July 14

NYC

Here's the view of the Empire State Building just around the corner from our hotel.

Here are the boys heading down into a subway station in Battery Park.

The boys and I at the Statue of Liberty.

On the Big Piano in FAO Schwarz.

Cheesy photo op in Central Park.

We got to the Bronx Zoo an hour before it opened!

Here's my favorite picture from the trip. This was in Times Square.

The whole week was sooooo much fun! We already have a list of things that we want to do the next time we go!

brrrrr

We are in NY and I am wondering ... who forgot to turn on the sun? Actually, we did see the sun today for about 3 hours. Yesterday we saw it for about 5. It got all the way up to 72 degrees. Woo Hoo! Heat wave!

They loaded up the truck...

For some reason the Beverly Hillbillies song keeps playing in my head as I go through my checklist:

Gas: check
Bags: check
Maps: check
Snacks: check
Kids: check
Dogs: check
Cats: check
Hamsters: check
Fish: check
Sanity: ??????????

Survival: Texas Style

I got this forward from my friend Amy B. in Germany and thought I'd share it with y'all:

Due to the popularity of the Survivor shows, Texas is planning to do one entitled Survivor: Texas Style. The contestants will all start in Dallas, then drive to Waco, Austin, San Antonio, over to Houston, and down to Brownsville. They will then proceed up to Del Rio, El Paso, Midland, Odessa, Lubbock, and Amarillo. From there they will go on to Abilene, Fort Worth, and finally back to Dallas. Each will be driving a pink Volvo with bumper stickers that read "I'm Gay", "I Love the Dixie Chicks", "Boycott Beef", "I Voted for Obama", "George Strait Sucks", "Hillary in 2012", and "I'm Here to Confiscate Your Guns". The first one to make it back to Dallas alive wins!

Mr. Energizer Bunny

My dad just left yesterday after a two week visit. First off, he drove here from NY in a little less than 35 hours. Straight. According to google maps the trip is about 1770 miles. When we go home for our vacation it's going to take us three days. He did it in 35 hours. He'll tell you that he stopped to sleep for a while, but I don't think 45 minutes behind the wheel of a tiny little pick up in a rest stop parking lot really counts for much of anything. During his visit he completed every single thing that was on my "honey-do" list that I had started for Brian. He even fixed a few things that broke while he was here. Here's the list: he replaced all five filters in my reverse osmosis system, repaired plumping under the kitchen sink, repaired two door handles, fixed a light fixture that hasn't worked since we moved in (that one required numerous hours in my 130 degree attic), fixed an outlet in Kenny's room that hasn't worked since we moved in, rerouted the central a/c condensation system so that the water empties on the side of the house that we don't even go near (if you've ever been to my house and had to avoid the pool of water by my back door you'll appreciate that one), repaired the metal fencing stuff that holds the gravel around the outside of my privacy fence (that the garbage men ran over with their truck while he was here), placed door stoppers behind my interior doors so that we don't make any more holes in the wall when the doors get opened too far, fixed my lawnmower, fixed my dryer, hung my extremely large ladder on the fence so it isn't sitting in the grass any more, aired up the tires on my truck, and planted some nice pretty bushes in the back yard. I am sure there is more, but I just can't even remember it all. He was busy and productive every single day he was here. To top it all off, he left yesterday morning and took one of my dogs with him to make my trip easier on me. Somehow in all of that he found time to hang out with the boys and help me with everything that I did to support the Ludwigsen family while they were here. He kinda reminds me of someone else I know.

Chase & Austin

Good Times

Because Six Wasn't Enough

You all know that I have two dogs and three cats. We also have a Beta fish. When we went to the Rodeo Carnival in February Chase won two goldfish. Actually, he won one, but the carnival guy was generous enough to give him two. Gee, thanks, buddy! That put us up to eight pets.



Then after I let the boys bring home a puppy, which I returned the next day, I bought them hamsters to appease them and ease my guilt. Here they are. And yes, that is a hamster litter box. Believe it or not they use it. They are pretty easy to take care of considering the fact that we are all scared to touch them because they bite so viciously.

So that put us up to ten pets. TEN! I thought it would be overwhelming, but it seemed fairly easy. And it was a nice even number. Recently one of those goldfish died so I am thinking about a yorkshire terrier puppy. That's not crazy of me, is it?

Talent Show (Pogo Stick Dude)

Big Day :)

Just a Normal Day

So today I am graduating. And I spent the last two or three days getting ready for a small get-together at my house. I did it on such a perfect schedule that I went to bed at a decent hour last night and anticipated a good night's sleep before my big day. Apparently I forgot to let my dogs, cats, and hamsters in on that plan. Because they kept me up all night with licking, scratching, squeaky wheel turning, etc. That was not fun. And now instead of margaritas, all I can think about drinking is pepsi after pepsi after pepsi ...

Day One

Today was day one of my summer vacation. Well, it might be day one of my life as a stay at home mom again if I don't get a job, but let's not dwell on that just now. Today I took my own kids to school, mailed three packages to Brian, went to the gym for a step aerobics class, had lunch with Kenny, chatted on Skype with Brian, took a nap, cleaned the livingroom to near perfection, finished a book, picked up my own kids from school, went to Chase's band concert, and watched a little television. I did all of that in one day! Can you believe it? That is more than I have done in the past four months. I wonder what I can get done tomorrow? The possibilities are endless...

Done!

I am done student teaching. I feel a mixture of relief, excitement, and sadness (because I miss my students!) Mostly I feel glad to be going on to the next chapter of my life. After I graduate on Saturday I will be eligible for my teacher certification and I will be able to officially call myself a "real teacher" ... Hooray!

Life Changing Information

I am not very good with swallowing pills. They get stuck in my throat and I do all kinds of weird gagging before I finally choke them down. When I started student teaching I began a regimen of four vitamins a day in an attempt to stay healthy. One of my vitamins is actually some kind of herb that was impossible to swallow without all kinds of swishing and gulping and gagging and praying. At least that's how it was until my sister in law told me a trick that has changed my mornings forever! I am going to share it with you so that it can change your life as well. Ready? Here goes ... if you have a pill that floats all you have to do is take a swig of water, tilt your head forward so that it floats to the back of your throat, and swallow. Easy! No swishing, gulping, gagging, or praying involved.

You're welcome.

Decisions, Decisions ...

Feed the kids or take a nap? I know that should not be a difficult decision to make, but right now all I can think is that I haven't taken a nap in weeks (maybe months) and I feed the kids dinner every single night. Doesn't that count for something?

Lunch Lady Land

TAKS testing is this week at most of the schools in the state. Student teachers aren't allowed to be in the room with the tests because they haven't been through all of the state mandated training that is associated with the security and validation of the tests. Yesterday I got to cover a 2nd grade class and I just loved it! They were a wonderful group of kids and I think I have finally found my favorite age group. Today my school has differerent plans for me. It should be interesting!

Must be Summertime

The boys found this in the back yard today. It must be summertime in Texas!

Catching Up

As usual, we've been pretty busy around here. So busy, in fact, that I put a calendar on my refrigerator and told the boys that they were responsible for writing their own activities on the correct days because I just can't keep track of all of it by myself. In an effort to get Sammy's pooping picture off from the top of my blog I am going to write a boring 'catch up' blog posting. Don't feel like you have to continue reading at this point ... it's not really very interesting!

I have three weeks of student teaching left. It has gone very well so far. I started out in kindergarten for the first seven weeks and have already spent four weeks in my second placement, which is in a 4th grade class. Both of my cooperating teachers are wonderful teachers and I have learned more from being in their classrooms than I think I learned in all of the time I spent sitting in classes at the college!

Chase started swimming lessons. They are not your typical cutesy swimming lessons like we used to take the kids to when they were smaller. These lessons are four days a week at the high school pool, with the high school swimming coach. He works the kids hard, but he is really good. Chase is enjoying it and hopes to get to the point where he can make it onto the 7th grade swim team for next year. He tried out a couple of weeks ago and didn't make it (by 5 seconds).

Kenny is preparing for his school's Spring Talent Show. He is going to do pogo stick tricks with the Cha Cha Slide playing in the background. He's having lots of fun with it. His practices end at 5:00, which is the exact time Chase's swim class starts. They happen to be 4.9 miles away (through 5:00 traffic it takes me about 12 minutes) so that is a bit of a challenge.

A couple of weekends ago we went to a Chalk Walk/Fesival downtown. It was a lot of fun. The weather was sunny & warm and I enjoyed the fact that it forced me to slow down and take a break from cleaning and doing schoolwork for a couple of hours.

Last weekend we went to our friends' house for dinner. The kids colored easter eggs while the grown-ups had drinks and socialized. It was a lot of fun and really good for me to get out to actually talk to adults about something other than teaching.

Chase has started volunteering at our local Nature Center. Last weekend he got choked out by a python and stayed calm the entire time. His face was somewhere between bright red & purple by the time he decided he needed to ask for help from another volunteer. Yesterday, after he got some additional snake handling tips from his supervisor, he worked their booth for the Community Days event at our mall. Although he enjoyed talking to people all day about the pythons I think his favorite part was the four middle school girls that continuously came back to flirt with him all afternoon.



I decided to start reading the Twilight series again. I read them all over Christmas break. Then several of my teacher friends at the school where I am student teaching started reading them and I got interested in it all over again. If you haven't read them yet, you should. (ahem, Mandy)

We are starting to try to plan our summer vacation. We are thinking of taking a mini-trip to NYC. If you have any ideas or tips for me about visiting the Big Apple, please send them my way.

I think wrote enough to get Sammy's picture to go way down on my page. That was my main goal, you know. Hope you all are well. We are busy, but doing great. Thanks for asking ;)

Bad Timing

First off, sorry about the picture. It's my most recent of Sammy. I thought Brian would be amused (and he was). That's not what my posting is about though. Well, it's about Sam, but not about Sam going potty. It's about my bad timing with Sam. I decided to put him on a diet. As you can see, he's getting a little hefty. In his prime he weighed 105 - 110. If we went to the vet and he was above 110 I would get a stern look and severe words of "advice" from the vet about how to help him lose a few pounds. Now he weighs 133. He's getting older and sleeps about 23 1/2 hours a day. So I thought some diet food might be good for him. I waited until all of the good food was gone and started him on the diet food on Sunday. For the first couple of days he thought it was great because it tasted different. By Wednesday he was following me around begging for more food. On Thursday PJ went into heat. Now Sam can't hardly stand being in the same room as her. And she follows him around nonstop. So not only is he hungry, but he's crazed with emotions he can't understand. It's going to be a long weekend!

San Antonio

Last weekend Chase, Kenny, Mom, and I went to San Antonio so that Chase could participate in the state science fair competition. We had a great time even though he didn't win. He was up against some pretty tough competition ... you know, like the kid that has a theory about how to cure Alzheimer's Disease. And all of those other kids with projects whose titles were not even understandable to me. Yeah, the competition was pretty tough. But we had fun. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the weekend (there are more but I took them with Mom's camera and forgot to transfer them to my computer before she left to go back to NY):

Mom's first margarita! Awwww...


Chase, Kenny, and Chase's friend Ben drinking virgin Strawberry Daiquiris.

Chase & Kenny on our way to the Alamo.

This is Jeopardy!

On Wednesday Chase participated in a school Jeopardy contest. The entire school was invited to participate, but there was one catch: you had to read ten specific books that the librarian chose to be able to play. Chase started in early October and finished his tenth book on Tuesday afternoon. Ten of the 755 students enrolled at his school read all of the books and played the game. They broke the kids into two groups to play. The first five played Single Jeopardy while the other five stayed in another room. Then they came back and played the same exact board with the same exact questions. The six students with the top scores went on to Double and Final Jeopardy. Chase was in the second group and almost didn't make it to Double Jeopardy! There was a kid in his group that was insanely fast with the buzzer. When the very last question came up on the screen that kid buzzed in. If he had answered correctly Chase would have been in 7th place of the ten kids. Luckily, he didn't answer correctly. Chase buzzed in, got the right answer and moved on to the next round. That other kid made it into the next round as well because his score was a few hundred points higher than Chase's. During Double Jeopardy the game stayed pretty fair. All six kids were answering questions ... although some with more right answers than others. When Final Jeopardy began Chase was in 2nd place. He made a good wager, answered correctly and won the entire game!

The prizes were crazy good. I have heard that the librarian uses all of the book fair money for prizes, but I am not sure if that is correct. The first place winner was able to choose whichever prize he/she wanted from the table. Then the second place winner chose, etc. There were ten kids and ten great prizes. They also won some books and posters.



Here's Chase with his librarian and the prize he selected: a 16 GB ipod touch!!!!:

An Email Forward

I thought this was a pretty funny one and since I am at a loss for blog material right now I am going to use it here:

Shrek, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lopez were all having lunch together. Shrek said, "I have always thought that I'm the strongest man in the world, but how can I be sure?" Brad Pitt said, "I'm pretty sure I'm the hottest man alive but I've never had it confirmed." Jennifer Lopez agreed. "I'm told I'm the sexiest of them all, but sometimes I wonder."

They all decided that the best way to find out if their beliefs were true was to approach the wicked queen's mirror to confirm for them whether Shrek was the strongest, Brad Pitt was the hottest and Jennifer Lopez was the sexiest. They agreed to meet again the next day for lunch to discuss their findings.

The next day Shrek walked up with a smile. "Well, it's true. The mirror told me that I am the strongest man in the world."

Brad Pitt followed and boasted, "It is true, it has been confirmed that I am the hottest man alive!!"

Jennifer Lopez walked in, head bent, tears in her eyes and asked, "Who in the hell is Amy Lemaster?"

W.W.M.D.

One day when we still lived in NC my friend Mandy commented on how clean my house/bathrooms always were. Of course I beamed with housewifely pride. Then one day about a week later we were going to have a surprise guest and I quickly wiped down the bathroom with a couple of baby wipes. I had a fleeting thought about Martha Stewart and wondered comically if she would consider my bathroom "clean" after I only wiped it down with a baby wipe. That began my own personal joke about "What Would Martha Do?" I was reminded of W.W.M.D. tonight when I ran into the house after student teaching all day, yelled instructions to the kids to get ready to leave the house because we had to get to Chase's National Junior Honor Society meeting, which was followed by his informational meeting regarding his State Science Fair Competition, grabbed a piece of cold pizza, and ate it while I was peeing!! Would she consider this a real dinner? A piece of cold leftover pizza wolfed down while going pee for the first time after a hectic day spent with 21 kindergartners? I am guessing she would not.

All About Chase ...

While I have been busy with student teaching and Kenny has been sick/recovering, Chase has been just going on with his normal life. Here are some things he did over the past several weeks while Kenny and I have been trying to make it through each day:

Chase and his TRIYS group (Texas Research Institute for Young Scholars) met with the mayor last month to discuss better ways for our city to go green.

Basketball season just ended. His coach was one of the best coaches we have ever had. If you know me and sports you know we are not a good match. But I loved every minute of Chase's basketball games over the past two months. And so did he.

Chase competed in and won his class and school science fair competition. Then he went on the the regional competition and placed 2nd. He goes to the state competition at the end of the month. It should be a fun weekend in San Antonio.

On Thursday he got a letter in the mail inviting him to join National Junior Honor Society.

And through all of this he managed to pull off a report card that looks like this:

Math Pre-AP/GT: 96%
PE: 100%
History: 95%
Beginning Band: 99%
Science: 98%
Writing Pre-AP/GT: 100%
Reading Pre-AP/GT: 98%

Not that I am bragging or anything ;)

Shameless Plug

Yesterday at 5:32 PM I placed an order at Zappos.com for two pairs of Heelys for the boys. Less than 21 hours later, at 2:29 PM today, they were on my doorstep. If any of you have ever been here to the middle of nowhere, Texas or have ever tried to send me a package you know that is an amazing accomplishment. To top it all off I got free shipping, I could use free return shipping if they didn't fit (but they do), and they were only 80% of the price listed at amazon.com. So ... Zappos earns a free shameless plug on my blog and my eternal business!

My Honey

I love the internet. I love digital cameras. I love skype. I love instant messaging. And I love email. Why do I love all of these things? Because in 1996 - 1997 when Brian was in Bosnia I would wait impatiently for the mailman six days a week. I was home with a new baby and I lived for that moment when I could check if I got a letter from Brian. The letters were usually a month old and would often come in groups. I would go days without one and then all of a sudden I would have five of them in one day. I know that it's nice to get real mail, but what's even better is that in the past three days I have asked for and received about ten pictures, had several hours of instant messaging, and had a few skype calls with my honey. If you don't know what skype is think 'The Jetsons' and telephone with tv attached. Brian and I can sit and talk to each other and see each other live in person at the same time. It is absolutely amazing to me and oh-so-much better than the Bosnia days! When Chase was born I had to send Brian a Red Cross message to let him know that we had a birthday for our baby. Then the day I came home from the hospital Brian had to stand in line for over an hour to call me for five minutes. Our phone call was dropped and I didn't get to talk to him again for a few days. Today while I was washing dishes I heard my boys skyping with their dad without any help from me. So I will say it again ... I love the internet. I love digital cameras. I love skype. I love instant messaging. And I love email. Oh, and I love my honey too :)

A Mother Knows ...

All too often kids try to get out of school by faking illness. But when your kid wakes up and looks like this you know that he isn't faking it. And then when you take his temperature and it is over 101 you know that his hopes of making it through the year with perfect attendace are out the window. He spent the entire day yesterday in this exact position. The only thing that changed was the movie that was in the DVD player. Poor kid!

Not Paying Attention

On Sunday I took the boys to the mall because they wanted to look for new Heelys. I didn't even pay attention to how they dressed until after we got there and got into the first shoe store. Look at them! I was planning to go to the college to get a little bit of work done in the computer lab and felt a strong urge to buy them some new jeans before we went. I wonder why?!?

Cheap Entertainment

Roller skating: $5 each
Gas to get there: $2
Tokens for video games: $10
Having time to do my homework uninterrupted: priceless!

Desperate Times

... call for desperate measures. I really, really, really wanted homemade apple pie today. So I made this:

Isn't it cute?!? It sure was good! I ate about half of it and still have half leftover for tomorrow's breakfast. Yummy!!

Just Kidding

So I have this friend who says "just kidding" whenever he changes his mind or is wrong about something. He's a cute 21 year old college student/soon to be teacher/boyfriend of my friend so I think it is endearing. I am going to use it here in hopes that it makes me feel better about what I am going to tell you. We took the puppy back today. Sad, I know. And pathetic. And I feel like a bad mom. But ... hear me out: He was a good puppy. Everything you would think I am about to complain about did not happen. He slept all night. He went potty outside. He was nice to the cats. Sammy loved him .... you get the idea. We had two major problems. PJ was absolutely scared to DEATH of him. She was hiding in corners of the house and refusing to come anywhere near any of us even if we were holding her favorite treats out to her. She was terrified. She is the sweetest, kindest dog and I felt bad for what I was putting her through. The second problem ... Brian. It's not what you think it is. I ended up sending him an email with a picture. He was ok with it. But one line in his reply email was "I haven't even been gone a month yet." It brought me right back to last October when he left for Kansas and I took over his side of the closet, threw away the toothbrush he left in the bathroom, and stole his garage door opener out of his truck because it worked better than mine. I really hurt him because he felt like I was just shoving him out the door and wasn't sad about our upcoming 15 month separation. On top of all of that, he and my mom have plans to buy Yorkshire Terrier puppies from the same litter when he returns from Iraq. This puppy would have messed up those plans. So the combination of a scared to death Penelope Jean and a leftout husband that is thousands of miles away forced me to see things in a different light. I let the animal rescue people keep our adoption fee as a donation to their program and made them promise to call me if he hadn't been adopted out by 5:00 PM today. I never got a call so I am sure our little "Romeo" found a brand new forever family this afternoon. I guess I was just kidding.

Who's Going Green?

Apparently we are not. Today I came into the house to get some work done and found the TV on Spongebob. The problem? She was the only one watching:

Skype

Just before Brian left we both installed Skype on our computers. We bought webcams and headsets and got all set up.

We even tested it out.

Once he is finally settled in his (first) permanent location in Iraq we'll be able to have Skype chats to try to keep in touch and keep up with what is going on in each other's lives. Why am I telling you all of this? I want to have a little vote. Who thinks I should let the boys tell Brian about the new puppy over Skype? The other choice is to not tell him and simply hope he doesn't notice the extra dog when he comes home for R & R this summer.

While the Soldier's Away ....

... the soldier's wife and kids do really strange things like get another puppy even though they already have too many animals running around their little house!

And yes, the boys look tired in their photos. They are tired. It is 9:30 and we had a long, busy day.

Happy Birthday TJ!!

Happy Birthday little brother. ILY

Wordless Wednesday -- Chase's Braces

Can you tell he hates them? This was the closest he would get to a smile this morning when I took his picture before he left for school.

My Boring Life

I know I have been terrible about blogging lately. I just don't have anything exciting to talk about or share with you ... my loyal readers. I understand that you won't be loyal readers for long if I keep this up, but I just can't think of anything funny or entertaining or even interesting to write about. I could write about how Sammy just rolled in something dead while we were out walking and instead of letting him in the house I am going to make him stay outside until it rains. Or about the kid in my kindergarten class who proudly told me this morning, "We got something real cheap for you for Valentine's Day!" I could write about how it is so windy here that my garden flag is somewhere in Alabama by now. Or I could tell you that Chase got braces today, but I think I'll save that for Wordless Wednesday tomorrow. The title even rhymes: Chase's Braces. Good, huh? Well, I guess if I think that is good entertainment I am in trouble. Other than that, we don't have a lot going on here. Life is good, but life is not all that exciting right now. Sorry 'bout that!

I Guess I am a "Chicken"

Jeff Foxworthy on Upstate New York .

• If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 36 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might live in Upstate New York.
• If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights a year because Saranac Lake is the coldest spot in the nation, and Watertown gets more snow than any other major city in the US , you might live in Upstate NY.
• If your local Dairy Queen is closed from October through May, you might live in Upstate New York.
• If you get 131 inches of snow in a week and you comment that 'winter's finally here,' you might live near Watertown in Upstate New York.
• If you instinctively walk like a penguin for six months out of the year, you might live, bundled up, in Upstate New York.
• If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance, and they don't work there, you might live in Upstate NY.
• If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead, you might live in Upstate New York.
• If you have worn shorts and a parka on the same day, you might live in Upstate New York.
• If you have had a lengthy phone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you might live in Upstate New York.
• YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TRUE UPSTATE NEW YORKER WHEN:'Vacation' means going south past Syracuse for the weekend.
• You measure distance in hours..You know several people who have hit a deer - more than once.
• You often switch from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again.
• You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching.
• You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
• You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend/wife knows how to use them.
• You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
• Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
• You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.
• You can identify a southern or eastern accent.
• Down South to you means Corning.
• Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new shed.
• You go out for a fish fry every Friday.
• Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
• You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
• You find 10 degrees 'a little chilly.' And 55 is shorts weather.
• You actually understand these jokes, and you forward them to all your Upstate New York friends and to those who used to live here and left(chickens).

From my Mom

This is why I love Texas!

Aug. 12 - Moved into our new home in New York . It is so beautiful here. The hills and river valleys are so picturesque. I have a beautiful old oak tree in my front yard. Can hardly wait to see the change in the seasons. This is truly God's Country.

Oct. 14 -New York is such a gorgeous place to live, one of the real special places on Earth. The leaves are turning a multitude of different colors.. I love all of the shades of reds, oranges and yellows, they are so bright.. I want to walk through all of the beautiful hills and spot some white tail deer. They are so graceful, certainly they must be the most peaceful creatures on Earth. This must be paradise.

Nov. 11 - Deer season opens this week. I can't imagine why anyone would want to shoot these elegant animals. They are the very symbol of peace and tranquility here in New York. I hope it snows soon. I love it here!

Dec. 2 - It snowed last night.. I woke to the usual wonderful sight: everything covered in a beautiful blanket of white. The oak tree is magnificent. It looks like a postcard. We went out and swept the snow from the steps and driveway. The air is so crisp, clean and refreshing. We had a snowball fight. I won, and the snowplow came down the street. He must have gotten too close to the driveway because we had to go out and shovel the end of the driveway again. What a beautiful place. Nature in harmony. I love it here!

Dec.. 12 - More snow last night. I love it! The plow did his cute little trick again. What a rascal. A winter wonderland. I love it here!

Dec. 19 - More snow - couldn't get out of the driveway to get to work in time. I'm exhausted from all of the shoveling. And that snowplow!

Dec. 21 - More of that white shit coming down. I've got blisters on my hands and a kink in my back. I think that the snowplow driver waits around the corner until I'm done shoveling the driveway. Asshole.

Dec. 25 - White Christmas? More freakin' snow. If I ever get my hands on the sonofabitch who drives that snowplow, I swear I'll castrate him. And why don't they use more salt on these roads to melt this crap??

Dec. 28 - It hasn't stopped snowing since Christmas. I have been inside since then, except of course when that SOB "Snowplow Smitty" comes by. Can't go anywhere, cars are buried up to the windows. Weather man says to expect another 10 inches. Do you have any idea how many shovelfuls 10 inches is??

Jan. 1 - Happy New Year? The way it's coming down it won't melt until the 4th of July! The snowplow got stuck down the road and the shithead actually had the balls to come and ask to borrow a shovel! I told him I'd broken six already this season.

Jan. 4 - Finally got out of the house.. We went to the store to get some food and a damn deer ran out in front of my car and I hit the bastard. It did $3,000 in damage to the car. Those beasts ought to be killed. The hunters should have a longer season if you ask me.

Jan. 27 - Warmed up a little and rained today. The rain turned the snow into ice and the weight of it broke the main limb of the oak tree in the front yard and it went through the roof. I should have cut that old piece of shit into fireplace wood when I had the chance.

May 10 - Took my car to the local garage. Would you believe the whole underside of the car is rusted away from all of that damn salt they dump on the road? Car looks like a bashed up, heap of rusted cow shit.

May 23 - Sold the car, the house, and moved to Florida . I can't imagine why anyone in their right freakin' mind would ever want to live in the State of New York!!!!

They Think It's Funny

I had to fill our some paperwork tonight for Chase's orthodontist. I had no idea how tall Chase was so I measured him. Did you know that with bare feet he is 5'1" tall? I did not know that. I do now. It makes me feel old. And short. And very, very worried. I am willing to bet that by the time he gets his braces off he will be taller than me. This is not funny at all. Upon seeing my reaction to Chase's height Kenny laughed hysterically and yelled out, "Mom! You got Burned!" That wasn't very funny either. But they think this is the funniest thing that has happened in our house in a long time. We are pretty hard up for entertainment around here!

The Magic Number

I took my second teacher certification exam on Saturday. I got my results today .... drumroll please .... and I passed with the same exact score that I got on my first exam! I got a 282 out of 300 (you need 240 to pass). Hooray! Yippee! Now all I have to do is pass student teaching and get my degree before Texas recognizes me as a real certifiable, er, I mean certified teacher :)

PS This is my 400th posting. Can you believe it?!?

The Bucket List

Jennifer had this survey on her blog and since I am one of her readers (whether she likes it or not) I got tagged. The fact that I am desperate for blog material helps a little too. So here goes. And I am tagging everyone who reads this so get your answers ready!

Subject: The Bucket List--Something Different

Place an (x) by all the things you've done and remove the (x) from the ones you have not.

(x) Been to Europe
( ) Been on a cruise
( ) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
(x) Been to Canada
(x) Been to Mexico
(x) Been to Florida
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
(x) Gone to Washington , DC
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
( ) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Sang Karaoke
(x) Made prank phone calls
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x ) Danced in the rain
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sunrise alone
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice skating
(x) Gone roller skating
(x) Gone to the movies
(x) Own your Favorite Car

1. Any nickname? Lynny (Brian), My Amy (my Mom)
2. Mother's name? Linda
3. Favorite drink? water
4. Body Piercing? my ears and my belly button
5. How much do you love your Car? I love it!
6. Birthplace? Oswego, NY
7. Been to Hawaii? no
8. Ever been to Africa? no
9. Ever eaten just cookies for dinner? and breakfast, and lunch …
10. Ever been on TV? I don't think so. But I am in a children's book somewhere that tells you how to take care of your cats.
11. Ever steal any traffic sign? no, but not for lack of trying
12. Ever been in a car accident? yes
13. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4-door
14. This question is missing.
15. Favorite number? 4
16. Favorite movie? City of Angels
17. Favorite holiday? Thanksgiving
18. Favorite dessert? Cheesecake. Right now it is particularly the cheesecake Chelsea made to bring to dinner at my house last Tuesday. Which is almost gone. So I need that recipe Chelsea!!
19. Favorite food? See the last question
20. Favorite day of the week? Friday
21. Favorite brand of body wash? Aveeno
22. Toothpaste? Arm & Hammer
23. Favorite smell? I really don't like this question. I can't ever think of anything great to say.
24. How do you relax? sleep is nice
25. How do you see yourself in 10 years? teaching and living in my long awaited “forever home” because Brian will be retired and we'll be done moving.
26. Furthest Place you will send this message? Maybe Brian will read it (ha ha ha ha)
27. Who will respond to this the fastest? Joanna will, but she doesn't blog so I'll get it in an email. After that it'll probably be Julie.

Quick Updates

I started student teacher orientation yesterday. I got my 3rd choice school. That's not bad out of 17. I have never been to that school before and don't know anything about it. My criteria was basically distance. I wanted to be as close to the boys as possible. So I am happy. I would have been ok with any school, but the closer the better.

Since my whiny post about being busy and going broke we have installed new brakes and a new windshield in the truck, bought a new dishwasher, and paid $441 for a busted pipe in the garage. Did you know that if you have a slab foundation that some of the pipes are actually run under the cement? So now I am really, truly broke. Fortunately for me my husband has an expensive biking habit and he sold two $500 racing wheels to help me pay for all of this stuff. He tried to make a joke about me calling that Cash for Gold hotline that we have been seeing in the commercials, but the look of death that I gave him stopped him from even finishing his sentence.

Chase is playing basketball and taking a short break from swimming. His practices and games are actually a lot of fun. If you know me and sports, then you know this really is newsworthy material.

I think those are all of my updates for now. Sorry I've been so bad about blogging. It's been hectic around here.

Wordless Wednesday -- My Fat Cat