Thanksgiving Break

I haven't been here in a little while, but while on Thanksgiving break I thought I would stop by...

It's been a good break. Makes me long for Christmas break! 15 days and counting.

So here is the sum of my week off:

• a little bit of early Christmas shopping
• a good lesson in Sunday school (yes darling I still call it that!) from my favorite teacher. He's hot.
• a nice warm overnight stay at my parents place, 5 horses & 15 beautiful acres is good for the soul, not to mention incredible parents. I want to be them when I grow up!
• a very fun evening with our favorite friends.
• a girls night out for dinner
• a quick trip to Houston with lots of family time with the 4 of us all snuggled in one bedroom!
• a lunch and movie with my sister
• finished 2 books, halfway through my 3rd. I crave reading, is that weird?

I have lots to be thankful for every day!

Oh and for those that care about my detox thing, still doing good! I splurged a little over the break, but I am actually craving vegetables now. Crazy!!! This detox diet is really the best thing I have done for myself in a long time.

Detox day 10

So tomorrow is the end of the official "detox"! I still haven't put together my plan of action for post detox diet. I am kind of scared to eat now because I don't want to gain those pounds back, I like how I feel overall too. I don't have my afternoon crash anymore, that's probably one of the biggiest changes. I use to come home starving, eat something, then crash on the couch for a good 30 minutes. I haven't done that once since starting the detox. I came home today and cleaned house! However continuing to eat such a restrictive diet isn't great either.

There has to be a happy medium.

I will try to spend some time thinking that through tonight.

The scale is still continuing to be my friend. I thought I might gain a little this morning since I ate yesterday, not so! I lost a little more!! Yippeeeeee!

Detox day 9

I made it all the way through the fasting day without hurting anyone! Miracle! By the time I was going to bed, I was pretty much out of energy, but I was surprised that I hadn't felt that way all day. Breakfast was on the counter, ready to be mixed and cooked and I was READY to eat when I woke up. I had, what the lady in the book calls "scrumptious apple squares" I disagree. I would have rather just had a cooked apple with some cinnamon sprinkled on it...I ate it though and today I added yogurt too. It was nice to have something creamy. Lunch was carrots, cauliflower and a lean, organic beef patty, I smeared a little hummus on it. It was good. I haven't been hungry much of the rest of the day. I had some raspberries for dinner. I know I know, that's not exactly how this plan goes, but I am busy.

Eating healthy is hard work. I have sliced, diced, blended, processed and steamed more this last week than my whole life!

I think it has paid off. I have 2 more days till I am "done". I need to spend these days figuring out where I go from here.

Drumroll please....
I have lost a total of 9.5 pounds so far! I was hoping for 10 so maybe that will come off in the next few days.

I think it's interesting how I could drop that weight and no one notices. I didn't tell anyone at work I was doing this just to see if anyone would notice. Not so much. Oh well. That's ok, it's really the scale that I need to keep "talkin to me"

Fast day!

Today has been hard at some points and shockingly easy at other points. SO FAR!

So I mixed up my cranberry concoction that I was supposed to drink on my fast day only to realize I screwed up the recipe! I thought I "fixed" it, but when I finished my first cup of it today I wasn't so sure. I felt completely nauseated! That certainly took care of feeling hungry for most of the morning. I diluted it some more and have felt a little better since that. I have only had water or cranberry juice concoction ALL DAY!!

So far I have made it through:

• teaching all day,
• 3 parent conferences
• and of course what else would happen today, yep that's right, my evaluation by my principal. I should have known. It was at the end of the day too. I think it went fine.

Now the rest of the day consists of making dinner for everyone else, (That maybe tough) making lunches for the kids for tomorrow. (On a side note every day of this detox I have made Jessica's pbj for school and haven't even licked the knife! That's dedication) Homework time, then bedtime!! Before I go to bed I gotta figure out what I AM going to eat tomorrow. I am really excited to be able to add back yogurt, even if it is plain & organic.

I have to be smart about what I eat tomorrow or I might end up regretting it.

Detox day 7

Kinda the same thing today... not much to post. My sinuses are still improving, thankfully.

Tomorrow is the big day of not eating.

I am a little nervous because I have 4 parent conferences tomorrow and if I am kindy shaky, and a little "out of it" they may think I have other issues of dependence besides sugar and need to detox at the Betty Ford Clinic.

I have had a couple people ask me about what detox I am doing so here it is:

The Fast Track Detox Diet
by Ann Louise Gittlemean

You can find plenty of positives and negatives out there on the web and of course she has some stuff you can buy (who doesn't) but you don't have too. She is a bit conceited in her writing, but really who cares, I wasn't wanting a new friend, just wanted to lose pounds and quit feeling like a bloated pig, and that seems to be working. There are some recipes that I thought would be helpful, but I have found that I enjoy mix veggies sauteed in olive oil spray much more than some of the more complicated recipes. I have a few I like that I will continue to use.

I will let you know how tomorrow goes...

Detox dish day 6

Oh boy, one week is almost up. If you know me then you know that it's a small miracle that I have stuck to this! I am really good a rationalizing my way into anything I decide I want, especially food!

I feel better today. I am still stuffy, but not as bad. With all this water I am drinking I can't help but believe it is flushing my sinuses out too. I am hoping for another good night sleep and feeling even better tomorrow.

Today we went to the aboretum and had a picnic. It was really fun and I didn't mind all the chips, bread and cookies that everyone else was eating. (Ok I really wanted a cookie!)

I have had plenty of energy through this which is great. I know that I have reduced my caloric intake, but I think I needed that.

So tomorrow is the last day of what this plan calls the "prequel" which is supposedly prepping your liver and colon for what's next...

THE ONE DAY FAST. That will be interesting. It's only one day...but it falls on a Monday. I am sure it will be hard. I have put too much time and energy into this to quit now.

Day 5

Went to bed last night, stuffy and lots of sinus pressure. Woke up this morning with more of the same. I feel like crap and it has nothing to do with the detox. Sudafed and Benedryll is not breaking open the seal that has taken over my nostrils.

I stuck to the detox today. Not hard when you don't feel like eating anyway and can't taste it.

Hoping tomorrow is better.

You should read this out loud with your nose pinched, to get the full effect of my misery.

Detox dish day 4

It's Thursday night and I am still cranking with the detox. It's going well and the scale keeps moving in the right direction. It's very motivating to get up each morning and see those numbers. Each morning after I weigh and there has been change, I think,ok, I can do this one more day. The day it stays the same or goes up, I will probably tank! The headache is gone, my afternoon sugar craving is a bit less intense, though I did tell Chris I really wanted a shake from chic-fil-a. I even had to make pancakes for my class today and I didn't eat a single bite!!! (The pancakes were part of a science lab showing physical and chemical changes in case you were curious.) One of my coworkers had a warm yummy cup of java right in front of me and I didn't lose my mind, steal it out of her hand and gulp it down even though I wanted to.

I told Jess today that I hadn't had sugar in any form since Monday and she thought was just unimaginable torture.

Well I am off to enjoy something that's better than dessert, "The Office and Community"

(That picture above conveyed my desire for the milkshake pretty well, plus he just makes me laugh when I look at him)

Love it!!!

Detox day 3

Day 3, hmmmmm. It was a mixed day for sure. The day started positively with my step on the scale! yippee! I had my yummy mushroom and parsley quiche I had made the night before for breakfast it was goooood! I also chomped my way through a salad at lunch which was quite the victory for me! I usually only like salads that someone else makes! I know it's a little strange. I even used a homemade vinegarette dressing. My salad had carrots, celery, cauliflower (was God a little bored when he made that veggie?) and some leftover turkey I had cooked. It was good.

So the first half of my day was positive, the second half has been a struggle. I have NOT cheated though I really wanted to. Food has been all around me this afternoon it seems. I cooked Jess a grilled cheese tonight and I think it was talking to me, saying "eat me", but I didn't. Then I had to make the grocery list and was trying to decide what to make the family so I was looking and thinking about food alot. I got depressed. Once I finish this "detox" what then? Never have sugar again, no more wonderful warm cup of coffee, bread!! TOAST! Chris can attest to this I could LIVE on toast!! So I read a little from the detox book about what is suggested after the detox and it is pretty much more of what I am doing right now if you want to be strict. There was a section called the "cheaters diet" which allowed for one type of "bad" food a week. WHAT! That's no fun.

So I felt defeated for awhile, but came to the conclusion that I won't be doing ALL that, but I will take what I have learned and tweak it to work for me. I definitely need lots more fruits and veggies and lots less processed crap, I get that and think I can do it! I also have learned that I do want to buy more organic fruits and veggie and meat that hasn't been treated with all those hormones. That alone will be a healthy change that I think my whole family can participate in.

Did you know that the fruit that Americans love the most are the ones that are the most heavily treated with pesticides. There is thought that this accumulation of pesticides can be linked to weight gain. Who knew strawberries could make you fat!

If your interested here are the top 10 toxic fruits:
strawberries, cherries, apples, mexican cantaloupe, apricots, blackberries, pears, rasperries, peaches.
the top toxic veggies:
spinach (one of the most heavily sprayed), hot and sweet peppers, celery, and potatoes.

I think these things are worth buying organic.

Food for thought I guess.

I am over my little crisis for the moment and my headache was much better today. It would come and go. I am tired and not sure if I am officially "detoxed" until I quit wanting to grab the
oreos and eat the whole dang bag!

Detox day 2

I have lived to see another detox day! Today was a little harder, but I stuck to it. I really like my smoothies that I have each morning. I think that will continue even after I am done with the detox, I love that I am not starving one hour into work like I normally am. I am currently finishing up my last bottle of water for the day. I haven't had coffee, tea, coke or milk at all. That's kinda weird.

I would like to say I feel great! But I have had a persistent headache all day. I really hope that it subsides tomorrow. It's dragging me down. If it weren't for the headache I could say that I feel really good. I am not starving and I think it might be working. I weigh myself everyday, but think I will keep that a secret till the end.

Ok I finished my water, gotta run...

Monday Report

So day 1 is almost over and I am not dead! :) I just told Chris that I went an entire day and had NO sugar! Not even some hidden sugar, not even high fructose corn syrup which is in everything!! NONE! Kinda crazy, I told Chris it was almost "unAmerican' of me.

The first day was good. I had this strange smoothie for breakfast that grew on me as I kept drinking, thought for sure I would be starving by 9:00 but I wasn't. I have had more water today than I have had in the last 5 days combined. Not nearly as irritating as I thought it would be, now if I have to get up and visit the potty all night long that WILL be irritating! I had serious sugar cravings at 2:30 which is the norm, I just didn't give into them. I have been known to come home in the afternoon and scarf down 2, count them 2, bowls of lucky charms cereal. I love lucky charms. That cereal shouldn't even exist!!!

Overall, I feel pretty good, I even made it to the gym tonight. I do have a slight headache which could be from a variety of things including lack of caffeine, lack of sugar, students, housework, laundry etc. You get the point.

Ok so that's day 1, so far so good. Maybe the scale will magically drop tomorrow. I like fast results!!

The daily detox

Two posts in one day wow! Look at me go.

Ok so I have decided to try the whole detox program starting on Monday and thought if I blog about the experience then maybe it would help hold me accountable. I won't be going into too much gross detail, but together we can see if this thing will help.

A little backstory for you:

I have been completely frustrated at my body lately. Trying shed just a few pounds has proven extremely difficult. I can go a few days of eating healthy, I can go a few days of excercising, but I don't seem to stick to it long enough to work.

While we were on our cruise I actually went to this seminar called "Detox for weight loss" which I thought was quite ironic because all we seemed to do on that ship was EAT. Anyway I listened to the fella explain how our livers have become toxic, and messed up due to so many things we put in our body. It can't do it's job properly and that messes everything else up. Etc.

I thought it was interesting and informative. We got home from our cruise and I tried to get back on track with my eating, cram train for my 10K and of course the scale didn't budge. Last Monday I got up and weighed myself and that was the final straw. I had spent a week eating healthier, ran a 10k and GAINED 2 pounds. Obviously something isn't working for me. That afternoon I got my mail and in it was my montly magazine from Lifetime Fitness, on the cover it listed an article called "11 day detox" and so that is when I decided to do it.

I shopped today. (dang it! eating healthy is expensive) and plan to start on Monday. I really wish I could take a week off of work to do this, but I kinda already did that for the cruise! So today I had some ice cream and tomorrow we will eat out after church then let the detox begin.

If anyone is even still reading this blog i have not gone off the deep end, I have not purchased some weirdo's "detox kit" and I will be consuming plenty of calories I think. It just doesn't seem like it will hurt to add more fruits and vegetables to my diet and maybe kick this addiction to sugar, caffeine, and all the other things in our highly processed foods. Nor will I preach to you about it either. :)

Check back Monday night for an update.

Joe

We recently decided to sign up for an "adopt an international student" through our church and UTD. We thought it would be great to get to know someone from another country, show them an American family (typical or atypical, depends on how you define American family) and to open up our home to them.

Well we found out this week that our friend is named "Joe" and he is from China. Of course Joe is not his real name, his real name is Yuxiang. I will have to work on how to pronounce it. He is an accounting major. So Chris emailed him and he was able to come to dinner last night. We had NO idea what to make, but we just settled on something simple like spaghetti.

Chris went to pick him up from campus because he doesn't have a car or driver's license. It was a really cool evening and I am just floored by this guy's bravery or crazy sense of adventure. We learned that he is 21 and a graduate student in accounting at UTD, he did his undergrad in his hometown and found out about this program online. So he boarded a plane, bound for a country he has never seen, with 2 large suitcases, landed in DFW and somehow made it to UTD where he was placed in an apartment with two Americans he didn't know. He knows no one and has been here only one month. He says he has only left campus to go to the grocery store and to do some volunteer clerical work at a nearby office.

He was of course pretty shy last night, but his english was impressive. We talked slower, but tried to not talk "louder" like stereotypical Americans do when they meet "foreeners". Joe brought some gifts to us too. They were some pretty little Chinese cut outs that you put on your windows for Chinese new year and them some little decorative ornaments that have the face of the Chinese opera on it. So sweet.

We told him that he didn't have to eat anything that he didn't like, we talked about how different food is here rather than in his country. I explained that Joshua doesn't eat most of what I cook anyway so I wouldn't be offended. So we eat and that fella ate like there was no tomorrow. I am sure after we topped it off with brownies he went home with a belly ache.

We brought him up to my school so he could see an American school and my classroom, we showed him our house that we were building. He seemed surprised it was made of wood, because he says everything is made of just concrete in his city.

We found out he likes basketball and soccer, so I am sure I see a few pick up games or a game of horse happening once we move into our new house. I hope he will come see the kids play one of their basketball games.

When it was time for him to go, he said, "I am sorry if I took too much of your time" broke my heart! I told him no of course not and how nice it was to meet him and we would see him soon. I wanted to hug him, but I didn't know...I just kept thinking how incredible lonely I would be if I was in his situation.

So I am looking forward to having more family time with Joe, thinking of things we can do for him, places we can take him etc.

Things I am pondering lately...

My mom said it was way past time for a post so I guess I still have a reader left so I thought I would write.

These are short snippets of things I have pondered recently

Why did I pay to run a race I didn't train for?

How can my son pick up a saxaphone for the first time 5 weeks ago, and already know how to read music and play several songs?

Why do Chris' sneezes hurt my ears so much?

How can I try to eat healthy all week, run 6 miles and GAIN 2 pounds?

Why can't parents be legally required to read to their children from a young age? It would make my job so much easier.

How did my daughter get to be so sweet. Some gene really skipped a generation or something?

How can I help 19 students individually all at once?

Why doesn't anyone want to buy my sofa and chair off craigslist?

I spend a lot of time pondering where to put my furniture in my knew house.

Where does the time go?

Why do weekends go so fast and weekdays go so slow.

How funny will the Office and Community be this Thursday?

Should I try this detox that I just read about. No not the alcoholic detox, a liver detox.
Would it really work.

As you can see I don't really have very deep thoughts! That's all I got for now. Maybe I can get back in the groove with this thing. If I do that detox then I can do a daily blog about that and give you all the fun details!!

Sometimes what you think you want, you really don't

So in early summer it was decided that Chris and the kids would head to Houston in August and I would stay behind due to a prior committment. Secretly all summer I have been a little giddy over this idea. I don't think I have EVER been the one at home while everyone else gone. I was secretly excited to sleep in the middle of the bed each night, to wake up late and not have to fix anyone breakfast, then lunch, then dinner. (Just FYI I had a pretzel from target from lunch, pathetic) To have a couple days off from being the "Recreation Director" at Camp Havard trying to come up with free, but fun entertainment. I was looking forward to staying up late watching something other than Sportscenter. I was looking forward to "getting things done" such as my scrapbook and some back to work shopping. I was excited about getting to have dinner with a girlfriend and catch up.

Well, it's kinda strange or maybe just a commentary on me, but this morning when this day finally arrived, I kissed my man and my babies bye, and went back into the house, I was sad. I just wanted to go with them.

Sometimes what you think you want, you really don't.

Happy Anniversary!!

Chris and I had the good fortune to spend a week in Cancun at beautiful moon palace resort. We packed up the kiddos and sent them off to have a week of their own fun at grandparents.

We arrived the night of the 25th which is our actual anniversary and got checked into our room. I can't begin to tell you how gorgeous the room was so I will let the picture below show...
We ordered room service for a late dinner.


Friday morning we woke up to the sun shining on this amazing place. We went to work out, met with a resort representative to get our week all planned out and then we ate breakfast. Chris and I split up at that point and I got my toes and nails done at the spa and then spent the afternoon laying out... I will say that line above many times kinda like lather, rinse, repeat...



That night we got all dressed up for a nice dinner at one of the restaurants at the resort. We had a delicious anniversary dinner and at the end Chris surprised me with these sparkly wonders... I LOVE THEM!!!



We were so bummed, the picture, which we had to get someone to take for us, turned out blurry, but you get the gist.

Saturday and Sunday were met with some rain, but we made the best of it and spent lots of time reading and relaxing, we did a little shopping for souveniers and checked out one of the other resorts. We even had a rainbow at dinner Sunday night.





Monday morning the sun came back out and Chris was thrilled to get to play a round of golf. He was so happy because he got to play all by himself and there was not another soul on the course with him till hole 18. I spent the morning doing what I do best, sleeping, eating, reading and laying out...



Monday afternoon we took an excursion to a zip line. It was great fun! I am not a big fan of heights, but I managed and was glad I did it. Chris even went upside down on one of them. I opted out of that one. I will have to scan the souvenier picture that I bought of the zip line. I know some of you will need proof...

Tuesday morning we rode bikes around the resort and then we spent the day laying out at the beach or the pool. We also went out on a catamaran.

Wednesday we had to come home. I really wanted to stay and just have my kids come to me...

It was a wonderful week to celebrate 15 years together. Chris is the most wonderful husband in the world and I do not deserve him, but I am sure glad I have him. I love you sweet man! You are as handsome today as you were when I first laid eyes on you in 6th grade~ Thank you for loving me so well all these years.

Now some more pics...

We are at CAMP!

Camp L-A-Z-Y is the camp were visiting and we plan to stay here for awhile.

It's GREATNESS!!!

Here are a few things you can get at Camp Lazy...just in case you want to join us

no set time to wake up, alarm clocks are strictly forbidden!

no set time to get dressed. Sometimes the camp head honcho tries to tell some of the campers they should get dressed before lunch, but that doesn't always happen.

no set uniform. Shorts, t-shirts, flip flops, baseball caps, or just your swimsuit, this is the standard dress at camp lazy

no real need to excercise, it's pretty warm outside the bunk house so sometimes it's fun to dress like you are gonna go work out, but it never really happens.

Dining plan... hmmm well it's pretty hit or miss. It's completely ok to eat a late breakfast and then snack your way through the rest of the day. Sometimes dinner happens, other times it doesn't.

Sunday is the toughest day on the schedule, but it helps us not forget certain important things like actually trying to match your clothes for church, how to do your hair and put on make-up. This is usually all done by noon so we get back to Camp Lazy pretty quickly.

Grown up Camp Lazy is taking place in Cancun this coming week and in Joshua, TX for the younger lazy people. Then there will be Family Camp Lazy taking place in S. Padre in July.

Unfortunately Camp Lazy will be ending in mid-August and is gone until December when there will be a Mini Camp Lazy occuring!! Won't you join us!!

MMMMMMM It's good stuff

I may have only spent 3 years in the "deep south", but one thing that left it's mark on this Texas girl is Sweet Tea!

When I moved to Georgia you could only find sweet tea at Chic Fil A here in the lone star state, but in Georgia I am pretty sure the water fountains flow with sweet tea. I drank it and became an addict for sure. I probably have lots of cavities due to my love of sweet tea but that would require a trip to the dentist and we all know how that ended up for me. (Scroll down a few posts for that one.)

So today I just had to try the latest spot serving sweet tea here in Texas.

McDonalds.

I have to say it is

McDelicious AND cheap too. $1.00 for a large.

So I am excited to add another spot on my list for sweet tea this summer.

The ultimate sweet tea can only be found at Mary Mac's located in Atlanta, that's not the most convenient for me so I have to settle for these places listed in order of favorite:

Chicken Express

Chic Fil A

Sonic mango sweet tea

and now

McDonalds

Bring on the cavities...

Catchin up

Alright keep scrolling down...

I have tried to play a little catch up today!

HAPPY SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Camp

So BOTH my kids went to church camp. This is very strange for me! I feel like I have gone from 100 to 0 in a day. Last week I was busy as ever with baseball, softball, end of year school stuff, house stuff, errands and more, now I am sitting here blogging with NOTHING to do. They left on Saturday and will be back on Wednesday. I am sure they are having fun. They do better without me than I do without them! Here is how I have spent my time...

Finished a book

Painted my piggies blue

re-did their bathroom. This included a midnight trip to the 24 hour walmart. WOW, that's another post in and of itself...

Worked out/went running twice so far

blogged

hung out with my man (that's the best part)

Not sure what I will accomplish today. The house is so quiet, I turned on the Disney channel just for the noise.

Schools out for summer...

It's finished! Another year is done. I was sad to say goodbye to my 4th graders. They are such great kids. I finished up Friday and closed the door to my room, wondering what next year's group of students will be like. Jess will be in 4th grade. Boy I wish I could have her in my room. How fun would that be. That girl of mine is so competent (just a little bossy, we aren't sure where she gets that) that I could take the day off and she could run the show!! Probably better!

Joshua was happy to be done with 5th grade and got to spend the afternoon with me at my school since he finished early that day. It was funny to watch my 4th graders so enamored with a real live 5th grader in their room. They got to ask him all sorts of questions about what to expect next year when they go to the 5th grade campus.

My All-American Boy

If you will let me brag for the next few minutes that would be great. If that drives you insane, then move on to the next post!

I LOVE this picture of my boy. I even made a fool of myself at Wal-Mart when I had them put this picture in black and white. I said, "is that not the handsomest boy ever!" I am pretty sure he just nodded and moved quickly to complete my order. No worries, I was more just stating the truth than asking for his opinion!

We had a rough baseball season, it's what I think people refer to as a "rebuilding year" or "building character" who knows, all I know is that we ended up doing better than many of us anticipated and actually had a chance to take 3rd place. We lost a heartbreaker of a game that night. Joshua pitched one of his best games that night and I was SO proud of him, he also had one of his best nights at bat too. Baseball is just such a strange game, it can all change on a dime in one play the momentum switches... We lost by 1 run. He's over it, I am still a little bummed!

Anyway, I just love this picture. All American boy playing little league...

Memorial Day in pictures

We had a fun pool party for Memorial Day at our friends home. They are the ultimate in hospitality!!!!

Chris turned the camera to "party mode" and took lots of pool pictures.

I like what I do...

It's pretty cool that it's the end of May and I can actually type that title! Ha!
As another school year comes to close, I have to admit, I like what I do! We had field day on Friday and I LOVE field day. I always have a great time. I hope that my students will always remember they had a teacher that was willing to jump in the bounce house with them and run the 50 yard dash against the entire class! I hope they will remember that they had a teacher that tried to treat them with respect and that cared about them individually.

Yes there are days that I am at the end of my rope, yes there are days that an "office" job sounds very appealing, however, overall I have to say, I like what I do. I have had a really great year and have seen some tremendous growth in several of my students. It's a privilege to get to be a part of that.

I got this really neat platter as a gift from one of my students! If you can't tell she painted each one of my students by looking at their yearbook pictures. She has a neat pottery business called http://www.paintedpiggies.com/.

Wow I am blogging from my iPhone how fun is this new toy!!!! Happy mothers day

Website

If you have a minute check out my mom's new website! I am super proud of her!
I think she has amazing talent, and boy does she love her horses!

www.fivehorsestudio.com

Stoned!

I bet that title got your attention!
NO I am not using illegal substances.
No I am not in a hockey game
No I am not receiving or handing out some archaic punishment
and no I am not going to see some over the hill rockers either...

It's this:



Tuesday and Wednesday we gave the TAKS test at school and so we are required to be "actively monitoring" at all times. In other words don't have your butt at your desk, be up moving around. Well, I did for two days straight, but in the WRONG shoes. I also ran Tuesday night. Now I have what seems to be called a "stone bruise."

It stinks. It hurts. It woke me up this morning. (anyone that knows me knows that is BAD NEWS) I have iced it, I tried to wear my tennis shoes this morning, I tried to go barefoot, it all hurts.

NO I haven't tried to "stay off of it." That's just ridiculously impossible, I have stuff to do!!!

I guess all those cheap shoes from payless are coming back to haunt me now...

Thank you note, past due...

If you were at church with me today you saw me very teary eyed. This always bothers my kids but when will they learn that it really doesn't take much. We had our annual high school senior recognition day and each year I think I will be fine, but as soon as they introduce all the seniors and mention where they will go to school, they then have the families come up and Gary (our Pastor) leads them all in a sweet prayer. That's when I cry. That's when I grab my little girl's hand and pray for time to slow down some, or when I do the math and realize my boy is only 7 years away from doing this, and I cry. I am not the only one though so I don't feel too silly.

Then the service begins and I think I am gonna pull it back together. The service we attend is considered "contemporary" meaning we have a band, not a choir. We sing a lot of contemporary worship songs over the traditional hymns. Not today. Today they put an old hymn in and well, it got me. We sang, "Victory in Jesus" today. I will put the words at the end for you. Well, there are two songs that I just love and that's Victory in Jesus and Blessed Assurance. The reason I love them is because when I hear them, I can hear my sweet grandfather singing them in church and humming them at home. WAY off tune, but still a sweet sound. So the tears just fell today as I thought of him and missed him.


I wish I could thank him for living his life in such a way that just screamed out love and grace.

I wish I could thank him for serving his God faithfully to the end.

I wish I could thank him for praying for me.

I wish I could thank him for sharing God with me.

I wish I could thank him for showing God to me.

One day I will be able to...


Yes that's me with my sad attempt at a Dorethy Hammel haircut. I thought looked super cute in that outfit. Hey! Maybe Joshua did get his skinny legs from me. What the heck happened!

http://my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis2/victry.html

Here are the words to the song, complete with music in the background. Sounds just like it did in that South Texas church!

Sounds

This is kinda silly, but what are some of your favorite sounds? They say the sense of smell is most attached to memory and I believe that. I brought two dressers with us when we moved to Atlanta, they were from my grandparents' house that I had spent many summers with, then they were in storage for awhile. I remember moving into our home and was ready unpack the kids clothes and opened the first drawer and was just undone because it smelled just like my grandparents house. A sweet fragrance and trip down memory lane.

but I digress, I was thinking about what my favorite sounds are. I think I was prompted by the sound of the rain starting when I was standing outside this morning.

Here are some others I thought of:

• Joshua and Jessica's true belly laugh
• the sound of the garage door going up: Chris is home!
• the sound of the waves crashing to shore
• that sound that ski's make going down the mountain
• the coffee pot
• rain
• my ring tone when Chris calls "I've always love you" by Third Day. sometimes I don't answer right away to let it play a little longer
• Chris snoring. really I do like that sound it's kinda comforting
• "Mom" "Mommy"
• the sound of feet hitting the pavement in a rhythm when i run. A slllloooowwwww rhythm
• "hey hon" only from Chris though...
• the sound of kids playing outside in the yard
• a horse galloping (not with me on it though)
• fernando ortega's voice
• Dave South's voice (He's the commentator for every Aggie sport)
• the crack of the bat
• the sound the ball makes hitting Caleb's glove when Joshua makes a strong solid pitch
• the little music that plays when you turn on Wii sports. I know I am gonna kick some computer tennis butt. (pathetic I know)
• school sounds. kids, teachers, cafeteria, playgrounds, lockers closing, etc.
• an acoustic guitar

Well I know there are more. I will add when I come across them, but I have been lazy enough this Saturday morning so I must go do something productive...

Dental Disaster

I deserve an award for the self-control I exhibited yesterday at the dentist office. Really I do!! I was so mad I had to just keep repeating in my mind "just leave, don't cuss, just leave don't cuss" over and over and over in my mind! It worked, I managed to get out of there and the police didn't have to be called!!

Here's what went down...this is from the letter that I sent the dentist office today:

After my appointment at your office yesterday I felt that you should be made aware of the lasting impression that was made by your staff. I think that it would be helpful if you could experience your practice from a patient’s point of view, since without patients you will not have a practice at all. So here is my experience with your office:

I arrived at 3:50 for my 4:00 appointment. I was not greeted when I entered the office because the person at the front desk was trying to figure out how to complete the payment for another patient. I even heard the patient have to ask for her $50 discount and then things had to be voided and re-entered. She was clearly unsure how to do this.

I was taken back around 4:05ish by your hygienist, and given a “tour” of your facilities. Honestly, I really didn’t care and looking back this was a time waster. The hygienist then proceeded to take my x-rays. This was long and painful process. I have had many dental x-rays in the past and this experience was by far the worst. She was EXTREMELY slow. It took half an hour to complete the x-rays. Then she and the assistant spent the next 20 plus minutes checking the pockets in my gums and attempting to enter it in the computer, which they did not know how to do.

Then she says she is going to get you to check me “so I wouldn’t have to wait for you” after the cleaning. She leaves and then has to come back and deal with the computer again in order for you to read my x-rays in another room. Seems to me this should have been done before she left. It’s now past 5:00 and I have been in the chair for over an hour and had nothing more done than x-rays and a gum check. Unacceptable if you ask me. After 5:00 you come in and spend approx 10 minutes talking to me about names, your house you are thinking of buying and flossing. Much like the tour, I really didn’t care about these things, and as I look back it was extremely self-centered of you not realize how long I had been there and not working to speed up the process for your patient. So you inform me that I need gum treatment on one area and that you will get your office manager to find out the cost etc.

So now it’s about 5:20ish. I wait longer and the office manager makes an attempt to come give me some pamphlet about an antibiotic so I would have “something to look at” while I waited. Then at approx 5:30 she comes in and attempts to have me reschedule for the gum treatment and a polish. I was incredulous to say the least. I was told that I could not have my teeth cleaned, because there wasn’t “time”. What did this mean? Did your staff need to go home? Was there another patient that had an appt and he/she was worth more money? Did they have a date they needed to get to? Dinner in the oven? Really? You can have me totally waste MY time, but THEIR precious schedule can’t be interrupted? Bottom line, I was punished for your incompetence.

It’s a proven fact that a happy customer tells approximately 3 people about their experience and an unhappy customer tells 10. I had no less than 5 people ask me to “tell them how it goes” because they too were looking for a dentist. I will definitely be telling them about my very poor experience.

Ugh! I don't think I have been that mad in a long time. Truly shocked. I hate going to the dentist and boy did this add fuel to that fire!!

Pudge and Nolan

The pics a little blurry, but all we had was an IPhone to capture the moment. Here is our version of Pudge Rodriguez and Nolan Ryan aka Caleb and Joshua. They have played ball together since 2006 and have become the best of buddies. I can't tell you how grateful I am for their friendship. They are both great kids! They bring out the best in each other. Caleb refers to Joshua as "his Nolan Ryan" which I think is too funny. They both had GREAT games the other night, Joshua on the mound and at shortstop, and Caleb behind the plate. Therefore, it was a double gameball giveaway. I don't think either one of them minded sharing the spotlight. It's so much fun to watch these boys work together, to see Caleb walk out to mound to "his" pitcher to calm him down or encourage him, or when Joshua is at shortstop and the two of them connect for a throw out at second base. It's a beautiful sight! As you can tell from my recent posts we are knee-deep in our baseball/softball season. I think I am beginning to have "bleacher butt" from all the practices and games. Love it though!!

30 minutes...

Today I just want 30 minutes to go for a run, it would end up being a walk because it's been so long since I ran, but I will not get 30 minutes today before the sun goes down. I will not get 30 minutes tomorrow morning either since bad guys are on loose in my area and my 4:45 am running has been put on "restriction" for a little while. I will not get 30 minutes tomorrow afternoon as I have to get dinner done early and then off to a baseball game. Don't hear me wrong I WANT to go the ball game. I am just wanting 30 minutes NOW! I always want what I can't have, then when I have the 30 minutes I will have lost all motivation. It's not alone time I want, I have that right now, kids are playing outside, hubs is at a meeting at work, it's 30 minutes of running I want...

I think my feet are itching...
Oh well my ipod isn't charged anyway

Maybe another day the stars will align and I will be motivated to run AND have a free 30 minutes. It doesn't seem like alot to ask does it?

We got ourselves a ball player!

Jessica had her first softball game last night. It was great. I thought I would share some pictures of her. Her cute factor was off the charts, I must admit. Even more importantly her skill factor was dang high too!!! Here are her game stats:
Offensively
Lead off hitter
1 single
1 double
2 runs scored

Defensively
starting first baseman
2 unassisted put outs

She had so much fun. I must admit I saw "the look" that I watch for anytime my kids are doing something. You gotta watch for it. It's the look that tells you they like what they are doing, they are "into" it. Joshua has it when he plays baseball and basketball, more baseball but I see it in basketball too, or shooting a gun or doing a math problem or finishing a good novel. It's not just a "I am so happy" face because believe me there is lots of frustration in all those things, and he will tell you he doesn't like school, but it's more a "willingness to concentrate" type face. With Jessica I have seen it on the basketball court, at the art easel, finishing a novel, and riding a horse and now I have seen it on the baseball field. I think it's important to watch your kids, see what they love and are willing to work for in the different areas of their life. If you watch for it you can help guide them to make decision about these things, and hopefully one day find passions, and pursue them! If you don't watch for it, you end up pushing your own agenda and they are doing things because you want them to, not because they do. Just look around at your kiddos next sporting event, you can spot that poor miserable kid out there because his parents made him. I just try to make sure it's not my kid!
The video clip is of her first score. She was walked in so thus the lack of "urgency" on her part!

Play Ball!!

It looks like this week we will FINALLY get to start playing some baseball/softball!
2 games have been rained out so far and we are tired of just practicing and ready to play!!

Here is a little shot of one of the big differences between boys and girls. Jessica got her visor today for her uniform and Joshua got a little monogram addition to his cap this year...

Girl bling vs. Boy bling!!

I can't get enough of either one!

You can't make me!!!!!

Spring Break is over, we are all soooo very sad. It's just long enough for our bodies to get use to staying up late and sleeping in. It's just warm enough to make us put on shorts and play outside. It's just close enough to summer that we can almost taste it!

We are all soooo very sad!

52 days left!!!

The Road

I love to go to Barnes and Noble and get a new book. I rarely get my money's worth because I devour them too quickly. It's like cake or ice cream! Anyway, about 6 months ago or maybe even last summer I saw this book at Barnes and Noble, picked it up read the back and I think even carried it around the store a little while. Only to decide, no it's sounds too sad, it's a little "scifi" not my genre and put it back. Since then I think I have looked at it 3 other times, each time turning it down. Well I went to half price books on Saturday and gave in. I finished it last night. It was just what I thought, sad and strange, leaving more questions than answers. I am glad I read it, but felt alot like I did when I finished Life of Pi, I wanted to call the author and demand some explaination, some closure, a sequel SOMETHING! I guess one of the marks of a good book is when you are still pondering it the next day. I hear they are making a movie out of it, I don't want to see it. I always get a little irked when they make movies from books. It ruins the imagery you had in your mind when you read it.

Ok that's book talk for the day!

If you can't beat 'em join 'em

It's that time of the year that I lose my husband to March Madness. Today is selection Sunday and after that he slips into a coma of basektball games, flipping through channels and spending countless hours on the couch. I tell him to roll over every once in a while so he doesn't get a bed sore. In our college days I can remember spending countless hours over at his place watching these games. I impressed all the fellas with my knowledge of the Michigan Fab Five, and Duke (never liked that Bobby Hurley kid and North Carolina. However once I got that ring on my finger the wooing was over, I only keep track a little bit now. I like to watch the Aggies and I miss Acie Law. So now it's a Havard tradition that all 4 of us fill out our brackets and keep track of who is ahead, we usually have a small wager on it, like loser buys the rest a sonic blast, truth is daddy's buying no matter what! It usually the same results Chris wins, Joshua comes in second, me third and Jessica gets ticked off and says she quits. Her strategy is pretty much whatever team name she likes, gets the win. I am not far behind her. Well I may have do some studying on the side, secretly stay up late and watch ESPN tonight so I can make my picks and take the win this year. You all know how much I like to win!!!

Spring Break

Let the fun begin! It's Saturday "late" morning. I just woke up and ate breakfast slowly in front of the tv. Catching up on ESPN and (Chris is home) NCAA basketball, I haven't told anyone to hurry up and eat or hurry up and get their back packs. I am enjoying a hot cup of coffee while checking emails and blogs. I have no plans as of yet for the day. It's spring break!! Otherwise known as the "summer teaser"!

Reason #957 that you can't call me girlie...

It seems lately that my day to day world is getting louder and louder. It seems that people all around me are just talking and talking and talking about really nothing that anyone wants to hear. I know girls are supposed to be able to talk all day, but just in the past few days I have had to literally physically move myself away from endless chatter because I thought I might explode. There is even some study that says women have x number of words and men have alot less number. I don't fit that. I think I need my own category. x minus a few thousand. I know this isn't normal. I just need a little peace and quiet and I will be fine...

Here's what you do....

Ok so if you were like me you ordered some of these! It's now March and swim suit season is approaching so well, you gotta problem the two don't go together. I have your solution! I am even gonna give it to you free of charge!

EAT THEM ALL IN ONE SITTING! Then you can just start burning off the calories and get it over with. None of this "I will have two now and stop" That is not a possibility with thin mints, they are like cookie chips!

I just polished off my first sleeve. One down one to go! Then let the calorie burn begin.

They are evil little suckers!

Desperate times call for desperate measures...

Ahhhh, you think I am referring to our little economy issue don't you. No that would require me to leave my happy little world and face reality to discuss that topic. As Jessica said as she looked over the salad bar at Cici's last week, "I'm not feelin it"

No the desperate times call for desperate measures refers to my blog. I am blog-blocked it seems so I am gonna go ahead and share this corny one that came in my head the other day. You see, I have to confess something, I am closet country music listener. I think it goes back to my A&M days when I am pretty sure that station was the ONLY station you could get in College Station. It seems that when I am alone in the car it's what I turn it to. I like a good George Strait song or some Brooks and Dunn! Oh and Brad Paisley is good stuff. Crazy huh! You would have lost a bet on that one! I am sure that if Chris gets in the car after me and hears it he just shakes his head and remembers that he agreed to love me no matter what! So there is a popular song right now called "What I'm For" by Pat Green. It's so red, white and blue, but I like it and it got me to thinkin (gotta sound hick now) what am I for... I could think of plenty of things I am NOT for such as smacking your gum, being cold, that extreme fighting stuff... but it's harder to think of what I am for... so here is my lite little list I came up with in my head while I was alone in the car listening to my country music!

I'm for laughing with my family and eating dinner together. I'm for sweet gifts from my hubby and being spoiled rotten. I'm for snuggles every night and forehead kisses. I am for little league and cheering loud. I'm for sleeping in and being warm. I'm for good books and bubble baths. I'm for breakfast for dinner and cereal anytime. I'm for winning and working hard. I'm for helping kids and teaching. I'm for hanging out with good friends. I'm for summer and the pool. I'm for the beach and jumping waves. I'm for anniversaries and making memories. I'm for a good early morning run. I'm for Starbucks and chatting with a friend. I'm for sisters and cousins and grandparents. I'm for shopping if I have money to spend. I'm for a baseball cap on Saturdays. I'm for recess and conference periods. I'm for saying I love you ALOT. I'm for saying what you think (that's not always smart)I'm for Seinfeld and The Office! I'm for Kath and Kim and 30 Rock! I'm for Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks. I'm for being frugle. I'm for forgiveness because I am forgiven. I'm for tulips and for aspen trees. I'm for hiking and trail mix. I'm for camping for one night. I'm for black and white photographs. I'm for a good guitar solo. I'm for a good story anytime. I'm for early bedtimes and fires in the fireplace. I'm for being alone at times. I'm for praying and for faith.

Ok so that was fun to think about, your turn. You can dog on my corny post, but hey it's something new for you to read and I betcha you will think of some things you're for!!!

Hello blogworld

My blog is bugging the crap outta me so I can only imagine how anyone else that clicks here might feel.

I am sick of oatmeal in more ways than one so i thought I better update so I don't have to look at that last post. I write blogs in my head all the time, but rarely are they "postable" for a variety of reasons. One reason being, that not everyone is familiar with my dark side and my true thoughts might make you shy away when you see me coming or on the flip side they are so dang boring they aren't worth the energy to type up! My life is pretty routine get up, teach, take care of house and family, sleep, repeat.

So I decided I better get back into my "therapy." Many of you are thinking, "yes FINALLY she realizes she needs help, we have been praying for this, it will be so good for her. NO that is not what I mean. Honestly people, my dad has a Phd in psychology do you think I am gonna pay someone else when I can just call him, actually it's my mom I should call, she can right my head pretty fast, my dad is too sweet! Anyway, what I mean by therapy is running! I haven't run in what feels like forever and I kinda miss it. I went today and walked/jogged. I stunk, didn't even do my regular 3 miles. (quit smirking Wally, it just motivates me more! stop it) but it was so good to get out there and listen to my ipod and run, walk and think. I hadn't realized how much I had stuffed in my head, that for some reason I allow to surface when i run (well today walk) It felt good and motivated me to want to continue. Our school has started a little after school work out program that I was trying some, but I think I have learned I am loner. (newsflash huh)

So my baby girl turned 9 this past Monday. Can you believe it! I can't. I measured her and it looks like she grew almost 3 inches this year. WOW! She had a roller skating party last Saturday. She had a blast. She is the BEST gift opener in the world. Every present she opens she has this huge reaction to, it's so cute. I think I could have handed her a rock and she would have squealed and screamed with delight. My favorite gift she got was a t-shirt that said, "Hits like a girl, throws like a girl, runs like a girl, kicks BUTT like a girl." It's for her upcoming softball season. I want one in my size.





We are coming to the end of basketball season. Jessica has had a blast and it's amazing how much she has improved from start to finish. She loves to set a pick!

I really don't know where I am going with this post, it's more an update and most importantly to get that oatmeal off my screen. I see it enough every morning.

Guess what's just around the corner...

Baseball season!!

mmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More food blogging,

Update from yesterday's post for all you that were worried about my sugar binge. Confession was good for the stomach and I quit eating and tried to redeem the day by cleaning the upstairs, finishing laundry and kicking some computer animated butt on Wii tennis! Finished with a healthy bowl of Go Lean cereal mixed with Uncle Sam and blueberries!

Anyway, so in my quest to lower my cholesterol I have been eating lots of oatmeal. Today I had to go to work for an in service type day so I had time to stop at Starbucks. The scones, brownies (yes I have had brownies for breakfast before!), and muffins all looked good, but after my bad day yesterday I opted to try their new oatmeal. WOW was it good! I had it with some dried fruit. It was the BEST oatmeal I have ever eaten in my life! I wish I could have it everyday!! However at $3.49 a pop, it's just gonna be on special occasions or with gift cards! It was so good that I was still thinking about it later in the day!! I also may have been just a little swayed by the really cute carton it comes in! Dang it, I should have kept my cute carton and just put my mediocre oatmeal in it each morning and maybe it would taste special! The carton is in the trashcan, should I pull a "Costanza" and take it out of the trashcan! (That's for die hard Seinfeld fans)

I feel like Oprah

You know how Oprah has fessed up to regaining her weight and not eating right and now she is trying to "live her best life now" and make you do it too! Well I feel a little like her today without all that money though! If you saw a few posts back you know that my cholesteral is a little high and I searched walmart high and low for healthy stuff to start the year! I was doing so good for the last few weeks, eating right, excercising consistently, feeling GREAT. Today I fell off the wagon!! I had a decent lunch of this leftover pasta dish that Chris made Friday night, yummy!!! I had two pieces of WHITE bread with it! Gasp!!Then I made the mistake of taking the foil off the pan of brownies he made too, all eating has broken loose since then! I have been back to the brownie pan twice and then I took a nap (think i did a number on my blood sugar!) then I wanted something salty so I popped some popcorn, ate that, then I needed something sweet to balance that so I went to the little candy bowl I have out on this table. It has some skittles and sweet tarts in it at the moment! I found a deadly concoction: 1 skittle and 1 sweet tart at the same time! It's a taste sensation! I can't seem to stop! So the day is shot! Need to just go to bed early and re-group tomorrow! Or maybe I just need to duct tape my mouth! I would still find a way to squeeze a skittle and sweet tart in through!

I gross myself out sometimes!! I think I will have an apple for dinner and call it a day!

Please, Please, Please stop talking

You may think by that title that I am about to blog about my students, nope! Though they are getting a bit chatty this week! No this has to do with another part of my small world.

So on Wednesdays I get up super duper early (4:40 to be exact) and drag my weary self to the gym. Chris is kind enough to get kids up, dressed, fed (btw, he made blueberry pancakes this Wednesday, is he trying to make my life harder? because what did Jess ask for this morning on my watch, yep blueberry pancakes, not gonna happen) and out the door for school. I work out and get ready at the gym. Now for those that don't know me, I am not exactly what you would call a "morning person" but I am also not really a "night owl" either, I have decided I am a 10 to 2 person, that's when I am at my best.

When I was in high school my dad would drive me to school and he is a morning person. He would talk and ask me questions that I would grunt to in reply or roll my eyes silently(sorry dad, you deserved better) til finally I think I just said, "can we just not talk?" How rude of me.

Ok back to the gym, so part of the reason I like to go to the gym in the morning is that it is pretty peaceful and quiet, no one talks to me and I can work out while still half asleep and then get dressed and head to work. Well, there has been a major disruption to my peace. There are two chicas that just started coming to the gym on Wednesdays and are back in the locker room getting ready at the same time I am and people they will NOT STOP TALKING!! It was annoying last week, and they were back again yesterday. Ugh! I was finished with my shower when I heard them come in yakkity yakking. I could tell that they were headed to the showers so I started to plan out a little strategy, I thought, ok I will put on my make up while they are showering and then I can blow dry my hair when they are out so then I won't hear them talking. They were talking while they were in the showers, I could hear them all the way out by the lockers, ridiculous. Of course it continued without ceasing, I don't think they even take a breathe! The blow dryer just made them louder. I felt like I was in a sorority house. What makes this worse is that I can tell from their conversations that these two girls are, you guessed it teachers! Just what I want to listen to in my small time away from work!!!

My only hope is that it's January and they will forget their new year resolution to "work out" by February!

AHHHHHH Saturdays!!

I love Saturdays! I repeat I love Saturdays!! I love to sleep late, drink a cup of coffee slowly, read the paper (online), stay in my jammies, and get dressed in time to get the kids to the game of whatever sport they are playing. Jessica has a basketball game today. I try not to give in to the pressures of all the stuff I SHOULD be doing, like grading papers, writing lesson plans, catching up on the house work. That can wait til some other hectic day, right!!