The Adventures Of: ADD Nikki!

It's been a long time...

2010-10-15T08:56:00.004-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since I posted anything :( Just haven't been wanting to blog for a while to be honest. Since I've become a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) I've been trying to spend more time on my house and with the kids then on the computer. But I have come to the conclusion that some time on the computer is good!

I get up to date on current events and help keep my mind moving and grooving! Writing things down in coherent and intelligent sentences takes some thought and trial and error, so blogging is a good thing :)

Since I haven't blogged in a long time, this week I'm just going to post some pictures I've taken the last few weeks while the Monarch Butterfly Migration was passing through our town. They were BEAUTIFUL! Hundreds of thousands of butterflies flittering around all over town and roosting in trees overnight in clumps of several thousand butterflies each roost. It was a magnificent sight to see and I was so happy to enjoy it with my family.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and have a great weekend!

I admit it!

2010-05-19T13:14:00.018-05:00

I am not a housewife. I have worked at some job or other for most of my life since I was 15 years old. There have only been a few times over the years that I haven't had a job and that is when I was waiting the few months until Six Flags re-opened in the spring, or I was on maternity leave, or the few months I wasn't employed shortly after I first moved out here to west Texas. But, during that time, I was still being a full time mom. My daughter was only 2 at the time, so I was running after her, etc., and then during the summer, when my son was out of school, we were running to the pool, park, everywhere. So, it was never just me and the house, ever. Until now.

How do housewives do it?

Maybe it's the ADD, maybe it's just me, I don't know. I have tons of things I could be doing and need to be doing. After almost 5 years of living in this house and with both me and my husband working full time during those 5 years, we have accumulated a lot of clutter. Well, maybe a lot a is a slight understatement, but we won't go there right now. So, along with decluttering on my to-do list, I also have a lot of home improvement projects I want to tackle.

I've done some, like painted my son's bathroom and got it all fixed up. It looks much better and he's actually pretty proud of it himself, which makes me happy too cause he is now taking better care of his bathroom and making him keep it clean is much easier. Thank goodness!

I've also been able to do some yardwork and gardening around the house. And I do mean that literally. I've made raised beds for the empty spots on the front and side of my house and boy does my house look better.

I've planted Elephant Ears and Caladiums in the front boxes and they are coming up nicely and I've got Knock Out Rose Bushes and various annual flowers in the boxes that are on the side of my house. Since it's the south side and gets total, unrelieved, West Texas sunshine ALL day, I hope that since they are supposed to be extremely hardy, they might actually survive out there. Sonya picked out the annual flower seeds that she and her brother planted in the flower beds, so since they are zinnias, nasturtiums, marigolds, cosmos, and sunflowers, hopefully they will survive too.

So, anyway, I was saying that I am not a housewife. I have already done the things I have wanted to do and that really needed to be done, namely the gardening since that needed to be done in the spring and I had bought the paint for Nathan's bathroom a little bit ago, so that had to be done pretty quick as well. Now, I am down to the the icky things that NEED to be done, not HAVE to be done.

How do housewives do it? How do they spend most of the day cleaning, doing laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc. etc.? So far, I haven't had any luck getting those chores done on a regular, scheduled, basis. Like I said, maybe it's me, maybe the ADD, maybe a bit of both.

Hmmm, ya know, I've really had no problem at jobs keeping things clean and doing what needed to be done. In a way I was almost too much of a perfectionist when it came to that sort of thing. Messes and cluttered areas actually bugged me when I was at work, but at home, well, I have kids, pets and a messy hubby, so I have learned to accept a certain amount of "stuff" at home. I guess I have picked up Phyllis Diller's philosophy "Cleaning up after kids when they are still in the house is like shoveling snow during a snowstorm." Throw in the cats and the dog and, well, I think you get the point.

Not much seems to get accomplished in my household cause as soon as I get the floor vacuumed and mopped, the table cleaned off and polished, all the dishes done and the counter wiped, etc., the dog has pooped on the floor or a cat has knocked over something and dumped it on the floor. And as soon as that happens and I start to get that cleaned up, my hubby walks in the door with the kids and well, between the muddy shoes, backpacks, school papers, pens, pencils, homework, well, all my hard work goes down the drain and nobody gets a chance to appreciate it.

Guess that's why I like gardening. After I've done all that hard work, I have something to show for it and to show off to the neighborhood. Makes me feel good seeing all my hard work bloom and to have neighbors say how nice everything looks. Now if only I could make myself feel that way about the inside of my house, but no one comes to visit. Well, shouldn't say that, the Avon lady comes by every other week to drop off my order, but other then that, well, the Jehovah's witnesses come by every Monday or Tuesday, really guess that's about it. Pretty sad I guess cause I have a nice big home that's perfect for entertaining. Oh well. Maybe someday.

Until then, I've got to find a way to make myself work on my house and I think I've come to a solution. It dawned on me a little while back that for most of my employed life, I have had to wear uniforms to work. Maybe not a literal uniform, like what I had to wear when I worked at Six Flags, but something that I put on showing that I was "working". Like the bright orange t-shirt I had to wear when I worked at Garden Ridge, or the smock I wore when I was a floral designer. That sort of thing.

So, when I went into Hancock's the other day, they were having a sale on patterns. Well, I was looking for a sweater or t-shirt pattern for Oscar since he gets a little chilly while laying on my legs and the fan is blowing on him (thin skinned little wiener dog, hehehe) when I came across some patterns for some really cute aprons. Ding! The little light bulb went off in my head and I realized that that might actually be what I need. I mean, I worked at TGI Fridays and we all had to wear aprons, so I already have the habit of wearing an apron while working in a kitchen so my idea was if I had a cute apron to put on when it is time for me to "work" maybe I will actually work.

Hey, it's worth a shot and since I got the pattern for just a couple bucks and found some cute fabric on the dollar table, at least I'm not spending a lot of money on something that may or may not work. But to be honest, I really think it will. My mind is already programmed in a way by almost all the jobs I've worked over the last 20-something years of my life to go into "work" mode when I put on the "uniform" so if I use the apron as my uniform to go to work around my house, maybe I will get more accomplished.

I have already learned that I can't have the TV on if I want to get anything done, but I also can't work when it's absolutely quiet. I have to have on the radio or music to really get anything done. I learned that when I was trying to do homework back during my school days. That is part of my ADD, if it's too quiet, I focus on all the little noises I hear and don't work, but music kind of lets me tune everything else out and focus just on my work. Maybe the apron might do kind of the same thing, make my brain think "she's got on her uniform, gotta focus on work".

So, I've got a little while before everyone gets home to work on making my apron, should be able to have it done by this weekend and I'll give it the test, so that maybe, just maybe, I can get some of my more unpleasant chores done and finally actually feel like a housewife instead of just someone shoveling snow during a snowstorm. I'll keep y'all posted and have my hubby take a picture of me in my cute apron. Hmmm, maybe if it ends up looking really cute and it's not to hard to make, maybe I can make more of them and sell them on eBay? Something else to think about!

Til later!

I quit!

2010-02-17T09:05:00.007-06:00

Seriously, I did. I quit my job. I know, how could I just quit my job. Well, it wasn't a decision that I made on a whim, believe me. Back in September I had tried to turn in my letter of resignation, but I allowed my boss to talk me out of it. But this time, with the stunt my boss pulled on Friday, it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I worked for an elected official and she is up for re-election. Well, one of my co-workers is her opponent, so as you can well imagine, the last few months have been extremely tense. Not to mention that there are another 15+ people on the ballot for other various elected positions. So, tension, on top of stress and then all the pressure, well, I think you get the idea of how bad it has been up there.

So, another co-worker (not the one on the ballot) and I have been doing everything possible to maintain the legality and integrity of this election. I had been in constant contact with the Party Chairperson and the Secretary of State's Election Division to make sure that everything our office was doing was by the book correct, that way there wouldn't be any doubt whether proper procedures were followed and there wouldn't be any chance that a disgruntled candidate could come back and sue the county for any perceived irregularities.

Well, I guess on Friday my boss got it into her head that she didn't care about all that anymore. She took the Early Voting ballot box out of the office and disappeared for about 45 minutes. My co-worker and I looked everywhere for her and the box and couldn't find them. Who knows what she was doing to the box and those ballots during that time? We certainly didn't!

So, when she finally reappeared, I asked her where the box was, she said she had it. What? Umm, according to the attorney I spoke with at the Election Division of the Secretary of State's Office, she shouldn't be touching the box, let alone the ballots, it's just not proper procedure for someone who is a candidate on the ballot. So, I reminded her of that fact and she just blew me off and went and made a phone call. WTF?!

I stomped back down to the office to wait and see what she was going to do and didn't have long to wait until she appeared with a Tax Office employee and a Sheriff's Deputy and demanded to know where the key was for the box. I told her I had it and why did she need it, she is a candidate and shouldn't be touching the ballots, ballot box, etc. or it could put doubt regarding the legality of the election into the minds of the voters and all those other candidates. Well, she said she didn't care and that "I AM THE BOSS AND WHAT I SAY GOES!" Oooook! Fine! I gave her the key and she and her entourage left.

Wow! I couldn't believe that she would jeopardize the election like that after my co-worker and I had worked so hard to keep it fair and equal for all the candidates involved. And then bringing a Sheriff's Deputy in there with her as backup was uncalled for. If she had just called us in her office, talked to us like the grown adults we are instead of treating us worse then the inmates in the jail, well, I don't think I would have gotten so upset and decided, that's it.

Now as I said before, it wasn't a last minute decision. I'll be honest here, if she was re-elected on March 2nd, I was going to take her the election results and a letter of resignation that was going to be effective as soon as I walked out of the courthouse that night. Just the thought of continuing to work for her for another 4 years makes me physically sick, seriously, my stomach is turning even now as I type this.

My husband and I had had MANY discussions regarding my job and how long I should stay there and I lucked out that on Friday my hubby was already waiting for me at the local restaurant with lunch ready after the big fiasco so that I was able to tell him everything that happened and that I wanted to quit right then and that I couldn't wait another 2 weeks. And after he had heard everything, he tried to call her and chew her up one side and down the other. Good thing for her she wasn't in her office at that moment, but I still took his phone away from him before he could talk to her anyway. It wasn't his fight to fight, it was mine, but he helped me make my final decision.

I promptly went back up to work. My boss was walking across the parking lot for some reason and I stopped her and said I needed to speak to her in her office NOW. Well, she mumbled something about having to finish doing something mumbmlme... "Ok, then", I said, "I quit. Here's my keys." She said something about if I needed help...personal affects .. mumble.. mumble.. mumble. I said don't worry about it, I'll take care of it and stomped off.

Now, if she had actually come back in and we had sat down and had a nice adult woman to adult woman conversation could she have talked me out of quitting, hmmm, we'll never know I guess because she has never been one to have any real work conversations with any of us lowly employees.

All I can ask anyone now, is to do what I'm doing for my former co-workers, pray. Pray that things up there will get better for them. Pray that maybe my former boss will finally realize that you can't treat people the way you have been treating them without there being some kind of consequences.

As the Golden Rule states, treat others the way you would have them treat you. That has always been how I have tried to live my life. I showed her all the respect and courtesy that her position dictated, but when she treated me and my co-workers as if we were worse then criminals, I lost all respect for her and decided I just can't work for someone that I don't respect because doing so would cause me to lose all respect for myself too.

Well, I'm getting there...

2010-01-24T16:13:00.004-06:00

First, I haven't gotten my food from NutriSystem yet and am starting to get a little frustrated. I ordered my food on Friday, January 15, and received an email stating it shipped on the 19th. Well, the link in the email to track the package went to UPS, but for several days it never updated to show that there was actually a package on the way.

When I went on their site to check the status, the tracking button on their site would take me to FedEx. And still no information about any package being sent, everything was unknown. So, I called them on Wednesday and they said something along the lines of yes it's on it's way, yes it is with UPS and it will be delivered to your post office. HUH!? UPS delivering to the post office? Oooook. Well, they also took my work address for my new mailing address and said if I hadn't received my order by Wednesday, give them a call.

Now, since this is my first shipment from NutriSystem, I don't know everything that's going to be in it, but I know that there should be some frozen food in it. So, how does frozen food stay frozen without any type of freezer thing for over a week? I don't know about you but that frozen food better be frozen when I get it or it's going back. Yuck!

But as for my other Resolutions, well I've decided to add something else to my list and that is to try to spend 10 minutes during each day organizing, or cleaning, or something else along those lines. Ya know, doing some of those chores that I just hate doing. So far I thing I've done pretty good! Thursday I spent some time before work and some time during lunch pulling some old clothes out of my closet and putting them in a bag so that I can take them to a donation bin in Midland next weekend. They aren't ugly clothes or very old clothes, just clothes that I don't really like any more or that once they got washed, they shrank so bad that now they just don't look good on me. I figure instead of taking up space in my closet, they can get put to good use to someone who needs it.

And I mentioned last post about my garden boxes. Well, they were parked in the side yard by the carport where they were left after I put them together. So, today me and the kids cleaned up (well actually we just moved the pile of stuff that we cleaned out of the storage shed a while back that needs to go to the town dump) the area where my Square Foot Vegetable Garden is going to go and moved the boxes into place.

I'm still going to need to rake the area a little better, put down the landscape fabric and fill the boxes with Mel's mix, and probably would have done a better job with getting them situated, but the wind was so bad this morning, just did the minimum. I'll try again later this week to get my garden area all cleaned up. Wish I had one pretty day off so I could get caught up with the yard work, but that probably won't happen for a while. Oh well, maybe sometime soon!

Let's get this year started

2010-01-18T20:36:00.006-06:00

Well, I have finally gotten a few things accomplished towards my New Year's Resolutions! YEA!

First of all, if you remember from my last post, I said I was going to try to get healthy and lose weight. Well, I went to Sam's Club and got my first NutriSystem 35 day card! YEA times 2!! So, sometime this week I should be getting my first shipment from NutriSystem and you can be sure I'll be letting everyone know how I enjoy or don't enjoy the foods. I'm not really a picky eater, I think that's part of why I'm needing to lose weight to begin with, but there are some things I just DON'T like, take brussel sprouts, please! Yuck! But I'm encouraged by what I've read on their website so I think I'll be able to stick with this and get a big jumpstart to my healthier living resolution. So, wish me luck!

Now for Resolution number 2, not waiting anymore. Well, I took a step towards that this weekend too. I was able to go to Lowe's, buy 6 pieces of 2"x8"x8' lumber, some 3 1/2" deck screws and then turn them into my first raised garden beds for my Square Foot Garden! I'm so excited! I was able to make the first three of nine 4'x4' boxes for my vegetable garden. I'm also going to have two 3'x5' boxes in the vegetable garden too, but those boxes are going to be 12" high so I can grow potatoes, onions, and garlic. Any time a get a chance, I'll get a few more pieces of lumber, make them into boxes until I have all the boxes I want and/or need. No more waiting on someone to make them for me.

So, where am I learning about Square Foot Gardening you may ask? Well, I first learned about it from my Dad who showed me his raised beds at Thanksgiving last year and had a good harvest this year from the sound of it. So, since I got a Barnes and Nobles gift card for Christmas from a co-worker, I bought the All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew.

I'm very excited about trying this new way of gardening since I have had NO luck so far in the soil around my new house. I usually have a pretty good green thumb, but almost everything I've tried so far just hasn't done very well. I say almost because I have some Rosemary growing next to my carport that has done OK, but hasn't really flourished. Maybe next year it will do a little better.

So, using Mel's method, I should be able to grow just about anything I like, I hope. I love using fresh tomatoes, peppers, onions, and a little garlic with just a squirt of lime for some AWESOME salsa. And I LOVE basil pesto! Basil pesto mixed into a little alfredo sauce on grilled chicken and fettucine or pesto tossed on zuccini, red bell peppers, and squash and roasted in the oven just til it's all tender, oh man, I'm making myself hungry!

Well, at least there are some unlimited vegetables on the NutriSystem diet that I can grow in my garden, thank goodness! Using NutriSystem to learn what and how much I should be eating and then making my garden boxes and doing all the work getting them set up, planting the seeds or plants, etc. should get me well on my way towards fulfilling my New Year's Resolutions. At least that's the plan and I'll keep everyone informed on how everything's going. Oh and once I get my first boxes set up I'll have to post some pictures! Til next time!

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-02T11:18:00.005-06:00

Well, it's a new year and it's that time again for resolutions. This year the ones I've decided on are probably some of the most difficult ones I've ever decided on.

The first one, well, I try to do it every year, but somewhere down the line, I just don't keep going and that's lose weight and get healthier. I did lose a little weight last year, but towards the end of the year, well, I quit exercising, ate what I wanted and the weight came back. I guess I just have to keep trying, that's the point of resolutions isn't it? Whenever you get off track you get back on track and keep trying until it becomes a habit and you don't have to think about doing it anymore. I need to keep exercising until it's a daily habit, until taking the dog for a walk becomes normal and until riding my bicycle becomes fun and not a chore. Until choosing to eat healthier foods is enjoyable and I don't grab food just because it's quick to fix or that it's something that I can get the kids to eat. They need to learn to eat healthier too and I need to set a good example for them. That's resolution number one.

Resolution number two, well, it's a little more complex, but I've decided I'm not going to wait anymore. Now I know you're wondering what that means, it just means that I'm not waiting on anyone anymore. I've spent a lot of time the last year being told to "wait until I'm off", or "wait until I'm feeling better", or "wait and see", that sort of thing. I've missed out on a lot of stuff because someone wanted to wait until it was his weekend off and I'm done waiting.

I'm not going to wait anymore for someone to be off so that the yardwork can get done, it may totally exhaust me and give me a heartattack, but I'm not going to wait on something that never gets done because something usually happens to prevent someone from doing what he said he would do anyway.

I'm not going to wait anymore for someone to figure out how to cut a hole in the wall, install a window and move the window a/c unit because "I need to do a little research first on it". I'm sorry, but DIY Network has all the step by step info. on their site on how to install a window, it' doesn't look that difficult, we have all the tools on hand and I've used a jig saw, a hammer, nails, screws and a screwdriver, what is the problem? So, no more waiting on that either.

I'm not waiting on someone to offer to do anything either, because I've been waiting on that for years now and it's not going to happen. Also I'm not going to tell someone to do things ever again. He calls it "nagging" even if I only ask twice, once to say what needs to be done and then again as a reminder on the day he is off when he said he would do it and it's 1/2 way through the day and he hasn't even started yet.

I know, I sound mean and awful, but there are times that I've put off doing things with just me and the kids because I thought that this certain someone would want to spend time with me and the kids doing some of the various things I've asked him to do. Take raking leaves and putting out Christmas decorations for example.

I had asked him to do it the week after Thanksgiving when he was off, I used the time to go do Chrismas shopping so I was gone for at least 3 hours, plenty of time for them to do some good yardwork and have fun putting out the Christmas decorations. Well, I was "nagging" again, so he only did a 1/2 assed job, left piles of leaves on the yard, only put up 2 strings of lights around 2 of our 5 trees, didn't check the bulbs on the ones he strung along the sidewalk and, from what the kids said, complained the whole 30 minutes or so he was out there. When I came home, he was sitting on his butt in front of his computer, the kids had made a mess throughout the rest of the house and I was heartbroken cause he had missed out on what I would consider a fun time playing outside with the kids.

It breaks my heart seeing that my husband doesn't seem to want to spend any time with our children, doesn't want to spend time with me, doesn't want to help make our house into the home that I know it can be turned into, doesn't seem to want to do much of anything but sit on his ass in front of his computer.

So like I said I've decided not to wait anymore, I'm not waiting anymore on my husband. This morning the kids and I went outside, raked the leaves, put them in the compost pile and had fun! My husband did not join us, I don't know what he did, but I decided I wasn't waiting on him to join us, if he wanted to, he could have, but he didn't. It hurts me deeply not knowing what to do to get my husband more involved with us on his 6 days off a month, but he sees things differently then I do.

Raking leaves and being outside with the kids to me is something that not only makes the house look nice, but also is a chance to have fun with the kids, to him, it's all a chore. To me going for a walk with the kids and dog is a chance to talk with the kids, play with the dog and have fun, for him, it's a chore. For me working on the house and making it look nice is a chance to spend time with my husband as partners working toward a common goal, for him, it's a chore.

So, since everything is a chore for him, well, I just won't give him anymore chores. I'll do everything, I guess, like I said, no more waiting on things to get done. If I want something done, I'll do it when I want it done, no more waiting on someone else to do it, especially if I can do it myself. It will take some work on my part not to ask if he would like to do this, or do that, or if he can help me with this or that. In the end I think I'll be the one getting the better deal, I'll be the one spending more time with the kids and making our house into my home. Oh well, his loss my gain!

Sorry I haven't posted lately!

2009-11-10T06:08:00.002-06:00

Boy, have I been busy out here! Some good, some not so good, but all fairly stressful and taking up my time and energy. So, when I haven't been running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I've been crashed on the couch, trying to relax.

I'll try to do some updates later, let everyone know all the crazy things been having to deal with out here, maybe tomorrow. I'm off tomorrow, but do have checkup in the morning, then eye doctor in the afternoon...hmmm, maybe tomorrow morning BEFORE all the dr.'s appointments.

Oh well, at least I can let everyone know we haven't been catching any of the ick's that have been going around. Kids passed last 6 weeks and we're working on next 6 weeks. Football season is over, but basketball season has begun and Nathan is manager for the team. He thought he wanted to play, but decided he would be Manager instead. Sonya, well, she's being Sonya! And poor William has been called to Federal Grand Jury Duty and he goes on Thursday to see if he gets picked. Had to go buy him a whole new outfit for the occasion, first time I've seen him in a coat and tie, since I couldn't get him to wear one for our wedding. LOL!

Better go, gotta get moving this morning. I'll do more updates as I can. Later!

Well, It's been awhile!

2009-10-06T20:26:00.019-05:00

Long time no post, I guess. To be honest, I just haven't been in a "posting" sort of mood. But decided maybe if I did a nice fun post, it would make me feel bettter. So, I'll put in some of the pictures we took when we went to visit Fiddlesticks Farms on their Opening Day (you can visit their website HERE).

Ok, kids, wave to everyone and pretend that you like each other!

Whee, down the big slide they go! I remember seeing a picture (or was it an old home movie) of my mom on one of these when she was probably younger then I am now. They looked like fun then and (since I even went on it a few times) they are still fun for all ages now!

Wave at the camera everyone while we go bouncing along in the barrel cow train pulled behind a big John Deere tractor. That was pretty fun, but boy, my sittin' end was sore after bumping along in that thing! One suggestion to Fiddlesticks Farms, put some cushions on those seats, then I might have taken more then just one ride. Ouch, my poor behind!

Sonya taking aim with the Corn Cannon! Get em, Sonya!

And now Nathan gets to take aim, too! Behind Nathan's head you can see the Pumpkin Blaster. Boy, never knew that shooting an ear of corn or a little pumpkin out the barrel of a pressurized air cannon could be so much fun! Destruction at it's best, when no one gets hurt and still something goes BOOM! No wonder it's what all the kids want to play with when they visit Fiddlesticks Farms!

And finally sliding down the tube slides!

Boy, we had fun out there opening day! Only problem was that Nathan and his Daddy went into the "so extremly difficult, don't expect to see your wife and daughter for at least a couple of hours" part of the Corn Maze, while Sonya and I went into the "so easy my 7 year old daughter got us through in about 10 minutes" Corn Maze. Which left said daughter and I going to do everything several more times while poor hubby was left to trudge after the lost son for about an hour and a half in 90+ degree weather, with no water, uphill, all the way, through the blazing desert and quicksand, with a naggy wife on the dying cell phone asking "how much longer are you going to be in there?" He, he, he! I'm glad I went with Sonya!

Well, next post I'll have to post my pictures of when the Monarch Butterflies came through our little town of Rankin on their way to Mexico. There were thousands of them roosting all over town for about a week! It was AWESOME! Until next time!

Monday Moans!

2009-09-07T13:44:00.004-05:00

Hey, there's something! Monday can be about gripes and moans. Monday's are usually the worst day of the week, so If I can be of any help and complain enough on my Monday, maybe it will make your Monday seem a little easier.

So, let's see, everyone in the AddNikki household has caught a cold. It started with my daughter, her nose started running, then she started coughing, then came a little fever and now the poor girl looks like Rudolph because of her vigorous nose wiping. Poor girl and picture day is tomorrow!

Well, she promptly give it to her big brother, who's case isn't as bad as hers. But then my hubbie came down with it, oh man, He actually came home early from work he felt so icky!

And now, on my one holiday off when the kids still have to go to school, I'm sitting here suffer from it! Now I did have to go to work for a while today to get ready big day at work tomorrow, but I'm feeling so icky, I came home, gonna take a nap, then go back up there to finish up.

Why can't I be sick on my hubbie's day off or something like that. I don't know when a good sick day would be. Preferably never, but I do usually get just about everything within the first 2-4 weeks of school. Guess since the kids don't run around with everyone all summer, when they all start mingling after school starts, they just give each other everything that they hadn't already had over the summer. Does that make sense?

Oh, well, guess it's time for that nap, might not be able to have a really good one since my nose is just running like a faucet. Til next time!

Quickie Comments...

2009-08-27T12:14:00.002-05:00

I think I might make this a new feature for me. I've seen a few blogs where they just put down some quick comments about what's been going on in their lives, but leaving out enough information that the people they may be talking about don't know that they are being talked about. I guess in a way it's a way that bloggers can get out what is bothering them, without hurting anybody's feelings. So here goes:

Don't you hate when you come back from a day off of work and you have post-it's all over your computer. My number one pet peeve right now. The sticky stuff leaves a residue on my monitor and is a pain to get off.

I hate being sick with a stubborn stomach bug!

I hate the B.R.A.T.T. diet!

I hate hypocrites! People who complain about a person doing or not doing something, and then do or not do the exact same thing. My number two pet peeve!

People who set up an appointment with you and then you take off the time to meet them, and then they don't show up or call.

Did I mention I hate having the stupid stomach bug?

Oh well, as you can probably guess, I have had the stomach bug and he's been sticking around now since Monday. My son got it and he was out sick on Wednesday, so I had to take a vacation day to take care of him. Guys just don't know how to take care of themselves, especially when they are sick. But I did get some time to clean and rearrange my daughter's room while he took a nice long nap, so that worked out and boy was she happy with the result. Now if only she will keep her room that way!

Happy Anniversary to my BFF and Happy Birthday to me!

2009-08-25T06:28:00.005-05:00

First of all, everyone needs to head over to my BFF's Blog HERE and wish her and her hubbie a Happy (slightly belated) 13th Anniversary! Hope they had a great one and definitely better then my Birthday which was yesterday as well.

I got plenty of Happy Birthday wishes and thanks to everyone for those, they were greatly appreciated with the day I had yesterday. The insurance adjuster was supposed to show up yesterday, and since my hubbie wasn't going to be off work in time to meet him, I took a 1/2 day off work so I could be at the house when the insurance guy was going to show up.

I'm glad I did take off work cause my stomach was just being awful and not cooperative at all yesterday, and doesn't feel much better today. So, as I was running between the potty and waiting on the insurance guy, my hubbie showed up and asked where was the insurance guy, I didn't realize it was already 30 minutes past when the adjuster was supposed to show up.

Well, hubbie wasn't to happy about that so he gets on the phone calling our agent and having him call the adjuster, then the adjuster called us and pretty much said "Ooops, I forgot. Can we reschedule for tomorrow?"

So, the adjuster had better show up today during my lunch time cause I'm not taking any more time off if I can help it.

And why do we have to have an adjuster come out anyway, you may be asking? Well, after the contractor fixed the busted sewer pipes, he said it appeared that the "stuff" might have gone up under the house and affected the footings that our wood frame house sits on and that, of course, would make the house unlevel and could cause cracks in the floors, walls, etc.

Those of you who have ever had foundation problems know the troubles that can come with it, so I don't really know if I want him to find something or not, if he finds something, then it will have to get fixed, but what all would that involve?

Something else I need to ask him is, what do I do with my backyard now? I'm afraid to even let anyone go back there. We have no grass where all the work was done and well, there is several blocks worth of sewer "stuff" mixed into the soil now. What do I do? Can I put grass seed out, grow some new grass and everything will be OK, or should I be worried that something in the "stuff" might cause health issues for the family or the pets? (Especially if it all dries out and starts blowing up into the air, etc.)

I just don't know, that's why I want to talk to the adjuster, he might not have all the answers, but maybe he can reassure me about some of those issues.

Oh and another thing, our contractor happens to know one of the City Council members and he mentioned our sewer troubles and that it appeared to be caused by one of the city drainage pipes breaking and making everything drain into our sewer pipe, etc., so my hubbie and I are on the next City Council meeting agenda to present our bill from our contractor to the City Council.

They may not pay it, or they may pay all of it, anyway, at least it will get the city thinking more about possibly retrofitting the pipes around town before they all start breaking and having problems, etc. If us going before them and bringing attention to this issue helps prevent more families from having the same problem, then I'll do whatever I can to help

My Backyard is a war zone!

2009-08-17T13:08:00.006-05:00

Or at least it looks like one!

Yesterday morning hubbie was doing dishes, I had just finished a shower when he hollared at me to look in the backyard. Well, I looked and didn't see anything, so he told me to come to the kitchen window and look from there. If I didn't know any better from the odor, I would have thought we had black gold bubbling up from the ground. So, any of you who have had the same problem have figured out that we had a busted sewer pipe. Oh joy.

So we spent the next few hours on the phone tracking down our insurance guy, then the guy who might do the job, then the lady who works for the city, then back to the guy who might do the job, then back to our insurance guy to double check and make sure that "No, your home owners insurance won't cover it cause it's not IN your home" then calling the guy who might do the job back and ask, "Do you take payments?", and he said yes, so, now my backyard looks like a war zone.

There is a HUGE backhoe back there (think goodness I have a big double gate in my fence or they would have had to take down part of the fence to get it in), and then in the lot that we own next door is another not as huge backhoe that the city is using to dig up another pipe. So there is a big trench down the middle of the backyard and a big hole dug up on the other side of the fence.

From what my hubbie said that the contractor said, the city drainage pipe plugged up or something causing my pipe to backup and eventually break causing all the backed up stuff to bubble up into the yard, therefore my backyard smells like, well, kind of a cross between the litter box and my doggy's poop. Oh joy.

So, don't know what's going to happen, will my insurance cover anything-don't know yet, will the city pay for it since it's their pipes that are supposed to be maintained by them that caused the problem to begin with-don't know that yet, and am I still going to be sane after it's all over with-don't know that yet either, but I'll keep ya posted!

It's a New Moon Trailer!

2009-07-31T06:51:00.004-05:00

If your as big a fan of the Twilight Series as I am then you have probably heard that the next movie will be out soon. You might have noticed I have a New Moon Countdown Ticker on my blog counting down to the when New Moon will be out, but here's the latest on New Moon-The New Moon Teaser Trailer! YEAH! Just click HERE to go to the official website and see the trailer.

It's so cool and I am such a Stephanie Meyer fan. The Twilight Series books are so complex, fascinating, and just awesome! If you haven't read them, well, might have to get on a waiting list at your local library, but they are worth it. Even if you don't think you like the whole "Vampire" genre, believe me, these aren't Anne Rice's Vampires from the Interview With A Vampire Series.

In a way, the Stephanie Meyer's writing reminds me of J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter Series. They both have done extensive research for their books and have added their own twists to common legends and myths which for a person like me, who has studied many of the legends and myths in both series, is very fascinating and makes for a very fun read.

Oh and here's another site to go and visit, but only after you have read Twilight. It's Stephanie Meyer's official website and it's in regards to a project she was working on called Midnight Sun, click HERE if you're interested. After I read her letter, it's sad that people do that to each other, but I think she's right that it's best that she posted what she had written before the draft made it through too many other hands and was ruined.

And a quick question, anybody out there read the Sookie Stackhouse Series? They are the series of books with titles like Dead to the World, Dead in Dallas, Dead as a Doornail, and the like by Charlaine Harris. Now this is the book series that the HBO series "True Blood" is based on and they are a little more gory, but they are quite fun books to read. The HBO series is a bit more gory and sexy then I think the books are, but hey, what can you expect from HBO?

Well, better get going, got to get to work, hope y'all have a good weekend and good reading!

Happy Birthday Sonya!

2009-07-23T08:35:00.006-05:00

My baby is turning 7 today! She's so excited, there is even a Cowboy Day celebration going on at the city park tonight, so I'm not gonna tell her any different when she thinks that everyone is there because it's her birthday. We'll be having here "real" party this weekend when Momma finally gets a chance to make her cake, wrap presents, etc. Until then, here's a few pictures I've got of her to share. Enjoy!

Stranger Danger!

2009-07-15T08:19:00.009-05:00

Ok, I received this in an email and it's just to good not to share...

REMEMBER WHEN YOUR MOTHER TOLD YOU NEVER TO TAKE CANDY FROM A STRANGER...

....THIS IS THE ONE SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT!!!!!

Just a quick pic of late night visitor...

2009-07-05T17:30:00.005-05:00

We were winding down late last night, getting ready to go to bed after having a fun Fourth of July when we noticed the smell. First Oscar did and he went running to the back door, then I smelled it and decided I better grab Oscar and hold his little mouth shut or his barking might scare the stinky critter and the smell might get worse. So, we peeked through the blinds and there it was, the biggest polecat I had ever seen.

We turned on the outside light and slowly raised the blinds and we were able to get a few pictures of it. I had thought that if the outside kitty food was up on the steps right by the house, we wouldn't get assorted critters trying to eat the cat food, but obviously I wasn't right about that.

So, we've moved the outside kitty food to a new higher location that hopefully the stinky visitor and any stinky cousins won't be able to get to but that the momma cats and their kittens can jump onto fairly easily. Anybody know if skunks know how to jump?

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T10:36:00.010-05:00

Several things I want to go over today, but first hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Fourth of July! As you can tell from the pictures below, we love the Fourth of July and I love to decorate for it!

Lots of Red, White, and Blue on my house...

Lots of Red, White, and Blue on my daughter...

And on Oscar...

Who wasn't to happy about it, but he sure looked cute!

Secondly, William and the kids went to town yesterday and while he was there I asked him to look around Wally-World and see if he could find me a new patriotic t-shirt to wear to the Rankin Volunteer Fire Department Street Dance. He called and said there wasn't much left but he did find me something. Below is a picture of the T-shirt. It seemed to be a nice shirt and I was going to try it on when a couple of somethings caught my eye...

Can you see what bugs me about this shirt? I know it's a little blurry but hopefully you can still make out what's on the label in the picture below. Considering what is on the front of the shirt I wasn't expecting to see on the label "MADE IN PAKISTAN" and it's not just in English but in Spanish.

Is this what it's come down to? Our own Patriotic clothing is being made in a country that is not entirely friendly to the United States. I mean, let's see if I remember correctly, isn't the Taliban still fighting some of our U.S. soldiers in that area? With the news media mostly focusing on the war in Afghanistan now and the withdrawal of American troups out of certain Iraqi cities, I don't remember everything involving Pakistan, but isn't their President not that cozy with the U.S.? Aren't our soldiers trying to fight the Taliban that are on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border and the terrorists/insurgents have been using the Pakistani border towns as bases?

Well, I don't know what you would do, but I'm not wearing my new shirt today. I'll just find a shirt from a couple years ago that proudly says "Made in America" and only in English. Sorry, but I don't believe that phrase should have to be in English and Spanish. If you are buying a Fourth of July t-shirt to wear, then I would assume that you have learned the predominant language of the new country of your new residence. I mean, if I went to Mexico and wanted to pick up say a Cinco de Mayo shirt, I wouldn't expect it to have care instructions on it in English.

Ok, enough of my little ranting today, just wanted to toot the "I'm American" horn for a moment on the day we set aside to celebrate the good ol' U.S. of A. and it's also the day that my family celebrates the day that Nathan came home from the hospital when he was a newborn. Yea! We'll celebrate with some cake and ice cream later today, then we'll go to the street dance, have some burgers and hot dogs, then we get to head over to the football stadium parking lot and shoot off our load of fireworks and firecrackers! Imagine the best fireworks show you've ever seen and extend it for several hours instead of just 15 minutes. It's AWESOME!

So, like I said earlier, everyone have fun, be safe, and enjoy your Fourth of July!

Time to clear something up...

2009-06-28T10:29:00.006-05:00

I've lived out here going on 5 (!!) years now and there is a person out here who, almost every time I see them, asks "Are you going to church this Sunday?"

I know that this person doesn't read my blog, but even if they did, that's alright because I think it would help reassure this person that I'm not some non-believer. Quite the contrary, I consider myself a veryFaithful person, but I don't consider myself a Religious person.

What's the difference? Well, let me explain when I decided I couldn't be a Religious person anymore. When I was younger, say mid-teens I went to church on a regular basis and some older friends of mine had decided to become Missionaries and believe it or not I was even thinking about that too. I couldn't think of anything better then spreading the word of a loving and caring Heavenly Father through the word of his Son, Jesus Christ. And then our Preacher of many years retired and our church hired a new Preacher.

I went to his first Sunday sermon and left knowing I would never return. Our last Preacher spoke of God's love, of Jesus' kindness and acceptance of all people. Our new Preacher spoke about how anyone not of our faith was going to you-know-where and that they were all terrible sinners and we needed to do everything in our power to convert them.

At the time I had many close friends of many different faiths and they were all very Religious people. I couldn't believe that the loving God that I had been taught about throughout my life would condemn someone to you-know-where just because they had found a different path to believing in Him. So, that was when I decided I would be a Faithful Believer since I didn't feel comfortable being a Religious Believer.

I don't believe in having my children taught that people of other faiths are evil and wrong. I mean just because the Dalai Lhama isn't of my Religion, he's not going to Heaven? Or how about the Pope, he's Christian but not Baptist, so that means he's gonna be turned away from the Pearly Gates? I don't believe so.

I just decided that if Heaven was going to exclude all my friends and family who didn't practice my Religion then it just wouldn't be Heaven and the kind and loving God that I believed in wouldn't allow that type of Heaven to exist.

So, I consider myself a Faithful person, just not a Religious one. How do I practice my faith you may ask? Well, everyday I give thanks to the Heavens above that I have two healthy children and a healthy husband. I give Thanks when we all return home safe and sound, because I know that there are people who have someone they love who isn't coming home that night.

I send up a prayer of thanks when I have to mow my lawn because I know there are many who are physically unable to do so or don't have a home of their own anymore. I'm thankful for having a good job and great co-workers, because I know there are many who don't have jobs during this tough economy.

I say a prayer over the checks I send for donations to the various Vetrans organizations and when I put change in the Salvation Army buckets at Christmas and for the money I put in the Fill-the-Boot campaign and of course when I fill out a card showing I donated money around Labor Day for the MDA Telethon.

Everytime I donate I say a prayer that the money I give will bring a wounded Veteran a little closer to getting the prosthetic limb he or she needs since they were severly wounded by a roadside bomb or that one more person without a home will find help at the local Salvation Army shelter or that a scientist will be brought one step closer to a cure for MD or MS.

Just because I don't go to a church every Sunday, put my money into the plate they pass around, sing hymns and listen to a sermon that may or may not reflect my true beliefs, doesn't mean I'm not a Faithful Believer, it just means I don't believe I have to go to Sunday Service every Sunday to practice my beliefs, I try to practice it every day. And I try to show my children every day by my example.

So, far I've been very happy with how they have turned out. My son has friends of many faiths, including the son of the Hindi manager of the motel and my daughter plays with children of every race and religion equally. Just like in the song "Jesus Loves the Little Children", red and yellow, black and white, she plays with everyone. Now if I could get them to clean their rooms and help ME around the house more, I'd be doing real well. Guess that's just one more thing for me to pray about I guess, while I mow my lawn on Sunday morning, watching cars pass by full of people on their way to Church.

What a day...

2009-06-25T20:24:00.010-05:00

Today is my son's 12th birthday. He was born at 9:04 in the morning by emergency c-section after my Dr. noticed some d-cel's in his heart rate. What that meant, well, didn't really know at the time. All I knew was that they said I had to have an emergency c-section or he might not make it. So, after forms signed, family members called, poor hubby turning green when asked if he was going to go into the delivery room and my dr. saying if he went in and fainted, he was just going to stay on the floor, I was wheeled into the emergency delivery room, pumped full of more anesthetic into my walking epidural and my little baby boy was born.

Only parents who have gone through this really understand, but after he was born, it was quiet, too quiet. After an eternity of a few seconds, he finally made a cry, then a cough, then another cry and then some more coughs.

I was only 36 weeks pregnant when my blood pressure started to go up, I was ordered to rest over the next 5 days, and I did, but I was ordered back to the hospital for monitoring. My blood pressure didn't go down very much, so my dr. told me when he came by at lunch time, I wasn't leaving without my baby. Well, I did.

See, he was born at 36 1/2 weeks which is when most baby boy lungs start to develop in utero and my little Nathan's lungs weren't quite ready. Guess my body knew what it was doing since during 21 hours of pitocin induced labor, I only dilated to a 1. That's why he didn't have the lusty cry that most healthy newborns have, he was having trouble breathing.

So, after the delivery nurse allowed me a quick look at my newborn son, off they went to the nursery and I spent the next 45 minutes surrounded by the surgical staff, anaesthesiologist, and my dr. and his associate, all working on me, but I felt totally alone, wondering what was going on with my baby. My hubby couldn't be with me because of his hospital phobia, but at least he was able to be outside the nursery, because he got to tell me what happened later.

I had been in the recovery room, my body tilted head up at about a 30 degree angle, when my hubby and a dr. came in. William held my hand while the pediatrician told me my son was having trouble breathing and they were going to have to put him on a ventilator and Teddy Bear Air (otherwise known as CareFlight) my newborn son to another hospital because the hospital I was at didn't have an NICU ward.

My little 7 lbs. 12 oz. boy didn't want to have the ventilator tube shoved down his esophagus, so he proceeded to yank it out 2 times before they came to me and asked for permission to tranquilize him. Of course I said yes and off they went to get back to work on my son.

After a few more hours, I was finally put into a room and my husband kept going back and forth giving me updates on how our son was doing. Finally, after another eternity it seems, the flight crew brought my son into my room. He had a tube coming out of the umbilical cord stump, band-aids on his heals where they drew blood for the pku(?) test, a ventilator coming out of his mouth and taped to his face, and he was still, just so still for a newborn, and only wearing a diaper, spread eagle in a rolling incubator.

They explained that he was going to be fine. He was going to a hospital about 30 minutes away, by car, faster of course by helicopter, and they were associated with Cooks Children's Hospital. They said that Cooks had been full but the hospital he was going to only had a few intensive care babies, so my son would get lots of attention which was better then an overloaded NICU.

I didn't say much, I really couldn't because I was just staring at my poor little boy and I started getting all choked up and silent tears started to fall. The lady in the flight crew noticed and asked if I had even had a chance to hold my son yet. I shook my head no and they decided they had to figure out a way for me to at least touch Nathan.

After fiddling with the hospital bed and maneuvering me as best they could, since I had just had major surgery, they lowered one side of the incubator and I was finally able to put my finger in his little hand and feel my son's fingers close around mine.

Needless to say, today is a wonderful, yet bittersweet day for me. Joyous that my son was born and that he ended up being just fine, yet bittersweet remembering how difficult the rest of the day, and the next several days were until I was finally out of the hospital and could go see my son at the other hospital.

Nine days after my son was born, he was able to come home, on the 4th of July. That's the day I truly celebrate, the day my little boy came finally came home!

*********

Now, on to some other things, I'm glad my son is as young as he is because he doesn't really know who Farrah Fawcett is and he doesn't know about Michael Jackson and all the hoopla surrounding his life. Hopefully, he'll only get to know about Michael Jackson's music and the good things he did and not all the controversy, since now my son's special day will always be associated with the death of the King of Pop and the death of one of Charlie's Angel.

Update on kitty status

2009-06-24T06:51:00.003-05:00

First, thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers about the little black kitty we found on our porch, but I wanted everyone to know that he passed last night.

When Oscar and I found him on our front porch, he was totally covered with fleas, the bad ones out here that they call "sand fleas". There wasn't an inch on him that didn't have fleas. So, of course he had a flea bath and we gave him food and water, but he didn't want to eat. We then gave him fluids through a bottle that night and throughout the day yesterday, but I think he was just to anemic from all the fleas and probably had a bad case of worms and his poor little heart just couldn't take the shock.

Sometimes I wonder why things like this happen, where you try your best and it's just not enough. But I think that he was sent our way so that in his short life, the poor little stray received some love and care even if it was for just a few days. As the saying goes, some people (or animals) come into your life, make footprints (or pawprints) on our hearts, and we are never the same.

All my pets!

2009-06-22T19:18:00.007-05:00

I know that by now you've seen my sweet Grandma kitty, Jadzia. Well, she's not really a Granny kitty since she was spayed, but we call het our Granny kitty since she's gonna be 15 years old this year. She hasn't always had all that gray abound her face, she used to be a pretty dark calico, many years ago.

And I think I've introduced you to Joy, she's William's Marbled Bengal kitten. In this picture she's probably 6 months old, but size wise, she's larger and heavier then Jadzia, who of course is a full grown domestic cat. You can't really see all Joy's pretty markings in this picture, but I love the cute expression on her face, plus you can see her slightly rounded ears. To get a better idea of what Bengal Cats look like, you can go HERE.

Just note that Joy is still a kitten and hasn't gotten all here stripes and colors yet. Kind of like how Dalmations don't get their spots until they get a few months old. She has gotten darker in the last few months, but I don't think she's going to quite as dark as the kittens on the website.

And of course everyone knows about Oscar Mayer Hill, my mini weenie dog. Don't you just love his little Patriotic outfit! Too bad he didn't, now his hat is being proudly displayed on my concrete dachsund that I got to go on my front porch. Being that the statue is of a regular size dachsun and not a mini, it's bigger than Oscar is. I'll have to get a picture of the two of them together for comparison.

Now we also seem to end up with some extra's running around all the time. Like the two little ones below. Sonya's calling them Dora and Diego. Their momma had them in our storage shed and they've gotten very used to us. I'm sure us feeding them and making sure they have a big bowl of water hasn't contributed to that one bit. Yeah, right.

I'll admit, we're suckers for cute little critters. Guess that's why we couldn't stand to see those, previously blogged about, poor baby foxes just lying around in the heat, knowing that if they didn't get some help from someone, they weren't going to make it. Haven't seen the game warden lately so, don't know if they did make it, but we at least have the peace of mind knowing that we at least tried to help.

And on that note, on to our latest little poor pitiful critter. Oscar and I were doing our walk about the house and we were greeted at the front porch by a little black baby kitten. He was absolutlely COVERED in fleas and is very skinny, but at least after his bath he's flea free, and hopefully after a few good meals, he won't be so skinny. But we just have to see how he does tonight. When he starts to get a little better, we'll try to get him in to our vet for a check up when we take our other latest addition in, Stubbie.

She's just like the little orange kittens above, except she's missing about 1/2 her tail, hence the name Stubbie. She's a very sweet, very chubbie kitten that Oscar loves to try and play with, but he does get a little rough with her, so he has supervised visits with her until she gets a little bigger. Joy on the other hand adores her and treats her like she's a well loved little sister. In other words, they beat up on each other most of the time and play the rest of the time.

Now add in the bunny Bridget, that Oscar remembers we have every now and then and tortures us with his constant barking, until we distract him and he forgets about her again for a few days, and we've ended up with quite a motley crew of critters running around and in the house.

So, keep our little black foundling in your thoughts and prayers, and my sanity too for that matter and we'll enjoy our little slice of chaos out here in Rankin. Until later.

Quick rant

2009-06-08T08:38:00.009-05:00

Just a quick rant about how you would think that if someone keeps saying to you, "Ya know, (name withheld to protect the innocent until proven guilty), that lawn sure looks like it needs to be mowed," then that person would get the hint and mow it nice and early the next morning. Well, that nameless person didn't get the hint, so the kids and I were out there working nice and early yesterday morning. The kids were picking up the sticks that had gotten blown down and I was using my nice little reel push mower. So, I got done with part of the front yard and decided I needed to trim one of the bushes. But first I had to get out some dead limbs I saw in the middle of the bush, so I reached in, grabbed the limbs and was about to pull when suddenly from my pinkie on out seemed to be on FIRE!

Yanked my hand out and stepped back so fast almost fell over! I was afraid it was a spider or something like that, but only saw one tiny hole so took a quick look back and saw several wasps starting to fly out of the bush. OH, %#$@! Hollered at the kids to get in the house, grabbed the dog, grabbed the kittens and ran in the house after the kids. Didn't know what those ticked off things were going to do!

So, inside I grabbed a bowl started filling it with cold water and ice and dunked my hand in to stop the burning, stinging pain, and yelled for my husband to go get Benadryl, and lots of it. Which, thankfully one of the little Rankin stores had it and I ended up in a Benadryl induced la-la state for the rest of the day. But, thank goodness, doesn't seem like I'm allergic to wasp stings, I am to just about everything else, so it was better safe then sorry.

Now for the rant, after all that trouble, you would think that most people would say, don't worry about mowing the rest of the yard, after the wasp killer spray kills them off, I'll finish the yard for you. Well, the unnamed party didn't. So, I'm still pretty ticked. I mowed the lawn last weekend and with the rain we had last week, everything grew pretty fast, so it really did need to get mowed again. It's just getting to be that time of year where the lawn needs to be mowed on a weekly basis. But here it is Monday, and only 1/2 my front yard is mowed. Oh well, I know what I'll be doing tonight.

A few pictures from World Championship Barbados Cook Off

2009-05-27T08:43:00.011-05:00

These are just a few of the pictures from the World Championship Barbados Cook Off.
I'm sorry they are so little, I'll have to pull them off the disc my husband burned for me and repost them later. Also, sorry there aren't more interesting shots, my hubbie ended up taking the pictures since I ended up helping under the big tent ALL DAY Saturday.

So, consider this just a sneak peek until I can get the other pictures edited and the video all edited too, have to figure out how to do that with my video editor. Enjoy for now!

Me and the kids and little Oscar!

Sonya playing in a Bounce House

The Big Tent, I'm in there somewhere, just look for the pink shirt.

This is actually Friday morning with the kids on their way to Field Day.

I'm right behind the guy in orange filling out prize checks for the winners of all the different cook-offs

Field Day and Barbados!

2009-05-22T08:50:00.002-05:00

My kids are going to Field Day today! Wish I could be there :( but gotta work. They travel to Garden City and there are several of the smaller school districts that all get together and have their field day there so that there are enough kids to have a nice competition. So, they are out there on their way and I'm having to stay here and work. Darn it! But did get a few pictures of them this morning before they headed out and I'll get some more pictures when they get home. Then it will be off to Barbados! YEA!

William is setting up our little home away from home, that way we'll be close to all the fun and the kids will have a spot to hang out in while I'm helping out and William does whatever he's going to do. He hasn't been picked to do anything specific, yet, but as soon as someone sees him just sittin' on his behind, I'm sure they'll start askin' for his help.

I'll add more to this post later as I get pictures etc. and I'll also keep a running update on the progress of everything on the World Championship Barbados Cook Off Fan Club facebook site, so keep checking back for all the fun!

World Championship Barbados Trophies and More

2009-05-20T17:44:00.010-05:00

Hey, everyone! Say hello to Barbados Bubba! He's one of the mascots for the World Championship Barbados Cook Off and Rodeo! There is also Barbados Babette, but I couldn't get a good picture of her. That's why the Children's Pageant is called the Lil' Bubba and Lil' Babette Pageant. I'm not sure who created Bubba and Babbette, but they are very much a part of the Barbados Cook Off and can be found on everything from...

...baseball caps and t-shirts, to mugs and drink coozies, Bubba shows up everywhere this time of year.

Now, the main reason so many people enter the Barbados Cook Off is that the prize for the winner of the Best Barbados is first a really cool trophy (like the ones my husband and I won a few years ago, I won for Best Bread and my hubbie won for best Ice Cream) and $1,500 dollars!

Yes, you read right, the winner judged the Best Tasting Barbados in the World gets a $1,500 prize and the cool cast iron decorated Texas. I'm sure most people are in it for the money, but since the prize money for the other events is based on how many people actually enter, the amounts can vary greatly from item to item. Like since lots of people think they make the best ice cream, there are usually lots of entries, therefore, more money for the top 3 winners to take home.

I was told by someone in the know that there are almost double the number of entries this year as there were last year. So, it should be a very fun Barbados this weekend and I hope that everyone enjoys the Running Against The Wind 5K so that it will become an annual event. The money raised during the 5K will go towards a scholarship in memory of Bill Lindsey, and all the proceeds of the Barbados Cook Off will be going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

So, if you're in the area, come on out and have a good time and pray that we don't get the rain and bad weather that usually comes along with this time of year. But if you can't come this year, keep us in mind next year, we'd be glad to see ya!

New Event for the World Championship Barbados Cookoff!

2009-05-18T19:47:00.017-05:00

I am proud to help announce a new event for this years World Championship Barbados Cookoff and Rodeo. It is the Running Against The Wind 1st Annual Memorial 5K Run/Walk for Bill "Hoss" Lindsey.

Bill was from Rankin and had ranches in Texas and South Dakota. He was a one of a kind individual who touched so many lives with his positive attitude. He always had a smile and always greeted you with a hand shake followed with a hug! It didn't matter who you was cause he treated everyone equally.

There was nothing that he couldn't do or figure out. One of his sayings was "improvise, adapt, and overcome". Another one was "I'm here for a good time, not a long time". No one had any idea he would be taken so soon. He was never sick, never showed signs of ill feelings, ever.

Bill was one of the strongest men known to this town and could work from sun up to sun down, then clean up and head to town to grab a bite to eat or catch a movie with his wife and kids. He was tough, yet gentle. He was offered the chance one time to shoot a jack rabbit on the ranch and his comment was "that rabbit never did anything to me".

On March 25, 2009, Bill died of a missive heart attack at his ranch in South Dakota. He was only 48 years old.

In honor of his memory, Bill's friends and family helped get together the Running Against The Wind 5k Run/Walk to bring awareness to folk's health and to emphasize the need to have regular checkups and not to put it off. If it could happen to Bill, it could happen to anyone.

Live today like there is no tomorrow and if you have someone you want to say I love you to, tell them, don't put it off til tomorrow, for tomorrow may never come.

If you would like to participate in the First Annual Running Against The Wind Memorial 5k Run/Walk for Bill "Hoss" Lindsey as either a Runner, Walker, Sponsor or to Volunteer, please contact Owen Yocham at (432)693-6545 or via email at oyocham@gmail.com.

You can pre-register from now til May 22, 2009 by mail or in person and the pre-registration fee is $15. On May 23, the day of the race, you can register until 8:00am and the fee is $20. The Race will start at 9:00am at the Dub Day Arena in Rankin, Texas.

We want to thank you in advance for your help and support of this matter and look forward to seeing you in Rankin!

Barbado's Schedule

2009-05-17T18:52:00.017-05:00

The following is the Schedule for the 17th Annual World Championship Barbados Cook Off held in Rankin, Texas, at the Dub Day Arena on May 22nd and 23rd, 2009. It is sponsored by the Rankin Chamber of Commerce and this years proceeds are going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The schedule for this year is as follows:

FRIDAY, MAY 22ND

1:00pm - Gates Open/Vendors Open

4:00pm-6:00pm - Cookers must pick up Barbados

8:00pm - Dance with Suerte Band

Midnight - Arena Closes

SATURDAY, MAY 23RD

6:00-9:00am - Booths May Open

9:00am - Cookers Pickup Sample Trays

9:30am - Cooks Meeting

10:00am - Moon Tournament at the Pavillion

Lil Bubba and Lil Babette Pageant

10:30am - Salsa Turn-In

11:00am - Horseshoes and Washer Pitchin'

Chicken Turn-In

11:30am - Ice Cream Turn-In

12:00 Noon - Bread Turn-In

12:30pm - Bread Turn-In

1:00pm - Fajita Turn-In

1:30pm - Chili Turn-In

2:00pm - SPAM Turn-In

Beans Turn-In

2:30pm - Barbados Turn-In

3:00pm - Brisket Turn-In

3:30pm - Mud Pit Tug o' War

6:00pm - Rodeo Starts at the Arena

Mutton Bustin

Steer Saddling

Bull Riding

9:00pm - Dance with Gunslinger Band

1:00am - Arena Closes

What is a Barbado?

2009-05-17T10:29:00.016-05:00

I guess we should start with the question "What is a Barbado?", well techinically the definition from the Breeds of Livestock website is as follows:

The Barbado breed originated in Texas. The breed originated from Barbados Blackbelly sheep which were crossed with Rambouillet and mouflon. One of the uses of the Barbado is as a trophy animal on game ranches due to its large curled horns. It is typically tan, tan with a pale or black belly or pied. The coat varies from short hair to coarse wool with a large amount of kemp fibers. Males show the horns for which the breed was selected and the females are polled.
The Barbado should not be confused with the Barbados Blackbelly although the two are related. Barbados Blackbelly exhibit the distinctive color pattern of the breed, tan with black belly and face, which is often times absent in the Barbado. In addition, both sexes of the Barbados Blackbelly are polled while the males of the Barbado are horned. Also the fecundity level in the Barbados Blackbelly is very high with the average litter size being between 1.5 and 2.2.

Ok, now that the "technical" details are over, it's time for the fun stuff! Every year, at least for the last 16, Rankin puts on the World Championship Barbado's Cookoff and Rodeo. It's always the Friday evening and Saturday before Memorial Day. On Friday, the Barbado's cookers have to check in and pick up their Barbados, I get to help with that part this year and have to admit that the handling of raw sheep does not thrill me. So, it should be interesting.

That evening while the cookers are getting their Barbados on the grill or in the smokers, etc., there is live music and dancing. So, it's a pretty festive time, people are going back and forth trying to find out secret recipes to the best barbado, trading advice, or just trading beers, but everyone seems to have a good time.

Saturday is the big day. Cookers have to pick up their sample trays at 9am and then their is the Cooks Meeting. This year, besides the Barbado Cookoff, there will be cookoffs for the best Salsa, Chicken, Ice Cream, Bread, Fajitas, Ribs, Chili, Spam dish, Beans, and Brisket. My husband won first place a few years back for his version of my Dad's ice cream recipe and I won first place once in bread for my homemade Cinnamon Rolls.

And there are all kinds of other things to do besides cook. For the people just hanging out or helping the cooks, there is a Moon Tournament (a type of dominos game, not what some of you dirty minded people were thinking, even though wouldn't mind seeing some of the cute cowboys who compete in the Rodeo part of THAT kind of competition!), Horse Shoes and Washer Pitchin', and after some of the adults start getting a little tipsy, the Mud Pit Tug o' War.

Since I did mention the Rodeo, it starts after the Tropy Presentation with Mutton Bustin for the littlest cowboys and cowgirls, then on to the Steer Saddling and Bull Riding. I think there is supposed to be a Bull Fighter competition too, but I don't see it on the schedule, maybe it was added after this schedule was printed.

For the kids, there is the Lil Bubba & Lil Babette Pageant, well, I think it's mostly for the proud Mom's and Dad's, but all the kids do get trophies, so they don't mind being in it too much. This isn't like a beauty pageant where the kids have to get all foo-fooed up like those little beauty pageant princess's, that sort of thing. They can just wear their usual casual clothes, their favorite outfit or anything like that. Just someting they're comfortable in. As shown below by my little cuties from the pictures a friend took of them last year:
Since my little ones come from Irish stock (my hubbie), they do tend to burn pretty easily. So, they get slathered in sunblock and Sonya loves going around town with her pretty parasol. Keeps her cool, not sunburned, and she just looks cute with it! Now if you notice, Nathan has 2 trophies, one for participating and one for actually getting 3rd place in the Lil Bubba contest. Since there were only 4 boys in his age group, he was bound to get something! I think he might actully be too old this year, or he might just THINK he's to old for it, but that's ok. He'll be glad to know that I won't make him enter if he doesn't want to.

I've been thinking that there should be some other things for the kids to do, something fun, wholesome, and can be done no matter what the weather. I saw on one of my favorite blogs (The Long and Short of It All!) about the annual Wiener Dog races and that gave me an idea. Maybe some of the 4-H kids would like to help set up a Pet Race. Wouldn't have to be all wiener dogs, since there aren't that many wiener dogs around, but could be open to all types of dogs.

We'd probably have to have weight catagories, like toy, small, medium, and large, so that it would be more fair. Since 4-H has a pet show during the same time that they have their usual Stock Show every year, I know that they have lots of pets and this would give them one more chance to show them off!

Just an idea that I might have to bring up next Chamber of Commerce meeting, the proceeds from the Pet Races could go to 4-H, since they would be the ones having to help out. Hmmm, I think they would go for it, the older 4-H'ers could us it as one of their volunteer projects and I think all of them would have fun. I'll have to get a proposal and more info. before I present my idea, but I think the other Chamber members might go for it. Anything that would help keep all the kids entertained and out of trouble would be great!

Well, better get going, still got laundry to do and gotta clean the carpet, my little wiener dog doesn't like using his potty pads while I'm at work. So, lots of little messes everywhere. Ugh, I need to get rid of all my carpet.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

2009-05-16T19:24:00.005-05:00

Boy, I'm tired! We had such a long day running around, doing errands, shopping, etc., but we had a little fun while we were at it too. The Music City Mall in Odessa was hosting an Exotic Animal Preserve Fund Raiser type thing and the kids just had to get their picture made with a 9 day old tiger cub. Isn't she so cute! Of course my own babies are adorable too. Sonya had to get the little tiger ears and Nathan got a little stuffed white tiger, but all the money goes to the preserve, so it's going to a good cause. The kids also got to see a 4 month old lion cub and 2 little bear cubs, baby animals are just too cute!

Oh, and don't forget to notice Nathan's hat, it's this years hat from the World Championship Barbado's Cookoff and Rodeo. I've mentioned it before, but now that I've joined the Chamber of Commerce, I'll actually be volunteering my time during Barbado. I've also decided to have all my entries on my blog this week be about the Barbado and what all goes on.

There are all kinds of things to do, people to see, some shopping and of course all the good food. Now, being a judge can be a bit risky, that's why I've only judged things like the bread contest and the ice cream contest. Those are things that are hard to get wrong, but I've heard that when someone does an actual Barbados wrong, ugh! Hopefully the judges have strong stomachs and have taken some Mylanta.

Well, untill next time!

Just too funny!

2009-05-15T08:57:00.003-05:00

Just had to share this picture titled "After Effects of Swine Flu". Don't have to say any more than that! Enjoy!

Root Canal and other things

2009-05-14T17:24:00.019-05:00

Sorry I've been out of touch with the blogging world, my internet has been down so haven't been able to do much blogging, since my only internet connection is at work and don't want to do entries there.

So, to catch everyone up on everything. Let's get the most painful thing out of the way first, my appointment with the endodontist for a root canal, or should I say triple root canal since it was on my # 14 tooth which has 3 roots on it. I'm just glad that my endodontist is petite with small hands so that my poor mouth didn't have to stay all stretched out for an hour and 1/2. Thank goodness!

To be honest, I'd rather have a root canal then labor pains or really bad cramps, at least with the root canal I can ask them to turn up the nitrous oxide a/k/a laughing gas and can just sit back relax and kind of zone out for a while. Not so with the labor pains or other feminine pains that can be so painful you just curl up in a ball and pray that the 3 Aleve hurry up and start working, but enough of the painful stuff and on to the interesting stuff.

Look at what my husband found next to our shed back behind our house after he got home from picking up the kids yesterday afternoon:

Anybody know what they are? I certainly didn't. I had gotten home just a few minutes before my hubbie and kids and I was working on getting the water hoses out so I could water the front yard and the kids had gone into the house to start their homework when my husband hollered at me to come look at something by the shed. I went towards the shed and noticed 4 little black things trying to hide in the sliver of shade that was left up against the shed. It hit 101 degrees yesterday so I'm sure that the concrete slab that the shed sits on was very hot from baking in the sun all day and I could tell the little things were hot and exhausted.

As we examined these little things my hubbie and I were trying to figure out what they are. I asked were they some kind of wild dog, 1/2 breed coyote or what, all he knew was they weren't the raccoons leaving tracks in the mud that he saw over the weekend. Then, upon closer examination, I noticed that their paws were like a dog's and that they were panting, so I could see itty-bitty teeth. Well, whatever they were they needed help. They were hot, tired, and probably very thirsty, and we couldn't see any sign of a mama anywhere, so we called our local Animal Control person. While we waited for him to show up, we moved them into our doggie crate so that they would at least be in some shade and might cool off a little bit.

When our Animal Control guy showed up, he had no clue what the little animals were either, but he hasn't been on the job that long, so it's understandable. Anyway, he went ahead and took the animals with him so he could find out what they are and find out what he would be able to do with them. Maybe there was some kind of animal sanctuary, humane society or something like that which would take the litter of critters.

Well, about 45 minutes later, he brought them back. Why, I don't really know except that he didn't know what he could do with them, but he did find out what they are, so without any further interuptions, I introduce a Gray Fox Pup:

This little one was not happy to have his picture taken, but they're still pretty cute. They are about the size of 6 week old kittens, and I can verify that since I currently have 6 week old kittens in my other shed that is up near the house. But on to our little conclusion about the foxes.

We ended up calling the County Animal Control Officer who has more experience with handling wild animals and what the laws and regulations are regarding them. So, she made a few calls for us and called us back to let us know that the Game Warden was going to contact us. He did and we found out that since currently there is some kind of Rabies Quarantine in effect in our county and many of the surrounding counties, if we are in possession of an animal that is part of that quarantine, which foxes are, then we could get fined $100 per animal that we have in our possession, but he knew we were only trying to do what was right and get wild animals back out into the wild, when he came to pick them up at about 10pm last night, he only gave us a written warning.

Now don't go and get all upset about us getting a warning, the man was going back to his office with a litter of fox pups, so he had to have some type of paper trail and believe me, I know all about having to keep the paper trail going since I work for the government too! Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, and CYA, that's our motto in my office!

Anyway, hard to believe that the little critters pictured above will turn into the Gray Fox shown below, at least I think they will. The Warden told us that he wasn't even sure what he could really do about them or where they would end up since he had never had this happen before. If we were like most people around here, which are mostly ranchers or farmers, then they would have just been shot without a moments hesitation, no matter how cute they are. But my husband and I both hope that they will be given to some animal sanctuary, maybe a rescue agency that will take care of them and then maybe release them some place where they might be needed. Maybe an area currently overrun by varmints like field mice, rats, or even rabbits or ground squirrels. Natural pest control is always best!

And speaking of varmints like rabbits, while I was waiting around for the Animal Control Officer, I noticed why we probably had a fox family running around our back lot:

Can you see the eye on that baby bunny glowing? It was very cute and less then 10' from me just grazing away on all the weeds in my back lot. It's momma was about 20' away to my left and they both just were grazing away without a care in the world. I guess they knew I wasn't the one they needed to worry about.

Well, guess I better close for now. If I hear about what happened to the baby foxes, I'll let y'all know! Until later!

Tough days

2009-05-05T18:24:00.003-05:00

Pardon my typing errors for now, trying to type with a rambunctgions weiner doggie in myh lap. He has seriously missed his momma the last few days since I have been so busy.

Normally I come home from lunch and we make our rounds about the house, water plants here and there, dead=head petunias and check on the kittens and their momma in the storage shed. Then we come in, I make my lunch while Oscar eats his, then he comes and sits in my lap while I eat my lunch. Just Momma and Oscar time and he loves it.

Well, yesterday, I had to leave work at 4pm so I skipped my usual lunch hour so I could leave early so I could take Sonya to have her dance class to have pictures made. They had 3 costume changes, 10 little girls running around, and no air conditioning in the building. So needless to say, it was pretty chaotic, but the girls sure were cute and can't wait to see their recital at the end of the month. Oscar was very happy to see me when we got home, but not happy that I had been gone so long, so he didn't let me get much sleep last night.

Which wasn't too good, since I had a dentist appointment today and again, had to skip lunch, and will have to take shorter lunches later this week to make up the rest of the time, and now I'm pooped and missing Sonya's first Pee-wee game of the Season and Nathan's first Little League game of the season. But I'm just too tired after barely getting any sleep last night, plus the stress of the dentist appointment, plus the novacain, and add to that the pain pill I'm about to take since the novacain is starting to wear off and you get one momma who's gonna be in bed in about 45 minutes.

But who ever heard of a Little League game running from 8pm-to whenever, on a school night! Oh well, Oscar is very happy I'm home, right now he's sitting on his little butt, begging for me to pick him up, snuggle up with him and let him get a nap. Well, he's just gonna have to wait a little bit longer, I gonna get in something comfy, grab some popcorn, and find something to watch while I chill in bed and wait for the pain relievers to start working. Then the puppy and I are gonna crash for the night. Just gonna have to hear the play by plays tomorrow.

Oh, and as for the dental prognosis, I get to have my first (hopefully only) Root Canal on the 13th, oh joy. At least they aren't going to have to extract it (it wasn't as bad as they thought it looked on the x-rays) which the dentist said would really hurt since it's on the top. Guess I'll have to take his word for it.

Till later

Ugh, I'm so sore!

2009-04-26T17:11:00.009-05:00

Oh, my poor aching back! I've been doing the DIY/Home Improvement weekend warrior thing the last 2 days, started with FINALLY planting all my rosemary bushes in the flower bed along my carport. And, well, how about I just show you what all I did this weekend.

Here's my rosemary plants planted behind my Russian mealy sage and my dark purple petunias. I bought the petunias at the Garden Club plant sale this year and the sage was from last years plant sale and it came back so pretty this spring. The rosemary is called Tuscan Blue and should have some pretty purplish-blue flowers over the summer. And even better, the deer don't like rosemary!

This is my front porch. I ordered the little fake topiaries since they have the lights already on them and I thought it would make for a nicer curb appeal. Also, since I don't have any hand rails around my porch, I use the window boxes to help add a little more interest and definition to the porch. I bought the hot pink petunias at the Garden Club Sale, too.

This is the south side of my house that gets TONS of sun, all day! And any plant that can make it over there can be listed as one of the toughest plants on earth. So far, the only plants that have survived are a couple of varieties of lavender, now which ones, I'm not sure. I planted about 5 different varieties over there last year and it seems like only 2 of them survived. Today I dug up and rearranged the lavender as well as planted 2 "knock-out" rose bushes and transplanted my 2 "Climbing Joseph's Coat" from the carport flower bed to the south side of the house, too.

So, that was a lot of digging and moving around for this weekend. I'll be lucky to get out of bed tomorrow, but I'll sure have a lot of mileage to add to my Walk Across Texas Team-the Petal Pushers (the Garden Club team, obviously). Hope everyone had a good weekend and til next time.

Latest News

2009-04-24T20:38:00.004-05:00

Oh boy, what a busy week, but first have to share this adorable ad with you:

Isn't he SO CUTE! Let's all go AWWWW! The puppy looks just like Oscar did when I first saw him, no wonder I just had to bring him home. Since then he's had Parvo and completely recovered from it, but today, he had his surgery so that now he won't be trying to have so much "fun" with our poor cat Joy or with Sonya's poor pink stuffed bunny rabbit.

So, now he's very upset with my hubbie since my hubbie is always the one to take Oscar to the vet and every visit to the vet has involved some type of shot or pain and right now Oscar doesn't really like being with my hubbie. Right now Oscar likes being snuggled up against me as close as he can get. Have to admit it's kind of nice having a hubbie who is off every other Friday so that he can take care of that kind of business for me and that way my sweet little weiner dog doesn't associate me with the pain of going to the vet. But boy, what a grudge my little doggie holds against my hubbie!

Now on to my 2 legged children and all our escapades this week. Nathan has had Little League practice Monday - Thursday for the last 2 weeks and Wednesday they actually had their first scrimmage game. Nathan made several good hits and I thought they looked pretty good, but they ended up not winning. Oh well, now they've had a look at what the other team is capable of and they can change their tactics accordingly

Sonya has also had a practice session, one practice session. She was supposed to have a practice yesterday, but since we had some wonderful thuderstorms roll in, her practice was called off. Which was actually better for both of us since she had already gone to dance class from 4:15-5:30. After dropping her off at dance class, I had gone to the Chamber of Commerce meeting (my hubbie and I finally joined this year) and hubbie had gone with Nathan to his Little League practice at 5pm. Good thing the Chamber meeting is right across the parking lot from where the dance class is so I just had to sneak out at 5:30 and get Sonya.

Good thing I snuck out at that time cause I was able to tell everyone when I got back into the meeting that it was starting to sprinkle. That started a mad dash to the door by 3/4 of the members in attendance since it had been a nice day and this is a VERY small town, so people have a tendency to leave their cars unlocked and the windows down.

I'm glad I was able to go to this meeting, I've missed the last few for some reason or other, but this is the last meeting before the World Championship Barbados Cook-off and Rodeo that the Chamber sponsors every year. It's loads of fun, there's lots stuff to eat, lots of stuff to see, live music and off course, all the different cook-off's!

My husband won 2 years ago with my Dad's recipe for Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and then I won last year in the bread category with my Homemade Cinnamon Rolls. You win a really cool cast iron brand (I'll have to get a picture of them and post them later) for your trophy and also some prize money! Woo-Hoo!

Anyway, it's really a lot of fun, lots of people getting together, guys grilling over open flames (of course the Volunteer Fire Department keeps a truck out there all weekend, just in case), a mud pit tug of war, and did I mention lots of food!

Well, hopefully I'll work on getting some good pics from around Rankin soon and I can make my blog a little bit more personalized, show y'all where the Barbados takes place, some of the other interesting sites around etc. Oh and speaking of interesting sites, please note I have added a new link to a cool wiener dog site called The Long and Short of it All. They have all kinds of cool information and fun stuff about all things dachshund. So, I hope y'all have a good weekend, and until next time, enjoy exploring The Long and Short of it All!

AAAAHHHH!

2009-04-21T13:17:00.006-05:00

I'm going crazy dealing with all the nuts around here! Maybe I can get the Sheriff to admit me for "observation" into the nice, spa like psychiatric hospital for the 3 day evaluation period to get away from all the people driving me nuts here at work...hmmm, someone else to clean up after me, only have to wear jammas all day, someone else to do the cooking, don't have to answer crazy questions from crazy people on the phone, hey, a 3 day vacation doesn't sound that bad!

Only bad thing would be all the work I'd be coming back to. Oh well, a 3 day vacation would have a high price for me to pay with all the extra work that'd be sitting on my desk when I get back. I'll just have to day dream about a tropical vacation some where, I guess. Maybe someday...

Eulogy For A Fallen Cowboy

2009-04-17T14:17:00.003-05:00

Nikki here-the following Eulogy is by Ed Todd with the Midland Reporter Telegram about my co-worker's brother-in-law who passed recently. I feel he captured Bill's wonderful West Texan spirit with this beautiful Eulogy and had to share it with y'all. May it bring a little bit of West Texas to your day.

Eulogy to Bill 'Hoss' Lindsey: 'The place where I worship is the wide-open spaces'

by Ed ToddMidland Reporter-Telegram

Published: Thursday, April 16, 2009 1:14 AM CDT

RANKIN -- Up Midland way, a pickup, counterpart of the Old West's buckboard wagon, displayed on its cab a "Happy Trails" sign that, considering the occasion, seemed somewhat ironic. But it was a sign, perhaps an omen, which a person, consciously or unconsciously, might look for on the way to a funeral to visit a grieving family.

Farther south, on the 55-mile drive to Rankin, population 800, a gathering place for a farming, ranching and oilfield community of folks, a prowling roadrunner, the chaparral, ran across a bar-ditch (Texana for "borrow ditch") and under a barbed-wire fence in search of a live meal. The critter was hard at work.

Closer to Rankin, another sign was "right on": A flight of birds, likely lark buntings, swooped low over the roadway. And a lone bird peeled off and banked to the west: "Gone West" -- aviation's tradition of honoring a fallen aviator.

In this instance, the fallen soul was a rancher, 48-year-old Bill "Hoss" Lindsey, the third of four sons of DeWayne and Janey Lindsey, Upton County ranchers and community stalwarts.

"There's not a harder-working people or better neighbors anywhere," said Tommy Owens, whose ranches neighbor the Lindsey ranches at four places north, east, south and west of Rankin and have for 45 years. He and wife, Edra, were "right there" to share the family's grief when they first heard of Bill's death. "I was raised that way -- to help your neighbors," Owens said. "We never had a cross-word."

Spring had arrived in West Texas: The mesquite was blooming, signaling planting time following a mild winter. But on his South Dakota ranch where Bill Lindsey died, snow was plentiful. He and his brother Daymond, who was up there to help with calving, had been working on building living quarters in a barn when Bill Lindsey collapsed.

In an instant, Daymond dropped to his knees and tried to revive his brother by pounding on his chest, breathing into his lungs.Throughout the years, the Lindsey ranchers have restored life to lifeless lambs on their sheep ranches, the father said, by using similar techniques. Not all survived. Just "for a moment," the father said, Bill gained consciousness but quickly faded.

The oldest brother, Tom, flew there out of Midland, and he and Daymond drove their brother home, with great dignity, in a modern-day covered wagon -- a van. The youngest brother, Shane, especially close to his fallen brother, came into Rankin to be with his parents. (Daymond, a house-builder, and Shane are in the construction business in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Tom ranches in Upton County.)"We feel an obligation to care for our own, to bring him home," the father said.

At the March 31 afternoon funeral, hundreds of mourners from West Texas to South Dakota filled the hilltop Rankin Park Building's auditorium and hallways. Others were just outside the westward-facing building, which, like the vintage Upton County Courthouse, seemed to address the distant plateaus and mountains in this semi-arid country.

"He made you feel like you were the first person he had seen all day," Johnny "Hotrod" Kidd said in eulogizing the personable Bill Lindsey. "And he was looking (just) for you."Bill brightened lives. He "honored God" through his toil on ranchland from Texas to South Dakota, through love for and devotion to his schoolteacher wife Denna, their children Will and Lauren, and their brothers and parents. And, in tossing in tidbits of humor, Kidd said Bill could eat a hamburger and, at the same time, enjoy a "chew of tobacco" without confusing the two, without mixing them up.

DeWayne Lindsey would say later his son "got to talk to (God) everyday out on the ranch."Bill's diligence would prompt him to "rip the sleeves" out of his long-sleeved shirts so he could work harder, longer and freer, Kidd said. And he over and over demonstrated a "spirit of not quitting and overcoming."The Lindsey sons are "very talented boys" and, like their father and mother, hard workers, Tommy Owens said. "DeWayne taught them well."

As did their father before them, the Lindsey boys played high-school football for the Rankin "Red Devils."And Bill Lindsey "could do just about everything" and did it well, "a talented guy, good humored, laid-back," Owens said. "You never heard him say anything bad about anybody."

After the burial at Rankin Cemetery, there was a bountiful community feed, a late dinner near suppertime. Visitation continued.

The mother, the cheerful and ever-toiling Janey, was absorbed in grief and tears, weeping."That's one hard-working woman," Owens said. "She can fix those groceries for dinner." In ranch-work, "she is just as hard-working as the boys and DeWayne."

The pain of grief had stolen her cheerfulness and her marvelous conversation and gab. She became mostly reticent, speaking quietly of her beloved "Hossie," her dearest Bill, whose great-grandfather Jeff Langford had named "Hoss" after the stout but gentle Hoss Cartwright character on the 1959-1973 Western television series "Bonanza." They would watch the mostly 1960s show together on the Lindsey's "south" ranch.

By mid-afternoon long before dusk, the sorrowful father was standing strong, sentimental and tearful. To their bones, DeWayne and Janey Lindsey knew only the passing of time would soothe their grief, which would never leave mind and heart.The father could look all around and into the vast horizon, surveying this old country of more dust than rainfall, scrub country yearning for moisture for its denizens: The people, livestock and wildlife. To ranchers, grass is more than "money in the bank." It is their livelihood. "There's beauty everywhere," DeWayne Lindsey said. "You just have to look for it."

At the cemetery southeast of town and across the railroad tracks, Tommy Owens, strumming the guitar, sang an old favorite: "The place where I worship is the wide-open spaces." It was a tribute to Bill, to his God and to the land.

The week of his father's funeral, Will, fresh out of college with a degree in animal husbandry, headed north to take over his father's South Dakota sheep and cattle operation."We still run sheep and goats in this (Rankin) country," Owens said, "... and coyotes."

Just west of the cemetery, a breeze was spinning the bladed wheel of the old-style Aermotor windmill to bring up groundwater for livestock: Picturesque.

On that old hardtack soil fit for coyotes and varmints, cacti and mesquite, sheep and goats, there is even more beauty between sunrise and sunset: The colorful wildflowers giving grace to weeds. Among their vast numbers are those yellow daisies, the DYCs known by botanists as "damned yellow composites," and the lovely five-petal globe mallow.

Like his parents, brothers and neighbors, Bill Lindsey loved this old land on which he toiled and thrived.

"'I'm not here for a long time,'" Bill would say from his younger years onward, the father recalled. "'I'm here to have a good time.'" Bill Lindsey did enjoy life and, along with his hard work, rode those "Happy Trails."

Ed Todd is a writer for The Midland Reporter-Telegram.

Happy Easter and Anniversary

2009-04-12T13:56:00.015-05:00

I hope everyone has had good Easter! We've had a very sugary, sweet, and chocolaty one here, and now we are about to get blown away, again, so everyone out towards the Metroplex area of Texas-Look Out cause it's gonna be another weather day like yesterday.
In the mean time, here are a few pictures from Easter this morning. The first is of Joy, who wasn't to joyful about being woken up bright and early this morning to the sounds of kids wanting to dig into candy and hunt for Easter Eggs.

The second one is of Nathan, William
and Oscar seeing what goodies the Easter Bunny left for them!

Then we have William holding the 2 troublemakers to keep them out of the chocolate goodies that they so desperately wanted to dig into. As well as Sonya cheesing it up for the camera, but wanting to check out all her loot.

Then we get to the aftermath of all the goodies! Two very wired full of sugar kiddos, especially Sonya if you couldn't tell by the sugar-crazed look in her eyes.

Now, on to wishing my hubbie a very Happy 12th Anniversary! Can't believe it's been 12 years since we got married, and can't believe I almost forgot to wish my hubbie a happy anniversary today!

Well, actually I can, we were having to help one of our outdoor kitties give birth last night, so he and I both were completely exhausted this morning. She just wasn't pushing like she should of and to make a long story short, she had the last kitten at about 11:30 last night, and she finally had the last afterbirth this morning about 8:30. Needless to say, ASAP, she is getting spayed! No more kittens for her, worst deliveries EVER, but all 4 kittens are ok, so far.

So, I have to plea exhaustion for forgetting in the hub-bub of the miracle of birth, and Easter, about my anniversary.

Oh well, we didn't have anything planned anyway, hard to find a sitter for an afternoon or evening outing, so can't tell ya when the last time my husband and I actually went out for an evening out with just the 2 of us. Maybe we'll be able to go out next year!

Bad ADD Day

2009-04-10T08:33:00.011-05:00

Ok, I came up here to my work to try to get caught up on some of my LOADS of stuff to do, took my ADD medication, and it just doesn't seem to want to work today! Sometimes it just works out that way, usually I'm just to tired for even a prescription stimulant to get my tired brain over the hump and out of the ADD fog.

That has to be it since I went to bed later then normal, then had to get up at the same normal time since little Oscar had his checkup with the vet. this morning at 8:00 a.m., in Midland. For those who don't know, I live exactly 52 miles due south of Midland. So, we had to get up, didn't get my shower (which really helps me to get in the "work" mood), had to get ready, make sure the kids were dressed, didn't stink, had brushed their teeth as good as I could get them to, etc. and get everyone, including the dog out the door by about 6:30. Then we had to go to the one and only gas station in town, get fuel for the car and people, drop me off at work at about 7-ish and then the rest of them were on their way to town for the 8am vet. appointment.

Well, I cleaned up around my desk, straightened the piles and then got online. My brain just doesn't want to do anything. I think I'm going to cut my losses this morning, go home, take a nap, then come back this afternoon after the kids start driving me nuts. I'm not really a morning person anyway, never have been, ask my mom-I was born at 9:56pm.

Oh, I did add a new favorite blog on here-everyone welcome the Wonderful World of Weiners! I had to add her since I too have my weiner dog, Oscar Mayer! So, go check out her blog, she's hysterical and always has some great pictures!

Well, time to hit the road to go home, just can't get the brain out of the fog, as ya'll can probably tell from my scattered and disorganized ramblings today. Oh, well, hopefully I'll be better this afternoon!

***************************************

It's several hours later and the family is back from the vet and Oscar received a clean bill of health, WOO HOO! He did have to get another booster shot and he also got his Rabies shot, too. We knew oscar was about 5-6 months of age, he was about 2 months old when we got him at the end of January and since it's now April, almost 3 months later, low and behold-the vet said he is 5 months and 9 days old! Now, how he could get THAT specific, I have no clue, but oh, well, we now have a November birthday in the family.

And since he is old enough now, he has an appointment in 2 weeks to get fixed. Shhh, don't tell him what that means, he'll sulk for the next 2 weeks and it will take steak and bacon to get him to feeling better.

And now for Picture Time-here's a picture of Sonya helping Oscar show off his new collar and his new "Bling", his rabies tag.

And here's Nathan getting in on the photo session, too!

And finally, here's Oscar saying it's time for a nap Mamma, I've had a long day!

More updates...

2009-04-09T09:12:00.006-05:00

Just wanted everyone to know that Oscar seems to have made (hopefully) a complete recovery from Parvo, YEA! He seems to be feeling so much better, running around the house, playing with the kids, cats, anything he possibly can, and having regular puppy poops, here, there, and everywhere. Ugh! The joys of puppy potty training when everyone is out of the house for most of the day. He HATES being in his crate, and if we lock him in the bathroom with a puppy pad to go on, he'll hold it until I come home for lunch and I'll take him outside to go potty, then I wait and wait for him to go, then I'll think-well maybe he doesn't need to go. That's when I'll take him back in and then he'll get a few feet in the door then promptly pee on the floor. He just doesn't quite get the doggies go potty outside thing. Anybody got any suggestions?

Anyway, he has a check-up with his vet tomorrow morning to make sure he's recovered and to hopefully get his second series of shots and maybe set up an appoint to get him fixed. He's not going to like that one bit, but we're getting a little tired of him trying to make dittens (cuppies?) with our spayed young cat Joy (I'll have to do a blog on her since I haven't mentioned her much). He loves to "have fun" with soft fuzzy things, like the cat, and Sonya's poor pink stuffed bunny that is just Oscar's size. Anybody seen that movie "Click"-then think about their Labrador and the yellow duck scene and you get the idea. (By the way, love that movie, very funny and very true about many men and their relationship with the remote control).

The kids are having their Easter parties today at school and then are off tomorrow, along with me and their Daddy. But since Oscar has to go to the vet tomorrow, Oscar and I are the only ones who will be going to town tomorrow, but maybe we will all do something on Saturday. Just got to wait and see, I guess.

Update on Oscar

2009-04-04T08:49:00.008-05:00

He is doing MUCH better and is now getting spoiled eating boiled chicken and broth!

Here's the latest picture of the patient:

I took this when he was sitting next to me, begging me to go take a nap with him, which doesn't sound to bad since I woke up early and had a hard time getting back to sleep.

But at least it seems he's out of the woods for now and is going to get awful spoiled on boiled chicken and rice, so thanks for all the prayers and kind thoughts about Oscar and we'll keep you updated on his progress!

All about Oscar

2009-04-02T20:38:00.018-05:00

I want to introduce you to Oscar Mayer Hill, my sweet adorable little dachshund puppy! He was my Valentines Day present from my husband this year. He is really adorable and has loads of character, as you can tell from the picture at the right where he is sticking his tongue out at everyone!

He makes the funniest expressions, as in the next photo, and he is begining to think he's a cat. If you notice, he is laying on the back of the couch. Our cats are very bad examples for him to follow and he's getting worse. His best buddy is our cat Blizzard, and boy, are they are so funny to watch!

Never would imagine that a big white tomcat would allow himself to get body slammed by a puppy 1/3 his size and actually fall to the groud and let said puppy pin him on the floor like they were in a bad wrestling match! Can't wait for my hubbie to get his Safety Award from work, which just happens to be a camcorder. I'll make sure to get lots of footage of them, if Oscar can overcome his current obstacle, he's got Parvo.

He was supposed to go to the vet the week of Spring Break, when my husband was off, so he could get his 2nd round of shots etc. But, said husband got sick and then the weather got bad, so lots of things that were promised to be done, didn't and that included the visit to the vet, and the visit to the vehicle inspector.

So, since the inspection was going to go out on the first of this month, the inspection came first on my husband's next Friday off and Oscar was going to be scheduled for the vet visit on the next Friday off, which is next Friday. But on Tuesday, Oscar started vomiting and having diarhea and it just got worse. Wednesday, he couldn't even hold any water down and we knew he needed to get to a vet ASAP. Thank goodness there is a late evening Emergency Animal Clinic in Midland and William took him in last night.

Now, Oscar has had 2 shots and has 2 prescriptions. The vet said that he is only in the first stage of parvo and if it's caught early, like Oscar's was, more then likely he will make a good to complete recovery. Since he had had his first vaccines and he is older then most puppies who contract parvo, he has a much better chance of the complete recovery. Just have to keep him hydrated with Pedialyte, Gatorade, and water, then we slowly start adding bland food to his diet and ask everyone we know for their Love and Prayers that my sweet little cuddly Oscar Mayer weiner dog will make a speedy and complete recovery.

Sad day and interesting pictures

2009-03-31T08:48:00.007-05:00

First, I'd like to say it's a sad day here in Rankin, we are having to bury one of our most beloved sons today. My co-worker's brother-in-law passed away very unexpectedly Wednesday evening just as he was finishing up the day working on his ranch in South Dakota. Bill was only 48. He is survived by both parents, his wife and 2 children, his 3 brothers, their wives and his many nieces and nephews. He worked on his ranch in South Dakota during part of the year and the other part at his family ranch down here. He is going to be sorely missed by everyone who knew him. So, keep our little town in your thoughts and prayers as we come together today to celebrate his life and lay him to rest. Thank you!

Now, on a lighter note, wanted to pass on some photos that could very well have been taken by any of us out here in West Texas these last few weeks as spring has finally sprung! Out here we all knows what that means-watch your step when you go for a walk...

They meet...

They court ....
They shake a couple of rattles...
And then off into the sunset...

Don't need that walk today anyway, think I'll just go play my Wii Fit!

Lots of Books I've Read!

2009-03-27T14:34:00.005-05:00

I was tagged in Facebook from my BFF with this Questionaire about which of the following books you have read. (How well read are you? Let me know in a comment!)

So, the following is straight from facebook:

The BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books listed here.
Instructions:
Copy and paste the list to your notes page
Review the list and put an 'X' after those you have read.
Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
Star * those you plan on reading.
Tally your total at the bottom.

Books I have read from this list.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien X+
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte X
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling X++++++
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee X
6 The Bible - X
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell X
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens X

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X+
12 Tess of the D'Ubervilles- Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare X (most of them anyway)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien X+
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell X+
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald X
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams X
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky sort of an
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck X
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll X
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame X

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens X
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis X
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis X+
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden X++
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne X+

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell X
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown X+
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery X
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding X
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert X
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen X
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens X
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck X
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding X
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville X

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens X
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker X
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett X
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James JoyceX
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White X+
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom X+
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle X
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery X
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams X
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas X
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare X
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Facory - Roald Dahl X
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo X

Oops, didn't total it, my total is 45 books read! Wow that's a lot out of the books listed. There are even some that sound familiar, but I'm not positive I've read them, so didn't mark 'em. I guess I'm just nuts about literature!

It's TWILIGHT time in the ELEVENTH HOUR!

2009-03-21T20:55:00.029-05:00

Just watched TWILIGHT and it was AWESOME! I loved the books, yep, I've already bought and read all of them, at least twice each so far, and probably will start over reading them again soon. But I digress, my ADD meds wore off a few hours ago, so bear with me here (hmm, bare or bear, don't remember and spell check won't catch it, oh well). Where was I, oh yea, the movie was great and I thought they did a good job bringing the book to the big screen.

Bella is one character I can identify with pretty well. She's a Virgo like me, so we have that worry about everyone and everything that they may think about us sort of thing going on. Ya know, when Edward tells her he's taking her to his house to meet the rest of his family and instead of being worried about being in a house full of vampires , who might try to drink her blood, kill her that sort of thing, she is worried if they will find her acceptable enough for Edward.

Not that I would ever find myself in a house full of vampires (I've worked in a nest of harpies, that counts, right?), but I do worry what people think of me, really hard for me to tell sometimes, same as Bella. And she and I always seem to be kind of clumsy, pale when we should have a tan (I live in West Texas and finally had some rain after a 6 month drought so lots of sun to tan in out here!) and there are times we both feel like we just don't ever quite fit in anywhere. Yep, I can relate to Bella.

Oh, yea, speaking of relating to characters, anybody out there watch ELEVENTH HOUR? It comes on after CSI (the original, and isn't Lawrence Fishbourne great, now I really miss the Gill Grissom character, but Lawrence's character is pretty cool and brings a new twist to things, oops, I went off on another tangent again, sorry). I finally realized why I like the show so much, the Dr. Hood character seems to have ADD! It finally hit me a couple weeks ago, the way he acts, the way he impulsively blurts things out, how he gets distracted, and how he can be so super focused on something he loses track of time and has to be brought back to reality by someone, usually by his FBI agent"handler". All of which are symptoms of Adult ADD.

See, adults just don't have the same amount of energy as kids, so the "hyperactive" part of us is usually our brains. He shows this all the time on the show, how he can be talking with someone about one thing and then that will trigger a memory about something else and then he'll just stop the conversation, blurt out something totally unrelated to the current conversation, and then hurry off (there's the impulsive, thing), leaving people wondering what that was all about.

I admit there are times I've done almost exactly that, but I tend to restrain myself from walking off, but that doesn't stop my brain hurrying off on that new train of thought. Boy, things can get a little awkward sometimes for me and for Dr. Hood. So, if you watch the show, or don't and get a chance to, watch Dr. Hood and how he acts, thinks, etc. and you will get an idea of how some adults with ADD are, maybe you might recognize some of my own actions and things I do, quirks, that sort of thing. Let me know what ya think!

Oh, well, it's getting late, been a long day, and lots of stuff to do tomorrow. Have to finish some of those projects that are still unfinished from Spring Break when SOMEONE ELSE (who was on vacation and had put off all those projects so he could do them over his vacation) was supposed to do them. For more info. on that, see my previous post on Pet Peeves. Anyway, time for me and little Oscar to go to bed, he's snuggled up here on the couch with me, barking in his sleep. He's so CUTE!

Happy St. Paddy's!

2009-03-17T13:24:00.004-05:00

First, I hope everyone has a very Happy St. Patrick's Day and since my hubbie's family is Irish, well, we won't be doing anything special for the day. My family is descended from the Scots, English, and throw in a little Native American, so, since we've been in Texas for the last couple of generations-we're Texans (notice I didn't say "just" Texans, cause there tain't nothin' "just" 'bout bein' a Texan).

Second, I think it's Pet Peeve day for me. What's your worst Pet Peeve? Mine aren't as bad as they used to be considering I'm a nit-picky, worry wart of a Virgo, but the few I still have REALLY grate on my nerves (I've repressed A LOT of my Virgo tendencies, just so I don't nag everyone to death and get disappointed when things don't get done the way I ask them to, etc., my tongue hurts all the time from having to bite it so much, heh, heh.)

Take for example, people who put things off by saying "I'm on vacation next week, I'll do it then" and then they don't do it. I won't mention names, but someone near and dear to me put off so many projects that way, I don't even know where to start. I tried to tell this person at the beginning of the said vacation that maybe he could do certain projects early in the week since the weather was going to be bad later in the week, but he must not have believed me, cause low and behold, late season cold snap, rain and icky stuff, so the project didn't get done, AND he's back at work, AND HE WON'T HAVE ANOTHER DAY OFF FOR 10 MORE DAYS!

Ok, gotta calm down now, deep breaths, count to 10.... Alright, better now. Let's see, another Pet Peeve is when I have already mentioned to certain people that I have LOTS, I mean TONS of work that I would be more than happy to show said individuals how to do, so that we can cross train and I can get some work actually off my desk and done, I mean, I've already asked them about it a few times, but they are always too busy at that moment, so I tell them just to get with me later, and they never do.

I guess that kind of falls under, people saying that they will do something and they never do sort of thing, kind of like in my first pet peeve. I think I'm seeing a pattern here. Now, I know that I'm not perfect and that I may promise someone I'll do something for them, but with my ADD and the books I've read about things I should do to help me help myself, I write myself lots of notes, so I know I don't forget nearly as much as I used to, but I mean, come on people, I hate to nag, but I don't know what else to do. Guess I'll be going in and working late more often.

Ok, rant over. Anyway, what are your Pet Peeves? From men who don't put the seat back down, to people driving with their blinker on for miles and miles and miles. What gets your blood boiling? Feel free to leave a rant on your worst Pet Peeve in my comments. Til next time!

News on the Midland Pagoda

2009-03-06T10:22:00.004-06:00

Just a quick link to some information on the Midland Pagoda I've blogged about before. The City of Midland is finally going to do something about it and to see what our local news had to say about it CLICK HERE! I'm so proud I was able to help get something done about this poor little Pagoda that was just forgotten about.

Out here, so much that was built during the oil booms of the past, are just neglected and falling apart and cities seem to just not care about their pasts. Midland has torn down several large buildings in the past several years since they had been neglected, etc. for so many years and no one ever wanted to try to refurbish them. Now there is more parking downtown, but at what cost to the history of Midland?

Yea! I have a new mouse!

2009-02-27T13:42:00.004-06:00

So, I will try and get some pictures downloaded onto my blog and all that good stuff tonight. So, tune in later and hopefully I'll have some good pictures and some funny stories to share, now that I'll get to spend more than just a few minutes on my blog.

WORK WORK WORK!

2009-02-26T15:47:00.004-06:00

Ugh! I hate it when I have so much work to do on my computer at work that I don't even want to see another computer, let alone get on one and actually do something that I normally enjoy, after I get home from a long day at work. I've been spending almost 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, working almost strictly on my work computer , that by the time I come home, I have a tension headache, my eyes are hurting from eye strain, my fingers are swollen and sore, and my lower back and bottom are killing me from sitting almost all day.

In the morning, my poor fingers and hands are practically claws cause they have cramped up over night. Takes a nice hot shower to finally get them to relax and loosen up. And thank goodness I have my Wii fit to play on at lunch time. I don't exercise as much as I should, but I at least use it for a good 15-20 minutes, just to loosen up my body after I've been sitting at my desk all morning.

So, until I'm no longer swamped at work, I probably won't be blogging as often as I should, but I do still check my email when I can, just don't expect a lot of replies for the next week or so, for the same reason I'm keeping this message short, my fingers are telling me they are done for the day.

Oh, well, time to buy a new mouse...

2009-02-18T08:41:00.004-06:00

I was going to download lots of new pictures that I took over the Valentines weekend and post them this morning, since I got up bright and early with my hubby who had to go to an early meeting for work, but while I was working on my computer, all of a sudden my mouse quit working. Looked down at my feet and there was my Valentine's present, Oscar the dachshund puppy, just spitting out the cord attached to the mouse. He had just punched a hole in it and that's all it took for it to go kaput.

Like I said, oh well, at least I've got to go to town already for my Dr. appointment this afternoon and I can get a new mouse at the Target close by. So, I'll try to get those pictures and another blog finished up tonight. Til then!

HELP ME!

2009-02-05T10:35:00.002-06:00

I'm drowning in work! AAAAAGGGGHHHH! So, much to do, don't know where to start and then the computer people are updating something that I NEED ASAP, and now I can't do part of my work until that's done. OMG, I hate it when it gets like this cause my ADD really kicks in and I can't find a place to start and it all just runs around in my head and I really start stressing out! UGH! What to do, what to do?!

Latest updates.

2009-02-03T09:17:00.002-06:00

Latest on my nephew is that he had surgery yesterday afternoon and sounds like everything went well. The did keep him in the ICU last night to keep an eye on him, but I'm assuming that no news is good news since I haven't heard anything else from my family yet this morning. Hopefully I'll get a chance to call them at lunch and find out more about how everything went. So, if I do, I'll add on some more to this post later today, til then!

We got a puppy!

2009-02-02T09:44:00.009-06:00

I want to introduce to you Oscar Mayer Hill, the newest member of our family! As you might be able to tell, he's a sweet little dachshund puppy who's about 2 months old and he's just too cute and adorable! The kids absolutely love him and I think hubby likes him, too. I'll try to get more pictures of him on here later this week, just gonna be really busy this first part of the week with work, and then Garden Club meeting tonight. So, more later about Oscar.

I do still need thoughts and prayers for my nephew who is going to need more surgery today. They were unable to complete everything they needed to on Friday during his first surgery and he is scheduled for another surgery later today to, hopefully, get everything that was broken bolted and screwed together after his accident last week. Then we hope he will be on his way to a speedy recovery. So, I'll update more on him, too, as soon as I here more on that. Til later!

Long, long, long week...

2009-01-30T10:27:00.009-06:00

It's been a really long week for me out here this week. Got a call Tuesday evening that my nephew had been hit by a blue mini van while walking to school that morning. The van just kept going, never stopped or anything. When he was hit, he ended up landing on his hip, breaking his hip and his pelvic bones. Thank goodness he had his cell phone with him and was able to call for help.

So, he was taken to one of the best trauma hospitals in that area and has received wonderful care, at least that's what I hear since I'm not able to be there. :( That's one of the problems with living way out here in the boonies of West Texas. Anyway, he is supposed to be having surgery today to put everything back together with plates, screws and bolts, that sort of thing, then he'll probably have to stay in the hospital for another week after that, then he'll probably have several months of physical therapy to get him back in tip top shape. And thankfully his injuries weren't any worse then they are because we all know it COULD have been so much worse.

When I talked to him yesterday, I teased him that he'll never make it through a metal detector since he's going to be part cyborg now. At least I got a bit of a laugh out of him and hopefully it cheered him up a little bit. We haven't heard if the police are doing anything about his case or what. Pretty frustrating for me since I work with law enforcement and judicial personel on a daily basis (eg. Sheriff's Deputies, Troopers, District and County Attorneys, etc.), so since I know how the system works, hard not knowing if it's going to work for my nephew and bring justice to those awful offenders who did this to him.

So, keep him and his family in your thoughts right now, pray that Justice will be dealt out before the offenders meet their Maker on The Other Side so that we can have some peace that this won't happen to anyone else and their family.

And finally, THANK YOU to the Guardian Angels, Spirit Guides and everyone in Heaven above who made sure that our wonderful guy is still here with us today!

Before I kick the bucket...

2009-01-27T08:53:00.003-06:00

You know, all the things you have done/want to do before you kick the bucket? Well, here's my list. I got this from Ables Antics who got it from Sgt Suds Wife. Feel free to participate.Copy and post this on your blog ASAP!)

What is this?Well, you’re supposed to bold the things you’ve done so readers can find out how you've led an awesome life so far.(wink,wink!) Here's what I have done in bold...

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain (if climbing down into Carlsbad Cavern counts, it sure felt like it to me!)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (if singing solo on karaoke counts)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16.Had food poisoning (too many times to count while I worked at a certain amusement park I won't mention)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (Solar and Lunar)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors(he, he, some of my ancestor's are Native American!)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (does learning Spanish cuss words so you know when the kitchen staff is cusssing you out count?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (again, if climbing through Carlsbad Caverns doesn't count, I have rock climbed when I went Girl Scout camping)
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke (many times!)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (I was a waitress, of course I did a few times)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (no, thank goodness and knock on wood)
47. Had your portrait painted (do self portraits count?)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (both and it's AWESOME!)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (selling Avon counts, right?)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving (how about Hang Gliding, kind of like a more controlled sky diving)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (Ugh!)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (All I can say is "YUCK!")
72. Pieced a quilt (got 2, still aren't finished yet, been 5 years)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (twice actually, bad memories, don't wanta go there)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (thank goodness no, and knock on wood again)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (how about moped?)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (I was always winning poster contests in elementary, they always took pictures)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (a fish is an animal, right?)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (did do the Heimlich on my nephew when he tried to swallow a nickel when he was a baby, like to think he would have been fine without my help, but thank goodness we'll never know)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day (several times)

There it is folks. I guess I've done a lot more then I really imagined in time I've been here, hopefully I still have plenty of time left to do some of the other things still left on my list. Now, maybe I should just start my own book club, hmmm, that's an idea.

Anyway, leave me a comment and let me know if you chose to do this so I can go check them out!

A quick answer to a comment question

2009-01-23T09:00:00.013-06:00

This is to give a little clarification to konnie in my last post. When I was a child, ADD wasn't even realized as a medical condition, didn't even have a name for it, I don't think. It wasn't until I was in High School that it was identified as a true medical issue, and then they believed it was something only boys developed. Wasn't until I was in college and read a book about ADD that I learned about the different types of ADD. I have the type that is typical for most women and that's where we Internalize it.

Instead of the typical outward signs of AD/HD, hyperactivity and lack of concentration, sometimes I can be so into something, say a really good book or TV program (or blogging), I exclude everything else that is going on around me. My poor family and teachers, as I was growing up, would sometimes actually yell or have to touch me to get my attention back in the real world. It's not daydreaming cause I only do it when I read or watch TV, something along those lines.

But, the hyperactivity does come in when I'm trying to get things done. That's the hardest part, I'm trying to think of all the different things I have to get done and prioritize and then one thing I'm doing triggers another line of thought and on and on....A good example is if you start at one website, then see a link for one you think sounds interesting and open another window for it, then you see another link and another and another, pretty soon your computer is covered with all these open windows and you want to read them all, but you soon don't remember where you even started and then, well, I think you kind of get the idea.

Where my medication helps is that I don't get all those thoughts streaming off in 1000 different directions and I am able to focus on the task at hand, without being so "into" it that I tune everything else out. Don't know how it works, but it does. Thank goodness, my Diet Coke bill has decreased dramatically! I guess I'm one of the many people who stumbled across the fact that a stimulant, like the caffeine in Diet Coke, helps with the symptoms of ADD.

In college I was no good in any of my classes until I had at least 2-3 Diet Cokes, learned I was just doing kind of a self-medicating thing. Until this past year I would still have at least 2 or more diet cokes (cans) per day. Man, I should have bought some stock in Coca-Cola a long time ago!

Well, there ya go, a perfect example of my ADD, I went from explaining about my past history of ADD all the way to buying stock in a soda company! Oh well, that's part of it, my co-workers are always kind of amazed at how I can associate things so quickly. The sheriff loves coming into the office I work in and visit with me. He comes to yak about some generic problem he's having and then after a few minutes, I'll figure out another angle that it can be tackled at right off the bat, then he just looks at me funny and mutters something like "Hmm, I think I better go check something out, thanks" and off he goes.

Well, speaking of off I go, hope you've enjoyed a little insight into the brain of an adult woman with ADD. I have a link to the Adult ADD Association to the right with my favorite links and they have a wealth of information for people who have ADD or who know someone with ADD and would just like to learn more about it. Til later!

I want a puppy!

2009-01-21T08:06:00.010-06:00

That's what I told my hubbie I wanted for Valentines day this morning. But not just any puppy, I want a Pomerainian. Now many of you don't know that I used to help my dad handle his Staffordshire Bull Terriers and the lady who taught me handled one of my dad's dogs Sire. She actually handled quite a few dogs for the show rings, Staffies being one, as well as Rotweilers, but the breed that her and her family actually bred and showed in the rings were Pommies.

While she was training me and my dad's puppy, she was also training some of their Pommie puppies and I just fell in love! They were bred to be companion dogs, meaning, they are pretty perky but are perfectly happy just to sit on a lap and be loved on. Now, I have several cats, but since my sweet little Snowflake (that's his picture sitting on the monitor) went missing(still no sign of him and no idea what happened that one night he got out), none of my cats has stepped in to fill the empty space he left behind. He was probably more like a little dog then a cat cause he was my constant little companion. He loved to snuggle with me at night and play with me when the mood struck him and when I would go outside to garden, he would just follow right behind me like my little shadow.

So, a few weeks ago, a co-worker asked if anybody wanted a puppy because she knew someone going back to college and they couldn't take the puppy with them. Well, I asked lots of questions and turned out it was a Pomerainian. I told her I would be glad to take the puppy off her hands, but then she looked online, saw all the adorable pictures and said well, maybe they might keep her. That was 2 weeks ago and they still have her.

I've been a little depressed ever since. So, I told my hubbie today that I want a Pomerainian puppy for Valentines Day, actually it would probably be a gift to me and the kids cause they want a puppy too. And I don't think at this point they would care what kind it was as long as it's cute, but even Great Dane puppies are adorable! So, since I've been around Pommies a lot and know what to expect from them, I think a Pommie would make a great addition to our home.

Heck, even one of our neighbors has a pretty blonde pommie and he takes her for a walk every night and one of our cats waits at the corner and she and the pommie play in our yard for a few minutes before he makes his pommie move on. So, she probably wouldn't mind having a pommie of her own to play with! And I don't thing the rest of us would mind either! So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can find someone way out here in the boonies who actually breeds nice quality Pommies. Might be looking for a needle in a haystack, but I'll bring me a magnet!

I've been Tagged!

2009-01-14T09:04:00.014-06:00

Well MaBunny over at Ables Antics has tagged me for a MeME and at least, the rules are simple, go to your picture folders, to the fourth folder, and NO EXCEPTIONS pick the fourth photo and post it and tell the story behind it.Then tag 4 others. Simple, right?

Where I'm at I only have 2 folders of pictures so, I'll use the 4th picture from it and here it is:

Ya'll should of known it would have been my kiddos! Aren't they cute! Nathan looks just like his Daddy, but with my family's coloring, all the guys on my side have gorgeous BLUE eyes and fair hair, even though in this picture he looks like a brunette, but like the nurses said when he was born, his hair is really a TAUPE color. While Sonya is starting to look more like me features wise, but she has her Daddy's HAZEL eyes and the GOLDEN BLONDE like her Aunties on her Mommy's side of the family. Neither of them got my coloring:(

I remember going to the store when Nathan was still a baby and my BFF from Ables Antics would come with me. I would be pushing the cart with him in his carrier and people would still turn to my BFF and ask HER how old HER adorable baby was! She would politely say something like "Well, I'm not sure since SHE'S (pointing to me) his Mother. Nikki how old is YOUR little blue eyed baby boy today?" Oh, they would get so flustered, look from me, to him, to her, and back. They must have thought we were lying.

People still ask my husband and I to this day how two brunettes could end up with two little blonde kids. I have to explain that I was the odd ball in my family, both my sisters were light blondes when they were young and that my hubbie was even light haired when he was little. Just wierd genetics.

I need to find the picture of my hubbie that his Aunt gave to me. He was about 6 months old in it and we compared it to Nathan's 6 month old baby picture. Except for the eye color, you would have thought they were twins. Same smile, same dimples, same hair color and they looked about the same weight, too! It was just too cute!

Well, I don't have lots of people to tag for this, but if you would like to do this MeMe, go ahead and do it, and just say you saw it here! Thanks and enjoy!

I LOVE MY Wii FIT!

2009-01-12T12:28:00.006-06:00

I've finally found something that is really helping me lose weight and who would have thought it would be a video game! I love doing Wii Fit! Since we bought it a little before Thanksgiving, I've lost almost 10 lbs! WOO HOO! That includes gaining some weight over the Holidays and then losing it all over again, so from my maximum weight to my lowest weight, which is from today, is almost 10 lbs.

Now, it's not just the Wii Fit though, I've also been trying to eat healthier. In the morning I'll mix up a protein shake in my Bullet knockoff little mixer, usually vanilla with some cinnamon sprinkled in since it's supposed to help keep bloodsugar levels even, and then on my lunch hour I'll do about 20 minutes of exercise on the Wii Fit and have another shake. Usually I'll have mix up about a cup worth of fruit with milk and the protein powder and drink it down while I'm watching the 12:00 news.

If I get hungry at work, I've got a big sandwich bag of roasted almonds that I can get a handful from and snack away. They are supposed to be heart healthy and full of protein. So, I really don't get that hungry anymore, except when I'm supposed to-every 3-4 hours or so. I've also noticed I don't get the cravings for sweets like I used to. Now I haven't been able to give up my major vice of Diet Cokes, but I do make sure I have a big bottle of water right along side my Diet Coke and take as many sips out of it as I do out of the Coke can.

For dinner, I've tried to just decrease my portion sizes since we've never been a real "Chicken Fried Steak and Potatoes" type family. We love our pasta's and I've been trying to add more vegetables to dinner, but have to admit it's been a challenge getting the kids to eat healthier, but I keep trying.

So, I'll keep ya'll posted on the weight loss and hopefully I'll just keep getting smaller and smaller. I'm hoping I can fit into an outfit I bought about 4 months before I got pregnant with Nathan. I'll be happy with that. I wasn't a skinny minny, never have been, but I certainly looked and felt a lot better back then. Wish me luck and if anyone else out there is waging war on being overwight, let me know!

Survived the Holidays!

2009-01-11T09:57:00.014-06:00

Yeah, holidays are over and things are finally getting back to normal. Kids had their first full week back at school and boy, was it tough getting them back in the swing of things. Why is it that just 2 weeks away from school and they forget the routine they had been doing for 3 months? Oh, well, just got to keep trying, I guess.

Let's see what else has been going on? Not to much lately, been cold then warm, then really cold, then really warm, then back to cold again. Man, West Texas weather just doesn't know what it wants to do. If it would just stay cold, that would be great, if it would just stay warm that would be even better, but we'll have a couple of days of cold weather, a few warm days, then a few really cold days and the cycle starts all over again. No wonder everyone seems to be coming down with bad colds, pneumonia, and the poor babies and toddlers are getting RSV and ending up in the hospitals. It's been terrible.

Since I hadn't posted any adorable pictures of my kiddos in a while, I was having withdrawal symptoms. So, here are a few of the best from over Christmas. Nathan with one of his favorite presents from his Memaw, and then little bowhead Sonya who lost her front tooth just a few days before Christmas. Ain't she sweet? Believe me, it was just for a couple of minutes, then back to her regular rambunctious self. The next one of Sonya is when she's playing rockstar with a playset she also got from her Memaw. She is the biggest ham.

They had a great holiday and I was so glad I was able to spend at least one of those weeks with them. We had lots of fun, cleaning house, doing laundry, etc. No, just kidding! We went to the mall, saw Santa, Sonya was suddenly very shy and didn't want to sit on his lap and tell him what she wanted, so like I said, we just SAW Santa. Oh well, maybe next year she'll actually visit with Santa.

Til then, hope everyone had a Great Holiday Season and are having a very Happy New Year!

Season's Greetings!

2008-12-25T20:27:00.005-06:00

I hope everyone has a Wonderful Christmas and I'll try to post more tomorrow, now that the hectic holiday rush is over (yea!). Til then, enjoy my little ones and their holiday greetings!

I wanna win a purse and other things!

2008-10-13T18:35:00.005-05:00

How about you? I love purses! I'm constantly changing out my purses, probably do at least 2 -4 times a week, my husband always has to ask which purse do I have my stuff in when he's looking for the car keys, checkbook, or things like that. So, a chance to win a purse, I am all over it! So, here's the link where you go to try to win at Handbag Planet, and good luck!

Let's see, what else is going on today....Guess not to much, but we didn't get to go to the Big Lake Bike Rally like I thought we would, so as of right now I don't think we won the Harley that was being raffled off. I'm sure if we won, our neighbor would run over and let us know. Oh well, guess I'll have to buy my hubbie something else for his birthday on Wednesday.

Well, actually I'll probably have to wait until this weekend to get him something. One advantage of living in an itty-bitty town is you can't just run out and buy something at the nearest Wal-Mart, cause the nearest one is 52 miles due north! It was so nice after we moved out here, I lost 15 lbs. without even trying because we weren't picking up fast food 3-5 times a week anymore since there are no fast food places in town.

Fast food to us now is running to the Rankin Drive In and picking up some frozen pizzas to cook at home. Oh, but I forgot, we now have pizza delivery or at least our little town version of it! The nearest pizza spot in McCamey makes deliveries to Rankin now, kind of. If you call and place your order by 2pm, the owner will bring the pizza to Rankin at about 5:30 and meet you at the Rankin Volunteer Fire Department so you can pick it up. But he only does it on Thursdays or if you order enough, and he's able to, he'll bring it over other days of the week too. He's been looking for a place to rent here in Rankins so he can open another pizza shop, but can't find the right space. Hopefully he'll find one soon cause we all miss hot, fresh, right from the oven pizza. Mmmm!

It's Almost Election Time!

2008-10-13T08:30:00.006-05:00

Well, it's been a long, long campaign, but it's almost over (thank goodness), but have you REALLY decided who you are going to vote for? I found that even this close to the election, I still hadn't made up my mind on who I want for President after my previous choice dropped out of the race. So, I did a little research and found some websites that really helped me to make my final choice with confidence.

First of all, are you really sure about the political party you want to vote for? I thought I was until I took this quiz at VoteMatch Quiz. I had been a lifelong Democrat until I took this quiz and learned that this year is different, McCain's proposals are closer to what I believe would be best for me and my family. I was surprised to say the least.

I admit, I never really warmed up to Obama after Clinton bowed out of the race, but I would vote for him as a Democrat if I had to. Now, I don't. If I remember right from my Political Science class, much of what he is proposing to do as President, is socialist. Like Health Care for everyone (or else), isn't that like Canada's Socialized Medicine Program? And I had to add or else because if you don't get Health Care for your children, then you get fined, how much, who knows, except Obama.

But, like I said, I was going to vote for him as a faithfull Democrat, but after I took the quiz it showed that I was actually leaning more heavily toward the new Republican platform and McCain instead of Obama. To be honest, McCain is a moderate conservative and Obama is a conservative liberal, which are pretty much the same thing. So, I think that's why I was having such a hard time deciding who would be the best candidate for me and my family.

It's been a tough campaign for everyone, especially for the voters, and I'm so glad it's almost over. But if you find you're having a difficult time deciding who you should vote for, research, research, research. That's what finally made my decision an easy one. Not only did I do the quiz mentioned above, but I went to each parties website and checked out their platform. That's where you really find out what ALL Democrats and ALL Republicans are going to try to get passed in the next four years, if they are elected. The following links will take you to the respective platforms so you can do the research you need to help you make your final decision.

Republican Party Platform

Democratic Party Platform

Now it's up to you. I urge you to block out all the media hype, wipe off all the gunk from the mud slinging and take some time to really check out what each candidate wants to accomplish as President. I don't want you to take my word for it, I'm just an example of a voter who, after digging a little deeper and doing some research, found out she wasn't what she thought she was.

They just keep winning!

2008-10-10T13:06:00.011-05:00

There is just no stopping our Junior High Rankin Red Devils! They have won all their games so far this year! WAY TO GO GUYS! The picture above is from their latest win in Fort Davis. They won 55-16 or something like that according to my own little Devil #54. But, hate to say, this may have been his last game if he doesn't get his grades up. He didn't pass Science this last 6 weeks, so now he won't get to play the next 3 weeks, which is when the progress reports will then come out and the coaches will see if they are passing or not.

So, let's see what else has been going on....Well, not to much. We are going to go to a Motorcycle Rally in Big Lake tomorrow. It's sponsored by the VFW over there and my neighbor and Justice of the Peace is a member, so he was selling raffle tickets for a 2009 Harley Sportster, and since I bought 2, and my hubbie would LOVE to have a Harley and he would LOVE to find out if he wins or not as soon as possible, we'll probably be some of the first ones there tomorrow. My father-in-law owns a Goldwing, many of our friends and neighbors around town own Harleys or Goldwings, so Hubbie REALLY, REALLY wants some form of motorized 2 wheel vehicle and winning that Harley would be perfect, for him.

It's really pretty neat out here, there are long stretches of old highways and lots of pretty scenery, so there are many people who have motorcycles and go ridding around the area on the weekend. Unlike in the big cities where you get the gangs of kids on the, well around here we call them, "Crotch Rockets", you get mostly middle-aged and up men, women, and couples riding nice cruising style bikes. Sometime you get groups of them, sometimes it's just a few, but they all enjoy just nice long rides around some of the prettiest scenery with very little other traffic.

So, I'll let everyone know if we win, but either way, I'm taking the camera tomorrow and maybe I'll get some good pictures of some pretty motorcycles and nice classic cars, cause they're also having a classic car show too!

Until then, have a great Friday!

It's Fall in West Texas!

2008-10-01T08:58:00.007-05:00

Finally, fall has come to our Itty Bitty town of Rankin! It's been so nice the last few days with overnight lows in the upper 40's to low 50's and it hasn't been above 90 degrees all week! Heck, it's almost a blue Norther' for us out here! It's the time of year when we can finally shut down the air conditioners over night, open a few windows to air out the house and expect cheaper electric bills, YEAH!

This time of year just makes me want to go outside, clean up the garden, and put out all the Halloween decorations. Our street is one of the few streets that gets LOTS of Trick or Treaters, so we tend to go all out for the holiday. We have some of those cool blow up things and lots of orange and purple lights to help light the way for all the little goblins hunting candy.

Man, just realized I hadn't taken my medicine for my ADD, no wonder I'm having a hard time getting this blog out. Sorry, but I'm gonna save and come back later.

Rankin won again and so did Michelle!

2008-09-27T20:26:00.005-05:00

Our Junior High Red Devils won again this week and it was the longest drive to the shortest game ever!

Sanderson is about an hour and a half to hour forty five minutes away, but I was invited to join Hal, the newspaper editor, and his wife for the drive down. Finally getting some time to chat with some great adults, and not having to listen to my children arguing in the back seat, certainly made the drive very enjoyable, not to mention the beautiful scenery.

But anyway, as soon as I saw the other team, I knew it was going to be a pretty one sided game, but never imagined it would be over at 1/2 time. Six man team rules state that if one team is up by 45 points at 1/2 time or later, the game is over. So, after watching our big guys score touchdown after touchdown for 2 quarters, Rankin was ahead 56-7 when the 1/2 time buzzer sound and the end of the game was announced.

Nathan got to play for just about the whole 2nd quarter, so he was very excited and was telling his dad and I all about it when we finally got home. I'm so glad he's been enjoying playing football, finally he talks about something other than video games!

Oh, and I need to give credit where credit is due, the picture above of my own Nathan,#54, was taken by Hal, not me. He gets to get down on the sidelines and get some awesome closeups! Way to go Hal!

____________________

And The Movie Quotes Contest that MaBunny and I co-hosted is over! Congratulations to Michelle at Honest and Truley! That was fun and we'll have to do that again, maybe for my 100th post. . . hmmmm!

It's Contest Time!

2008-09-22T08:41:00.007-05:00

Hi Everyone! In honor of my BFF's 200th post, we are co-hosting an awesome contest!

We have both been wracking our brains trying to come up with lines from movies that will make you think a bit. The prize, which MaBunny will post a picture of when she receives it, is a small gift basket from Connie Dubois of Bayoumoon Candles. She agreed to give away to the winner a candle and matching scent soap all made by her. I think she mentioned something about Pearberry. She makes beautiful baskets, and if you didn't see the one she made for MaBunnies anniversary present, look here...Some of these quotes may be from movies as far back as the 50's, some from the 80's , or some much more recent, but either way, hope you have fun!

And a little hint from ADD Nikki, the quotes aren't just from Chick Flicks either, so if you aren't a Sci-Fi fan, you might have to have a little help from someone of the masculine gender to help you get ahead in this contest! Also, I'll have music from some of the movies going in My Playlist this week, so if you're stuck, hang around my blog and have a quick listen and maybe the songs will job your memory!

The contest will be up for a week, and the winner will be the first one to get them ALL right , or if no one gets all of them, then the one with the most right!Get your Movie thinking caps on, and Here we GO!!!!!:

1. "I can't believe I gave my panties to a geek.."
2. " You had me at hello"
3. "Is it you?"
4. " I married Rambo"
5. "SHOW ME THE MONEY!"
6. " Goose, she's lost that lovin feelin"
7. "LET GO OF HER YOU BITCH!!!"
8. " It's a big rolling turd!"
9. " I have THREE possible fathers???"
10. "Snakes? why does it have to be snakes? "
11. "Son, your ego is writing checks your body can't cash"
12. "Ladybugs, lots and lots of ladybugs..."
13. " Whassa hoppenin' hot stuff?"
14. " Nobody puts Baby in a corner"
15. " My babys come home from the war Daddy!, My Chadwick is hooome..."
16. " dad?" "what?" "Dad" What?" "DAD?" "WHAT??"
17. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

OK, there they are! If you know your movies, you may figure out we were a bit tricky and put two lines up from the same movie:)) aren't we sneaky?
Anyway, leave the answers in the comment section of MaBunnies post here in order to be entered!
Hope everyone had a great weekend:))

Time to vent...

2008-09-21T12:04:00.003-05:00

Ok, I've got to vent a little here. The last time I had any time by myself, alone, no kids, no hubbie, was back in March when my hubbie decided to try to go "rescue" his younger brother. This was over Spring Break when he had taken the time off to watch the kids, since everyone else in our little town was actually going to go out of town and take a break during Sring Break, but since I don't work for the school district like 2/3's of the town, my family couldn't leave. But, anyway, he decided at the last minute, like noon on a Wednesday, that he and the kids were going to make an 8 hour run in his dad's truck all the way across Texas.

Well, since I thought he might be bringing his brother back with him, after I got off work I got to do a marathon session of cleaning house, doing laundry etc. It was so nice, I got so much done, and this poor house hasn't been that clean since. Now that hubbie works every other weekend, I don't get any time to myself or really even just some time to clean house. When the kids are here, it's like trying to shovel a sidewalk during a blizzard, or they are constantly picking on each other. Either way, I have to watch them constantly, so I can't get hardly anything done.

My hubbie, on the other hand, has that one Friday, every other weekend, that he is off, no kids, no wife, when he COULD be cleaning, doing laundry, etc. but usually when I get home from work, house is still a mess, litter boxes still a mess, etc. Well, maybe the dishes have been done, but the counters are still dirty, the stove still has spills on it, fridge hasn't had the old leftovers dumped in the trash, sigh...the list of things I would do if I had that time is practically endless.

What I wouldn't give to have one whole day, when my ADD medication is working well, when I'm not practically anemic after Mother Nature has paid me a visit, when my back isn't hurting from bending over and picking up little pieces of trash, wadded up socks, little pink shoes and the like, a million times, when I could just have some good peppy music playing and I could actually get the house clean! Then I could go on and get the decorating done that I want, like finishing the paint job in Sonya's room and bathroom or start on getting my bedroom the way I want it!

Oh well, guess I'll keep hoping and praying that some day soon a mystical day will happen, when everything lines up again and I can finally say (even if it is for just until the kids and hubbie get home from wherever) "WHOO HOO, I'M DONE!"

Junior High Game and Picures

2008-09-21T10:31:00.018-05:00

The Little Rankin Red Devils Junior High pulled it off again and won again this past Thursday! Go Devils!

This first picture I took of the Junior High team at their Pep Rally on Thursday afternoon and it gives you a pretty good idea of the differences in the size of our players. On the far left are the 8th grade boys then it goes to 7th and the last 3 are the 6th graders, including my own Nathan #54 at the end.

Now considering he is probably the youngest one on the team, since he just turned 11 this past June 25th, he is one of the biggest 6th graders. Must be in the gene's cause I was always one of the tallest kids even though I was probably the youngest with my birthday at the end of August. So, like me, he will probably be just 17 when he graduates, that's if he passes his classes every year. I tell ya, this year has probably been the toughest for him so far, they are changing classes, like regular Junior High, and now with practices etc., it's been hard getting him back in the swing of things, but he's getting better!

On to the game, the Devils played against Robert Lee and originally, the coaches thought the team was going to be an easy win for the J.H. guys, but when they came out on the field, the coaches had a bit of a surprise. Robert Lee had several big players and their 6th graders weren't as little as the guys from last game. And they were more experienced then our players.

The second picture is our guys warming up before the game. The coaches don't usually put the little guys up against the big guys, mainly because they just don't quite have the experience yet to protect themselves from someone who is possibly 100 lbs heavier than they are. So, that's the little guys in the middle, hopefully learning by watching.

Since, the Robert Lee team was so experienced and so much bigger then our 6th grade guys, I could tell our little guys weren't going to get much play time, and since they got to play so much in last weeks game, I know our youngest players were starting to get a little frustrated. I took the picture of Jon-Jon the water and football boy giving my son a little pat on the back and giving him a little moral support. I'll have to print that picture out and give it to Jon-Jon's mom next time I see her. It always makes a mom feel good when she sees her son doing something nice for someone, especially when they haven't been told to do it!

Finally, at 2 minutes til the end of the game. the coaches thought the Devils were far enough ahead that it was time to bring in the 6th graders. So, there is the picture of Assistant-Coach Gamboa giving Nathan some final instructions before he sends him out as a Blocker. And boy what a good Blocker he is. In the next picture, you can't really see him, but he is right in the middle of all those players, he's about to pull one guy down, then he turns around and gets another. That's the part that I saw when the whistle blew, he was just hanging on to that guy and not letting him go anywhere.

All in all, the team played really well and as you can see from picture of the scoreboard, they won 34-0! Yeah, Devils!

I just took another look at the list of all the players for the Junior High Red Devils and just realized, over 1/2 the players are 8th graders! Eight of them will be going on to either the JV or Varsity teams next year and that will leave only 5 players from this year's team! Oh boy, those

coaches better get busy getting those little guys trained cause I can only think of maybe 3 of the 5th graders who might play next year!

That's just about it for now, oh wait, Nathan has really enjoyed wearing contacts and even his coaches noticed that he was doing better at their practices. Certainly helps when you can see who you need to hit, or where the ball is!

They Won Their First Game!

2008-09-12T05:41:00.017-05:00

It was a cloudy and drizzly day here in Rankin last night when my little boy played his first Junior High football game! Well, compared to some of the other teams players, he's not that little. But anyway, it was so funny, when he got done with practice and ended up walking up to my work cause he didn't charge his cell phone (it's not that far, but it's the hill's that get ya, good for his legs though) the first thing he told me is "I don't want to play" and I could tell he was just scared 1/2 to death.

I had a box that needed to go out to the car, so I told him to help me take it out there, and then I gave him a pep talk about how I had talked to the Head Coach that morning and how he said that they probably wouldn't even play the 6th graders and how they had just needed the 6th graders to have enough boys to even be able to play this year. And I told him that he was committed to it now and that he had to go because if he didn't and they didn't have enough players, they would forfeit the game, etc. etc. and that the team was counting on him. What made hime feel much better was I said even if he didn't play a single play and the team won, they all are winners! So, when his daddy came to pick him up, he was feeling better.

Now on to the Game!

When he came out with the rest of the team, he kind of stayed back behind everyone or over to one side or the other. I could tell he was SO nervous and trying not to attract any attention so he wouldn't get picked to play. But since Rankin scored a touchdown on their 2nd play and proceeded to get 2 more in the next 10 minutes, the coaches decided to put 6th graders in, as you can see in this picture, as the coaches are pointing at the littlest Red Devils...

The 6th grade Rankin Red Devil players are:

#54-Nathan (my little boy)
#58-Damian
and #80 Andrew (he's the son of the tall thin guy with the camera, Hal, the local newspaper editor)

In the second picture they are receiving their instructions from Assistant Coach Gamboa.

Then the 3rd, they are ready to play! Nathan was matched up against the big guy you see over the center.

He did so well his first play! He just grabbed that guy and hung on! It was like watching two rams who butted heads and just kept pushing at each other, neither one budging an inch and not letting the other get around him. Everyone after the game was very impressed with that play and told Nathan what a good job he did! He was so proud of himself!

Here he is up against another big guy, the coaches kept putting him in there against those guys and he kept holding his ground. And #80 Andrew, he surprised everyone too, he kept sneaking around everyone and almost had 2 sacks, the other teams quarterback would really quick throw the ball away to avoid it!

This picture requires a little explaination, the little guy on the other team is about to hand off the ball to the receiver right after the snap, but can you see the difference in size between their guys and our guys. Those are probably 8th graders against our 6th graders, but our guys held their ground and Rankin won 56-7!

After he got to play a few plays and came out for a break, all the bigger guys were slapping his back telling them how well he did and I could tell, he finally felt like part of the team. No more standing behind everyone or off to the side anymore!

Rough week and weekend...

2008-09-08T12:38:00.003-05:00

I have to say, it's been a rough week for me. Work was just court after court with tons of filing and paperwork to do, so may have to come in some this week to get it all done, oh well, getting used to that.

But one of the worst things this past week was learning that the father of the family we bought our house from, committed suicide. Boy, that was a shock. There's really no words that I can think of to describe how devestated our little community is by this loss. From everything I knew about him, he was always a happy and involved person in and around wherever he lived, but seems there was another side to him that most people never knew. Anyway, we are all so sorry for his wife and 2 sons left behind and I know that everyone who knows them is thinking of them and keeping them in their prayers.

Now for the second worse thing, my little Snowflake (my little kitty I blogged about before who looks like Skippy John Jones) has gone missing. We were on our way out to the car to the Varsity game on Friday evening, and he ran out. He's gone out before, but only during the day, and it didn't dawn on us that we wouldn't be back till after dark. Well, we came back, looked for him, called for him, and nothing. Looked the next day, still nothing. No sign of an attack, no clues, no tracks, nada, zero, zip. We've heard stories about there being maybe an owl around town that has been attacking and, well, eating small dogs and kittens, but didn't even think that something like that could happen to my little boy, but now we're thinking maybe it did. My hopes of finding him safe and sound are fading very fast.

So, I've been very down all weekend and tonight I get to be one of the hostesses for the Garden Club meeting. I was looking forward to it, until all this happened. I know everyone is going to want to mention the suicide, well, I do live in their former house ya know, but they won't cause they don't know the extent of my families relationship to his, which was really no more than just us buying their house. That's it! But, I know they'll think it was more, cause that's what I had to deal with on Friday night at the football game, everybody wanting to ask, but nobody wanting to be the ones to do it, so, nobody does and they just end up pretending they don't see you in the first place and avoid the whole issue. It must be a small town thing, I guess.

Thanks for the Birthday Wishes!

2008-08-27T20:32:00.005-05:00

Thank you everyone for the Happy Birthday Wishes! I want to share one of them I received from my hubbie, he's the one with the Anime and Manga Cartoons blog, so my Birthday message from him is very appropriate! Couldn't tell you who the character is or what Anime she's in, but I bet he could if you want to post the question on his site.

Now, turning to other things, the kids started school this week. It's been tough getting them back in the rhythm of coming home and doing their homework, reading, etc. But they are getting better. And one more thing, my son is now old enough to play Junior High football. Out here Junior High officially starts with 6th grade and High School starts with 9th grade. So, he's now on the Rankin Red Devil Junior High Football Team. Go Devils!

This is going to be a real learning experience for me. I wasn't involved in sports during school, even though I wanted to. Our school was just to big and just too many kids, so when they had the tryouts at the first of the school year, of course, I wasn't in the best of shape after a summer of lounging by the pool. So, of course, didn't get picked for Athletics. Even though, later during the spring, I matched the fastest time in the world, this was back in 1984, of 10.6 in the 100 meter dash. My gym teacher just gawked at me and asked why hadn't I been in her Athletics Class. It was already to late in the year for me to switch and the next year I was going to High School.

So, I keep telling my son how great an opportunity this is for him. There are so few boys in his class, the coach just wants male bodies he can train for the team. So, the coach was very happy to see Nathan show up for the first practice. Nathan is just built like a football player, which means he's not really built like his daddy's side of the family but more like the guys on my side. To tell the truth, he really reminds me a lot of my dad. I wish I had some pictures of when my dad was Nathan's age and I think I would see a lot of resemblance.

Well, we'll see how practice keeps coming along, how well Sonya gets back in the swing of things with school, and all that good stuff in the coming weeks, so I'll keep ya posted!

It's My Birthday!

2008-08-24T12:30:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday to me!

Let's see, first want to say Thank You to my mother for having me! I was the oddball who decided to jump into this world feet first. My mom used to tell the story of her ob/gyn coming in to check on my progress, said "I see a foot", and then she doesn't remember anything until she woke up and asked if I was a boy or a girl! Oh, how times have changed in the Labor and Delivery field-thank goodness! Also, thanks for all the gifts by mail. Love my goodies, and kids love their back to school outfits. And of course William has been "sharing" his stuff with Sonya every chance she gets to sneak into his office and get one! He doesn't know how generous he really is!

Today for my birthday I've certainly "gotten" a lot, like:

I got to do the dishes and the laundry.
I got to vacuum, sweep, and mop the floors.
I got to clean out the litter box and feed the kitties, so the little pests can fill the liter boxes back up again.
I got my computer desk area finally all set up the way I like, without all the wires here and there cause I used the cable ties to make it all look nice and neat.
I got to get the kids ready to go back to school tomorrow!

And to top it all off, I got to make my own Birthday dinner and Birthday cake!

Oh, goodness, what can I say. My hubbie is a pumper with an oil and gas company out here and he only gets every other Friday thru Sunday off, and this is his weekend to work. So, maybe I'll get the "Birthday Girl" treatment next weekend, but I'm not going to hold my breath!

One present I really enjoyed and made me get all teary-eyed was from my BFF Mabunny over at Ables Antics, she did a special post about me and her and our 24 year friendship titled MY BFF NIKKI. She's so sweet and I hate that I don't get to see or talk to her as often as I'd like, but thank goodness for emails and blogs so I know some of the highlights of what goes on with her and her family. Thanks Mabunny for all the memories!

Whoo Hoo, I did it!

2008-08-21T18:58:00.011-05:00

Remember a few posts back, when I blogged about the Pagoda in Midland? Remember when I said I should do something about it at the end of my post, well, that night I did! I looked on the NewsWest 9 site (my favorite local news station, they did the Under West Texas Skies and actually pay attention to our little town 52 miles south of Midland) and I found an email address that you use to send story ideas to and I sent them a little email about the Pagoda and how it was just being allowed to fall apart etc. Sort of a mini version of my blog post without all the pictures.

And guess what? Today, I came home and hubbie said there was a message from someone talking about the Pagoda and she left a phone number for me to call her back! It was a reporter from News West 9 who had been researching the story behind the Pagoda and what Midland is going to do about it's terrible condition! So, I called her back, to bad it was already after 5pm, and she said that they had already done the 5pm part of the story, which was just the little one, but that at 6pm they were doing the long story and thanks for the idea for the story to begin with!

Cool huh! It was the lead story at 6pm and the reporter I talked to was actually at the Pagoda site reporting from it LIVE! So, here is the link to the news story titled Midland Pagoda Restoration. I'm so excited! But, since my co-workers don't know about my blog-they know about my ADD, just not my blog-I can't really tell them I had something to do with the news story without spilling the beans on my blog. Oh well, at least I can let ya'll know!

As you can tell from article, the reporter really did some research and dug into why something so precious has been allowed to get in such a state. I hate seeing things like that just being allowed to go to waste, guess it's the former Architecture student in me. Old buildings are pretty fascinating to me too, I love to see good renovations on old buildings.

Fort Worth is one town that works really hard to keep the buildings that helped make it what it is today, like the old Train Depot and Sundance Square. Dallas, on the other hand, tends to tear down the old and replace with brand spanking new, but I have to admit, just before we moved to Rankin, I think they were finally realizing how important their old buildings were and that they needed to take care of them. The Old Red Courthouse is one example of a building that they were trying to save. Hope there were many more.

Well, I hope you enjoy the news story, but just remember, I gave them idea! He, He!

Tagged for a meme!

2008-08-19T09:34:00.014-05:00

I was tagged for a meme by Mabunny at AblesAntics! I've never done one of these before, so should be interesting!

The rules are as follows:

1. Link the person who tagged you

2. Mention the rules on your blog

3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours

4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them

5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Okey Dokey, here are 6 UN-spectacular things about me...

1. Well, I have ADD, but I think of it more as a plus than a minus, most of the time!

2. I don't call people as often as I should, I prefer talking to people in person. I'm a very visual person, so when I get on the phone, it's hard for me to think about what I actually wanted to talk about. But...

3. I love to write emails to family and friends! Only problem is I don't get a whole lot back :( So, I usually just send out big emails once a week, wait on some replies, send out another a few days later. Or just write it out in my blog.

4. I'm terrible about taking pictures! Then when I do, I don't print them out, or don't download them on the computer, or back them up. Then my computer crashes and I lose them all! Ugh! I need to just download my pictures onto a disc then my next ADD Dr. appointment, I can get prints at Wal-Greens while I'm waiting for my prescriptions! Hey, I think I can remember to do that!

5. I have to associate things to each other or I'll forget them. Like number 4. above, now I'll remember to download my pictures and take them to Odessa with me!

6. I write notes to myself on my hand. Now, I know I'm not the only one who does this, but as mentioned before, I'm visual and if I don't associate something to something else, then I have to find another way to remember it, and seeing the note on my hand, several times a day, all day, really helps. And even if I write it down, I either forget the note, leave it at work, or lose it.

Now, my only problem is, I don't know 6 people to put one here, who haven't already done this!

Oh, well, I tried!

**************************************************

And as an addendum, today should have been Monday, part II! I came to work in the car, only coming up here on the bike every other day until I can make it up the hill without a break, and when I closed the driver door, the window shattered! OMG! Couldn't believe it! I was so shocked, had to look around to see if someone had thrown something at me, check to see if something had been sticking out of the car and the window had hit it, just had no clue what happened!

Anyway, I called hubbie, who called the dealership, who said that there was a recall on our car from a couple months back that was in regards to just that problem. So, to make long story short, after several calls back and forth from hubbie to dealership, dealership to hubbie, then finally ME to dealership General Manager, the parts have been ordered and I have his assurance they should be in in about a week and he will call and we will get an appointment set up to have window replaced at no charge. Just had to do the "This is my only car, we live in Rankin, school starts on Monday-I CAN NOT BE WITHOUT A CAR FOR A WEEK!" tone of voice on him to get things rolling.

Whoever hubbie talked to had told him, (imagine someone like Jeff Foxworthy saying all this and it'll make more since) Weelllll, if'n ya bring it in Saturday mornin', I'll take a look at it and measure it ta see what parts ya need, then it will take a coupla days to get the parts ha're, then after they do get ha're, bring it in and since I'm kind of backed-up, it'll probably be about 4 days a'fore we can get it all done. Hence, my phone call to the dealership G.M.

In the meantime, Thank God I have a carport, since we might have some more rain later tonight!

New News on People with ADD/ADHD

2008-08-17T11:24:00.006-05:00

Ok, with Michael Phelps big Gold Medal Win number 8 under his Speedo Laser Swimsuit, (well, I can't use the phrase "under his belt", cause the man doesn't wear one when he's swimming), I thought I would bring attention to the fact that he was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 9 years old (to find him and other celebrities, like Ty Pennington-with ADD/ADHD-click here).

I think my nephew was diagnosed a year or so earlier than that, and since we were all reading books to find out more about ADD/ADHD to try all we could to help him (we've always been a family of readers), it was at that time that I found a book by Dr. Lynn Weiss (can't remember which one, she has so many) that talked about a 3rd type of ADD called, at the time, Inattentive ADD. And I realized, she was talking about me!

It was then, I checked out all her books at the library and bought her book about adults and ADD in the workplace. Boy, that book really helped me learn how to deal with my ADD and what I could do to help myself. I think I need to order another copy, might help me get myself more organized at work and since it seems as women get older and start having chemical changes in their bodies, ADD can get worse. At least that's what my doctor says! And I know he's right!

Odessa's own Stonehenge!

2008-08-13T19:34:00.052-05:00

As promised, our World Tour of the Permian Basin continues with pictures of Odessa's own Stonehenge on the campus of the University of Texas at the Permian Basin!

Here's a little History of Stonehenge, and some of the Geology as well as some of the Art and Architecture further down, if you can read that little bitty print. Maybe save the picture then enlarge on your computer if you like.

It's really a nice structure and I think they tried to make it look like Stonehenge does now, but of course the stones in Odessa still aren't as aged as the ones in England. This arch is probably about 20 feet tall and is just huge! I wish I had had the kids with me, that way they could have posed with it to give a little perspective on how large these stones really are.

(This view here is through where the Heel stone shadow would go during the summer solstice.)

If you look directly in the center of this picture to the right, you can see the day-glow orange of the Home Depot and I think if you look to the far left of the picture you can just make out the Golden Arches. You couldn't mistake this Stonehenge for the one in England, that's for sure!

I think this Odessa Stonehenge would have been a much better experiment for the geologists, astronomers and anthropologists if they had created it to replicate what the English Stonehenge looked like when it was just completed. Just having this big brand new "ruin" out in the middle of a field, is just kind of odd. But, enjoy the pictures anyway, and if you ever are in Odessa, go by the UTPB campus and take a look. It's still an impressive work of architecture that can be enjoyed by all for years to come.

This last picture on the bottom shows the view from the Heel Stone, where on the Summer Solstice, it's shadow will stretch across the steet, through the gateway, and end up on the altar (the brightest, lightest colored stone) in the middle.

I don't know if Druids show up here at the Summer or Winter Solstices like they do in England, but since they engineered it to do exactly the same thing here in Odessa like Stonehenge does in England, I guess if they find themselves on this side of the world at that time of year...well, ya never know!

Need a new Job or Career?

2008-08-12T12:01:00.046-05:00

Then come to wonderful, little Rankin in Upton County! Our Sheriff's Office would like a few more good men and women, our Mayor just resigned, and our Hospital District is driving out our one and only doctor. OH THE DRAMA!

Let's see, with the Sheriff's Office, the county is having a hard time matching the amount of money that the oil field companies are paying, so some of our Deputies don't stay Deputies very long. The oil field money is just too tempting! So, even if you don't want to go into law enforcement, there is lots of money to be made working for the oil companies, not just on rigs, but driving tanker trucks, supply trucks, etc., or just if you can service any type of equipment used for any of the above, then Rankin is the place for you.

Or maybe you like politics! Regarding our Mayor, well, the election was just a few months ago , so you would have thought she just wouldn't have run if she wasn't going to complete her next 4 year term. But, she did run, and her opponenent only lost by 19 votes, so now we just have a Mayor Pro Tem until they can get a new election set-up, whenever that will be.

Or maybe you work in the Medical Field? Our poor Doctor, he's one of the best doctor's I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with and because of certain people playing politics and just wanting to throw their power around, he is going to leave. He is such a good Doctor that he hasn't even officially left yet, but has already had many job offers from the surrounding communities. So, it looks like since we won't have a doctor, our hospital may end up closing, which in the end, since some of the poeple playing the politics will then be out of the job, it's going to come back and bite them in the butt. I don't think they actually thought that far in advance, but it's perfectly logical, no doctor, no hospital doctor, and no hospital=no hospital staff. So, maybe we might be accepting applications for a new doctor (hopefully not) or for new hospital staff. Personally, I think hospital staff and Administrators are a dime a dozen, GREAT Doctors are PRICELESS!

They had the Hospital Board Meeting last night regarding the above issue and my favorite station, NEWS WEST 9, was there, so they had a story about it on the news last night, with a link HERE. And for the record, our doctor is a recovering alcoholic, is monitored by the State and does EVERYTHING he is supposed to by law to maintain his license. There are probably thousands of doctors in the state who are also considered recovering alcoholics or even drug addicts and I'm sure they don't have to put up with as much in their communities as our poor doctor does here. Like I said earlier, it's just Small TOWN POLITICS!

Oh, something else-would you like to start your own business? Rankin has an Economic Development Board who would love to give out money to people to start new businesses, but I never even knew they existed until a few months ago, and I've lived here just over 3 1/2 years. Never heard of it! But, maybe that's part of why the mayor is resigning, maybe with some new blood running the town, we'll get some new ideas and maybe someone can work out some new things to get people to come to Rankin.

Speaking of new businesses, there is a farm in the upper northeast part of the county, closer to Midland actually, that is going to have a BIG fall festival. This is the debut year for Fiddlesticks Farms and I always thought that this area would be a great place for some type of Daytrip or "Weekend Getaway" spot for a lot of the people in the big cities around here and I'm so glad that someone finally read my mind! Especially now with gas so much, people are looking for places that are closer to home where they can go and have fun for a day or weekend.

Believe me, I love Rankin, and I see so much potential in my little town and it's such a shame that there are some people who are so stuck in their ways and who like to play politics that it makes it impossible for the community to prosper. If things keep going how they are, this little town will just turn into another West Texas Ghost Town, and since I've bought a house here and my kids are going to the wonderful school that's here. I don't want to see that happen!

To finish on an upbeat, I have my next ADD Dr. appointment tomorrow, so to continue my little series of Odd things out here in the middle of big fields, I'll get some pictures of Odessa's own Stone Henge! Like angie's spot mentioned in her comment on my post Midland's Own Part of China!, if you can't get to China, or England for that matter, come on out to West Texas, we've got something for everyone!

Midland's Own Part of China!

2008-08-09T20:10:00.043-05:00

In honor of the Summer Olympics in Beijing, I decided to post some pictures of something that I stumbled upon in Midland one day a few years ago. At the time I was curious as to why in the world this structure was sitting out in the middle of a big field not more than a 1/2 mile from a major freeway. So, next time I finally remembered to bring my digital camera, I took a bunch of pictures and then did a little research about it.

From what I can find out, it was a gift to the city of Midland from it's sister city Dongying in China. Now that I've seen more of China and it's architecture (especially during the cycling event today) I've really noticed how neat this little Pagoda really is, but also how shamefully vandals have treated this once beautiful little piece of China. This top picture is from the website of the Architects who designed Beal Park, where the Pagoda is located. From what I figure, the picture was taken shortly after it was installed at it's current site because it is just beautiful!

But now, the beautiful scroll work all around it along the bottom and around the base of the roof have just been practically destroyed. I am so glad that people can't reach any higher than that because it would be such a shame for something so pretty to be treated so badly.

Hopefully my pictures show how pretty the majority of the structure still is. I had heard some rumors that the City of Midland was going to either try to move it to a more secure place and refurbish it or just try to fix it up where it's at, but couldn't find anything online confirming that.

Anyway, hope you enjoy a little of our own piece of China in the middle of the flat plains of Texas!

To the left, you see my little ones posing with the Pagoda back in January of this year. In that picture and the one below you can see the damage to all that intricate woodwork on the railings and the scrollwork around the base of the roof, but the kids are sure cute!

At least the vandals haven't been able to mess with the cool detail work on the roof and inside the roof of the Pagoda! I love that gold color of the tiles and those cool dragon heads on the end. Since my decor is leaning to an Asian influence, I might have to find some paint that is close to that color for my family room. I've already painted some of my kitchen that Chinese Red color, believe me it's not as bright as you think. I've got white cabinets and white appliances, so there really isn't much red in there!

And this shows the beautiful paintings that are all around the Pagoda and the minute little details, even going so far as to imprint symbols into the ends of the ceramic tiles on the roof. Just amazing how much artistry is just being allowed to waste away. I might just have to try to do something about it.

Hmm....
that's an idea!

Well, till next time, enjoy the pictures and the Olympics. Have to say "WAY TO GO MICHAEL PHELPS! Just won his first Gold Medal at these Olympic Games, and "Good Luck!" to all of our Olympians!

Friday! And all kinds of Stuff!

2008-08-08T09:24:00.022-05:00

Friday's finally here! Yea! What a crazy week, just been busy, busy, busy! But now the boss is out taking care of family, and I get a minute to relax. Then, I've got to get busy, busy, busy, again cause I just have SO MUCH work to do. I'll probably end up coming up here this weekend, when it's quiet, no interuptions, no phone ringing, and I can finally get a lot of work done.

But on with the rest of my news! First got to shout out-HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER! I feel awful cause I think I missed it on Tuesday, or is his birthday today? Oh, I must be getting old, my mind's just hasn't been all here this week. Had busy work day on Tuesday and got LOTS of paperwork to enter into my computer system and then file it all away. Mainly, it's the entering into my computer that takes so long. It's nice to have it in there, cause if someone calls about something, I can just look it up on my computer, instead of having to go pull the folder. But, it's almost double work, can't just put it in the folder and file it away. Then, I wouldn't have all these piles on my desk!

Oh, well, at least there is the Olympic Opening Ceremony to look forward to tonight! I've always loved the Olympics and when I was a little girl, I'd watch figure skating and would try to do all the jumps and spins in socks on my parents linoleum floor, thank goodness I never broke any bones or anything else around me! In the summer, I'd go swimming and pretend to be a freestyle competitor and go as fast as I could. Or, since I would ride my bike to the pool, I'd ride as fast as I could and try to get there in a shorter amount of time then the day before. Oh, and now they have the biking around this cool track, at least I hope it's an event this year. In Frisco, Texas, they built a wonderful biking facility and if I hadn't already been married, with 2 kids, and the baby fat still firmly in place on me, I would have loved to check all that out.

But, I think I mentioned I bought me a new bike, it's so pretty! Here's a picture of it! I got it from WalMart and it's just a plain old fashioned cruiser bike, no gears to shift, no hand brakes, just a cute old fashioned fun bike. I've decided that since the kids both have bikes too, in the morning, we'll ride to the sitters (only 2 blocks and 1 house away). I'll drop them off there, then I ride on to work (only about 10 more blocks away, not very far), but the hill to get up to the Courthouse-that's the kicker! I made it about 1/2 way up today, which is my first day riding my bike to work, and ended up having to get off and walk with it about 1/2 a block till it evened out. Then got back on and there I was at work. So, 2 good things, not using gas and putting more wear and tear on my car and I'm getting some good exercise at the same time. A big Win-Win if you ask me!

Oh and one more thing, Mabunny, I've got your spa goodies that you won for the NAME THAT MOVIE! contest and I'll try to get them in the mail Monday, like I said earlier, rode bike to work, couldn't carry my stuff, kids stuff, my lunch, and the box with all your goodies in the basket I added on front, and the post office is closed on Saturday, so, I'll send it out on Monday. Whew! Think that's it, until next time!

And the Winner Is...

2008-08-03T14:59:00.004-05:00

Mabunny from Ables Antics has won my first NAME THAT MOVIE! contest and a prize package of Simply Be Well bath goodies! Congratulations and I'll get with you soon about which products you want!

Here's the list of songs I had on My Soundtrack, see if some of them take you down memory lane to maybe a first date or a night out with the girls!

Loved by the Sun - Legend (with a very young Tom Cruise)
As the World Falls Down - Labyrinth
Footloose - Footloose (that's a gimme)
The Time Warp - Rocky Horror Picture Show
Danger Zone - Top Gun
Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron - Spirit .....
Hot Patootie Bless My Soul - Rocky Horror Picture Show
Come What May - Moulin Rouge
Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman - Don Juan de Marco
Elephant Love Medley - Moulin Rouge
Mamma Mia - Mamma Mia (another gimme)
Rainbow Connection - The Muppet Movie
One Day I'll Fly Away - Moulin Rouge
If You Leave - Pretty in Pink
You've Lost That Loving Feeling - Top Gun
XFiles - XFiles (freebie #3)
Into the West - Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
May it Be - Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Until - Kate & Leopold
Evenstar - Lord of the Rings: Two Towers
Big Empty - The Crow
Love Song for a Vampire - Bram Stoker's Dracula
Ever Ever After - Enchanted
Forever May Not Be Long Enough - The Mummy II
My Heart Will Go On - Titanic
Exile - L. A. Story
Hymn to the Sea - Titanic
Angel - City of Angels
Real Gone - Cars
The Best of Both Worlds - Hannah Montana: The Best of Both Worlds
Don't You Forget About Me - Breakfast Club
We're All In This Together - High School Musical
American Woman - Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

Well, I hope you had fun listening to some of my favorite songs from some of my favorite movies. Come back again later this month and enter my next NAME THAT MOVIE! contest. This month's prize is a set of 2 Pear Flat Candle Co. hand poured, wonderfully scented Made in Texas Candles. I'll get a list of scents from the saleslady and post that later this week. That way you can start daydreaming about maybe, Texas Sage Flower or Bluebonnets or, if you're like me, Leather. Believe me, it smells like walking into a Western Wear store!

So, congratulations again to Mabunny and once she let's me know what this month's theme will be, I'll get started and put some new music on My Soundtrack!

New site about AD/HD..

2008-08-01T12:35:00.006-05:00

Well, I haven't touched on it in a while, but I went back and looked at some of my first blogs and realized, I haven't really mentioned my ADD in a while, but I guess I haven't mentioned it lately, because it's really been controlled very well with the medications my doctor has prescribed for me. So, I decided to find one of the lists of symptoms of ADHD in adults that I used to to check my symptoms when I first decided I needed to see a doctor because I just couldn't keep it all together. So, I found it again and here it is Symptoms of ADHD in Adults.

When I first looked this list over, I couldn't believe that I had had these symptoms my whole life and never realized what it was. I was never a "normal" person, and I knew it! I wasn't dumb, I didn't mean to be forgetful, not pay attention, or stay up past midnight reading. I just couldn't really help it! Same with the impulsiveness, how impulsive is going to get a tattoo with your big sister! I had thought about it for a while, but one afternoon we just did it.

It was eye opening for me and maybe it will for you. You may not have ADHD, but maybe if you read the symptoms, you might recogonize someone you know in those words and maybe it will help you to deal with that person and understand them a little better.

Now on to my NAME THAT MOVIE! last hint, this is for 3 of the songs, so here goes. These songs are from a recent non-animated musical that takes place in the City of Lights, at a very famous place of entertainment, that has something to do with a Windmill on it. The actual location in that city has had a resurgence of sorts because of the popularity of the movie, and now draws tourists in droves!

So, this is your last chance to enter, get those guesses in and I'll be doing the judging tomorrow arfternoon. Good Luck!

Simply Be Well!

2008-07-31T12:37:00.019-05:00

As you can tell from the picture, I just bought, for myself, some of the Simply Be Well Bath goodies I'm giving away as the prize for my NAME THAT MOVIE! contest, and boy are they awesome! I bought the Pomegranate Body Butter and Body Wash, a fragrance free Moisturizing Body Bar for my hubbie, as well as some Lavender Vanilla Lip Balm and finally a bottle of Rosemary Mint Moisturizing Hand Wash.

I'm really glad I bought the Hand Wash, because after I brought my stuff in the house during my lunch hour, with my kitties right behind me for their lunch too, I started smelling something not so sweet. So as I went from cat to cat, sniffing them each in turn, I finally found the culprit and carried her by the scruff of the neck, back outside. Seems like Nipper has a thing for playing with skunks. Now she didn't REALLY smell like she was actually sprayed, just like she went over for a visit. The two of them probably had a cat to polecat chat for a while and then she came back home. Kind of like when you go to visit someone who smokes and when you leave, you end up smelling like you did too, that sort of thing.

Anyway, Rosemary is supposed to cut the smell of a skunk when you either put some of the essential oil into some shampoo, or use something already made with it, like my new Rosemary Mint Hand Wash! Happy coincidence there! And when I washed her a bit ago, only a faint trace of skunk stink was left.

Thank Goodness!

Oh, and I've found the next items for next months contest, some wonderful Texan made candles! The name of the company is Pear Flat Candle Co., they are Made in Texas, and have wonderful Texas scents. I just bought the "leather" one, OMG, I had burned it for only 15 minutes and I swear it smelled like I had just walked into Bag and Baggage. I used to work at a mall and every time I went to lunch I'd walk down to the food court, but I'd walk real slow past that store and just take a big whiff of that wonderful leather smell! I'll post a list of some of the scents before I start next months NAME THAT MOVIE! contest so that everyone who enters can start daydreaming about the TWO candle jars they will get to pick out if they win!

Keep those answers coming for my NAME THAT MOVIE! contest, and good luck!

Question on NAME THAT MOVIE! contest

2008-07-31T06:13:00.005-05:00

First, let me say thanks to everyone who's visited , hope you've enjoyed some of my favorite movie songs and I hope you enter my NAME THAT MOVIE! contest. I've got a great box full of Organic spa goodies for whoever gets the most song = movie match-ups!

All ya have to do is listen to the songs on my playlist and just guess what movie the song is from. Say ya hear "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins and think, oh yeah, Footloose the movie. So, there's answer number 1. Then perhaps you saw Mamma Mia this weekend and hear Meryle Streep belting out the tune and say, I know that one too! Or maybe you hear "Let's do the Timewarp" and say, Oh I saw the clip for that on Mabunny's site when she posted something about, um, virgins (not what you think, the link will take you right to that post), so, that makes answer number 3.

Now to enter, just send me a comment with something like;
Footloose = Footloose
Mamma Mia = Mamma Mia
Timewarp = ???? , etc.

To listen to a lot of songs, just minimize my blog while continuing to do your things and it'll keep playing! I always have to have some type music going on while I work, part of my Attention Defecit Disorder, but that's how I came up with the NAME THAT MOVIE! contest. Actually Playlist is a cool site, I log in to my playlist in the morning, pop it out to my MediaPlayer, and it will play my music all day from there. That way I don't have to be online all day and even better-IT'S FREE!

Well, on to some more hints, let's see, OH here's a good one, 2 of the 3 famous actors I mentioned in my previous post, have been in several of the movies on my list, with one movie that they were both in, for a total of 4 of the movies on my list. And since I've given y'all 3 answers already in this one little post. That's it for today!

So, good luck, keep those answers coming!

A Big Thank You and More Hints...

2008-07-29T18:39:00.005-05:00

First I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to Mabunny over at AblesAntics for my first blogger award! It's just too cute and since you know I'm a big Disney fan, I absolutely love the picture and of course thank you for such a sweet comment to go with it. Made my day! Thank you!

So, here's my first award to share with everyone, along with Mabunny's quote:

To Nikki-my dear , sweet, loving BFF. and since it shows Mickey/Minnie walking and holding hands like friends, I think its pretty self explanatory. And yes, a post will be coming soon detailing our 20+ yrs of friendship.

And since this award shows some characters from Disney, I guess my next NAME THAT MOVIE! hint is in regards to a recent movie from that company with it's song being sung by an artist who was critiqued by a cranky Brit. That should be enough for that hint and if you haven't seen the movie, it's really cute and my 6 year old daughter loves it!

Staying with the Disney theme, the company that created this next NAME THAT MOVIE! was bought by Disney several years ago, but this movie was made long before that transaction took place. And for an extra little hint, I guess I can also mention that this was the first movie for the singer of this song even though said singer had been doing Public Television for many years before that.

Now, put those thinking caps on and get those comments in, if you only know a few of them at this point, go ahead and send in your comment and if you think of some more after you see a few more hints, send those in too and I'll add them all up on Sunday to get your total.

Don't forget, the person with the most correct answers is going to get a bunch of cool, Organic Bath goodies in either Natural (which would be good for guys) or Pomegranate scent. You will get several different spa quality items, I'll have to go look again for specific names, but I know that Teddy J's had things like body butter, lip balm, bath bubbles etc. all that good stuff. I think I'll have to buy some for myself tomorrow and post some pictures of what I buy so y'all will have a better idea of the treat that you will be in for if you win!

Oh and one more thing, the winner of this contest, will get to pick a theme for the next contest! The next contest will start on Saturday, August 30th and run through the next Saturday, with judging taking place on Sunday September 2nd. Ideas for themes are movies like Chic Flicks, Sci-fi, Animated, Oscar Award Winning, Musicals, or maybe have one famous star in common, like Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner, Meg Ryan, or something like that. I love to research stuff, and it would just be fun! So, send those answers and Good Luck!

Here's a couple of hints....and fond farewells.

2008-07-28T19:36:00.010-05:00

Hints first for my NAME THAT MOVIE! contest. First, we all know Bryan Adams creates great songs for some awesome movies. So, only goes to show that of course he shows up twice on my list. And for one of them, well, if you look at the playlist, you'll see what it's from, has something to do with horses. The other is a little harder, but here's the hint-the lead actor in this movie, from many years ago, has recently had a lot of practice parading around as a 1/2 drunk, but brilliant pirate.

And for your second clue, that 1/2 drunk pirate, ran around with someone else on the pirate ship who previously performed in 3 other movies that have several songs on my playlist, too. When you send me your answers, make sure you're very clear as to which specific movie of the trilogy the song went with. Those in the know will know what I'm talking about.

So far, Mabunny is in the lead with 13 right out of 14 answers, sorry, but you didn't get that REALLY, REALLY, REALLY tough one my hubbie came up with. He was the one with that soundtrack, if that gives you a hint. ;)

To enter, go to my NAME THAT MOVIE! post and enter your answers in a comment. I'll keep moderating those comments and reply to you and let you know how you're doing. The contest ends on Saturday, August 2nd, and all comments will be posted on Sunday. My Sunday post will also announce the winner! The prize will be a gift pack of organic bath spa goodies, in either a Natural scent for those with sensitive skin, or fruit juicy Pomegranate (those plants are EVERYWHERE out here, must of been a Johnny Pomegranate instead of Appleseed who came through Rankin).

Now on to other matters-MY NEPHEW IS GOING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS-YEAH! OK, just had to get that out, I'm so excited for him, he is going to do so well there. GOOD LUCK JUSTIN AND CONGRATULATIONS!

I do have to confess though, I've been borrowing one of his graduation presents for a little while before I send it to him, so I could read it. Now I'm really glad I did because-and I'm going to spill the beans on this part, but I'll keep my nephew wondering on the rest of his present-I got all the graduates on my list The Last Lecture and now Professor Randy Pausch has died. His book is awesome and I feel privileged that I can pass this information on to the next generation and I hope that it will inspire those who have received and will receive this book.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and students, as well as with all of those whose lives he touched with his wonderful works and accomplishments, even while he faced his own tragic future of terminal pancreatic cancer. Thank you Professor Pausch for showing us how to live!

Another contest...

2008-07-27T18:32:00.000-05:00

But not mine, check out the adorable pink and leopard print button to the right of my blog entries and you'll see the logo for the ladies at The Secret Is In The Sauce who are having a last Six Weeks of Summer contest for an Apple Nano. Those things are so cool! What would I do if I could down load 1000 songs? Wow, the possibilities are endless!

Of course, I'd have to download all my Playlist songs. Oh and how are you doing on figuring out some of those movies? Yeah, I know some are pretty easy, but I hope I have ya stumped on some of those older ones where the movie, at the time, was considered a flop. Now, though, a few of those flops are cult favorites, kind of like the movie mentioned by my BFF over at Ables Antics. Now if that's not a big hint, don't know what is!

I know, I've been shamelessly plugging other blogs, but just need to plug one more, my hubbies over at Anime and Manga Toons. He's just starting out in the blogging world, so give him all the support and comments you can. His blog's all about Anime etc., so some of you ladies might pass the info. on to your spouses, brothers, boyfriends or significant other who might enjoy reading and yaking about all those cool animated shows.

I remember watching Voltron in the afternoons after school and then my best friend Chris and I would act out what happened later. He was usually the bad guy, and all the other male Voltron cast members, and I was the girl who seemed to always get in trouble, like getting kidnapped, trapped somewhere, etc.

Well, better get going, keep working on those movie titles and I'll give more hints to them and to what all will be included in your West Texas prize package later this week! Got to go visit our different shops that carry cool locally made things, like candles, soaps and the cool wind chimes, rings and other jewelry my neighbor makes. So, until next time, keep those comments coming!

NAME THAT MOVIE! contest

2008-07-27T13:06:00.001-05:00

Well, as you can hear (if you have speakers on your computer) I have a new playlist of songs! I've actually started 2 different play lists, but the one on right now is all actually Soundtrack Songs. So, for a little contest, let's play NAME THAT MOVIE!

Now some of the songs are very famous and kind of gimmes, but if you can figure out some of the really obscure songs, then you really know your movies! Leave a post with the Name of the Song and the Title of the Movie in my comments and I will review all the comments on Sunday (I've hidden them for now, so there will be no peaking at other peoples answers). Whoever has the most correct answers-WINS! If there is a tie, I'll have my husband be Judge on who correctly identified the most of the Obscure Movies. The contest ends Saturday, and I'll review the comments and post the WINNER, and what all they've won, along with a list of the songs and the movies they go with.

The winner will get a box full of West Texas Goodies, I'll work on rounding them up this week. Maybe it'll be an original work of wearable art from my neighbor, or maybe a gift box full of Texas themed spa goodies. Hmm, I'll have to get looking, we've got all kinds of neat things out here!

So, try to figure out the songs without scanning through my playlist and start guessing! Have fun and enjoy!

The clips are there!

2008-07-24T13:08:00.000-05:00

Yea! They finally got the clips on the News West 9 site, so everyone check my previous entry for the website and go to UNDER WEST TEXAS SKIES and there are all the clips for my little town of Rankin. Especially check out the "Ice Cream Contest" and "Ice Cream Contest Winner" since my son won! His little sister was just to his right during the contest and you can just make her out trying to spoon into that wonderful Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.

Now if you don't get Blue Bell in your town, I'm so, so , so, sorry. Good thing you don't know what you're missing cause it is the absolute best commercial Ice Cream you can buy. Now, it's not as good as my Dad's blue ribbon winning homemade ice cream (mentioned in a previous blog about Barbados) but it's the next best thing. Right now I'm daydreaming about the 1/2 gallon of the new Candy Jar flavor I have in my freezer. I bought it yesterday morning, but since I got to have my son's leftovers after the contest, I didn't get to try it, but it's getting dug into tonight.

The one bad thing about living in a town that's over 1/2 an hour away from the rest of civilization-your ice cream melts on the way home, but we are blessed that Blue Bell is carried at our local Rankin Drive In. And Judy will ask the delivery person for a specific flavor for you if you have a craving for it. That's how I got my Candy Jar flavor. I saw her Monday evening, the Blue Bell truck comes on Tuesday and I had my new treat Wednesday morning. Works for us! Can't wait, getting hungry just thinking about it!

Under West Texas Skies!

2008-07-23T19:35:00.000-05:00

Well, we had a lot of fun at the Under West Texas Skies shindig thing, but Nathan had the most by winning the ice cream eating contest! So, I just checked and they haven't put his interview up there yet, but they are probably not even back at their studio yet. Takes about an hour to get to Midland from here, and since they hadn't left when we did (which was about 7pm), unless they drive like maniacs, they probably aren't there by now. But here is the link where they should add Nathan's interview: News West 9 (and Mom as you can tell Nathan's shirt fits and comes in handy when you see him in the background of other interviews).

If there is an interview with a guy about a corn patch maze etc., if you look real close behind them, you see a woman with auburn hair, a brown sleeveless shirt and a litttle tattoo on her right shoulder, you have really good eyes and you're looking at me! We bought some of his popcorn and its really good, don't know why he says something about mushroom corn, tastes like old fashioned kettle corn to me! Maybe I just haven't eaten enough yet to get the full effect ;)) lol

We didn't get the full 6pm news, our satellite lost their signal, so didn't get to see what all they showed, but FYI Sonya is wearing a pink sundress and a hot pink headband and was mostly playing on the big slide during the 6pm news and I saw the camera pan her way a few times. So, she might be there. Nathan is easy to see in his white and red stripe shirt with the black doodles all over it (Nathan loves it by the way mom!) William is wearing his usual drab black shirt with jeans and he was sitting most of the time with his broke foot propped up on something. Might get glimpses of us here and there.

Some of the interviews I saw of people I know are: Donna Bell and the Rankin Museum, Abel Armendarez and Frank Abalos about the train depot, Dot Sullivan and her dolls (I was right behind her booth when they did her interview so I might be seen there) and Don Bell with Tricia Bells Chimes, they are my across the street neighbors, so when I went to buy a set of his chimes, I got the neighbor discount. I also know the winner of the Ugliest Dog, poor little Mack the scotty hasn't been to the doggie stylist in a while, so Glenda decided to enter him, and sure enough he won. She said she's getting him an appointment as soon as she can cause he's really a cute little dog normally.

All in all, it was pretty cool having all the newspeople there running around, some were kind of snooty, but most of them were pretty cool and down to earth. And they kept saying just how friendly everyone was and how it seemed like a great place to raise a family or to retire after your done raising them! So, after I get the camera all hooked up and am not quite so tuckered out, I'll download the pictures I took and put them on here for everyone to see!

Till, next time!

My baby girl's Birthday!

2008-07-23T08:56:00.000-05:00

My Sonya is 6 today! Can't believe it, she's getting so big and tall! And now that she's lost that 2nd bottom tooth, she looks so cute! Well, she was just absolutely adorable before, but she's even cuter missing those 2 front teeth.

Yesterday I sent an email to our local channel 2 news telling them that today was Sonya's birthday and I attached a picture. They have a little segment at the end of their program announcing people's birthday, if you email the info to them in time. So, I kept it on channel 2 and was nonchalantly ironing when they got ready to announce birthday's and guess who was first, my little baby. The young weather guy even said what a cute picture. So, here's the picture and I'll try to poke around online when I get a chance and try to see if they have the segment on their site and I can add a link or something. (Need to get with Mabunny at AblesAntics and ask how she gets the videos on her blog.)

Sonya was so surprised! She just gasped and said "IT'S ME!" and then just started bouncing about the room she was so excited. I had set up our satellite thing to record the program, that way Daddy will be able to see her little Happy Birthday wish from the News Station.

Nathan is hoping to get on the news tonight for News West 9's Under West Texas Skies program that they are having here in Rankin this afternoon. They are going to broadcast their 5pm and 6pm news from Rankin and they have all kinds of things for families and kids. Nathan wants to win the hot dog eating contest, and if he does, they'll interview him on the news. So, maybe I'll have both kids on the news on the same day, that'd be cool!

Here's a link to News West 9 who is doing the program and they have all kinds of little clips up and interviews about the towns they have visited, usually they put them up shortly after they do the program. I'll let everyone know if they put anything up with one of the kids or someone I'm acquainted with. that way everyone can get to know my new little town.

2008-07-15T12:41:00.000-05:00

July 4th and Beyond...

We had a great 4th of July hope everyone else did too! Since the 4th is the day that my son came home from the hospital, it's kind of like a second birthday around our house, so we went to the Big Sky Drive-In in Midland to celebrate. This one is actually only a few years old and I had heard great things about it, so off we went Friday evening to see Wall-E and Kung-Fu Panda. It was as fun as I remembered!

We took a couple of boom boxes, stocked them full of new batteries since this theater broadcasts the soundtracks over the radio and parked right up front because right below the screen is a large playground for the kids. After we got parked, left hubbie to unload the chairs etc., and the kids and I hit the snack bar. Well, it's not just a snack bar, it's actually more of a diner, with burgers, fries, and all that kind of good stuff. And it's a heck of a lot cheaper then the regular theater.

So, after we got our goodies, we went back to the car and settled in to watch the movies. Sonya and Nathan wanted to play at the play ground, so off they went, but since I had bought them some little light up necklace things at the snack bar, I could see their little flashing lights running around after it started to get dark, so no worries there.

Wall-E is AWESOME, everyone needs to go see it. It was just so much cooler to see it at the drive in, since so much of it takes place in space, it was cool seeing the wide open Texas night sky behind the screen. We even saw shooting stars go by. Oh, and since the theater is only a few miles from the local Minor league Baseball team's Ballpark, they had fireworks after the game and we got to see them just a little to the left of the screen. Our little town usually lets people shoot off fireworks in the big high school parking lot under the watchful eye of our volunteer fire department, but it's been to dry, so those were the only fireworks we got to see this year.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening, too bad Saturday didn't end up as nice for William. I had gone back to Midland to do all the big shopping and William called and asked me to pick up an Ace bandage for him for his ankle. He said he had stepped onto the steps heading to the carport, turned to shut the door and heard a pop and when he put his right foot down on the next step, major pain shot through it.

Well, he thought he just strained or sprained it and if he put the wrap on it,he'd be fine. Well, since he was b****ing and moaning so much about it Sunday morning, I told him to go the the hospital and have it looked at, sure enough, he broke his foot. The doctor is probably late 50 something and been in practice for a long time and he said he had never seen a break like it. From their description, a piece of bone popped out of the other part. Maybe kind of like a piece of a knot hole popping out of a piece of lumber. That's how I imagine it to be, I didn't get to see the x-ray, just going by what hubbie told me.

So, that was the 6th, and he tried to go back to work on the 10th, but said it hurt to much and hasn't been back since. I took him to his follow up appointment yesterday and the Dr. said, well, only thing is to try an orthopedic dr. and maybe go that route to help the pain, but couldn't get hubbie in until 2-3 weeks from now. So, he's still at home. No appointment with another dr. and he's about to run out of sick and vacation time.

Maybe I'll get a part-time job at the local convenience store, not just for the money, but cause he's driving me NUTS! Men are the worst patients!

Well, it's been a while...

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

I'm sorry I haven't been posting as often as I should, it's been rather crazy out here. Kids out of school, trying to keep my garden growing, new appliances, oh goodness where to begin!

Let's see, guess I'll start with Barbados! For those not around these parts (which means pretty much everyone), Rankin has a Barbados Cookoff every year the Friday and Saturday before Memorial Day. It's a lot of fun, kind of like one BIG outdoor grill festival. There's stuff for the kids to do and parents usually spend most of their time visiting and cooking. There are usually about a dozen different types of cook-offs, from brisket, chicken and of course barbados, to bread and ice cream. I talk about them last because 2 years ago, my hubbie won First Place in the Ice Cream catagory (using my Dad's recipe which all of us in the family all knew was the best, now everyone knows it's the best) and last year I won First Place in the Bread category for my homemade Cinnamon Rolls (you take for granted your family telling you they're good, non-family saying they're good is something else!).

The kids had fun running around and eating junk food and they were even in the little Miss and Mr. Barbados contest. What's nice is that all the kids get participant trophies and then the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place kids get bigger trophies! There are so many little girls in Sonya's age group, she only got one trophy, while Nathan got 3rd place out of the 4 boys in his group.

Here's one picture from Barbado:

Aren't they cute! This is before they got all dirty and dusty from running around everywhere!

What else been going on, oh yes, boy my kids seem to be losing teeth left and right. Nathan has lost 3 since he got out of school, and my Baby lost her first tooth just a couple weeks ago. I'll have to download the picture I took of her from the camera and post it later. She was actually scared to go to bed that night cause she lost her tooth while at the sitters and then actually lost it and couldn't find it. So, she thought the tooth fairy was going to be mad at her and not bring her anything. But we told her the tooth fairy always knows where lost teeth are and she knows who they belong to so she didn't need to worry. She was still a little apprehensive, but when she saw her money in the morning, she LOVED the tooth fairy.

I also did my Patriotic duty and spent my Economic Stimulus Check by buying some new appliances. Rex Appliances offers package deals on Kitchen appliances, so I got a new fridge, range, dishwasher and over-the-range microwave. My dishwasher went capute within a month after we moved into the house, so we've been handwashing dishes for the last 2 years and the oven in my range died a few weeks ago, so I really needed a new one since I love to bake (eg. prize winning cinnamon rolls).

So, needless to say, we found out our kitchen wiring was probably put in by the 3 Stooges, it's so weird, but after lots of cursing etc. from my hubbie and his brother, there is only the microwave left to install. Got to go get a few more parts from Lowe's this weekend and maybe it will all be done. It's so wonderful to have nice, matching appliances, but it makes the rest of my kitchen look a little shabby, but I think some nice bright white paint on the cabinets and trim, maybe some new handles on the cabinet doors and new pulls on the drawers to match will make things look much better. Hmm, maybe I could just do new doors on the cabinets, a nice wine rack in that odd corner by the fridge, not that I drink it, but don't know what else could go there. Maybe make it into a cookbook nook or something, it's just an odd corner in an oddly designed kitchen. Like I said, think the 3 Stooges had a hand in it's design. Oh well, just a few ideas for when I have some spare time and money someday.
________________________________________________

Part 2...

Today at work, we had our Fourth of July Feast. We try to have some type of potluck lunch at each of the main holidays and so, since probably 1/2 of the people who work in the building will be taking off at least 1/2, if not all of tomorrow, we had our feast today and I made my mother's (and her mother's and probably her mother's) recipe for Potato Salad. When Nathan wanted a taste last night I practically had to tear the little bowl away from him so I could get at least one bite, he liked it that much. And when I went back down to get some desert, all the ladies were just oohing and aahing over how good it was. Like my Dad's ice cream, always knew it was good, just nice to have a little extra proof!

I'm also a little melancholy about the Fourth of July, that was the day my son came home from the hospital 11 years ago. He was born on June 25, 1997 at 9:04am by emergency c-section. He had breathing problems from the start. When they pried him out of me, he didn't cry. Scared me 1/2 to death, but then he squealed a bit and then he coughed, he would then kind of cry and then cough again. I knew there was a problem, but they didn't tell me until I was in recovery. His little lungs just hadn't quite developed yet and he was going to have to take CareFlite to a Fort Worth hospital NICU ward.

Only parents who have gone through that can understand the complex emotional impact that type of situation has on you. The wonderful birthing experience you had anticipated just goes out the window and you just live from moment to moment, waiting to hear if they got the breathing tube in, if the helicopter is there yet, if the helicopter arrived at the other hospital safely, what the specialist at that hospital thinks, etc. etc. You don't even stop to think about yourself and your own recovery from the c-section. You just want to hurry and get well enough to get to the other hospital so you can finally hold your little baby boy.

(Couldn't write this earlier, but wanted to add it now to help ya'll understand a little more about what happened that day. After they finally got his breathing tube in and had to give him a tranquilizer to keep him from pulling it out {to this day he has some scar tissue in his esophagus from the ordeal}, the Careflite crew brought him to my room in this huge incubator and told me where they were going, what was going to happen etc. He was just laying in there, all spread-eagle with tubes everywhere. Since I was still recovering from the c-section just a few hours ago, I couldn't move, sit up, hardly anything to get closer to him and my tears just started falling. I think the onboard nurse realized I hadn't even so much as touched my child and she asked if I would like to. Of course I said yes, and it took some maneuvering of me, my bed, the incubator and pretty much everything else in the room, but I was finally able to put my hand into the little hole on the side and put my finger in my son's little hand and feel his strong grip. To this day, when I think of that moment, I start tearing up, fighting them even now. Like I said, if you don't go through it, it's hard to understand, but maybe this might help.)

I finally got to hold him 5 days after he was born and two days after I was released from the hospital where I was at. After he was off the ventilator and on regular air, eating well and all that good stuff, he finally got to come home on the Fourth of July. Boy, my husband and I remember that night, crazy apartment neighbors were shooting off illegal fireworks, firecrackers, all that stuff, and it kept waking Nathan and us up. Think my husband got on a first name basis with the 911 operator trying to report all the bangs going off around us!

Well, this year should be much better! We're going to go watch Wall-E at the local Big Sky Drive-in Theater. With tickets being only $6 per person and kids under 5 free, and lots of good food, it should be much better than the $8.75 per person and $4 for a small coke at the regular movie theater. Can't wait! They'll even announce his birthday for us. Since we only got to do the cake and present thing on his actual birthday this year, this is his actual BIG treat. We couldn't do anything until this weekend cause his Daddy had to work last weekend, but he's off on Friday and so am I, so we should have fun! I'll have to let everyone know how it goes!

Sorry!

2008-06-16T08:47:00.001-05:00

I'm so sorry I haven't done any blogging lately, been so busy. I'll have to try and explain everying in later posts.

Regarding the election, etc.

2008-04-17T19:35:00.001-05:00

Well, my co-worker lost the election, by only 18 votes. Boy, it's been rough, on her and us too. Starting January 1, 2009, we will have a new boss who doesn't know what all our office does. I mean, the one who won, I'll start calling her soon-to-be boss or stb for short, knows some of what we do, but it's only one small piece of the whole pie. Our office does so much more that she has no clue about. And that's where my co-worker would have had an advantage. She doesn't know exactly every little detail about everything our boss does, but she is familiar with it and it wouldn't be quite as hard for her to learn the fine details. Whereas, with stb, she has no idea and is going to be learning from scratch.

Lately my job has been tough enough. I've seen more civil and tax suits filed this year than I did in probably all of last year. So, it's going to be a rough year that way. And criminal, well, I think we are done with the jury trials, so maybe at least that stuff will calm down. So, needless to say, I am not looking forward to next year when me and my co-workers are going to be having to help train our new boss.

But still, I just know that right now I'm very glad I am here and not in Tom Green or Schlechter (think that's right) Counties. They are the ones dealing with all the CPS cases from the El Dorado compound raid. Oh, those poor clerks and deputy clerks! I was gripping cause we had about 8 CPS case going on, but those poor, poor, poor, clerks having to deal with hundreds of cases and hundreds of different attorney's! Man, just having to make copies of paperwork for the all different attorneys is going to kill their budget for the year! I'm sure the state will help, but still, poor, poor, poor, poor, clerks.

One interesting note, there was an interview I saw with an attorney who is going to be appointed to one, or possibly more, of the children and I said "Hey, I know her!" She had just been in district court last month with a real messy divorce with child support. The child involved is severely disabled and is going to need assistance for the rest of her life. If the attorneys involved had been anyone other than the 2 women they were, that divorce could have gone on for years, but both of those women only had the childs best interests at heart and did what was best for her. I had even seen the attorney who was doing the interview actually gripe out her own client because he couldn't stop mouthing off about how HE was going to make sure HE took those health and safety classes he's supposed to so HE can get visitation like he's supposed to etc. etc. It was actually very refreshing to see an attorney who was trying to do the right thing for the right person for the right reasons. Don't see that too much in my line of work. So, I'm sure she is going to do a wonderful job for whomever she gets appointed to, just hope all of those attorneys are as noble as she seems to be.

Well, better get going for now. My dear hubbie just put together his Happy Anniversary to himself present, well, he had told me he wanted it and told me he saw it on eBay, but when I finally told him he could order it, he said he already did. So, he is the proud owner of a large 6" refraction telescope, whatever that means. All I know about telescopes is you look in one end and you can see really closely whatever the other end is pointed at. I'm sure I'll be learning a lot more about them in the coming weeks. As soon as the wind isn't blowing so hard that it blows everything over.

So, heads up to my friends and family in the DFW area, lots of wind blowing that way, so that means lots of storms for you. Take care out there!

Til later!

Sick child and more...

2008-04-05T20:57:00.000-05:00

Let's see, I think it was Wednesday when Sonya came home from school and said her ear hurt. Oh no! I thought, that time of year again. She has the same seasonal allergy problems as I had at her age. So, next morning, gave her some motrin and sent her to school, but went ahead and made an appointment for her at the Dr. About an hour later, the school called and said Sonya was saying her ear and her tummy hurt. I talked to them and Sonya, and since she wasn't running fever and Sonya said she would, she stayed at school. But her Daddy had planned on taking her to her Dr's appointment, so he picked her up early anyway.
And it wasn't just an ear infection, but her tummy ache was actually a bladder infection. She's always seemed to have a tiny bladder and I had noticed her running to the bathroom more the day or two before, but didn't put 2 and 2 together. But, she is on antibiotics and lots of cranberry juice and is doing MUCH, MUCH better!
Now, what else? Oh yeah, William took off on Friday to stay with her and I asked if he would dig a few holes around the yard for some plants I had bought last weekend. I had shown him where I was going to put them the day after we bought them and I thought, ok, if he just digs the holes, I'll come back and put in the good dirt I bought and plant them over the weekend.
Well, I called him later on Friday, and not only had he dug the holes, but he said he planted the plants too!
Uh Oh! I know him too well and knew this wasn't going to be good, and Saturday morning (we had gone straight to town after I got off work and it was dark when we got back, so didn't see what he did until daylight) I realized he was quite a bit off. I wanted one plant on each side of 2 gates that we have, he planted 2 plants on each side of one gate. So, today I've been digging holes on either side of the other gate, digging up the plants, filling holes there and then re-planting the plants on the other side of the yard. I hope they survive the move!
And I have a new toy! Something I've seen on DIY Network, my new favorite channel, and that William and I had a big argument about in the middle of Cracker Barrel on Friday night. I was trying to get our Lowe's list together and trying to explain about this tool I wanted to buy to cut down the big ugly bushes in the front yard. He said something along the lines of "No way those people (on HGTV and DIY) know anything about landscaping and home improvement and you have to use this blah, blah, blah, something or other thingy and you're idea is all wrong and I know everything so just forget about trying to find whatever that thing is you want."
Well, that didn't sit well with me at all, so we spent most of the meal in silence as to not cause a scene. And to top it off, we didn't get our bread until we finally asked for it, then it was stale and crunchy, then when I got my dinner, my fish was WAY over cooked and like chewing on fish jerky, so I was not very happy.
Until I got to Lowe's and found what William said didn't exist, what wouldn't work for pruning etc. I loved being able to show him right on the box of my new Powered Handsaw where it said it was PERFECT FOR PRUNING! And then this afternoon after I did some trimming, he got to play with it and chop down our biggest ugliest bush in about 45 minutes what would have taken all day with what he had in mind. HA!
Well, that's enough for now, I'll be planting my last few plants in the back yard tomorrow, then just trying to clean up the bush mess.
More, later!

Only in my tiny town...

2008-03-31T21:49:00.000-05:00

Could you drive by the Courthouse, which is in Downtown mind you, and see 6 deer eating on the front lawn. Heck, out here you almost don't have to even mow for the first few months of spring. The deer take care of it for you! Well, almost. I did go out one evening, before sunset, to take the trash out and in the lot next to my house were 9, count them, 9 deer. Boy, that was a surprise, for me and the deer.

We just kind of stood there looking at each other, then when they realized I didn't have a shotgun, they just went back to grazing. I was enjoying just standing there watching when a car started to drive by. I'm sure they thought I was crazy just standing there, so I started kind of pointing and acting like I was counting the deer and they looked at me, then at the deer, then they waved and went on.

My kitties were having fun watching the deer too. One of them, my big Texas snowball Snowy, actually ran up to them then screeched to a halt about 5' in front of one, then decided to bow up at it in the typical "Halloween Scaredy Cat" pose. The deer just looked at him like, kitty you're nuts, and went back to grazing. Snowy finally got bored and decided he had made his point and came trotting back over to me like he had shown them. Silly cat!

Deer are beautiful, but out here there are just too many of them. It's gotten so bad that we make sure we get all of our shopping out of town done so that we will be back home about an hour before sunset. It's just too dangerous around sunset and sunrise, just herds of deer roam around from one side of the roads to the other and with our little car, it would just get totalled if we hit one.

Just one more thing about living in a small rural area that I never knew I would have to be concerned about. That's not mentioning the HUGE owl that killed a neighbors little dog one night, or the bobcat that mauled a resident about 10 miles outside of town, or the rattlesnakes my husband sees while he's out working in the oil fields. Or the vultures who are back from Mexico. Or all the little chicken hawks. Or the coyotes. Or the occasional story of a mountain lion sighting. Or the tales of the Chubacabra. Well, don't know about that one, but some people say... they see something...occasionally...on those lonesome back roads...could be after they've had a few too many beers, but ya never know!

Gardening!

2008-03-30T21:29:00.000-05:00

Yep, it's that time of year again, my fingers just start itching to start digging! So, of course off to Lowe's and Walmart I went to check out those garden centers! Woo Hoo! Good thing it was just me and Sonya in the car, cause we wouldn't have had room for anyone else! At Lowe's I got 3 bushes to replace the 4 UGLY, OVERGROWN, MANEATERS that are in our front yard. Boy they are awful. Just so overgrown and sickly, just can't describe them, guess I'll take some before and after pictures. Oh, I'm thinking MAKEOVER! Well, more like that show on DIY-DESPERATE LANDSCAPES. Boy ours is! We have about 1 1/2 acres and only 1/3 of it is actually "developed" rest has just been left to the deer, which are numerous-I saw about 9 of them in our lot one evening when I was taking the trash out. Really cool from a city girl point of view, but from a gardener point of view-they're pests!

So, I've been doing research, seeing what types of plants the deer won't usually eat cause they'll eat anything if they're hungry enough, looking through catalogs and maybe I have figured out what I'll be doing. It'll be slow and steady, but isn't that how some of the best gardens come together? Plus, since I know I'll be the one doing most of the digging, planting, watering etc., it will take a little more time then usual, but that's OK, I enjoy it and the rewards of lots of butterflies, hummingbirds and even the deer, make it worth it!

Time for bed, this poor girl with a green thumb is ready for to hit the sack, more soon!

Spring Break and Easter!

2008-03-23T19:15:00.000-05:00

It's been a long week around here, but especially for William. The kids were on Spring Break and it was his year to be off to take care of them. That way, we don't have to worry about trying to find a sitter for them. We didn't think of that the first year and boy we had to scramble to find someone who could watch them that week. Next year, we thought we had someone set up to watch them, but the day or so before, they decided to leave town and visit their relatives, so, I ended up having to take that week off anyway. Big surprise for my boss! This year we made sure that William would get the week off so we wouldn't have to worry about anything.

Good thing he was off, he and the kids had to make a mad dash to Jacksboro to try to rescue his brother from the clutches of their mother, well, it's a long story and one day I may be able to get it all typed out, but needless to say, the apron strings grew back before William could get him away. So, we ask that your thoughts and prayers be with them and that they get the help and guidance they need to get out of the hole that they have dug for themselves.

But we did nave a very good Good Friday, we went to town, saw Horton Hears a Who!, and did a bunch of running around. Horton is a cute movie, but I must have been really tired cause I almost nodded off a few times. I used to wonder why my mother could fall asleep in movies, now I know and I'm so sorry that us girls used to tease her about it.

Easter has been a lot of fun too. William had to work, but, the Easter Bunny came with the eggs and a basket of goodies for the kids this morning and I gave them my gifts this evening! Some new jamma's for everyone, a few more toy type things and some color coordinated m-n-m's and hershey's kisses. Of course they are running on sugar right now. And I'm pooped and just about done for.

So, until next time!

Long week!

2008-03-16T12:07:00.000-05:00

Oh boy what a week, for those who don't know, I work in a clerk's office and am in charge of the BIG stuff like Attorney General Cases (child support cases, paternity and the like) as well as Felony Criminal cases and big time Lawsuits whether they be over things like accidental deaths, injuries, or just someone suing someone else over a perceived wrong.

So, someone had the idea of having 2 different court days in the month of March, one for the Civil cases (which are usually rougher then the criminal-eg. divorces) and one for the Criminal cases. For me that means pulling all the folders, docket sheets etc. and getting stuff ready for the Judge. I also have to let my Clerk know if there are any issues needing to be taken care of etc. so that she will be ready in the courtroom.

When everything gets back from court, I have all kinds of paperwork to do, along with notices to get out in a timely manner, and this month, it's just been crazy! Oh I forgot to mention Tax cases, Oh joy! My name is on the paperwork telling people that they are going to lose their house or property if they don't pay their taxes. Needless to say, I'm glad not that many people know who I am since I've only been living out here for the last 3 1/2 yrs.

I guess the good thing about moving into my current position at my job, it made me realize how much I needed to seek out treatment for my ADD. The first few months in my new position at work, I just had a really hard time trying to keep up.

I have known for, oh about the last 10 years or so that I probably had ADD, a family member was diagnosed and I decided to take the quizzes and low and behold-it's hereditary, but I read all the books and learned all the "tricks" on how to cope, and up until then, all of that was working. But then I changed positions at work and all the tricks didn't work.

So, that's when I decided to go for help, got a referral from my general practitioner for a psychiatrist that treats ADD and now I'm on medication to treat it and to help me sleep at night, big deal for people with ADD-it's EXTRAORDINARILY hard for someone with ADD to get their mind to finally quiet down at night and go to sleep. And I am doing much better all around, I can finish projects at home, see my last few posts, and at work.

Even though right now I've got tons of stuff on my desk, I'm getting the stuff that HAS to be done, done, and getting all the rest done as soon as I can. My boss is very understanding, she knows there is tons of work and she knows I'm doing everything I can to get everything done. She's the one that held my current position before she was promoted, so she knows. And she knows about my ADD and that I am getting help for it too. So, one day soon, I'm going to have to go in on my day off and try to get some work done while it's nice and quiet up there.

But it's not going to be today, no matter how much I know I have to do, I need a little quiet time with the family, wait, did I say quiet, it's never quiet around here, unless I have my earplugs in and am trying to take a nap, which actually sounds pretty good right about now. Actually VERY good, my daughter woke up in the middle of the night, ran to our room, kicked my husband out of bed and took over his spot. She then promptly fell asleep and proceeded to kick, slap, and punch me while she tossed and turned. Which meant one cranky and sore mommy this morning.

So, I think it's time for some Tylenol and a nice long nap.
Talk to y'all more later!

Well, it's still almost done...

2008-03-09T19:16:00.000-05:00

Being in a small, tiny, little bitty town is nice and all, but when you go shopping, you have to "go to town". That means for us, get gas and various snacks cause we have to drive for almost an hour to get to the "BIG CITY" and pick-up everything in one day, and if you don't get what you need at that time, or get the wrong thing then all you can do is say *&%$@#@*&^%$##^&!!"

That's how I felt when we did ALL our shopping yesterday. First went to our nearest town with a Family Dollar store (where I've bought the little curtains for Sonya's bathroom) and bought 2 of the long sheer panels in the lime green color to put around her bath as well as found another of the green rugs for her floor in front of her vanity. Then, we went to the "BIG CITY" to do the rest of the shopping.

We went to Hobby Lobby for some other little decorative things, then to the mall for some serious spring clothes shopping. Stopped for lunch, then on to Wal-Mart to pick up the rest of the shopping, like some quarts of paint to do something cute on my daughter's bedroom walls (don't quite know yet, but it's either going to have something like polka dots, flowers, or butterflies on them), a new curtain rod, cat food, and all the other misc. things that Wal-mart has that makes me spend too much money every time I go.

So, we get home and I start pulling everything out for my daughter's bathroom and find out that the 2 sheers I bought, now mind you these were one behind the other on the rack, are 2 different lengths, AAAAAHHHHH! Now I've got to spend all that gas money and all that time to go back to the Dollar store and exchange out one fr##$%#@ little $5 sheer curtain!

Well, good thing my ADD Dr. appointment is on Tuesday and I'll be passing through the town with the Dollar store on my way to the BIG CITY for my appointment, so I guess it will wait til then. Oh, I hate having to wait, but in a teeny tiny little bitty town, you learn to have a little patience, yeah, yeah, a little patience, yeah, yeah, (Sorry ADD kicked in and started thinking of that song by, I think, Guns-n-Roses).

Time to go, got to go take a nice long hot bubble bath in my daughter's really, almost so close I can taste it, finished bathroom. Til next time!