Blog Worthy?

I can't get myself to blog somedays because the "goings on" in my life are the same things happening over and over again. Why would I share these drab details of going to soccer practice, soccer games and off to work again? I could, however, talk about the day that Cody announced that Oprah is scary. But I think you had to be there. Or the day that Hayden came home from school and said that he ran around the school yard with his shorts pulled up to his chest and it was funny. That's a proud moment.

Until I have more...

Employment update

Ray's interview went well and he is being offered the job. There is a packet on it's way with the salary they are offering and it will now depend on that. So we will see.

Cody needs better supervision

Cody informed me that our dog, Mia, had something caught in her fur and it felt like a bug, so (doing what he had to do) he cut it out with some scissors. I don't think he realized that this was alarming to me. I've noticed that when Cody does things, he tells us about it after the fact. Except for the time he tried out a razor that was left out.. he didn't say anything about that. We should keep a closer eye on him.

Hip Hop Abs

Yep, I bought it, I tried it, and I love it. It is the funnest workout I've ever done in my life. The workout is hip hop dancing while tightening your abs and it's fun and funky, but simple. Not to mention, Shaun T. is easy on the eyes. I love the way it feels like I'm actually dancing, not just doing workout moves. I can't wait until next time. Now, don't expect to see results because I have the ability to offset any workout with the consumption of food. But maybe I'll get motivated with this new workout.

I've almost made it...

...through this week of work. Only one more day left. It's been pretty grueling because, thanks to Spring Break, I haven't had the excuse to leave work to pick up my kids from school which helped to make the afternoon go by faster. Yea for Wednesday. It's my favorite work day.

I have laundry to do and things to straighten around the house, but I think Cody and I will go for a walk instead. He keeps me company. He'll grow out of wanting to do this one day so I better grab him and hold on while I can.

Ray has an interview...

this evening with a manager from the Midland, Texas based company known as Weatherford. They will be dining in one of Tulsa's finest restaurants. That's something that Ray tossed my way, thinking I would be jealous. I'm not impressed with that sort of thing because I'd rather eat at Olive Garden.

And so this dance begins again. More later.

My weekend project...

...was painting the utility room. I took advantage of this time because Ray was out of town with Hayden. Less people in the house meant less interruptions. This little room has needed a fresh coat of paint for several years now but I was undecided on what color of paint until recently. I think this Khaki color was what I meant to paint my master bath but went too far on the green side of the color palette with that project. I'm just not good at picking paint colors. Oh well, good thing about paint, it's easy to change.

But now my utility room is complete. Even the inside of the cabinets are organized. The new red baskets on top of the cabinets helped make more space inside the cabinets and that made organizing much easier.

Enjoy the small things

It was blissful being outside yesterday sitting in the warm sun, watching Hayden play soccer. I love Spring and who doesn't it? I guess two days of that kind of weather is just too much to ask for in a weekend. Today's forecast: rain.

And counting

My wedding anniversary recently passed. It gets overshadowed every year by Hayden's birthday which is the day before. We mention it in passing as it's coming up and then usually forget it's here on that day. It's not a day much different from any other day except for the fact that it reminds us that we've been doing this for 22 years. Who would of thought?

What's for Dinner?

Swiss Steak

Tenderized steak
Cubed tomatoes
Tomato sauce
Onions
Bell peppers

Season steak with seasoning salt & lemon pepper. Flour and sear meat in pan with oil. Add onions & bell peppers, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Add water as needed and as sauce thickens. Let cook, covered. Serve with rice.

Update on Dylan

He seems to be fine. It appears to be a hematoma. If it had been a bit bigger, the doctor would have drained it. But his treatment consist of placing ice packs on it as much as possible and some stretching exercises to prevent this from happening in the future. He should be able to play soccer again tomorrow, if he can tolerate it.

Sleep Be a Lady Tonight

Well, that was a glorious night of "no sleep whatsoever". I don't know if it was the medicine that I'm taking for strep (not the antibotic, the Mucinex for the other symptoms) or the fact that I hadn't eaten since 1:00pm yesterday. Could have been the combination of both. Whatever it was, sleep did not want to come for me. I maybe got 3-4 hours and ending up getting up at 4:30. Nice.

I took Caitlin to the doctor yesterday and found out she has strep. So no school for the 4th day for her. Not to mention the soccer she's missing. Luckily the doctor put us both on meds since I've been sick the past couple of weeks and could have had it myself.

Today I'll be taking Dylan to the EOOC because his soccer trainer at the school thinks he may have "Compartment Syndrome" in his leg and apparently it could be serious. Dylan thinks it's not as serious as they may think and you know 17 year olds.... they know everything. But anyway, I was told to get him in immediately, so first thing this morning, we will know something.

I'm off to sleep do house chores. I mean.. what else would a person be doing at this time of morning.

I might be a hypochondriac

I woke up one time last night and my face felt warm so I decided I probably had fever. Never mind the fact that everyone is warm when they are tucked under a down filled comforter. I awoke again and had my leg outside the covers, decided that this was strange and it must be because I have fever. I went back to sleep and was having very strange dreams and felt like things were going in fast motion, so once again...I was convinced that when it was time to get up in the morning, I would be feeling terrible and running a fever. Geez. Even though my throat was a little sore, I woke up feeling fine.

We are sickly.

We've had sickness running through our home for the last two weeks and it doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon. Ray came down with something last night and that something had better not inflict me. I'm still dealing with plugged ears and a bit of sore throat. Caitlin, who became sick over the weekend and who also played two high school games with a fever and chills, has showed no signs of getting back to her old self yet... but maybe by tomorrow. I'm just hoping the rest of us won't be recontaminated with something new. I've been spraying Lysol and cleaning fixtures with Clorox wipes just trying to minimize the germs. I'm afraid that we are losing the battle. Send help.

Back from Phoenix

And I'm still a little under the weather from my cold last week, but happy to have that trip over with. Our team did not do well and the fields conditions are to blame, for part of it. Dirt and rock do not make a good pitch. The competition was good but the tournament was poorly ran. We made it home at 1:00 this morning due to flight delays so needless to say, we are pooped. Caitlin has soccer almost everyday for the rest of this week so we will be quite busy. I have videos to upload and then I'll add one or two of them here later.

Someone needs Spell Check

Chechs??

Hot and Crispy

I cook almost everything, that comes frozen packaged, in the oven at 450 degrees and for 20 minutes. As if the directions on all the packages are wrong and I know better. But I like what I like and I like my food to be crispy. Nothing worse than a limp chicken tender. Even my kids know when they turn on the oven that there is only one temperature setting that matters..."Hot".

Untimely sickness

Today is Cody's birthday and he's been unable to go to school since yesterday due to a fever. So it's not going to be the best birthday that a 9 year old boy could have, but we are sure going to try. Happy Birthday, Cody!

Looking Ahead and Behind

My days at work have gone by quickly and it helped that we were busy. Both days I had work that I wasn't able to finish, so that is what I'll do today.

Caitlin and I are looking forward to Phoenix. New places to shop! Whoop..whoop!! Lots to look forward to. One of the girls on our team and who also goes to school with Caitlin is needing a room to stay in so we have offered our room. I'm not sure if her mom will accept because I think she's a little put out with me for making a big fuss about people paying their own way. (I'll always remember that day with fondness... I had the best time:-) This was way back when we had a different player and her mom had no qualms about taking advantage of the families on our team. Anyway, this mom of this friend of Caitlin's got caught in the crossfire because she had to ask for help a time or two. She always paid her own way but she still took the ordeal personal. Whatever! But I do like her daughter, she's very nice. And I hope she stays with us.

If I had it to do that whole thing over again... I'd do the same thing. Things have changed for the better on our team.

Video

Here's a new video. It's a bore but I'm still trying out this video thing. This one is of our dog and cat playing. Brandy & Mojo

Surfin' this and that

Leslie and I weren't the only straight women enjoying a "girls" day out yesterday. No, there were others and all of them to see the same movie. Sunday is a good time to go so that you avoid the teenage madness that takes place during the weekend. Anyway, the movie was very good and no sad parts; just a fun movie to see.

I actually kept my eye on the Superbowl once I got home. I'm happy about the outcome. I never watch football but I was able to spot which team I wanted to win after a few minutes of checking out the teams. One little thing like hearing that one of the players is from Midland is enough to sway me the other way. It made it interesting for me.

I also got caught up on Beauty and the Geek and watched reruns of Monk. I had a bit of a headache so I wasn't very productive. Just laid around and surfed through the tv stations.

Ill be ready to take on the week as soon as I finish surfing the internet and finishing off my first fix for the day... diet pop. It'll be cappucino later, then diet pop again. The cycle continues.

It's been a good day.

After Caitlin's practice, we went shopping for Cody's birthday. The traffic was bad but we finished and headed home. Now I'm trying to get some things checked off my "to do" list. I think Leslie and I are going to see a movie tomorrow. It's a chick flick and hopefully it will be worth the time.

I had a good time at Caitlin's practice, visiting with a few of the parents. Two of the moms that were there, I enjoy being around the most. I really like them both and they were pretty funny as usual. I enjoyed seeing them again.

One of our favorite moments

I couldn't get this video to post from The Google, so I'm posting the link. I think the quality is better if you minimize your browser window.

It's a video of when Hayden was much younger playing indoor soccer. The first part is a bore but it's the ending that Ray and I find amusing.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5682499540146772488

I treated myself to sonic this morning and liked how they had hung up OU and OSU banners all over the place. I wondered if Sonic restaurants in the other states were participating in this type of advertising.

And some pics from our drive home from school and work today. As you can see, the snow has returned and it's likely, that so have the school cancellations.

I need Spring to get here

I’m needing to lose a few pounds (A few, yeah.. right) so I’m cutting my food intake when I can. It’s hard, especially in the evenings when the family is having popcorn and other things that have an aroma that fills the house from corner to corner. I don’t do diets. They just don’t work for me and they leave me filling dissatisfied which in turn makes me want to eat. I cut back on the things I eat normally. I had a fairly good day yesterday which means that I kept my food intake fairly low. But only because I skipped breakfast, which I know is not healthy, and I was away from the house all evening. So far today, no breakfast again. I’m having pizza for lunch and hopefully I don’t overdo. I don’t want to bore you with this, so enough about this issue.

Hayden had "In-house" yesterday at school which is what they call detention. It was only in the afternoon and was handed out for allowing a fellow student to cheat off one of his worksheets that was done in class. He read a World War II book and actually enjoyed that part of it.

Dylan had to go to school at about 6:30 this morning to start the soccer team’s two-a-days. So stupid. Why can’t they just stay longer after school?
I talked to Tanya last night about some questions that I had concerning his enrollment into college. That was very helpful... thank you. Hopefully this won’t feel so overwhelming when Caitlin gets to this point.

Looking forward to going to Phoenix for President’s Day weekend. It’s a soccer tournament in a warmer part of the country. Which makes me fantasize about Spring and how it feels when that first warm breeze comes in and you feel re-energized. Please let Spring come early.

Go Hillcats!

Dylan accepted a scholarship and signed with Rogers State University today. He will be playing soccer for the Hillcats this Fall. We went to the high school today and he, along with 4 senior girls, sat at a table and signed their papers while getting their picture taken. Then all the parents were asked to step in for a photo moment. It's nice how big a deal they are making for these kids. And where was my camera at this time? Conveniently at home.

Maybe Not EXACT Words

My boss at work must really wonder some days why he hired me. I've made him laugh just a couple of times and yesterday was one of those times. But he was probably laughing AT me.

I had to interview our client to ask him questions that were submitted by an Attorney for the other side. Then type in the answers to this Interrogatory and I got stumped on how to spell a word. That made me wonder if we should really answer what the client's response was word for word or make it sound more professional. So I went back to my boss's office to ask him.

"I'm typing this Interrogatory and I need to know if you want me to use the client's exact words or if I should re-word it to make it sound more professional."

"Exact words are fine."

"Then I need to know how to spell wuss"

Wish I was in Maui.

I have a new reality show on MTV called "Maui". First show was not too bad, but too early to tell if it's a hit for me! Might be too slutty/horndoggish.

And NO SNOW today! Yes!
Warm air from the south helped to keep our temps us and all we ended up with was some rain and maybe a tad bit of sleet. Happy Happy Day.

A change in topic

There must be more to blog about besides the weather. But with round after round of wintry weather pounding this area, it seems to be the main focus. I must have more to talk about.

So....In other news:
Ray is leaving for Aberdeen Scotland today. Hopefully, air travel won't incur any delays and his flights will remain on-time. I had forgotten he was leaving until he came home yesterday with stuff from work and I quizzed him about it. He'll only be gone a few days; very short trip for the distance he's flying. UPDATE: Flight cancelled.

I was vacuuming yesterday and noticed an unusual amount of airsoft bullets in my bedroom, which is also a very unusual place to find them. As I continued to vacuum, I noticed they were sprayed about all over different parts of my room and then it occurred to me what had taken place. Grrrrr......Someone was so busted! So, I had that someone pick up these little bb's in everyone's room since they were everywhere. That must have been some shootout. He did have an accomplice, but his involvement was more like one pull of the trigger. So now, all guns have been locked away for awhile until my children learn how to respect property. Now he's asking for the video camera back. As if!! Hayden doesn't have a clue sometimes.

Ice Storm Events

I don't want to forget some things about this winter weather, especially things that I've never encountered before so I want to post them here. Afterall, this is the only journal that I keep of my daily memories and it's more for me than anyone.

Like my experience driving on this ice. I've driven after snow storms and I know what to expect. But an ice storm is a bit different and offers obstacles that I haven't dealt with so much. The roads are much more slippery than I've ever seen and I had times when I was right at the point of my car being at a complete stop only to have it slide sideways if I was on a slope. This happened twice. I had a friend ask if I was scared when driving on the ice. No, not really was my response. If I start to slide, I just say "Wheeeeeeee" ..... no worries.

The birds are definitely slower, or more stupid, or starving to death....not sure which. I had one time when driving down the road that a flock of birds didn't leave their buffet on the road in time to miss getting hit. I struck at least 4 of them. It looked like a scene in The Birds where they are all over your windshield and all sides of your car. Very interesting week.

Sights around Claremore

You might not be able to see it but the roads are packed with ice.

This is the main street here in Claremore.Some "snow" piled up after the trucks cleared the parking lots.
View of the streets as we ride along.
The young citizens of Claremore having fun while school is out.

Sleet is more fun than snow

The kids enjoy sliding on the sleet a lot more than playing in the snow.

The Hills

The new season of The Hills started last night. I'm so excited!! It was good, but the shows are just never long enough. Can't wait for next week's episode.

Is it time to go back already?

School is still out for the kids and that makes it a little bit difficult to go back to work today. But back to work, I must go. At least I'm going to attempt it. If the roads give me too much trouble, then I'm coming back home and crawling under a blanket.

Mojo tried to kill himself yesterday and out of all the ways to take yourself out, he chose electrocution. He wasn't successful, thank goodness and I bet he won't be playing with the vacuum cleaner cord anytime soon.

Kakuro, Monk and the family

Mojo was taking a little nap yesterday. Not a pose that we've seen before and not one that we need to see again.

It's been a good weekend. Relaxing and hanging out with the family.

Today I plan on doing a load of laundry, endulging in some Kakuro and hopefully something productive around the house. A Monk marathon is on today so any free time I have will be watching him.

Here we go again.

This is all too familiar from just this past November. This is exactly how the last snow storm started that left about 8 inches of snow. What you see here is sleet accumulating on the houses and in the yards and a layer of ice forming on everything. In November, we ended up with too many inches of snow on the ground for longer than I would ever want. But so far they aren't predicting any large amounts of snow. Just a winter ice storm with "some" snow. Hopefully, I won't have pictures of snow to show off.

Right now we have ice covering the sidewalks, roads and anything else that gets in the way. The schools are closing early and I'm getting ready to go pick up the kids. We are loaded up with groceries from my shopping trip yesterday, so we are fully stocked and ready to be stranded this weekend. Actually sounds kind of nice.

Edit: Here is what we are living with for the next few days if not the rest of the week. The temps are below freezing at least until Wednesday so this ice will be staying around.

And also...

One thing I forgot to mention in that last blog that was a little strange... when we started playing the game, Cody was fully dressed but at the end of the game I noticed he was only in his underware. I guess with all that jumping around, he must have gotten hot and decided to cool off. And I swear we weren't playing Strip Outburst.

Outburst

I played Outburst with the boys today and although it was fun, it sure was trying on my patience. Hayden and Cody are bundles of energy operating in fast motion. Hopping around as they shout out answers, grabbing the card to be the first to see the words on the card, "woo hoo"... followed by jumping around and knocking the timer over. I'm sure it's hard for them to completely enjoy the game when their mom is irritated at constantly resetting pieces up that they've knocked over, but whew!! I'm exhausted, but at least I had some quality time with the boys. Dylan included, which was nice.

Starting my resolutions

I walked 2 miles yesterday and could easily have done more. That's what having a partner to walk with does for you. Time goes by quickly and its enjoyable. And luckily this morning, no soreness. Ok, it was only 2 miles, but when you haven't seriously walked in a long time, you wonder about the after effects. The only after effects that I want is for weight to come off my body.

If I could just give up food entirely, it would be easy to diet. But, it's not like quitting smoking or drinking where you can go cold turkey and still be able to survive. Food is something you battle everyday, several times daily and for the rest of your life. How many dieters would like to be able to go cold turkey when dieting? I'm not obese but I've been overweight to my standards several times. I've always said that dieting is the most difficult thing I've ever accomplished. I completely understand the struggles some have with it.

So, walking is the easy part of it all and I look forward to the next time.

Things Getting Back to Normal

Caitlin and I were in Norman today for one of her soccer games. It was very one sided and we won with some absurd score like 12-1. She was very sore from her first week of high school soccer practice starting up this week, but played well.

I'm starting to feel better after being sick this past week and I couldn't be happier about that. Maybe now I can get some things done around the house.

This may or may not amuse you but Ray & I found this quite funny that Cody tried using a big word today. Ray had asked him about a key chain flashlight that he was playing with. Wanted to know where Cody had gotten it from.

Cody: "Well, technically..I look for things on the ground at school."

Ray: "Technically?"

Cody: "Yeah, I don't know what that means."

Hoping for better days

Yesterday was one of the most boring days at work. Probably didn't help that I still consider myself to be sick and just wanted to be home watching tv from my bed. I don't even think he needs anyone to work on Wednesdays but here I go to another day that promises boredom. A person can only handle so much scanning and shredding before the suicidal thoughts start to emerge. Think of the money he would save by not having to pay me for that day every week. I've thought of it many times. Maybe things won't be so bad today. Or didn't I say that yesterday?

New Year, New Start

My new year starts quickly as I'm off to work this morning. Only two days this week so it shouldn't be bad. At least that is what I'm telling myself as I head off to work with my newly acquired cough.

My resolutions for the new year are the same as most everyone else.... to get healthier, eat better and hopefully to lose weight. I'm getting to be quite the little piggy these days and it needs to stop. Unfortunately I'm already using my cough as an excuse to not be outdoors to walk. Wish me luck on the start of my 2007 resolutions.

Under the weather

Not feeling well today. Watching movies and doing nothing else. Hope tomorrow is better.

Lemons?...Make Lemonade

Thought I would share pics of my haircut that I sort of got by accident. You just never know how short a stylist is going to cut your hair. Sometimes they are conservative and sometimes they just aren't. I don't usually mind how short it gets cut because I can usually always style it the same way no matter the length and it always grows back pretty quickly. This time it was about as short as it's been in a long, long time. I discovered today that I can style it like I did when I had my hair cut off in the back a few years back. So today, I'm loving my hair. I've been tempted to cut my hair real short again but was afraid I wouldn't like it or wouldn't like growing it back out. If you've never had really short hair like this then just don't know how good it feels. It takes no time to fix and you don't have to touch it up all day. Not to mention, less hair product to buy. Wonder, if I'll keep it this way for awhile.

Rescuing my photos

I've been pulling old photos out of their albums today, trying to get them put away in boxes instead of being eaten away in these non-archival type photo albums. I haven't decided if I'll store them in photo boxes or eventually make scrapbooks with them. The reason to do this now is the need for storage space due to the recent Christmas gifts that we've received. I think storing them in boxes will take up less space. Ever start a project, not realizing how much time it's actually going to take? That was me today.

It's amazing what I can remember more than 30 years ago and have trouble with today. What I don't know is why Tanya and I continuously dressed like twins when we were growing up? Anyway, it was fun to look at the pictures and closely examine every square inch and remember when...

Giggles

In my house there are words that are ordinary and generally used that can't be spoken without getting a giggle from an 8 year old boy. These days those words are nuts and balls. I ask, why the giggles about a word that meerily means an item that you throw about for fun... and I get more giggles.

Merry Christmas!

We had our gift exchange last night and will eat our Christmas dinner today. Looks like Santa Claus came last night so the kids must have been good this year.

Getting ready for Christmas

I took Caitlin, Hayden and Cody to see "Night in the Museum" a couple of days agos. We laughed pretty much through the entire show. I would recommend it. I'm not sure what the critics think of it.

I've done quite a bit of cleaning this morning trying to get ready for the mess we will have once the gift wrapping gets underway. We love all of the gifts, but finding places to put everything afterwards can be a chore in itself. Not much planned today except maybe a last run to the store for a few items and then I'll be staying indoors until after Christmas.

I wish my family lived closer so that we could see each other during the holidays. Would be fun to see everyone. Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and is enjoying their family and friends.

Winter Ball

Caitlin had her Winter Ball last night and all the kids really looked nice in their finest duds. They even showed up fashionably late. As the dance was getting underway, they were getting pictures taken and driving to other friends' houses to get pictures taken. I think they enjoyed hanging out with each other more than anything.

I'm going to work to give my boss his Christmas present and then going to lunch with Leslie. Should be a fun afternoon.

Gift Wrapping

This is another 4:00am day. And once again very productive. I finished all the Christmas gift wrapping. Now the Christmas trees are not looking so sad.

I was out until after 9pm last night finishing my shopping because I wanted the end of this week to be hassle free. I am going to try and make those buckeyes soon for neighbors and teacher gifts. I hope they turn out as good as they look. time to take my shower and then another day of work.

It's my time and I like it!

I've been up since 4 am so far today and although that might sound bad, it's really the best thing. I get a multitude of things done at that time of day and it's just the best feeling. That's why I don't complain about it. It's my happy time. No interruptions whatsoever. And multitask....you should see me multitask. I am the Queen of multitask; but only in the early morning when no one is watching, no one is witnessing, no one is amazed, except me.

A day like every other day... almost

I stayed busy today with Christmas chores, like wrapping and boxing up for the mail. It's good to have that over with so that I know everyone will have their gifts in time for Christmas.

Caitlin pierced her ear before going to school today. I saw her walk out of the kitchen with an ice cube but I just thought she wanted it to eat. What happened to the days when getting ready for school meant taking a shower, getting dressed and putting on makeup. But now it's, "I guess I'll pierce my ear real quick".

12 Days of Christmas... break

I still have a few more Christmas presents to buy and until that's done, I'm going to be a little stressed. I mean, who isn't at this time? The people left at the end are the ones that I don't know what kind of gift to get them. They're not less important, just harder to buy for.

But in my future is 12 days off from work. How ironic is it that I have 12 days off during the 12 days of Christmas. Maybe I'm the only one who would think of that. I'm lucky that Christmas falls on the days I do work so that I actually get those days off. I had to ask for Wednesday off but my boss is really great about that. If I could just get that darn shopping out of the way.

Dallas

In Dallas this weekend. Went to eat with a couple of the soccer families at Snuffer's and then we all went to the Stonebridge Mall. Saw the runner up from Design Star at the mall. That was cool. Not that anyone else would know who I'm talking about unless you watched that HGTV contest program. Even though our soccer team lost today, it has been a good weekend.

There are Consequences, Mr. Cat!

I had two Christmas bulbs broken over night. Well, no it was really only one and a surviving bulb was rolled over into the corner. Who cares about those details.. what matters is that someone is playing with my stuff during the night. And I know who's doing the playing. Mr. Mojo himself. I spanked, he ran.

Congratulations Graduate!

This is for my sister who is graduating from college this weekend. An amazing feat that not everyone gets the opportunity to achieve. She'll be teaching elementary age children and I must say.... god bless you for taking on that task.

He giveth and he taketh

I woke up in the middle of the night after hearing Mojo beside my bed. I got up to find that one of my slippers was missing and in its place was a potholder. Not sure how he expected me to wear a potholder. I went back to bed and when I got up this morning I wore my one slipper around the house while looking for its mate. After looking under my bed with a flashlight, in everyone's bedroom and all bathrooms, I finally located it in his favorite spot these days.... under the Christmas tree. Maybe he didn't want me to find it until Christmas morning.

I'm outta here

No school again today for the kids. I'll be going to work. I think I'm actually looking forward to it a little bit. I won't have to be the referee today or have arguments with a six grader. Bliss.

My day's events

The snow is still here and going nowhere fast. I did manage to get out and do some Christmas shopping. The roads in our neighborhood are still covered in ice and snow but the main highways are pretty clear and easy to drive on.

I watched the DiVinci Code today. That was a good flick.

I was insulted by Dylan today. He's pleasant as usual.

I got a hug from Caitlin for no reason. She's the one that makes my day better.

Snow Pictures

Ignore the date on the pictures because the camera wasn't set correctly. But here a few pictures that have been taken over the past two days.

Sleet and then Snow

After getting what looks to be about 2-3 inches of sleet, we are now receiving the blizzard that the meterologists have been predicting all day and that will leave somewhere around 4-8 inches of snow. Only time will tell how accurate the prediction is.
I've asked Ray to bring home rented movies for us to watch for the next few days. One thing I've learned about getting snow in Oklahoma... be prepared to be confined to your home for more than just a few days.

Sonic

I've said this before but.... you know when you go to Sonic too much when the carhop brings out your food and ask you if you got your hair cut.

I only bring this up because once again the carhop decided to talk to me in that "you are a regular so I can say this to you" kind of way. I now know their inside joke when people park on the outside spaces when it's pouring down rain. Like I didn't already know they'd rather us not get our order.

Hi, I'm normal.. and you are?

I always seem to be between the wrong people in line most places I go. I've had long one sided conversations about someone's illnesses which, oddly enough, led to the history of the town I live in. My part of the conversation was me acknowledging that he was speaking.

On one fine day at the post office, I had an old man next to me that was trying to strike up any kind of conversation he could while on the other side of me I had a young guy that kept answering him even though he was speaking to me. And the young guy wanted to talk about the government and politics. I'm not sure the post office was the place to strike up that type of convo.

Yesterday I was standing between an older lady who apparently wanted to stand extremely close to me and a biker bitch in front. Unfortunately I was too close to the biker trying to put some distance between me and the old lady. And this was bad because the biker was quite odorous. Not like body odor, but something else strange and nasty. Something I won't soon forget.

Swiffer

I bought a swiffer duster yesterday and I must say... I'm in love. I like that you throw the dust away. It really does work well.

Out come the trees

The Christmas trees are up or should I say out. I really don't have to do anything with them except get them out of the attic and plug them in. A little decorating here and there and "voila".

I must get some other things done today, bills, cleaning, laundry. I've been putting this stuff off and it's piling up!

It's all about the kids

Today's been a long day. We were up early to go to a soccer game and then the kids had guest over for the day. Another soccer game and then some of the kids were off to the movies. I watched a couple of movies today in between all the running around. Tomorrow will be more relaxing after one more early morning soccer game.

Not just a blogger, but a bloggee

I've just been reading the blogs this morning and one that I find interesting to read is Life (and death)... He's a malaysian doctor here in the US who's writings are humorous and interesting. It's hard to find a good blogger.

It's the day after Thanksgiving and the day after I had given myself permission to over eat since it was the National Holiday of "Stuffing". I do not plan on repeating the events of yesterday however. As delicious as it was, it was also miserable to feel that full.

Happy Turkey Day

Hope everyone is getting ready to sit around their tables with their families and enjoy the fixins. I know I'm going to and it's going to be delightful, delicious and just what this mom looks forward to.

Birthday

Today is Caitlin's birthday. She has let everybody and their neighbor know about it. Exactly what I would do if I were 15. Happy Birthday, Caitlin!

Take that!!

Who doesn't love the fact that O.J.'s television special and books have all been cancelled? Yes! I read that all the books that had already been sent out would be recalled and "destroyed"!! Ha! Unfortunately he has already been paid over 3 million dollars.

Just bloggin'

I hear that November is National Blog month so I guess since I'm about 19 days too late.. I had better get with it. I just haven't had much to talk about except the occasional "my husband is taking a new job in Texas" story. And then "now he's not, at least for right for now, maybe later". I can't keep up so what would have been the point of publishing it.

Busy, busy busy.

I just finished helping Hayden with homework. We had to make a pop-up book about Egypt's leaders. As we were finishing up I realized that this was just "busy" work. I hate when teachers give busy work as a tool to get kids to retain information. Especially when the project takes hours to complete.

Night of the living dead.... literally

I had a night, a few days ago, where I don't remember getting into bed. I remember that I was tired and heading to bed but I was so tired that the next thing I remember is waking in the middle of the night sleeping on the wrong pillow. I have a certain pillow I use as I'm sure everyone does and this pillow was not it! And I was mad about that but it was too much effort to get the right pillow so I just went back to sleep. When I woke the next morning I tried to remember the events of the previous night that led me to the wrong pillow. Nothing. I can't remember pulling back the covers, or what was on tv, or setting my alarm, even though.... thank goodness I did that.

Chewbacca

This is my baby. Isn't he awesome? He's very affection (even with strangers, I just recently found out) and loves to play with everyone... not one creature is excluded. I couldn't do anything about his glowing eyes because he would turn out to look like a freak, so you have to admire him as is, but imagine dark pupils in a sea of brownish/green.

What's with the critters?

I grounded one of my cats to the outdoors recently because she pees on everything. OK maybe not everything but she does pee on the carpet and has been known to pee in a bean bag chair a couple of times. So when I got up this morning, Caitlin had asked me if I had heard the cats fighting in the house last night, which I had not... no big deal. I went outside this morning because Kami, the now outdoor cat, was meowing. When I stepped out on the back porch I noticed blood splattered around the cat food bowl, trailed across the porch and up on the side of the house. As I looked up to see if there was any noticeable injuries on her, she went scurrying around the corner of the house. I followed and so did the trail of blood. This is not good and I'm the one... of course, who has done this to her. Not by my own hand but by my own doing just the same.

I go back in the house and out to the front porch to see if that is where she had retreated only to be greeted by more of the blood trail, which trailed along the sidewalk to the garage and back where I had made my first discovery. And some of this blood is not just drips, it's globs. Since I can't seem to catch up with her, I decide to wash off the evidence before the younger boys see this and start revolt against me.

Afterwards, I keep looking for her all the while trying to get ready for work. And by this time, Ray has informed me that we have another problem if she was attacked by a skunk, possum, or other wild creature... rabies! I had already decided that I could not leave her outside at night and now this meant that I couldn't exactly leave her indoors either. Was I suppose to take her to the vet to be quarantined? And yes, I even thought... how much was this going to cost me? I had really created a problem with her outdoor grounding.

Finally while we were looking for Hayden's lunch box out in the car, she comes along and we give her a good going over to see where her injuries are and would you believe... she doesn't have a mark on her. Not even a tiny spot of blood. What a freaking relief. So where is this cat now you ask? Indoors. Tucked away safely from those ferocious creatures of the night.

We've had a lot of blood shed at our house in the past couple of weeks and I'm getting pretty darn tired of it. But I guess I didn't share my story about the possum, did I?

Bunko in Broken Arrow

I filled in as a sub in a Bunko game this past Friday. I'm a home body and I had dreaded going all week because that's just how I roll, but I ended up having a good time. I had completely forgotten how to play the game since it's been over 8 years and my memory is just not as sharp these days. Quite honestly, nothing was familiar about the game except for the rolling of the dice. And even that seemed different. Did the game always use only 3 dice??

I did walk away with a delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe which I made for dinner yesterday. Everyone ate it except for the 2 young-uns in our household. I guess it had too many colors and "things" in it.

Marvelous Monday

Usually Mondays are not something to be looked forward to but today is a special day. This is my day off and my plan is to make it special. I'm going to watch a mindless, fun movie and I've made some of my favorite foods... spaghetti and broccoli cole slaw... for lunch. I have a Mr. Goodbar waiting for my special dessert/snack. All of the laundry is done, beds are made and I'm home alone while everyone is either at work or school. Except for Ray coming for lunch, the day is perfect. You can't be anything else but jealous of my situation. After all, it is quite glorious.

Branson, MO

So... we are in Branson, MO for a couple of days, having a really great time. The internet connection is not so great but other than that, we are having fun. Everyone practically raced to the very first roller coaster ride (except me) and I was really worried about Cody because I didn't get a chance to show him what he was getting himself into. He rode it, said it was fun but never rode another roller coaster the rest of the day except for a really small one built just for kids.

The only thing I wanted out of the trip for myself was a caricature of the entire family. Which I got and was only met with a small amount of resistance. Luckily the artist was really funny and that helped make the long sitting interesting.

On our way here we stopped in a convenience store where I was sure I was going to develop lung cancer. The smoke smell was so bad and the lady running the store started having a coughing fit (flem and all). We began looking around at each other in disgust. After she got it all coughed up, she blamed her episode on "that darn candy". That's been our joke this weekend anytime we hear anyone with that smoker's cough. So funny.

Deep thoughts

I need a new washer and dryer that will make me like to do laundry. And maybe a new stove and oven that will make me like to cook.

Midland-icky poo

We are going on a mini vacation next week and the entire family is looking forward to it. We haven't done this since Hayden was a baby. It will be a short trip but it's better than nothing. Branson, MO... here we come.

Ray has an opportunity to take a job in Midland, and that literally makes me sick to my stomach to think it might happen. I don't ask about it because I'm afraid of the answer and I thought the whole idea had gone away but now I'm not so sure. Midland has nothing to offer me. I wish Midland would blow away. (not literally, just the idea)

I love the Tulsa area. Everything about it. It's amazing to live in a place that has so much to offer and so many things to love.
Weather, people, shopping... it's all great.

The thing that scares me the most about Midland is the school system. I have to worry about Hayden because he just doesn't adjust to new and different very well and this is very different! We finally have him with teachers that he loves this year and he's feeling confident about it, which is important. I think only moms think about these things when raising their kids. We are in a school system now that I would love for my kids to graduate from. The elementary school where Cody is at received "over the top" scores on their testing from last year and they are tooting their horn about it now.

Deep thoughts

Things that are good about working:
The bed gets made in the morning... and I didn't do it.
The laundry gets done...and I didn't do it.

Down and then, Up again.

I was down with back problems this past weekend and end of last week. I was feeling pretty low about it because it has me incapacitated and I just went through this a month ago. But today was glorious! I don't know if I was just so happy to be feeling better or if it was because I had a good day at work the day before but my mood was way up there.

I'm seeing a chiropractor now and it just feels good to turn your problems over to someone else and allow them to help you. I hope I don't have too much faith in what he can do but I'm certainly hopeful that he's a miracle worker. I do have to say that I had minimal discomfort in my lower back today and I'm not sure that I've been that pain free in a month's time. Only time will tell if this doctor is helping but I'm really feeling like he is. I'm still noticing some discomforts in my leg which I was hoping would go away, but maybe with time.

Anywhooo... that's it for now.

Happy Days

School seems to be going great for the kids. Especially Hayden, which makes me so happy. Last year, he hardly ever had anything good to say about his day, but this year... his teachers rock!! And those are his words. If it keeps going this way, I'll be sure and write his teachers an email telling them how happy we are to have them. I'll just cross my fingers that things continue on this path.

Oh how I love shoes!

Here are the shoes that I purchased from Skechers. The black ones. Aren't they so cute and omg.. so comfortable. You get to wear something as comfortable as an athletic shoe but with a little dressed up look. I'll be wearing them to work. They also come in brown, which I was undecided at first on which color to buy. I wear more blacks than browns, so... black. And look at this even dressier version on the left called the Luxe. Either of these types would be great for someone who is on their feet all day. You should check them out. Who doesn't love shoes?

So embarrassing

I was at the store...yes again... checking out and I had my purse up on the counter digging for my wallet and when I brought this item out of my purse, a tampon flipped up... into the air... and landed on the ground. It's a good thing that I'm as old as I am and don't let those things bother me as much anymore, but it was still quite embarrassing.

It's the little things

I walked into our grocery store in Claremore today and saw the greatest idea for customers. A display with a large container of oversized wipes and a trash can. Timing couldn't be better with school starting and colds running amuck(sp?) I will certainly use this and just think how clean those grocery basket handles will be now. I'm so excited.

Oh hail the king!

One of our cats has been known to adore my middle son, Hayden. But after what I've witnessed, I would say it is more like she "worships" him. Just to give a little history...we've always talked about how this cat likes to fish out clean socks from the laundry basket and drops them off in Hayden's room during the middle of the night all the while meowing like crazy. I just figured she just liked that room the best. But Hayden slept on the couch a few nights ago and when I woke up I found a pile of socks at the foot of the couch. I've decided that they are items that she brings to him as someone would bring gifts to a king or god. I'm not sure what it is but it's just odd to me.

Beauty and the Beast

Caitlin and I are going to Beauty and the Beast at the Robson Performing Arts Center today at 2:00. We are quite excited and are actually looking forward to dressing up a bit. It's sold out for this showing so I'm looking forward to seeing who all is going. Hope it's not a bunch of loud ass kids because that might ruin it.

Ray took Hayden and Cody to the lake today. They will have a good time and it's going to be a hot day.

We had Mojo neutered and declawed yesterday and he's doing well. He's as sweet as ever if not sweeter. Have I mentioned yet that we didn't name our cat Pele... it just didn't stick so we decided Mojo would work. Although..Caitlin calls him Batman and Dylan calls him Evil. This cat will never know his true name, but we love him all the same.

Oh and I had my hair colored yesterday and for me it's been a little hard to get used to. Too much red I think. It's over all a dark brown much like my natural so that parts not bad and then there are a few highlights thrown in. I'm waiting for it all to fade a bit so it won't be so noticeable. Maybe it's not, and maybe it's just that I notice it too much since it's my hair.

Reality-TV

A good relaxing day for me would consist of marathon reality programs, a diet coke and cross-stitching. Only the good reality shows of course. And there are some pretty good ones out there that will make you chuckle. I highly DON'T recommend My Fair Brady, even though I watched it to the end because I just couldn't believe that they would actually get married... they were a good example of who shouldn't get married.

Tanya turned me on to a couple of reality programs out there (and maybe she wouldn't want me sharing that), Laguna Beach and the spinoff from that, which follows Lauren, is The Hills. Which I might add IS having a marathon this morning. I love Run's House, Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D-List and Hogan Knows Best. Actually Tanya might have told me about Hogan's show because I think I always thought it had something to do with Hogan's Hereos, which in "reality" it's about Hulk Hogan and his family. I think my love for reality is pure noseyness about other people's lives.

What have I been up to?

I know... I haven't updated as much lately. What's it been? Once a week if that? I guess with working 3 days a week, it's enough that I'm not left with enough time to want to use the time I have left to blog. Even though I do love blogging. But more than that, I love reading blogging site. I just finished reading Dooce and was surprised to read that she has skin cancer. If you like blog sites, read Dooce, she has a great sense of humor and her site is interesting, if you like that sort of thing.

I took Dylan to get his wisdom teeth out yesterday and that was interesting for more than a few reasons. He's fine today. He took a pain pill when he woke up this morning and that's been it. He's not hurting much so he just wants to take advil from here on out. Plus, he goes to work tomorrow and I informed him that I'll be driving him if he takes pain meds at that time. I'm not letting him drive under the influence per the doctor's orders.

Caitlin is still out of town with her friend. She called today and is having a good time. She'll be home tomorrow and I'll be happy to see her.

It's been a relaxing weekend filled with kids playing, animals fighting and laundry as usual.

I'm Oscar

Work at the attorney's office is going well. The first week was a little stressful and I had the blemishes and out of whack back to prove it. This week has been better and tomorrow I work alone which is quite relaxing. It's been interesting sharing a desk with Leslie. I told her it was like the Odd Couple sharing their apartment. I don't consider myself to be a slob or even messy, but Les keeps everything very tidy. I have to laugh at some of the things she organizes. I don't mind anything that she does with our co-custody of the desk because I'm just happy we are co-existing in this position. It's mostly her that makes the job fun and if I didn't have her to laugh about the whole experience with, I don't know what I would do.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho... it's off to work I goeth.

I've been to work for two days now and I can officially say that there are good days and bad days. :-)

Well, maybe bad is a little extreme. So I had a not so great morning but it became better later on in the day. I think I was just in a bad mood. It's weird how you can start your day off like that and then find yourself laughing out of control in the evening just because of a fuzzball flying loose in your car.... you'd need details to understand the funny part. So I'm off to work this morning and I'll be alone all day. I can't see how that can be a bad thing. Hope it goes by fast.

Oh and one more thing... tons of rain recently. We received 3 inches a couple of days ago and it started again last night and rained until morning. It sure is going to be green and pretty here. I guess that's why it's called "Green Country".

Old dog, new tricks

Did the work/orientation thing today to get the gist of my new job. Was very interesting but a lot to take in at one time. I hope this dog's not too old to learn a few new tricks, because I have a lot to learn. Getting paid for it will be the best part, but I want to do a good job so it will be worth it to my new owner. :-)

Joining the Chain Gang

I have one more day of freedom. I go to work on Friday for an "orientation". I keep telling myself to get everything done before this day because this is it. I'm a big baby about things sometimes. You'd think I was starting a fulltime job, working 5 days a week. I'm making such a big deal about a job that only consist of 3 days out of the week. And yet I continue to prepare as if I've been sentenced for a crime I didn't commit. I want to like this job and I hope that I do, but if it becomes boring... then I'm surely being punished.

Regionals

We are back from the USYS Regionals Championship in Little Rock. Caitlin's team made it to the Quarter finals but they just couldn't finish a few opportunities they had. So without that, our time there ended. It was fun overall but the hotel location was less than desirable. Downtown Little Rock is not a good place to have a team of 14 year old girls stay. And that part of Little Rock will leave you feeling like never returning. But if you go there, stay on the west side of town because you'll surely want to return. The soccer complex was beautiful with lots of trees and shade. If someone could have turned off the heat and humidity, that would have been nice.

And as always.... it's nice to be home.

Employment changes things

The regionals tournament is coming up and I've got tons to do in the way of packing. I'm taking Hayden and Cody with us now since Dylan has finally landed a job(Hammett House, washing dishes). There won't be anyone at home during the day with the young 'uns so off with me they go.

Caitlin has practice everyday until the day we leave and she'll continue to have practice when we get to Little Rock. Sounds like a lot but seems to be the norm in this situation. No one here is complaining... we are too happy about the whole thing.

Dylan's first day on the job went well but he has now sworn off eating at restaurants. He says never again, fast food only. I'll have to see how long that last. Just glad that he's finally found some work.

As for me, I'm preparing to start my new job in July. Mentally and physically. I just need to make sure I have a few outfits to wear and that things stay caught up around the house so that I'm not too overwhelmed with working out of the home and still working in the home. I'm just glad that one of them pays a salary.

Pele' Mojo

Move over and make room.

We've made an addition to our family. I'd introduce him to you but we still haven't quite come up with a name. We've tried out a few but none have stuck so far. I think I might just call him "Hey". It sure beats the suggested names like "Mr. Giggles" or Dr. Evil". A couple of favorites that might work out are "Grim" , "Matrix" or "Mojo". I like Mojo because I think he's going to bring us luck.

All things "abi-normal"

I've completed all of the major painting projects that I really wanted to get done except for my bedroom. I'm undecided about color so there's no need to continue at the moment. I'm going to paint the utility room, probably also red, and I'll just do that when I feel like it.

Hayden's tryouts are over and his team picked up 7 new players making the roster total 16. That is a lot of players but will work out if they play 11v11 most of the time. He's very excited about playing "real" soccer. They had to play 8v8 last year and it just sucks.

Everything is returning to normal after being on vacation, tryouts with Ray taking off from work, and all the painting that's been done the past week. I've actually cooked a couple of times recently and that's been nice. I don't like to cook... but I like to eat what I can make. The cost to feed this household is amazingly high. I went to the store yesterday for a few baking potatoes and came home with 5 sacks of groceries. How does that happen? Maybe that's why I don't like grocery shopping.

Well, I'm off to get things done today. So many things, so little time.

Painting

I've been painting some rooms in the house this past week and things are finally looking better. It's amazing what a can of paint can do for a wall and your outlook on things. The living room is next and that's going to be a huge job but Ray will be assisting with that project. Caitlin has helped me paint both the bathroom and the hallway and she's done a tremendous job. I'm so happy that she's helped because it goes by so much faster. She'll be helping in the living room as well. Oh and I think I'm going to do my utility room while we are at it. Brick Red would be the color.

Looks like I might have a new job in my future... July to be exact. I've been presented with it and basically told it's a done deal if I want it. It would be hard to turn down when you need the money.

Well, I'm off to the store to pick up groceries and more paint!!

The Going Ons

As soon as school let out for the summer we were on our way to the State Cup and a trip to see the family in Texas. The State Cup was amazing because Caitlin's team won it for the first time and it was the first time for her age group to qualify for the Regional Tournament. Needless to say we were so excited and remain so to this day.

Our trip to Midland was fun and we enjoyed getting to see everyone. Tanya & Alan's house is so nice and the kids and I all agreed... we loved it. It's an older home with lots of charm. I think it inspired be to get off my butt and do some home improvements. Their cat, Junior, was interesting and finally showed us that he had warmed up to us by not hissing at us everytime we walked by. Petting him was out of the question unless you were looking to be abused. I could have "fun" with a cat like that, but since he wasn't our cat, I tried to let him be. As for the rest of our trip... mexican food galore. I was a walking stink bomb the entire week. It couldn't be hidden or denied. Hayden seem to be having the same side affects from the mexican food but as all kids do... he let loose and enjoyed it.

The kids enjoyed being at Grandma's house where they have side-by-side computers and the video games in tow. Fun for all. Tanya and I hung up pictures that needed to be hung up after Mother had some painting done. I think it looks nice. She could throw out some catalogs and old tv guides that she'll never read, but try telling her that.

We also went swimming and that was really fun. I love to be outside soaking up the sun. Alan was able to go with us and the kids really enjoyed that. Alan is one of those easy going people and likes to make things fun (I loved his "stepped on a rock" moment because it was so unexpected).

I'm probably leaving something out that I wanted to say so I'll just updated later if needed. Anyway, the trips were fun but it's always good to be home.