstore is having a Potter Party which we will be attending. Should be fun. Then I plan on doing nothing all weekend but reading that book. I don't want to hear what happens before hand. KWIM?

Scold me but I caved & got Col-Cr & Neo-Pa heely's. Neither have worn them w/the wheels but I might take them out to see how they do. Right now they are just school shoes. Yes in some ways I am the Mom that will do what she can to help her kids "fit in". Mind you that doesn't mean they get everything, but these shoes weren't as expensive as I thought.

Xchar & I went to get school supplies last night. Yep it's that time folks, time to get ready to send them back!! Found out the Wee School Neo-Pa attended has done away with a "learning" program so we are wondering if we should bite it & send Pac_Cr to K this year. Maybe it's me that's not ready to send him?? We have to go in the week of August 6th to register the kids so I have 2 weeks to decide.

The last few weeks saw me working on our bedroom. I got it painted & the new bedding up this weekend while the crew was visiting Xachr's parents. I've also included pics of my new hairdo & the new patio awning we recently put together.

Stuff

2007-06-24T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well I don't know about you but the days are just flying by. Here we are at the end of June with July knocking at the door.

Today I think I'm gonna share some pics of the bathroom project. As you may recall last year I painted it red & gold. Well after finding this GORGEOUS aqua/chocolate bedding set ON SALE at Macy's earlier this year the bathroom obviously needed redone. Yep only a year after painting it, I totally redid it. Hey, I'm a woman..... deal with it.

So the before pictures are kinda yucky cause it was most difficult to photograph the red/gold & make it look good. I'm also super excited because the candles you see I found at Garden Ridge yesterday ON CLEARANCE! Even the big round one on the counter, got it for $5. So enjoy the slide show my friends.

Labled the worst toy for 2007

2007-06-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

This morning while watching the news, they briefly stated that Heelys are being called the worst toy ever! I did a search on their website & here is the medical report that was posted. We are now thinking Col-Cr will *not* be getting these for his birthday. I also know these are not allowed at school or rather the wheel has to be removed while on school grounds. Still; me thinks it would not be wise to invest in these.

What Nots & Such

2007-06-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

Here are my terrific threesome taken on Memorial Day. Not sure how I was able to get them to cooperate for this pic but I did. (The code names have gotten so annoying but Mom is STILL dealing with that lunatic & as much as it annoys me; I still have to use them. ) PacCr & ColCr both need haircuts BADLY. NeoPa is trying to grow her bangs out & they are too long to do anything with & yet still too short, constantly they are in her face which annoys me.

School let out Friday before last... it's rained every day since & the kids are going stir crazy. We did get the pool up & most afternoons they're able to swim for a bit before it rains again. My backyard is so saturated that it's not mud it's more like ooze. And the smell!!!! *blech* I seriously can't wait for it to be able to dry out a bit.

Xachr was able to get a class to teach for the 1st Summer Semester & that started last Tuesday. With his new job & class; we rarely get to see him. Although the new company is doing well, they are short handed & he's unable to use any of his vacation time right now. He is hoping they will be able to hire someone soon.

As for Me; I'm not up to much other than my Flylady stuff & Curves. I've been paying Col-Cr $3 a trip to Curves & he was able to save up the extra money to get an Video Ipod that he wanted for his birthday. Unbeknowest to him, I've already received it & am loading it with music, movies & pictures so it will be ready for him next month. (Tip: If you want any of the Apple Ipod's purchase them from the Ipod store online; shipping is free for orders over $75 & free engraving! I thought it very important to get Col-Cr's name & our phone # engraved on this as it was just under $270) I know he's going to be so excited. He will have plenty of money left over from babysitting to get these Heely (sp) shoes that everyone seems to have. Annoying things they appear to be shoes with a wheel in the heel. Why anyone would want to skate on their heel is beyond me but he seems to want them.

Pac-Cr still seems to be a bit delayed IMHO & I worry if I've done right by him. He won't be starting K this fall unless I see a drastic progress in certain areas. We still seem to be having bathroom issues. Although he IS fully potty trained, we seem to want to get undressed in whatever room we are in & run to the bathroom naked. Then it's a fight to get him to put his clothing back on. His speech still isn't all that clear & my Mom assures me that neither was Col-Cr or Neo-Pa's at this age. Still I worry.....

It's getting on to be bedtime; oh how I look forward to that time of the night when the kids go off to bed. I hope everyone is well & I hope to be stopping by more often than I have been.

Love & hugs!

Hello Everybody!!!!!!!!!

2007-05-22T06:58:00.001-07:00

Wow I skipped April? Didn't mean to do that... life is just crazy & full on this end but I honestly meant to post more regularly.

Did everyone have a good Mother's Day? Didn't do much but got fed breakfast on the couch & had yummy steaks & potoatos for dinner. Everyone gave me beautiful cards & hubby gave me a lovely tart burner from Yankee to match our bedroom. (Should I ever get my rear in gear & paint it.)

School is rapidly coming to an end. Really both kids have had a decent year. Miss Priss is having citizenship issues but I feel the teacher didn't really help the situation. If you don't follow through with Priss, she will walk all over you. The rules are if you get on red you see the principal.... I lost count on how many red days we had but she never got sent until I told the teacher to do it. Really, she's going to make next year awful if she doesn't get this nipped in the bud. So far we've enjoyed a "green" week the past few weeks so who knows. Due to the bad weather day we took, the kids have to go for 2 hours on Friday. Seems silly but oh well.

April saw us celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary. WOW! I have to say I didn't really think we'd make it this far & of course who knows. Up's & down's seem to constantly beat us down but we're chuggin along. Hubby managed to have a car accident on our anniversary last month; NIGHTMARE; & by some miracle he was able to find a decent car for the laughable $$ the insurance company gave us for the truck. Nissan Infiniti Q45, I think that's right. Anyway, it's a 4 door, sunroof; all power nice car I think. Of course he complains but I like it more than the truck as I can actually use the side mirrors.

As always we're waiting to hear if he'll teach the July semester. Classes start the 29th so cross your fingers.

New neighbors moved in to Mike's house. Been kinda crazy but they are nice. They have a daughter just a little younger than my youngest but she prefers to play with Priss. We've been outside more now that they have moved in. We cleaned up the patio & have it ready for Memorial Day. Have plans to get the pool up & have them over Saturday night.

I am still going to Curves 3 days a week & doing well. I know it just takes time.....

Speaking of time, it's getting away from me so I better scoot. Love & hugs to all!

I SURVIVED SPRING BREAK....

2007-03-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

But just barely!!

Col-Cr started it off with a bang. Seems he took a pocket knife to school Thursday before last & someone told on him on the school bus & he was sent to the office. Not thinking that this was something we needed to know as soon as he got home; I get a phone call on Friday from the principal telling me he was suspended from school & was needing to be picked up.

I think this is the dumbest thing. Col-Cr is a good kid, just made a stupid mistake by taking it, he didn't threaten anyone or take it for malicious intent but since they have a "zero tolerance" policy about bringing weapons (this small pocket knife?) to school he had to be suspended. BUT the principal took his character into consideration & only suspended him for half a day instead of the full 3 days he was suppose to do. I told the principal that their school policies sucked! I mean after all the bullshit we went through last year with their supposibly "zero tolerance policy on bullies" give me a damn break! Xachr had to go up & get Col-Cr because I was so mad I just knew I'd go off on him & CPS would have been called. SUSPENDED!?!?! *screaming at the top of my lungs*

So Col-Cr spent spring break GROUNDED! We did handle it well I think. As soon as he got home he was sent to his room until I could calm down. It took a good couple of hours before we felt like talking to him. This was most helpful because I didn't yell at him but spoke calmly. I told him I was disappointed, shocked & hurt that he'd A: Steal the pocketknife from his father. B: Not come home immediately on Thursday to tell us what had happened on the bus so we could have dealt with it that afternoon before the principal knew what to do about it. & C: Disobeyed the rules. I asked him what he thought his punishment should be; he said 3 weeks, & told him I'd let him know. We decided 1 week of no video games, no friends & no control over the tv programs was enough. I'm now waiting to see if he is off his punishment because I also got an email from his Science teacher about missing assignments. He said he's not failing but IMHO he WILL be doing some makeup assignments to bring his grade up.... IF his teacher will allow that. She's being a twit for some reason.

So then we spent weekend before last at my Dad's place on the lake. It was fun & I'll try to post pictures soon. Linda, Emily & her 18 yr old step daughter, Nicole, came up to prom dress shop. That was also fun but tiring. Saturday I took the day off from doing anything. Sunday we renewed our season passes to Six Flags & spent a few hours there. We didn't really go much last year because of my "problem" so I'm hoping we can make up for it this year. :-)

Curves is still going well. I managed to go by myself on Friday........ BORING! I hated not having anyone to talk to & it didn't seem to go as fast. It's gonna be hard to go alone I think.

I think that about sums up all that's been going on. I know I haven't visited anyone & I apologize for that. I'm trying to get back on the blogging track. Hugs & love to all!

Itchy Itchy I, I, I, I..........

2007-02-22T05:20:00.000-08:00

Ok you're suppose to sing that song along with it only I can't recall the song. Sorry...... hopefully you know the one I'm talking about.

My ink itches! Not too bad, just enough to drive me crazy. I don't pick at it but try to keep it lotioned up like they told me to do. Only it's in a hard to reach place so I can't get but half of it. It doesn't look as gross as Mike's did so I guess I'm doing a good job to keep it moist?? I dunno, but it sure is itchy!

In other news; Tuesday afternoon while at Curves Pac-Cr pooped down the hall. Seems Col-Cr was too busy pouting that he had to babysit & couldn't go outside that he didn't help Pac-Cr go to the bathroom. So I told him instead of paying him for the 40 mins I'm gone; I can "make" him do it instead. He's trying to earn $$ for a video Ipod so he can't afford for me not to pay him to babysit. I guess we'll see how next week goes. I know 11 is a young age to babysit but come on; it's 40 mins & he CAN sit with them & watch a movie for that length of time for me. Still I'm annoyed & thinking perhaps Tuesdays after school just aren't going to work. *sigh*

Well I got me chores to get to. :-) It's Thursday have a great one!

OUCH! That hurt!!

2007-02-19T05:32:00.000-08:00

Well lookie what I went & did this weekend! Yup I got a tattoo!! Isn't she pretty?!?!?! You better say yes as it hurt like HELL!! However the tattoo dude was right; I'll be back for another one. There's one I really want for my ankle that I hope to have talked myself into it by spring. I'll post a pic of it if/when I get it done. But if you're thinking about getting one, don't believe those that tell you it doesn't hurt; because it flippin does!!! LOL!

Why did I pic this for my tattoo??? Well a few Christ-mas' back I made our own cards, remember those? Well I used this stamp on the envelope cause it reminded me of Grannie (she passed away 8 years ago this April) Angels were her thing. BIG TIME THING! She also loved the color red. I wanted the gown of the angel filled in but the tattoo dude said it wouldn't look right & well he knows better than me so he made sure to incorporate red in somewhere. I think he did a great job! So this is my "memorial" "tribute" whatever to that dear woman I loved so damn much that it still hurts that she's gone. :-) Mom wasn't happy but she didn't flip out. Supposibly my sister wants to get one too & I'm most curious to know what it is she's looking to do.

I will say by the end of the day on Saturday; it wasn't hurting at all until someone had to put the goop on it. Today it also hurts a little when lotion is applied but it's not too bad. About an hour afterwards it just felt like I had been scratched by a cat. It was just during the bottom half of the angel that it got almost unbearable. But I survived! :-)

Nothing really going on. Dawn & I both had some health issues that kept us from working out the first part of February but we got back on track last week by going Fri, Sat & Sun. This week we should be back to our usual routine. I just wish I could make myself get up on Wed & go at 6:30. So far it ain't working. I finally got some more of those colored foil stickers so perhaps seeing what I've done will help motivate me. I'm not really "dieting" so the scale isn't reporting anything big, I am watching my portions & will leave food on my plate instead of making sure I have a happy plate. A pound or two has come off but I feel it in some of the clothing that I wear; so that's good.

Xachar's job is getting stressful but that's only because they have so much work. That's not a bad thing except that he worked this weekend & that's not suppose to happy at this job. I know I should be a big girl about it but I wasn't. But being a witch helps me get through it so who cares if he had to suffer through my venting. :-)

Hmmmm, what else to say.... oh for those of you freezing your arse off, we'll be enjoying spring weather this week. I think that about sums it up. I'll be changing the background soon; to what I don't know, but look for it. :-)

Have a marvelous Monday all! Much love & big hugs!

GO ME!

2007-01-27T06:36:00.001-08:00

Well I have to report that I'm doing well with my workout routine. We've been going for what 3 weeks now? My scale is a few pounds off so I'm not sure but I think I've dropped another pound or two. But I feel "slimmer" if that makes sense. Well my stomach is still a pouch but a skirt I bought before christmas which was snug almost to the point of being uncomfortable (the next size up was too big & I wasn't going to grow into it) fit perfectly this week. So I'm mega excited to get to wear it to church tomarrow. Felt pretty hot this week so I took a picture. DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH, THIS IS MY YEAH I'M SEXY LOOK! ROFL

Nothing else to really report on. I'm still trying to make myself get back on my Flylady routines. My house is a pit & I'm having a really hard time caring. LOL! Have a great weekend all! Love you guys, even if you think I don't.

#3; Whoopee!

2007-01-13T09:50:00.000-08:00

Wow, are you impressed yet?? ;-)

Would you believe 15 mins before I needed to walk out & head to Curves a LOUD clap of thunder made everyone in the house jump & then "whoosh" down it came. *sigh* I sat & thought should I call Dawn & see if this weather would keep her home? Should I allow this hurricane like rain keep me from going?? Deciding it was best to just find my slicker; grab my umbrella & brave the weather..... I headed out. I had a thin layer of ice all over the van but it was easily brushed away with the windshield wipers. *darn* I backed out onto the flooded street, great our trash can was about to float away & drove the 3 blocks to Curves. Yep I'm that close so really there was no reason to let a flood worse than Noah had to face when building his ark. (ROFL) Dawn was there waiting on me & had called my cell phone. You know me, I don't drive & talk! I can't drive as it is so could you imagine me with trying to talk & drive?

Friday Dawn purchased my gift certificate & I was entered into their "system". Today was my weigh in & measuring. WOOHOO! I so dreaded this. I mean really; do I "need" to know how much I weigh; how much body fat I have & how big my waist is???? Obviously they thought I did. Surprisingly my weight was less than I had thought it was. In December I was at my heaviest which was ..........NONEYA DARN BUSINESS! And I was surprisingly 15 lbs lighter than I was in December. YIPPEE!! That was a great motivator right there. I didn't pay attention to the other measurements or the body fat %. She said every month they check to see how I'm doing & if we need to fine tune anything. So I'm curious to get to the next month now.

Diet ~ um yeah I'm trying. I haven't been too hungry lately so I'll grab a slimfast cap delight for breakfast & eat a bowl of SpecialK red berry cereal for lunch. Dinner is a different topic but life goes on. I'm not starving so please don't think to lecture me about eating snacks & such. I do eat when I'm hungry; I just haven't been hungry but I do make myself eat something. Thank goodness the christmas candy was a minimum this year! And I didn't even bother with making but 1 pie. Yep I was that good about the sweets. :-)

Today is mega clean up day around here. With the emotional hole I've been in; we haven't done much of anything around here. My sister & her new husband are suppose to come to lunch tomarrow after lunch & so of course one must clean. I hope everyone has a great day.

2 in a Row!

2007-01-12T05:33:00.000-08:00

Are ya excited? I've posted 2 days in a row! Yippee!

Dawn got my gift certificate to Curves this morning; it's far cheaper than joining on my own. I will pay her back in 2 payments. It's nice having someone counting on you because otherwise I don't think I'd go alone. (I'm that insecure people) Knowing she's picking me up at 6:25 in the morning MAKES me get out of bed & get ready. Knowing I'm up & waiting for her; MAKES her get out of bed & get going too. Right now we have plans to go Monday & Friday morning at 6:30am & Tuesdays when Col-Cr is home & can babysit. He's a little apprehensive about being in charge for 30+ minutes so we may end up going on Saturday mornings instead. Today was my 3rd visit & I am feeling "comfortable" enough that maybe come February I'll be able to motivate myself to go in on Wed morning alone. They want you to commit to coming 3 days a week but if I can go by myself I'd like to find a way to go Wed morning at 6:30 & maybe Saturdays at 9:30. There really aren't a lot of people there at those times so I should be ok. My goal is to go Mon, Wed & Fri @ 6:30am; Tuesdays at 5pm & Saturdays at 9:30am. I am hoping by February I'll feel more confident. The work out is really fast moving; you really don't feel like you are there for 30 minutes! :-) Tomarrow I will have my weigh-in & measurements done. I would rather skip that part but I know it's suppose to be helpful. Hopefully it won't depress me more.

Hubby jumped ships the week before Christmas. Well he turned in his 2 week notice the Thursday before Christmas & was told to pack up & go. He started working for Tim, the guy that went out on his own a few months ago, the Thursday after Christmas. So he was off almost a week. So far they are super busy with projects & clients and things look promising. Right now there is only hubby, Tim, another guy & Tim's wife working there. I know another person is suppose to start work eventually. She's on vacation & will then turn in notice at hubby's old job when she gets back.

Gotta get the oldest off to school. Have a great day all!

Booger Blogger

2007-01-11T14:40:00.000-08:00

I don't know what was worse; Blogger being a booger or my computer crapping out every other minute. I eventually just gave up & said to heck with it! I needed a break anyway. We'll see if things are working now.

Christmas was good; it's over. New Year's was ok; it's over. The kids finally returned to school on the 4th. Life is slowly trying to go back to normal. Things are not all peaches & cream but I'm trying to get through it. I joined Curves this week with Dawn. We've gone twice; tomarrow will be our third time this week. I'm having to get up at 6:20am two days as babysitting is an issue for me. So far there really hasn't been too many people there so I might be able to go Wed mornings on my own & not freak out. We'll see how it goes. She's given me a 2 month gift certificate before I actually join. Wish me luck. I practically puke when I see myself these days & that doesn't help with the depression.

Nothing to report on; well I guess there are but I don't feel like reporting on it at the moment. I'll try to be more talkative tomarrow. But wanted to at least prove that I'm still alive.

Hugs to all!

Tagged by Heather

2006-12-06T05:41:00.000-08:00

I have to agree with Heather & Josh on the song "Baby It's Cold Outside". That is also my favorite Christmas song as well. Here is the rest of my list of favorite songs.

Of course I want to point out that I am VERY picky about WHO sings Christ-mas songs. Took me years to discover that what sounded like Christ-mas to me was Bing Crosby & the Rat Pack.

1. The First Noel
2. Silent Night
3. It's Beginning to look alot like Christmas
4. White Christmas (hahahaha living in Texas that rarely happens)
6. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
7. Do you Hear what I hear
8. I'll be Home for Christmas
9. Mary Did you Know
10. Grandma got ran over by a reindeer (ok ya gotta have at least one goofy song on your list)

Let me know what are your favorite Christ-mas songs are people! I have such few readers now that everyone can just join in!!!

Something to Ponder

2006-12-04T06:16:00.000-08:00

While you are out rushing like mad to finish your holiday shopping, prepare your menus, write out your Christ-mas cards, plan for parties........ I want you to stop & think about something.

What is your central focus during the Christ-mas season?

Do you

A: No Manger & No Baby ~ Meaning it's all about Santa

B: A Manger & No Baby ~ You think it's about religion

C: A Baby but No Manger ~ You believe in Jesus is the reason for the season, but aren't sure if the rest of it is true.

D: A Manger & A Baby ~ God became flesh by way of being born in the way of Jesus, was laid in the manger for us in order to bring us back to him through a relationship.

Friends, I can't begin to tell you how frustrated I become as year after year this beautiful miracle has been shoved aside for the big red guy. It's all about the latest & greatest gifts for ourselves, family & friends. A lot of people focus on their traditions & the commericialism of the season when we should be focusing on why we actually celebrate. So I beg of you sometime during this month to stop & think about the most awesome gift you could ever receive & to think ...............

WHO IS IN THE MANGER?
God
Man
Hope
Salvation

Bummer!

2006-12-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

I tell you the news stations around here are hilarious! We've been hearing since Thanksgiving about this "Artic Blast" that was due to come in. They made such a big deal out of it in the days coming. Then it arrived. Yep we are several degrees colder. Yes we had some sleet, some freezing rain & some snow. But what I don't get is why did the news have to cover this "Artic Blast" for the ENTIRE day? I'm serious here folks. The news was on from 4:30 am until 7pm.

Now I know the overpasses & bridges are iced over; the city streets were fine. The major school districts were in session; despite the kids pleads. It wasn't fun getting out in 20 degree weather to get them but we survived. There's a whole bunch of sub's in this area & I kid you not; there was a news reporter in just about every area reporting on the weather & road conditions all day long.

"We're going to check in on Suzy up in Denton now. Suzy, what's going on there?"

"Well Megan, there's some sleet falling, you can hear it hit my hat & the roads don't look to bad here. The police are reporting a few minor accidents."

"Thanks Suzy. We're now going to check in with Sean over in Arlington. Sean how's it looking over there?"

"Well Megan, there's some sleet falling. You can hear it hit my hat & the roads don't look too bad. Police are reporting some minor accidents. Of course the bridges & overpasses are bad so please be careful."

"Thanks Sean. Now we'll visit with Tim over in Fort Worth, Tim?"

ETC. ALL DAY PEOPLE! ALL STINKIN DAY! Seriously you'd have thought we had 10 feet of snow dumped on us instead of a little sleeting. DROVE ME CRAZY. And yet I had to keep it on "just in case" our school district decided to have an early release. Which they didn't. But still that's the only way I'd have known. Just crazy!

I will say having a minivan with sliding side doors is not fun when they get iced shut! For 2 mornings I had a booger of a time opening the side doors due to the ice. It took deicer & me using the scrapper to clear the tracks out. Never had that happen before.

Yesterday we were back up in the 40's & we'll bounce from 40-50 for the next week. I'm ok with that. Having 80 degree weather in December urks me. LOL! It is now starting to feel like Christmas.

Have a great weekend all! I'm off to get my day going. Despite the still sleeping people in the house.

Pixie's Picks

2006-11-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

I don't even know where my list is, but I know I had 9 of 16 right. Not the best of weeks, that's for sure.

Josh asks what's up with Plummer. Well not to hurt any delicate ears but I'll be blunt; he sucks! Yep, I said he sucks! I've wanted to see Plummer on the bench during week 1, even though I know Cutler is rather green. I don't know why it took Shanahan so long to do it, but at least he's done it. I'm worried that we can't get back in the playoff runnings. Right now we are up against the Chef's for a wild card. This has me steamed! We play the Chargers again week after next so perhaps there is still hope. My spirits are high that Cutler will fire us up. If not then I'm gonna be breaking my foot up on someone's #(*&!@*& ; sorry I'm having a hard time right now dealing with Shanahan's screw up.

Anyway, the Colts seem to be doing well. Hopefully they won't CHOKE later on down the road. Surely this will be their year???? So long as the trophy stays with an AFC team, I'm happy; well unless it's the Chef's. Can't stand to see my "know it all" neighbor gloat.

Monday night's game looked to be fun with all that snow falling. At least the Seahawks pulled off a win for me. I went to bed way before halftime. I'm just feeling so zapped. (No I haven't been taking all my supplements like I should; don't fuss at me I done told you people I needed help remembering to take all that stuff)

Games are now on Thursday so I'll try to post my picks then. I don't think I'm doing so hot anymore but hey it's still fun.

And we move onward

2006-11-26T08:34:00.000-08:00

Yep Friday marked the start of the Christ-mas season. We were not part of the masses that headed out at 5am for sales. Instead we chose to hit the highway & head towards MIL's house. We stopped at our favorite Super Walmart in Mineral Wells where I found the Cowgirl Barbie Neo-Pa wants. I didn't get it, opting to wait & see if it would still be there on our way home. Got to MIL's just after lunch but she had left everything out. We ate & then she grabbed me & my SIL to head to town. We piddled around for a few & I got to see the library she's now in charge of. Went back to the house to visit for a bit before heading back to town to eat at the local pizza place. Nana had not been feeling well & we thought it would be easier if she didn't have to drive. BIL & SIL picked her up & met us there. They had a play area so the kids wore themselves out.

We slept in town at Pa's, he is in Branson. It felt super weird sleeping there with him gone & even weirder since we really hadn't been in that house since Grannie passed away in '99. I had a most difficult time sleeping as my heart just felt empty. I don't know if that makes sense to you guys. But when Grannie died due to a car accident, I just felt like a piece of me went with her & I've never felt the same. Anyway, plus to those that know me really well & talk to me on yahoo/AIM it was "that" week of the month for me & yep it was super heavy again & most painful. Night time is the worst & so I was paranoid I'd have an accident during the night. IYKWIM Here I had ran out at 11pm to CVS to get Pac-Cr some pull ups so he didn't wet the bed & then there was me. Thankfully I have mastered the art of sliding out of bed on my side so I was ok but still made it difficult to sleep.

Saturday we spent most of the day outside playing with all the kids. Then after lunch MIL took SIL & I back to town to go clothes shopping for the kids. In a small town, pickings for the boys were slim. I did find some marked down shirts for Xachr; one ended up being $.99. Neo-Pa got a pretty black & red christmas dress & 2 other dresses plus a few top & pant sets. MIL tried to get me to purchase a top but they were all too short that my fat stomach showed & they were tight, so I passed. IMHO she spent way too much but we couldn't argue with her. I do have to find a pair of brown shoes/boots for Noelle's dresses & she wants those sparkly red shoes that are out this time of the year for her christmas dress. She will probably have to make due with black as she has another dress that she needs shoes for. We shall see, I kinda like the sparkly red ones too. *wink*

We made it home after 7 last night. At least we left early enough that we got through the deer section with ease. One should not travel those roads after dark if you don't want a new hood ornament. We did stop back in Mineral Wells & I got the barbie. I had found the horse in Brecknridge so she's all done. I just have to wrap them. We'll have to make the trip again in 3 weeks to do christmas with that crew. As of right now, I'm thinking of a day trip but it's so hard to do that we may end up making it a weekend. It always depends on if Mike can take care of Izzy for us.

I talked Xachr into putting put just icicle lights on the front of the house. He doesn't want to mess with outlining like we normally do so hopefully I can get him to put them up. I found some pretty iced blue & white ones. Hopefully they won't look tacky. I prefer just clear lights on the outside but thought these looked pretty. We shall see. It doesn't look like St Nick will be hung on the chimney & that saddens me. Most of the neighboorhood kids like seeing santa ontop of the house. Oh well, life goes on I guess.

Time's a tickin people. Get yourself together but remember Jesus is the real reason we celebrate this year so be sure & include Him in your celebration. Not to forget Him too when the store is all sold out of what you are looking for & it's not the sales person's fault. I saw one too many rude people ripping sale's people apart this weekend for something they had no control over! Sometimes I think this is the season to be rude! Anyway, behave when out shopping!

Busy week

2006-11-21T10:14:00.000-08:00

Kids are out of school. Pac-Cr woke up throwing up this moring & so I know it will work it's way around. If it keeps me from having to go to MIL's on Saturday, suits me.

Real fast as he's crying his stomach is hurting. Be sure & give thanks to those that are real & true this week. It's important to do it more often but just be sure & take the time this week. BIG HUGS TO ALL MY BLOGGING FRIENDS! I love you all! I hope you have the bests of Thanksgivings! Don't eat too much!

Pixie's Picks Week 11

2006-11-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

No time for chit chat; game's on! *wink*

Yucky week in picks, don't have much time so this will be a fast one.

Cariolina Panthers over St. Louis Rams Carolina won it 14/0. RIGHT

Atlanta Falcons over Baltimore Ravens Baltimore won it 24/10. WRONG

New England Patriots over Green Bay Packers New England won it 35/0. RIGHT

Kansas City Chefs over Oakland Raiders Chefs won it 17/13. RIGHT

Houston Texans over Buffalo Bills They almost did it but Buffalo won it 24/21. WRONG

Miami Dolphins over Minnesota Vikings Dolphins won it 24/17. RIGHT

New Orleans Saints over Cincinnati Bengals Cincinnati wont it 31 to 16. WRONG

Chicago Bears over NY Jets Chicago won it 10/0. RIGHT

Philly Eagles over Tennessee Titans Titans won it just didn't write the score down. WRONG

Pittsburgh Steelers over Cleveland Browns Steelers won it. 24/20. RIGHT

Washington Redskins over Tampa Bay Bucs Tampa won it 20/17. WRONG

Detroit Lions over Arizona Cardinals Cardinals always lose, wasn't that what you said Lisa? Well Cardinals won it 17/10. WRONG

Seattle Seahawks over San Fancisco 49ers 49ers won it 20/14. WRONG

Indy Colts over Cowgirls (please oh please don't let this be the week Indy falls) Cowgirls won it 21/14. WRONG

Denver MY BOYS Broncos over San Diego Chargers won it 35/27. WRONG

NY Giants over Jacksonville Jags Jacksonville won it 26/10. WRONG

Happy game watching all! I'm off to eat lunch & watch me some FOOTBALL! Enjoy your day!

Ended this week 6/16. BLECH! Probably my worst week but it's all for fun. Seriously, don't ruin this for me people. I don't raz or any of that when your team loses so I'd appreciate the same in return. I'm almost to the point of not posting this anymore. The only team I give a hard time to is the Cowgirls & if you lived in the DFW area you'd know why. I'm just so sick of their crap. Big football day on Thursday. I hope everyone enjoys it. I know we will.

Holy Smoked Turkey Batman!

2006-11-14T12:49:00.000-08:00

9 days until Thanksgiving??

Are you kidding me?? And Albertson's has not sent out their flyer promising a free turkey to card holders who spend $100 on specially marked items. What in the snake pit am I gonna do if they don't do that promo this year???? *sigh*

In different news; I got Col-Cr & Taylor set up to start riding the bus home from school the week after their Thanksgiving break. Taylor's mom was perfectly ok with it once I told her I was having bad headaches in the afternoon & felt that they were safer on the bus than in my car. Which is true. Yesterday I drove home with one eye shut & praying I wouldn't pass out. It was that bad of a headache. You know the one where you feel like there is a power drill drilling right between your eyes & you feel nausiated. Yep, get those every darn afternoon! Plus I'm tired of driving to pick them up. If the morning bus driver keeps up his good driving, I might start letting Col-Cr ride the bus in the am. Then I'll probably break my cardinal rule about kids having cell phones & get him one like mine. (I have a very inexpensive cell phone with Virgin where I pay $20 every 90 days & all calls cost me 20cents a minute & use it for emergencies only & 5 cent txt msging. LOL!)

I spent the last 2 days trying to rearrange the living room to suit the Christ-mas tree. With Tim coming to babysit on Saturday I'm hoping to have him take some pictures for the Christ-mas cards. If it wasn't for hubby's desk the room would look TONS better. I think I'm going to have to start looking for a computer amoire as I don't want to move it back into the bedroom since he leaves his on all the time. (I'm very light & sounds sensitive & all the green leds in the bedroom have black tape over them; for some reason red doesn't bother me.)

Here's a fall picture I took at the zoo. Not sure what my inspiration was but it turned out rather nice. Have a great afternoon all.

Pixie's Picks Week 10

2006-11-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

I figured since no one really reads this post; I'd wait until the afternoon games were done but Val asked; so here they are.

Atlanta Falcons over Cleveland Browns: Not sure what the heck happened here. Browns won it 17 to 13. Got this one WRONG!

Philly Eagles over Washington Redskins: Guess McNabb was on fire today! Eagles win iit 27 to 3. Got this one RIGHT!

San Diego Chargers over Cincinnati Bengals: Watching the dueling helmets on NFL.com; the 2nd half of this game had to have been a good one. For a minute there I wasn't sure the Chargers would pull it off. (Hoping they wouldn't actually) But they did; beating the Bengals 49 to 41. Got this one RIGHT!

Detriot Lions over San Francisco 49ers: See I told you! If I pick against them; they win. *sigh* 49ers win it 19 to 13. Got this one WRONG!

Baltimore Ravens over the Tennessee Titans: Wow, the Raven fans had to have been bitting their nails on this one. It was a last minute win for the Ravens; beating the Titans 27 to 26. Got this one RIGHT!

Indy Colts over the Buffalo Bills: *whew* This was not a pretty game. I can't believe they are still undefeated with the lousy way they are playing. However, they ARE undefeated after beating the Bills 17 to 16. Manning & his crew need to start executing their plays a bit better or they're gonna find themselves watching the big game at home like last year. Got this one RIGHT!

Jacksonville Jags over the Houston Texans: HOT DAMN! They won another one! WOOHOO! Texans won this one 13 to 10. Got this one WRONG but I don't care!

Kansas City Chefs over Miami Dolphins: You won't believe me; but my gut said to pick the Dolphins. Figured after that win over Da Bears last week they'd be flying high enough to maybe pull of another win but my mind said NO WAY! Well WAY! The Dolphins beat the Chefs 13 to 10. YOU GO DOLPHINS! Got this one WRONG & I don't care either!

Green Bay Packers over Minnesota Vikings: Wasn't sure about this one as honestly you all know I think Brett should have retired but I figured; what the heck. Packers actually won 23 to 17. Got this one RIGHT!

New England Patriots over the New York Jets: Well what do you know, the mighty Patriots fell to the New York Jets. WOOHOO! 17 to 14 was the final score. Got this one WRONG!

Denver Broncos over the Oakland Raiders ~ So far this game SUCKS! OMGOSH Plummer so needs to find his tush on the bench & Cutler needs to be named QB! I lost count on how many interceptions Plummer threw today & seriously folks; if it wasn't for that AWESOME Denver Defense; we would NOT have won this game. Boys, Mamma's tellin ya; TINKLE OR GET OFF THE POTTY! My nerves can't take much more of this & we have the Chargers next week. Instead of stress food; hubby's gonna have to stock the fridge with booze! (dulls the pain ya know) Anyhow; somehow MY BOYS pulled off a 17/13 win over the Raiders. Got this one RIGHT!

Dallas Cowgirls over the Arizona Cardinals ~ See I'm learning Lisa; however Hubby says the Cards could win it. Lisa, you get to tell hubby I TOLD YOU SO! Cowgirls won this one 27 to 10. Got this one RIGHT too!

New Orlean Saints over Pittsburgh Steelers ~ However the Steelers are ahead at this point. Val you must be happy! Bet the Saints are saying "Woulda, coulda, shoulda!" And they are right; they had this game & I guess one to many errors nipped them in the tush. Val's gotta be celebrating tonight! Steelers have win #3 under their belts by beating the Saints 38 to 31. Got this one WRONG!

Seattle Seahawks over the St Louis Rams ~ Tim I got tired of pulling for them; sorry. WOWY OH WOW! What a nailbitter this one was. For a min there I thought I had this game wrong too. Nope! Seahawks pull a win 24 to 22. Got this one RIGHT!

New York Giants over Chicago Bears ~ This should be a great game! Great game, yes. Did the Giants win??? NO! Eli's biggest problem during this game was Eli. Still the Giants are doing well this season. I'd love to see the 2 brothers at the Super Bowl; I just highly doubt that would happen. Da Bears beat the Giants 38 to 20. Got this one WRONG!

Carolina Panthers over the Tampa Bay Bucs By the end of the 2nd qtr I was kinda worried. But my headache made it impossible to finish watching the game. It would appear that the Panters got it together as they beat the Bucs 24 to 10. Got this one RIGHT!

If you've noticed I'm 8 of 14 so far today. There are 2 more games so here's hoping I get the next two wins. :-)

So I ended the week 9/16. Not as good as I wanted but not too bad.

Odds & Ends

2006-11-10T06:39:00.000-08:00

Kids both had a 1/2 day of school yesterday. It was report card day & parent/teacher confrences. Woohoo! It was too nice of a day to be indoors so hubby took the day off & as soon as the kids got out of school we headed off to the zoo. It was great, until the high school kids arrived. *sigh*

Still unlike the overly crowded weekends, we were able to look at the animals instead of having to fight our way through people so our kids can catch a glimpse. The lionesse had been taken away from her cubs & put in with the male lion. Let me tell you, she was NOT happy about that & put on a pretty good roaring show. Then not to be upstaged the male lion let loose too. First time in our 7 years of living here & visiting this zoo did we get to see the adult lions interact, roar & play together. Yep at one point the male decided he wanted to roll around with the female. No sex just rough housing. It was pretty cool. Then the hippos were feeling rather frisky too. One was evening doing leaps in the water, making huge splashes. Kids just loved it! Only thing we didn't get to see were my favorites, the orangutanges. I guess they were put up for the day. *sniffle*

Still it was a lovely day. A rare treat really as going to our zoo on the weekends are too much of a nightmare for us to even attempt. We hope to visit the Dallas Zoo again in the next few weeks. Yep the weather here isn't bad enough until mid January that we can't enjoy outtings. It's just having the gas $$ to go.

Anyway, here's a picture of the hippos kissing. Awwwwwwww aren't they cute?

Have a great Friday ya'll.

WELL HELL'S BELLS!

2006-11-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

It's not been the best of times around here since Sunday evening. And really we both understand what Tim is doing but it still ticks us both off.

Details: Tim called Sunday evening to talk to Hubby. He said it had been eating on him all weekend long about how rushed they both were to get started on jobs when the office was in the middle of being painted, new carpet laid down, furniture on order & computers being shipped in. He's worried that if he brings Hubby on board right now, it's a huge risk. So he told Hubby he didn't want him to turn in his notice right now & that it will be a few months before he'll be ready to. He's not saying the job is not his; he just wants to pay back some of his debt before doing so. He'd hate for the business to flop before it gets going. Hubby said he'd be more than happy to do contract labor for him & to let him know.

We both understand Tim; really we do. But the stress he has put us both under for the last few weeks, to dangle this wonderful opportunity in front of Hubby; only to snatch it away as soon as he says he is on board; well it's just cruel & it pisses me off. Hubby said in some ways he feels like he's been lied to; but I don't see it that way. Tim's being honest & according to Hubby has apologized out the butt. Of course we are both still very worried about the current stability of his current work & this taking it day by day is doing a job on my nerves. I think Hubby said that if something happens & Hubby finds himself without a job to call him immediately! But still who's to say that's true.

So it would appear that we are back at square one. I'm not in a sociable mood. I don't know if it's stress or what. I've been taking the St Johns Wort for about a week; along with the fish oil, B-6 & D. And one of those is making my skin very oily! I'm not happy about that either. So anyway, if my absense worries you; don't let it. I'm just in one of those moods.......... again.

Decision Made

2006-11-05T17:37:00.000-08:00

Well I do believe that hubby has made his decision on what to do with his job. Instead of meeting on Monday, hubby had lunch with Tim on Wednesday. That was the longest 2 hours of my life, btw. The $ isn't what hubby had hoped for BUT it's not less than what he's currently making. It wouldn't be possible for Tim to pay him more until the company got up & running BUT he will definately get raises & bonuses unlike where he works now. (1 raise in the 4 years he's worked there & no bonuses) The office space has been found & leased. His wife has found furniture & they are having to wait on computers. Tim has a few jobs ready to be worked on now & lots of clients waiting for him to be up & running. Hubby told Tim that he can do work from his home computer if the jobs were important enough that they needed to be done now & not in a week or two.

So hubby has decided to go to work with Tim. *deep breath* I'm not all that nervous, I don't feel like this is a bad move since the pay is the same. (Oh he did increase it some just so it's a round figure but not enough that we will see much in the paychecks, IYKWIM) The hardest part for hubby now is to turn in his notice. He'll either do it at the end of next week or middle of the week after that. Tim told him that if they tell him to leave now that he's to come straight to their office & get to work. Neither think the bosses will be too pleased with hubby leaving. More so when they are told who hubby is leaving them for. He also has to make it appear that he went to Tim & not the other way around. Which makes sense. I know as the time approaches, hubby will start to get stressed out about it. Please pray that when the time to turn in his notice comes; that he is able to do it with ease. IF the company has indeed been sold, I doubt the 2 bosses will care much.

I think hubby is excited about this new venture, he just doesn't want me to see him doing backflips. Not sure why as I am excited too. And I know that whatever happens, hubby's the kind of man that will do anything in the way of work to provide for his family. That says so much about him I think in that I know a few men that wouldn't do manual labor if it was to save their lives.

Tons to do today so I'm off & running. Have a good weekend all!

Pixie's Picks Week 9

2006-11-05T17:11:00.000-08:00

I'm late in posting but we've had a crazy day here. So here are my picks & some of the results.

NY Giants over Houston Texans; Giants obviously had to work hard today judging by the low score. In fact it looked like perhaps the Texans might pull off a win here. Sadly they didn't. Giants win it 14 to 10. Got this one RIGHT!

New Orlean Saints over Tampa Bay; Have no clue as to how this game went but ending score says it all really. Saints 31 Tampa Bay 14. Got this one RIGHT!

Green Bay over Buffalo; Knowing Favre typically waits until the 4th qtr to put points on the board; I wasn't too worried. Guess I should have been. Buffalo wins 24 to 10. Wow! Got this one WRONG!

Washington Redskins over Dallas Cowgirls; This was probably a good game to watch; only I was watching another game. Thankfully the Redskins pulled it off & beat the Cowgirls 22 to 19. WOOHOO! Got this one RIGHT!

Chicago Bears over Miami Dolphins; Ok, undefeated Bears vs the pitiful Dolphins. Should have been an easy pick right??? HA! The Dolphins handed Da Bears their 1st win of the season by a butt whoppin score of 31 to 13. GO MIAMI! However I got this one WRONG!

Jacksonville over Tennessee; No worries here; Jacksonville wins this game 37 to 7. Got this one RIGHT.

Detroit over Atlanta (sorry Mike); The Lions roar their way to a win of 30 to 14. Got this one RIGHT.

Cincinnati over Baltimore; Two good teams. Had to pick one; obviously I picked the wrong one. Baltimore wins this one 26 to 20. Got this one WRONG!

St. Louis Rams over Kansas City Chefs; Ok so this may have been more of a "I hope the Rams win to help MY BOYS"; anyway Chefs win it 31 to 17. Got this one WRONG!

Minnesota Vikings over the 49ers; I pick the 49ers & the lose. I pick against them & they win. What is the friggin deal?? 49ers win (of course) 9 to 3. Got this one WRONG!

Denver Broncos over Pittsburgh Steelers; This was a GOOD GAME! I can't really toot our horn here because the Steelers are Val's team & well I can't rub the win in her nose like that. She's to good of a friend. MY BOYS pull of a win *whew* defeating the Steelers 31 to 20. Got this one RIGHT.

San Diego over Cleveland; I've said it before; there are just some teams in the NFL that you can't really respect & the Browns are one of them. I wished they had won; really I do. BUT the Chargers win it 32 to 25. Looks like the Browns did make them work for it. Got this one RIGHT!

Indy over New England Some said Indy would fall this week. HAHAHAHAHA! Indy won it 27 to 20. Got this one RIGHT!

Seattle over Oakland. I know Seattle won but I'm not sure of the score. I think it was 16 to 0? Anyway, I got this one RIGHT!

Hope you are enjoying your football day as much as I am. :-)

Out of the mouths of babes

2006-11-04T05:56:00.000-08:00

Do see post below about the job decision!

Hubby is getting out of the shower & Pac-Cr is standing there. "Daddy, can I take a shower too?"

"Not right now but tonight, ok?"

"Awwwww! YOU'RE A STINKIN BUTTHEAD!" Does that cute raspberry & runs out of the bathroom.

Of course I tell him that it's not ok to call Daddy a butthead & he needed to apologize; of which he falls apart crying. As soon as he left the bedroom; I just couldn't keep from ROFLMAO! Kids, aren't they a hoot?

Halloween Treats

2006-11-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

Alright here are pictures of my crew from last nights T&Ting. The little two, Izzy & I all came home after an hour while hubby & Col-Cr went for another hour. Man, we've got a TON of candy. (Question: as a parent do you go through their candy & remove your favorites or do you stand strong & keep your hand out of the pot?)

Just waiting on Daddy.

Neo-Pa, one cute witch.

Col-Cr as Yu-Gi-Oh.

To Infinity & Beyond! Pac-Cr as Buzz Lightyear.

Yes this is me, Col-Cr snapped it at the end of the night & I thought you guys would get a kick out of my cat ears. M*E*O*W

Hubby eating dinner at the end of the night.

OMFGOSH Part 2

2006-10-31T05:28:00.000-08:00

Well after dinner hubby & I were able to talk in length about the happenings at his work. It appears that the company has probably been sold. Of course this has not been confirmed by the company but this is what hubby gathered from talking to Tim at lunch. It was one of the reasons he'd leave the company. Rumor has it, the company that probably bought the 2 owners out is the previous company hubby was employed by before he got laid off in March of 2002.

Hubby has already said that under no circumstances would he be willing to work for that company again. (I totally support him there) He'd like to own a % of the company Tim is starting but the likelihood of that happening is nill to none but perhaps he can have a chance to buy into it later. It's definately something hubby wants to know about. Of course money is the big thing. With all the work he'd be doing; he feels like he should get $10,000 more a year. I mean Tim's the front man & hubby'll do all the drafting, designing, computer setup & repair, man the phones; etc. Knowing how much work he'd have on him, it would be nice if he did not have to teach. Even though he enjoys teaching, I'm not sure he'd have the time. Thing is, Tim doesn't want to discuss hubby coming on board until his last day in the office which is this Friday so they have plans to meet next week.

Hubby said looking into December there isn't any work, which is also a key sign that the company has been sold. Basically by the end of November everything will be revealed & he'll know what he's going to do & when. If he doesn't like what Tim has to say in the money department he's got other job opportunities so I'm not to get worried or stressed out. (Ha! Tell that to the bills!) Next week should answer some questions abotu what Tim is wanting to do; so COME ON MONDAY! LOL! But now more than ever am I ready to get to thanksgiving & the end of November so all this uncertainty will be gone. If not anything else; it proves to be an interesting month ahead.

Col-Cr asked to stay home from school today. He said he was up coughing all night, which he should have came & told me, & doesn't feel good. I asked him if he was wanting to stay home because he doesn't want homework tonight to deal with before trick or treating. He said no, he really doesn't feel good. He's got a slight fever, nothing to high but I said ok. I'll have to wait & see about him going out tonight. All the kids have coughs & a cold front is blowing through this morning so it will be colder tonight. I don't have plans to do a lot of t&ting. This is without a doubt the yuckiest holiday there is!

2006-10-31T05:23:00.000-08:00

OHMYFREAKINGOSH!

2006-10-30T07:44:00.000-08:00

Hubby just called; his boss that asked him to think about going into business with him quit this morning! This now means hubby has a decision to make & I'm trying NOT TO FREAK OUT! Hubby said Tim didn't say anything to him when he left but that he was going to call him either later today or tonight to see what was going on. OMGOSH! I just know hubby is going to quit his job & it's not that I don't support him; it's just all the "what if's"; kwim???? I think I'm gonna go put my head in a pillow & scream.

Pardon my mess

2006-10-30T06:47:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a fall/Thanksgiving look for my blog so please pardon my mess. If something doesn't look right or annoy you; you can let me know. Not sure I'll do anything about it; but you can let me know. LOL!

Pixie's Picks Week 8

2006-10-29T07:06:00.000-08:00

I hate to admit to this; but I don't handle it well when MY BOYS lose so please be kind in your comments or I'll ban your tush from my blog! Ok so I won't really, I'm too desperate for comments but do be as kind to me as I've been to you & your team.

There's 3 friggin hours until football............ I'm not entirely sure I can make it that long. *sigh*
So here are my picks this week; hopefully I'll have a better week than last. I am ranked 71st in the Bronco Fan group... not too bad unless there are only 100 of us in the group. ROFL! But it's all for fun.

Philly Eagles over Jacksonville Hubbby says "No way Jackonsville can win against Philly!" Yeah well that's how stupid I am for listening! Jacksonvill does indeed win 13 to 6. Got this one WRONG!

Atlanta Falcons over Cincinnati Bengals Hubby says "No way can the Bengals beat the Falcon's defense." I sweated during this one, but he redeems himself for the previous game. Falcons win 29 to 27; but just barely! Got this one RIGHT!

Green Bay Packers over Arizona Cardinals (Ya happy Lisa? Watch them win today) Ok for ONCE Lisa gets to prove me wrong. Packers win 31 to 14. Got this one RIGHT!

Tennesse Titans over Houston Texans (However I'd be tickled if the Texans pulled off another win)Poor Carr, he got himself sidelined during this game, that had to be hard on him. Still the Titans won 28 to 22. Got this one RIGHT!

Kansas City Chef's over Seattle Seahawks (You know I won't mind if the Chef's lose)The football god's were not smiling on me today as the Seahawks let me down & lost to the Chef's 35 to 28. Got this one RIGHT.

New Orleans Saints over Baltimore Ravens Shoulda known the Saints weren't on a role; Reggie Bush or not; they're still the Saints. Baltimore won this one 35 to 14. Got this one WRONG!

NY Giants over Tampa Bay Bucs Yeah well it's the Bucs, 'nough said. Giants won this one 17 to 3. Got this one RIGHT.

Chicago Bears over San Francisco 49ers I'm guessing the points in this one were mercy points? Da Bears mauled the 49ers 41 to 10. Got this one RIGHT.

San Diego Chargers over the St. Louis Rams (Sorry Tim) It would have been nice to see the Chargers fall today. *sigh* Chargers win it 38 to 24. (Shut up Sal!) Got this one RIGHT.

NY Jets over the Cleveland Browns Come on! It's the friggin BROWNS for pete's sake! THE BROWNS!?!?! Jets lose it 20 to 13. Got this one WRONG!

Denver Broncos over the Indianapolis Colts (please oh please oh please let us win) MM 'kay we're not going to discuss this one. Just know I got it WRONG & it will be days before I fully recover.

Pittsburgh Steelers over Oakland Raiders What the heck?!?!? THE RAIDERS??? *sigh* Steelers fall 20 to 13 to the Raiders. Got this one WRONG!

Carolina Panthers over Dallas Cowgirls; I mean Cowboys I haven't looked to see the score yet but I know the Cowgirls won. I guess Romo did a lot better job than Bledsoe. Looks like he'll be traded at the end of this year??? Got this one WRONG!

New England Patriots over Minnesota Vikings

I'm crawling back in bed, don't ask, but I am planning on having a great day watchin football! Hope you'll join me.

I'm so depressed right now that even the thought of possibly winning my 2nd game in fantasy football does not cheer me up. Probably because like last week, I will have lost by ONE FRIGGIN POINT! I tell ya, I'm not doing fantasy football next year, it has practically ruined football for me this year. I'm too worried about points than I am the actual game & like today's game of MY BOYS against Manning; I stressed about my defense & running back; not to mention Manning is my QB. How in the heck can you be devoted to one team & play in a fantasy league? I can't take it! It's MY BOYS or nothing! KWIM?

*sigh* I'm off to toss back a smirnoff. Maybe that'll calm me before the Panther's/Cowgirl game. Is it Tuesday yet???????

Something's fishy around here!

2006-10-27T06:15:00.000-07:00

Weird night here last night, Pac-Cr crawled into bed with us burning up! Then he had a "water leak" as I didn't put a pullup on him last night; that was not fun to wake up with warm pee on your leg at 1am. Got him changed, etc. Then I dealt with cramps for the rest of the night. (Shut up Mike)

So hubby gets up a little earlier than usual. Neo-pa gets up, has a sore throat & low grade fever; so she's not going to school. (Woohoo, pj day?) Col-Cr is up & trying to finish his homework. Hubby asks what everyone wants for breakfast & then runs to the store. Comes home with fruit loop cereal, cinnamon rolls & Midol Menstrual for me. (Shut up Mike) He could not find St John's Wort so I guess we'll get out to find it this weekend. Then last night I was having a "I want something sweet" phase & he asked me what I wanted, I said banana ice cream. (Which is not easy to find around here & I just need to figure out how to make it myself) He offered to run out & get me some & I said no, I had a small bowl of A&W rootbeer float ice cream instead. *gag* I guess Blue Bell's banana ice cream is out of season but he picked up their banana split ice cream for me this morning; which means he remembered from last night that I was wanting some.

After he got home from the store, he saw me getting the kids dressed so that I could take Col-Cr to school & offered to take him for me. Said I didn't need to be out in the cold/windy weather & the kids didn't either. As today was Doughnuts with Dad, work knew he was going to be a little late. I definately thanked him for this as I did not want to get out with 2 sick kids. But I'm trying to process this behavior. We talked a bit more last night & I know this morning is a product of that talk; so it's a good sign that he has been listening to me.

I'm off to enjoy my pj day. I will still have to go pick up Col-Cr this afternoon but for now I get to crawl back in bed with the other 2 & enjoy some programs before I need to shower, dress & tidy up the house. Hey at least it's Friday. We gain an hour on Sunday. And we will be able to attend service this Sunday. Things are lookin up.

Tough decisions

2006-10-26T18:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a rather rough couple of days around here. Hubby & I have talked, although not in great lengths. I told him this morning that we're eventually going to come to a point where enough is enough & he agreed. I then said that if I'm not better by February, then perhaps I should move out for awhile. He didn't really say anything but nodded his head. He asked where would I go & I said that's not something we need to plan for today. Instead we need to worry about the issues & problems at hand & find a way to solve them.

He asks me all the time what can he do to help me & I have no answers. I spent most of yesterday looking up the side affects & withdrawal symptoms for the antidepressant, Lexapro, that my Dr gave me earlier this month. I am too scared to take them so I did a search today for natural ways to cure this depression/pms/whatever you want to call it. Hubby is picking up some St John's Wort tonight. I'm also going to look at fish oil, Vitamin B6 & other such vitamins. I'm taking iron this week because of Aunt Flo, but iron was listed as a helpful tool against depression. I also started taking my multivitamin today.

It's not like I want to feel this way. It's not like I want to despise & hate my family. I don't like that I don't want to be around my kids or be their mother or hubby's wife. But I'm not desperate enough to try the Lexapro. Not yet. Hubby seems to think one more month on the Yasmin, bc pills, might make a difference too. If not then when I am out, I think I'll ask for Ortho Tri-Cyclen; that's what I've taken in the past.

Someone asked if perhaps I'm depressed because of the holidays. But I've been flying with Flylady for the past few years now that I don't get stressed out this time of the year & actually enjoy them. In fact, I'm actually wishing next week was the week the kids were off for Thanksgiving so that we can all just be at home & breath. I feel like I need to make life as simple as I can for myself right now. Wish me luck!

I'm gonna kick him!

2006-10-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend hubby informs me that his mom wanted to know if we'd be interested in doing Christ-mas on Thanksgiving. Evidently my brother-in-law & his family will be blessing us with their appearance & want to exchange gifts while they are in town. I'm a firm believer in having Christ-mas at Christ-mas. Not a month before. If we can't exchange gifts then I get them to them as early as I can for them to open but we have the kids wait until closer to the actual holiday. Typically we make plans to go visit my In-Laws the weekend before Christ-mas so they can watch the kids open their gifts. Usually MIL gives me a few to take home so they can open them on Christ-mas morning.

I told hubby that we had already decided what we were doing ON Thanksgiving day; which was we preparing the meal, taking the kids to see Santa Clause 3 & then watching the Bronco/Chef game later that afternoon. I said the best thing to tell her was that Mike wouldn't be able to let Izzy out for us while we were gone ON Thanksgiving Day but that he could Friday or Saturday & we would see everyone then & that we had plans to come up on Dec 23rd to exchange gifts with them. (Sounds polite & unoffensive right?)

So what do you think hubby told his mother last night on the phone???? We're not coming in because of the Bronco game that afternoon. *smacked him upside the head while he was still on the phone*

"HEY! Why did you do that?"

In a low almost just mouthing the words "Don't tell your mom we're not coming in because of FOOTBALL!"

"She doesn't care"

"The heck she doesn't! I look like a witch now because I'm the big bronco fan you stupid idiot!"

"She doesn't care"

Yeah right. What MIL isn't gonna get their shorts in a knot about that???? Darn stupid idiot! So I emailed her this morning telling her what HE should have said last night: 'G didn't mention last night that the main reason we can't come in on Thanksgiving Day is because Mike won't be home to let Izzy out for us but can help us out so we can come visit Friday or Saturday. It's NOT because of the Bronco football game or the trip to the movies that we have promised to the kids. We have plans to come in on Dec 23rd for the day & exchange gifts then. I'm not entirely sure I'll have everyones ordered & in by Thanksgiving.'

I swear if I have any repercussions because of this, he's gonna be a dead man!

It's ok to be jealous, because I'm that darn good!

2006-10-23T08:55:00.000-07:00

Would you believe that I'm about 70% DONE WITH MY CHRIST-MAS SHOPPING!?!?! It's ok to be jealous, I forgive you for cussing me out. *grin*

On Saturday, my Dad's, MIL's, Pa's & Nana's Christ-mas gifts arrived. Today the bulk of Col-Cr's will arrive on my doorstep. (You foaming at the mouth yet?)

All I have left to do is:

On the 1st: Get Neo-Pa's out of layaway, just have to make 1 more $20 payment so that's basically considered done IMHO.
Get Pac-Cr's Santa
Order Hubby's
Finish Mom's or if that doesn't look possible figure out something else
Get FIL's gift card to Bass Pro shop
Stocking Stuffers
Gourtmet hot chocolate for the teacher mugs

That probably sounds like a lot still to do, but it's not. If all goes according to plan, I'll be done by Nov 18th with all but Mom's. I have a lot left to do on the cross-stitch & I'm not sure I'll get it finished in time. It might take me more than just a few weekends to finish & framed in time. I may have to do something else & give this to her at a later date. We'll see.

Next thing to focus on is getting a decent picture of the kids, find the Christ-mas cards I want to send out, address them & have them ready to go out Dec 1st. I don't send out many so that should be easily accomplished.

I'm so jazzed!

Pixie's Picks

2006-10-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

School ID post after this one so scroll down to read what happened in my world on Friday & Saturday.
Monday Update: Yet another stinky week!

Short & sweet!

San Diego Chargers over Kansas City Chef's The Chargers had been playing pretty good ball vs the Chefs so I thought this was going to be an easy game. WRONG! The Chef's ended up winning the game & honestly I can't be to upset about it because this win knocks the Chargers further away from 1st place & helps MY BOYS so I took this one graciously. Chargers win it 30-27. Got this one WRONG.

*Green Bay Packers over Miami Dolphins The Dolphins didn't go down quietly. For awhile there they made the Packers work for it. But it was inevitable; Packers win 34 to 24. Got this one RIGHT!

Detroit Lions over NY Jets The Lions had a drive late in the 4th that could have tied the game but they failed. Jets win it 31 to 24. Got this one WRONG.

Atlanta Falcons over Pittsburgh Steelers (ducking as Val throws her shoes at me while Mike offers me cookies) OMGOSH! This has to be labeled "THE GAME OF THE WEEK" if you ask me for my opinion. Even if you don't, it still should be. I didn't even watch the start of MY BOYS because I was too wrapped up in this game. Man, it was ONE AWESOME battle between teams. Look for the replay game on one of the NFL channels. Trust me you won't be sorry. In OT Falcons win it 41 to 38. Got this one RIGHT!

Philly Eagles over Tampa Bay Bucs We watched the majority of this game. At the end of the 4th, McNabb threw a touchdown to pull ahead of the Bucs by 1 point. Sadly the defense didn't hold up & the Bucs tried a 62 yard field goal & made it. I was stunned. Literally, I could not speak for I don't know how many seconds. With a shocker, the Bucs win it 23 to 21. I was robbed & got this one WRONG!

New England Patriots over Buffalo Bills As if this one is a surprise; Patriots walk all over the Bills by a score of 28 to 6. Got this one RIGHT.

Jacksonville Jags over Houston Texans I know you won't believe me but I almost picked the Texans. Something just said it could happen. Only I went with what I knew to be the better team. I was tickled to see the Texans win this one 27 to 7. YOU GO GUYS! Got this one WRONG but I'm stoked about it.

Cincinnati Bengals over Carolina Panthers For awhile I was a tad paniced. However the Bengals didn't let me down. They win it 17 to 14. Got this one RIGHT.

Denver Broncos over Cleveland Browns Hubby informed me at the start of this game that Plummer had this game & next weeks game to prove himself worthy of keeping his job as starting QB. Plummer has confidence issues so I wondered if he knew that his job was on the line. Honestly, I'm ready to see what Cutler can do. Our Defense is AWESOME & if it wasn't for them; I don't think we'd be 5-1 & in 1st place in the AFC West. We have a tough game next week against the Colts, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Anyway, MY BOYS pull it off 17 to 7. Got this one RIGHT!

Arizona Cardinals over Oakland Raiders (Come on Lisa, you know they've got to be able to pull this one off!) There are just some teams you think, come on it's the flipping Raiders. My 4 yr old could beat them. I guess the Raiders heard me say that & decided to finally win. I don't know what the heck was going on but the Cardinals obviously didn't take the game all that seriously. Raiders win it 22 to 9. & Yes Lisa, I think I will give up now. Got this one WRONG.

Seattle Seahawks over Minnesota Vikings I have nothing to say here. Vikings win it 31 to 13. *sigh* Got this one WRONG.

Indy Colts over Washington Redskins The winning continues for the Colts. They win it 36 to 22. Hopefully next week we'll hand them their 1st loss of the season. But for now, got this one RIGHT.

NY Giants over Dallas Cowboys I'm stickin with the Giants solely because I can't stand the Cowboys. Fingers crossed they don't let me down.

School ID & Weekend Weirds

2006-10-22T06:15:00.000-07:00

Well after a much waged mental debate on what to do, I decided to "just this once" bail him out. If the lanyard wasn't faulty & he had just forgotten it, I wouldn't have. So I wrote him a note & then went to get the lanyard off my desk & it wasn't there. *figures* So I started looking EVERYWHERE for it & couldn't find it. OMGOSH, it's a sign. I shouldn't bail him out. As I walked through the living room for the 100th time looking I casually ask Pac-Cr if he had seen the Denver Bronco orange necklace. (I took Col-Cr's id off the faulty one & put it on hubby's Bronco one as it is not faulty & figured he can use that until basketball season gets really fired up & I can find him a Dallas Mav's one.)

"Yes Mummy"

"Do you know where you put it? We need to take it to Bubba."

"It's right there." And he points to the door on the entertainment center where he had hung it up. Now I walked past that darn thing about 100 times & totally missed it. The little IMP! So we load up & drive the 7 miles to school. Walk into the office & the ladies ignore me for 5 minutes. One was on the phone & the other was standing there gossiping. Yep, I heard her talking about someone & it wasn't work related. FINALLY she decides to see what I want since I hadn't logged in. (You have to sign in if you want to go further onto school property)

"Can I help you?"

"Yep, I need you to please get this to my son who is in Mrs. C's 5th grade class before he heads off to lunch please."

"We'll certainly try."

*Me thinks to me-self* TRY?? Um, no you do or do not; there is no try. And for her sake, she better do it. So I head home not feeling too sure that he'd get his ID in time & email his teacher. She emails me back a few mins later to tell me she handed it to him personally. *whew* If I had ran it up there & they didn't bother to get it to him; I'd have been TICKED OFF! And yes, oldest fell down & worshipped at my feet for helping him out.

Then, oh this is super weird. At 3pm the father of Neo-Pa's friend called to see if she was available to spend the night Friday night. I thought, hubby & Col-Cr are going to 6 Flags, send Neo-Pa to a friends house & it's just me & the little one. Of course she can! He then asks if he could come get her now & a warning bell went off in my head. I asked if his daughter was home from school yet & he said no. He wants to surprise her. Yeah um, no. So I made an excuse that I was about to leave to get Col-Cr from school & I didn't have time to throw her overnight bag together & perhaps 4 would be better. He said ok & I asked what plans did he have for the girls. He said not much. His wife was going to be gone & so they'd probably just hang out at their apartment. *another warning bell went off* So I said ok & hung up. But then I got to thinking, I don't feel comfortable with my daughter being there without the Mom. I'm sure he was just wanting someone else to entertain his daughter for him but still. I didn't feel right about it. So while on the way to pick up Col-Cr I called hubby & asked him to call the Dad back & figure out a way to either have the girl spend the night at our house or no sleep over at all. (I didn't have the guys cell number in my phone) Hubby said ok, he'd take care of it.

I get home to the phone ringing & it's hubby. The guy was more than happy to have his daughter spend the night at our house. Apparently he had gotten a new Xbox game & was thrilled to have the night to play it. *whew* I had dodged a bullet there. So I called him to find out what kind of pizza his daughter would eat as I was just going to order in. He calls back to tell me she likes hamburger *yuck* & could he possibly eat with us too. *huh?* I said ok but thought that was waaaaaaaaaaay weird! He gets here about 15 mins before Hubby does & just sits there. He doesn't really talk to me. Hubby gets here, the pizza gets here. We eat, him still not really talking & then he leaves. *What the heck was that all about?*

So hubby leaves with Col-Cr to go to 6 Flags Fright Fest. Instead of having just 1 child, I have 3 & they are bouncing off the walls. I don't get them to bed until close to 11. Hubby gets home after midnight. I'm exhausted.

Sunday the girl stays until 11:30; Uncle Tim was coming to watch the kids so we could go pick up a mattress set I purchased from someone. Instead of taking us about 45 mins to get there; we get stuck in State Fair traffic & it takes us almost 2 hours. *I swear I hate the traffic up here* We get there to find out the stuff won't fit in the back of the van. *sigh* The mattress fits as it gives a little but the boxsprings had to be strapped down. I now have to figure out a way to get the straps back to them. We had to drive 10 miles under the speed limit, but took a different highway home so it was not as bad traffic wise but it still took us FOREVER. Not only that, I was so upset that it had taken us so darn long to run this short errand that I did not take the time to stop at any Michaels or Hobby Lobbys to look for more paint. Said errand took us 5 hours.

Then after dinner, we thought we'd stack the boxsprings to make the bed higher. Um, I'd have needed a step stool, it was way too tall. We removed the new boxsprings as I had our bedskirt tacked to our boxsprings & didn't feel like removing it & retacking it. The new mattress is tons softer & firmer. At least there are no sink holes. My back didn't hurt as bad this morning. I must be just sleeping wrong or something? I don't know. I was hoping to wake up & say I slept like a baby, but I didn't. Of course that could be because our baby hopped in sometime during the night. But it still was way worth the drive & hassle. Tomarrow is bulk trash pickup day & we'll put our old mattress & this set of boxsprings out tonight.

Today is grocery day *woohoo* & football. Another cold front blew through & we are currently at 41 degrees right now. First morning in a long time I get to make coffee & not feel over heated while drinking it. Go weather!

Enjoy your Sunday folks! I know I plan too!

Let the turkey's tumble

2006-10-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm a firm believer in "tough love". I don't bail my kids out when they forget homework assignments, they turn them in late & receive a lower grade. I don't purchase a friend another toy if they broke it; I make them earn the money to replace it. I don't let them do things I think are considered risky even if everyone else is getting to do it.

HOWEVER, I'm not sure about this one..........

I stepped out back to turn the water sprinkler on, I'm trying to get the spot where the pool was to grass up again before the weather gets cold, & I found Col-Cr's id badge. Now this id badge is pretty important. It's how he pays for his lunch & it's crucial that he wears it at all times. The lanyard has a break away feature so that the kids can't use them to hurt each other & the one on Col-Cr's is pretty bad in that it constantly comes part & falls off. I imagine his id badge fell off while he was helping hubby take the trash & recycle bins to the curb for pick up.

So I emailed his teacher to let her know that I found it in case he was freaking out about it & she emails me back asking me if I'd bring it up there so Col-Cr won't have to eat lunch isolated from his class up on stage. Apparently their rule is if you forget your id badge, even 1st offenses, you have to eat up on stage in front of the ENTIRE SCHOOL!

Now this would humilate Col-Cr. (He's rather sensitive) And I'm not sure I support this rule of theirs unless it's a repeat offense. BUT he definately wouldn't leave home without making sure he had it on ever again. BUT he would have had it on had the clasp not been faulty.

So, do I take it up to him JUST THIS ONCE because it's not really his fault the clasp failed. OR do I let him have a lesson in tough love & responsibility?

I'm really torn about this. If he had just forgotten it, I would tell him tough! Deal with the consequences. But it's not really his fault that it's a cheap lanyard. BUT he should have double checked to make sure he was still wearing it when we left. BUT had the clasp not failed; he would have had it on.

WHAT DO I DO!?!?! And I only have 1 hour & 45 mins to decide!

24 hours

2006-10-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

It's been kind of a weird 24 hours here. BTW, thanks for the comments about the fireplace. I'm trying not to let my perfectionism creep in before I get it done. And no Mike, I'm not going to leave it 2 tone; well unless I can't find more paint! YIKES!

So back to the weird past 24 hours. I'm picking up around the house & the phone rings; it's hubby. He asks me if I have time to talk to him for a bit. And I'm thinking, OOOOOOK something's wrong. I tell him yes.

He starts to tell me that he went in to talk to one of his bosses about a meeting he was having that afternoon & the guy tells him to shut the door. (I'm thinking he got fired & just about started crying.) Tim starts telling him about how frustrated he was with the company. He just became one of the partners earlier this year. The other 2 partners are much older & basically ready to retire. Tim tells hubby that it's obvious no one enjoys their job. They don't get paid enough, there haven't been bonuses in 3 years, raises even longer than that. He feels people should enjoy coming to work but no one does and he doesn't blame them. The company needs to make changes, they have some dead weight they need to get rid of but they have never fired anyone. Tim proceeds to tell hubby that if he can't get the other 2 partners to agree to make some changes that he was going to go into business for himself & he was wondering if hubby would consider going with him. Income wouldn't be a problem because he could pay him while they get the business going. Clients wouldn't be a big problem either. He told hubby that he values him as a person & employee and that he wouldn't consider doing this with anyone else. Of course it is all up in the air while he waits to see if the other partners will work with him on improving the business but he wanted hubby to think about it. WOW.

As of right now, the other 2 partners are in agreement to make changes. However they are also considering letting another company buy them out so they can just retire. But that's up in the air too. So this isn't something that will take place for another couple of months so we have awhile to think & pray on it. But man what an ego boost that was for hubby. It is very rare that this company praises their employees, well except Tim. When Tim became partner earlier this year, hubby got his 1st raise since he started working for that company in 2002. Isn't that sad?? Downside, Tim wants everyone to socialize more & I'd rather not. If they start having Christmas parties, hubby will have to go without me. I despise company parties.

Then a few weeks back we had gotten a letter in the mail from a local oil/gas company. They are wanting to lease our mineral rights & are offering us $500 for signing the lease & then 25% of the profits. The owners of the company are BIG TIME people in our community & obviously they thing something is in the area or they wouldn't be offering this. Not sure if it was ok, we turned it over to our lawyers to look at. They told us we were nuts if we didn't sign it as 25% is a huge offer vs what they've seen in the past. We are not signing over our rights, just leasing them so if anyone else decides to drill after this company is done, they'd have to lease it from us too. So we'll be signing next week & in 30 days they will deposit $500 into our checking account. WOOHOO, more Christmas shopping!

The item we wanted to get Col-Cr for Christmas has been out of stock since I found it in like March. It was back in stock yesterday so I ordered it. November 1st I'll get Neo-Pa's out of layaway & then all I have to get is Pac-Cr's & stocking stuffers, something for my Mom & then I'm done. Know why I'm done?? Well I ordered MIL's, Nana's, Pa's & Dad's christmas presents yesterday. I'm good! Here is what one looks like. MIL's is a bit different.

We had a cold front blow through yesterday which meant I had to get some winter clothes this morning. It wasn't fun to discover my jeans do not fit last night when trying to get ready for church. I'm not in the mood to discuss it as I'm royally ticked off!

Figures!

2006-10-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

I had this nice long post, it even allowed me to post pictures & then my browser crashed. I swear I just can't win, can I?

We had a rainy weekend. And NO I'M NOT COMPLAINING! It rained off & on during the day on Saturday. Then pretty much all day yesterday. It was great & I'm praying it helped our lakes.

Hubby also started helping me paint the fireplace. I swear I don't know why I didn't think to take the bottle of paint that I liked to Home Depot & ask them to match it for me in a 1/4 gallon instead of working out of these small bottles. A color I've managed to buy Michaels & Hobby Lobby out of & I'm not even half-way done with the fireplace. I even checked Walmart & they had the same color it just wasn't "burnt" so I didn' risk it. Michaels told hubby Saturday that they are expecting a truck this week so I'll have to call them to see. And then I guess I'll get to start calling every location in the area. Think before you start a project people! It will save you headaches!

So here is the picture of the paint & brush I am using. Yep I'm using that small brush to fill in the holes of the firestone & then wiping the paint away with a dry look which creates washed or antique effect.

Hubby started working on the right side while I had been working on the left. So I'm further along than he is. I worked a little bit on his side this morning before I took this picture. I'll probably go work some more here in a few & hopefully get his side to mine before I run out of paint. I think I have 1 & 1/2 bottles.
Of course after I get all the holes filled & wipe. I'll go back over everything with a paintfilled rag before I put a semi-gloss top coat over it. But so far, I think it's turning out pretty good. And looks so much better than that white!

Pixie's Picks

2006-10-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

I knew it was coming, I told hubby all week that I was due for a bad week & I was right. It was a STINKY day in football! Blech!

Week 6 has arrived & with it my football picks.

*Cincinnati over Tampa Bay Cincinnati had this game won, I have no explanations as to WTF happened yesterday. But Tampa Bay is winless no more by beating Cincinnati 14 to 13. Got this one WRONG!

*NY Giants over Atlanta Didn't catch much of this game at all but the Giants won (Yeah Manning) 27 to 14. (Sorry Mike, I show no favorites other than the Broncos here. At least you can rest easily in that I don't trash talk your team to pieces. I tend to think I have more class than smack talking someone's team down.) One of few I got RIGHT.

Washington over Tennessee From what I could tell by the score this was a good match up. Sadly Tennessee won 25 to 22. Got this one WRONG!

Dallas over Houston (But secretly I hope Houston pulls off a 2 game winning streak. I like to see the Cowboys cry.) Yeah I was rooting for the Texans. So SUE ME! Not happy about this but as I picked the Cowboys I did get this one RIGHT.

Baltimore over Carolina (Did I mention MY BOYS handed Baltimore their 1st loss of the season?) Yeah I should have went with my gut in that Baltimore was too broken up after losing to MY BOYS that they wouldn't have their heads in ths game but Baltimore is a good team. Sadly Carolina won 23 to 21. Got this one WRONG!

St. Louis over Seattle WTF! St Louis HAD this damn game! I have no idea what the heck happened but Seattle ended up winning it 30 to 28. I'm so ticked off! Got this one WRONG!

*Philly over New Orleans I guess McNabb's head was too inflated after beating TO & the Cowboys last week because they played like doggie doo! Oh the score might say otherwise but as I watched this game, it bit! New Orleans won it 27 to 24. Got this one WRONG too.

NY Jets over Miami WOW, ya mean I managed to pick one this week? I was beginning to wonder there for a minute. Jets win 20 to 17. Got this one RIGHT.

Pittsburgh over Kansas City (The Steelers better NOT let me down) I got back to work on painting the fireplace during the afternoon games so I didn't watch this one. Didn't really need to. Steelers embaressed the Chef's yesterday. Thank YOU very much. I love seeing teams in our division go down like that. Steelers sent the Chef's home with tissues by a score of 45 to 7. Got this one RIGHT!

San Francisco over San Diego (Hubby says I'm gonna lose this one) I guess the 49ers are going to be my fickle team this year. If I pick against them, they whoop a$$. If I pick them, they make me want to crawl in a hole & die. Not entirely sure why the 49ers bothered to show up as they lose it 48 to 19. Of course this doesn't mean the Chargers advance any in the division. My Boys are still ranked #1. Got this one WRONG.

DENVER over Oakland Ok so it wasn't the spank tush win I wanted against the Raiders; but darn it; it's still a win. I'm not sure what the deal was but Shanahan played a more defensive game than offense. Perhaps his faith in Plummer is wavering?? I'd love to see what Cutler has to offer. Still MY BOYS won it 13 to 3. Got this one RIGHT.

Chicago over Arizona (However thanks to my friend's son's snotty comment about if the Broncos ever play the Bears, they'd lose. I'm secretly hoping to see Arizona pull off a win. I know Lisa, LONG SHOT, but it could happen!) You'll be surprised to read this; I won't be watching football tonight. (Hope you didn't hurt your bum falling out of your chair!) Hubby's Netflix movie won't copy (Thank you Lord) so he has requested a movie night instead of football so he can return it tomarrow. I am here but to serve & please him (hahahaha) so I said ok. Still am hoping to see Chicago go down despite my yucky record. Mama said their'd be days like this.... *SOB*

It's Sunday folks & a WHOLE LOTTA FOOTBALL to watch! Grab a beer & some popcorn & enjoy 'em with me.

The weatherman LIES!

2006-10-14T08:11:00.001-07:00

I get out of the shower & hear rain. I also hear a mower. Who in the heck is dumb enough to mow in the rain?????

Hubby

*sigh* Yes I told him we needed to get the lawn finished, we started Wed night. I didn't mean if it was POURING down rain he should continue working. One would think he'd have been smart enough to get in out of the rain but nope. He just kept working. Not only did he mow our front yard, but he mowed Mike's too. Isn't he just the greatest? Of course he grumbled that they probably wouldn't notice or say thanks & I reminded him that we didn't do it for our glory but for God's. This was a great example of how we show other's about Him. (But if he ends up getting sick; I'll kill him! Just FYI!)

So guess what I did Thursday. I got a wild hair up my "you know what" & started painting the fireplace. It's this hideous white firestone & it doesn't go with the living room which is all earth tones. So I grabbed a bottle of Folk's Art Paint & with a rag started to just rub paint. I think once I fill in all the holes & put a clear coat on it; it'll look really neat. Or I hope. Of course now I'm wondering what in the heck was I thinking starting this so close to the holidays & will I be able to get it finished BEFORE they hit? I'm anal enough to not want pictures of a half painted fireplace. *sigh* Sometimes I wonder why my brain doesn't function correctly. (Don't answer that)

Our plans for the day are on hold. We were going to get the kids out & either go to the Dallas Zoo or something. Oh well. Now I have help cleaning. You know they are all soooooooooo excited.

I'll 'try' to post a picture of the fireplace. I'm having the world's worst time with blogger & posting pictures. I installed Picsha or whatever it's called & I can't figure it out. Oh it says it posted but then where is the picture???? Anyone know what to do??

I'm off & running. Have a great day all!

Fate is cruel!

2006-10-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

I had a pretty good start to my day. Got the kids to school ok. Little Bit & I went to Target; had a good morning. Had no problem getting my daughter from school. Left earlier than usual to get oldest. They've blocked parking in one area so if I don't leave early now instead of late; who knows where I'm going to get to park. (NIGHTMARE!) Oldest & the girl I bring home get to the car; I go to start it and...............

*click, click, click*

WTF?!? (sorry but I did say that)

I turn the key again *click, click, click*

OMGOSH! NO!!! I take the keys out, put them back in; make sure the car is in park; I pray......... turn the key *click, click, click*

Oh you've got to be KIDDING ME! This is why I have a cell phone! (My Mom thinks it's a silly expense) I call hubby. He doesn't answer his phone. (I'm going to kill him) I call again just to make sure before I call the main line at work & scream at the person who answers it. He answers it after it rings FOREVER! (Well that's how it felt)

Yes?

The van won't friggin start! (Yep I said friggin instead of the equally as bad f word. Aren't ya proud?)

You're joking?

Yep I'm joking. I'm calling you just to pull your leg because I have NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH MY AFTERNOON!

Is it the battery?

(Um do I look like I know ANYTHING about what's under the hood of my van?) I'm guessing so, nothing is working. And listen to this. .........

I hold the cell phone out the window so he could hear the *click, click, click*

What does that sound like to you???

Sounds like you have the same problem I have & it's the starter.

Oh f'in great. (Yep there's that f word I try so hard not to use) Well what do you want me to do?

I'm on my way.

Okay!

We hang up & I try to start it again. It almost turns over but then it's *click, click, click*

*sigh* I call Taylor's mom. "Melyssa. It's me. I'm up at the school & my van won't start. Hubby's on his way but I'm not sure what we're going to have to do. When you get off work at 4 (it's currently 3:40) you might want to call me & make sure you don't need to come get her.)

She says she'll try to get out of work early & come help.

Then I call Dawn ~ "Dawn, it's me. I don't think we're going to make it to Awana's tonight. I'm up at the kid's school & the van won't start. Hubby is on his way but I don't know what's going to happen & we can't all fit in his truck."

"Do you want me to come up & get you?"

"No, I can't get the windows back up & I don't want to leave the van unattended. But I'll call you if we need help."

"Do you have jumper cables?"

"Well usually I do but Mike borrowed them last night & didn't return them" (Go figure!)

"Tell Hubby to stop by Kevin's work & get his."

"Ok, thanks!"

I'm sitting there; everyone is gone. The construction crews are still going up & down the road, new housing area. NO ONE STOPS TO SEE IF WE'RE OK & NEED HELP. I'm trying so hard not to cry & lose it. The kids are whining. It's hot, I need to pee; blah blah blah. Finally I send oldest & Taylor back into the school to see if anyone there had jumper cables to help.

The 5th grade principal comes out. Pops the hood & says the battery looked too new to be the problem but when he tried to crank it he said it's probably dead. He had called maintenance for jumper cables. 5 mins go by & no one comes. So he remembers he has cables & goes to get his truck. 10 mins later; we're running & heading home.

Called Taylor's mom; she was on her way; told her we'd see her at home. Called hubby, he was leaving Kevin's work & would meet me at home.

We get home & he takes the van to Walmart (Shut up Sal) & they test the battery; it's fine. I just must have sat too long with the radio on & the van not running. I'm not to do that EVER again. I'm sorry, I did not know that was a no no. I've been driving for gosh awhile now & no one has ever told me how hard it is on the battery to sit & listen to the radio for 5 or so minutes.

The van started up just fine today so I guess all is ok. Mike still hasn't returned my jumper cables even though I told him last night what happened. All he said was "I'll go in & change & see if I can get her car going & then I'll get them back to you." Then said nothing when he noticed hubby was edging his lawn instead of ours. (When he went to Paris he sold his lawn mower & such.) I don't think he used the jumper cables yet. But don't you find it odd that I've had these cables FOREVER in the van; never use them & the ONE time I loan them out; I get stranded??????

I'm too cool!

2006-10-12T09:20:00.001-07:00

how jedi are you? :: by lawrie malen

Question

2006-10-11T05:29:00.000-07:00

Beta blogger has a function to where you can make your blog by invitation only. Which means I could make it harder for Mom's stalker to find it. (I've yet to figure out all of Beta bloggers functions)

Anyway, my question to you guys is: Would it keep you from visiting & commenting if you had to log in every time you visited??

I'm seriously considering this as Mom finally had me do away with the "fake" blog a few weeks back & he's probably trying to figure out if I've started a new one. So share your thoughts as I consider this.

Pixie's Picks

2006-10-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

Tuesday update...................scroll down for Monday nights game.

Monday update! What a wild & wonderful day in football it was yesterday!

Alrighty we're into week 5! Looks to be a few good games today!! Here are my picks:

New England over Miami: So much for everyone thinking this was going to be a cake walk for New England. Miami showed some backbone there for a little while & it looked like perhaps they'd walk away with a win. Nope! New England held onto thier 3 point lead & added 7 to it to finish the game, winning 20-10. Got this one RIGHT!

New Orleans over Tampa Bay: Oh my word! In watching the last few mins of this game, I was worried that the Saints were going to bite it. It was an awsome & thrilling ride all the way to the end, seeing the Saints win it 24 to 21. Got this one RIGHT!

NY Giants over Washington: My main focus yesterday was on the Colts, but I managed to keep a watchful eye & flip through the other games. Didn't have to really check in on this one. Giants won it 19 to 3. Got this one RIGHT!

Chicago over Buffalo: Can't really say much about this one. Da Bears ripped apart the Bills 40-7!! (I'm wondering if the 7 was a mercy score?) Got this one RIGHT!

*St. Louis over Green Bay: I told Tim, the Rams better pull through for me because I was picking them over the Packers. I was sweating it out there at the end while Old Man Brett was marching the Pack down the field & was in position to either tie it or win it. As I hid behind my hands he receives a surprise & gets the ball poked away. As I watched in fear for the two teams to scramble for the ball; *whew* Butler for the Rams came up with it. Game over! Rams win it 23 to 20. (I think my heart stopped during the last few plays.) Got this one RIGHT!

Carolina over Cleveland: Come on, it's the BROWNS! Who in the NFL gives this poor team any credit? Not me, which is why I did a little dance when the Panthers won 20-12. Got this one RIGHT!

Indy over Tennessee (However in the middle of the 2nd Qtr, I'm getting worried) Oh my word! I have NO idea what was going on with Manning yesterday. I have to admit that I was very worried during this game. The whole team was just off. Went into the half down by 3. I prayed Dungee or anybody would say something to turn this team around. They did & the Colts came out fired up. A touchdown pulled them ahead by 1 & the defense just kept the Titans from scoring. Colts win this one 14-13. Hoping to never experience a game like this again. Got this one RIGHT!

Minnesota over Detroit You picked the Vikings? You're outta your mind, dear! That's all I heard yesterday. And for awhile it looked like perhaps I picked wrong. However the power of purple pulled through! Vikings win 26 to 17. WOOHOO! Who's crazy now Xachr!?!?! Got this one RIGHT!

*Kansas City over Arizona (However just FYI, The Chef's are the underdog) Yesterday's game is a reason why I have picked Arizona in the past. My gosh they looked rather good against the Chef's. As much as it pained me to cheer for the Chef's, you should know my dislike for that team by now. I tell ya, both backup QB's looked good! Get a few more games in the Cardinals Leinart & they could be a force to recken with. (Shut up Lisa! It could happen!) Chefs pulled off a win 23 to 20. Got this one RIGHT!

Oakland over San Francisco (After last weeks 49er SPANKING I a hard time deciding) So much for thinking the 49ers would still be crushed after last week. Figured Oakland was due. I should have known better. 49ers won 34 to 20. Got this one WRONG.

Jacksonville over NY Jets Can't say much about this game. Jag's walked all over the Jets by a score of 41 to 0. That NADDA, NOTHING, ZIPPO! Someone send the Jet's a tissue. Got this one RIGHT.

Philly over Dallas (Ya know I'll be watching this one. GO EAGLES!) Didn't really watch this game as I was focusing more on the Chef's. I did flip to this one to check in. Looks like the Eagles kicked some Cowboy tush. SO THERE TO! Gotta love this one! Eagles win 38 to 24! Got this one RIGHT!

San Diego over Pittsburgh (Sorry Val) I didn't pay this game too much attention as I was on the computer dealing with photo books for Christmas gifts, listening to Desperate Housewives & chatting with Tim & Sal. (Was tivo'ing too so I couldn't change the channel) Tim kept me posted on the score..... What? The Chargers are behind? I'm heading to the living room! Guess that's what the Chargers needed to pull ahead & win 23 to 13. I do feel bad for the Steelers, um well ok maybe not Coach Cowers but the rest of the team. They don't look much like the Super Bowl Champ team they were last year. Like they say, all good things must come to an end. :-( Got this one RIGHT!

Denver over Baltimore (Pray with me people) I'm fearful of tonights game. I am really really REALLY hoping the bye did not throw us off & that My Boys are ready. Baltimore is 4-0. Even though Denver is picked to win; as we see in the football world, things don't always go the way we think they will. I better check to see if my supply of stress food is enough to get me through. OMGosh! This game gave me a HEART ATTACK! I don't know if it was the cold & rainy weather but Plummer was NOT on his game yesterday. The defense kicked tush though & held the Ravens to 3 points. At the half we were tied 3-3. 3rd qtr saw the score still tied; but something happend to MY BOYS in the 4th & we started to play some ball. Another field goal & a touchdown saw their score increase to 13. But McNair marched his team down the field & I was literally eating my stomach when the defense intercepted the ball......... game over. *whew* Do you know it took me another hour to calm down & go to bed?? The Broncos won it 13-3. So I got this one RIGHT!

Well what do you ya know!? So far this week I am 12/14! OMGOSH! That's pretty good....... FOR A GIRL! One game left to go. GO BRONCOS!!!

So I ended this week 13/14! I don't think I've ever had a week like that. I'm pretty impressed with myself! :-)

Happy football watching all! (I'm off to eat some stress food! What the heck is Indy's problem today??????)

I'm not gonna make it!

2006-10-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

The counters at the top say 45 days until Thanksgiving?!?!? I seriously don't think I can wait that long. I'm dieing for some turkey, dressing (no I don't make stuffing. In the south it's dressing! And no one on this planet makes it better than my Granny! And I'll have words with anyone who dares to argue with me.), cranberry sauce, potatos, rolls, gravy, green bean casserole, broc/rice/cheese casserole..... pumpkin pie with a huge pile of whipped spray topping. *I've drooled on my keyboard* Of course the stores don't help with having all their isles stocked with the fall traditional foods & decor. It took everything I had not to purchase everything I needed for our feast next month. I know to hold on & be patient. Albertson's always gives away free turkey's during November when you spend $100 or more. So I gotta be patient. But MAN I'm wanting to make a pumpkin pie NOW!

Instead of making my double layered pumpkin pie; I'm going to bake the traditional kind. Of course I'll still make my triple layer chocolate pie too. Let me tell you; these no bake pies get me A LOT of compliments & requests.

Ok it's obvious I'm obsessing about food; I think I need to go get a glass of water.

It's been 6 days!

2006-10-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

6 days for what you ask? 6 days since I last had contact with the person. Each day this "problem" slips further from my grasps & I feel myself get stronger. GO ME!

Psalm 55:22 "Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain you."

Wow, you mean I can just give my problems to someone else to deal with?? Yes Ma'am. Isn't that AWESOME? But the hard thing is, once you give it over, you can't take it back to try to fix yourself. You have to give it & forget it. Not an easy task is it?

Last week when I hit the wall & spent Wednesday crying like there was no tomarrow, I prayed:

Dear Lord ~

I've made a mess of things again by thinking I could do things on my own. I kept telling myself that I could handle things, forgetting to let you be in control & guide me. I stopped listening to you when you would talk to me. I'm back to feeling like I was 2 years ago & it scares me. God, you've blessed me with a wonderful husband & precious kids; help me be the wife & mother you created me to be. Help me get the posion out of my life. I know I'm not strong enough to do this on my own. But you are. I ask you to send me your strength & courage to do what must be done. To heal me with your love so that I can start to live again. I know I am not perfect & you love me anyway. Thank you for never giving up on me & wanting to show me the way. You are an AWESOME God. ~ Amen

Then we went to Awanas & decided to take a break from Southcliff. I talked to the Children's Minister & made sure it was ok that the older two kept attending Sunday school. Then I talked to the Directer of Pre-K hall & told her the little one would not be attending for awhile. Of course everyone wanted to know why & I just said I had to get away from some of the spitefulness I had encountered recently. Surely 6 weeks is all it would take?? The person who I need to break away from attends the same church as us. He sits there staring at us. Plus hubby is aware of what's going on & so he glares back. It's just too much. He's told me I'm the reason he attends & that puts so much on me. I wonder why attend if you're not going for the right reasons. I asked him not to attend since he's not there for the message & he refuses. If I knew he wasn't going, I could go without guilt. For now I will listen to the sermon on line until this is over.

I know the day will come when he will contact me. He's usually off work today or tomarrow. But my determination to reprogram myself is in full swing. I started re-reading The Confident Woman & putting into play the counseling Anabel gave us. I'm reminding myself of how to seperate how I feel from what I know. During my lonely time of the day, Sally has been msg'ing me & I can't tell you how great that has been. My mind is occupied & I'm not over processing things. I tend to do that. Over process thoughts, actions, people's opinions; etc. I know I'm not the only one that does that; but I'm learning how to conquer that too. Since Wednesday, I have not cried over this & I'm feeling more at peace. Am I still feeling burned out? Yeppers. Hubby tried to keep things picked up & taken care of; but he's no me. Looking around at the lovely mess of a house the family left me, makes me want to crawl back in bed & throw the covers over my head. I guess I should grab my purple feather duster & my timer & go tackle the house. It's the power of purple!

One last thought before I wage my war against grime..... I will keep my faith & trust in God. He's pulled us through things that I thought should have killed us & I know he won't let us down. I've put it all in His hands. I'm comforted in knowing He is there, willing to take this on for me.

Why me?

2006-10-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

I tell ya, days like today I seriously wonder why I bother getting out of bed! Hubby's truck is not working; surprise surprise! At least for the most part he has not lost it & pitched his usual temper tantrum. Of course I told him that he had better tread carefully with the mood I've been in.

So I went to the Dr yesterday for a followup blood work. They are just wanting to make sure my blood count is back to normal. While there I asked the nurse if my "mood" could be affected by the hormones in the bc pills. She went to ask the Dr who came in & asked if I thought I was just having bad PMS. Ah no, I just don't feel like being a wife & mom anymore & wish my family would just go away. (Of course we know that's not true) So he handed me a 4 week supply of Lexapro & walked out. Didn't discuss the side effects & what to do at the end of 4 weeks when I can't afford to continue.

I don't mean to offend anyone that does take antidepressants. I know they do work wonders but I have to say I don't feel like poppin this pill is what I need to do for me. I've pulled myself out of deeper wells than this one & I feel like I can do that again once I get the other person out of the picture. Now by all means, if this pill will get rid of him, I'll take it; but it won't. It's a mind over heart/emotion issue & I KNOW once I get that worked out, the healing process can begin......... again.

You have no idea how much I hate that I'm where I'm at. Or that someone has that much power/control over me & my emotions. Up until recently I had such control over things such as this. I could easily seperate what I know from how I felt & could act upon things like this differently. I have no idea how in the heck I got back to where I am today. But here I am. Hubby agrees with my decision to not take the pills & said to wait another month & see. At the end of 30 days, if I'm still feeling this way then perhaps we need to explore some other avenues.

So that's where I stand 24 hours later. Hubby is off to the auto store, this man knows NOTHING about mechanics but so long as he holds his temper; we will survive this test. However, depending on what is wrong & how much it costs, there goes the $500 he earned working contract labor for another engineering firm this week. $$ that was suppose to go to a past due bill that could cause us some serious problems if we can't get it taken care of ASAP. Keep your fingers crossed & pray for me.

Have ya noticed?

2006-10-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't been good at making my rounds to visit my fav blogs lately. I haven't been in the most "sociable" moods lately, as you've probably noticed. Dawn tells me I probably need to get on some anti-depression medication, easy for her to say as she has insurance & we don't. Hubby & I agree, my hormones are probably still out of wack & a few more months on bc pills should see that leveling out. If not, then I'm not sure what we will do. I pray that God will see it to change this feeling in me fast. I've got a "friend" who is not helping matters too much & even though I know talking to them is wrong, I can't help myself. I have no inner strength when it comes to this individual & they know it. I KNOW I don't need them in my life but it's hard. So very hard.

I'm feeling like a bad mother. Hubby took the kids to his mothers for the weekend & know what; I did not miss them one little bit. How sad is that? I fear if I don't snap out of this something catostrophic could happen & I lose one or all of them. Morbid I know but that's what's racing through my head. The kids want so much from me & I just can't seem to make myself do anything with or for them. I don't care. I'd rather be alone. I honestly don't see why hubby puts up with me. He thinks school is probably part of my problem too & that could be. You would NOT believe the homework the 1st grader has. And let's not discuss the math my oldest has; which I can't help him with because my brain has turned to mush. Plus, if I show him differently than the teacher wants them to do things, he gets in trouble. Well hell Mister! Teach the crap in the class & not make me do it! It's those DAMN TAKS TESTS!!! Teacher's don't teach anything but how to pass them & leave the rest for me to deal with. I'm literally pulling out my hair here & desperately wanting to move to any state that does NOT have this stupid No Child Left Behind policy & TAKS tests!!!!

I didn't mean to turn this into a pity/vent party.

I'm numb by all the school shootings that have taken place over the past week. It's frightening. I look at the layout of the 1st graders school & they do shut & lock the doors going to the classrooms; making a visitor go to the front office to check in. HOWEVER, the door to her classroom is BEFORE the locked doors. Not sure what idiot laid did the blueprints for this school. So really, if the person can get in that door; they can get to the rest of the classrooms. I keep meaning to ask if the teacher has that door locked or not. Oldest's school is safer. You can't get into the school without passing the front office. They have 2 sets of glass doors that are locked. But still..... how safe are our kids?

Thing is; we're not to think of things like this. Whatever happens in our lives is God's plan; not ours. We can sit & ask ourselves all day long "WHY?" & most of us will never know. God uses everything we encounter in our day to teach us, show us & guide us closer to him. Being a follower of God doesn't mean we won't have bad things happen to us. We'll lose loved ones, we'll see family & friends suffer, children being abused, the list goes on..... but when I allow God to be in control, I am comforted in knowing He's got a reason for all of this & all I can do is be faithful to Him.

Pixie's Picks

2006-10-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Edit ~ I meant to do this Tuesday so sue me!
Edited Monday 10/2

I know I try to do this BEFORE football starts but I've been busy this morning. I had my picks done Friday.

Ok & we're off:

Atlanta over Arizona Wow! The Falcons whooped some Cardinals yesterday! Final score 33 to 10. Got this one RIGHT!

Carolina over New Orleans In watching the scores flip along the bottom of the screen while watching the Texans/Dolphin game, I was getting really worried however Carolina pulled off the win beating New Orleans 21 to 18. Got this one RIGHT.

Buffalo over Minnesota Although both of these teams are good, I had to pick one & I picked Buffalo & they did not let me down. Buffalo beat Minnesota 17 to 12. Got this one RIGHT.

*Baltimore over San Diego (From the current score, the Ravens need to step it up some) I caught the last few seconds of this game. This had to have been a wild game to watch. However the Ravens pulled off the win against the Charges by a score of 16 to 13. *whew* I love seeing teams in the division of MY BOYS get beat! Got this one RIGHT.

*Houston over Miami (It could still happen) Wasn't this a great treat? Houston won their first game this season by beating the Dolpins 17 to 15. WTG GUY! Got this one RIGHT! (so there you doubting Thomas'!)

*Dallas over Tennessee (After all the drama this past week, I need to see if TO is playing) I was too wrapped up in watching Houston play & checking in on Indy to see how TO did. Judging from the score 45 to 14; I'd say all was well in that game. Got this one RIGHT!

Kansas City over San Francisco It pains me greatly to admit to this but in my actual picks, I had chosen San Francisco. I had meant to pick KC but how well. The Chef's kicked some BIG TIME tush by shutting out the 49's to a score of ZIP! The final score 41 to Nadda, Zippo, ZERO, NOTHING! *sigh* Got this one WRONG!

*Indy over NY Jets I actually got worried there. I had to say that outloud but for a while there I just didn't think Indy would pull it off. Thank goodness Manning knew I felt that way because he kicked it into over drive & the Colts squeezed a win out. However, the last play of the game was AMAZING to watch! The Jets, in a struggle to stay alive, lateral passed the ball countless times as they literally marched down the field. Even though they were not successful, it still has to be THE PLAY OF THE DAY! Nice try guys! Colts win 31 to 28. *whew* Let's not put me through that again, mmmmkay? Got this one RIGHT.

St. Louis over Detroit I'm slipping! I meant to choose the Rams but instead picked the Lions. I'm going to have to check my notes better next week. LOL! Rams won it 41 to 34. But I guess since I was cheering for the Rams instead of the Lions, who knows what could have happened. ROFL! Got this one WRONG.

*Jacksonville over Washington *sigh* I thought like everyone else that Jacksonville had the Redskin's #. I thought wrong. Redskins won 36 to 30. Got this one WRONG.

Cincinnati over New England I didn't really watch this game like I wanted to. Hubby & kids got home & so I spent the rest of my afternoon catching up with them & seeing all their new toys. I'm sad to say the Bengals couldn't pull it off & the Patriots won 38 to 13. *yeowch* Got this onw WRONG!

*Cleveland over Oakland I honestly thought this game was over before it got started however the Raiders are a pretty stinky team too so I figured what the heck. Cleveland proved they still have the want by beating the Raiders (who were picked by the pro's to win) 24 to 21. Yet another team in MY BOYS division goes down! Gotta LOVE IT! Got this one RIGHT!

Chicago over Seattle Instead of watching this game, I watched Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters; only checking in at 10 before going to bed. Looks like Da Bears won this one in their sleep. Ending score 37 to 6.

Philly over Green Bay Let's see if Philly pulls off a win for me this week. Philly did indeed beat Green Bay, the score escapes me as I've already thrown away my notes & if you are desperate enough to know; you can go to NFL.com yourself & look it up. I do recall it being a butt whoopin as I want to say the score was 30 something to like 6???? Anyway I got this one RIGHT!

Right now I am 9/14 this week. Pretty good....... especially since I'm a GIRL! :-) So this means I ended the week 10/14. Yeah, I think I'm pretty good at this too! LOL!

I think I got everyone. Of course the * are the games I picked against the "norm". Hey in football, one never ever EVER knows what's gonna happen! Happy Football watching all!

Are ya dieing to know?

2006-10-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

Of course you are all just dieing to know how I spent my kid & husband free weekend. Everyone left great ideas but sadly I spent the day cleaning up, touch up painting & shampooing the carpet. WOOHOO! I didn't finish up until after 7pm last night at which time I took a hot soak in the tub after downing some Advil PM, then I crawled in bed, watched Ella Enchanted & The Fugitive. I snoozed off & on, waking up at 2, 4 & 6. I can't sleep with him here & I can't sleep with him gone. Go figure!

This morning I ran a few errands, went to service, had brunch with a friend & then came home to clean up the mess that I left last night. It's 2:30 & I have no idea if they're headed home or not. I want to cook a nice dinner but it takes over 2 hours to cook so I'll probably put it in around 3 or 3:30.

I'm feeling good. I am tempted to see if this is something we can plan every other month or something. Not that I'd travel alone with the kids, but if he wants to run to his favorite electronic store that I despise; I'll make sure things are fair & he gets a day to do whatever too. To kinda make things worse, he's taken on a quick part time job that will have him busy Monday & Tuesday night. I don't know why he feels the need to constantly increase his bottom line on his W2, but he does. I hope some day he'll realize that he's worth way more than his paycheck.

I'm off to watch some football & perhaps cross stitch. I'm almost 1/2 done & only have 60 days to finish it. Wish me luck!

Party @ My Place!

2006-09-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hubby has decided to take the kids to his parents for the weekend. Well not really the weekend, they will leave Saturday morning & return Sunday afternoon, but still that's about 24 hours of NO ONE in the house BUT ME! WOOHOO! Whatever shall I do?????

Breaking News Special Report

2006-09-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

OMGOSH! Seriously people, news media impaticular, this is TO's "problem" is NOT a life stopping story. I kid you not, here in the Dallas area, they are breaking in about every 15/20 mins with updates on his apparent suicide. No one is saying anything, duh. Coach Parcell's said he hadn't heard anything until this morning, he doesn't know anything & when he does he'll let the media know. I actually felt sorry for Parcell's, which is most difficult for me to do, but the news media just about asked the same question over & over again, just changing some words to make it sound different.

I hope that whatever TO decides to tell the media; he'll consider seeking help. Of course they are going to say it was not a suicide attempt, it was a bad reaction to his meds. I'd go that route myself after seeing the circus this has caused. But I do think someone needs to step in & make sure. KWIM?

But really, it's annoying to see the news media report from numerous locations in the area on this story. You'd think it was Katrina hitting all over again & it's sickening. Leave the guy in peace already!

Why should I apologize?

2006-09-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

I admit that I don't have a way with people. I typically keep my thoughts, opinions & such to myself for fear of ticking someone off. Especially when it comes to God. But gosh darn it, I'm sick of worrying that I'm offending people when I gush about how AWESOME He is. Why should I walk on egg shells around anyone when it comes to God?

Last week Taylor's mom emailed me that they are having marital problems & I briefly told her that we have had some rocky moments too & how God has been helping us. I told her that if she was ever interested in talking to let me know. I put an open invitation to church on the table & then I apologized if I had offended her. It now bugs me that I did that. Why should I apologize for this?

I avoid speaking about God & my relationship with him here for fear of offending what few readers I have. Why? Why do I do this? Why should I let people I don't really know keep me from talking about something so important in my life??

Even though I'm burned out in all aspects of my life, God is still in control & I am faithful. I know I am feeling the way I am feeling for a reason & I'll learn why when He's ready for me to. I have a spiritual enemy, even though some don't admit to it, we all do. My spiritual enemy is trying to beat me down right now & I'm not strong enough to defeat this enemy alone. But I know God is strong enough & He will wage the war & win for me.

One of my favorite songs is: 4 Him ~ Future Generations the chorus goes like this

So I wont bend and I wont break
I wont water down my faith
I wont compromise in a world of desperation
What has been I cannot change
But for tomorrow and today
I must be a light for future generations

So I'm gonna stop walking on egg shells! I'm a child & friend of God! He is my EVERYTHING & without Him, I am NOTHING!

On a sad note: It's been reported that Terrell Owens of the Dallas Cowboys tried to commit suicide last night. Now you know I'm not a fan of TO's. I think he is a very "full of himself" individual but I am praying for him. No matter what's going on in TO's life, suicide is not the answer. I hope you will pray with me.

Happy Fall Ya'll

2006-09-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday marked the beginning of the Autumn season. Would someone tell Mother Nature it's time for crisper, fall like weather? The mornings are just beautiful but by afternoon we're right back into the upper 80's. I don't want 80's! I want lower 70's! I know, I know, I don't always get to have what I want. *huff*

Friday saw Col-Cr signing up for guitar & volleyball. So what did we do? We ran out & got one of the volleyball/badmitton sets that have been on clearance. What a joke! The net poles are flimsy that one good Texas wind & they're gonna snap. Col-Cr vollied the ball into Mike's yard where Polly his lab pounced on it & popped it. Let's not go into the meltdown Col-Cr had & the guilty Mike rushing to Walmart to replace it. (Have I mentioned what a great neighbor he is. I really don't want the house to sell.)

Saturday saw some rain roll in & quickly roll out. Leaving the day muggy. My Inlaws came up for the day. We took FIL to Cabela's as he is a huge fisherman. MIL spent WAY too much money on stuffed animals for the younger two & Col-Cr got a toy shotgun. Then we made our way to the 72 Hour Shop-a-thon at Garden Ridge where she got me 2 sets of beautiful candle holders. Only the candle stick holders are going back. They just don't look right in the living room or the bedroom. The pillar holders look great in the living room. Then we swung into a music store to get Col-Cr a hard case guitar carrier. He signed up for guitar lessons at school. His soft case would probably have seen the guitar being ruined. I'm a big nervous for him to haul that up there for the week but surely all will be ok & at least he's getting to actually learn how to play it. The kids hard a hard time seeing the grandparents leave. We haven't been visiting much with gas prices being so high this year. Thank goodness they are coming down.

Sunday saw me in a fickle mood & so we didn't go to church. Plus I had to get lunch in the crock pot at 10 in order for it to be ready at dinner time. Well, that's my excuse anyway. It was hubby's 36th bday yesterday & I still haven't made his cake. I'm going through a "spell" right now where I'm just burned out emotionally, physically & spiritually. I'm tired of being a wife & a mom and I'd love to just run away. I keep trying to get hubby to go visit his parents with the kids to give me just some alone time; but he refuses. Thanks honey. When I go postal & beat the "you know what" outta you; it's no one's fault but your own. I keep telling you I'm this close to losing it! Watched football, duh! (see post below for my pick results) Ran to the book store to get Col-Cr a fiction book for English class. (I'll be venting about that soon) Then to Target to get jeans for the younger two. Ended up finding 3 sets of Galactic Heroes for Pac-Cr & I have them tucked away for Christmas, if they make it that long.

I pulled down my fall wreath out of the attic & left the ceramic pumpkins for hubby to get. It's so cluttered up there that I'm not sure where he put them. Plus I don't like climbing back down the stairs with them. Hopefully before the end of October, he'll get them down for me. BTW, found out you can NOT store candles up in the attic. *sigh* I set out all the Halloween Beanie Babies & will have to fight with the kids to not play with them. Really! They have enough of their own stuffed animals, why can't they leave mine alone??

My tummy's growling so I guess I need to eat & get back to work. It's Monday, is it over yet?

Gotta have faith!

2006-09-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Update, yes I'm late!

This week just goes to show that the Pro's don't "know it all"! I should have went more with my gut than anything, however a LOT of the games were just too hard for me to decide as they were crummy team vs crummy team. Seems like all the games that I went with their pick, I got burned. No biggie, I do it all for fun!

We'll start with MY BOYS this morning. OMGOSH! I seriously thought we were gonna be dead meat against the Patriots. I didn't even have the heart to watch so I sat in the bedroom folding laundry & watching Desperate Housewives. Only running into the living room when I heard hubby groan or cheer. I was pretty shocked to see us hold our own & actually WIN. WOOHOO! I'm starting to wonder if perhaps I can help my team but not sitting & watching the game as intensily as I typically do. Again I tip my hat to Javon Walker for his outstanding performance last night! Broncos win 17 to 7. WTG GUYS! I got this one RIGHT!

I don't know if NFL is calling this "the game of the week" as there were several close games that probably earn this title but for me, I'm calling the Bengals/Steelers game "the game of the week". I went agains the norm & picked the Bengals. For awhile there I started to wonder if I was off my rocker. This was a really good game that could have gone either way. I think what finally tipped the scales was errors & both team made costly errors. There at the end, the Steelers had a chance to tie the game but at the goal line, Big Ben's pass was picked off & the game was over. I can imagine the frustration. However, I got this one RIGHT as the Bengals beat the Steelers 28 to 20.

The next game that could easily be titled "game of the week" was the Bears/Vikings game. We flipped back & forth through numerous games yesterday. It was a obviously a good battle! The Vikings were in the lead for most of the game. It was a late 4th qtr drive with about 2 mins or so left on the clock that found Da Bears pulling ahead by 3 with a touchdown. Awesome! Da Bears beat the Vikings 19 to 16. I got this one RIGHT.

I went with the pro's & picked Buffalo over NY Jets. I figured after last week, why not. Sadly I got this one WRONG. The Jets beat Buffalo 28-20. *sniffle*

Now this game was a close one too & a dark scary moment as Chris Simms ended up having his spleen removed after the game. From watching the scores on the bottom of the screen while watching other games, this appeared to be a back & forth kinda game. Later I heard that Simms took a beating, evening leaving the field for the locker room & later returning. From watching the footage, I don't understand why after he left the field why he came back. My thoughts & prayers are with the Simms family as Chris recovers. The Panthers beat the Buc's 26 to 24. Got this one RIGHT.

*sigh* We didn't catch any of this game. I'm sad to say that Old Man Brett managed to have a great day as the Packers beat the Lions 31 to 24. I did see on the footage the Lions were driving late in the 4th but just couldn't pull it off. I got this one WRONG.

Kristyn commented that I'm too optimistic when it comes to the Texans. I am. This won't be the year they go to the Super Bowl, BUT I do see them having a better year than last. So far that prediction has not come true. They have a rough schedule this year BUT I have faith in them. Evidently the Pros did too as they had favored the Texans over the Redskins. However the Redskins beat the Texans 31 to 15. Maybe I should have watched this game instead of the Bengals/Steelers, they obviously needed my good vibes! I got this one WRONG.

Indy over Jacksonville 21 to 14. Although Manning's #'s weren't high & my fantasy football team bombed again this week; they still won & I got this one RIGHT.

Miami vs Tennessee looked to have been an evenly matched game. However, Miami pulled it off & beat the Titans 13 to 10. I got this one RIGHT.

It was a close one for Baltimore & Cleveland. But the Browns lost 15 to 14. That was probably a good one to watch? I got this one RIGHT.

Arizona was picked to beat St. Louis & I did catch the last few mins of this game. I'm still confused about the ending of this game & I think the Cardinals were ROBBED. The game can't end on a defensive penalty. 1st the Rams declined the penatly which would have allowed the Cardinals kicker a chance at a 77 yard field goal which would have had them win the game if he made it. Then the Rams came back & accepted the penalty which kept the ball in their hands & they knelt to end the game. I don't feel that the Rams should have been given a chance to revolk their decision on the penatly. They had already stated they wanted to decline it; then came back to accept it...... I think once you decline; it's declined & you shouldn't get a chance to change your mind, so I'm calling the Rams pansies! Rams win this one 16 to 14. I got this one WRONG.

Philly appeared to have had a good day against the 49ers. They win it 38 to 24. I got this one RIGHT.

Poor young Manning. He had a humiliating day against Seattle still the team rallied & tried for another comeback but young padawan, you're no Elway & they ended up losing by a score of 42 to 30. Still I give the Giants an A for effort. It would have been awesome to see them pull it off. There's always next week. (Heather, did Chris have a heartattack watching this game?) I got this one WRONG.

So far this week I am 8 & 5. *blech* Hopefully the Saints will pull off a win against Atlanta & I'll at least be 9/5 for the week. Just goes to show, the Pro's can't pick 'em any better! *New Orleans kicked butt in their backyard by beating the Falcon's 23 to 3. I got this one RIGHT.
So I ended the week 9/5. Not as great as last week's but still good I think. :-)

Anyhow, that's my wrap up for the NFL. Blogger is being a booger so I can't post any picks. Gosh darn it! I know you guys really wanted to see pictures of the Broncos win too! Oh well. I've got too much to do to sit here & work on it anymore.

Pixie's Picks

2006-09-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Real fast as we're watching the Houston game & it's at a commercial. Here's my picks for the week.

*Chicago over Minnesota

*Cincinnati over Pittsburgh

Buffalo over N.Y. Jets

*Carolina over Tampa Bay

Detroit over Green Bay (Wish Old Man Brett would retire already)

Houston over Washington (Hey it could happen)

Indy over Jacksonville

Miami over Tennessee

*Baltimore over Cleveland

Arizona over St. Louis

*Philly over San Francisco

*NY Giants over Seattle (The force is strong in young Manning)

Denver over New England (Don't even go there with me, I see a very stressful evening ahead of me BUT they's MY BOYS! And I never ever ever pick against MY BOYS! I have FAITH IN THEM!)

New Orleans over Atlanta (Monday Night)

The * marks the games I picked AGAINST the "professional pickers"; if you noticed that's 6 games. I'm a little nervous about this week but it was rather hard to decide. I guess we'll see tomarrow how it all went down.

HAVE AN AWESOME FOOTBALL WATCHING DAY ALL!!

BORRRR-ING!

2006-09-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

Was anyone else a little disappointed in Grey's Anatomy last night? Here I sat counting down the days & I have to admit, it was a bit of a let down. Then 6 Degrees didn't tickle my fancy either, however I'm going to rewatch it later just to see if it was because I was up & down during it.

Now I'm curious to see if the season opener of Desperate Housewives is going to be a good one & the new show immediately following it; Brothers & Sisters. However, the Broncos have the late game Sunday so I won't be watching either until the game is over & I've recovered.... I don't think this week's gonna be a good one. :-(

Well I did it

2006-09-21T04:57:00.000-07:00

I emailed my friend & Awana Commander & told her that hubby & I will not be returning next year. We'll finish out this 2006/2007 year but won't be back next fall.

It's just too much to have it on a Wednesday night during the school year. The kids get to bed late & are cranky the next day & difficult to deal with. My daughter doesn't want to do her lessons & memory verses for class each week. I'm not thinking my youngest will be ready for the program any time soon. Hubby & I are always in a bad mood by the time Wednesday comes around. I've had a headache every Wednesday since Awanas started. I don't like being around people or kids & I feel like a more upbeat person who LIKES people in general would be a better fit. I think the straw that broke the camel's back are the study books she expects all the adults to do to further their training. I'm sorry but I am not in school anymore & I don't like "having" to study a book, learn memory verses & have a test after I'm done with the book to see what I learned. Thing is, I don't like "having" to do anything, now if you "ask me" if I'd mind; it's a bit different. But to be "told that I HAVE" to study, memorize & be tested"; it's just too much. I'm here as a favor to my friend & she's pushing it.

Honestly, if you can't tell, I just have a bad attitude towards it & that's not good. Especially when one is around kids. I have a problem being around people & kids. And lately, we have not enjoyed attending Southcliff. So it's like this huge ball of "issues" & it's making it so difficult to want to attend worship right now. This is not who I want to be.

I do dread her reaction............... but it's not right to do this if I've got a bad attitude about it & to live in fear of her being mad. I'm obviously not doing it for the right reasons.

Awww TARTER SAUCE!

2006-09-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

After dropping oldest off at school; the young one & I decided we wanted to get some fall mums for the front porch so we swung into Wally World. (Sorry Sal) We got 1 yellow, 1 red, 2 orange & 1 light purple. I wanted white but the only white they had was in a bigger pot & was triple the price. So I'll just plant the 2 orange ones in the smaller pots. Problem solved I guess.

A month or so ago I colored my hair the usual golden blonde & it looked more orange than golden. I hated it! But not wanting to ruin my hair, it's so silky that you'd cry if you ran your fingers through it, I decided to wait until my roots started to show before recoloring it. The roots were about 1/2" long so I decided today was the day. Used a brand I've never tried before, Nice N Easy, & I went with a medium brown. So gone is the "fun" blonde & the "serious" brunette has arrived. At least now I can't say "Hey, talk slowly, I'm a blonde!" Hey, maybe if I start wearing my glasses again, I could look & be taken seriously??? Ok, I'm reaching!

So then I remembered I needed some acne stuff. Yes I'm pushing 36 & I have acne worse now that in high school. WHAT IS THE FLIPPIN DEAL PEOPLE? A friend had returned from taking her son recently to the dermotologist & told me acne is NOT related to hormones. Now see, I don't know that I believe that because the week prior to the dreaded "visitor" I break out. And what's worse is unlike in high school; these painful volcano's pop up along my jaw line or back. EWW! I think my hormones have been horribly out of wack this year & so I'm hoping the birth control pills I'm currently taking will help even them out. BUT I started taking Nature's Cure & have seen dramatic changes in my skin & so when I spied their papaya cleaning system, well surely that's gonna work with the other stuff I'm using. Only thing, the papaya smell is a bit too much so I do each step 30 mins apart. We'll see how it works.

So then I remembered that I'm almost out of shampoo; hubby's been using my Pantene Shine. Instead of grabbing another bottle, I remember the "You need hair-therapy" commerical & pick up Sunsilk for flat hair. (My hair maybe silky but let me tell you it's straight & flat as a board!) I'm sure it won't do much but we'll see.

Get to the check out & I've spent $80. WHAT?!?! Hubby's gonna kill me.

Get home & decided to go ahead & color my hair now instead of tonight. I typically only color my hair blonde so I was unprepared for the nice brown STAIN THAT COVERS HALF MY FOREHEAD, EARS, & NECK LINE!!! In the words of my 4 year old.... AWWW TARTER SAUCE!!! I have Awana's tonight, I have to walk up & get my daughter at school. I'm going to look like a FREAK! I've tried alcohol, witch hazel, toothpaste, dishsoap, my loufa.......... my face is now red from over scrubbing! I'm praying my marykay foundation will cover the rest. I just want to "dye" right now. HAHAHA! But the color looks good & hopefully is close to my true color.

Youngest says he's ready to go plant some flowers so I better scoot. Is it Friday yet???

Blah

2006-09-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

Ok so I've got the blogger blahs! Seriously I don't have anything to blog about. Weekend review:

Friday nothing but trying to drain & clean the pool so we could get it put up before it rained. Had to hang it over the swingset in order for it to dry properly & so we could scrub the algae off. Did that until I couldn't take another mosquito bite.

Saturday morning woke up to it being dark & overcast. Woke hubby up so we could finish cleaning up the backyard. Then I worked on the front flowerbeds. FYI; the backyard is still a mess. The pool has been folded & put up; but the ladder, pump, pipes, filter, gaskets (you get the point) are still scattered all over the backyard. I am trying not to pitch a fit about it but it does annoy me that no one around here FINISHED WHAT THEY START! It's all half-ass!

Saturday around 4 we did manage to get out of the house & take the kids to Six Flags. Didn't ride any big rides, just mainly things we all 5 could get on. The younger two appreciated not having to wait forever for hubby & the oldest to ride something. It wasn't too bad crowd/wait wise either. Got home a little after 9 & we all went to bed.

Sunday it rained pretty much off & on all day. We did make it to church & bible study. Then we watched football. (See post below for those details) I worked on MIL's christmas present for most of the day; which consisted of digging through numerous shoe size boxes for pictures, scanning them in & uploading them. It's a tiring process but I think she'll really like the results.

Monday hubby claimed he was too ill to work; so I didn't get my chores done. He distracts me when he is home. Even though all he did was sleep; still the bed is my work station. I fold clothes there, I sort things there; etc. So see, how could I work???

Today is just today. I've gotten most of the laundry done & the house is in good shape. The kids all have to go to bed early tonight because they were late going to bed last night. The season premiere of Boston Legal is on at 9 but I'm hoping to be fast asleep by then. I'm just feeling so drained & beat down today.

Is it Friday yet????

Oh Jacksonville won so I'm 13/16 for the weeks picks. :-)

It's that time of the year

2006-09-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

*Monday morning edits:

FOOTBALL PICKS ARE HERE!!!! I totally missed last weeks because of the Thursday night game; so right off the bat I'm 0/16; which bums me out but there's nothing I can do. So here are my picks for this weeks games.

Baltimore over Oakland : Baltimore beat Oakland 28 to 6. Got this one right.

Green Bay over New Orleans : Even though they tried to rally there at the end; New Orleans defeated Green Bay 34 to 27. I got this one WRONG!

Indy over Houston : This was pretty much a cake walk for the Colts as the beat the Texans 43 to 24. Houston did try to come back but it was really too late by then. Got this one right.

Miami over Buffalo: I had a gut feeling I was going to be WRONG on this one & I was. Buffalo handed Miami a loss yesterday by winning 16 to 6. Got this one WRONG!

Minnesota over Carolina : This was a close one but Minnesota pulled it off & beat Carolina 16 to 13. Got this one right.

Atlanta over Tampa Bay : I guess Tampa's having some problems this year; Atlanta came out on top with an embaressing win 14 to 3. Got this one right.

*New York Giants over Philly : This was THE game of the week & I wish I had watched it over the Broncos; NY Giants came back from behind to take the game into OT. I swear the OT itself was a power struggle in which the Giants came out on top, beating Philly 30-24. WTG GIANTS! I GOT THIS ONE RIGHT!!

Chicago over Detroit : Got this one right; Chicago won 34 to 7.

Cincinnati over Cleveland : Sadly, I've never given the Browns much respect & this is why; Cincinnati won 34 to 17. Just pitiful! But I got it right!

San Francisco over St. Louis : The 49ers beat the Rams 20 to 13. Got this one right.

Seattle over Arizona : The Seahawks won 21 to 10. I got this one right too!

Denver over Kansas City (as if I'd go against my team; get real!) : Be thankful you could NOT hear the screaming, yelling, cussing & crying coming from my house yesterday. OMGOSH this was a STINKY STINKY game! However, even an ugly win is still a win & somehow MY BOYS managed to pull ahead & beat the Chef's 9 to 6. A great big THANK YOU to Javon Walker who made some really good key playes that really helped MY BOYS out. (I'll be drinking pepto bismol during next weeks game) Still, I got this one RIGHT!

*New England over New York Jets : I have to admit that I was getting a bit concerned on this pick. I went against the norm & picked the underdog. Boy am I glad I did. New England won it 24 to 17. Woohoo, I got it right.

San Diego over Tennessee : The Chargers charged right over the Titans; spanking them hard with a huge 40 to 7 loss. Man, I'm not looking forward to playing them any time soon. Still; I got it right.

*Washington over Dallas : I wasn't too focused on this game last night as I started working on my MIL's Christmas present & so I take full blame for the Redskins losing to the Sissyboys 27-10. Sorry guys. Got this one WRONG!

Jacksonville over Pittsburgh (Monday nights game)

The games marked with a * are the games I picked the "underdog" to win. We'll see if my out on the limb choices help or hurt me this week.

Happy football watching all!!!

As it stands now, I'm 12/16 this week. We'll see how tonights game plays out. If Ben doesn't play then Jacksonville should be the victors; but in the game of football, it's never a done deal until that last second rolls off the clock. I've seen many of comeback miracles to know never to mark a win until time has run out. Depending on what else is on, we probably won't be watching this game as we are not fans of either. (Sorry Val) Still, I wish those of you that will be watching a fun & exciting game! :-)

As always images courtesy of Yahoo Sports.

Quiz Friday

2006-09-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

Your Blog Should Be Blue

Your blog is a peaceful, calming force in the blogosphere.
You tend to avoid conflict - you're more likely to share than rant.
From your social causes to cute pet photos, your life is a (mostly) open book.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

You Are Blitzen

Always in good spirits, you're the reindeer who loves to party down with Santa.

Why You're Naughty: You're always blitzed on Christmas Eve, while flying!

Why You're Nice: You mix up a mean eggnog martini.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

You're Totally Sarcastic

You sarcastic? Never! You're as sweet as a baby bunny.
Seriously, though, you have a sharp tongue - and you aren't afraid to use it.
And if people are too wimpy to deal with your attitutde, then too bad. So sad.

How Sarcastic Are You?

You Will Die at Age 85

Congratulations! You take good care of yourself.
You're poised to live a long, healthy life.

What Age Will You Die?

Alright, knock yourselves out!

Mystery Solved!

2006-09-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

I called in Scooby-Doo & the gang to help me solve the case of the "Euless Ip#" mystery. I had exhausted all possible avenues & felt perhaps they could follow the clues & solve the mystery for me.

Sure enough after only 24 hours on the job; Velma put it together & identified who the "Euless Stalker" was................ Tim.

Yep, my buddy Tim hadn't bookmarked my new blog; even though he helped me tweak templates to put it together, so he went to my old blogs & pieced his own puzzle together to find me. *sigh* Tim, ya know ya could have just emailed or messaged me with a request for my blog address. Ya didn't have to scare the pee outta me!

Well now that you're here; you're gonna have to start commenting. It's a blogger rule that you're not allowed to just read; one has to leave comments every now & again. Ok so it's not a "blogger" rule but it's the polite thing to do!

Now I can breath a sigh of relief & resume posting stuff. I was starting to think I needed to move again & was NOT looking forward to doing so.

What's your sign?

2006-09-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

Saw this over at Lisa's & thought I'd do it too. Join in if ya want!

The Fishes
Febuary 20 to March 20

Traditional
Pisces Traits

Imaginative and sensitive ~ Yep, I will agree with that.
Compassionate and kind ~ I'll agree with that too.
Selfless and unworldly ~ Again, I definately put myself last in this household
Intuitive and sympathetic ~ Yep, that's me too

On the dark side....

Escapist and idealistic ~ Hmm, not sure I guess it could depend.
Secretive and vague ~ I can keep a secret & keep details out if need be
Weak-willed and easily led ~ That use to be true, but I'm getting stronger about standing up
for myself & saying NO!

Daily Overview for September 13, 2006
Provided by Astrology.com

Quickie:
If you want to make a difference in your community, today you get the chance.

Overview:
Your friends have issues, so be a caring pal and lend a sympathetic ear. Believe it or not, your humanitarian impulses will increase your chances of romance. Your friendships will also grow and intensify.

Dawn of a new day

2006-09-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all that read my tribute to Allan Shwartzstein, and a big THANK YOU to those that commented. I had a good number of visitors yesterday from DCROE's website but sadly only a few took the time to comment. That kinda bums me out but what can I do? ;-)

Today is a new day though & life must go on. It's easier for me to move into today but the families of 9/11 still grieve & so we must never forget those we lost. "THEY ARE US" I read that somewhere & it's true. I'm not saying we need to constantly discuss the events of the past, but we don't need to forget them. That could just as easily been me or one of my loved ones. In regards to never forgetting, I'm leaving the candles in memory of Allan Shwartzstein on my sidebar; along with the link to his tribute. Feel free to go read it at any time.

An issue has popped up. Well not really an issue, but something that's buggin me. I have a visitor that has shown up on ALL my blogs. Even the old blog that I moved from. They have done a LOT of searches on my blog id & my yahoo id. This greatly disturbs me. I'm looking into ways of blocking their IP # unless they decide to identify themselves. So note to all my "repeat" stalkers, I mean visitors; if you don't want to get blocked, you might want to leave a comment & tell me who you are. Visitor from Euless, Tx might want to get the hint here. Thank you!

I'm off to join in on the "Tackle It Tuesdays" if anyone wants to join in with me; you can do so here. Until next time, have a TERRIFIC TUESDAY!

2996 ~ A Tribute

2006-09-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

2,996 is a tribute to the victims of 9/11.

On September 11, 2006, 2,996 volunteer bloggers
will join together for a tribute to the victims of 9/11.
Each person will pay tribute to a single victim.

We will honor them by remembering their lives,
and not by remembering their murderers.
*********************************************************************************
I Remember Allan Shwartzstein
World Trade Center ~ Tower 1

There's not much on the internet about Allan Abraham Shwartzstein, 37. He wasn't famous, just a face in the crowd of thousands ~ an unknown to you & I. But to his family & friends he was a bright start that faded out too soon & now a hero to us all.

Allan was best known as a husband to Amy, father to Matthew & Jessica, a brother, a son & a friend. He was named after an uncle who died in Israel in 1948. He was a simple man who preferred ratty t-shirts & worn out shorts to the suits & ties he wore to work. After 15 years on Wall Street, he still wore the watch he had received for his bar mitzvah. According to those that knew him, he was genuine, what you see is what you got. He didn't worry about his appearance or what came out of his mouth. When I look at his photo I can imagine that he told it like it was.

In March of 2001, Allan had joined Cantor Fitzgerald as a managing director and partner & his office was located in Tower 1 on the 104 floor. His wife Amy said that Allan was just the kind of guy that would put others in front of his own needs and he was probably busy helping others when the towers were hit instead of thinking of his own safety. He was an avid tennis player and skier and an amateur guitar player. According to his younger brother, Michael, he was a humble & down to earth guy. He had a quality about him that made others feel really good.

Every day we encounter countless people, people we never smile at or greet. We are too absorbed in our own lives. One thing I have learned in researching Allan is that life is too short. We never know what could happen next in our lives. I imagine on the morning of September 11, 2001 started out like any day for the people in New York. Their commute to work was like the day before. The ride up the elevator filled with conversations while people on the street pushed past one another in silence. I can only imagine how the rest of the morning went as I sat safely in my home thousands of miles away. Since September 11, 2001 I've become aware that a simple smile from a passerbyer can change my day. Whose life can we touch by suddenly becoming more aware of those around us & taking a few seconds to call out a greeting? I wish I had known Allan. I'm sure those in his life were blessed beyond blessed to have counted him as family or friend. I will never forget you Allan Schwartzstein and I will continue to pray for you, your family and to all those we lost.

Please link up if you are a participant so others can read. Thanks. Please feel free to leave comments. Also don't forget to read the other tributes that you can find on DCROE's blog.

I'm a wreck

2006-09-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

Numerous months ago a challenge was given to the people of the blog community. Was it possible to find 2,996 people to write a tribute to a person that was lost on 9/11/01. More than 2,996 people rose to the challenge. As the next few hours & days go by, people will be posting their tributes for the world to see. On DCROE's blog it's been noted that the news media has picked up on what we are doing.

I have to admit as the time grows closer to me posting my tribute, I am becoming a nervous wreck. I did not take this challenge light heartedly & I worry that I won't do this man's life justice. Guys, it'll be 5 years on Monday. 5 years ago our lives were changed & we can't bury our heads in the sand & pray it goes away; because it can't. We can't allow ourselves & our future generations to ever forget what took place.

So with a deep breath & a small prayer; I prepare my tribute & offer it up for you to read. I hope you will take the time to read the other blogs that are involved in this project.

Thank you.

If you are looking for

2006-09-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

My Thursday Thirteen; it's been moved to here.

Croc Hunter dies....

2006-09-05T07:21:00.000-07:00

I was shocked & sadden by the news of Steve Irwin's death yesterday. I didn't watch his show often but when I did catch them I loved his thrill for life. Obviously he had a thing for thrills because why else would someone hop ontop of a croc the way he would?? You could feel his passion & excitement for the animals around him & I know he died doing something he loved. He definately lived life to the fullest. Rest In Peace Steve Irwin aka Crocodile Hunter. The animal kingdom won't be the same without you.

In answer to my previous post, no I did not get to enjoy the weekend by myself. Xachr did not want to go without me & I did not feel up to the trip. So he did not go & the kids spent the weekend disappointed. I made Xachr promise to not keep the kids couped up in the house as our temps were in the 80's & we were overcast Sat & Sun. He did not keep his promise. Saturday evening I took the kids outside. Sunday he promised to do something with them while I cross-stitched & all he did was play video games with Col-Cr. (I'm seriously thinking about selling the Xbox!) I felt horrible for the little ones so I decided Monday we'd get out & go to the zoo, even though I knew it was going to be super crowded. Know what happened yesterday? It rained. ALL DAY LONG! I was so depressed. Not that I'm complaining about the rain, we need it desperately. I just wish it had rained the days they claimed it was going to rain. Live & learn I guess. Perhaps this weekend I'll plan something fun.

I'll have to post a picture of how far I got on Mom's christmas present. I'm almost 25% done. I'm aiming to have it completed at the end of this month. Wish me luck because it probably won't happen.

I better scoot & get myself ready to take Col-Cr to school. Then I will have to wait until 10am to head to Hollywood Video to get Season 2 of Lost. I managed to get Season 1 watched over the weekend. MAN that's a LOT of video watching!!! Took me Saturday, Sunday & some of Monday to watch all 6 DVD's. I'm rather determined to get caught up on this tv series now that we have Tivo, I won't have to be "lost" anymore.

That's probably NOT funny....

2006-09-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

So this morning while coming home from dropping Col-Cr & Taylor off I came across my neighbor 6th grader, Payton, walking home. I stopped to ask her if everything was ok because she should have been in school. The bus hadn't come & her mom was home but not answering the phone. So I offered her a ride to school. There were 4 other girls that didn't have a ride so I took them too.

On our way to the campus Pac-Cr (4) turns to the African-American girl sitting beside him & I swear he says "You look like chocolate." Thankfully his thumb was in his mouth so all the girls heard was "Blah, blah, blah; chocolate" Now when a little one says something like that, surely he's not considered to be a biggot??

But can you believe Payton's Mom wouldn't answer the phone? I don't get her at all. Ever since meeting them, back in May of '99 so Payton would have been in 1st grade, Payton has had to be responsible for getting herself up, ready & to school. This meant either walking, riding her bike or catching a ride with someone while her mother slept in. Is it just me or is there something wrong with that??

I'm waiting for Xachr to decide what we are going to do this weekend. His brother is suppose to be going to their parent's house for the weekend. I don't feel up to the trip but I told him to go ahead & go (with kids) so I can work on Mom's christmas present. Can you imagine me, by myself for 24/48 hours??? Could I be so lucky?? I'll tell ya tomarrow....

Because Sal said so!

2006-09-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

To keep my readers & friends happy; I've created a blog specifically for the meme's I like to play. I will try to post a note here to guide my fellow Meme~rs to the new site if need be.

Golden Mushroom Chicken

2006-08-31T16:47:00.000-07:00

Seriously when you read how simple this is; you're gonna ask yourself how come you didn't think of it yourself!

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (4-6)
Onion sliced into rings (doesn't matter what kind: white, yellow, purple)
2-3 cans of Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup
small can of mushrooms (optional: I just love extra mushrooms)

Place chicken in deep pan. I season the chicken with salt, pepper & McCormick's Rotisserie chicken. Place onion rings & extra mushrooms on top of chicken. Cover with soup. (Do not add water to soup, just open, dump & spread) Cover with foil & cook on 400 for 30-45 mins or until chicken is done.

We then serve it with mashed potatos & use the soup as gravy. OR if your pan is big enough, you can cut up potatos, place around the chicken, cover with soup & cook them that way. But let me tell you; the mashed potatos covered in the mushroom soup is *drool* yummy!

See, simple, easy and typically my kids ask for more!

Another chicken my oldest loves is Texas Two Step Chicken.

4-6 Chicken Breasts
Pace Picante Sauce
2TBS of brown sugar
1 TBS of mustard (optional)

Mix picante sauce, brown sugar & mustard. Pour over chicken & bake at 400 for 30-45 mins until done. Tastes almost like sweet & sour chicken. Serve over rice. Col-Cr LOVES it when I make this. Again, simple & easy.

2006-08-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

Header Credit to my buddy: LISA

Thirteen of My Favorite Foods


1.  Taco Bueno ~  If you don't have a Taco Bueno in your area; you don't know what you are missing.  When Donna visited she ate there & agreed that they are 10 times better than Taco Bell.  However, I think Bueno is a Texas thing so in order for you to eat there; you'll have to come visit me!  :-)
     
2.  El Chico's ~  It's a tex mex resturant that I just adore!  Their sour cream chicken enchiladas are to DIE FOR!  Sadly the nearest one is about 45 mins away so I don't get to eat there much.  I think it's been well over a year since my last visit.
     
3.  Chili's ~  I love their swiss mushroom burger w/bacon!  And their seasoned fries!  Wonder how late they are open for take out?
     
4.  Applebee's Santa Fe Chicken Salad.  Dawn introduced me to this salad & the dressing is the key.  I don't know what it is, but it is good.  I do ask for it on the side as they get a little crazy.  But it is yummy.
     
5.  Olive Garden's Cannolloni WAS the best but the last time I visited, they had taken it OFF the menu!  I'm sorry but that is wrong & I refuse to eat there.  But it was delish!
     
6.  Don Pabelo's Portabella Mushroom Fajitas.  With the mushrooms there was grilled squash & zucchini.  *drool*  Can you tell what my fav foods typically are?
     
7.  Chick-Fil-A's chicken sandwich.  The fact that it comes with just pickles is the best.  Of course I have to drown it in ketchup but that just enhances the chicken.
     
8.  Sonics Steak sandwhich before they started putting it on that Texas Toast.  I have fond memories of eating those after a hard Saturday morning of garage saleing with the family.  (I'll try to share that on a Monday Memory.)
     
9.  Subway's Tuna Fish on wheat w/all veggies BUT peppers.  I don't know how they make their tuna so smooth, mine's always chunky; but I absolutely love it.
     
10.  Scholotsky's original.  That bread alone would be enough to die for.
     
11.  My Mom's Pot Roast.  I should watch her the next time she makes it because mine pales in comparison.
     
12.  My Golden Mushroom Chicken recipe that I stumbled across one day at my MIL's.  It's been awhile since I made it, thinking I might have to put it on the menu soon.
     
13.  I think I make THE BEST tacos!  Tomatos, lettuce, avacado, cheese, beans, meat....... think I might need to put that on the menu as well.
     
*BONUS 14.  ANYTHING XACHR COOKS & CLEANS UP!  Which is about every weekend.  :-)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

I've been thinking...

2006-08-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

(WW is below this post) This might be an extremely long post as I have a good bit on my mind:

I realize that's a dangerous & scary past time, me thinking. I've been re-reading this book my Mom gave me. Mighty Mom's Secrets for Raising Super Kids by Gwendolyn Mitchell Diaz

I picked it back up during the 1st week of school for something to do while I waited on Col-Cr. Hey 30 minutes in the car without something to do was driving me nuts. It was in Chapter 2 that a bell went off in my head. She was talking about how she felt the need to add more income to their family as the boys got older. The more she thought about it; the more it occured to her that she wasn't looking to add more income to provide for them, but to pamper them instead. And it got me to thinking about my kids & what is considered "providing" & "pampering".

Do you know that each kid has their own tv & dvd player in their room? Two of them have satellite boxes & video game systems too. One of the two actually has a video game system hooked up to the living room tv too. On any given Saturday, you can walk through my house & find all 5 of our tv's on & probably 3 of them are not being watched. Then our oldest child has a computer in his room that is being prepared for internet access, which I am not ok with. I would like nothing better than to turn off the satellites to the kid's rooms. A part of me would like to remove the dvd players, video game systems & tv's too but then a part of me knows how nice & quiet it can be when everyone is entertained & I get to watch my football in peace on the big tv. In the past, Pac-Cr's tv had been used as a means of putting him to bed. It took me awhile to see that that was the reason he was staying up to 11 or later. It was a painful process & one DH had a hard time sticking to; but we broke that. His tv is rarely turned on. Neo-Pa doesn't watch tv much in her room either. Mostly on Saturday mornings if I'm still asleep will she turn it on & wait patiently for someone to get up. Pac-Cr will also go into her room on Saturday mornings & watch tv quietly with her. Mainly she uses her tv for her VSmile. This is something she really enjoys & so I hesitate in removing her tv. However I will note that Xachr is looking to put a computer in her room soon. (I cringe at the thought but I know she is learning how to use a computer at school but still)

Last year we enclosed half the garage in an attempt to give Col-Cr his own room. Neo-Pa is an absolute DIVA & we couldn't put anyone in her room. There was too much of an age difference to put Pac-Cr in with him so we took our income tax return & took care of business. In a way we felt good about giving Col-Cr his own room but also guilty as now he lives in the garage. So we did our best to make it THE MOST AWESOME BOYS'S ROOM EVER! We did a cool paint design on the wall, painted the floor & went all out. Tv, satellite, computer, vidoeo game, stereo; you name it & we put it in that room. Col-Cr typically has his tv on 24/7; even if he's playing a game on his computer, "It's background noise Mom" & I can't argue with that since mine is usually used for that too. He doesn't like his N64 anymore & would prefer the XBox be moved into his room & honestly, I'm all for that! Would keep Xachr from playing video games until 1 or 2am every night. (Yep, we're back on that cycle)

We've bent over backwards to make sure our kids have the best of everything we could give them & now I wonder what have we done?? Neo-Pa knows how to save up for something she really wants... you've seen pictures of our hermit crabs, that took her about 2 months of allowance. Money burns through Col-Cr's pocket; as it does mine.

Now granted, my kids have learned also by example. I'm a pretty spoiled person. If I want something I get it & worry about how to cover it later. I'm horrible about that. Xachr buys things without discuss it with me first too & I find out about it only when it causes a problem in our checking account. Do you know that we spent $225.63 on fast food alone recently? Add that to the $500 a month grocery bill & it's no wonder we're always broke & having to "float" until payday. Frankly I am SICK of living this way. I WANT to make some serious changes.

So this morning while reading some morning blogs I came across Intent; 30 Days of Nothing. So I had to read what this was about. This family is going to go 30 days with Nothing; just the basic needs. Perhaps going 1 day without electricity (I'm trying to figure out how I can swing that one), perhaps only have rice for meals one day, etc. I encourage you to read this & see what you think. I'm not sure how far I can get my family to participate but I think there are some things we need to start living without & I'm not sure I even mean for just 30 days.

I want to make some life changes & I think I'm going to have to sit down & figure out where to start. I want my kids to not be the spoiled children they are when I tell them no to a new toy. I want my husband to feel content & not stressed when he doesn't get a teaching job because we can't survive without it & it's because we're too PAMPERED!

So any tips or thoughts on this? Please speak up

Wordless Wednesday

2006-08-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah, well what are you lookin' at????

Ok again, PLEASE DON'T LINK & RUN; it's SUPER RUDE! I'm only going to visit those that take the time to comment. That seems like the only fair solution.

I don't do confrontations.........

2006-08-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

I've never been one who can handle confrontations. I get all torn up inside, shake from head to toe, heart about explodes..... but last night the last straw was laid on this camel's back & that was it. I got up from the dinner table & initated a confrontation with someone I didn't even know......

REWIND:

Yesterday morning I was taking the kids to school, as always. It was raining & the roads were slick. There is a sharp hill & stop sign where I have to turn. The lady in the white minivan behind me got right up on my bumper & I just knew I was going to roll back & hit her. Instead I couldn't get traction & my tires just spun. I was flipping out & shaking in my frustration of trying to get through the stop sign. Finally, I do & she whips past me, throwing me what I took as a dirty look. Well that blew my mind. What did I do to deserve that??? NOTHING! It wasn't me who drove her van up my butt to where I was fearful of hitting her if I rolled back. We get to the next light & she's in the lane beside me; the lane that ends once you get through the intersection & yep, she cuts me off. So I'm amazed & fuming. BTW, this is the PTA President. So finally the lane splits into 2 lanes & I whip around her & cut her off. Which people, this is NOT how I drive; especially with kids in the car. But I was so upset & so angry that I just wanted to get the kids to school as fast as I could so I could get home. I beat her to the drive through dropoff because I took the back road. I get home & email Dawn to ask her if she knew Ronnie & what kind of person was she because I had never met her.

We talk about the incident & Dawn tells me that perhaps Ronnie was just a bit irritated herself because the bus was late & she ended up having to take the kids to school. We prayed about it & I tried to let it go. But I'm head to toe guilt for allowing someone to get me angry. I pick up the kids from school & it was at the dinner table that Col-Cr tells me that Ronnie's daughter informed him that I was irritating her mother this morning on the drive to school.

I put my fork down & walked to the bedroom. Looked up Ronnie's phone number & shaking like a leaf in hurricane winds; I call her.

"Ronnie? This is She-Pa Fortal, Col-Cr's mother. And Col-Cr just informed me that your daughter told him that I was irritating you this morning while on our way to school. And I just wanted to call & tell you that I'm sorry if my problems on that slick hill irritated you this morning. It was not my intention to tick anyone off. I was frustrated & paranoid that I was going to roll back to hit you & could not get traction."

"I can't believe our kids didn't have anything better to discuss at school than our driving. But no you did not irritate me this morning. I saw you having problems & tried to back up some so you wouldn't hit me."

"Oh ok. Well I could have sworn you threw me a dirty look as you passed me; which then caused me to act very unchristianly later down the road & it's just been eating me alive today."

"Oh gosh no. I didn't throw you a dirty look. I had a million things on my mind this morning & the traffic to take the kids to school is nuts. You do that every day?"

"Yes I do & it's starting to drive me a bit mad. I've had it with the selfishness of people up here & told my husband that I want to move to some hick town far from here."

We laugh & it ended on a good note but that's not me. I don't typically call people like that, but I'm glad I did. Hopefully she doesn't think I'm this lunatic. I told her about my previous week with drivers in the area & that I was just one straw away from flipping out. How I wish I was like some people out there that don't care what anyone says or thinks of them. Why was I blessed with a conscious?????

So, I'm surfing blogs this morning & I come across Tackle Me Tuesday. I think I just might have to join this group. I have some nagging projects that I need to do & just don't want to. I spend far too much time blogging that I rush at the end of the day to tidy up. This isn't me. My Flylady routines have not been glanced at for months. It's time I grabbed my purple feather duster & get back in charge of my days. So Sal, don't pitch a fit if I do start the Tacke Me Tuesdays!

By Elmo, I think He's Go It!!

2006-08-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

Pac-Cr has made such progress in the potty training department that I could just do a dance down the street! He takes himself to the potty & has poop'ed on the potty for well over a week now. The only draw back is; I need him to tell someone when he needs to use the bathroom, otherwise how do I know he can handle Sunday School & trips to the store??? It's not like he can hop out of the basket & take himself like he can at home. Anyone have any tips on how I can get him to communicate with us?