WANTED!!!

I am putting out a want ad:

Running partner needed, no experience necessary.

must have better attitude about running than me

must be willing to yell at me to get up and get moving and

must not be too sensitive when I yell back

Doesn't pay except in the form of toned thighs unless you do what I do which is over eat because I rationalize it all and say, I can have that donut, i ran this morning...

Partnership ends on Dec 9th.

Any takers?

Yippee!

Tomorrow afternoon I will be saying "guten tag" to my sweet hubby after his 6 day trip to Germany.

Here are some observations I have made while he was on his trip. He doesn't go out of town much (thankfully) so things are pretty noticeable.

1. Chris is a big part of our nighttime routine and my kids sure have trouble going to sleep without him. (Me too!!)

2. I think that when he is away I smile and laugh about half as much as I do when he is around. He definitely is my comic relief! He's been making me smile and laugh since I was 11 years old and that's a big part of why I love him so much. Hurry home Chris, before my smile muscles start to atrophy!!

3. It's not nearly as much fun watching the Office when he is away. I learned that a couple weeks ago when he was in Atlanta. I watched it but feel asleep! (Blasphemy! I know) I needed his loud laughing at Michael Scott to keep me awake!!

4. I watch sports even when he is gone. The noise of sports is comforting to me. It didn't feel like Sunday til I had Joshua turn on the cowboy game, I even had baseball on last night to drown out the lonely.

5. A night or two of having the whole bed to myself is nice, after that I don't much care for it.

Can't wait til tomorrow! So I can smile, watch the Office and snuggle up with my man!!!

Adios Rexs (for now)

So Jessica turned her journal and Rexs back into her GT teacher this week. I miss seeing Rexs in the fridge when I go for my midnight snack. No worries though, Jessica informed me that the little guy will be back with us next week. That is until he turns into a moth (how does he get out of the bean?) and then flies to Mexico to find a "buddy". We will wish the little fella well when he flies off.

We have a new pet

Yes folks that's correct we have a new pet at our house. It belongs to Jessica and she is quite excited about taking care of this pet. Jessica named her new pet Rexs, yes that is Rex with an "s". Rexs isn't very much trouble, he doesn't even eat anything, and won't tear up my furniture. Rexs is definitely our kind of pet. Rexs is a Mexican Jumping Bean. She came home with this thing on Monday and is required to take care of it and keep a journal for the week. Jessica takes her duties very seriously. For example, she was convinced that Rexs was supposed to go to bed at 5pm and he sleeps in the fridge. She really wanted Rexs to go to soccer practice with us, but that was past his bed time. SOOOOOO we put Rexs in a small cooler and brought him along! Rexs was given a bath last night too. We had a moment after the bath the we thought he was no longer with us, but after a little while he started jumping again. WHEW!! (I have no idea what the protocol is on a Mexican jumping bean funeral). Maybe he was just nice and relaxed after his warm bath. Oh and Rex also has a special box that he gets to live in, we could hear him in there today, asking to get out. Tonight Rexs is scheduled to be read to and then tucked into bed. Rexs has a pretty sweet life here at the Havard house.

Don't Ask Don't Tell

Ok I feel like any poor soul that comes within a 3 foot radius of me and asks "How are you or How's teaching?" is getting MUCH more than they bargained for. To all of you folks that have asked me that question and gotten more than an earful, I am sorry!! I am feeling quite consumed by this return to work and trying to figure out how to balance it all that I will voice my issues to anyone that asks! Now this HAS worked in my favor with some of my sweet friends. One friend listened to my woes and sent dinner over one night, another friend heard my cries and took my kids for me during parent conferences, and even another friend has been kind enough to get my kiddo to soccer practice one hectic evening or two. I don't know what I would do with out these folks! So just a big shout out "thanks for listening" to those that come in contact with me and also let this serve as a warning to the rest of you, don't ask ask and I won't tell.

I wish I could do this!

My mom is talented in several different things! She's quite an impressive woman, one that I love to spend time with, learn from and laugh with. She is smart, funny, creative and extremely discerning about people. She is definately the one that taught me to trust that gut instinct about things and people and she is GOOD at it. Well thats all for another time another blog. I wanted to share with you guys a part of my mom's creative side.

She started drawing when she was 21 (which is when I was born, so I think I brought it out in her or maybe drove her to it...). I can remember coming home from school and she would be wearing her huge headphones, jammin to Elton John or who knows what, and drawing! There was always something going on her easel in our house growing up. I can still remember being very annoyed when she made me stop doing something (I am sure it was so important) and come position my hand in some way and hold it there so she could look at it to help her draw.

Even today when I look at her stuff, I always think, "How does she do that? How can you get a blank piece of paper to do that, to make that." I can't seem to get my brain around it. The gift skipped me, it could very well be in Jessica from what we can tell. That would be neat. I was watching Jessica paint one day and I remember stopping in my tracks thinking, wow she looks just like my mom when she draws or paints.

Well I wanted to share a picture of a painting my mom is working on at the moment. She use to draw people, but I think she has come to prefer the company horses so they are the main theme of her work.

Enjoy your fine art moment of the day:

September?

September, September where for art thou, September...

I can't believe my last post was on September 12th! Yikes! It may still feel like the summer time here in Texas but my schedule certainly points to the fact that fall has arrived. It really hasn't "arrived" that sounds way too calm, it's more like it bulldozed or blindsided me like some of the hits I have seen on TV with the arrival of football season.

Within in this "transistion" time of re-entering the work world, the sports world also begun. Therefore, so did my regular duties of equipment manager, team driver, head cheerleader and snack chic (I coordinated the snack schedule for Joshua's baseball team and I am insisting that I be referred to as the snack chic instead of the snack mom, snack mom sounds like some over bearing, "mom jean" wearing woman who has nothing else to do but worry about what her little boy is ingesting, and it pains me to think that I might be thought of that way. So from here on out it's snack chic! capish?) wew, how was that for a side note!

All that to say, life is busy. I don't dread the sports at all. I know that makes me in the major minority. I was observing life around me the other day as I was walking into the ball fields and I was just saddened by it all. Irritated, stressed out moms barking at their kids, kids looking a bit wearied, some crying cause they lost the game, dad's heavy burdened with lawn chairs and looks of obligation. I just wanted to say, "Why are you out here? if you don't like it, don't do it." Why do we ALL seem to think that sports is somewhere in this mysterious, never ever seen, handbook of parenting? I didn't do sports growing up and I am somewhat normal! (Hmmmm, maybe that is the real underlying reason I don't "play well with others!) HA!! Anyway, I get a great joy from watching my kids enjoy their sports and if and when they find some other passion, I will get great joy from that as well. It's not the actual sport that I care about, it's what life in all it's experiences brings to my children, whether it's baseball, soccer, art, reading, guitar, etc. Now if I could just get all those unhappy faces I saw the other night, to just see it my way, wouldn't that be better!

Well, here are some sporty pics from lately. Joshua has a game tonight so I will continue in all my jobs of equipment manager, driver, head cheerleader (this just means loudest) and snack chic!

All I have to say is no homerun=no dinner! Thats how we handle it at the Havard house! ha ha!!

That's Joshua behind the plate

She looks good in bright orange!!