So, we had this big storm on last week. Perfect time to do a massive and FAST cleaning of our garage. And maybe not so much cleaning as pushing everything to the back, but whatever, it looks much better! That being said, Jeff realized that we now have room to put up our dart board, so he got that all set up last night. Even painted us a handy little line so we know where to stand. Last night was the first night in weeks that we were sans children, so we went out into the garage and played a couple of games of 501. After we played the first game, Jeff decided maybe it would be easier for him to play left handed since his injury was making playing right handed difficult. I then decided it was only fair if I played left handed too. LOL! We actually did pretty darn well! It was a fun evening. Thanks for setting up the dart board babe:).
In about thirty minutes I am off to a day of baseball and softball and maybe Natalee's soccer game if I can make it. Another cold and very windy day, ick! I am so not looking forward to this. Don't get me wrong, I love watching them play, but I'm not so fond of the cold and especially the cold and wind. I'd better go load up the keeping warm supplies.
Have a great weekend!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Spring Break
Another Spring Break has come and gone. It was nice. I tried to get us a camping trip scheduled, but every stinkin campsite from here to Arkansas was booked. Lesson learned. It was nice though, we slept in everyday and then the kids hung out with friends mostly.
Mighty HUGE Catfish!
I did have my first foray into the SXSW world. A girl I knew growing up was going to be performing down on 6th Street Thursday, so I thought that would be a perfect thing to do. I have to say, the people watching was amazing! After she sang we bar hopped a little just to see the other bands that were playing. I guess one of these years I will really have to try out the whole experience.
We did have one mishap that very nearly broke our hearts. The first weekend of Spring Break, one of our two brother kitties, Rum Tum decided he wanted to be an outdoor cat. Every opportunity he got, he tried to escape. We had to retrieve him from the neighbor's bushes more than once. On St. Patrick's Day he had run out about four times. Finally, the last time I just said, leave him out. Since he is neutered I didn't think he would go far. He didn't come back....
Friday we loaded up the car and headed out to our friend's parent's house on Lake Limestone. It's about two hours from here. It was such beautiful weather and such a nice place. We pulled up to find their house on about an acre of land that was fenced in with several dogs. We had brought our dog Buddy with us and Tony and Michelle had their two as well. It was quite the Dog Whisperer's pack! There was a Great Pyrenees, a yellow lab, an Australian Shepard, a Golden Retriever, a Beagle Mix, 3 Rat Terriers, and Charlie the cat. Buddy fit right in and had a great time. He isn't used to so much space to roam in, so it was a treat. Our treat though was the littlest rat terrier Diva who was only six weeks old. She had the most pictures taken. Teeeny tiny thing.
Friday we loaded up the car and headed out to our friend's parent's house on Lake Limestone. It's about two hours from here. It was such beautiful weather and such a nice place. We pulled up to find their house on about an acre of land that was fenced in with several dogs. We had brought our dog Buddy with us and Tony and Michelle had their two as well. It was quite the Dog Whisperer's pack! There was a Great Pyrenees, a yellow lab, an Australian Shepard, a Golden Retriever, a Beagle Mix, 3 Rat Terriers, and Charlie the cat. Buddy fit right in and had a great time. He isn't used to so much space to roam in, so it was a treat. Our treat though was the littlest rat terrier Diva who was only six weeks old. She had the most pictures taken. Teeeny tiny thing.
The middle picture is of the biggest dog, Whiskey, a Great Pyrenees, and Diva. I just had to get the size difference here!
We relaxed and enjoyed our time, however short. Saturday we got up (Thank you young boy next door who decided at 8am to ride the lawnmower the 60 feet from your house to the dock!) and made breakfast. Leon had procured a neat wood cutting machine that the boys all got busy using to cut up some trees they had cut down recently. Here are Michael and Justin earning their keep.
Later that day we looked over at the next door neighbor Larry's boat dock and saw him trying to real in a HUGE fish. I told Jeff he should probably go help. Once they got the fish out of the water, I took this picture. AMAZING! 
Mighty HUGE Catfish!
We had to come home on Saturday evening because Michael had to be at his baseball tournament early Sunday morning. As we turned the corner to get to our house I saw what I thought was Rum Tum running into our yard. We pulled in and Jeff jumped out and Rum Tum ran into his arms just meowing away! He was completely unscathed and happy to be home. He ate about three times in that first thirty minutes and then passed out. Poor boy!
He hasn't tried to escape once since then. I guess he's realized how good her has it, at least for now!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Parents, Weekend and Possible Trips
I am sitting in the Monument Cafe in Georgetown, TX, one of my kids very favorite places to eat. Second only to Luby's for Michael. Actually it is just Michael and me today. Audrey spent the night with a friend and Jeff needs some extra rest for healing purposes. I thought it would be a fun treat for the two of us. I brought my computer because I knew they would have wifi and I am trying to plan some sort of trip for us this week. A little adventure. All the camping places here in the central Texas areas are booked, so we are thinking of heading north to Arkansas and camping our way up to visit my parents who were just here for the weekend. We'll see if I can talk Jeff into this. He is worried because he can't help much in the camping set up department, but I keep telling him that before I met him I did it all by myself and am still perfectly capable.
The three of us slept until 9:30am this morning....oh it was really nice. I guess we needed it. We did stay up quite late on Saturday night and my parent's being in town is always tiring. They came in to town to watch Michael's baseball tournament, which was subsequently cancelled due to the much needed rain. My parents arrived Friday just in time to see Michael in his hoedown at school. Mom arrived just in time to be invited out for a line dance, what fun! That night I made venison chili and we hung out and enjoyed eachother's company. Saturday I spent really worried about Jeff who was still in ALOT of pain. We changed his bandage and it was a big ordeal. Fortunately he got some pain meds in him and it helped some. My sister the nurse also told us some other ways he could take the meds to get the most out of them. He was a little better yesterday, but it sure is slow going on this healing thing.
I guess I should explain to those of you who don't know what happened. Last Tuesday was going to be a super busy day for us. Or evening really. Michael had a program at his school at 6:30pm and Audrey had her first softball game at 7:30pm, but had to be there at 7. I had to run out to Academy to get Audrey new cleats and socks and a mouth guard and I got back home around 5pm. I jumped in the shower as Jeff was working on getting dinner ready so we could eat before we all headed out. Jeff was using a mandolin slicer to slice some potatoes and I guess got in too much of a hurry. He wasn't using the guide he was supposed to use to keep this kind of accident from happening. His hand slipped and instead of slicing a potato, he sliced off a big hunk of his thumb. He came to me in the shower telling me we needed to go to the hospital, so I hurried out and off we went. They had a difficult time stopping the bleeding, but it still didn't take too long at the ER. Unfortunately, it did take long enough that I missed Michael's program. Thankfully my awesome neighbor's stepped in and picked Michael up and took him. We got out in time to get Audrey to her game. What an evening.
So Saturday Mom, Audrey and I went to go find Audrey a dress for her spring dance. She wears between a size 0 and a 4 depending on the dress, so she looked good in everything she tried on. Oh to be that young and skinny again....they just have no idea! Anyway, it was good three generation bonding time and we found a great dress. We spent the evening hanging out with Jeff's brother James and his wife Regina, Mom and Dad and our neighbor's Tony and Michelle. It was a really fun night before I made the mistake of debating politics with my Dad and a little with my Mom. I should have known better.
My Mom has always been a VERY liberal Democrat and my Dad has been middle of the road, but alot of the time leaning more toward conservatism. My Mom was utterly destroyed when I expressed my more conservative views when I was younger. I don't think either of my parents ever thought my views were my own, they thought that my X husband had controlled me into those beliefs. I will say that one of the best things Rich did for me was to challenge my beliefs. When he would ask me questions about why I believed certain things, the only answer I could come up with was that my parents believed it. Once I began thinking of things for myself, there were alot of things I felt differently about than I had once thought. Of course, life experience helps with that alot as well.
Now though, what irritates me most is that people are so one side or the other. I count myself a conservative and I won't budge on something like abortion, but that is a very personal thing to me. I lost a baby once and it was a HORRIBLE experience for me. I will say no more on the subject except that our personal experiences do tend to color who we are politically. I am very supportive of gay rights, but am not for too much gun control. I am all over the place, and that is ok. What I get so upset about is the fact that some people just follow whatever the Democrats say (and some people Republicans). I am a firm believer that the picture has never been and never will be completely black and white. You have to pay attention to all those politicians. There are good ones and bad ones on both sides.
Anyway, I tried to state some facts and my Dad just ran all over me. Yelled at me right in front of my family and friends. I almost cried. It was embarrassing. He wouldn't even let me have an opinion. He apologized later, but it still stung. I guess I will forever be their kid. I love my parent's dearly, and I understand that no one is perfect. After that though (and a shot of tequila), the night was alot of fun. I am so thankful to have such great family and friends to share my time with.
My car is in getting the brakes fixed now, I will be relieved when it is fixed. I've been driving around for weeks with it making this awful noise. I knew it was going to be expensive and had to wait until we had the money. Woo hoo, no more grinding!
Anyway...I guess that's it for now....signing off:).
The three of us slept until 9:30am this morning....oh it was really nice. I guess we needed it. We did stay up quite late on Saturday night and my parent's being in town is always tiring. They came in to town to watch Michael's baseball tournament, which was subsequently cancelled due to the much needed rain. My parents arrived Friday just in time to see Michael in his hoedown at school. Mom arrived just in time to be invited out for a line dance, what fun! That night I made venison chili and we hung out and enjoyed eachother's company. Saturday I spent really worried about Jeff who was still in ALOT of pain. We changed his bandage and it was a big ordeal. Fortunately he got some pain meds in him and it helped some. My sister the nurse also told us some other ways he could take the meds to get the most out of them. He was a little better yesterday, but it sure is slow going on this healing thing.
I guess I should explain to those of you who don't know what happened. Last Tuesday was going to be a super busy day for us. Or evening really. Michael had a program at his school at 6:30pm and Audrey had her first softball game at 7:30pm, but had to be there at 7. I had to run out to Academy to get Audrey new cleats and socks and a mouth guard and I got back home around 5pm. I jumped in the shower as Jeff was working on getting dinner ready so we could eat before we all headed out. Jeff was using a mandolin slicer to slice some potatoes and I guess got in too much of a hurry. He wasn't using the guide he was supposed to use to keep this kind of accident from happening. His hand slipped and instead of slicing a potato, he sliced off a big hunk of his thumb. He came to me in the shower telling me we needed to go to the hospital, so I hurried out and off we went. They had a difficult time stopping the bleeding, but it still didn't take too long at the ER. Unfortunately, it did take long enough that I missed Michael's program. Thankfully my awesome neighbor's stepped in and picked Michael up and took him. We got out in time to get Audrey to her game. What an evening.
So Saturday Mom, Audrey and I went to go find Audrey a dress for her spring dance. She wears between a size 0 and a 4 depending on the dress, so she looked good in everything she tried on. Oh to be that young and skinny again....they just have no idea! Anyway, it was good three generation bonding time and we found a great dress. We spent the evening hanging out with Jeff's brother James and his wife Regina, Mom and Dad and our neighbor's Tony and Michelle. It was a really fun night before I made the mistake of debating politics with my Dad and a little with my Mom. I should have known better.
My Mom has always been a VERY liberal Democrat and my Dad has been middle of the road, but alot of the time leaning more toward conservatism. My Mom was utterly destroyed when I expressed my more conservative views when I was younger. I don't think either of my parents ever thought my views were my own, they thought that my X husband had controlled me into those beliefs. I will say that one of the best things Rich did for me was to challenge my beliefs. When he would ask me questions about why I believed certain things, the only answer I could come up with was that my parents believed it. Once I began thinking of things for myself, there were alot of things I felt differently about than I had once thought. Of course, life experience helps with that alot as well.
Now though, what irritates me most is that people are so one side or the other. I count myself a conservative and I won't budge on something like abortion, but that is a very personal thing to me. I lost a baby once and it was a HORRIBLE experience for me. I will say no more on the subject except that our personal experiences do tend to color who we are politically. I am very supportive of gay rights, but am not for too much gun control. I am all over the place, and that is ok. What I get so upset about is the fact that some people just follow whatever the Democrats say (and some people Republicans). I am a firm believer that the picture has never been and never will be completely black and white. You have to pay attention to all those politicians. There are good ones and bad ones on both sides.
Anyway, I tried to state some facts and my Dad just ran all over me. Yelled at me right in front of my family and friends. I almost cried. It was embarrassing. He wouldn't even let me have an opinion. He apologized later, but it still stung. I guess I will forever be their kid. I love my parent's dearly, and I understand that no one is perfect. After that though (and a shot of tequila), the night was alot of fun. I am so thankful to have such great family and friends to share my time with.
My car is in getting the brakes fixed now, I will be relieved when it is fixed. I've been driving around for weeks with it making this awful noise. I knew it was going to be expensive and had to wait until we had the money. Woo hoo, no more grinding!
Anyway...I guess that's it for now....signing off:).
Monday, March 9, 2009
I Pimped My Campsite:)
Soooo, the pictures didn't turn out very well since my camera isn't very good at taking night pictures, but it really looked neat. You'll have to take my word for it. I have always loved Christmas lights. I always put WAY more than I need to on my tree because I enjoy the way they look. It just makes me happy. Many times when we have camped, we have seen people with lights up in the trees or on their shelter and this time I actually remembered to take some. It didn't take any time at all to hang them and then at night they just looked so neat. Jeff laughs at me because I am such a girl and little things like this make me smile ear to ear.
We had originally planned to go to a new state park that we had never been to. Colorado Bend. Then we found out that Jeffrey and Natalee had soccer games on Saturday, and with Colorado Bend being more than an hour away, we decided just to go down to McKinney Falls. Jeff and I camped there in January one weekend that we didn't have the kids. It's a really neat place. And apparently all of Austin knows this too. I drove down on Thursday afternoon after seeing Michael get safely home (that a whole other story). When I got there the attendant told me that they were booked up for the weekend. We could take our chances and stay Thursday night and hope someone cancelled, but that was just not worth it. So, off I went on the tollway to Georgetown to our old faithful campground at Jim Hogg Park. Surprisingly, we got a great campsite and no one even camped remotely near us. We expected that on Friday night there would be tons of people coming in to camp since the weather was so nice, but that didn't happen. Audrey and her friend Katie were REALLY disappointed that there were no cute boys...lol. We had a great time though.
Jeff is really tense right now. We have done really well and have been able to completely support ourselves since we lost our jobs (with the help of unemployment of course), but things are beginning to look bleak. I don't know if we can afford to pay our mortgage this month. I think we can swing everything else. We really debated paying it last month with all this so called mortgage help people are supposed to be getting, but we really don't want to screw up our credit that way. This month though, we may have no choice.
We did call our mortgage company in January and let them know what was going on, and please excuse me if I've already told this story. Our mortgage company is Countrywide. I repeat, Countrywide. They have been bailed out by the government already. We wanted to know if they had any programs for people like us, such as maybe deferring a payment to the end of the term or something like that. You know what they told us? No. There was no help for us at all. WTF! I'm sorry, I don't usually use that kind of language, but are you freaking serious? The government bails your butt out because you screwed up, and here we are honest hard working people who have fallen on hard times and YOU CAN'T HELP?
Jeff and I are not in the group of people who bought more house than they could afford. Yes, we do have a huge house, but we did not pay a fortune for it. The bank qualified us for ALOT more than we spent. We knew what we could afford and we found an amazing deal. I bet if we quit paying our mortgage they will find some way to help us, but as per usual, big business just doesn't care about the little guy. Obama ain't gonna pay our mortgage as some people seem to think he will. Sigh. I am just riding the wave and watching to see what will happen next. I hope it gets better soon.
I have a job for the summer that pays well and I really hope that Jeff can find something soon. He's going nuts with feeling like he isn't providing. He's doing everything he can, but it just isn't happening. Ohhhh to find him a nice Monday through Friday job with regular hours. Is that too much to ask? Ya'll keep your eyes peeled and let me know if you hear of anything. We'll take all the help we can get.
On a quick sidenote...our cats are so entertaining. Right now they are laying on the dining room table, the two of them laying exactly opposite of eachother making the shape of a heart. Heads bowed together and feet touching. SOOOO cute!
We had originally planned to go to a new state park that we had never been to. Colorado Bend. Then we found out that Jeffrey and Natalee had soccer games on Saturday, and with Colorado Bend being more than an hour away, we decided just to go down to McKinney Falls. Jeff and I camped there in January one weekend that we didn't have the kids. It's a really neat place. And apparently all of Austin knows this too. I drove down on Thursday afternoon after seeing Michael get safely home (that a whole other story). When I got there the attendant told me that they were booked up for the weekend. We could take our chances and stay Thursday night and hope someone cancelled, but that was just not worth it. So, off I went on the tollway to Georgetown to our old faithful campground at Jim Hogg Park. Surprisingly, we got a great campsite and no one even camped remotely near us. We expected that on Friday night there would be tons of people coming in to camp since the weather was so nice, but that didn't happen. Audrey and her friend Katie were REALLY disappointed that there were no cute boys...lol. We had a great time though.
Jeff is really tense right now. We have done really well and have been able to completely support ourselves since we lost our jobs (with the help of unemployment of course), but things are beginning to look bleak. I don't know if we can afford to pay our mortgage this month. I think we can swing everything else. We really debated paying it last month with all this so called mortgage help people are supposed to be getting, but we really don't want to screw up our credit that way. This month though, we may have no choice.
We did call our mortgage company in January and let them know what was going on, and please excuse me if I've already told this story. Our mortgage company is Countrywide. I repeat, Countrywide. They have been bailed out by the government already. We wanted to know if they had any programs for people like us, such as maybe deferring a payment to the end of the term or something like that. You know what they told us? No. There was no help for us at all. WTF! I'm sorry, I don't usually use that kind of language, but are you freaking serious? The government bails your butt out because you screwed up, and here we are honest hard working people who have fallen on hard times and YOU CAN'T HELP?
Jeff and I are not in the group of people who bought more house than they could afford. Yes, we do have a huge house, but we did not pay a fortune for it. The bank qualified us for ALOT more than we spent. We knew what we could afford and we found an amazing deal. I bet if we quit paying our mortgage they will find some way to help us, but as per usual, big business just doesn't care about the little guy. Obama ain't gonna pay our mortgage as some people seem to think he will. Sigh. I am just riding the wave and watching to see what will happen next. I hope it gets better soon.
I have a job for the summer that pays well and I really hope that Jeff can find something soon. He's going nuts with feeling like he isn't providing. He's doing everything he can, but it just isn't happening. Ohhhh to find him a nice Monday through Friday job with regular hours. Is that too much to ask? Ya'll keep your eyes peeled and let me know if you hear of anything. We'll take all the help we can get.
On a quick sidenote...our cats are so entertaining. Right now they are laying on the dining room table, the two of them laying exactly opposite of eachother making the shape of a heart. Heads bowed together and feet touching. SOOOO cute!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
No News is Well....No News
Ugh, stealing Internet from your neighbors can be such a drag! LOL! Sometimes we just have days at a time where we just cannot get online at home. So, today i resorted to coming to a little tea shop in Round Rock to sit and get Internet access and drink Earl Grey. Ok, so that's not so bad at all!
On the job front, no news. Jeff turned Mesa Rosa down because not only was it a HUGE paycut, but they wanted him to work a 6 day week. Which is ridiculous. He has an interview tomorrow with someone else, a second interview, so we'll see. I had an interview yesterday, but when I got home Audrey scraped something off one of my teeth which, if it was in my teeth during the interview, I'm sure did me no good. How embarrassing!
Last weekend was of course filled with baseball. Three miserable games on Saturday and one on Sunday. They won all three on Saturday which was the only fun part about it. It was cold and the wind kept gusting dirt in our faces. I couldn't wait to get into the shower when I got home. Of course this weekend it is supposed to be beautiful. No baseball. But hey, we're going camping and for once it won't be cold!
I started Weight Watchers in earnest last Thursday and as of today I have lost 11 pounds! Over the last few years I have tried many things to lose weight, but I've never gotten farther than maybe six pounds, so 11, that is huge! I have to say, Weight Watchers really works and I am excited since I have a whole closet full of clothes I want to get back into. I've got a long way to go, but at least I am on my way. Skinny jeans, here I come:).
Ok, so I guess that's about it for now. Hopefully I will be able to get online more often...or maybe I'll just have to get up here to this cute little place for tea. Friar Tucks Pantry in downtown RR, next to the Library. Amy, they even have a little children's area, so maybe we should meet here for a pot of tea sometime soon.
On the job front, no news. Jeff turned Mesa Rosa down because not only was it a HUGE paycut, but they wanted him to work a 6 day week. Which is ridiculous. He has an interview tomorrow with someone else, a second interview, so we'll see. I had an interview yesterday, but when I got home Audrey scraped something off one of my teeth which, if it was in my teeth during the interview, I'm sure did me no good. How embarrassing!
Last weekend was of course filled with baseball. Three miserable games on Saturday and one on Sunday. They won all three on Saturday which was the only fun part about it. It was cold and the wind kept gusting dirt in our faces. I couldn't wait to get into the shower when I got home. Of course this weekend it is supposed to be beautiful. No baseball. But hey, we're going camping and for once it won't be cold!
I started Weight Watchers in earnest last Thursday and as of today I have lost 11 pounds! Over the last few years I have tried many things to lose weight, but I've never gotten farther than maybe six pounds, so 11, that is huge! I have to say, Weight Watchers really works and I am excited since I have a whole closet full of clothes I want to get back into. I've got a long way to go, but at least I am on my way. Skinny jeans, here I come:).
Ok, so I guess that's about it for now. Hopefully I will be able to get online more often...or maybe I'll just have to get up here to this cute little place for tea. Friar Tucks Pantry in downtown RR, next to the Library. Amy, they even have a little children's area, so maybe we should meet here for a pot of tea sometime soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
