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

Facebook

My friend Jennifer recently posted a blog about how facebook is taking over her entire life. It is very addicting once you get used to it. I am still fairly new to all of these networking sites. About two years ago my friend Tracy convinced me to join myspace. She said that was the only way I was going to get to see pictures of her daughters ... so I signed up. I made my page all cutesy and filled it with all kinds of internet junk. Then I found everyone I knew and wasted endless hours sending silly comments and reading their bulletins. Last spring my friend Mandy, who won't do myspace, started a facebook account. She said facebook was the only way I was going to get to see pictures of her three kids. What is it with my friends and not being able to just get on a plane to come see me already?!? So I signed up for that too. At first I thought it was more difficult to navigate than myspace. I watched Mandy's kids' videos and forgot about facebook for several months. But now I am addicted. I have learned all about status updates and notifications and applications. I have friends on there that I haven't seen in almost 20 years. I think I have three or four ex-boyfriends on there too. It's weird like that. Everyone is just nice to each other all the time. If there is someone on there that you aren't overly fond of ... say if you get a friend request from someone that liked you more than you liked them but you are too nice to deny their friend request ... you can click a little button that makes it so you don't get as much information about that person on your homepage. That's very convenient, especially in the ex-boyfriend department! And don't even get me started on the games. Pathwords, Wordtwist, and Who Has the Biggest Brain are my favorites. My entire family is addicted.

Jennifer claims she needs a 12-step program to break her of her facebook addiction. I think student teaching will help me go cold turkey, but when I am done in May I will be back! With the biggest brain, the most words found on pathwords ..... the possibilities are endless!

Kenny's Got a New Girl

Kenny has a new girlfriend. She calls him to talk on the phone. And he calls her. And they are brave enough to leave messages on each other's answering machines if nobody is home. He is only 9 years old. I don't think I was brave enough to do that before I was 20! I am in trouble. Big trouble!

Keeping Busy and Going Broke

In an attempt to take care of all of the business I can take care of before I start student teaching I have made myself extremely busy. And extremely broke. I have had a hair cut, taken Kenny for a hair cut, and made an appointment to take Chase for a hair cut. I had my pap, my teeth cleaned, and a crown put onto one of my back teeth. I am taking Kenny this afternoon to have his chipped tooth fixed and Chase goes to the orthodontist on Monday to start the braces process. PJ goes to the vet on Monday and I take Sammy, Daisy & Maisy on Tuesday. Oh, and I bought a security system for the house which will be installed next week. If I have been bad about keeping in touch it is because I am either (1) not home or (2) in bed crying over all the money I have spent in the last few days.

The Tattoo

In the comment section of the post about my walking goal I mentioned that I am considering a tattoo. I have one already that I am not very fond of. When we were at Fort Meade in 2001 I was on the waiting list to have it removed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Unfortunately they called me about 2 weeks before we were going to move to California. So I still have it and I still don't like it. I have wanted another tattoo for many years, but I always thought it would be best to get rid of the tattoo I didn't like before I got another one. Well, I am not getting any younger so lately I have been thinking about going ahead and getting the other tattoo that I want. The image I want to get is of a sun that is on a Godsmack CD. The place I want to get it on my body ... well, there's a story there too ... about a year ago I was talking to Jennifer about tattoos and she told me a phrase that I had never heard before, but I am sure you are all aware of (because I tend to live in the dark ages sometimes). The phrase? Tramp stamp. Yup, that's where I want it. If I can get myself in decent enough shape that I feel comfortable spending a couple of hours laying on my stomach with my pants pushed down, in front of a stranger, over a chair that looks like it should be in either a dentist's office or a porn movie, while he permanently inks me up with something referred to as a tramp stamp, then that's the plan. And don't worry, I'll keep you all posted with the boring details.

Wordless Wednesday -- Until Next Year ...

Not Good Enough

I told Brian about my new goal and he says it is not enough. He said to lose weight I need to walk 20 miles a week. Since that is what I was doing the last time I felt like I looked good I guess he is probably right. But since I am sure I am not disciplined enough to do that I am going to compromise with a 15 mile/week goal. That means I need to change my chart to 780 miles instead of 600. Wish me luck!

Let's go for a walk

I was talking to my Aunt Kathy the other day about New Year's Resolutions. I decided I was not strong willed enough to give up fast food so she suggested another walking goal. Since last year's was not enough to help me lose a single freakin pound, I decided to make this year's a little harder. I will be attempting to walk 600 miles this year (I did 400 last year). I won't be wearing a pedometer and none of my daily walking around counts. Nothing I do out on the playground with a bunch of little kids counts. The miles of walking around campus do not count. The hours spent walking the grocery store aisles? Nope, not that either. The only thing that does count is when I intentionally go for a walk for exercise. Anyone want to walk with me? A little 600 mile stroll?

Pogo Stick Movie

This is a little long. And maybe a little boring. But there are some entertaining parts (like Brian falling on his ass butt) if you have about 5 minutes to spare.

Because Once Wasn't Enough

Chase & Kenny got to experience Christmas twice this year. Here they are with everything from Grammy & Grampy and Aunt Lisa & Uncle Toby. See that tall box in the background? That's a pogo stick. If I can figure out how to get videos from my video camera to the computer to my blog I will be posting some entertaining home movies on here later today. Anyway, here's a great big THANKS to Grammy & Grampy and Aunt Lisa & Uncle Toby for the second Christmas :)

Cleaning House

For the past two days Brian and I have been cleaning the house and garage. And I don't mean just picking up the clutter, I mean real spring cleaning. Yes, I know it is January. I also know that once my new semester starts I won't have time for this kind of cleaning. Heck, the boys will be lucky if they have clean underwear to put on in the morning. Last night I said, "It is so nice to have the house this clean. I feel so comfortable. I wish it would stay like this all the time." Then he said, "You want to see uncomfortable? Let me show you some pictures of how I lived in Kansas for the last two months."

I have decided that the house doesn't really need to be this clean all the time. I will just be glad it is comfortable to live in!!!

Another Run Around the Sun

January

February


March


April


May


June


July


August


September


October


November


December

Do you know where I got the idea for the name of this post? If you do I have a prize for you. Seriously! Think of me as Pioneer Woman except my prize is worth about $10, not $500. The first person who gets it right will get a prize. I promise. That's my New Year's Resolution. To give out a $10 prize. It'll be a hell of a lot easier than walking 400 miles.