Holiday Eating Guide

Too good not to post:

1. Avoid Carrot Sticks - Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing about Christmas spirit. Leave their home at once and go next door where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much egg nog as you can - It's only available for four weeks each year, so it's not like you'll get addicted or anything.

3. If something comes with gravy, use it - That's the point of gravy. It is not a stand alone item. Make a mashed potato volcano with gravy lava. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for the mashed potatoes, ask if they're made with skim o r whole milk - If it's skim, pass. What's the point? It's like buying a Porsche with automatic transmission.

5. Do not pre-snack in an effort to control your eating - The main reason for going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it.

6. Do not exercise between now and New Year's - You can do that in January when there's nothing else to do. December is for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table carrying a ten-pound plate and a gallon of egg nog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted cookies in the shape and size of Santa Claus, station yourself nearby and don't move - Eat as many as you can before people start to whisper and point. Opportunities like this are fleeting; if you pass them up, you may not get another chance.

8. Same goes for pie - Apple, pumpkin, mincemeat, have a slice of each. If you don't like mincemeat, double up on apple or pumpkin. Always eat at least three slices. When else can you have multiple desserts?

9. Fruitcakes - Granted, it's loaded with calories, but avoid it at all costs. You've got to have some standards.

10. If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party, yo u haven't been paying attention - Reread this list and try to do better next time. Hurry, January is right around the corner.

Well, that was fun... sorta

Today was the teacher appreciation lunch at the boys' school and lucky me got to sub for both the boys' teachers while they attended the lunch. How is that possible you ask? Well, it's a huge school so they stagger when the teachers go to the luncheon - they all go at the time their kids go to lunch, then get to stay for an extra half hour. Yep, a whole hour for their lunch. You'd think we'd given them the day off they get so excited. Superman has lunch at 10:30 and Sunshine has lunch at noon, so I actually had 1/2 hour between classes. So I had time to yak w/ the other moms for awhile.

The Kindergarten teachers were apparently worried that parents would lose one of the kids and made color coded nametags with "Kindergarten" and the teacher's name on it just in case. Luckily I know most of Superman's class from volunteering up there so I was able to keep up with most of them. Had a tad bit of trouble w/ the special needs child, since his aide went to the luncheon also, but at least I knew he was supposed to be in "my" class. We were supposed to play BINGO, but then the teacher found out the office was showing a movie (they all have TV's in their room and can turn it on to a certain channel to watch stuff). Something about a little bear that made no sense to me. Then, Ms. S came back and said that was one of her favorite movies. I think she needs to get out more!

Third grade was a bit trickier. No one gave me a nametag and I was supposed to somehow make sure they all washed their hands on the way to lunch. Good luck on that one. At least 3 boys came out with soap still on their hands and I had to send them back. Boys are so weird.

After lunch I got to discuss voice in writing with them. Not something I recall learning as a third grader, but my kid is a genius and apparently in some accelarated school and no one bothered to tell me. I swear. They did economics last month. I didn't learn about economics until high school. I was really impressed with the kids' answers and discussion. Then I read a story while they wrote down when they heard the author using voice in the story. I didn't quite get the assignment, but they did.

I was pleasantly surprised when it was time to go. I thought it would be much harder. Not sure I'm ready for a full day of subbing just yet, but a couple of hours was kind of fun.

A White THANKSGIVING??

We're back. Cold and wet, but home. While it may be cold and wet in Central Texas today, the big surprise of Thanksgiving 2007 was that is snowed out in West Texas. Real snow. By the end of the day there was about an inch and a half in the yard. The kids had a blast. I was cold. Freezing cold.

All in all it was fun. However, I wasn't able to take many photos because, as I have mentioned, I was cold. I didn't have my gloves and the camera was, you guessed it, cold. You might say I'm not a cold weather person. Mark went outside and actually played with the kids in it. Of course, he didn't bother to take photos. I took the one above from the safety of Mom's patio and ran right back inside the house.

It was definitely an interesting Thanksgiving. We had made some huge efforts to plan getting toegether with my Dad's side of the family. It's been at least 5 years since we spent a holiday with that whole clan, so we were looking forward to it. Of course, they had to drive down from Lubbock and called from Tahoka (sorry, have to mention that because how many times does one have the chance to mention Tahoka in a blog entry?) that the snow was so heavy they couldn't see a foot in front of them and were turning back.

Lucky for us, Mom made the half of Thanksgiving dinner with the ham, turkey, cornbread dressing and green beans. They had rice stuffing, jello mold and pecan pie for lunch. I'd feel bad for them, but knowing that crowd they rounded up some other food fast!

True to Midland form, the snow melted by Friday afternoon and we headed out to see Santa. Superman was so nervous he'd forget what to tell the big guy he wanted for Christmas. I thought he was about to cry when it was his turn. He kept turning back around asking me "what do I want?" He managed to remember that he wants a remote control helicopter. Whew. At least this year Santa didn't offer his own suggestions.

Sunshine was more interested in the cookies and hot chocolate - he's figured out that as long as Daddy knows what he wants from Santa, there's a good chance he's getting it. Dunno if he believes Santa is real anymore, but I do know he's smart enough to fake it if he doesn't.

And here's the whole gang.

I love taking them all out together because everyone is freaked out by that many siblings so close in age. Ha! Like I'd be out of the mental hospital already if I'd had 4 kids in 5 years! Especially THOSE four!

Now I'm off to take a HOT bath because I still have not warmed up from the cold. And some joker left the AC on in our house and it actually got cold here while we were gone!

Learn a word, give some rice

Here's a neat little game someone posted over at Paperbackswap.com. For every vocabulary word you get right in the game, they donate 10 grains of rice.

According to the FAQ, your playing the game earns money from the advertisers on the site and the money is then used to purchase rice. Fun little game too. I've earned about 1000 grains of rice just now while talking on the telephone to a friend.

One last try

Once again we've undertaken a project trying to fix the patches of dead grass and mud in our front yard. I forgot to take a before photo, but just imagine all the mulched parts in the after photo with patches of dirt and mud instead of mulch. And instead of the plants.

From the street:

And here it is from the driveway:

Much better and now everytime it rains we won't have so much mud in the house. After 3 tries at replanting grass, it's just not going to happen. I'm not sure if the plants I put there will survive or not. Between the tree roots soaking up all the water and the kids playing football in the front yard it's not likely. I just had to try anyway.

When uploading these I noticed the color isn't very good. Which just adds to my case for needing a new camera...

New pet?

For about a week now, I've had a green anole living in the space between the window and screen in our office. At first I thought he just kept running in there, but he's geen there every time I come in here for a week now. I'll try to post a photo later, but it's not really a spot where it's going to show well. And my camera is currently on a cub scout campout.

Anyway, my new pet is growing on me. He's moderately cute, he doesn't shed, he doesn't bark and he finds his own food. Hmmm. Maybe the dog could learn something from this tiny green monster.

Paint Fumes

I've finally decided to paint the cabinets in my kitchen. I've hated the color ever since we moved in her and my hatred has deepened since we repainted the kitchen walls a year or so ago. I keep thinking I need to save up some money and pay someone because all the websites on how to do it make it sound extremely hard with suggestions of painting with some type of special putty first to make the paint stick and rigging up some kind of thing on the shower curtain rod to hang the doors up to dry. Oookay. So, night before last I grabbed some white paint and some brushes and talked Mark into taking one of the cabinet doors off for me. Since this process involved power tools he happily obliged.

So far, so good, but I've realized that at the rate I'm going it's going to take me at least 2 weeks to complete this project. This is as fast as I can go given the need for two coats per door and on each cabinet and the need for them to dry for 2 hours between coats and overnight before replacing. I only have so much space in which I'm willing to paint and dry doors and that space will hold about 3-4 doors or drawers a day. Add in that both sides of the doors have to be painted and throw in a dash of paranoia about the kids messing with it all if I paint while they're at home and that two weeks may take even longer.

The up side is it's not nonstop painting so I am getting other stuff done. The down side is that I'm going to be sniffing paint fumes quite a bit for awhile. I took some pictures today and I'll post them as soon as I either load Photoshop onto the new computer or Mark tells me where to find this great photo program that is "hidden" on here. Since it doens't involve power tools I'll either have to wait a few weeks or do it myself.

Recalls

Is there anyone out there who has not had something they own, ate or borrowed recalled in the past year? I'm getting tired of it. The latest in the bunch? Some cub scout badges. Somehow that just seems wrong! If nothing else, surely we can rely on the scouts to check things out before they buy. Apparently not. And lucky for us, the den leaders are in charge of collecting all the "bad" ones from their dens to turn into the scout shop. Bleh. Like I needed one more unpleasant job.

Name Tag

Candy over at House 'o Beauchamp tagged me on this.


1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet, current car) Bo Passat
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream, favorite cookie) Butter Pecan Chocolate Crinkle
3. YOUR FLY “GUY/GIRL” NAME: (first initial first name, first 3 letters last name) D-Denise Ham
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Green Monkey
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Elaine Midland
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters last name, first 2 letters first name) Hamde
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink and add” the”) The Black Margarita
8. NASCAR NAME: (first names of your grandfathers) James James (seriously - but they both went by their middle names, which would be Edwin Scott)
9. STRIPPER NAME: (favorite perfume, favorite candy) Musk Lindt Truffle
10. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s and father’s middle names) Jean Bryan


Looks like I'm supposed to tag 5 more people. I tag:

Sula
Angela
Jenny
Megan
Dawn

You people better be reading my blog.

Bush vetos children's health insurance bill

ARGH! Grrr. I don't usually get too political. And we all knew this would happen. But I'm still hopping mad about it.

Call me a flaming liberal, but I just can't fathom opposing health care for kids!

President Bush on Wednesday vetoed legislation expanding a children's health insurance program by $35 billion over five years.
....

"I think that this is probably the most inexplicable veto in the history of the country. It is incomprehensible. It is intolerable. It's unacceptable," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, who pleaded with Republicans to help overturn the veto.

I'm w/ Ed on this one.

Roars and Snores

I petted a rhinocerous, I fed a giraffe, I touched a hedgehog, I walked at least 100 miles. Our camera battery died. We had so much fun. I'm tired as a person could possibly be, but in a very good way. I have to admit I was more than a little nervous at the prospect of spending the night at the zoo. Doubly nervous since we didn't know until we got there if we'd be in with the reptiles and amphibians or in the saltwater aquarium. Triply nervous because my darling husband agreed to take and be responsible for another kid whose parents could not go (and there may be more on this in a later post).

It all went well. My worries were for naught. I'm so glad we went and I'm so glad we took O because I know this is one of those things all the boys will remember forever. Possibly one of the stories they'll tell their grandkids. They'll embellish it, of course.

When we got there, we unloaded and divided into groups. I thought we were stuck in the reptile house group, but somehow ended up in the aquarium group because the numbers were off or something. That was sooo cool. Well, except for when someone popped up about an hour after everyone went to sleep and yelled 'THE EEL IS OUT." and all the kids ran to the front of the tank and started screaming about it. That was exciting, but not exactly "cool" for us old people.

After setting up, we had pizza and our group of 60 split up into another 3 groups. Our group started in the small animal exibit. There we got to touch a snake, a hedgehog and look at an exotic bird up close. The zoo people told the kids all about them. I spent most of my efforts keeping the kids focused so I missed a lot of the talk. Then we went on a "night hike" and to check out the animal habitats and see who was "up." We saw the elephants and one of the lionnesses out in the dark. Then she showed us where they keep the animal's food. The kids were most excited by the mice. Both the dead ones on a glue trap in the grain room and the frozen ones in the freezer across the hall. Yep, frozen mice - individually frozen with their fur on and packed on a little styrofoam meat tray. ICK!

Then came the really cool part. We went to see the rhinos and were allowed to reach into the cages and pet their tusks. Their tusks feel really strange - kind of soft and smooth, but hard and rough all at the same time. We got an up-close look at some lions and some tigers. Not just close, but so close that if we reached out we could have touched them. We were, however, very careful not to reach out and touch them! Next, we got to feed the giraffes. Giraffes (at the zoo at least) eat cut up bananas and apples. Sunshine kept dropping his fruit because he couldn't manage to hang onto something that disgusting long enough to carry it two feet from the bucket to the giraffe. Wow. Giraffes are actually quite friendly and seem like they'd be really fun to have for a pet if you had a large enough yard. The yard would have to have extremely tall trees, but they'd sure be fun to have around!

I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting something here. When that was all done we went back to the little dining deck and had some animal crackers and water for a snack then it was off to bed. Which involved walking back uphill to the aquarium to get our stuff, down to the bathrooms and uphill again to the aquarium. By this time my legs could barely move and I was too tired to do more than tell the kids to get themselves into their sleeping bags and pass out.

This morning we had breakfast, then had a full 3 hours to tour the zoo before it opened to the public. If you ever decide to do one of these zoo overnight things, definitely do it on a Saturday night. That was a huge bonus to the whole trip.

I have a couple of people who took pictures for us since our camera battery died about 20 minutes into the trip and if they actually do send them I'll post them.

My book reviews

Not sure if anyone ever checks out my book review blog. I'm not sure exactly why I started except it seemed like book reviews don't really fit on this blog and I occasionally like to blabber about books I've read.

I thought I should point out for those of you who actually do read the book reviews that I don't necessarily blog every book I read and that there is absolutely no rhyme nor reason as to why I do or don't blog about a book. I'm updating my list of books I'm reading and realized I might mention that lest anyone is holding their breath for reviews on some of the books I've read recently. Not likely, but stranger things have happened.

I hate AT&T

First, let me say that the only reason we have a landline in the first place is for our internet service. We had problems with cable when we moved out here so we switched over to DSL. I'm not really advocating that DSL is better or has better service in general - at our previous house we'd had cable because they couldn't get the DSL to work right there. OK, there we actually went without phone service for weeks at a time because the phone company couldn't be bothered to come out and fix broken lines. Here, they couldn't get cable to work, but no problems with the phone service. At least now until now. But, I digress.

Recently our area changed zip codes. Which has been a huge hassle because many stores and a little site called Google Maps have our new zip code listed as being in an entirely different town. Not just the next town over, but a town I'd never heard of - Sandy, Texas. I'm sure Sandy is a very nice place to live. I'm not dissing it. But, I happen to live in Round Rock, which is in Williamson County, just north of Austin. Sandy is in Blanco County, somewhere between Johnson City and Llano. Nice. So, I'm wondering if that's what's taking my mail so long now that we've changed - does it all have to go to Sandy first?

Well, the change apparently caused some issues with the phone company. Because now that we are in the 78665 zip code, which they have changed for us, we are now outside the city limits of Sandy and we got a card letting us know that our calls to Sandy, Austin and Round Rock are now long distance. Which doesn't really matter since I use my mobile for most calls anyway. But, I find it more than a little disturbing that they want to charge me long distance fees to call my next door neighbor. Since she is also 81.7 miles outside the city limits of Sandy it seems it should be a local call. Am I right here? Yes, I realize I can just walk next door, but what if I just got out of the shower and need to tell her something urgent? It's the principle of the thing.

After a 30 minute wait I finally reach "Bill," who has a suspicious accent for someone with such a genericly English sounding name. "Bill" proceeds to tell me that I need some kind of pin number for him to talk to me about my account. I don't have a pin number. I just need him to tell me what I need to do to get myself relisted as living in Round Rock instead of Sandy. I can go find the number later and call back when I get my ducks in a row, but I need to know what type of info I need to send them to straighten it out. I'm not asking for account changes right now. I'm not asking for personal information. I'm not asking to sell my firstborn son into slavery. I'm just asking for some general information about how to fix a problem so I can go get the necessary info and send it to them. Surely he can tell me some general info without a pin number. I think the pin number is written in the booklet that the DSL guy gave us when we moved in 5 years ago. It's filed somewhere but I'm not really sure where since it's been 5 years since I've needed my 7-digit telephone number pin code. Seriously. Do people really just *know* these things? Gah.

Unfortunately, "Bill" "cannot give out any special information related to the account holder's account without accessing the account holder's 7-digit-pin number or the long distance telephone number calls in question to the account holder." Niiiice. There aren't any long distance calls in question YET. I'm trying to prevent problems rather than wait for them to happen. Thanks Bill. Thanks AT&T. I may be giving cable internet a try again soon. And if you start seeing calls to Sandy, TX on your phone bill, it's me. Since I now live outside the city limits of Sandy. 81.7 miles outside the city limits.

What a way to start the week. Now I get to go get new tires on my car. I can hardly wait.

Public Service Announcement

A little word from E about why parents who don't want to join the PTA should at the very least be nice about it.

This is crazy.

I've heard of rabid sports fans, but this is just nuts. Seriously. Over the top.

63 Annoying Questions

Not sure why, but I feel like annoying my readers today so I stole this from Sula:

1. Song that always makes you sad? : Everybody Hurts by REM

2. Last thing you bought? : lunch at Cafe Java

3. Last person you argued with? : My mother

4. Do you put Butter before putting the jelly on? : yes, I put the butter on, toast it under the broiler, THEN put the jelly on. for me anyway. The kids get what they get.

5. One of your stuffed animals : When I was a kid I had a cat w/ three little kittens attached.

6. Did you ever own at one time a Nysnc Cd? No

7. Favorite day of the week? : Sunday

8. Favorite Sundae topping? : Butterscotch sauce

9. Did you take Piano lessons? : Yes.

10. Most frequent song played? : That's a tough one. Maybe "1985" b/c that song cracks me up. Or maybe it's "There is a River" by Jars of Clay lately.

11. T.V. show you secretly enjoy? : Mary Tyler Moore reruns

12. Would you rather play basketball or hockey? : Neither. Do have HAVE to pick a sport? I guess hockey b/c you can hit people w/ those sticks. I'm too short for basketball.

13. Date someone older or younger? : Older, but barely (Ok, so I'm married to him, but whatever)

14. One place you could travel right now? : could or want to? I could travel to Waco and will this weekend. I want to travel to Italy and will in another 1o years or so.

15. Do you use umbrellas? : Very rarely. I just get wet.

16. Do you know all the words to the Canadian national anthem? : No.

17. Favorite Cheese? : Buffalo Mozzarella

18. Disturbed or My Chemical Romance? : Disturbed

19. Do you prefer Blondes or Brunettes? : Brunettes

20. Best job you ever had? : Mom

21. did you go to your high school prom? Sort of - we didn't have a prom but did have a formal dance by another name and I did go to that.

22. perfect time to wake up? : noon

23. perfect time to go to bed? : 3 a.m. (assuming I can sleep until noon - see above)

24. do you use your queen right away in chess? .. can you do that?

25. Ever been in a car accident? : many

26. closer to mom or dad...or neither? : Dad

27. what age is this exciting life over for you? : 70

28. what decade during the 20th century would you have chosen to be a teenager? : This one. Really any but the 80s. haha

29. Favorite shoes you have EVER owned? : I have some awesome boots that are black w/ heels and *really* nice, soft leather.

30. Do you have an article of clothing you have had since you were in high school : Yes. I have a jacket I've had since Junior High!

31. Were you in track and field? : Nope.

32. Were you ever in a school talent show? : yes.

33. Have you ever written in a library book? : NO

34. Allergic to? : My father-in-law

35. Favorite fruit? : Fresh Cherries

36. Have you watched sex and the city? : I watched 1/2 an episode once.

37. Baseball hat or toque? : Baseball hat

38. Do you shampoo first in the shower or soap? : shampoo

39. Wet the toothbrush or brush dry with the toothpaste? : wet

40. Pen or pencil? : pen.

41. Have you ever gambled at a casino? : Yes.

42. Have you thrown up on a plane? : No.

43. Have you thrown up in a car? : Yes.

44. Have you thrown up at work? : Yes.

45. Do you scream on roller coasters? : Heck, yes!

46. Who was your first prom date? : Tommy somethingoranother.

47. Who was your first roommate? : Debbie

48. What alcoholic beverage did you drink when you got drunk for the first time? Margarita

49. What was your first job? : Babysitting.

50. What was your first car? : Honda Prelude. Red, with a sunroof.

51. When did you go to your first funeral? : Supposedly I went to my grandfather's funeral when I was 2. First I remember was my granny's when I was 10 (I think - I was in elem. school)

52. How old were you when you first moved away from your hometown? : 17

53. Who was your first grade teacher? : I'm too old to remember.

54. Where did you go on your first airplane ride? : Dallas

55. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with? : Jennifer, Jennifer and Melissa. We walked to Whataburger and got some taquitos. No kidding.

56. Who was your first Best Friend and are you still friends with them? : Danny. We don't see each other very often. No falling out or anything though..

57. Where did you live the first time you moved out of your parent : Waco, TX (woo hoo!, now that's a big happening place!)

58. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day? : Mark or Shelley

59. Who's wedding were you in : Jennifer, Karen, Christine, Bryan and Natalie, Stacia, Beth, gosh,I can't even remember them all!

60. What is the first thing you do in the morning? : Hit the snooze on the alarm.

61. What was the first concert you attended? : Amy Grant

62. First tattoo or piercing? : Ears pierced when I was 13

63. First celebrity crush? : Scott Baio. I still love him.

Done!

Cub Scout popcorn show and sell is over, done, finished. Our pack did a great job and I am so glad it's over. Britt, who will take over next year, came over last night to count the last batch of money (hey, if you had to count up more than $4,000 and most of that in 1s and 5s, you'd need help too!). I've updated the database with everyone's sales and now all I have to do is sit back and.... wait for the take-order phase. [sigh] The fun never ends.

Luckily Britt seems pretty set on taking over for next year and Mark's agreed to be the pack treasurer so I can always fall back on the argument that it's *unethical* for the head fundraiser to be married to the treasurer. Right?

Other than all the popcorn and cash, we had a great holiday weekend. We cooked out with some neighbors and the kids ran around the culdesac all day Monday. Next weekend is the beginning of sports season for us. Superman starts soccer and its the first Baylor home football game, which I can't say I'm jumping up and down excited about, but the relatives are expecting us to meet up with them for the evening in Waco. Which can be either fun or torturous. I just never know. Sunshine's football won't start for another week. Then we'll be really crazy on Saturdays. Not that we are exactly not crazy now.

Now, there's a career I hadn't considered...

"Mommy, you should get a job with the Round Rock Express and we could go watch you play and eat hot dogs." Apparently I've really improved my batting skills this summer!

And the Verdict Is...

The boys had a great first day of school. No calls from the principal, which is good and no notes in the bags, which is also good.

Spencer's main impression on his teacher is that she talks too much but he likes her anyway because she has both Pokemon chapter books AND A-Z Mysteries on her classroom bookshelves! He said they did not really do any work today and he played kickball at recess.

Superman doesn't really remember much about his day except that the teacher did not yell at him and his lunch was good. I can't imagine how anyone would enjoy eating tomato soup (his lunchbox request) with crackers at 10:30 in the morning. But, apparently he did. He seems exhausted so after a quick trip to Sonic, they collapsed in front of the TV for awhile.

Whew. I can rest easy now.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of Kindergarten for Superman and the first day of Third Grade for Sunshine. I know I'm supposed to be sad my baby is starting school, but at this point all I feel is relief that we've made it to this point and I'm going to have some time to get stuff done around here.

They're doing drop off a bit differently this year. The kindergarteners meet up in the gym, as they've done for the last 4 years, but the older kids aren't meeting in the cafeteria anymore but go straight to their class. Not sure when they plan to do assemblies. This will actually work out better for us b/c after the first week or so Sunshine can just take Superman to the gym for us since he'll be going that way anyway.

The boys were not thrilled about having their picture taken together before school:

Nor were they happy about getting their picture taken walking into the school: I took 3 but I could not get any of them to stop for even a second:

Here's Superman walking into the school building:

Here's Sunshine outside his new classroom:

Superman waiting in the gym. I dunno if he's upset about starting school or just irritated I keep taking photos:

I'll have a full report on the first day tomorrow. Today is also Mark's birthday so we're taking him to dinner at Dairy Queen. Wouldn't be my first choice, but whatever.

What Book Are You?

I found this cute quiz over at paperbackswap.com. I am:

You're "Master Harold"... and the Boys!

by Athol Fugard

Even though you should have realized it for years, you're only just
starting to understand how bad your society is. It's been keeping some of your best
friends down for ages, and even you have been complicit with this system. When you
make a mess, someone else is quick to clean it. When you need help, someone else is
quick to your rescue. But when they point out injustice, you've pulled the wool over
your eyes. Until now. If you ever need a cast, it will be small.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

I guess I need to read this book now!

The Diet Coke report

So, in case anyone is interested in my little no diet coke experiment - I have now made it a full week with absolutely no diet coke. None. Nada.

I'm not sure I feel any better or worse. It seems I should since I've been drinking water instead. Which is weird because even though I drank about 20 glasses of water yesterday I still feel slightly dehydrated this morning. But, hey, it WAS 107 yesterday according to the neon sign at Walgreens.

I do feel more tired so I think I may have to start making myself some tea midafternoon so I can stay up late enough to get all my "stuff" done at night. I've been crashing out by 11 p.m. all week and as a result my house is a mess and I have piles of paperwork on the desk. All the parenting experts say I should be able to get all that done while the kids are still up, but they haven't met my kids. Or the neighbor kids for that matter.

Anyway, if you are thinking about giving up your soda addiction I'd highly recommend replacing it with a cup of Scottish Breakfast tea in the morning. That seems to be what got me over the hump.

Hopefully tonight Mark will explain how to download and put up a video on here so I can show you all Luke's hair from soccer camp.

Pachelbel Bedtime

I can sooo relate to this song.

We're back

We're back from our little excursion to the coast. Fun was had by all, but we are exhausted! Apparently Casa del Mar, which was a nice, quiet family establishment last summer has become a happening party place. Or maybe we just got bad neighbors. Either way, we still have fun, but since my kids get up between 6 and 7 every morning regardless of when they went to bed, listening to the neighbors yelling to the people in the balcony above us and running around laughing until midnight every night was kind of rough on us all.

Other than that, it was great. Sunshine has become quite the fisherman and spent several hours one morning and then again that evening fishing off the piers with Mark. They may go on a deep sea fishing trip next summer if we can get Sunshine over his fear of boats. Superman wouldn't mind the boat but lasted all of 10 minutes on the pier so he'll be staying ashore with me either way.

After our summer of the endless monsoon we were surprised by unbelievably nice weather. The only rain we saw the entire trip was on our way through Houston on the way there. After that, nothing but sunny blue skies.

Schlitterbahn was a hit again. They've opened a new section and the white water rapids were cool. The crazy people who were "reserving" tubes were not cool. At any given time, there were 100-plus tubes sitting unused up by the picnic tables with a cranky person guarding them. Ugh. But, we managed to snag a few anyway for the river rides. I went on a couple of slides, but those enclosed slides freak me out so I mostly watched Mark and the kids on those.

Our other outings included daily time on the beach playing in the waves and building sandcastles, pool time, the Rainforest Cafe and Joe's Crab Shack. We also ate at Shrimp and Stuff, a nondescript little place in the middle of town that is Mark's and my favorite seafood restaurant in Galveston. If you go down to Galveston, I'd highly recommend you try it. It's a pretty casual place where you order at the cash register and pick up food at the window fast-food style, but the shrimp and fish are amazingly fresh and cooked just right.

Now to attack the mound of laundry and the messes the kids made while I wrote this!

Beach Bound

So, we're leaving tomorrow. Laundry is folded, car is cleaned out, fishing poles packed. I have to wait for the kids to go to bed to pack their stuff or they help and we end up with about 4 suitcases of stuff we don't need.

So, I went back and looked at my blog entry from our beach trip last year. Now I'm really excited.
Galveston Island may not be the prettiest most pristine beach in the country, but there is a ton of stuff to do there and we stay right across the street from a fishing pier and next door to the Waffle House. What more could you want?

See ya in a few days!

Go Wales, Go!

Superman is in British Soccer Camp this week. Interesting concept. The company brings in coaches from Great Britian to teach tiny Americans how to play soccer. His comment on the first day was "That was easy. All we did was play games." He's enjoying himself, but seems a bit frustrated in a way because he was apparently planning to play some pretty rough soccer this week and apparently these silly British coaches don't take the game seriously enough. Instead of playing 2-hours soccer games, they play a bunch of cute little games involving kicking and such within their team, take a break, then play some other fun little game against the other three 5-year-old teams in the last 1/2-hour of camp (it's only a 2-hour camp).

Luckily Superman got the best of the three coaches and his team, Wales, is kicking some serious soccer ball against Scotland and Holland. Today they had crazy hair day and I'd show you a picture, but my camera wasn't working AGAIN. So, we may or may not play SPF this week and we may or may not have photos from our trip to the beach this weekend.

Anyway, Superman wanted his hair to have a big X on it. Not sure why, but I gelled and sprayed it until it stuck up in X formation, then sprayed it green, blue and black. He won the crazy hair contest and earned 10 points for his team. Go Superman! Go Wales!

If you don't hear from me for a few days it's because we are in Galveston and our internet access is sketchy there. I will be finding wifi somewhere at least twice a day because I have to schedule time slots to sell cub scout popcorn. No, I can't even take off from my *volunteer* job to take a vacation.

Whew!

It's fascinating to me how every time I have a day when I am literally ready to just quit parenting, it's immediately followed by a wonderful day with the kids with almost no fighting and very little yelling. Do they just sense that I'm really about to go over the edge and they need to calm down or did all my yelling and crying actually get through to them. I guess for now I'd better just enjoy it.

I did order a few more books on parenting last night so maybe one of them will have the secret decoder ring for Sunshine and all his issues. Or at least some kinda hint as to why all the handy parenting tricks that work for everyone else just don't work for me. I've waited 8 years for him to grow out of this phase and I am DONE. I'll let you know if they're good and post some reviews on my book review blog when I'm done.

Yesterday on our Mobile Loaves and Fishes run I learned that my kids actually do like boring homemade sandwiches on cheap white bread. It's me that doesn't like them and I've been blaming my refusal to have them as a real meal on them. So, tonight Mark and I had salads and the boys made themselves turkey and cheese sandwiches on white bread. It was nice not to have do to really anything at all for dinner and not really have a big mess when we were all done since I'm getting ready for yet another event at our house tomorrow.

Tomorrow we have a cub scout popcorn sales meeting at our house. How I managed to get myself put in charge of popcorn sales for the pack is a long story that begins with not having enough volunteers and ends with my inability to say no when I know the only other person who might do it is even more overcommitted than I am. I'm gearing myself up to be really excited about popcorn tomorrow. I love popcorn! Really. Yum. Go Popcorn! Does that sound sincere or what? And if anyone is hungry for popcorn, I'll have a garage full of it in a couple of weeks and would love to sell you some. But, wait. Don't walk off. It's not really about popcorn. It's for the scouts. Campouts and all that.

No kidding?

We're drought-free in Texas. Just in case anyone was wondering when the drought would end. I really thought the flooding for the past month or so made it obvious, but I guess we needed an official determination.

Diary of an Addict: Day 3

Well, today my resolve to stay off Diet Coke was really put to the test. My tin of green tea disappeared. I have no idea where it went. I spent 10 minutes looking for it while kids screamed for food before finding a single bag of Earl Grey back behind the decaf. herbal tea and the coffee I buy for when my mom is here.

That seems to be my biggest issue w/ giving up DC - it's sooo convenient. Tea, well, first I have to actually find it since it seems the man who says he'll clean the kitchen and leaves dirty utensils laying on the counter does consider putting the tin of tea away part of cleaning the kitchen. If only I knew where he put it. I've kept that tin, rarely used, right by the coffee pot for 6 months. So, naturally when I start depending on it to make it through the day it disappears. Then I have to actually heat water and steep it. So, a single cup takes about 5 minutes to fix, longer if the tea is missing.

So, it's 9 a.m. and after waking at 7:30 (well, really at 7 if you count the time I spent laying in bed pretending to sleep while the kids made noise downstairs) I just now sat down w/ my daily caffeine. I'm irritated. But also proud that I was able to cook breakfast and clean up the kitchen without any help. lol Now lets see how a I make it thru the day since I used up the last bag of caffeine, have an extra kid coming in 10 min. so I can't go get more and it's raining so these kids will be inside all day long.


Rain Rain Go Away
Don't come again any other day
this summer
Mommy is tired
Children need to play
The tomatoes are sated
The creeks are full
The lakes are ungated
And we just want to go
to the pool
Rain rain, just go away.

Dirty Laundry

Well, no clean laundry for me today. Ryan brought his dad w/ him and they figured out that they've been *ordering the wrong part*. Yes. that's right. That's why the first new timer didn't work and why the one they brought today didn't either. So, they'll be back NEXT week. With another timer. That probably won't work. The plus side to this is that 1. I'm getting used to holding the knob while the laundry runs anyway 2. if timer NO. 3 doesn't work, the way I read my agreement w/ the warrenty company means we'll be getting a new washer paid for by them and 3. I get a lot of sympathy from Mark for not getting things done if I just say "well, I was trying to do a load of laundry..."

I do have to say that everything in life seems much brighter when you have a Mom's night out/in coming up. This one will be at my house, but I get to send the kids away. I've had way more energy today than I have in a week. I got some cleaning done and I made the kids wash the dog and clean the back patio. I also got myself motivated and Superman and I went for a loooong walk this morning while Sunshine was at ceramics camp. I'm going to try to do that a few times a week and see if it helps me get rid of some of the pounds I've packed on the last year or so.

Clean laundry

Great news! Ryan, the washer repairman, will be returning to my house tomorrow with yet another new part for my defunct machine. I'm not sure if this one will actually work, but after a 2-week break between visits it'll be great to see his smiling face.

And maybe, just maybe, I can get some laundry done without standing in the laundry room helping the machine along.

And now for a random quote from Superman's visiting friend "He always gets hurt when I'm over here. Then I have to listen to all that crying."

Yes, dear Dario, I feel your pain. Great news for you is that you get to go home and play in a nice quiet house later. I, on the other hand, must stay here all night.

Another day

Another dollar. Or so the saying goes. Here, it's another day, another injury and another screaming kid. But, enough about that. Thought I'd show my proof that the sun is finally shining around here, at least a little:

The portaluca is *finally* blooming. Here is what 2 weeks of straight rain and then me out of town for another week did to my garden:

Anyone ever have "white beauty" eggplant and more importantly, would anyone who I might see soon like one? I'm the only one here who eats eggplant but I thought it'd be fun to try to grow. Apparently these are ripe when they turn golden yellow so unless I get some comment or email that that's wrong info I'll be back out to pick them later today. I had to come back in to get some scissors and got waylaid by some kid needing something.

I'm also planning to pawn off some peppers on the girls when they come over tomorrow night. You know who you are so remind me when you're here. We have a few varieties, but I was pretty impressed with the production of the hot banana peppers.

And finally, the mystery plant of the day:
Sunshine is convinced it is a random veggie sprouted from last years seeds and won't let me pull it. However, I think he is wrong and it is ugly and needs to be pulled. What do you think?

Dy won last weeks contest with the answer of Beautyberry. I'm not 100 percent sure but I like the sound of her answer better than Delaine's answer of "weed." I resent the weed label on anything that grows in my yard and looks pretty with no effort at all. So, Dy is the lucky winner of a free evening at my house playing games. As the second runner-up, Delaine will also get a free evening at my house playing games. Candy gets an honorable mention for trying, but there were not any peppers so that can't be right. So Candy can come over too. haha.

I thought I had some photos of the kids on the camera, but apparently not. Maybe next time.

Tomato thief

I finally discovered what's been nibbling on my tomatoes. Squirrels! I finally got the netting up to protect them from the birds and now the squirrels have decided they like tomatoes better than acorns. I can't seem to get a photo, but I've seen them scampering toward the corner of the netting that keeps getting pulled back, then back across the yard. I guess if it ever stops raining I'll figure out something to do about it.

What doesn't make sense is that the pesky critters are only eating the tomatoes in the main part of the garden and ignoring the extras I planted in pots. No complaints, though. At least we're getting a few to eat! Luckily I haven't been watering this year with all the rain so I'm not as irritated as I might be - I haven't worked too hard for those tomatoes. Still, I'd like to eat a few and Mark's going to be disappointed if I can't make up extra spaghetti sauce this year.

Sadly, my cucumbers don't seem to be producing much, so all I've really got to show for all my springtime gardening is a peck of peppers and several almost-ripe eggplants. Oh well. Better luck next year. I'll try to post some pics of my overgrown veggie garden later.

What a way to start the day....

Mark: "Are you awake"

Me: "No."

Mark: "Well, it's 5"

Me: "Mmmmphhh"

Mark: "Denise.."

Me: "I'll get up later."

Mark: "Superman's ear hurts"

Me: "Uh huh. Did you give him something."

Mark: "Like what?"

Me: "ANYTHING!"

Mark: "No. Well, it's almost time to leave for the airport anyway. Do you know where the Tylenol is?"

Note that this conversations occurred in Superman's room because I'd been shoved out of my bed at 3 a.m. when said kid crawled in complaining of an earache. So, as you can see the morning started well. Woken at 5 a.m. to take care of a sick kid because my hubby who needed a ride to the airport at *6 a.m.* couldn't figure out how to give him some Tylenol. I love that man, but I think I may kill him one day. One early morning to be more precise.

More tomorrow about my weekend as a single mom. Assuming I get some sleep tonight, that is.

June showers bring...

All the rain in late June and early July brought strange, out of control plants to my backyard. If this plant was in my yard 2 weeks ago, it was just barely starting to grow. The kid next door verified that it was *definitely* not here two weeks ago. Here it is now, along w/ the rest of the overgrown stuff in the back corner of my yard:

That spike at the top above the other plants but not quite as tall as the neighbor's tree is part of this same plant. I know what most of that stuff is - it's all the plants that Mark chopped "too far" back in the early Spring. They are now taking over our yard. Here are a couple of closeups of the mystery plant:

It has white flowers:

And dark pink flowers:

Which turn into green, then dark purple berries:

The berries kind of look like blueberries but don't really have any flavor. (shhhh. Do NOT tell you-know-who I tasted strange plants growing in our yard or he'll have me at the ER before you can say "yuck"!)

It's a really pretty plant and I'd love to know what it is. Anyone know? I'll likely have to cut it down or at least chop it back. And if the berries are edible..... hmmmm.. Strange berry pie anyone?

We also have a few other "not planted" but at least recognized plants out there. Looks like I have my weekend plans set for the next month or two.

I'm back

Hello. I'm still in the land of the living. The kids went to visit the grandparents for a week so Mr. Fantastic and I headed off to Las Vegas for a few days. All in all it was fun, because how can 4 days alone with your husband without the kids NOT be fun? We stayed at the Mandalay Bay hotel, walked several miles a day, but ate enough to gain weight anyway. For my birthday, hubby took me to a restaurant called Hugo's Cellar in downtown Las Vegas, Fremont Street. It was possibly one of the nicest and most romantic restaurants I've ever been to and the food, service, everything was fabulous.

Other than that, we did the usual Vegas stuff. I didn't have much luck gambling. I tried to spend $5 on a video poker machine, but the computers in the casino went down just then and it wouldn't work so it gave me a ticket thing to use on another machine. I spent about 10 minutes trying to gamble, then gave up and cashed in my ticket. We saw all the fancy hotels, went to our hotel pool and spent a bit of time lazing around in our hotel room doing nothing, which is what vacations are all about anyway isn't it?

After we got back I headed to Lubbock for my Uncle's 70th birthday party. Here's the birthday boy with his daughter:

Looks pretty good for 70, huh? We all had ice cream sundaes and the kids swam. When I'm 70 I hope I have a pool with a basketball goal and kids who will throw me a surprise party! Here's a picture of the kids with their cousins and second cousins:

I'll have to admit here that I'm not exactly sure which boy cousin is which. The teenage girl on the left is my cousin Stacia's daughter Kelsey and the other two girls are my brother's daughters. You know my two.

I met up with the kids and my parents in Lubbock and they took me back to Midland for a few days. We did a few things there, but mostly just hung out while the kids played outside. Dad is in the middle of radiation for skin cancer (basel cell, not the bad one) so he was a bit tired after having the kids all week then trekking to Lubbock on Sunday. Mom and I did take the kids to the children's museum and an old-fashioned soda fountain.

I had a great vacation, but it's good to be home. Right now my boys are playing upstairs with the neighbor and I plan to repot some plants tonight. My eggplants are finally getting ripe so I had grilled eggplant for lunch. Ahhh. Life is good.

I've got photos!

While I'm on the desktop, though I'd download and put up a few recent photos.

Sunshine and Superman on the first day of cub scout camp:

Sunshine on the BB gun range:

Part of my den doing a skit at the end of week program:

Superman with a strawberry he grew on the front porch:

Sunshine blowing out his birthday candles:

So they do notice

Something was said about reading yesterday and Sunshine said "Mommy reads a lot. She reads those really *thick* chapter books all the time."

Thanks for noticing. I didn't really know they paid any attention to what I was doing when they came in asking for more food and drinks. Yippeee. They may not think I'm smart, but at least they know I can read hard books!

My favorite junk

Time for Stuff Portrait Fridays, brought to us by the woman who is redoing her bedrooom while recovering from the stomach flu....

Show me your favoritest ugly creation that was made just for you.

I couldn't pick just one, so here goes nothing:

Yes, my kids went to the same preschool and I thought the matching faded paper flowers with beaded stems made a nice set. Note that Superman's class got to add strange goopy stuff and glass thingys to their pot.

I'm still musing why it was so all-fired important for me to send in the tomato sauce can so a kid could put beads on pipe cleaners and put them into it and I am in awe of the absolute insanity of *painting a shoe" and planting it with flowers.... Although I have to admit I've gotten a few compliments on the last one, it is UGLY. The photo doesn't do it justice. It is bright blue and has a dead plant of some sort in there - how are you supposed to water a shoe for goodness sake?

Useless Ramblings

I am so ready for this week to be over. For some reason June is always the roughest month of summer around here. After a week of cub scout camp, then a week of VBS, I hosted Sunshine's birthday party sleepover. Now I have a week to clean up and plan and get ready for Superman's birthday party. (Note to readers: it is NOT a good idea to have your childrens' birthdays four days apart.) And at every step something falls apart.

The lady who was going to do his Silver Surfer cake emailed yesterday that she can't do it after all, so I'm left holding the bag. Spent yesterday figuring that out and trying to find a place to get a Flash! action figure. Something the resident adult male around here said he could easily pick up for me, oh, a few weeks ago. Finally ordered online and broke the news to Superman that the present he'd been begging for for months would be arriving late. Bleh.

So, the cake plan: I'm getting a cake frosted with gray icing, lined with blue at Walmart, then adding a silver surfer action figure on top. It will cost about the same amount as if my cake lady had made it, but won't taste 1/2 as good. Not like the kids care as long as sugar is involved. But, I was really looking forward to a GOOD cake. I know, I should make it mayself, but BTDT and let's just say cake making isn't my gift and leave it at that.

Also today I need to get the dog's shots b/c even though we made reservations for his stay at PetSmart a month ago they choose yesterday to inform me that he needs his bordetello shot in order to stay there and it has to be done 48 hours in advance. (For those not in the know, the boys are heading to Gigi's after Superman's party and the hubby and I are going to Vegas for a few day R&R). I also need to order balloons for the party and make a rain plan since the party supposed to be at the neighborhood pool. Sadly I didn't really think it would rain so I put on the invite that it'd be moved to the house if it rains. Now I am kicking myself for not saying Chuck E Cheese because now rain is predicted so I have to clean my house and plan actual party games.

Oh, and I need to figure out a way to get some laundry done since my washer is broken. I just love how the repairman cheerfully says "It'll just take a couple of weeks for that part to come in. We'll give you a call when it does." TWO WEEKS. Do you have any idea how many loads of laundry I do in two weeks? I should own stock in Tide. Seriously. I do 3-4 loads a DAY. I have a post on here somewhere complaining about that very thing and sadly it has gotten worse and not better. And during the summer the boys' clothes tend to be a bit on the stinky side. So not only do we not have clean clothes, but the upstairs hallway (where their laundry hamper is) AND the laundry room smell like a Jr. High locker room. Two weeks indeed.

Yes, I did just come to whine. I'll try something more positive and interesting after I've spent a few days in Vegas. Monday, if it stops raining I may take some pics of my jungle/garden, to post. For now, if you want enlightening, witty or politically informed I'd suggest you go elsewhere. Have a nice day.

My personality.

Your Personality is Very Rare (INFP)

Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive. Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

The joys of 8-year-old boys

Who knew that farting was so much fun? Certainly not me, but at 1 a.m. even I couldn't help but snicker at some of the loud, fake farts coming from the sleeping bags on the floor. I giggled more than once as I sprawled on the futon trying to keep the noise down to a dull roar.

"Sshhhh" I'd intone.

Absolute silence. Then 30 seconds later: "Phhhbhhhhthhhthhht" followed by shrieks of laughter. Then "That was Chris. Phew. That was a juicy one." "Was not. It was you." "No! It was William. I know it was him. It was a fake one." "It was real. I smeeeellll it and it stiiinks in here." "Hey guys, it was *me*. I farted LOUD. Did you hear it?"

Me: (suppressing a giggle): "Sshhhh.. It's after 1 a.m. Please. You can whisper, just please stop yelling."

Absolute silence.. Then "Phhbhhhbthththththt" and so on...

This morning the boys ran down for breakfast laughing and saying: "That was soooo coool last night."

I wait to hear them praising how cool it was I let them go to the baseball game even though it was drizzling, the 'Nilla wafer and pudding cake, staying for the aftergame fireworks, or the "build your own ice cream sundae" I let them eat after we got home.

What I hear is: "Yeah. We were *farting* all night. Everyone just kept farting and farting. That was soooo cooool!"

Well, at least now I know the secret to a cool party. Next year I'll save the nearly $100 we spent on food and entertainment and just buy a a dozen or so whoopie cushions.

And some ear plugs.

The Procrastination Game..

Tomorrow night is Sunshine's birthday party. We will have 4 boys (in addition to our 2) spend the night. The plan is to go to the baseball game first. I need to clean the bathrooms, clean the playroom where they will be sleeping, make this, which is what Sunshine requested for his "birthday cake", pick up the downstairs, do a couple of loads of laundry and sweep before I go to bed. Since there is a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms I also need to come up with a backup plan that is both indoors and cheap.

Instead, I am working on my third blog update of the day. Yes, I have gone more than a week without updating, but now that I'm overwhelmed I have time for three posts. I have also spent at least an hour checking out my paperbackswap.com account and searching for books I may want. Why is it when I have a ton of stuff to do I suddenly start goofing off and then end up staying up all night. I don't know. But I need to break the cycle.

Wish me luck. And if you see another post from me tonight you will know I failed in my resolve and will once again be working into the wee hours of the morning to get all my stuff done. Bleh!

Summertime

Yes, I'm still here. Yes, I'm still busy.

That about sums it up.

We (yes, actually *we* all three - Sunshine, Superman and me) did cub scout camp last week. As usual it was too hot and too long, but still worth the effort. My group was a bit easier than last year's group. Meaning no one wandered off in the middle of a station. We did have some trouble staying together and a couple of spats, including a hat thrown into the bathroom trashcan. But, no serious injuries and I didn't lose a single child.

This week is Vacation Bible School at church. I somehow managed to get the cushy gig of *helping* (wooo hooo I was NOT in charge) in the craft area for 3 days. All I had to do was show up and do what I was told. Took the other two mornings off to run errands and clean my house without kids bugging me.

Our next big event is Sunshine's birthday party Friday. I"m praying the rain stops because we have four boys coming over to go to the baseball game, then spend the night. And I have no idea how I'm supposed to entertain them from 5 p.m. until the wee hours of Saturday morning if I can't take them to the baseball game for 5 hours or so. So, please join me in praying for a clear evening!

Superman is having his bday party next weekend. It's a "super surfer" party. Yes, my kid prefers the bad guy. It's at the pool, so once again we'll be praying for sunny weather next weekend. Either that or I'll just go ahead and have my nervous breakdown now.

Hmmmm

Why are there so many SUV's parked outside of Whole Foods? Are they guzzling organic gas?

Melting cheese

Today we learned how to melt cheese without using any type of heating device. Other than our over-heated house, that is. If you leave cheesesticks sitting out in an 85-degree kitchen for 30 minutes, they will melt. Luckily not to the runny stage, but definitely melted and squishy. Though they are not sitting in the top of the trash I'm sure we will have a later update on how long it takes them to fully melt.

Not again

Once again, our air conditioner is out. We just had it repaired 3 weeks ago. I am tired of being hot and cranky in my house. I don't mind being hot when I'm outside playing with the kids or working in the yard, but when I come inside I like it to be nice and cool.

We pay for a homeowner's warrenty, thank goodness. Though the $55 service fee we have to pay each time they come out is starting to make me wonder if it's worth it. Perhaps it would have been fixed correctly the first time if we were choosing the repair company and paying for it ourselves. I think they are encouraged to do the bare minimum each time. At any rate, the guy came out today and said it was some kind of coil and it may be Thursday or Friday before they can get the right part. The warranty will cover most of the cost, but we will still be responsible for about $500 worth of "extras" (that they can't do the repair without - UGH). If we want to get a whole new unit it will "only" cost us another $4200 (assuming the original estimate is correct and doesn't change before he comes back), but we won't have to pay for the "extras" that won't be needed if we aren't replacing the coil. That would be minus the $1000 portion the warrenty company will pay (what they would have paid for the coil). The new unit will be more efficient and supposedly save us about $400 a year and it would be under warranty so we could drop paying for the other warranty (about $600/year). I know this all sounds dull but it's what's on my mind today and I'm trying to think it out. If anyone reading this has thoughts on what we should do I'd greatly appreciate it. I really don't know much about air conditioning except that I like it.

It was 78 degrees in here when I got up this morning so I will have to leave soon for the pool or the mall. Yesterday afternoon it was 88 in here.

Meanwhile, the neighbor kid has apparently moved in. I have sent them all outside at least 4 times this morning. The kid's mother came over and told them to come play at her house for a change but w/in 10 minutes they'd gone back outside then showed up in here. I guess I should be flattered that he likes it here,but I'm really just annoyed b/c currently someone is playing a flute while I'm blogging. Oh, wait, that is the four year old blowing on a straw.

D

Blogging again

So, after nearly a year of not blogging I've decided to start again. I've missed it, but I just had to many other things on my plate for awhile. Things haven't really slowed down, but I'm going to give blogging another shot.

A lot has happened in the past year. I took over designing the yearbook for Sunshine's school, became the "popcorn kernal" for his cub scout pack and joined the communications committee at church. Among other things.

Thanks to a friend I got a jumpstart on my plans to do freelance writing next year and wrote a pile of film synopses for one of her clients. Hopefully this will lead to more work in the coming year.

Regardless, Angie has inspired me to seek out writing assignments and be proactive in writing and sending out stories on spec. to publications. I've been keeping very busy with that and I'd be lying if I said that wasn't part of the reason I'm reviving my blog. Mark is building me a website and when it's finished I may have him link over here so potential clients can see a bit of my writing. Or maybe not. At any rate, the website is www.deniseinaustin.com , so take a look if you'd like. The name was chosen because my old yahoo email address that I've had for years sounded better than just my name, but I wasn't really wanting a businessy business name.

Enough about that. Thanks for stopping by.

D