Neighbors

Last night our neighbors across the street, whom we rarely talk to, brought us an interesting version of shrimp cocktail. They took margarita glasses and filled them with a spicy tomato juice mixture, chunks of avocado, cucumbers, shrimp of course, cilantro and maybe green onion. They put the glasses on plates with crackers and lemon wedges. It was so good, but I'm not sure we've done anything at all to deserve that. In fact, I'm certain we haven't. Some people just do nice things for others. I wonder what that's like.

Why didn't we invite them in? That was probably an obvious faux-pas that Alan and I just missed. Would it be in bad taste to return the glasses (because I'm thinking we need to return them) filled with chocolates or candy? I don't like giving a gift just because someone gave me one, because it's obviously a copy-cat gesture. I think we return the empty glasses and suggest we get together for a BBQ with a couple of the other neighbors soon.

Suggestions?

Change

One more week of freedom left. I have student teacher orientation this Thursday and then start in the classroom next Monday. Not only will my life change, but those around me will be affected, too. I won't be available to run errands for the girls or run things up to the school that they forgot, or take them to doctor's appointments, or pick them up from school when it's pouring rain or gusting winds of 40 mph. This means that other people have to step up and handle these things. Also won't get to have lunch with Alan anymore, and our Fridays off together are no more. Hopefully this will all be worth it.

We're trying to eat here

So for some time now, Alan and I have been complaining about the kinds of advertising we are subjected to during dinner. Regular ads between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. are:

Menstruation products

• Sometimes we get to see exactly how a tampon inflates and forms to a woman's vagina. How sweet and pretty it is - just like a little tulip.
• Other days we might learn how a pad's design works like that of a pinball machine.
• Too often we hear about the smelly and sticky problems associated with periods.

Men's issues

• One man has a "going" problem caused by his "growing" problem.
• One can't stop smiling about the response to his impotence medicine.

Misc.

• Some drain unclogging product, can't think of the name right now, has the gall to show an enormous hair clog being plopped onto the table of a couple in the middle of a romantic dinner.
• John Madden's Tough-Actin' Tenactin for athlete's foot. Enough said.
• But this is the all-time worst. The animated toenail fungus commercial where the fungus creature PULLS THE MESSED-UP TOENAIL away from the skin - tops them all. I still get a chill when I think about it.

Hope you weren't about to have dinner after reading this. :-)

Like the old days with a new twist

Too bad I don't have pictures to post from the weekend, particularly Saturday night when the two Alans danced together. Turns out Odessa had a gay bar or two to accommodate our weekend visitor, Greggo. Actually, if this bar were in Midland, I could see Alan and I going occasionally. Great billiards room and the people were awesome. I've never been that comfortable in a bar. I hope in my lifetime to see the day when there are no gay or straight bars, but just bars where everyone is welcome. It was great to see Greg after all this time, and although Midland is not exactly the most exciting town in which to entertain guests, the weekend was a good mix of partying and meaningful conversations with a really good friend.

I'm only sad that neither Greg nor Alan thought to call Joe at 2:00 a.m. and yell obscenities in the phone. Truly off their game.

Problem solved

I shall want no more. All I need to do to gain financial freedom is call the Peter Popoff Miricle Ministry (that's how it was spelled on TV), ask for their little plastic tube of Miracle Spring Water, "follow the directions," and money will supernaturally be deposited into our account. Out of nowhere. This life-changing process is called "Divine Transfer" and has apparently been the answer to many little old black ladies' problems. That's the only demographic they were showing on their broadcast, so I gotta believe God has a good reason for targeting just them. As Ricky Bobby says in Talladega Nights, "Thank you, Lord Baby God."

Oddly, Mr. Peter Popoff has been under investigation for some time. Somehow he continues to move forward - must be the power from the spring water. So out of curiosity I did a little googling, found a Peter Popoff website, and my computer froze up. Took me 10 minutes to get it to reboot.

Way to go, guys

A couple pics from last night's softball game. The Oxy team ended up with 2nd place, which is cool considering their record was 7-5. It was an exciting game, and Alan caught three pop flies at home plate. I was even privileged to get a t-shirt in appreciation for being their Number One Fan. j/k


Went to On the Border afterwards to celebrate. It's these rare occasions when Midland doesn't seem so bad.

blog photos?

Well I had a theory but proved myself wrong by testing it out. I'm curious why some photos can be clicked on for a larger view and some can't. I had this dumb theory that pictures that are centered can't be clicked on, but nope. Anyone out there know? I don't want to go to the trouble of reading all the html language, but knock yourself out, DeeBee. ;-)

hodgepodge

Got to play Bunko last night for the first time in forever. It's always fun to see Denise and her mom and Darla, plus Anita was there. I didn't win anything, but thanks to the confusion of an overcrowded restaurant, Anita and I got our meals and drinks free. The waiter (young guy) asked us afterwards what we were playing and if it was a drinking game. We told him the name and he said he'd look it up on the internet - I'm quite certain he plans to make it a drinking game.

I hope last night's thunderstorm will make the lawn less crunchy. It's so depressing when everything starts dying and you don't even want to go out in your own backyard. I didn't have a lot of plants to begin with, but it's still sad. And the passion vine blew over in Friday night's storm. The only plants that thrive are the ones I don't care about - the rose bushes.

My mother was in the hospital for four days over the weekend. Without being graphic because trust me you don't want to know the details, she had some freak incident in which she lost a LOT of blood - like 1/3 of her blood. They thought it was something related to either the colon or small intestines, but found nothing. When she got the call yesterday saying they couldn't find anything, she was shocked. I'd be scared. Alan's comment was, "eight years of college and you can't find anything?"

I'm eBaying this morning. Lost a bidding battle last night, but I plan to conquer all this morning. Who doesn't love eBay.

Get to check it off my list

So we went to the reunion and survived it just fine. It was a lot of fun to see everyone back in one room again. Surreal in a way, but really fun. Glad they had alcohol on hand, because I think it gave me just the nudge I needed to go up to people and start conversations. I should be clear though - I didn't have to do any of this on my own. I had two of my best friends from high school there with me - Denise and Kelli:

It's not as if I had a lot of memories to share with very many people there, but we just remember each other from so long ago. As I mentioned before, I went to school with many of them from second grade on and some from even kindergarten.

Of course, some people changed more than others. There were those who had "come out" and those who had surgically changed themselves - boobs and botox were obvious on a couple women. And then there was the guy who went from a very clean cut, geeky type to a Rastafarian, minus the black skin.

Anyway, I still can't figure out what the $60/person paid for, but I'm glad I went. And thanks to Alan for being a great date. He didn't get mad that I totally ignored him half the evening or that I probably forgot to introduce him a number of times. He was, as usual, just fine handling things on his own. (And by the way, thanks to Denise for the photos.)

Thirst

Oddly (odd because of its subject matter), this is a site/blog I've recently started reading. It's all about beverages, but it seems as long as the writing is interesting and funny and smart and adult-rated, I'll read just about anything. It's worth trying, really:

www.knowledgeforthirst.com

Hi there

So I haven't had much to say the past three days, but life has been kind of boring this week. Well some of it boring to me, and other parts fun to me but probably boring to anyone else out there listening. Like yesterday afternoon when Denise and I flipped through three years of high school yearbooks, basically cramming before the big reunion on Saturday. I loved it. I loved seeing the snapshots of how badly we all dressed for example. Seriously, what was happening in the 80s that girls thought it was attractive to wear frumpy, old women clothing? Nothing gave any indication that you were indeed a girl except for the occasional knee-length skirt, whose shape was far from flattering. And the hairstyles - oh, those bi-level cuts. I see women today that have yet to escape that style, and I'm just sad for them. The 80s are over, honey. Move on.

And it was also interesting to see page after page of the confederate flag, especially the photos from football games. The crowd was just a sea of blue starry X's on red backgrounds. Weird.

On to other things....Addison had her wisdom teeth taken out today. It's always comical to be around someone immediately following surgery of that kind, but I don't think it's going to be very funny tomorrow. Here's hoping Lortab does its job and makes her recovery somewhat bearable. I really wanted to take pictures of her while "high," but I guess that would have been mean. Funny, but mean. :-) So basically I'll be taking care of her today and tomorrow, although Bailey and I plan to sneak away tomorrow for some school shopping. Let's just call it shopping and not think about the school part. I like being home. Freedom is nice.

I wanted him to lose weight, but not this way...

What did I do over the weekend you ask? Cleaned up cat vomit and other excrements that we won't go into. I wasn't alone though - Alan cleaned up his fair share as well. I didn't see the movie, but I remember a clip from "Daddy Daycare" where Eddie Murphy's character sends a little boy into the bathroom to do his business. The boy comes out of the bathroom, announces "I missed," and Eddie Murphy walks in to discover a mess that goes from floor to ceiling. Junior had a similar experience in our little master bath, although the mess didn't quite reach the ceiling. It went about a foot and half up the door and wall, and the smell could knock you over. We took him outside, and I hosed him down while Alan held on tight.

We're not sure what he might have eaten or what caused all of this, but it was pretty sad. I think as a general rule, cats hate to be dirty. So I can imagine how traumatized he was in that little room until Alan rescued him. And although it was nice to get to baby and pet him for those 24 hours without being subjected to a bloody attack, I'll take the healthy, evil Junior any ole day.

I guess I should also mention that it was Bailey's birthday on Saturday, meaning my youngest child is now 13. Between both households and her grandparents, she got most everything she asked for (except the trampoline). But considering how good a kid she's been these thirteen years, it's okay to spoil her every once in a while.

I can't help myself - he's just so pretty. You have to check out the larger view:

I do stuff

I've had some help this week with my jigsaw puzzle. Yes, I do those. I also do crosswords. And I read books intended for 12 year-olds. And I take too many pictures of the cat.

I may have said this before, but I really think it's time to put up the automatic feeder:

Shut UP!!!!

I don't want to sound racist, I really don't. It's narrow-minded, hateful, ignorant, and dangerous. Having said that, I see no reason to make excuses for the 90% hispanic audience at the dollar movie Sunday night (and I'm being generous with the 90% - I'm thinking Alan and I were perhaps the only white people.) They were loud, inconsiderate, and could apparently care less about their kids' behavior. After being bopped repeatedly in the head, getting my hair pulled, and having both our chairs kicked about 10 times, Alan and I finally got up and moved to the back. And then there was the loud talking, not whispering. Not to mention the random, outright SHOUTING during the movie.

Like I said, I'm not making excuses for this audience. If this were a fairly diverse group of people, I could mention that. If it were largely white trash, I could mention that. It could have been a group of doctors and lawyers and I could mention that, too. Maybe instead I should describe the audience as low-income, for after all we were at the dollar theater. But then I would be making assumptions. My point is that however unfair and ignorant stereotyping is, there are experiences that can influence our opinions of people if we allow it. But I'm not going to go there - I'm just going to chalk it up as Asshole Night At The Theater.

And besides, I happen to have a 13-year old daughter who, while hanging out with large groups of white middle-class kids at the "regular" theater, has been kicked out more times than I want to know. A number of non-white movie goers have probably gone home many times complaining about those spoiled, inconsiderate white kids.

A positively better week

I've heard of business casual and totally understand what that means. But "dressy casual?" Isn't that an oxymoron? Anyway, that's the attire for my upcoming reunion. Oh well....so I get an excuse to go shopping this week.

And hopefully this week will be a little more productive than last week. I just didn't have the mental energy to do anything. Man, I was down in the dumps and for no particular reason. I did paint our front door, but that's about it. I'm hoping this week to get my butt in gear and get back to working out as well.

Bailey's 13th birthday is Saturday, so that's another thing to get ready for. Teenagers = not cheap. Her gift suggestions are: a new cell phone, an Ipod, a digital camera, or a trampoline. I remember those b-days when I could buy them clothes at Wal-Mart and other stuff like $15 Barbies (Addison usually wanted ethnic ones, and those were especially cheap), Disney movies, etc. Actually though, the gifts they want these days are more fun for me to borrow...

This picture has nothing to do with anything. I just like pictures and my daughters are pretty. :-)

Hit or Miss

There are reasons there are few pictures of me and Alan together, this being one example. They usually don't turn out that well. And why must I always be doing something weird with my mouth as if I'm saying, "Yuck, what's that?" And this might be the only picture of me from the trip where I didn't have something in my teeth. In several pics of me and Addison together, you can see oreo cookies. In another one with Bailey, I think I spot a piece of funnel cake. And then there's Alan....he typically has his eyes closed or his mouth open from what must have been a funny joke told before every shot.

However, look at this picture of Alan. Specifically, look at those feet (click for a larger view). He has great feet. In fact, when I saw him in sandals and saw those perfectly groomed feet the first time, my heart skipped a beat. Alan could walk a mile on gravel and his feet would still be clean and smooth. I'm not sure how he does it, but I hope it stays with him through our elderly years.

I'm sure I'm normal

There are days when I wish I had another blog. An anonymous blog that I tell noone about. On this blog I would talk about all the evil thoughts that ramble around in my head that I don't have the nerve to share with anyone I know. Perfect strangers, sure I can share all my deepest thoughts with them. But who would read it? Just the random, very bored internet addict who keeps clicking on "Next Blog" when they have nothing more meaningful to do. And that's only if my blog happened to be next in the queue of blogs.

I think I forgot to take my happy pills today.

More trip stuff

Here are a few more pictures and a little more about the trip. We were in our hotel room by 4:30 Friday and half an hour later were in swimsuits on the beach. Gladly, we found our beach jellyfish-free. The waves were HUGE, none of which can be seen from the pictures. There was a sandbar quite a ways out that we could swim to and catch some bigger waves. Really cool.

Saturday we went to the sea turtle conservatory, which was mostly a cheap way to waste an hour or so before heading to the beach. We spent about five hours at the beach Saturday, and 3 out of 4 of us paid the price that night and next day. (The $22 for the umbrella and chairs was a great investment, as I spent half of my time lounging and taking in the view.) That evening, I made a trip to the store to get aloe and the three of them spent the evening nursing their burns. Bailey was worse in the morning. Her nose and upper cheeks were swollen with blisters, but we still had a full day in the sun planned for the next day at Schlitterbahn Beach. I was pretty upset with Bailey's condition and didn't handle it very well, but we made it work.

I'd like to say Schlitterbahn Beach was a blast, but really it was somewhat disappointing. It's a VERY small waterpark and seems to be geared towards the younger kiddos. The rides noted as "Thrilling" were not all that adventurous, and that's according to me - the less brave of the four of us. So back to the sunburns - everyone had to wear t-shirts all day at the waterpark and Bailey never took her cap off. It's not as if we didn't have fun at the park, it just wasn't the excitement we were expecting after last year's trip to Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels. So my advice is to save the extra 3 hours of travel and go to the hill country.

I was surprised at how small South Padre Island was. It's just a narrow strip of an island, so anywhere you stay will be close to the water. There's no way around it. We were very pleased with our hotel (Travelodge), especially after our ghetto-like hotel at Corpus last year. And the owners spoke perfect English and were NOT of Middle-Eastern decent, if you can believe it. No offense, but they seem to have lower standards at their hotels. That comes from personal experience, not stereotyping.

Basically, I don't see a reason to go all the way to Padre when you can find beautiful clean beaches at places like Mustang Island or other places around Port Aransas, Portland, etc. All in all, we had a good time together. Seems like those times when the four of us are away together, away from computers and cell phones, we really enjoy each other's company and have some good laughs. And we must have gotten a good workout everyday, because we all were asleep no later than 9:30 or 10:00 every night.

So one more family vacation down and a few more memories made. Perhaps next year we should head north and try whitewater rafting or something like that. I think we have enough beach experiences for a while.

Back from the Beach

We're back and a little tired, but it was a pretty good trip. Here are a few photos.

Looks like the lens was a little dirty from that good ole beach residue. See me there in the sunglasses, hat, and sitting in the shade? That's why I'm the only one who didn't need aloe vera smeared all over them afterwards. I'm a sun worshipper, but there are limits.

Bailey burned everything including the whites of her eyes.

Bailey and Alan. This was right after we got there - had to run down to the beach to check it out.

Addison's foot and that little figure in the water is me. I don't mind swimsuit pictures taken at that distance. :-)

Weirdness all around me

It seems there are people out there who still don't know about Salad Fingers. (These must be the same people who have never heard of "Laguna Beach.") Click on "Watch this Movie" (not really a movie) next to the weird little face, and a list of episodes will come up. It's odd, creepy, but mesmerizing in a bizarre way.

I'm in day-before-travel mode. By 8:30 a.m. I had the oil changed and had gone to the grocery store. So much to do....and how weird that the other three people going on this trip have no clue what all went on behind the scenes to ensure we have a great trip and have everything we could possibly need? WHAT IS THAT LIKE?! Unfortunately, I know I've been on the receiving end of all this pre-work, but was too young to remember. So here's a much belated thanks to my parents for those years of packing up the car, camper, and boat.

Something getting in the way of my packing is baffling me. I have claimed for some time now that I can't stand Kathy Griffin, the comedienne. I've been watching her on Bravo for over two hours this afternoon and possibly love her now. Next thing you know I'm going to be a fan of Jimmy Stimmel. I can only pray that will never happen.

Note: I forgot to say goodbye until next week when we get back from the beach. Here's hoping we avoid the jellyfish stings of last summer and come back home with all our appendages.

Back to the groove

Leigh left early this morning and Ed left a little while ago, so although I enjoyed our time with them both, I'm going to enjoy my time alone today as well. Leigh is an amazing help around the house - he repaired stuff, painted, made coffee every morning, drove to get a newspaper every day and always pulled out the crossword for me. He was also chief cook at the party, freeing Alan up to hang out with the crowd. Ed, on the other hand, plays video games and smacks like a starving wild animal. He doesn't lift a finger, but he was a lot of fun and good for many laughs. (He gets big points for doing the crosswords with me, too.) He also made a cheesecake and a couple batches of drinks for the party. And it gave Alan a chance to hang out with a good friend for several days. As I said, I'm glad both came to visit.

Had to throw in a couple pictures taken at the party and then later at The Ranch last Saturday. We hadn't been to The Ranch since our night-before-the-wedding party nearly five years ago. The one of me and Alan dancing is just comical. I was hoping we'd look better dancing than that. And the flip-flops are truly classy.

Still preoccupied...

But this is kind of fun. Go to this site and see what celebrities you look like. It's free, but you do have to go through a quick registration process. It says I look like Rickie Lake and Lucy Lui, among others. Weird, because I always thought my eyes were strangely Asian. Anyway, it's not very accurate but still fun to do.

Doing some small projects around the house and getting ready for vacation. Still have company.

Delay

Between company being in town since Thursday, having another party last night, and getting ready for vacation coming Friday, things have been a little too busy to blog.

Passion

I just think this flower is cool. It's from the passion vine outside our kitchen window. Click on it to see it up close.

this and that

We've been planning our family vacation (a novelty we started last year...you should try it) and have decided on South Padre Island. Other than the 9-hour plus drive, I'm looking forward to it. We're possibly renting a small condo instead of doing the hotel thing. We're also going to try out Schlitterbahn Beach, which will likely be the highlight of the trip. Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels was a hit last summer, and I expect this park to be even better.

So I played around with Google Earth for the heck of it, and it is so cool to use when planning a trip! You plug in some addresses and basically get to fly around from spot to spot, aerially watching the route to and from each location. I used it to watch the route from the condo to the waterpark, for example. Then I decided to visit Washington, D.C., Paris, and Berlin. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to get clearer pictures up close - I don't know if that's just how it is, or if you have to pay the yearly subscription to get better quality?? Any Google Earth gurus out there, let me know.

Other than that, we are chilling this week. It was nice to finally see Bailey again. She had gone to the lake with friends the last time she was with us and was then at her dad's for a week. Of course, the first day back with us she went off to spend the night at a friend's. If Bailey's not doing something socially every single day, she feels deprived.

Addison is working TWO jobs now. I'm really impressed with the stuff she's handled lately, coordinating two jobs and approaching bosses with related issues. She'll work no more than 15 hours a week during the day at a place called Michael's Charcoal Grill, and then 6-8 hours a week for the minor league baseball team as a ticket taker. The second job will be over shortly after school starts back up.

Okay, it's time for yoga and I'm stalling. I had a pic or two to add, but the blogger's not letting me add them right now.

Twenty years

I don't feel old enough to be having a 20-year high school reunion. I went to my mother's 20th reunion when I was about 16, and those people seemed r-e-a-l-l-y old. I didn't go to my 10-year reunion, because it was still fresh enough in my mind how much I hated the last two years of high school. And although I'll take 90% of the blame for not enjoying school, it was partly the fault of some people I'm paying a lot of money to see next month.

But so much time has passed, that now what matters is seeing people I went to school with from third grade on. Something about literally growing up with these people gives us a bond of some sort. I don't care who's fat, bald, out of rehab, gorgeous, a bazillionaire, or just really weathered looking from what life has thrown them. I just want to see some familiar faces. Because what I'll be remembering are the crushes from grade school, or the slumber parties (when girls really froze each other's bras), or the teachers we made fun of together.

So aside from some anxiety that people will remember me, I'm planning on having a good time.

Three Faces of Evil

This is Junior not happy, planning his attack. All because I wouldn't let him chew on a cord.

Summer reading

I've been reading this book by David Sedaris, who last night made me laugh to the point of that uncontrollable stage. That point where you can't stop giggling every few seconds, hard as you try, and you start to get embarrassed if someone else is around.

Sedaris is gay, and that must have been on my mind while dreaming last night. So I have this dream that some woman has a husband that is either over in Iraq or dying of cancer, I can't remember which. Anyway, she was having a hard time dealing with whatever the situation was, and for some reason I was designated to console her. The reason I was chosen? Because in the dream I had a gay friend. So I woke up from the dream and was trying to figure out why having a gay friend made me so suitable to offer support and sympathy to people in need. Apparently in my dream, it was a tragedy to have gay friends and therefore I would be an expert counselor to this woman. I woke up feeling guilty for dreaming that, but you know how dreams are. If you take them literally, you'll miss the humor.

Nut-N-Honey

It was one of those busy weekends: a BBQ Friday night, a wedding on Saturday, drag races that night, manual labor around the house most of Sunday, and then Father's Day stuff that evening. Is it wrong that my favorite part of the weekend was laying my head on the arm of the loveseat Saturday night and drifting off to sleep?

The BBQ was okay. The host was a fairly new engineer that likes to boss the summer interns around. It's getting on my nerves. But everyone else was fun and we had a good time with them. The wedding was pretty, but good Lord, people -- don't have outdoor weddings in June in West Texas. It's just a bad idea. I nearly gagged when the lady in front of me in her spaghetti-strapped dress was dripping sweat from underneath her arms. You had to be there.

The drag races were cool. These were mostly modified street cars (I heard Alan use that term), but we also got to see a few funny cars. Those were really cool! I was taken back to my childhood when we would go as a family out to the demolition derbies or other races, and I could be found covering my ears from the engine noise. To say the least, the drag races were really, really LOUD. And Alan got hit on the head by a rock thrown by a redneck kid from behind the stands. Apparently drag races are redneck magnets. If some of these people spent as much on their teeth and clothing as they do on their cars and tobacco, they might not appear so rednecky. Still, it was fun to do something different for a change.

That's all - nothing much on my mind, hence the subject line. Remember that cereal commercial?

What's next...

Once when Addison was driving this week, I found myself staring at her for a few seconds and then said out loud, "I can't believe I'm looking at you driving." Too much of the time with Addison it seems I'm wondering when things will change, so it's weird when things change almost too quickly. For example, she applied for and got her first job yesterday and enters the working world tomorrow.

At first I was really excited for her, but a few hours later I was sad that she's about to discover what it's like when your free time is gone. I'm also dreading (for her) those first couple of days when you're in training and trying to learn everything at once. And since I'm the one spearheading this whole get-a-job thing, I know I'm going to feel some guilt over it. But along with her new driving privileges comes the responsibility to help pay for the expenses. Of course, when she heads to the mall to spend some of that first paycheck, that guilt better dissipate!

I know there are positives such as -- it'll be a good experience for her, it'll teach her more responsibility, it'll help her grow up, blah, blah, blah. I know she's going to do great, but right now I feel like I've thrown her to the lions.

Summa-time news

Thought I would throw in a quick blog before heading out to work in the yard this morning. With temperatures averaging 102 in Midland for the next 5 days, it's best to get it done early.

We had a fun weekend with the Richardsons in Edmond, and let me tell you - never lacked for food. It's like staying at a B&B - cooked-to-order breakfast, steaks for lunch, and Heather stocks the guest bath better than any five star hotel. We had an awesome dinner out Friday night, and I don't think I'll forget mine and Heather's incident with the waiter any time soon. He was a Shia LaBeouf look-a-like, and here are some pics for Heather so she knows who I'm talking about. I still think something weird was put in my salty dog.

Other than that, this week has so far been centered around teaching Addison to drive. If you're not from around here but have had extended stays in Midland, then you're probably one of those that complains about Midland drivers. Factor that into the already frightening experience of riding around with a novice teenage driver, and you've got an idea of how my week is going. :-)

Futball

My niece Caitlin's soccer team won the State Cup in Oklahoma and are moving on to Regionals, to be held in Little Rock later this month. Wow. Here's an awesome picture of her following the win.

(I think her dad, Ray, took the shot, but I'm stealing the photo from DeeBee's blog page.)

Randomitis

I read today on some stranger's blog that her blog was "just a place to get out my thoughts so I don't bore the rest of the world." I can relate to that. Today's blog may be just that. Mostly because I don't have anything else to do, it keeps me from being a couch potato, and it makes me forget that my stomach is hurting.

So that quote got me to thinking that I've had occasions in life where I truly felt I was boring. Even today I look around at my limited circle of friends and wonder if my boring-ness is the problem. Then I look at my really good friends, although few in number, and am quite pleased with life. Two such friends are Joe and Heather, and Alan and I are excited that we're going to hang out with them this weekend. Around these two people, you can totally -- and I mean totally -- be yourself. We can talk about anything and everything, and can be goofy, serious, crude, sentimental, drunk, sober, religious, apathetic, whatever. And at the risk of making this seem like a shrine to J&H, I could go on about other friends but won't. Yes, I have only a handful of really good friends, but you know who you are and you're awesome. I'll suck up to you another day. :-)

My head hasn't hurt much since Sunday night, but the rest of my body can't absorb that. My stomach thinks it should still be queasy. However, I made myself do yoga this morning and WOW, taking a week off sure makes a difference. I was ready to puke after the workout.

Rachel Ray is getting on my nerves. I used to be a big fan, before she got wildly popular. I even have one of her cookbooks, or actually it's Bailey's. She even has her own magazine now. What other woman has her own magazine? Oprah is the only one that comes to mind. Anyway, I think she makes my bloodpressure rise or something when I watch her show. She is so hyper, loud, and spastic that it makes me nervous. But I still like her recipes, so I'm trying to watch her show right now with the sound turned down but still slightly audible.

That makes me think of how good a job Alan did taking care of me Sunday. While I was sleeping/drifting, he brought in a CD player and put in this instrumental CD that he knows is my favorite. He turned it down very low, and normally this would have been a pleasant thing. Unfortunately, with migraines it seems that any little sound gives your brain something to try to focus on. Yet you cannot focus on anything but the pain. So if someone were to ask you what two plus two was, you might really struggle to come up with the answer. So...the music was really giving me difficulty, because my brain was trying to follow the melody and forcing it to function....and anyway I had to turn it off. It was a sweet thought though. Alan's a nurturer. He likes to take care of people.

If you read all of this, you have a lot of patience. I think blogs should be about two paragraphs, maybe three if they're short.

6 months to more freedom

I took my oldest child to Driver's Ed training today. I may have been more excited than she was. I think she was feigning "this is no big deal," but was secretely excited. Why is it that I'm feeling such a sense of accomplishment? Like I should be proud of myself because she physically lived to be 15 1/2 years old and old enough to start this next phase of her life? Maybe it's because I have survived those 15 1/2 years of raising this person. Let me tell you - it's no small accomplishment. (Love you, Addison. :-) ) And that freedom I mentioned? That's MY freedom!

Anyway, what I should be is scared. Reeally scared. She gets her permit in three days.

Break from blogging

I had such a good time with my sister and her kids being here, that I think my body protested when they left early yesterday morning. I promptly developed the migraine from hell, a kind of which I haven't experienced in probably 15 years. (I had a similar one but not as bad, about six years ago. I had some drugs to take then and that ended me up in drug-rehab after a random Chevron drug test. That's another long story, but know this - I did NOT need drug rehab!)

Even though I get regular headaches, I've always known there are people who get much worse ones, and so I've tried to speak humbly of mine. But yesterday I could call myself one of "those" people. After I finally puked around 6:30 p.m., I seemed to have expelled the demon. I may not be eating chocolate bon-bons for a while though.

And now for my Excedrin Migraine commercial. I had recently switched to another aspirin brand and haven't had much luck with it. So before my puking attack, I whimpered to Alan to "please go get me some Excedrin Migraine." Within an hour and a half my headache was completely gone, while the other stuff I'd taken all day hadn't made a dent. I learned my lesson. I will worship Excedrin at the altar of pain medication from here on out.

So while yesterday was a blur, the past week was great. I really think I have the coolest niece and nephews on the planet. They have one flaw however - they could eat mexican food from Rosa's every day of their lives. Imagine a house full of adults and kids who have eaten lots of mexican food for days on end. It's lovely, and quite aromatic. But besides eating at Rosa's, DeeBee and I took them shopping, swimming, and the rest of the time they played outside or stayed in for video games. Alan finally got in some much needed video-game-playing-time, since we rarely saw him emerge from the back bedrooms the last two days.

I couldn't find any pictures of the oldest, Dylan, but I think everyone respected his aversion towards having his picture taken. :-) About an hour after they left, I spotted a picture of Cody on the computer screen and was missing them already.

The Next Day

(I thought I posted this yesterday but must have forgot.)

Since we've lived in this house, Alan and I have attempted to have parties. On Super Bowl Sunday, one person showed up. So we've never really had good turnouts until last night. About fifteen people came, and the last ones left around 2:00 a.m. The margaritas went quickly and very little food was left. And oddly, this morning I found our nerf football across the street in a neighbor's yard.

Unfortunately, as some people well know, Alan doesn't always pace himself too well. He began coming back to life around 5:00 this afternoon. Sadly, I think he's allergic to alcohol. He's now finishing a bowl of chicken noodle, and we're about to go get me some Taco Villa.

I was fine this morning -- cleaned up the kitchen, the patio, mopped, basically did e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g while Alan slept and puked intermittently. I even worked out. I also made Alan a hangover cure smoothie, but he couldn't eat it. People with nausea are such babies.

So that's basically it - good party and hopefully some new people to hang out with this summer.

It's Official!

Not pregnant, just done with school. As I left my last final today, I walked down the stairs with this mischievous grin on my face, as if I were getting away with something. But I think it'll really sink in Sunday night when I have no reading or studying of any kind.

Tomorrow night we're having a par-tay. I'd like to say it's in honor of me finishing school, but it's really an Oxy thing. Although, I have warned everyone why I will be celebrating and that I better not be celebrating alone. I'm hoping for a patio-thing, but it's forecasted to be 97 with 20-30 mph winds (springtime in Midland, Texas). I also hope to have a good story (at least one) to share the next day. Heather, I wish you were here to offer your party-planning tips.

And as if all of that weren't exciting enough, DeeBee and the kids are coming Sunday - woohoo! This will be the first time Alan and I have had a house, and therefore the first time they'll all get to stay with us. Go to the "Rain or Shine" link to the right and see recent pictures of them all. My niece and nephews are soccer phenoms. Also, if you're in the mood to visit the warped mind of a teenage girl, check out "Life is Like a Dance" sometime.

I feel the sofa pulling me near. And the remote control. And a little bit of watching Food Network to get me in the mood for lunch. Aaaaah, I'm spoiled. Thank you, Alan. :-)

Junior's Treasure

This posting is courtesy of Alan. The items below were found while Tanya was cleaning out behind and under the fridge:

4 bottle caps
3 pieces of candy
3 catnip mice
2 ink pens
2 batteries
2 clothespins
1 wine cork
1 whole pecan
1 ponytail holder
1 screw
1 screwdriver

Inexpensive cat toys...$6
Your cat losing crap under the fridge...priceless

Latest craze

The recital was fun - Addison did GREAT. Addison's dad and stepmom sat next to me and Alan, and we all had a good laugh about one of the last recitals Addison was in when she was 6 or 7. $150 on costumes and recital fees, not to mention the monthly tuition for 9 months, just to watch Addison stand up there and roll her eyes. :-) Anyway, she did awesome Saturday. About half-way through, Alan had reached his limit on ballet dances, but he was a trouper and stuck it out. I thought he was going to excuse himself though when they played "Wind Beneath my Wings."

My latest endeavor that I'm excited about is yoga. The workout is 60 minutes, so I've got to figure out how to work this into my day. It's going to be next to impossible to do when everyone's home, which I discovered yesterday. I thought the closed and locked bedroom door (and the fact that I announced I was going to work out) would be clue enough not to disturb me. First interruption was Addison:

"What?"
"Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"What'd you have for breakfast?"

Next was Alan needing something out of the bedroom. A few minutes later was Alan again:

"Yes?"
"Sorry to interrupt......(long pause).....Whew!!! It's hot out there!"

Yoga isn't something you interrupt. Have you seen some of the poses you have to work yourself into? Anyway, I really like it so far. I like the crazy directions the instructor thinks you can follow, like, "Now, widen your thigh bones and press them against your hamstrings." Or my favorite, "Extend the lower ribs away from the buttocks flesh."

Wish me luck.

Recital Day

So pretty.

Am I happy or scared? What is up with my eyes. Anyway, more later on the recital.

I got nothing

Even though I have four days of school next week, I consider it finished. After getting through the group project and presentation, I'm done. Next week is just going through the motions.

I celebrated yesterday by taking a nap after I got home. Then I took another brief one on the floor today after weedeating. I really hate that job. That was three hours ago and I'm still tired. I might do my new yoga workout next. Got the DVD in the mail yesterday. Alan looked at the male instructor on the cover and concluded, "Gay" and something about there being no visible "package."

I'm not only bored today, I'm bor-ing. So I'll end here and maybe have something to post about Addison's recital tomorrow. By the way, she says my blog looks like an old lady's when I post pictures of flowers. I so love the wisdom of a teenager.

Ole!

Thank God. Junior has just retreated to his spot under the armoire. That means for the next two hours I will have freedom from having my legs and feet attacked while sitting at the computer or being ambushed from under the dining table as I walk through my own house.

Seems that Elizabeth and I had the same idea - I just had to post a picture of the flowers. Now, if you saw our flower beds as a whole, you'd be thinking "white trash." I also had to post the one that is just a stalk, because I can't figure out what it's going to be. An iris maybe?



It doesn't seem right that something grown naturally from a tree, like an avocado, should be so fattening. It's like a prank Nature wanted to play. Anyway, made some yummo guacamole just now. Never a good idea to take the whole bowl and whole bag of chips to sit down and eat. Should have scooped out a small portion of each, but I guess I'll just consider that my lunch. I didn't eat ALL of it - Bailey would have died.

Back to work now.

Monday Shmunday

Not much in the mood for a long blog today. My brain is overloaded with how in the world we get a group presentation together by Thursday morning, when we just received the assignment today. Ah, but that's the joy of group work. (sigh) Not to mention everything we need is on microfilm at the library. Have you ever sat for more than an hour at a time scrolling through microfilm? It can literally be nauseating.

Some days my body cannot handle even one cup of coffee (although it was a large one). I'm sitting in class during the break and at least three people come back in, open up their bags of chips or whatever and all start crunching at the same time. The room was dead silent except for the crunching. So I think it was the caffeine that had me jittery enough to want to scream. Anything to drown out all that CRUNCHING. And here's something I want to throw out - please, please, please avoid eating fritos or nacho cheese doritos when you sit inches from someone else! If you're not the one eating them, the smell is just gross.

You're welcome.

"Serenity now, serenity now!"

No class today - this and that happened, so we lucked into a take-home exam instead of a classroom exam. Anytime I've mentioned to someone what class I would be taking (Civil War & Reconstruction), people would groan. Myself included. Actually, it's really interesting and I'm enjoying it. Four straight hours of lecture everyday sucks, but the class is over in two more weeks. I won't remember half of it once I've taken the final, but hopefully some tidbits will remain.

Went to Alan's softball game last night, and they lost again. It never fails with these supposedly "fun" co-ed company teams. There is always someone on the team who shows up to win and win ONLY, and if things don't go well then everyone's going to hear about it. I was biting my tongue, particularly after my recent blow-up. Anyway, the pitcher is a jerk. He was freely giving unwanted advice to team members, except his advice comes off as "do it this way, you moron." My favorite part was when he threw his glove towards the dugout after a particularly sucky inning. Look dude, you have to WORK with these people. Think about it.

And then there was the very obese man on the opposing team who while w-a-l-k-i-n-g out to his spot at third base, commented oh so proudly about how his team wouldn't have to work too hard. So after he grossly missed a grounder and stumbled to his fat knees, someone from the stands might have made a comment about his having to work after all.

Alan tells me there are Beer Leagues in Midland. In Midland, I say! Is it possible that there exists a group of people in Midland who are not afraid to admit they drink beer, and then go so far as to do so in public? Surely you jest.

Alright, I'm going to work on my test now so that mine and Alan's weekend will be free. Right at this moment I wish I had Addison's camera. Junior is sculpting the perfect napping spot out of the pile of laundry on the dining table. Guess I should get to that laundry or find a better place to throw it.

Not my best

I'm generally a nice person and most people who know me, know that. But one of my heroes is Leah Remini, aka "Carrie" from the King of Queens. I'm not sure that says good things. I like being around people who are extremely honest, brutually if absolutely necessary, and unless the feelings of little kids or little old ladies need to be spared, they tell it like it is. I like this in other people, because I can't be that way. I so aspire to be like Carrie, but only in my daydreams. I never planned to act on it. So when the Carrie in me unleashed itself onto a perfect stranger over the weekend, I was unprepared for the afteraffect.

Although I preface this by saying that I am NOT proud of how I reacted, I must admit it was funny. Basically a lady accused me of hitting her door with my door as I was getting into my car. I think it was the initial look on her face ALONE that set me off. I went off on this woman, but when she said "And STAY OFF your cell phone," I went way off. This was all taking place in the Albertson's parking lot, and I was so enraged I was oblivious to who was around.

Here's the worst part. At the split second that she accused me of this, I was absolutely certain I never touched her car. Afterwards, I wasn't so sure. And it was no small nick. I didn't feel my door hit hers, didn't hear it, the wind wasn't blowing wildly, nothing. I was so sure I hadn't done it. Still, why not just take a different approach, see if the nick matched up to a point on my car door, and admit it if it did? I really don't know what came over me.

Two other times in my life I felt similar rage. One was when I was fifteen and one of my good friends just pissed me off royally. I was ready to smack her at the carnival in front of everyone. (Her name was Carrie - weird.) The other time I was several months pregnant and apparently was having a hormonally-induced temper tantrum. I threw something at Matt.

I'm going into an industry where you just can't act that way. That woman could have been a future student's grandmother. But something about the smug look on her face just sent me over the edge. She had an eldery lady with her, probably her mother, and it didn't stop me for a second. I was an ugly "B." So although it was suggested that perhaps I don't share this with anyone, it's sort of self-punishment to tell people what you did. It's embarrassing and you wish you didn't do it, yet you did and it's kind of funny. That's so wrong. But it's the truth, and isn't that what this is about?

Everything under the Sun

What is the matter with someone who is pissed off if she's too busy and annoyed if she's bored? The matter is that she is irritating. So although I have a class every day for the next three weeks, I am anticipating the need to fill my summer with things to do. Since Alan built up a little dough in our PayPal account, I've been shopping for books on eBay. Shopping is so much more enjoyable when you're competing against people, kind of like the auctions. Speaking of which, there's another auction this weekend. Alan's been wanting to (finally) take that trip to Fort Worth, but seemed to decide last night we really didn't have the money. Here's how it works - since we were considering taking a weekend trip that would have been a little costly, what with hotel, gas, eating at Papadeaux's, La Madeleine, and Krispy Kreme, etc., that means we can spend a fraction of that at the auction. That's how I like to rationalize spending. I don't do much spending (to which Alan will attest) but given the right circumstances and go-ahead from the spending Gods, I can do it well on occasion.

My blog is getting picturelessly boring. Addison didn't have the USB(?) cord for her camera last week, so I couldn't share anything. Of course I really haven't had much to take a picture of, unless you count my new hairdo in which I've recently lost 8 inches maybe? And I might have taken a picture of how I found the kitchen when I got home from class today. Junior had some fun with a roll of paper towels he found under the sink, as well as some fun knocking refrigerator magnets and the papers they were holding onto the floor. One of the magnets is a Turkish "Evil Eye" that some friends recently gave us to ward off negativity and bad feelings in the household. Junior does not approve of such silly intentions.

Time now for homework and not eating Oreos. Not eating Oreos. Not going to do it.

It's paint day

I have to take advantage of this short break before the Maymester starts next week. So I'm finally painting the back wall of the den. I'm pleased to say the palm tree wallpaper border came off in a snap - actually about 60 seconds. So if this house wasn't colorful enough, it's going to get colorier in about an hour. I wonder if the state of Texas will frown upon me allowing my future students to make up words? Why can't "colorier" be a word? Everybody gets what it means - that's the beauty of English. It's like Bush's "strategery." We know what he meant.

I need (want) more blogs to read. I like when people have links on their blogs to other blogs. I've found a couple that I read regularly but don't know the people at all. I just like what they have to say. So if you are a blog hog, meaning you are not sharing your friends' blogs with the rest of us by linking them on your site, shame on you! Some of us are not above admitting we want more things to waste time on.

Good to be home

I'm going to be disciplined today and write one of my finals instead of blogging. Going to listen to a little Gene Harris and the Three Sounds that Alan turned me on to a few years ago and get after it! Then I'm going to study for the other finals. Although I did get a little sidetracked this morning when I weedeated the front yard instead of working. Trip was fine - more about that later. See? No blogging whatsoever.

First time east

Well, we're off to Virginia tomorrow and will be back Saturday. Alan's sister, Joanna, is graduating from college in Buena Vista (they pronounce it B-you-na not B-wey-na), so I'm going to attempt to say it correctly while there. Might as well say something right, since I'll probably get picked on for my Texas crap. But this is Virginia - they're not exactly accentless. The bulk of the trip will be traveling Thursday and Saturday, with graduation Friday morning. I'm not sure how Mormon grads party it up after the ceremony, but I'm thinking there will be no beer and margaritas on hand. Hmmm. It'll be good to see Alan's family.

It takes me ALL day to get ready for a trip. I have to think of everything I might possibly need and have to plan out every outfit. But what really takes time is I have this hangup about the house being clean before we leave. Isn't it the greatest feeling when you get back home, and everything's in order? I love order. The rest of the people who live in this house, not so much.

I'm on a winning streak

Update: I won again - a door prize in class last night. :-)

Picked me up a blue wooden rocking chair for the backporch from the auction Saturday. $15!! I spent a big part of Sunday afternoon and evening in it watching Alan mow and reading my book that I'm only 250 pages behind in. I'm 30+ pages behind in another book and can't read on airplanes without getting nauseous, so....oh well. Speaking of which, we leave the house Thursday morning around 4:30 a.m. for the airport. Nice.

Besides winning the bid for the rocking chair, I won a contest at a football game Saturday night. This was some arena style football game for which the Odessa Roughnecks are returning champions. Anyway, at half-time you throw these mini nerf type footballs from the stands out into the center of the field. The closest ball wins. I had my eye on my football the whole time and KNEW I had won. Actually it wasn't my football - this other guy from Oxy bought it but had to leave early. I'm hoping he'll do the right thing and split the prize, which is 10 free tickets to another game and some added treats I think. Yea, me. (The Oxy co-ed softball team is soliciting my skills, now that they've seen my incredible throwing arm.) So we had a good time at the game, since we managed to sit with some other Oxy folks that didn't mind making fools of themselves. By the way, went to Alan's softball game last night. Wow, they really sucked. But Alan did his part and was quite Andruw-esque in the field. Go Big Al!

Well, I've been up since 4:20 doing homework and am thinking it's time to go back to bed. It won't happen of course, but a girl can dream.

"Whadya give me fo?"

Alan and I have become auction nerds. They only come around every few weeks or so, so it's not anything that we can become obsessed with. Anyway, there's an auction this morning and I'm excited. It's even more fun when you're actually bidding, but I can be entertained by just sitting and watching, too. The auctioneers have their own language, like the phrase above. No need to have all the words in the sentence, just the necessary ones.

But the real fun is when you bid and you WIN - cool! It's like you outsmarted everyone, but really you were just willing to pay more for one man's junk. The smart people though are the ones running the place. They know how to get people to come back by making them feel important. They'll reserve seats for you up front with your name on them. They make you your own special laminated paddle with your name and bidder number on it, and when they see you coming in, they start digging for your paddle. I'm so easy to please. Just be nice and friendly, and I'll buy that old beat-up chair and shoebox of doilies.

I beg to differ

That's it - that's the phrase that annoys Alan that I was trying to think of a while back. I say it on occasion. I still think it's better than his "six one-half dozen or the other." It's even annoying to type it out! Speaking of the words "a while back," I've noticed that sometimes here in Texas it comes out as "a wall back." How embarrassing. I know I'm guilty of that. But here's one I've recently heard Alan say when talking about doing something quickly: "Okay, I'll get right on that toot-sweet." OMG. Trust me, I did not let that one go by. I said, "Alan, how old are you really, 89?" Who says that???

Time to head back out into the rain - it's awesome. We've had rain, hail, thunder, lightning, the works. Really cool.

Our progress so far...see previous blog for "before" shot

One of the nurseries gave us free sod because it was so dry. It should be fine after a good week or two of water - we hope anyway. We (mostly Alan) hauled about 1600 lbs of top soil and about 50 squares of sod today. So as Alan would say, it's Beer-thirty.

I had to post a pic of this little passion flower vine. I like how it wraps itself around the trellis, but maybe you can't see that very well. In a couple of months this vine will be all over the side of the porch and under the eave and will have these HUGE purple flowers. Plants are cool.

It's Summer!

Apparently we're going to bypass Spring and move straight into Summer. It's 90 plus degrees here for the next week. Love it! Alan and I both have today off, so we're going to spend it taking care of the large eyesore in the backyard. We have a 10' diameter circle that's been resembling a compost pile for far too long. Hopefully some dirt and sod will get our backyard looking decent before company arrives in May. (I'll try to take a "before" picture when the sun comes up.) By the way, my flowers that I planted from seed never surfaced. It might be because I planted them right beneath the bird feeder and the birds found the seeds. As if they didn't have enough from the feeder!

I was cured of my sickness this week by a hamburger. Perhaps it was a sign that I had taken things a little too far on my diet. I get a simple little cold and you'd think I had the flu. I was so run down for two days. So my body said, "Girl, you need fat and red meat." Yes!!! Alan took me to get a Texas Burger and tater gems, and within ONE HOUR I was a new person. I am now rethinking my diet and realizing it sort of needs to include some iron and protein. Duh.

Maybe I'm just in a silly mood right now from being awake since 3:15 a.m., but please check out this website sometime. When I got to page 3, I think it was, and saw the photo of Katie Holmes pregnant and read the blog, I laughed until I cried. Anyway, if you need a good laugh this site is awesome: www.thesuperficial.com.

Pity party

I'm sick. Feel sorry me - I sure am. At least I have taste buds back today. Last night the Nyquil went down without the slightest grimace from the taste. Could have been koolaid for all I knew. I have a paper due tomorrow on the Chicano movement in Houston in the 60's-70's. I just don't want to read or write about it. I can't put my brain around why I'm so not interested in their issues. Can't be a good sign.

Day 10

Yes I'm counting the days, because I don't want this to last more than a month or so. Drastically changing my diet is not something I intend to do for very long. I just like food too much. However...it's interesting how creative you can get when you feel deprived of something. I haven't been eating much meat, so here's something I came up with. You can take 16 of those small pepperoni slices (reduced fat ones, but I can't tell a difference), zap them in the microwave for a few seconds, and then throw them in a salad. 80 calories and 5 g of fat and yuummm! I think I should send this idea to the McD's and Wendy's of the world - The Pepperoni Salad could be all the rage. I've also learned how to work in certain must-haves like fritos and bean dip. The hardest thing to give up, although I haven't entirely, is cheese. You're lucky if you don't have cheese cravings. I welcome any ideas.

I hope I can get through this cold or whatever I have without binging. Something about having a cold makes me an even bigger pig than normal.

What's happening?!

I pride myself on staying mentally young. But something happened on the way back from taking Bailey to school this morning. I passed a newly posted speed limit sign and actually said to myself, "That's too fast." And I meant it and still do. Very sad.

Proud Mom

We need a little laughter this weekend and Junior stepped up to the plate.

So the concert was fun….I guess. Well, the music was good. Miranda Lambert is quite the rocker! And I have just two words to say about Jason Aldean – Hot Mamma. But between Alan getting sick and Bailey and her friend complaining about the cold and the cigarette smoke, it could have been more enjoyable. And good LORD – there is no shortage of sleezy, drunken, wanna-be cowgirls in Midland-Odessa. I wish I had taken the camera.

Addison didn’t make the dance team, but I couldn’t be more proud of her. She tried her best, and I'm amazed that she went through what she did. I was a loser in high school because I wouldn’t dare try anything, much less anything that required performing and being so critically judged. Anyway, it’s cool when your kids far surpass anything you ever did at their age.

Go Rebs

A little slow at keeping up with blogging this week....between writing lesson plans (don't I sound like a teacher already?) and playing taxi driver to a host of teenage girls, I'm happy it's Friday. The big news this week is that Addison has been going through a four-day tryout for the Midland Lee Rebels "Dixie Dolls." I'm not letting Addison know how big a deal this is to me. I would equate it to an alum Dad whose son is trying out for Rebel football. And although I don't agree with how everything was portrayed in "Friday Night Lights," I guess we do have this weird West Texas high school pride that sticks with you throughout life. At least it has for me. And I didn't even like high school after my sophomore year. Anyway...we should know the results late Saturday night.

Alan and I (and Bailey with her friends) are going to a Texas Country concert Saturday in Odessa. I'm mostly going to see Miranda Lambert, but Jason Aldean will be there too. Some other guy is playing, but his is the corny country stuff I don't like. Alan doesn't like country - period, so he's being a good husband by not making me go alone. :-) My favorite song of hers is playing on my myspace page: www.myspace.com/trsintexas. Turn it up!

Cha-ching!

The garage sale was actually kind of fun, not to mention profitable - $500! Of course most of that came from the next-to-new stove that we sold. It's now become a mission to see what people will lower themselves to buy at a garage sale. Last year at my parent's house, I put out a partly used container of toothpaste. It sold quickly. This year can't top that, but we did sell a half-used bag of cat food. And of all things that didn't sell - my set of dishes. No interest whatsoever. So off they and the other leftovers went to the Salvation Army. I couldn't get Alan to part with his nearly floor length suede jacket. It reminds me of something Sherlock Holmes would wear, except it isn't tweed. Anyway, it's still hanging in the hall closet and will never, ever be worn...unless it can be used in a future Halloween costume.

Passed my first certification test Monday and have one to go. Starting to see some light flickering at the end of that tunnel.

Ready to dicker

I couldn't sleep this morning and am hoping it's not because I'm anxious for the garage sale to start. How nerdy would that be. So I got up and went through cabinets trying to find more crap to sell - woohoo!! Looks like I'm finally giving my dishes away from when Matt and I got married. It's not that I've been holding on to them because of marital sentiment, but because they were my first dishes ever. And really -- they are adorable. I thought I was an adult then, but I was such a kid. Nearly 20 years I've been packing and moving those dishes around. The set is hardly a set anymore and there are chips galore. Feels weird to figure out a price for some things. But $7.50 it is!!

I pointed out to Alan that this is our first garage sale together. He thought it was the one that we had over at my parents' house, but that doesn't count. This is the first one at OUR house. We're still newly-married enough that we still have "firsts."

By the way -- it was bugging me so I looked up "dicker" on dictionary.com, and it's a real word and really spelled that way. Some words you don't think about until you write or type them out. That's when you chuckle.