February Shmebuary

If you visited my blog today in the afternoon, maybe you noticed it was 75 amazing degrees! Love it. It's gorgeous. Yesterday was the same, so I swept the leaves and sprayed the bird poop off the back porch. Our porch became a huddling spot for the birds to keep warm during that long cold spell, and the treasures they left behind were just gross.

Spring is awesome. I know it's not technically Spring, but a girl can dream. Even Junior felt the change and started exploring out on the porch as if he hasn't been there a million times before. (Check out his cute toes in the last picture. And I realize my lens was badly smudged when I took these.)



I wonder if Spring has a positive effect on wayward teenagers? Again, a girl (and a mother) can dream.

Football and Volleyball

Alan looks less than amused that I was taking our picture last night. Just had to capture the excitement of our super bowl party - the party of two, I mean. I was happy that the Colts won, but it seemed sort of anti-climactic at the end. The Colts/Patriots game was way more exciting.

Well I'm off to make Bailey's lunch. Speaking of Bailey, here's the video that Google finally "processed." It's nothing phenomenal, but I wanted to film Bailey serving at practice since I didn't get any good videos from the tournament. Her serve has been known to pull teams out of close wins, and it's funny to hear the murmurings of anticipation from other parents when it's Bailey's turn to serve. This is just from my digital camera, so the quality isn't superb:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4587142754464025832&hl=en

Goodnight

We are feeling much better, thank you. I guess going to the doctor wasn't so bad after all. I subbed yesterday and today and maybe have a job for Monday. My long term assignment starts in about two weeks unless the teacher has her baby early.

I've been trying to post a video from Bailey's v-ball practice, but Google's video upload is being a pill. Maybe tomorrow.

I just took my Tylenol nighttime and am waiting for it to kick in.

Welcome back to Midland

Instead of bringing back t-shirts or art or pottery from Ruidoso, Alan and I brought back sore throats (thanks, Bailey and Marlee). So since neither one of us can afford to be sick right now, we're breaking down and doing the unthinkable - going to the doctor tomorrow. I don't do doctors, which doesn't mean I don't have sex with them because OF COURSE I do that, I just don't like to go when I'm sick. I feel so stupid going to the doctor for a cold. But what if it turns into something else and then it's two weeks later and I'm feeling worse, blah, blah, blah. So...we're going.

It's been about three weeks since I've posted a picture or video of Junior (what's wrong with me?), so here's Junior giving me his "I could care less that you're pointing that evil, shiny object at me, because look - I have the remote."

Ruidoso, NM

The tourney was fun, and the change in scenery was awesome. Bailey played great, and a couple of parents even commented that she was a critical player for our team. We had the tourney all day Saturday and then went tubing Sunday before heading back home. We had a great time! Click on the pictures for larger views.




The Ruidoso High School gym was really nice.








Bailey and her best friend Marle were so crazy and so much fun to be around.

Alan and I riding the tube lift:

After tubing, the girls just wanted to play in the snow. When Alan joined in, it became a snow fight.

Ruidoso at night was really pretty - they still had Christmas/Winter lights up in Midtown, so it looked very festive. Much more so than showing in this photo:

On the drive back home I had to get a picture of aliens in Roswell:

It was a fun but short trip. Lastly, here's a video of when the four of us hooked together and rode one of the tube runs. (I couldn't get Google to post the video, so hopefully the link will work instead.) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8053255165352757624

Trip

Still in Ruidoso and having a good time. Hope to post some pictures when we get back!

Froot Loops

Alan had been working his way through a box of Froot Loops for a few days and kept commenting on the red froot loops "on steroids." We'd laugh every time one of us would pour a bowl and joked about the different scenarios that must have been happening in the factory. And then my curiosity got the better of me and I had to check it out. I looked at the cereal box and noticed right there on the front in huge letters it said "Colossal Froot Loops" along with a picture of a GIANT red froot loop. It was more fun when we thought it was an accident and not some stupid marketing ploy. Would that really get people to buy the product? I'm trying to imagine being on the cereal aisle....."Let's see, I could buy these here copy-cat fruity loops in the bag....they're just as good, less expensive, you get more for the money....but WAIT! Original Froot Loops have these new colossal red froot loops! What was I thinking? I can't believe I was nearly seduced to buy the knock-off and therefore save money. That was a close one."

Super Bowl party anyone?

I wonder how many posts this morning are about the Colts/Patriots game last night. This will be the first Super Bowl in a long time where I'll finally be more interested in the game itself than the commercials. Go Colts!

Exiting

My goal for today: Leave the house. I haven't done so since Tuesday. This will require turning off Food Network, laying the books aside, and getting away from this here computer. I'm waiting for Alan to get up so we can go workout. If I don't get some endorphins pumping, I'm in danger of crawling into that deep black cave of self-pity and despair and lord knows I don't have any business being there. By the way, did you hear about that poor girl who was kept in the attic for two years for misbehavior? Not that I know diddly-doo about parenting, but those aren't parents dishing out that kind of punishment. Those are Hitler wannabes.

Finally

We take pictures when it snows here, because it melts away as fast as it arrives.

Tiki torch snowcone. Behind it is the little guest house:

Flocked Oleander:

Out my window:

Drugs and I don't mix, but...

Day seven with a headache. I think it's time to break into Addison's Lortabs left over from her surgery last year. I don't like the stomach ache it causes, but really....DAY FRIGGIN SEVEN! It's a good thing I'm not working anywhere with random drug testing, because there was that one really fun time in my life when I took one of Mother's pain pills for a migraine, got drug tested at work three days later, and had to go to rehab for two weeks in order to keep my job. Oh the fun memories and reputation I took away from that. Just another reason I was happy to take that sweet package from Chevron in 2001!

Incidentally, I finished Brian's Winter and recommend it for anyone who likes survivor-type stories or series such as Man vs. Wild or Survivor Man. Today I started 12 Sharp - a lucky find at the library!

Update: I opted for no drugs. Got a nice shoulder massage from Alan, laid on the couch, and Alan piled on blankets. When I woke up two hours later, the headache was gone.

Hunkerin' Down

School's out today and the library's closed, so I've got to find something to read since I will NOT be running around in the cold and could use something to occupy my mind. Plus I finished the book I was reading last week, Drowning Ruth (very good and suspenseful - thanks Elizabeth). All I can find around the house is Brian's Winter, which is the sequel to Hatchet, one I'd recommend for anyone if you didn't already read it in school. So all I need is my coffee, my down blanket, and my spot on the couch.

I just saw one of the Head-On commercials where they complain about how annoying their own commercials are. So it reminded me of another bad one lately - the pregnancy test commercial where they show a PRETEND STREAM OF PEE spraying the indicator. I can't wait for that one to play during dinner.

Winter exists in Midland

So this is Midland this morning. Bailey had three friends spend the night and they bravely stayed in the cold, cold guest house. I was pouring some rock salt on the sidewalk and steps that lead up to the little house and fell flat on my butt.

I may not ever make it out of my pajamas today.

Bumps in the road

Can't say that it's been the greatest week, so click away now if you don't want to hear my whining. For starters, I spent two days with some 9-yr old heathens (and some 9-yr old angels, but those get cast aside when your energy has to go towards the heathens). Really, the class would be quite manageable if it weren't for this one little boy. All the other discipline problems, and there are many, are still nothing compared to the havoc this one boy creates. I gotta say this for him though - he has nerve.

And then we learned that Karl, Alan's brother, is leaving for Somalia due to recent events and is probably en route as I type. His other deployments, although in the Middle East, seemed a lot safer than this one. He'll be gone at least a month, will come back for a month, and then return.

And now Addison is moving out by choice to live with her dad full-time. At least we're 99% sure it's going to happen. It's probably going to be a really good thing for her, but there's a whole slew of "mom" emotions that I'm going through that are just hard to explain and hard to talk about.

So no, life doesn't suck, but it's really hard some days.

I chose this career

God help me. I'm subbing today and tomorrow for the class I student taught in this past fall. The regular classroom teacher (and previously my mentor) warned me last night that things have gotten so bad that she seriously dreads going to work every day. She was right. It's bad. So when I get home tomorrow I may be drinking by 4:00 p.m.

Salsa

I get asked for this salsa recipe a lot. Other than boiling and peeling the tomatoes it takes no time to make, but you need a regular-size food processor.

Homemade Salsa

5 large or 7 medium tomatoes (the medium, nicely ripened tomatoes give a better flavor)
1/2 small onion
1 small to medium green bell pepper or 1/2 of a large
1 jalapeno pepper
1 serrano pepper
1 handful fresh cilantro*
Juice of one lime
1 clove garlic or 1/2 to 1 tsp minced garlic (optional)
Kosher salt to taste

Boil the tomatoes until the skins split. Remove from water and cool slightly for easier handling. Peel off skin, remove hard base of stem, cut in half, and place in food processor. Don't skip this step, because it's gross to have skins in your salsa. Quarter the bell pepper and onion, and cut off stems of hot peppers. If you want less heat, remove the seeds of hot peppers. Place in food processor with rest of ingredients (except salt) and pulse a few times to get large vegetable pieces broken down. Blend until desired consistency and add salt, usually a couple of teaspoons. Add a little salt at a time, because you can overdo it quickly. I think when I first started making this, the recipe called for a little sugar to counter the salt. I know that salt and sugar somehow work together, but I haven't been adding the sugar to mine.

*The amount of cilantro depends on preference. It's best to start with a little and add as needed.

Try it!

Team T&A

We've been hearing some noises in our attic for 2-3 weeks, and Alan figured out that it was likely a squirrel(s). And while I'm inclined to ignore the problem and pretend they're not going to bother anything up there, Alan's more inclined to take the practical approach: get them out before they chew wires, tear up insulation, give birth to more squirrels, spread disease, or get into our boxes of crap. So our Sunday morning project was working our way across the attic from end to end until we found the hole they're entering through. We found it, patched it with the recommended steel wool, and hoped for the best. (Really Alan is the mind and muscle behind these projects. I hold tools and flashlights.) Anyway, I felt pretty confident that the problem was solved until I heard some rustling above our bathroom yesterday.

Alan said not to tell him right away if I hear anything, because he wants to have a few days to believe our efforts paid off. So Alan if you're reading this, I think the steel wool was no match for our cute, cuddly friends.

Our other project was to hang the small fireplace mantle that had been sitting in the garage becoming a resting place for tools or work boots or whatever other grimy thing was in our hand and looking for a convenient place to be dropped. This is how it looks for now.

Ouch

I don't consider myself a devoted Dallas fan, but I am a fan of sorts and will pull for them against just about anyone (although it was hard to choose during the Colts game) and will continue to be a fan despite TO's presence. Anyway, last night's game was pretty heartbreaking. The only other person that's probably hurting as much as Tony Romo is his mom.

I should rename my blog, "Living with Junior"

Junior is attacking me, but missing and running into things. Volume is important, and notice the hairball behind him when it begins.

In all my glory

How nice of Alan to shoot this picture of me sleeping on the couch last night. Good thing I wasn't drooling. Of course I woke up from the flash and Alan said proudly, "There's one for your blog!" I'm still falling asleep way too early every evening and it's probably why I couldn't go back to sleep after 4:00 this morning. By the way, Junior really loves me but that's about as close as he's going to get when we nap together.

Seriously, why Midland?

I'm not really understanding the interest Hollywood seems to have in Midland. I heard that an episode of "Heroes" had Midland as one of its settings, and then a recent episode of "Monk" features Monk's dad (I think) as a Midland truck driver. It seems it all started with the movie "Friday Night Lights," although the television series is set in a fictional Texas town named Dillon. And then I did a little research and found that six other movies have been filmed here, although none of them were as popular as "Friday Night Lights."

I don't get it. I live here, and uninteresting doesn't begin to describe this place. Midland does have two claims to fame however: Jessica falling down the well and the Bush family's home town. Neither seems reason enough to keep namedropping Midland though. But here's a possible theory. For a population of only 100,000, you wouldn't believe the money in this town. Old and new money. Just take a little drive in the ever-growing affluent neighborhoods and see all the mansions. So maybe it's possible that some of these people invest their money in Hollywood and have a small influence on what gets mentioned? Regardless, maybe I shouldn't leave the house without makeup as often as I do.

Birds, just because

Alan is religious about keeping the birds fed around our house. This bird feeder hangs off the corner of the guest house and is in perfect view for Junior's perch in the kitchen window.

And then I tried getting a shot of this one but couldn't get a clear picture. I took both of these with my zoom without a tripod, so they're a little shaky. (This one was through a glass door.)

It still surprises me when pretty birds like this show up in Midland.

2007 Eve

Winter is a bad time to begin exercising, especially if what you choose means you have to go outside. So as I drink my hot coffee, I'll be debating about going out there.

Alan and I had this last-ditch crazy idea to run off to Fort Worth today, meet up with his brother and sister-in-law to spend New Year's with them, and then come back tomorrow or Tuesday (I was pushing for Tuesday). It doesn't look like it's going to happen, but it was a good idea! Alan hasn't seen Karl in a while and another overseas duty would put it off several more months.

And now for some random photos. We heard ornaments clanking around on the tree and discovered the source. Guess Junior was getting one last climb in before we took the tree down yesterday.

And then Bailey had a friend spend the night last night and decided to bake some cookies. It helps to set the oven to the correct temperature of 350, not 450.

Hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve!

Got plans?

Hmmm....what to do...what to do New Year's Eve...so many options and invites....NOT. So I guess instead of feeling like losers for not having plans, maybe we'll go to the movies or be wild and crazy and do a double feature or something.

I'm trying to get a headstart on resolutions, my main one being to get back to exercising. I've now walked/jogged two days this week, including this morning in the rain (see river forming in our street). Our friend Heather, who visited over the holidays, is training for a marathon and is therefore inspiring me to get my running shoes back on. You know, those pretty white and blue ones that I got on my 38th birthday and whose awesomeness was so great that I would become a running machine. That lasted as long as all my exercise phases - about 3 months. I will never ever in my life run a marathon and frankly don't want to do that to these knees, but I think it's so cool to know someone else who has set that goal. Anyway, my shoes are still pretty and need to be shared with the world.

As if I need another sedentary activity

As long as my break is for the holidays, I should have read some books by now. I just can't get motivated, and I'm all open for suggestions. I'd really like to find another series to start, because then you have several books to read one right after the other. I'm up to date on both the Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich mystery series, and those are my favorite. But it doesn't have to be mysteries. I like juvenile fiction as well, but seriously - I'd be up for anything and should try new authors and genres. Please give me suggestions and as many as you want! Oh yeah, preferably they should be books that have been out long enough that I can get them at the library. It's a cheap hobby and I want it to stay that way.

A little family time

I took a short break from blogging because we've been busy like everyone else with Christmas, seeing family, friends in town, etc. We had a good time getting to know Joe and Heather's little boy, Dillon, and spending time over at Mother and Dale's with close family friends.

Alan had to go back to work today, but I'm off until I take another subbing job. I think I'm ready to put the Christmas stuff away and get the house back to normal, especially since the Christmas tree always looks so sad once the presents are all gone.

Joe snapped this shot of us in front of my mother's house. What strikes me most is how close in height everyone is getting.

More later...

Merry Christmas

We have a saying around this house that it's a good thing he's so beautiful, or he might be kicked out on the street. Hope everyone is having a great Christmas - more later...

Reindeer assault

At this very moment I can only think of one thing I hate more than grocery shopping. Windy days. Wait, I just thought of one more - shopping on windy days. The wind is blowing 40 mph here today and I still had lots of Christmas shopping to do. So I was rushing around this morning trying to get as much done as quickly as possible so I could get back inside out of the wind, when I got knocked off my feet, literally. I had to stop at my mother's house to drop off shopping bags and was doing everything I could to quickly grab the bags out of the car and get into her house. As I hurried past her mechanical yard reindeer, it swung its head around and KNOCKED ME DOWN. The bags went flying and I fell to my knees. I did that thing where you look around to see if anyone saw, but I think I was in the clear. It didn't become funny until I retold it to DeeBee later. Guess I got the message to sloooooww down.

So once Alan and I get finished shopping (hopefully tonight or tomorrow night) we're going to be ready to sit back, hang out with our Okie friends this weekend, and as Heather would say....kick it old school.

The kids

When they were much younger, Christmas was all about them. What really mattered was that they had a good Christmas, got much of what they asked for, were happy, surprised, excited. Now that they're getting older, yep it's still about them. Parents (and I have to say especially moms) just have this innate need to please their kids. I'm guessing that won't change, at least until grandkids come along many, many years from now. Or decades.

Who doesn't love checking the mailbox at Christmas?

We've been receiving quite a few Christmas cards this year, which is totally undeserving since we are so bad about sending cards ourselves (this is our first year to send them, I think). Not that receiving a card means you're something special or popular, but don't you sometimes feel guilty if you don't send any? I've tried to be more comfortable with receiving a card or gift without feeling the need to reciprocate if I hadn't intended to with that person or couple or whomever. But that didn't stop us from hurrying to get our candy made and out to the neighbors before they could bring us anything! Isn't that what the season is all about? Beating people to the punch! Merry Christmas!!

Buckeyes

Denise asked for the buckeyes recipe, so here it is for whomever. By the way, we actually made these yesterday and just be aware that it is an off and on full day event. It usually makes 12 dozen, but we rolled some of them smaller and got 208 I think. We were packaging them up for gifts and needed a lot more this time. Bailey helped roll, Addison helped dip, and Alan helped with cleanups and whatever else we needed. So we can officially say it was a family occasion. :-) Why did I not get pictures?! Ugh!

Buckeyes

3 lbs powdered sugar
2 lbs creamy peanut butter
1 lb melted butter or margarine (cooled down a bit)
2 lbs milk chocolate chips
1 block paraffin wax (found in the canning supplies section of stores usually)
150-200 small to medium baking cups

Mix first three ingredients together in a huge bowl and form into 1" balls. You will start mixing and think "no way in hell is all of this going to mix together." I start with a mixing spoon and end up just digging in with my hands, and even then I'm thinking there's no way this will ever mix together. Just use your muscles and keep mixing. Get it to a point where you're not seeing or feeling the lumps from the powdered sugar.

Place balls on trays and refrigerate for about an hour to firm. Cut wax block in a few pieces for easier melting. Melt chips and wax in double boiler (or however you want) over low to medium heat. To dip, insert a toothpick into ball about half-way - dip in chocolate and cool on wax paper. You will need 3-4 prepared trays or cookie sheets lined with wax paper to hold all the buckeyes. After all balls are dipped, remove the hole from the toothpick with your fingertip. This works easier when the balls have been sitting out at room temperature a while.

I then put all the balls back in the fridge to cool before placing them in the baking cups. They can be stored either in the fridge or at room temperature. We put together 15 packages with about 12-15 buckeyes per package. This is what our neighbors and some of the girls' friends will be getting.

Our cat does tricks

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2079835903685760675&hl=en

Friday rambling

A couple people have mentioned that they tried to comment on my site and couldn't. I think it's just Blogger issues, since I haven't changed any settings on my site.

I can't believe next weekend is basically Christmas weekend. I might force the kids to help me make buckeyes tomorrow. I made the claim before Thanksgiving that I would do SOMETHING for the neighbors during the holidays. Thanksgiving came and went and they got nothing. So this is my last chance to take them something before they show up at our door with goodies. Anyway, it makes such a huge batch that the girls could take some to their friends for gifts, too. That could be my incentive to get them to help! I just realized I'm thinking out loud instead of trying to post something of interest.

I subbed yesterday and am subbing half a day today. Here's my oh-so difficult schedule: I show up at 11:30 and don't actually have any real contact with the students until 1:00! Then we take a math test which will take about an hour, then they are going to do some kind of Christmas craft, and then they get PAT time (free time). I just don't know if I can handle such a stressful afternoon.

Tonight is the Oxy company Christmas party. All I'm gonna say is that it better be a step up from last year - the party that was held on a Sunday afternoon at a theater and included a visit from a choir and Mr. and Mrs. Claus, followed by a local rendition of "A Christmas Carol." Oh, and children were invited.

But although tonight is at a country club and there is alcohol allowed this time, the entertainment is a magician. Hmmm...expect pictures. :-)

My new baby

So since I asked several people their thoughts on cameras, I'll share what I ended up with. I got a Kodak EasyShare Z612, 6.1 MP with 12X zoom. If you read Melissa's blog, then I sound like her copycat when I say I didn't get to play and fidget with my new toy very much either last night. But I'm throwing a picture in anyway of Alan and his dad putting a new radiator in my car, partly because some of you may not have known that Alan is becoming quite the mechanic. Just makes him that much more handy to keep around.

Saturday Night

A couple of pics from the party, courtesy of Denise.


Alan won most Bunkos (yes, we played Bunko and the guys LOVED it) and is therefore wearing the night's Bunko hat.

That's my best friend Denise in the middle and her sister Darla on the left. We had a good time!

Done

Edited:

This is another NOT clear picture. Funny thing is that the fact that the pictures didn't turn out well is so like how the last week or so leading up to graduation has gone. But before you get to thinking that here goes Tanya again on a whining rampage, don't. It just got kind of comical how many things didn't go the way I had envisioned them. And the reason I think they didn't is because I was maybe getting a little too excited about the weekend itself. I have this theory that if I get to acting too happy and/or proud and/or confident about life in general, some giant invisible foot comes along and stomps all over things just to make sure I keep my feet on the ground. And to force me to remember all the things to appreciate - like my dad being there, and Leigh, and Melissa, and Addison and Bailey, and of course, Alan. And all the support and kind words from family and friends. Thanks everyone!!

Here's a very blurry picture from Saturday. All the pictures from Bailey's digital were blurry, so the purchase of my own camera will be happening sooner than planned. I'll be posting some other pictures later today and maybe some from the party soon. The ceremony was an awesome experience, but I'm glad it's all over. I also couldn't and wouldn't have done this without Alan.

"Calgon..." (you know the rest)

I knocked them upside the head, screamed at them, held my hand over their little mouths, and then locked them in a dark closet with spiders and ghosts. Or at least those were the sweet visions that were floating in my head after teaching a bunch of third grade heathens yesterday. It's amazing the disruption a teacher has to juggle in any given day. And then try to teach on top of it. Some days are good, and some are very, very bad. I hope I have a big "Ah-Ha!" moment someday when I realize, "oh, that's how it's done!"

But I'm spoiled more than I should be and don't have to work the rest of the week. Alan's dad will be here later today, his mom is arriving Friday, and then there's graduation and a Christmas party here at our place Saturday night. It won't be a party the likes of what the Richardsons can throw, but I plan on having a good time. ;-)

Some blah, blah, blah

Not much to report about the weekend - a little Christmas shopping that Alan and I forced Addison and Bailey to be a part of. They weren't overjoyed at first, but sooner or later a tiny smile or two surfaced for split seconds. Alan finished hanging the last of the new blinds in the house, Junior gouged a two-inch cut along my foot, we ate way more fattening foods than necessary, and so it was a normal weekend.

My biggest accomplishment was getting the computer fixed (with a little help from Microsoft after I donated $35 to their cause). I can now view websites the way the internet gods intended!

Now we know

I've heard of lots of explanations from kids about where thunder comes from. God is bowling, God is mad, God is mad at the Devil, etc. But I heard one the other day while teaching science to some first graders that still makes me laugh. When asking their thoughts on what causes thunder and lightning, one little boy said "That's when God is mad at Jesus." Wow, you know you're having a bad day when you're JESUS and you piss God off.

Update

By the way, the room color turned out nice. The paint chip says "cliff rock," but I think it's better described as my coffee after I add vanilla caramel creamer. I'm off to pull weeds now. My mother-in-law has a beautifully manicured backyard and porch, and she needs to not see my flower beds like this next weekend.

His name is Bear

One of my new favorite shows is Man vs. Wild with Bear Grylls. It's a show similar to Survivor Man, which is also a cool show, but Bear is hotter and has a British accent. And sometimes he gets naked.

Ghost from the past

Twenty years ago I graduated from high school. Ten years before that I was in second grade and writing lies in my diary about how I had a new boyfriend named Donny. (I'm leaving off the last name in the totally off chance that someone who knows Donny might read this. But I mention that because never do I remember referring to him by his first name only. It just doesn't seem right to be doing so now). Donny was an actual person, was one of the boys all the girls liked, but in NO way was my new boyfriend. I was just such a pitiful loser it seems, that I had to make up boyfriends TO MYSELF in my own diary.

What's weird is that twice in one week recently here in Midland I have seen Donny. And I heard from a good source (you know who you are, wink, wink) that times haven't always been good for Donny. You know those newspaper pages where they print photos of people with the associating crimes listed? It seems he's been on one of those pages. But when I saw him he looked to be a normal-looking working dude and then on the second encounter to be a normal-looking family man.

We all do dumb things, but I hope things have turned around for him. I really shouldn't care, other than the fact that I used to place him on such a high pedestal. He's down here with the rest of us now, where we all belong. And I think these recent spottings are just more proof that it's time for me to get out of Midland.

Off to Home Depot

My plan today is to finally paint our bedroom. Originally I said I wouldn't do anything with our room until we could do it right - buy new furniture, new bedding, window treatments, art, etc. But I just can't wait any longer. It's ugly, drab, and I usually try to pretend it doesn't exist when giving someone a tour of the house. Don't expect before and after pictures though. A little paint won't hide the goodwill furniture.

Temporary Insanity

I think this is my third post to write over the last two days, but only my first to actually post. Each time I'd write one, I'd re-read it and think "god, how depressing." There are times when having only X chromosomes really annoy me. I hate hormonal episodes. So if you're a guy reading this and rolling your eyes right now, piss off. It's a horrible feeling that you'll never understand.

Times like this I just want to walk off the face of the Earth and never return. The only way I know how to handle it is to keep my distance, speak as little as possible to anyone, and nap or look like I'm trying to nap. Joy.

Tomorrow I'll likely be a new person and will laugh that I not only wrote this but was nerdy enough to post it.

My Friday Off

I have so much I could/should be doing today, so I've decided to set minimal goals:

1. Clean off the friggin' dining table. This has unfortunately become the walk-by drop spot.
2. Find a spot for the huge roasting pan I bought for the turkey. Who knew this would be such a chore.
3. Go shopping, at least some, and probably with my younger sister Ashly who's in town.
4. Ignore the mess in the garage.
5. Not kill the cat for deciding the Christmas tree is his new jungle gym.

There. They're neither lofty nor overwhelming goals. All I need now is some coffee to get going.

Keep blogging...

Yes, I've been a blogging fiend the last few days but there's a reason. At least four fellow bloggers that I know, including myself, have been either bored with the blogging thing or bored with what they have or don't have to talk about, and so I'm trying to do my part to get back in the blogging spirit. My sister got the ball rolling, so I'm following along. And Melissa has been putting us all to shame.

So fellow bloggers out there - stop thinking you have nothing to write about. I bet you'd be surprised at what entertains your readers.

Alan and I assembled the Christmas tree last night, and I hung lights while he hung more new blinds in the living room. (We've been replacing all the old flimsy mini-blinds with the wide slat wood-looking ones - huge improvement.) Anyway, I think I spoke too soon this morning when I said Junior has played with the tree but hasn't actually been IN the tree from what I could tell. Nope, I'm wrong. A lower branch has already been knocked off and lights are being pulled and probably chewed. Should be a fun few weeks. Grrrrr....

Hoping for zzzzzzzzz's

Why is it that sleepless nights hit you at the most inconvenient times? Like, I don't know...say the night before a busy day? I know the answer is obvious...it was pretty much a rhetorical question. Or perhaps it's because I can't stop falling asleep before 10:00 (some nights before 9:00!) on the couch every evening. It must be contagious because now Alan is doing it. And to the two people who called during this time, sorry. There is no phone call that can interrupt a nice nap on the couch!

So we woke up at midnight and moved to the bedroom. I haven't been able to sleep since. But there's a James Bond marathon on Spike, so I'll try curling back up on the couch and seeing if I can recapture that sleepy mode. It helps to curl up with Bear - that would be the name I gave this super thick blanket that Alan's dad brought back from Korea. You could easily survive sub-zero temperatures with this blanket.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Much to celebrate!

I'm Done with a capital "D" with student teaching. Today was my last day, so yea for me! It was really a good experience overall, and I honestly could not have had a better mentor teacher. I have some sub jobs lined up for the next 2-3 weeks and a long-term maternity job that I'm likely to have starting in February. Other than that, I think I plan to just substitute instead of taking a mid-year job.

Graduation is December 9th. One of my students wrote me a note that said "congratulations on passing college." It's just hard to believe that I'm really done with all of this. I mail off a paper tomorrow, and that is my last official anything. Although I think I owe the university $47 for something.

Tomorrow Alan and I are going to an early morning turkey-frying and beer-drinking party, but it's hard for me to be in party mode at that time of the morning. Last Saturday as we rode on the chartered bus to the Tech game, I had a beer at 9:30 a.m. That had to be the earliest I've ever drank alcohol. That would be considered a late start to Alan and his college friends, "back in the day." Could y'all still do that at the old age of 30?

Once burned, twice not so shy

Three or four Saturdays ago, this young black kid rang our doorbell at 12:30 a.m. Normally, we're in bed by then but just happened to be up and in the living room watching TV. Alan answers the door, which is the first thing I wouldn't have done. I would have looked through the peephole and either ignored the guy or yelled something through the door. Alan not only opens the door but goes outside to talk to the guy, and listens to a story about how this kid's parents are fighting and they don't have enough money to get back to Odessa. Whatever. But if you know Alan, the Good Samaritan, you know that he couldn't let this kid go without doing something for him. And Alan has the kind of heart that tells him people are generally good and honest whereas I believe the type of people that show up at your door at that time of the night are up to no good, ever.

So Alan TAKES THE GUY IN HIS CAR to find his parents. Alan's not believing everything the kid is telling him, yet he still has to help somehow. I'm left at home flippin' mad and scared thinking this so-called "kid" is pulling out his knife or gun to not only rob Alan but leave him with a scar for all his neighborly behavior. Anyway, Alan finally comes back without the kid and starts feeling kind of stupid for what he did. It didn't help matters that I'm ranting and griping about all the things that could have happened and how I'd been pacing the house wondering what the hell was going on.

So I tell all of this not to make Alan look like a fool, but to get to the really good part where Alan kicks some ass! At least verbally.

About two weeks later, we go out to eat at La Bodega, not too far from our house but not a walking distance either. We go to leave and are getting in our car when this black guy walks up to the front of the car. I'm already inside with the door shut when I realize this and then realize he's approaching Alan. My first thought is, oh dear God, here we go again. Another sob story and someone wanting money. And I'm thinking either Alan's going to give him some or he's not, and this not so small kid is going to get pissed. But then as I'm trying to strain my ears to hear the black guy, I hear Alan loud and clear. He says something along the lines of "Yeah, well you told me this same story on another night at a different location about a week ago, and YOU'RE A LYING DOG." And he didn't say it with a neighborly tone of voice. It was awesome. I was in the car doing that universal sign with the elbows and fists for "YES!"

I don't want Alan to be cynical and suspicious like me, but it was cool to see him put someone in their place.

"Red hot mama, velvet charmer" - who knew?

Since Alan must get his "Bob and Tom" fix, the radio in our bathroom is usually set to the local rock station every morning. So this morning I'm about to get in the shower and on comes Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog." I get all excited and am turning it way up, because this takes me back to when I was 13 and listened to that cassette no less than 100 times at deafening levels. I probably thought I was something else, listening to a song that had the word bitch in it. Today they probably say bitch on the Disney channel, for all I know. Anyway, I'm singing along in the shower when it occurs to me I HARDLY KNOW THE WORDS. How is that possible?

Well for starters, the cassettes or albums rarely came with the lyrics printed inside. And we sure didn't have the internet to look up words to any song ever recorded. So what you would do is play the song over and over with your ear to the speaker trying to write down the lyrics, or if you didn't have the actual cassette you had to have a blank cassette tape ready and waiting in your stereo in case the song came on the radio. If you were really on top of things, you called in your request to the station and sat by the stereo ready to hit the record button.

So I look up the lyrics today and um......wow, I wasn't even CLOSE to knowing the words. I had the "son-of-a-bitch" part down though.

And I'm just going to take this opportunity to beat Alan or any other pervert I know to the punch, by saying that yes, I realize I mentioned getting in the shower and being excited in almost the same sentence.

You might be bored after reading this.

I should be posting more. I have time. I'm not writing lesson plans, I've almost finished my portfolio, I've taken and passed all my tests now, and I'm not even really teaching much this week or next. So I basically don't have a lot to do, school-wise. And with Bailey's volleyball season being over until club starts in January and Alan's softball done until the spring, I don't even have games to go to every week. But in case you haven't figured it out already, I'm a fairly boring person.

Weird thing is, that never stopped me from blabbing before. I might be in a slight funk, but I think it's the lack of having fun things to look forward to. We've (meaning Alan and I) been in need of a fun weekend away for a long, long time now. I don't see that happening for a while. I guess I have graduation to look forward to, but that also drives the home the fact that I better get my butt busy in the ole' job search adventure. Glory day! That's always a good time!

Time Change

I don't handle the time change well. It'll take me weeks before I stop falling asleep on the couch before 9:00. Yesterday when I got home from school, I made coffee, thinking I had figured out a way to keep myself awake enough to make it to The Daily Show. And Thursday night is my TV night, so I knew there'd be shows on I'd want to stay awake for. Especially after DeeBee told me there would be a new episode of "A Haunting" at 8:00. So I drink my coffee and go about my evening - taking Bailey to a game, picking up pizza, etc. I watch The Office, which was amusingly awkward as usual, and settle in for my fixation on hauntings. I guess I made it through half the show. 8:30!! I'm out.

I don't wake up again until nearly 9:30 when Addison gets back home. By then my contacts are super dry and I'm fighting to open my eyes so that I can look friendly and approachable when her boyfriend or whatever he is comes to the door. He already thinks I don't like him, so last night's failed attempt at looking pleasant didn't help.

It's not like it's a two-hour time change! But that one hour coupled with the darkness just puts me out. The only plus side is that I'm usually waking up before the alarm goes off at 5:00. I don't see anyone else around me having trouble.

You can scare me

If you've never watched the series, "A Haunting," on the Discovery channel, I highly recommend it. It's documentary-style episodes of actual hauntings, mostly in people's homes here in the U.S. They're pretty well done, so it feels like you're watching a scary movie instead of some dorky show like the one where the British guy is followed with a night vision camera and freaks out when he "feels" the presence. That show should be watched only for amusement and/or when drinking with others.

If I read the schedule correctly, there are 2 or 3 episodes of "A Haunting" starting around 11:00 a.m. this morning. Hopefully there will be more in the next couple of days and especially on Halloween. Do you remember when we used to have regular scary series on TV, like "Night Gallery" or "The Twilight Zone?" Of course you don't, because you're not friggin old like me. But we need something more along these lines on TV - like M. Night Shamalamalama should create a series. That would be cool.

You're probably weird, too.

I’m not an Oprah viewer, but I happened to be home the other day when it started and heard it was about OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). I find this interesting because 1) the girls’ stepmother seems to have some OCD tendencies, and 2) because I think a lot of people have at least minor tendencies. I might be one of them. Nothing major, but I do find myself bothered by certain things or adhering to certain "rules." Some are probably OCD related, while others are just weird idiosyncrasies. I bet you do things like this, too:

It’s just not right for certain items in the fridge to be placed next to other items. For instance, milk does not belong near items like pickle jars, the mayonnaise, or steak sauces. I just feel my milk is going to be contaminated in some way if it sits next to those foods.

Pictures on the wall should never, EVER be crooked. Ever. Even in someone else’s house, if you can manage to straighten the picture without them noticing.

I like for miscellaneous items to be perpendicular or parallel to other items. Any other angles are somewhat annoying. I recall this being an issue when I had an office job and the papers on my desk needed to be arranged just so at various times throughout the day. The world was a better place when the edges of the papers were parallel with the edge of the desk.

I have to say that I have come a long, long way in chilling out. I used to be more bothered by mess, disorder, and dirt. I’m way more comfortable with it now, and perhaps some of that is because I’ve discovered there just isn’t enough time to worry about those imperfections anymore. And if you were to open my fridge, you would see little or no indication of OCD mannerisms. Or if you popped over to the house, it wouldn’t be free of clutter on the computer desk, messy dresser drawers, or unorganized closets. The annoyance of these things is always there, always looming over me, but I don’t often take the time to fix them.

I can’t explain to the three people I live with how much more relaxed and laid back I would be if their rooms or bathrooms or general stuff was neatly taken care of. And I think that because they don’t have issues with order like I do, that it becomes too overwhelming for me to try keeping my part as neat as I would like it. My mind tells me that if I worked hard on my stuff and no one else did on theirs, that I would simply lose my mind. So I give myself over to the dark side and try to join them, if only slightly. It doesn't mean they're sloppy or dirty people (okay, two of them definitely are sometimes), but just that they're different from me.

And now for a sudden subject change, I'm going to attempt to get some Halloween-appropriate pictures of Junior this week. You'll see what I mean when and if I capture the evilness within.

A little improvement would be nice

I guess a scary surgery on a pretty important part of the body wasn't bad enough. On top of that, Addison's been super sick for two weeks with an ear infection and soar throat. She went back to the doctor today, since a week's worth of antibiotics hasn't helped, and was told the white bumps on her throat were so bad that the culture is being sent to the hospital for analysis. She was also given a "big shot" that the nurse was not fond of giving to people. They won't know anything for 2-3 days and therefore can't change treatment until they know something. It's not helping her grades any either.

She'll get better, but it still sucks. She's also highly contagious and now Bailey's complaining of a sore throat. Bring on those freezing cold temps.

"It had two bulbous lumps like Mickey Mouse ears."

Odd that it would be breast-cancer awareness month and Addison had surgery this morning to have a breast lump removed. But before you go getting worried, three doctors have said they suspect it to be absolutely benign. And after the surgeon removed it and saw it with his own eyes today, he still suspects it to be benign. All three say it would be extremely rare for a sixteen year-old to have anything but a benign mass. The only reason it had to come out, says one doctor, is if it was bothering her and/or she was uncomfortable with the fact that IT would be there. He was willing to watch it for a few months, but we opted to get it out. It wasn't small, it would never go away, and she would notice it probably every day.

We'll know the results on or around Tuesday, but I feel certain she's fine. Funny how she found it though - she and a few friends, including one guy, were having lunch at Whataburger when one of the girls joked about how their diet cokes caused cancer. So a conversation started about breast cancer and Addison starts checking her boobs right there in Whataburger. Much to her surprise, she actually felt one - a LARGE one. Her friends didn't believe her. A few days later when she was back at our house, she had me check it. Yep, there was something there that shouldn't have been.

A fibroadenoma they call it. A harmless but nasty foreign creature.

Still around

I'm way overdue for a posting, but from the looks of some of my fellow bloggers' sites, I'm not alone. Just busy with school and lessons and stuff around the house. So instead of trying to come up with an interesting thought tonight, I'll just wait until I really have something to talk about and will instead go put my headache to bed. I have a three-day weekend ahead, so I'm sure to be in a chatty mood then...

Dynamic Duo

I love when these guys get together.

Several weeks ago I took it upon myself to destroy the appearance of the back porch. I'm fun like that. We have a semi-enclosed porch, and the previous owner had installed a bamboo wainscoting along the bottom of the walls with a bright turqoise paint above it. I hated both. I decided to rip off the bamboo because I knew there was panelling behind it, and I figured some sanding and painting of the panelling and upper part of the walls would be a huge improvement to the porch. What I discovered was that the previous owner was hiding moldy, rotting panelling behind the bamboo. So for the past several weeks I've been looking at those nasty, moldy walls.

Yesterday, Alan and Leigh tore off the rotted panelling, installed a plastic barrier, and then put up new panelling (wainscoting of a sort). They did an awesome job. Now it's off to the hardware store for new paint, and we'll have a porch that we can look forward to sitting out on again.

Just need the mosquitos to die off...

Cool planes

We had fun with Alan's dad at the air show today. It was like having our own private guru and commen-tator for the show.


The P-51 Mustang and the F-15 fighter. Click on it for a better look.















Alan's favorite, the Corsair.












The F-117 Stealth Fighter. This plane had to fly in from elsewhere and wouldn't land, since it still has a sensitive status and the common public is not allowed to see it that up close. At least we saw it close by in the air. Very cool. Click on it.

Monk E-mail

Thanks to Denise, I can't stop playing with this this morning. I have to do the junior high thing and see what all I can get the monkey to say. You have to try it.

No time to write, but here are some photos

Busy week. Here are some quick photos to share. Addison turned 16 yesterday! Check out the triple-layer cake I made.















Her very first car.
















What Junior does to mail and other items left out for his amusement.