Why am I wearing full length boots, even with my pajamas on?
Answer: BECAUSE THERE ARE TWO MICE IN MY HOUSE!
AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
The End.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
In Honor Of Sunday....
Last Friday we had Hal's sister Jayne's family over for dinner and to hang out for a while. We had a great time with them.
Jayne didn't quite believe that there was not one good family photo that didn't have either Austin looking mad or someone else doing the wrong thing. So, I showed her the photos to prove that I was right. (Sometimes I like proving that I'm right, but not necessarily in this case.)
After looking through all 151 images, she pretty much had to agree with me.
After she laughed a while at our expense.
But, to redeem herself, she came up with a pretty good title for this next photo. From now on, it will be referred to as "Lot's Wife".
Jayne didn't quite believe that there was not one good family photo that didn't have either Austin looking mad or someone else doing the wrong thing. So, I showed her the photos to prove that I was right. (Sometimes I like proving that I'm right, but not necessarily in this case.)
After looking through all 151 images, she pretty much had to agree with me.
After she laughed a while at our expense.
But, to redeem herself, she came up with a pretty good title for this next photo. From now on, it will be referred to as "Lot's Wife".
Friday, September 17, 2010
Cosmic Payback
Okay, so the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. At least not in my family (in some ways, anyway - and usually it's not the good ways.)
We had some family photos taken on Wednesday, which was actually the night after I had set my last blog post to publish later in the week. The reason I did this is because I usually can't ever get around to Favorite Photo Friday on a Friday and if I have a photo earlier in the week and I try to save it, I usually forget to post it the next Friday. (So basically what I am trying to say is that these were taken AFTER I posted the photo of me from our family reunion. I had no idea it would turn out to be so ironic.)
So, we were scheduled to do photos and it was difficult to find a time that worked with every ones schedules, including cute Katie, my friend who was gracious enough to take these for us.
I wanted a shot of our family in a cornfield, which reminds me of my childhood in Nebraska.. Unfortunately, it didn't really work out because of the light at that time of day. The girls had a volleyball game later, so we were supposed to be done by 6:00 and we didn't get started until about 5:20 because Hal was running late/forgot (or maybe both). And, as usual, everyone was pretty GRUMPY and mad at ME because they hate having photos taken. It's hard, even for me, to look happy when you are ready to thump on a few people who are in the picture with you.
And then there's Austin. He has been TERRIBLE at looking at the camera lately anyway. He either looks away or closes his eyes. How do you explain to a first grader that if you don't cooperate THIS time, there will have to be a NEXT time. And it won't be any more pleasant either. In fact, probably less so.
Some of these are pretty great shots, I just don't think they are ready to be hung on our living room wall, as I had hoped. The reason we had these taken is because my mother-in-law wanted new photos of all her kids and their families in specific frames that she gave us. I know I can deal with it, but somehow I don't think she'll be so pleased at what she's going to end up with.
What do you think? (And again, feel free to click on any photo to make it bigger.)
We had some family photos taken on Wednesday, which was actually the night after I had set my last blog post to publish later in the week. The reason I did this is because I usually can't ever get around to Favorite Photo Friday on a Friday and if I have a photo earlier in the week and I try to save it, I usually forget to post it the next Friday. (So basically what I am trying to say is that these were taken AFTER I posted the photo of me from our family reunion. I had no idea it would turn out to be so ironic.)
So, we were scheduled to do photos and it was difficult to find a time that worked with every ones schedules, including cute Katie, my friend who was gracious enough to take these for us.
I wanted a shot of our family in a cornfield, which reminds me of my childhood in Nebraska.. Unfortunately, it didn't really work out because of the light at that time of day. The girls had a volleyball game later, so we were supposed to be done by 6:00 and we didn't get started until about 5:20 because Hal was running late/forgot (or maybe both). And, as usual, everyone was pretty GRUMPY and mad at ME because they hate having photos taken. It's hard, even for me, to look happy when you are ready to thump on a few people who are in the picture with you.
And then there's Austin. He has been TERRIBLE at looking at the camera lately anyway. He either looks away or closes his eyes. How do you explain to a first grader that if you don't cooperate THIS time, there will have to be a NEXT time. And it won't be any more pleasant either. In fact, probably less so.
Some of these are pretty great shots, I just don't think they are ready to be hung on our living room wall, as I had hoped. The reason we had these taken is because my mother-in-law wanted new photos of all her kids and their families in specific frames that she gave us. I know I can deal with it, but somehow I don't think she'll be so pleased at what she's going to end up with.
What do you think? (And again, feel free to click on any photo to make it bigger.)
Ally held herself in check until the very end, but Morgan seemed to hold it all together pretty well on camera. Inside, I was FUMING!
Now don't you feel better about your own family?
Favorite Photo Friday!
Where's Waldo?
See if you can pick me out in this photo. Click on it to make it bigger if you need to.
This is from a family reunion in the late 70s, with all the relatives on my dad's side. (Except for my brother Russ, who I can only guess must have been the one taking the photo. That's the only explanation I can think of for him not being in it. He would have been too young to be doing anything else important.)
I found this photo a while ago and was always going to post it here, but just didn't get around to it. It is photographic proof that I have always had the same personality, even when I was a kid.
See if you can pick me out in this photo. Click on it to make it bigger if you need to.
This is from a family reunion in the late 70s, with all the relatives on my dad's side. (Except for my brother Russ, who I can only guess must have been the one taking the photo. That's the only explanation I can think of for him not being in it. He would have been too young to be doing anything else important.)
I found this photo a while ago and was always going to post it here, but just didn't get around to it. It is photographic proof that I have always had the same personality, even when I was a kid.
(Yep, that's me. Far right, second from the bottom. The one with the attitude.)
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Can You Keep A Secret?
I'M GOING TO ITALY!!!
Yes, it's true.
Off and on over the years my mom has watched my kids as I've gone out of town for different things. She's made me promise that when my youngest kid was in school all day that I'd go on a trip with her. Well, he's in 1st grade and we are going on a trip to Italy for 8 days. (10 if you count travel time.) I've never been on an actual organized tour like this before. It is a relief to have someone else worry about all the logistics. A big relief, actually. Especially for a country where I don't speak the language AT ALL, except for a couple of words. (Last time I was there I kept accidentally saying "gracias" instead of "grazie". (I actually don't speak Spanish either.)
We leave in about 2 weeks. I am so excited!
My mom and I are quite opposite in a lot of ways so it should be "interesting". I'm sure I'll have lots to talk about (vent) when I get back. She most likely will too, but since she doesn't have a blog, or even a computer for that matter, I can write whatever I want for now.
Here's a little taste of what I'll be dealing with. We went to the meeting for our tour group last night. One of the tour guides is Keri Evans, the wife of Richard Paul Evans, and it was at her house (which is VERY beautiful, I loved it). The other guide is Alicia Richmond from Chic on a Shoestring and Good Things Utah. I've already warned Keri about my mom's freakish obsession. Every little town they talked about that we are going to, my mom kept asking "Is that one of the towns they filmed New Moon in?"
Yes, I can now say "embarrassing" in both English AND Italian.
(Keri isn't much of a Twilight fan either. I'm not sure about Alicia. I think you know by now how I feel about the whole thing.)
Oh, here's another funny, somewhat related story:
Years ago my brother was married to a fun, though somewhat "blond" girl who was a travel agent. I loved having her as a sister-in-law and was quite sad when they divorced, though they did not seem to be the best match for each other.
One day she was booking a trip to France for some women. The front of the brochure had "Oui, oui, oui!" printed all over it. My sister-in-law, who didn't know a bit of French, was reading the brochure to the women. She looked at the front and said, "Oooo-eeeee, oooo-eeee, oooo-eeee. I don't know why that's there, just ignore that part."
I don't think I'll ever let her live that down!
We actually traveled to London and Paris together (which we tried to keep a secret from my brother because they were divorced by then) and had a ball. (We also took her roommate, and I can tell you very definitely that it's easier to travel as two people than with three.)
I was the designated translator in Paris and did pretty well. My proudest moment was when I asked a policeman for directions and he actually understood what I was asking with no problems and I also actually understood what he told us to do and got us to the Metro station safely.
We did have a scary moment on one of the RER trains with a creepy guy about our age who was doing things he shouldn't have been doing to himself and trying to get us to look by hitting our legs with his knee. Ick. I thought he kept accidentally bumping into me so I didn't even look at him because I didn't want to embarrass him. Luckily right at the time we realized what was going on, I jumped up and said that we were on the wrong train so we got off as quickly as we could. One of the girls said "That was quick thinking." And I said. "We really were on the wrong train."
Another fun thing was meeting a Chinese guy at Versailles. Since we didn't know Chinese and he didn't know English, he and I conversed back and forth in French. It was kind of surreal. (I LOVED Versailles. I need to go back with Hal someday. He would just love the gardens.)
One of these days I need to dig out the old photos from that trip. That's when I saw Winged Victory, and for the first time understood how people can feel so emotional about beautiful art.
Okay, so what does any of that have to do with my trip to Italy? Not much, but here's the small similarity:
Yesterday, in the car on the way to the meeting for our trip, my mom was reading the welcome letter that they sent us with our itinerary, etc. As she was reading, she kept saying "See-o."
"See-o?" I started asking. "What are you talking about?"
Finally I realized that she meant "Ciao." She had never seen it in print before. After I corrected her she said she hadn't realized it was Italian.
"Um, yeah mom. It is."
The End
Yes, it's true.
Off and on over the years my mom has watched my kids as I've gone out of town for different things. She's made me promise that when my youngest kid was in school all day that I'd go on a trip with her. Well, he's in 1st grade and we are going on a trip to Italy for 8 days. (10 if you count travel time.) I've never been on an actual organized tour like this before. It is a relief to have someone else worry about all the logistics. A big relief, actually. Especially for a country where I don't speak the language AT ALL, except for a couple of words. (Last time I was there I kept accidentally saying "gracias" instead of "grazie". (I actually don't speak Spanish either.)
We leave in about 2 weeks. I am so excited!
My mom and I are quite opposite in a lot of ways so it should be "interesting". I'm sure I'll have lots to talk about (vent) when I get back. She most likely will too, but since she doesn't have a blog, or even a computer for that matter, I can write whatever I want for now.
Here's a little taste of what I'll be dealing with. We went to the meeting for our tour group last night. One of the tour guides is Keri Evans, the wife of Richard Paul Evans, and it was at her house (which is VERY beautiful, I loved it). The other guide is Alicia Richmond from Chic on a Shoestring and Good Things Utah. I've already warned Keri about my mom's freakish obsession. Every little town they talked about that we are going to, my mom kept asking "Is that one of the towns they filmed New Moon in?"
Yes, I can now say "embarrassing" in both English AND Italian.
(Keri isn't much of a Twilight fan either. I'm not sure about Alicia. I think you know by now how I feel about the whole thing.)
Oh, here's another funny, somewhat related story:
Years ago my brother was married to a fun, though somewhat "blond" girl who was a travel agent. I loved having her as a sister-in-law and was quite sad when they divorced, though they did not seem to be the best match for each other.
One day she was booking a trip to France for some women. The front of the brochure had "Oui, oui, oui!" printed all over it. My sister-in-law, who didn't know a bit of French, was reading the brochure to the women. She looked at the front and said, "Oooo-eeeee, oooo-eeee, oooo-eeee. I don't know why that's there, just ignore that part."
I don't think I'll ever let her live that down!
We actually traveled to London and Paris together (which we tried to keep a secret from my brother because they were divorced by then) and had a ball. (We also took her roommate, and I can tell you very definitely that it's easier to travel as two people than with three.)
I was the designated translator in Paris and did pretty well. My proudest moment was when I asked a policeman for directions and he actually understood what I was asking with no problems and I also actually understood what he told us to do and got us to the Metro station safely.
We did have a scary moment on one of the RER trains with a creepy guy about our age who was doing things he shouldn't have been doing to himself and trying to get us to look by hitting our legs with his knee. Ick. I thought he kept accidentally bumping into me so I didn't even look at him because I didn't want to embarrass him. Luckily right at the time we realized what was going on, I jumped up and said that we were on the wrong train so we got off as quickly as we could. One of the girls said "That was quick thinking." And I said. "We really were on the wrong train."
Another fun thing was meeting a Chinese guy at Versailles. Since we didn't know Chinese and he didn't know English, he and I conversed back and forth in French. It was kind of surreal. (I LOVED Versailles. I need to go back with Hal someday. He would just love the gardens.)
One of these days I need to dig out the old photos from that trip. That's when I saw Winged Victory, and for the first time understood how people can feel so emotional about beautiful art.
Okay, so what does any of that have to do with my trip to Italy? Not much, but here's the small similarity:
Yesterday, in the car on the way to the meeting for our trip, my mom was reading the welcome letter that they sent us with our itinerary, etc. As she was reading, she kept saying "See-o."
"See-o?" I started asking. "What are you talking about?"
Finally I realized that she meant "Ciao." She had never seen it in print before. After I corrected her she said she hadn't realized it was Italian.
"Um, yeah mom. It is."
The End
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
An Un-Quotable Quote
I took the kids to the fair last month. The weather was not as hot as it usually is in August, it was really mild. I kept telling the kids that in all the years I've gone to the fair - and there are a lot of them, I don't remember any other day that nice.
They each rode a ride and we shared "fair food", including the Texas Tornado drink that cost $6.00 and was mostly ice and fruit rinds, but still tasted really good.
Anyway, Hal is not much of a fan of the fair, or more accurately some of the people who go to the fair. (To be honest, I am more amused than disgusted. I like to watch people, but only if I'm pretty sure they don't know I'm observing them.)
Morgan, in the spirit of the fair, was wearing her new bright yellow Sponge Bob t-shirt that says "Nerd is the Word" (we got it on clearance for $4.00). I'm not a Sponge Bob fan - to be fair, I've never actually sat down and watched an episode of it, so maybe I shouldn't judge something I've never seen.
Anyway, Hal called my phone to see where we were. We were in the big grassy area where they were selling food. He was across the way and immediately spotted Morgan in her bright yellow t-shirt. She had answered the phone because I was busy buying a funnel cake for us to share. Morgan started to laugh, so when she hung up I asked her what was so funny. She said he had said, "Oh there you are, I can see you over there in your white trash t-shirt." We had to try and explain to Austin what this meant, because he got pretty upset.
Apparently we didn't do a good job explaining. That night when I tucked Austin in I asked him what the best part of his day was. I can't remember what he said, but he said the worst part of his day was "when dad called Morgan a white trash can".
They each rode a ride and we shared "fair food", including the Texas Tornado drink that cost $6.00 and was mostly ice and fruit rinds, but still tasted really good.
Anyway, Hal is not much of a fan of the fair, or more accurately some of the people who go to the fair. (To be honest, I am more amused than disgusted. I like to watch people, but only if I'm pretty sure they don't know I'm observing them.)
Morgan, in the spirit of the fair, was wearing her new bright yellow Sponge Bob t-shirt that says "Nerd is the Word" (we got it on clearance for $4.00). I'm not a Sponge Bob fan - to be fair, I've never actually sat down and watched an episode of it, so maybe I shouldn't judge something I've never seen.
Anyway, Hal called my phone to see where we were. We were in the big grassy area where they were selling food. He was across the way and immediately spotted Morgan in her bright yellow t-shirt. She had answered the phone because I was busy buying a funnel cake for us to share. Morgan started to laugh, so when she hung up I asked her what was so funny. She said he had said, "Oh there you are, I can see you over there in your white trash t-shirt." We had to try and explain to Austin what this meant, because he got pretty upset.
Apparently we didn't do a good job explaining. That night when I tucked Austin in I asked him what the best part of his day was. I can't remember what he said, but he said the worst part of his day was "when dad called Morgan a white trash can".
An Unfortunate Food Incident (or two)
One night, when Hal was going to school in Texas, I came home from a LONG day at work. It was about a half hour drive from my work and Hal's school (Baylor University) to our house. All I wanted was a little comfort food.
Of course we were too poor to eat out, so I spent a LONG night in the kitchen making a most delicious lasagna (my favorite). We ate a little of it and I went to bed exhausted.
All night I kept thinking of having lasagna for breakfast, and all the other days of really yummy leftovers.
The next morning I woke up and realized I had left the whole pan of lasagna out on the counter overnight. I can still remember how distraught I felt. I kept thinking of all the ways I could save it, but with meat in it I knew it just wasn't safe.
It just killed me to throw it away!
I have the tendency to get food poisoning even if something is "probably" safe.
(It's happened quite a bit at my mother-in-law's. Once when I was pregnant we had hamburgers there. I saw her grab the buns when she still had raw meat on her hands from forming the patties out of raw ground beef. I skipped the burgers and STILL ended up with food poisoning. Hal had to pull the car over on the way home so I could throw up. Not fun.)
Of course we were too poor to eat out, so I spent a LONG night in the kitchen making a most delicious lasagna (my favorite). We ate a little of it and I went to bed exhausted.
All night I kept thinking of having lasagna for breakfast, and all the other days of really yummy leftovers.
The next morning I woke up and realized I had left the whole pan of lasagna out on the counter overnight. I can still remember how distraught I felt. I kept thinking of all the ways I could save it, but with meat in it I knew it just wasn't safe.
It just killed me to throw it away!
I have the tendency to get food poisoning even if something is "probably" safe.
(It's happened quite a bit at my mother-in-law's. Once when I was pregnant we had hamburgers there. I saw her grab the buns when she still had raw meat on her hands from forming the patties out of raw ground beef. I skipped the burgers and STILL ended up with food poisoning. Hal had to pull the car over on the way home so I could throw up. Not fun.)
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