Hey Mom

Do you ever have those days when you really, really, REALLY need to talk to your Mom and get her advice?  Yesterday was one of those days for me.  I didn’t need anything specific but I just needed Mom.  Well, I happened to be next door to the cemetery and decided to go over for a visit.  I talked and talked and talked to her for about 15 minutes.  I talked about life, about my Dad, about looking for a job, my sister looking for a job away from here, my nephew and niece and how they are growing so much and missing her, about my Gmom and how at 89 she is really becoming more dependent on me, about how our new church is almost ready and everything else that had been weighing on my mind.  It was nice to talk about things out loud but there were some things I really needed responses on.  I miss my best friend who always knew just what I needed to hear.  I am glad I can still talk to her and I may have to go do that more often.

What's For Dinner This Week

I am having a very hard time coming up with dinner ideas.  I get bored with repeated meals while the hubs doesn’t.  He could eat the same thing every couple of weeks.  Tonight he will be late getting home because of a school board meeting so I let him decide what we would have for dinner tonight.  And I picked the rest so here goes. . . . .

Monday:  taquitos, guacamole and Spanish rice with blueberry enchiladas for dessert

Tuesday:  crockpot bbq pork roast (something I have only cooked once and hope it turns out yummy) and potato salad

Wednesday:  fend for yourself

Thursday:  leftovers or fishsticks

Friday:  out to dinner

Saturday:  fend for yourself

10 (errrr 13) Random Things About Me!!

Kelly at Kelly’s Korner and Dina at There’s No Place Like Home have done a list of random things about themselves so I decided to do one also.  I will see what interesting things I can come up with!

1.        I am the oldest of three girls.  Not always the easiest position to be in!!

2.      I was FFA treasurer my junior year and FFA president my senior year of high school (I showed chickens in our youth livestock show those two years).  I was in choir from 6^th grade – 12^th grade.

3.      I don’t really like ice cream.  (I have my Papaw to thank for that!!)  We live in BlueBell country but I would rather have homemade Big Red ice cream if I am going to eat some.

4.      I hate shopping for clothing or shoes but I could window shop for antiques all day long.  Thankfully my I can drag my husband along with me.  I love looking at old dishware like pyrex.

5.      I really like peanut butter (it was very hard for me last year when one of my students was severely allergic to peanuts) and have been known to forgo the dinner I made and just eat a peanut butter sandwich.  I did that just this week!!

6.      I love to sing.  I recorded the song that was played during our unity candle lighting at our wedding.

7.      I lost 25 pounds in the five and half months of my pregnancy (my pregnancy ended with the stillbirth of our son).  We did not know his gender until he was born.

8.      If it is God’s plan for Mr. Giggles and I to have a biological child, we will not find out the gender.

9.      I watch way too much tv.  I am a huge fan of Duck Dynasty!!!

10.     I cannot ever see myself living within the city limits.  I have lived in the country most of my life and I love it.  We currently live on the property where my great grandmother used to have dairy.  My dad still has Hereford cattle on the land.

11.       I love horses and dogs.  When I had horses, I rode both Western and English.  While still living at home, I rode as often as possible, during the summers that meant every single day possible.

12.     My mom was my best friend and I miss her every single day.  I am not sure I would have made it through college as an older than average student if it hadn’t been for her.  She was one of my biggest cheerleaders and if you were an education major you will understand what I mean when I say her creativity helped me get through some of my classes!!

13.     I hate losing touch with people (I guess that is why facebook is so important to me, I can keep up with almost all of my friends and family).

Well, I guess that is enough random things about me.  I hope you enjoy my randomness.

Cuteness

Raise your hand if you have jumped on the bubble necklace band wagon. . . . . .I think they are really cute but haven't gotten one yet. Well, it just so happens that there is a giveaway over at A Life Less Ordinary and she is giving away a bubble necklace in this year's "it" color and some really cute chevron bracelets. Go check out the giveaway and meet a new blog friend! Please don't be mad at me when I win!!!

HAPPY THURSDAY!!! Can you believe that SPRING is here??

What's for Dinner

I am going to once again try to do my weekly menu.  As I have said before, since it only the two of us our menus are pretty boring!

Monday:  hamburgers and French fries

Tuesday:  Swiss & Chicken, corn, garlic bread

Wednesday:  fend for yourself

Thursday:  leftovers

Friday:  out to dinner with Dad

Saturday:  fend for yourself

Sunday:  out to eat

Our Favorite Vacation Spots

This week over at Kelly’s Korner she has ask where your favorite place to vacation is. . . . . .well, if you have been one of the two people who follow my blog you know that we love spending time in Colorado!!!  We try to go some place new each time but we always end up at the same place for a few days.  This past year we just stayed in one place. . . .our favorite place.  A little place called Fun Valley Resort in the south central part of the state.  While there we always go to Creede, Lake City, Pagosa Springs, and Alamosa.  In the past we have gone to Pike’s Peak, Aspen, Vail, Pueblo, Canon City, Gunnison and Leadville and I am sure there are others but I can’t remember.  We love the cooler weather, the mountains, the smells, just about everything about it except for the drive!! 

 

Another state we enjoy because it is home is Texas.  There are so many things to see and do and enjoy.  There are the stockyards in Fort Worth, Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Alamo in San Antonio, a huge stretch of beach, mountains to the west, and the list could go on.  There are some beautiful state parks such as Inks Lake and Tyler State Park which are two of our favorites.  We have big rodeos and livestock shows in Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.  We have some huge universities with beautiful campuses.   The state capital is in Austin and there are tons of things to do in Austin.  And best of all. . . .you haven’t had TEX MEX until you have eaten TEX MEX in Texas!!  If you are planning a trip to Texas and need some ideas on what to do, let me know and I will help you!!

 

We have also vacationed in Oklahoma (sorry but it was not our favorite place. . . .I think it had to do with where we were) and in Alabama near Birmingham which was nice also but both Oklahoma and Alabama were as hot as Texas!!!!

Painting With a Twist

Here is our group picture from the birthday party and then my picture.  We had a lot of fun!!  If you have a Painting With A Twist in your town, get a bunch of your friends together and go paint!!

Happy Birthday to You and You!!

Yesterday we celebrated the births of my nephew and my niece.  It is so hard to believe that they are 15 and 12.  Here is how we celebrate like the wild party people we are!!  We ate Mexican food and it was yummy.  Then we headed across the parking lot to a place called Painting with a Twist.  Oh, when I say we I mean my dad Gran, my sister Rae, my sister Becca, her hubby SRJ, his mom Granny, his dad Pa, the 15 year old birthday boy, the 12 year old birthday girl, my hubs and myself.  My hubs did not follow us across the parking lot.  We put on our painting smocks, found our spots and the table and began painting.  I love doing crafts, even those that include painting but this was stressful for this girl.  We painted using acrylics and I guess what stressed me out was that I am a perfectionist when I do something like that and I had a hard time being a perfectionist with the paintbrushes!  It was fun and if I ever have an extra $35 sitting around I would do it again.  After the two hour session we (minus Granny & Pa and add my hubs)headed over to our new church building so we could show my sister’s family the progress and then headed over to my Dad’s house to celebrate some more by opening presents, having a tiara wearing contest and eating cupcakes.  I love spending time with my family and we never get to spend enough time together.  And I wish I Mom was around to spend time with us.  She would be so proud of her grandbabies and I know she would love to love on them.

Happy birthday Moonpie and Buttercup!  I love you both more than you will ever know!!

My Mom took this picture several years ago and I love the expressions of pure joy on their faces.  They loved spending time with their Memom!
 

 

Spring Break 2013

It is spring break for most of us here in Texas. We spent several weeks trying to decide where we were going to go camping the first weekend of the break. First I called a camp ground near Dripping Springs in the Hill Country and they were booked. Then I called another place near Liberty Hill also in the Hill Country and they were full. After much discussion, the hubs found a camp ground in East Texas that we decided to try. We left Friday afternoon (later than planned which is the usual for us!) and headed out.  We got to the campground around 7:45 and got set up.  The place was pretty nice but we were without tv or internet service (which by the way, we survived without!!).  We left Tuesday morning and headed back home.  While there we ate at a great Mexican food at a place called Jalapeno Tree, ate at a great steakhouse, got rain, it got really cold (31 at night which is really cold in a camping trailer), went to two different Walmarts, watched five movies and just enjoyed being together!  But as with all trips, it was nice to get home and to sleep in our bed at home(yes, the bed in our trailer is ours but the one at home is better!!)

 

Out our door the last morning.

Two friends who made sure we set up correctly the first night we were there and then came to say goodbye.

Standing in my door taking in the scenery.  So relaxing!

16 Years and Counting!!

 On March 8, 1997 at 2:00 pm in the church where I grew up I married the man God had planned for me.  It is hard to believe we have been married that long!  We have had some wonderful highs and some terrible lows but we love each other even more today than we did back then.  Our first meal as a married couple was at Whataburger on our way to San Antonio.  Our meal for our 16^th anniversary was from a gas station with him eating a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit with chocolate milk and a banana cream fried pie and I had a burrito with a lemon fried pie!  It doesn’t matter what we do as long as we are together!!  Happy 16 years to my Mr. Giggles. . . . .I can’t wait to see what the next 16 brings!!  Here is myself (obviously), my sister Rae, my sister Becca and my friend Amy.

 

 

Winds Over Texas

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful but very warm.  We got up to 82 degrees with lots of sunshine.  It was a shorts and tshirt kind of day.  I even got a little bit of sun on my arms while working outside.  Today it is 61 with the wind gusting up to probably 25 miles per hour with sustained winds at 15.  The weather around here has been spring then winter and vice-versa and I am ready for it to pick a season and stay.  I am ready to start feeling better.  I am also hoping for some rain.  It seems like we are already behind on rainfall for the year and we are still very dry from the drought of 2011 and average rainfall of 2012.  As a matter of fact, as of yesterday the first wildfire of 2013 was burning full steam ahead.  There was also a large grassfire about 35 or so miles from us.  Scary stuff.

Happy Tuesday!  I hope you are enjoying the first days of March!!

A Day in the Life

If you are looking for an exciting day you have come to the wrong place!!!  I wasn't sure what day to talk about but since yesterday is the freshest thing on my mind i will go with Friday.  Hold on to your socks cause you are in for a wild (not) ride!!!
6:15 am:  wake up and stumble to the shower (that is if the hubs is out of the bathroom)
6:45 am:  stumble back out of the bathroom and hurry to grab the orange ribbon and a straight pin to attach it to the hubby's shirt.  Then take a picture before he hurrys out the door.  The reason for the orange ribbon is to remember my Mom who passed away 3 years ago from leukemia (orange is the color for leukemia).
6:50 am:  begin getting ready to leave the house. . . . .teeth brushed, makeup done, hair dried, clothes on, lunch packed, medicine taken
7:35 am:  out the door and headed to McDonald's for a coke and a quick visit with my Dad before school.
8:01am:  walk in the door, pick up my subfolder, sub tag and keys to the room and head to my room.
8:10 am:  log into fb to see what pictures my friends have posted of themselves wearing orange.
8:20 am:  make a bathroom stop before beginning three hours of continues classes who will be taking benchmark tests (7th graders).
8:30 am - 9:20am:  first class - done
9:25 am - 10:20 am:  second class - done
10:25 am - 11:25 am:  third class - done but they gave me a headache!
11:25 - 11:55 am:  lunch - and visit with my Dad who came by to visit me and some of the teachers he used to teach with.
12:00pm - fourth class - who did nothing to help with my headache
12:55 pm - nice quiet 5th class - done
1:50 pm - huge 6th class - done
2:45 pm - conference period - put the classroom back together, organize all testing materials, take a breath!
3:40 pm -head home
4:00 pm - get home and wait for the hubs to get home
4:45 pm - head to new church building to take pictures of the construction progress
5:45 pm - attend viewing for Dr. B
6:30 pm - head to dinner @ Casa Ole with Dad, Rae, LEH, JD and the hubs
7:45 pm - head home
8:05 pm - fall into recliner and don't move until 10.
10:00 pm - get ready for bed, crawl into bed and read
11:00 pm - lights out!!

And that my friends is an exciting day in the life of a substitute teacher!!!

Remembering Momma



Three years ago Friday my wonderful, beautiful Mom passed away.  We are still broken hearted and miss her so very much.  As we have done every year since that day, we ask our facebook friends to wear orange in honor of Mom, take a picture and post it to facebook.  It is so exciting to see how people wear their orange.

 

Mom and Dad they day they went to MD Anderson to prepare for Mom's stemcell transplant.

Mom, Dad and I at my wedding, March 8, 1997.
 



Mom and Max (my grandma's dog) when our church family came to wish her well

Here are just a few of the pictures our friends sent to us on Friday.  Seeing my friends take time out of their schedule to take and post a picture helped make a difficult day a little bit easier. 

My friend Kathy and her sweet girls showing their orange.

 

My friend Tiffany with her leukemia socks.

My friend Mrs. H. and her orange ribbon.