Not Much to Report

Not much new to report, other than the fact that we'll be getting both Christmas Eve and Christmas day off this year, which means a lovely four-day weekend! Woo hoo! Unfortunately, I'll be spending it running back and forth between Destiny's birthday party (she's four tomorrow, but the party isn't until Sunday afternoon), Dad's house, Rachel's family's dinner, etc. Still, it will be nice to spend time with family - whether biological or not.

Jamie missed school yesterday due to a slight cold, but he was better today and able to go back to class. I also read to Jamie's class this morning. I absolutely love reading to the kids, though I noticed today that 4th graders aren't as easily entertained as 2nd graders. I suppose their getting to the age where having an adult read to them isn't "cool" anymore.

Speaking of school, Jamie is currently failing his reading subject, but has A's and B's in most everything else. Looks like a big chunk of my school money in January will be going toward getting Jamie a private tutor at Sylvan Learning Center. He goes to tutoring at school, but only for writing. The school only lets each kid do tutoring in so many subjects. Plus, he's already in remedial reading anyway. There isn't much more that they can (or will) do for him, other than make him repeat fourth grade.

So, between his soccer, Sylvan, AWANA at church, etc., looks like I'm going to wind up more tired than ever next semester. He's worth it, but it's very frustrating to me. I know he's smart, he's got a vocabulary akin to most high schoolers, for pete's sake! Why is reading so difficult for him? Why is it so hard for him to sit down and read a passage, then figure out the stinkin' main idea? He brought home a reading passage assignment the other day - he'd gotten a 55 on it. I'm ready to tear my hair out! And I'm tempted to ground him until he's 18, but I know that won't solve whatever the problem is. Hopefully, the teachers at Sylvan are as good as they claim to be. I suspect they're going to have to start all over with him and start at the very basics of reading. Something isn't computing. The hardest thing for me right now is understanding WHY he has so much trouble with it. I'm trying very hard to understand, but I'm finding it difficult. I have to keep reminding myself that he isn't me, and I'm good at things he isn't (reading) and he's good at things I'm not (math). I just ask that everybody pray for us, send good kharma our way, etc. while we try to figure out what's going on, and how to make him a better reader.

Updates on School, Jamie, etc.

Concerning Jamie - Still no new news to report. He goes back to the specialist on January 2, where they will most likely run more tests. For those of you who don't know, Jamie has been having severe stomach pain, vomiting, reflux, and all sorts of other gastrointestinal types of distress. The school nurse suggested I get him checked for an ulcer. So I took him to his pediatrician, who said he would rather have Jamie see a pediatric GI specialist. So, I tried to get him to see one in San Antonio, but they are all booked up through the end of the summer, and aren't even taking appointments anymore. So then I looked for one in Austin - same story. So, then I called one at the Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi, and they were able to see him on December 10. So we went, they took a lot of blood, asked a lot of questions, then asked us to come back in 3 weeks for blood results and to run more tests. What ever it takes to get my boy well.


In other news, school is finished! Yay! Here is a tally of the final papers and their results -

GOV 4903.50 (E-government)
Paper Topic: "Delivery of Services: How the Digital Divide is Undermining E-Government's Efficacy"
Pages: 12 - written in 3.5 hours, started writing 5 hours before the paper was due
Paper Grade: 100%
Course Final Grade: A

SOCI 4903.50 (Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism)
Paper Topic: "Women and Capitalism"
Pages: 5 - written in 1.5 hours, started writing 4 hours before the paper was due
Paper Grade: 100%
Course Final Grade: A

SOCI 3523.50 (Sociology of Cyberspace)
Paper Topic: "Sociological Impact of Cell Phones"
Pages: 5 - written in 2 hours, started writing 6 hours before the paper was due
Paper Grade: 100%
Course Final Grade: A

Okay, I'm done bragging now. It's time for us to go start putting up the Christmas tree.

This is Finals Week

That is why you haven't heard from me much in the past couple weeks - getting final papers done, finishing up huge assignments, and readying for finals week. You won't see much of me until after Thursday. Have a good week, y'all (and pray that I don't go insane from too much work and schooling!).

Also, pray for Jamie. He's having some medical issues. Today was spent driving 307 miles round trip to a specialist, only to be told to come back in three weeks for tests and the like. Today they took blood. He was so brave! No tears, no nothing (this is the first time he's had blood drawn - 5 vials!!! - and not cried!) Anyway. Pray for my little guy.

Love you all.

More NYC Pics

More Central Park Pictures:

Jamie playing at FAO Schwartz:

Shades of Tom Hanks a la "Big"

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Hagrid, life-sized and made out of Legos!

R2D2 and C3-PO

I Can Has Cheezburger

If you want to laugh, and look at cute/funny/sweet pictures of animals, go to www.icanhascheezburger.com. There, you can see pictures like this one...


moar funny pictures

Pee before you read it. Some of them might make you dribble if you don't.

A New York Minute

Saturday, November 17, Joel picked us up right on time at La Guardia. It's so good to see him after so long! Then we rode a bus and the subway, then walked a bunch and got back to his apartment. We basically dropped our stuff and headed back out again. We walked up 9th Avenue to Central Park, then cut across to the Met. I forgot to take my camera with me, so no pictures of Saturday's jaunt. I blame only having had one hour of sleep for my forgetfulness.

Sunday, we headed to the Museum of Natural History, where we saw a cool film in the planetarium about cosmic collisions, and Jamie got to explore to his heart's delight about space. Then we went over to the part of the museum which was featured in "Night at the Museum." He was really excited about our wanderings there, even if the pictures don't show it. I think he's entered that stage where cameras are the enemy.

You know what? I'm going to be lazy and merely show you what we did in NYC, instead of telling you.









More pictures and more details on the NYC portion of the trip, as well as a rundown on our Kentucky visit, later.

A New York State of Mind

Wow! In just a couple of days Jamie and I will be jetting off to NYC! Woo hoo! I can't wait to see my brother. I haven't seen him in a long, long time!

It has been nearly impossible to keep my mind on school and work this week. Just as a I start to research prices on equipment for my boss, or research homework at home, I get sidetracked and wind up surfing for things such as:

• Free and cheap things to do in NYC with your kids;
• Subway routes to and from La Guardia airport;
• Finding Joel's apartment on Google Earth; and
• Museum hours and info.

I was hoping the tree in Rockefeller Center would be decorated and lit when we got there, but according to the NYC websites I've seen, the tree lighting ceremony isn't until Nov. 28. Bummer! However, The Rink at Rockefeller Center is open, so maybe I can get some good pics of Jamie ice skating. I won't be ice skating, though. Don't think my foot can handle it yet.

The most important thing, though, is seeing Joel and Leah. I can't wait for them to see how much Jamie has grown. My brother, bless his heart, has even been researching online how to play Jamie's Avatar: The Last Airbender trading card game with him. Jamie will be thrilled, because I won't play it with him. I don't understand the rules, and frankly, I don't think Jamie does either. Each time I've attempted to play it with him in the past, what he says the rules are changes. I think once Joel figures out how to play it, he may be the one teaching Jamie how it's really supposed to be played. Can't wait to see you guys!

(And yes, to my Kentucky folks, I'm really looking forward to seeing you guys, too! Love you all great big bunches!)

Thanks, Strangeite!

I found this nifty little doo-dad on Strangeite's blog and hijacked it for myself. I like anything that implies I am, in any way, a genius.

Get a Cash Advance

New Recipe

Our poor little collective recipe blog looked so lonely, I just had to put a new recipe up. I added my cheater's recipe for homemade bean soup. You can check it out here.

I Could Make My Own MasterCard Commercial

Two tickets to see "The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D": $15.00

Small Popcorn and Super-Large Drink for us to share: $8.75

Embarrassing the crap out of Jamie by mouthing not only the lyrics to every song, but just about all the dialouge as well:

PRICELESS!

Lift Every Voice and Sing

Don't try to call me tomorrow night, as I won't be home. To belatedly celebrate my birthday, Rachel and I are going back out to the karaoke tavern I liked so much back in August. We've invited a ton of people, and told those people to bring a friend if they like, so there should be a whole bunch of people there (some of whom I won't know, but hey, who cares?). The goal of the evening is for there to be a grand time had by all. I mean, c'mon, with karaoke, a small dance floor, pool tables, food and spirits, there's gotta be something for everyone there, right?

Rachel's babysitter's 16 year old son, Alex, is going to stay the night and babysit the kids for us. He's a good kid. Jamie loves him to death. He told me once he wished Alex was his big brother. Jamie loves school holidays when he gets to go with Destiny to the babysitter's house, that way he can hang out with Alex and play video games, ride bikes, etc. So Jamie's really excited about tomorrow night, too. He can't wait to show Alex his Avatar: The Last Airbender plug-n-play video game, watch the new ATLA episode (which, he better remember to record for Mama!) and just hang out with Alex.

And in pursuit of our fun tomorrow night, yesterday Rachel called me at work and said, "You know the money you were going to use to pay your share for Alex to babysit? Well, tomorrow night's on me. You use that money and go get yourself a haircut. Consider it another birthday present." I've been complaining for a month now that I needed to go get a haircut, but just didn't have the money. Wasn't that nice of her? So, now I've got a sassy new haircut, and I was even able to find a cute new top on sale that was within my budget, so I have a new blouse to wear tomorrow night, too. Tomorrow night's going to be a LOT of fun!

Gratuitous Eye Candy

Just thought I'd post a pic of Jamie's Halloween costume I made this year. Well, not so much made as assembled, with some crafty bits thrown in. Anyone venture to guess who he is, and from what television show?

And here's an interesting shot from just before an early-morning soccer game:

Colbert "Realer than Brownback"

I think that would make a great campaign slogan for Colbert. "Colbert '08. Realer than Brownback". Read more about Colbert's presidential campaign here.

Just Call Me "Nerd Queen"

So, Tooz sent me this quiz to determine my nerdiousity. I knew I was a nerd... but I didn't quite realize I was SUCH a nerd! Wow. Who knew the chick who baredly passed basic chemistry would grow up to be a science geek (I blame it on my current job. I have to do all kinds of things I never thought I'd have to do/remember).

See? Here's how much of a nerd I am:




And, on another note, Happy Birthday to me today! I'm going to copy off Everett and declare that I am 29 for the third year in a row. Rachel took Jamie out shopping this weekend so he could buy me a present without me accidentally seeing what it was. That was very nice of her. Tonight, we're going to have a sit down family meal, and my birthday cake will be cheese cake with strawberries on top. Yummmmmmm! I'll be thinking of you all while I'm scarfing that creamy cheese cake down...NOT!

Big hugs and kisses to you all!

One Foot, Two Foot, Red Foot, Boo-boo foot

So, I went to the doctor yesterday. Basically, they don't know any more what's wrong with it than I do. It could be a sprain, it could be some other soft tissue injury, it could be a stress fracture. Stress fractures generally are so small they don't show up on x-rays until they've started healing. So, they told me to take pain meds, and follow the R.I.C.E. prescription - Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. I should have saved my money, as I was already doing all that. But I'm going to be a good girl and do what I'm told. I do NOT want to be limping around NYC and Kentucky in a little more than 4 weeks.

OUCH!

I have not been a happy camper the past several days. To start with, I've had a headache that has slipped back and forth over into migraine territory for about a week now. I've also been having some inexplicable pain in my left foot - basically ever since I started walking around the soccer fields while Jamie has soccer practice. There are four U6 (small) soccer fields and three U10 (medium sized) soccer fields in this area, plus a whole bunch of open space. I know by walking the perimeter I've got to be walking at least a mile, if not actually two miles. I'm trying to get in shape for walking all over New York City here in about 4.5 weeks.

Well, the pain really started escalating over the weekend, and yesterday, my whole foot swelled up so bad I had to take my shoe off, prop my foot up on the trashcan under my desk, and put an ice-pack on it while I was at work. My boss was talking to me about it, and said that it's probably either a sprain (at least) or a stress fracture (at worse). He runs a lot, used to do marathons, so he's well acquainted with all the different symptoms of foot problems. He told me to see a doctor about it soon, so it doesn't get worse. He also said that you don't have to be a super athlete to get stress fractures. He said any sort of activity one is particularly accustomed to yet, combined with the fact that a lot of females tend to have bone density problems (which I do), can equal a stress fracture. Lovely.

I was trying to see if it would go away, but when I got up today, my foot hurt even worse (it was throbbing) and it was swollen so bad I couldn't even get my durn tennis shoes on. I had to put on my cheap-plastic men's soccer sandals with the velcro strap across the width of the foot. So, it looks like sometime this week I'll be going to see a doctor about my foot. Whatever is wrong with it, it better be healed before I go to NYC! I do not intend to spend the four days I'll have with Joel and Leah sitting on my butt in an apartment with my foot elevated, that's for sure!

Tied Game, Baskin Robbins Best Friends, Cream of Soccer Team and Jack O'Lanterns

On Saturday, Jamie's soccer team tied 4-4 with their opponents. It was a thrilling, close game all the way up to the final whistle. Jamie did several body-blocks of shots, which made him the center of attention and earned him much praise from both his coach and his trainer. Of course, this had Jamie soaring on cloud nine. He likes it when Mom praises him, but it means so much more to him to have a male figure pay attention to him and praise him. And of course this wrenches my heart when I see it happening. I'll never be able to do or say anything to make it up to him that he doesn't have a dad. I can try to be both Mom and Dad until I'm run ragged and exhausted, but I will never be as good as him actually having a father. It breaks my heart each time I see it, and realize that there are some things I just can't do for him.

Anyway, back to the game Saturday. I didn"t get any really good shots as I was too busy screaming my lungs out. Sorry!

Saturday night, Jamie spent the night with his friend Remo to give me a chance to catch up on a paper that's due soon. They went to Baskin Robbins, played in the super-cool treehouse, and stayed up much of the night talking and playing video games (despite the fact that I told Jamie to be in bed by 10 p.m. Oh well, what can you do?)

I picked Jamie up this morning at 10 a.m., took him home, got him breakfast and changed into his soccer uniform, then we headed up the Interstate for his game today. Unfortunately, they got creamed. Beaten badly 1-7. All the kids just seemed pooped out today. Maybe they weren't used to Sunday games. Maybe they were still tired from the day before. Or maybe, like Jamie, many of them spent the night at friends' houses and stayed up way too late and ate too much sugar. Who knows. At least it was a learning experience for them. I've included a few pictures from the game, but nothing spectacular. I was too busy screaming again. I did want to show you guys how beautiful it was today, though. That super blue sky and all the clouds!

This is Jamie and a team-mate sitting on the sidelines with the coach. Jamie's holding his stomach; could it be he ate too much Baskin Robbins the night before?

See the gorgeous sky? Do you notice all the umbrellas? Texas is the only place I've ever been that they use umbrellas when the sun is shining but run out bareheaded into the rain.

Tonight, Rachel's new boyfriend Will surprised the kids by buying them pumpkins then helping them carve them. This was the first time Jamie had ever carved a pumpkin. Always in the past we just painted faces on them. So getting to make an honest-to-goodness Jack O'Lantern was a blast for him! Here's some pics...

Here's Will "helping" Destiny carve her pumpkin. She was a bit cranky tonight and did NOT want her picture taken.

Here's Jamie happily scooping the guts out of his pumpkin!

Here they both are with their finished product. In typical 3 year-old fashion, Destiny decided it was perfectly grand to have her picture taken this time. They both are excited because they have been promised by Will a chance to carve even bigger pumpkins they get to pick out of a pumpkin patch themselves.

Now that I'm done bragging about my kid, I guess I'll go to bed. Good night, all!

Sweeney Todd Movie Trailer!!!

Want to see the Sweeney Todd movie trailer?!?

Well....Duh!

An AP headline I spotted today reads "Lindsay Lohan Says Rehab Was `Sobering'." Duh!

I'll say it again... "DUH!" I should hope so! I would hope it sure wouldn't be 'intoxicating'. I couldn't help but snort with laughter when I read the headline. Hello? Do you people read what you write? Lindsay, honey, do you not think about things before you say them? Sheesh.

They Won Again!

Yay! Jamie's soccer team won again on Saturday, 5-4. It would have been 6-4, but one of the goals was scored just a couple of seconds after the ref blew his whistle, so it didn't count. Jamie played goalkeeper half the game and striker (forward/attacker) for part of it. After it was over, he was tuckered out and took a nap on the way home. He got a pretty good nap, too, as the game was in Spring Branch, TX, and it took us an hour to get there!

I don't have any good pictures, as momma was an idiot and forgot to check the batteries in the camera before we left. Four pictures later, the camera died, and the pictures I got weren't stellar. However, I do have a fantastic picture of Jamie making a save from the September 29th game that one of the moms gave me. When I get a chance, I'll scan it in at work and post it so you guys can see Jamie in action!

Oh, and Happy Birthday today, Everett!

Two-Year Anniversary and a Raise!

Yesterday was my two year anniversary with the company I work for. Doesn't seem like two years could have passed already, but they have. Anyway, we couldn't do my year-end review yesterday as we had too many projects up in the air (including one which has entailed me fighting with the FDA over certification of medical instruments, but I won't go into that giant headache). So, my review was today.

Out of that meeting, I got:

• a raise (yay)
• a pat on the back for the job I've been doing (double-yay)
• a promise to start reviewing me for raises more often than just 1x a year (triple-yay)
• recognition of my talents and smarts (quadruple-yay); and
• an admonishment that my desk is starting to look cluttered and messy and I need to do a better job of keeping it looking nice for when clients walk in.

Okay, so the last one wasn't so good; but hey, if that's the worst thing somebody can say about me, that I'm messy, I'll take it and run!

Out of that meeting also came a setting of a deadline for me to complete the webpage (before the end of 2007) and a promise that there will be set days allocated for my boss' wife to come in and do my normal duties for me while I work on nothing but the webpage. We also set a project deadline for me to complete gathering information and prepare a comparison report between communication companies (we aren't very happy with our current phone/ISP company). This too is contingent upon me having help in the office, as I pointed out (politely, of course) that I am only one person. Last but not least, I was given permission to order a better, more comfortable office chair, as the one I currently use kills my back.

All in all, today was a pretty good day!

They Won! They Won!

What an exciting soccer game today! Jamie's team played another team that is part of the same organization Jamie plays for. I think playing against a team they train with really fired the boys up! There were many tense, exciting moments, as the teams were pretty evenly matched, so they had to fight for every goal scored. Jamie's team won 3-2, but it was really close! Jamie played striker and goalkeeper (of course). He didn't make any goals as a striker, but he sure did block some amazing goals as keeper! I could really tell his goalkeeper training sessions on Fridays are starting to kick in. He was doing collapse dives, knee dives, chest catches and all kinds of stuff I don't even know the names of. He blocked at least 10 goals! He was amazing! Unfortunately, I was so keyed up and excited at the game that I forgot to take pictures of some of his most amazing saves. I promise to do better next weekend, though!

Anyway, here's a look at what pics I was able to take today...


This is the picture I took and will submit for Jamie's soccer club badge.



This is Jamie just after he nailed a ball on his goal-kick. (I was standing pretty far away when I took this one, so it's kind of grainy.)



Here he is waiting for the ball to come back to his side of the field. I personally think he thinks he's "so tough" when he's got those goalkeeper gloves on! (Again, I was pretty far away, so it's a bit grainy.)

Random funny quote of the weekend:
On Friday, Jamie had goalkeeper practice. Everyone was being very sluggish and not wanting to do the exercises the trainer was showing them. When no one was able to complete the exercise (throw the ball straight up in the air, collapse to your knees, pop back up again in time to catch the ball), the trainer, Joe, yelled out - "Ah, I see you all have the reflexes of cats.... Dead ones!" Now, before you think he's being mean, I should say that it was not said in at all a derogatory manner, but jokingly. All the kids laughed. He doesn't insult the kids, ever. This is the same coach who, when the kids are being particularly slow to do what they're told or totally ignore instructions, the worst thing he ever says is "You all are being a bunch of lemons!" Anyway, I thought it was funny, and so did the kids.

I'm Supposed to be Doing Homework...

But instead, I'm blogging. I about cried when I went to pick Jamie up at school today. It struck me particularly today how he looks soooo grown up already! Where is my little boy? He had AWANA tonight, so I allowed him to wear his AWANA polo to school. maybe that has something to do with it. But as we were walking out together, I looked over at him and just about fell over because of how grown up he's becoming. And then, of course, I had to fight back tears. I spent so many years wishing he would hurry up and grow up already, and now I just wish I could stop time. Just so you know what I'm talking about, here's a picture of Jamie in his AWANA outfit. Doesn't he look so grown up?!?

Oh, and Tooz, I LOVE the cartoons you sent me. They are toooooo true. They are now stuck to the fridge. Okay, well, enough procrastinating. Guess I'll go actually do homework now.

ATLA Review

I cannot do this incredible show justice. Let's just say it answered some questions left at the end of Season 2, but left many more hints and tantalizing tastes of what is coming in the rest of Season 3. If you want to read a professional review of the premiere, you can find links to several from Avatar Spirit.net, a fan site for the show (and yes, I am a member there). I have all of Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD, and will also be buying Season 3 as it is available on DVD. This show rocks!

Know Where I'll Be at 7:30 PM CST?

I'll be glued in front of my TV set. Avatar: The Last Airbender's season 3 premiere is tonight. I have no time for computers, visitors, or telephones tonight from 7:30 to 8 p.m. This show is one of the best shows ever! Yes, I'm obsessed with it. But it's a great show. You all should watch it and see!

Time Makes Change

I hadn't really realized how Jamie has changed over the past few soccer seasons, until I made this photo collage of his different soccer uniforms/years. He just gets more handsome all the time (and he's looking more grown up every day, too!)

Soccer Game Recap

Well, unfortunately, Jamie's team got beaten very badly today. However, it should serve as a learning experience for the boys. Fortunately, I WAS able to get some video, which I will post when I have time. What I CAN post now is this snazzy pic I took of him in his uniform after the game!

Friday Eye Candy!

This picture was taken on Tuesday at soccer practice. His first game is this Saturday, and I think he'll be playing goalkeeper. He had two spectacular saves in a scrimmage yesterday. I'll have video highlights of the game (hopefully) to post on here next week.

And on another note, Rachel and I are going to go Karaoke tonight! Jamie's spending the night at Remo's house. Woo hoo!! Mom gets a night out! The last time I went out was 5 months ago!

See What Jamie Did on Labor Day

Sorry it has taken me so long to get it on here, but here's a quick rundown of Jamie's Labor Day this year.

This is Papaw and Jamie. Here is what they did together this weekend:

Looks like fun, doesn't it?

I'm a Fluffy, Pretty Puppy!

This is what Ziggy looks like after having a bath - pretty, fluffy and oh so soft! This is the reason why Rachel has nicknamed him "Cotton Ball".

More Sweeney Todd

Lifted this pic from www.indeppth.com. I can't wait for this movie!

R.I.P. Madeleine L'Engle

Madeleine L'Engle, author of many of my favorite books growing up (and still), died yesterday at the age of 88. The world of literature has lost an excellent voice. Read more about her work here.

Sweeney Todd Movie Poster

Found this at The Tim Burton Collective. From the poster and info on this website, it looks like the movie may be coming out at Christmas in limited release, then in wide release in January. Whenever it comes out, I know I'll be going. Anybody wanna babysit Jamie for me so I can go? LOL! I have a feeling he might get nightmares from this one.

Last Night I Dreamed

Last night I dreamed of snow,
fat white flakes coming down
like missiles from the sky.

In seconds I was covered,
cold seeping into my bones
stinging like nettles on my skin.

Blissfully frozen,
I'm finally cold after years
of being too damn hot.

Then I woke up again,
to highs in the 90's
and thunderstorms all week.

Man, I want to go home.

A Story About Faith and Trusting the Lord

Read the article from The Dallas Morning News here

New Toy Eye Candy

I splurged and bought myself a new toy - a digital camera!

So, now I present to you some non-pixellated eye candy! I took these pictures tonight. See how big my boy is getting?

Johnny, Helena and Tim, Oh My!

Okay, I'm excited now!  Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton are doing "Sweeney Todd:  The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"!  Coming January, 2008, to a theatre near you.  YES!

Family Angst Update

So, it looks like Jamie and I won't be travelling to the family reunion next weekend after all. The tickets are way too expensive this close to the fact. So, I called my aunt and we're discussing a mini reunion in the spring when I have more money. We're talking like doing a backyard barbeque kind of thing. This is the best I could do, as I had already spent money on tickets for my thanksgiving travel plans. But Patty seemed excited about the idea.

My travel plans for thanksgiving are now set, as well. I'm looking forward to the trip. School starts Monday for me and Jamie, so I'm pretty excited about that, as well.

Well, I've got a touch of a stomach bug right now, so I'm going to go lay down and watch TV with Jamie. Hugs to you all.

Fire Ants and Family Angst

My right leg from the knee down is almost twice the size it normally is. I accidently stepped on a fire ant hill at Jamie's soccer practice tonight, and apparently I stood there for a while - long enough for the ants to swarm up my leg, biting as much as possible. And these were weird fire ants - each bite is almost the circumference of a quarter, then the area around the bite has swelled up lots, too. And it itches like crazy. I'm keeping my Gold Bond Medicated Cream really close by, otherwise I'll scratch my leg to pieces.

And now for the family angst. I got a phone call today from the newspaper where I used to work. Seems like my aunt, out of desperation, called there trying to track me down. I'd lost touch with most of my dad's side of the family through the series of moves and such. I no longer had their addresses or they had recently moved, meaning the address/phone number I could find on the Internet no longer applied to them. So, anyway, the paper's managing editor had my number because I write to the paper quite often to comment on their stories, and my e-mail tag line has my work phone number in it. So, they called me and gave me Aunt Patty's phone number. Seems that side of the family is several members smaller due to age and disease, and the family reunion next weekend may be several members' last. So, she was begging me, Jamie and Dad to come.

I've greatly missed some members of my dad's side of the family (the ones who DON'T act like my father), and I'm eager to go. So I passed the message on to Dad, and his comment was "F&@K THEM!" then he got all pissy when I said Jamie and I were going to go, and he hung up on me. There are few things on this earth that steam me more than being hung up on, so I called back. And when it rang 20 times, then switched over to automated beeping, I hung up and called back - for 40 minutes until he got tired of hearing his phone ring and finally picked up. I informed him that I didn't appreciate him jerking me around that way, and that if he hung up on me again he will never see or talk to me or Jamie again. I had finally reached my limits on the amounts of crap I would take from him. So, we arranged for me to call him back tonight after Jamie's soccer practice when I wasn't surrounded by co-workers and we could speak frankly.

I called him a bit ago, and he didn't hang up on me, although he made it quite clear he thinks I'm stupid to waste my money to go see them. Just because he's so eaten up by hatred and delusions of grandeur, doesn't mean I have to indulge him in it. He doesn't want to go? Fine, but he shouldn't try to manipulate me into not going.

Oh, and on a good note, I'm taking a vacation day tomorrow so we can do last minute things and have some fun before school starts for me and Jamie on Monday. Bowling may even be on the agenda.

Sad Commentary on the American Mind

Reading this article made me realize just what a sad, sad state the minds of most Americans are in. Apparently, I do at least four times more reading in a month than the average American does all year!

 

Oh, and speaking of reading, I think I'm going to order Jamie a boxed set of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" Books my brother and I loved so much when we were kids.  I have a feeling he'd get a big kick out of those!

Yes, I Am a Hopeless Romantic (At Times)

... and yes, I'll admit this story made me cry. Read it, and you'll probably tear up a little bit, too. (It's not a sad story, it's a happy one).

!!?!?!?!WTF???!?!?!??!?!!!!?!

So, as I dig out my trusty little bottle of Pamprin at lunchtime, I idly glance at the "Warnings!" listed on the bottle. Among those is this little gem:

"Do not take this product if you suffer from an enlarged prostate gland."

WTF? Am I the only one completely baffled by the fact that THIS warning would be on THAT particular medication?!?!?!?!

UPDATE 4:17 P.M.:
I just found out I got a 97 (A) for the semester in my sociology class. Woo hoo!!!! Go Jenn, Go Jenn, Go Jenn (she sings as she does the 'cabbage patch' dance all the way around the office)! Also, got paid today, so I'll be going out to Sam's Club to buy a certain book I've been DYING to have all summer (Twilight, Book 3).

Oh, and Jamie starts soccer practice tonight. It's a slightly more competitive (and WAAAY more expensive) soccer league. He'll get to train with a personal trainer and do one-on-one training, and all kinds of stuff that I think he'll love. But if he doesn't, I promised him I'll switch him back down to the less competitive recreation league for the spring season. He's a little sad right now, though, because the coach he's had since we moved here decided she wouldn't be coaching this fall, so he'll have a new coach. I think he'll have fun once he gets over missing Coach White.

I'm So Proud of Me!

I'm done, I'm done, I'm done done done done done!!!!!!!!!!!!! On Wednesday, I completed and submitted my Capstone Research Project, which included a 10 pp. research paper, PowerPoint presentation giving the highlights of my research paper, an annotated bibliography, a self-assessment and a summary of dialogues from the whole semester.

Yesterday I posted my five critiques of other peoples' papers and completed the two assignments for my sociology class. Not only that, but then Jamie unloaded the dishwasher and helped me reload it and run it, then we dragged out the vacuum and swept all the common areas of the house, THEN we mopped all the tile floors. The house we are renting is 1,600 sq. ft, and about 85% of it is tile floors! I'd been so wrapped up in school that I let the condition of the house get away from me. So, after all the homework was done, I thought to myself "I can't STAND this house anymore!" So, we cleaned. It looks pretty, and smells nice too. Now, I gotta go get ready for work.

UPDATE 08/11/2007:

Just found out I got a 95 (A) for the semester in my English class! Woo hoooooo! I only got an 89 on the research paper, but that's okay, because that's pretty much what it deserved. It was a good paper, but it wasn't by any means a great paper. Anyway, it all worked out 'cause I still got an A. Yay!

I don't know yet the final grade for my Sociology class, but I'm pretty confident that it, too, will be an A.

And on an unrelated note, the cleaning continues. Jamie and I are getting ready to take a quick jaunt to Wally World to get some stronger hooks so we can hang up his hammock. We'll be using the hammock to hang up all his stuffed animals.

On Hiatus Until Saturday

I will not be posting any new blog entries until at least Saturday. There are only a few days of class left and I still have to:

English 4333.50

Finish writing 10 page research paper on the Political and Economic Echoes of Nigeria's Recent Past in Purple Hibiscus

Post above paper to www.turnitin.com so teacher can see I'm not plagiarizing anything

Touch up and edit 6-slide PowerPoint Presentation about the above topic

Complete Annotated Bibliography of same

Confer with my group on the political message of Isabell Allende's The House of the Spirits

Write posts on BlackBoard regarding use of multiple narrators in THOTS

Write posts on BlackBoard regarding assigned reading from World Literature Textbook

Organize and submit top ten posts of the week for grading

Organize and submit top ten posts of the whole semester into a Summary of Dialogues

Read and critique final capstone project submissions of five classmates (due Friday)

Sociology 4903.50

Complete assignment regarding life expectancy and per capita spending on healthcare in selected nations of the world

Complete Internet global inequalities scavenger hunt assignment

And all English assignments are due by Thursday night at 11:59 p.m. (except where noted). All Sociology Assignments are due Friday by 1 p.m. And in case you're wondering why I took the time to post - now I have a ready made "to do" list I can check off as I get each assignment done. Be back Saturday.

Verse of the Day Encourages Me and Vacation Plans

1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

I'm glad this is today's Verse of the Day. This is a verse I need to remember when I'm feeling down about myself, thinking "I wish I looked like this, I wish my nose weren't so big, and my laugh wasn't so boisterous" and all that other negative junk I start to think about myself at times. True, this verse is saying that Samuel should NOT like such and such person because his heart is not pure or kind, but I think then the opposite would be true. "Yeah, so-and-so may not look so hot on the outside, but man! She has a heart full of love and she's really super on the inside, so don't look at her with your human eye, look on her with Mine." Yep, that's the thing I take from this verse, and it really comforts me.

In other news, I just got approval from my boss today for the vacation days I requested off. Yay! So, my and Jamie's Thanksgiving plans this year are to fly to NYC to see my brother and his girlfriend on Nov. 17, then on Nov. 21 we'll fly to KY to see relatives from my mom's side of the family, and also to see my "adopted" family, the Meadors! YAY!!!!!! Jamie and I are planning on going to see "the Music People" with them on Turkey Day. YAY! Love to you all, and thank you for the gift of hospitality!!!!!

Meme in Haiku

This meme appeared
on dear Monkey Mama's blog.
Here are my answers:

1. Prefer hot or cold?
When skies are sunny
and the temper'tures rising,
I dream of blizzards.

2. # of jobs you have had?
Secretary, gas
station clerk, reporter and
photographer, mom.

3. If you could do anything for work, what would you do?
I wish for a job
where I can read to my heart's
content and help kids.

4. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Salty air, gulls cry
on a dancing breeze. Waves crash
at the lighthouse base.

6. Would you like to have a tattoo?
There is a reason
God made us all without ink
drawn on our bodies.

7. Dream vacation?
I should like to traipse
upon foreign shores, to see
the Emerald Isle.

8. Morning person or night person?
When the rooster crows
I find myself wanting to
throw something at him.

9. Favorite fruit?
Size of a softball -
juicy red interior,
sweet yet sour taste.

10. Country music or rock music?
It matters not if
music twangs, rattles or rolls,
but it must be good.

11. Pool or ocean?
I admit a pool
may be more sanitary,
but I love the sea.

12. Name of 1st pet?
Laughing red haired dog,
sweet Irish Setter "Chivas"
was my darling pet.

13. City person or country person?
I can't claim to be
either one or the other
so I will say "both".

14. Type of vehicle you drive?
Little black hatchback,
Rachel calls her "cockroach", but
I say she is cute.

15. Natural Hair color?
My tresses remain
as God intended: black, brown,
red, and now some gray.

16. How far do you live from where you grew up?
I live where I grow,
as one does not stop "growing"
at a certain age.

17, Favorite pizza topping?
Broccoli, chicken,
mushrooms, green olives, bacon,
and extra cheese, please!

18. Favorite ice cream?
Yes, I must confess
that if it is frozen and
creamy, I'll eat it.

19, Sugar or artificial sweetener?
I have always loved
sugar, but did not want to
gain weight, so Splenda.

20. Sunrise or sunset?
Clouds ripple, colors
soften and blend. I love
mauve and gold sunsets.

21. Favorite movie?
Jareth and Sarah,
The Bog of Eternal Stench.
Have you seen Labyrinth?

22. 1st name of your best grade school friend?
Inseparable
were Jenny and Jessica
that was in third grade.

>23. Are you still in touch with #22?
Different paths taken,
once best friends are now strangers.
No contact in years.

24. Conservative or Liberal?
The older I grow
the more I find my leanings
now lie in between.

25. Books or magazines?
If it is made of
paper, and words are on the
page, I will read it.

--------------------------------

Typically you find
in memes such as this that
someone must get tagged.

If you've read this blog
and have great love for haiku
then I'm tagging you.

Haiku For You

It's all Everett's fault;
the past three days have found me
writing in haiku.

Stinkbumps was fevered
with a headache and sore throat.
Turns out he had strep.

Rachel stayed home with
Jamie on Monday so I
could still go to work.

Stayed home on Tuesday -
Jamie still sick; boss got mad,
said I could lose job.

Wednesday back at work,
worried about sick boy but
want to keep my job.

Raining like buckets,
flooding streets and water ways;
guess I need a boat.

Now it's time for me
to finish all my homework.
School is almost done.

Quick Update

Okay, I haven't posted in about a week, so I figured I'd better post on here so I don't look like a big ol' hypocrite whining about other people not updating their blogs.

Jamie has gotten to go to Boy Scout camp this week courtesy of the YMCA. I still take him over to the YMCA in the morning, then they bus him over to Boy Scouts Camp, then bus him back to the YMCA in time for me to pick him up. He's having a blast! He was all atwitter over getting to shoot bows 'n arrows, a BB gun (a big deal, as I've NEVER let him shoot anything other than a water gun), go swimming and make all sorts of cool crafts. He's already made me a multi-colored beaded key chain, and made himself a leather bracelet and a leather and beaded necklace. He also will be taking a swimming test today to see if he's allowed to swim "on the big boys' side of the pool." They won't let you over there if all you know how to do is doggy paddle, it seems. I'm glad he's having fun and getting plenty of "boy time".

Stressed out over school, as usual. I have a big 10 page term paper coming up that I haven't even started yet. Plus I have a ton of reading and assignments to do. I'm frustrated and burned out, and can't wait until I get a couple of weeks off school before the Fall semester starts again. I'm tired, very cranky, totally discouraged and feel like my brain is going to start leaking out of my ears.

Work is, well, work. I've taken on even more responsibility overseeing some of the projects directly, and the stress of that on top of my other duties have fervently wishing my boss would hire me some help. [sigh] I don't see it happening any time soon.

Okay, well, now that I'm done whining, I'll get back to work. Goodness knows there's plenty of it to be done around here.

I've Been Slacking on my Blog

Okay, so here's a quick long-overdue update to my blog. Finished one summer class (got an A, woo hoo!), continuing another longer summer class and picked up another one. I'm very busy.

Couple of weeks ago, I hit a ginormous pothole which damaged both rims on the driver's side of the car and knocked my car completely out of alignment. More than $400.00 later and it's fixed, but I found out the city of San Antonio won't reimburse me anything for the damages because of something called the Texas Tort Claims Act which basically says that if it wasn't caused by a city employee driving a city vehicle it wasn't their fault. I'm looking into this, though.

Jamie's ankle sprain cleared up enough for him to begin playing relatively normally - just in time for him to come down with a stomach virus that has kept him out of daycare (and me out of work) for the past two days. If it ain't one thing, it's another.

Took Jamie to Six Flags Fiesta Texas for 4th of July. He rode his first big rollercoaster, at which time he discovered he LOVES rollercoasters. I discovered I do not. It had been 12 years since the last time I had gotten on a rollercoaster. I work for a company that investigates all the different ways metal can (and does) fail to provide the structural stability for which it is designed. As the person who types the reports and creates the photoillustrations, I've seen pictures of what happens to property (and sometimes people) when metal fails. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. While Jamie was laughing and whooping it up during the rollercoaster ride, I was revisiting my lamaze breathing techniques and praying. I was also trying very hard the block the images in my head of the bolts wiggling out of their holes, the metal suddenly popping apart and the lot of us plunging to our deaths. After that, the only ride Jamie could get me on was the Bugs Bunny log flume water ride. I'll take my chances on water and reinforced fiberglass and plastic. At least if I fall out of that one, I know how to swim well enough to get me and Jamie to safety. No amount of flapping your arms will make you fly if you fall out of a rollercoaster on a loop-de-loop.

Transformers ROCK!

I LOVED this movie. You MUST see it!

Transformers...Robots in Disguise

Picked up advanced tix the other day to take Jamie to see Transformers on July 5. My boss, in his infinite kindness, gave me the day after the July 4 holiday off to make up for all the long hours I've been working. I'll be going to take a computer test at San Antonio College (so that I won't have to take the durn computer class required for graduation), then I'll pick Jamie up from the YMCA daycare and we'll go see Transformers. Woooooooooooohhhhhooooooooooooooooo! This is the summer of awesome movies!

Speaking of movies, I took Jamie Friday night to see Ratatouille. YOU. MUST. SEE. THIS. FILM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, enough of a break now. I've got to stop pracrastinating and finish my weekly homework.

HP5 Tickets - at the IMAX!

Woo hoo! My boss and his wife rock! Today, as a belated administrative assistant's day present, I was given 2 advanced tickets for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: The IMAX Experience. The last 30 minutes of the IMAX version are in 3D! Woo hoo! Now that's a cool present! So now I get to count down the days until July 13 (the night I chose to take Jamie to the movies). Since the IMAX lines are so long, we're going to head over there as soon as I get off work and walk Ziggy. Sure, we'll be sitting in line for about 1.5 hours, but it will be worth it to get good seats. Plus, the theatre sells pizzas and junk food, so we'll just eat a pizza for supper while we're waiting in line. But we definitely want to get there early enough to get good seats. When we saw Spiderman 3 at the IMAX, we got crummy seats way up front and you couldn't really tell what was going on because the screen was just too huge to take it all in at once. I'm totally stoked about seeing HP5!

This will be the summer of Harry, as the new book will be out the following week! Yippee!

2 h 45 m...

is not enough sleep. That's how long (well, short) I slept last night. What was just an inability to turn my head too far from side to side due to extremely tight, tense muscles turned into a full-blown stiffness and muscle pain over my whole body into the wee hours of the morning. Due to this, and the quaking and shaking of my muscles due to said extreme tightness/tenseness, I didn't sleep very much at all last night. I finally passed out around 4:00 a.m. then had to get up to get ready for work at 6:45 a.m. An almost-scalding hot shower helped some of the stiffness this morning, but I still cannot move my head from side to side or up/down, nor can I stretch any of my muscles out like I normally can. If this keeps up, I'll go see the doctor about it. It's just weird. It started Friday as a very slight tightening of my neck muscles - I could still move normally, but I got a bit of a twinge when I turned my head from side to side. Saturday, I had less movement, but still not too bad. Sunday morning, I couldn't move my head hardly at all, and by Sunday night my whole body was so tight I felt like a rubber band about to snap. Took some ibuprofen to no avail. Got desperate and took some old Rx pain medication/muscle relaxant combo from an old, unrelated injury. Prescription was several years old though, so I guess it had expired. No relief whatsoever. So now I sit here at work, very sleepy, unable to move my head hardly at all, and wishing I were at home in bed. I'm sure I'll get over it though. Just had to whine about it for a while, that's all. :-)

I Got New Toys!

Things have been FUN at work here lately. I've been designing the company website! Whee! Right now, we just have something up I threw together to give people contact info and notify them that the website is under construction. This is major for around here, because apparently they've had a registered domain name and a website for FIVE YEARS and never put anything up until I started pushing about it two years ago! Finally, the boss' wife told me to go ahead and just do it, then my boss could see it later. She got tired of him waiting around on giving the go ahead on it, too. It doesn't look nearly like what I want it to yet, but you can look at it here to see where I work and what I did to it so far.

Also, I got new toys today! I got a digitizer, stylus and wireless mouse to help with all the photoillustrations I have to do here. The boss' wife told me to go ahead and order whatever I need because she watched me waste 45 minutes one day trying to use my mouse to draw the line I needed on a scanned photomicrograph.

I LOVE NEW TOYS! Wooooo Hooooooooooooooo!

And for those of you wondering about Jamie, he's doing better. He's wearing an ace bandage until we can see the orthopaedist next Wednesday. I'll keep you all informed of what's going on.

The Ankle that Will Not Heal

UPDATE (6:55 PM): Jamie has been referred to an orthopaedist and ordered to wrap his ankle for additional support. His is not to play in the tournament next month. He is not to engage in physical activity involving running, standing for long periods, excessive movement, etc. until he sees the orthopaedist. He could very well be laid up for the most of the rest of the summer if he wants his ankle to heal enough for him to play soccer in the fall. I'll be calling the orthopaedist tomorrow for an appointment. Once we visit him/her, I'll post an update on his condition. Jamie is very upset about the tournament and the prospect of a whole summer without riding his bike or skateboard and no active play. He's very bummed, but understands the necessity of it. I'll keep you all posted. Thank you all for your concern on Jamie's behalf.


Jamie's ankle, despite him (mostly) staying off of it as he was told by the doctor, refuses to stop swelling and continues to be very painful. This worries me greatly. The doctor originally said it should be fine in a week he can go back to his active self. Well, he can't go back to his active self if he can't move it in certain directions without crying. So, I called the doctor's office this morning to see what they had to say about it. As soon as they heard it was still swelling and very painful, they told me to bring him in. They wanted me to bring him in first thing, but I couldn't because no one else would be at work to open up shop at 8:30. So, I made an appointment for this afternoon. I will be leaving shortly to go pick him up and take him to the doctor. Probably we'll have to go another round of x-rays. I don't care, I just want them to figure out what's going on and fix it. I'll keep y'all updated.

Crazy Week...and it's Only Tuesday!

Whew! This week has already been insane. First, I didn't get to indulge in my normal phone conversation Sunday night (which I always look forward to) because I had tons of homework to do and Rachel's wisdom teeth were coming in and causing her major pain, to the point I almost had to run her to the hospital.

Yesterday, I got a phone call that Jamie had hurt himself at daycare and may need to go to the doctor. So, I go pick him up and his ankle is the size of a tennis ball and his knee was starting to look like a cantaloupe. So, I call the doctor's office and they can't see him until 2:45, so Jamie got to go back to work with me (with an icepack and lots of movies to watch on my laptop computer) until it was time for the appointment. We get there, and since Jamie is so active in sports, the doctor wanted to be sure nothing was seriously injured. Jamie and I head off to the ER for x-rays, and wait around there forever. Oh, did I mention Jamie can barely hobble at this point so I'm carrying him everywhere?

Jamie gets x-rayed, and luckily nothing is broken. He's sprained his ankle and wrenched his knee, so he's in pain, but thankfully nothing is broken. But he can't go to daycare today (Tuesday) because everyone is going on a field trip to ride horses and hike. Doctor has left strict orders that Jamie is to stay off his ankle and knee for a solid week. So, Jamie comes back to work with me today to sit in an unused office with his leg propped up, a large stack of movies to watch, pages to color and paper airplanes to fly. Also, Jamie's kind of upset about all this because he was looking forward to the field trip and was supposed to go to soccer camp next week, but the doctor says no physical activity for a while, ergo no soccer camp.

Luckily, Jamie can go to day care for the rest of the week, he just isn't allowed to run around with the other kids. He'll be stuck on the sidelines while everyone else gets to play.

I Survived

So, I survived a week without Jamie that was full of work-related stress. Now I have him back home and I'm enjoying every minute of it. Well, except for the part where I have to practically hog-tie him to keep him in bed at night.

Jamie started daycare at the YMCA today. He was very excited (and relieved!) to find several friends from past YMCA sports and day camp there. Tomorrow, they get to go on a field trip to a place called Enchanted Springs Ranch. I'm sooo jealous. Do you think I could pass for an elementary schooler and go too?

Things are busy enough at work that not only is my boss' wife there to help out, but he's brought in his daughter part-time, too. I've been kept busy with more time consuming and detail oriented projects and thanks to Barbara and Michal, some of the more routine duties are off my shoulders so I can concentrate on these more exacting projects.

School started back officially today, but since the professors activated the web portal in Blackboard this past weekend, I was able to get an early start on my assignments. I'm taking three classes (nine hours) over the summer; two 5-week courses and one 10-week course. It's arranged so that I'm actually only actively participating in two classes at a time.

Speaking of school, better get off the blogs and on the books.

Big hugs to you all.

The House is Minus One Boy this Week

He's visiting Papaw for this shortened holiday week, and the house is too empty without him. Even with Destiny here, his presence is sorely missed. Luckily, work is insane busy, so I have plenty of extended work hours to keep me occupied. *Oh, goody!*

So, by the time I get off work and get home, I don't even want to think about computers, much less sit and type on one. Add to that the fact that school starts next week, and you'll see why I say not to be too surprised if I'm a bit scarce on the blogs this week.

Love you all, but I'm taking a hiatus for a bit. I'm sure I'll go into blogger withdrawal eventually and just *have* to stop by the blogs to leave a comment or two, but for now, Adios!

Soul Searching and Prayer

Lest you all think my life is wrapped up in the frivolous, such as movies, music, chick-lit, etc., I'll reveal something I've been pondering for a while, and - more recently - fervently praying over: What direction will/should my life take after I get my undergrad in a year?

This is something I've idly touched upon before, but having to file my graduation plan at Texas Woman's University here recently made it hit home more, I guess. For so long, I've been focused on just wrapping up my undergrad degree, get it done, then you can focus on the rest of your life. But seeing all the credits I've already taken, plus what I'm planning to take this summer, fall and next spring to complete all the requirements for my degree written down on paper has really made me think. And I'm thinking: "Okay, now what?!?" I'll have my bachelor's degree. Great! I'll be the first person in my immediate family to get a bachelor's degree! But what do I do with it? Where am I supposed to go from here?

I've been praying a lot, asking for enlightenment, asking to at least have an inkling of the direction I'm supposed to take, where I'm needed, how best I can put my skills to use for the Lord and to help others. Am I supposed to stay in Texas? Can I (please!) move again? What's best for Jamie? Should I enter grad school right away, or take a break for a year or two?

And speaking of grad school, I'm no longer at all certain what Master's Degree to pursue, or when to pursue it. Library science still appeals to me, but I'm thinking of trying for a double masters in Education and Library Science, then getting certified and becoming a school librarian. Or, I've also done really well in my pre-law classes for the Government component of my undergrad. Perhaps I could do a combo in law and library science, and work as a librarian in a law library. I don't know.

Then there's my personal life, or lack of one, in this case. Is this all there is to be for me? I want to be a partner, a help-mate, to work together according to God's plan for us. I want more children some day. I want Jamie to know a father's love, as well as The Father's love.

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
Gen. 2:18

Does it then follow that woman is not meant to be alone, either? Or is it too late for me? Am I meant to be married, or have I already completely wrecked the plan God had for me?

These are some of the things I've been praying over and thinking about a lot here lately. In fact, now that I'm thirty, I guess you could call this my mini-midlife crisis. Comments, suggestions and prayers on this subject are welcomed and appreciated.

THREE DAYS!!!!!!!!!

In only three days, Jamie and I are going to go see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Woo hoo! We're taking his friend Remo with us (pronounced Ray-mo, not like Nemo). Then, Remo is spending the night with us and I'll take him home sometime Saturday. We're going to pick up the advanced tickets tonight. We're using the free passes given to us by the movie theater when they goofed up on Spiderman 3.

I cannot WAIT to see this movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Huh? Wha'?

Okay, so I understand the underlying message Greenpeace is trying to send by building a giant replica of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat. I really do.

BUT...

Does anybody else see the irony here?

"Like, I'm sooo bummed that global warming isn't, like, a high enough priority with governments around the world and junk. So, like, I'm going to cut down all these trees, and build a big wooden boat, so like, maybe, these gnarly countries will do something about global warming, and ozone, and smog and junk. Yeah, like, that's how to fight global warming. Cut DOWN a bunch of TREES!"

Mememememeeeeeee ABC's

Thanks for the tag, Animal. Well, without further ado, here's my opportunity to give you all TMI about me...

A- Available or Single: Available... (Makes me sound like a car rental or something. Yes, reservations may be made up to one year in advance by logging on to...)

B- Best Friend: I don't have any. All I have are friends whom I've adopted (or have adopted me) Now I think of them as family. Much MUCH better!

C- Cake or Pie: Cake. Cheese cake, to be exact.

D- Drink of Choice: Margarita, extra salt.

E- Essential Items: Glasses (so I have depth perception), an interesting book to read, a matchbox car or two in the bottom of my purse to keep any kidlings entertained, and some pencils/pens and I'm good to go.

F- Favorite Color: any shade or derivative of blue.

G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Brachs Gummi Bears (with real fruit juice!)

H- Hometown: Ummm... well, my first memories are of a tiny little town in Oklahoma that sounds like there's No Water there, and my longest running memories are of a small but growing town in Kentucky which shares the first part of its name with the first name of our first president.

I- Indulgence: Books. I've been known to spend my last $10 on a book I want.

J- January or February: January, 'cause that's the month my brother, my son and my favorite uncle on my mom's side were all born in.

K- Kids: One and three-quarters. Jamie's mine, I guess Ziggy counts as half a kid, and I consider Destiny maybe a quarter of my kid (after counting her mom, her dad, and her grandparents, I figure that should leave me about a quarter to claim)

L- Life is incomplete without: People to love and who love you in return

M- Marriage Date: Sometime in the future? (At least, I'd like to think so...)

N- Number of Siblings: biological: 3 (1 living - Joel. He doesn't blog and lives in Brooklyn, NY). "Adopted": A few, all of whom are very very very special people whom I love dearly

O- Oranges or Apples: I like both, although I generally buy apples because 1) they're cheaper; and 2) they're less messy and it doesn't take as long to get them ready to eat

P- Phobias/Fears: The dark (because I'm practically night-blind) and confined spaces (I can't stand not having the ability to move freely).

Q- Favorite Quote:
Will: "How did he escape the island?"
Pirate: "He made a raft out of sea turtles"
Will: "What did he tie them together with?"
Captain Jack Sparrow: "Human hair... from my back"

R- Reasons to smile: Jamie

S- Season: Fall, in any location where the leaves actually turn color

T- Tag Three: Becca, Julez, Tara

U- Unknown Fact About Me: I talk so much about myself, I doubt there's much about me you guys DON'T know... Ummm...Okay... Oh, wait, I think I've already told you guys that I have every line and song from "Labyrinth" memorized. Oh, I remember almost every line of every role I've ever played (and that's a lot, plus I haven't acted since Jamie was a baby)

V– Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: I'm an equal opportunity oppressor of flora and fauna

W- Worst Habits: Finishing peoples' sentences when they're talking really slow, correcting others' grammar and spelling, being very sarcastic at almost all times

X– X-rays or Ultrasounds: In what context? I mean, if you're talking superhero powers, then X-ray vision is much cooler than ultrasound vision. I mean, what kind of superhero symbol would a person with Ultrasound vision have? Considering what an ultrasound is typically used for, I can only imagine what symbol would best portray THAT superpower. Other than that, I'd rather have neither, thank you.

Y- Your Favorite Foods: chocolate, cheese cake, asparagus, tomatoes, spinach, pizza

Z- Zodiac: Libra, on the cusp of whatever the one is that comes after it. Don't pay much attention to that stuff anymore, other than to remember that I do have characteristics of both Libras and whatever that sign is after Libra.

Picture Page!

Jamie and I saw "Meet the Robinsons" in 3-D Friday night. The advert for the new Simpsons movie was lifesized. Jamie hopped up there so I could take a quick picture.



Jamie's end-of-season soccer party was at a place called Incredible's Pizza. It's about 10 times bigger (and better) than Gattitown. As you can see, it had indoor formula 1 race cars to ride. Destiny and I shared one in the next race.


Last but not least, here are some pictures of the kids I snapped in the backyard the other day. Destiny is showing off for the camera, of course.

Great Headline

Being the former newsperson that I am, I pay close attention to headlines. I groan at bad ones, wonder what the editor was thinking when I read confusing ones, and get tickled by the really creative ones. But the one I saw today takes the cake. It's great. But to understand why it's so great, you have to read the article.

The headline?

"Skywalkers in Korea Cross Han Solo"

3-3-1

That's Jamie's soccer team's record right now - three wins, three losses, one tie. His last game is this Saturday, an event he is looking forward to yet dreading at the same time. He's excited because it's a game to play; he's dreading it because it's the last of the season. I'm going to try to scrounge up the funds for him to attend three soccer camps this summer - one basic skills camp, one advanced skills and ballhandling camp, and one goalkeeper's camp. He's really excited at the prospect of attending these three camps. The kid eats, breathes and lives soccer. He's a phenomenal goalie - but his stamina when he's out actually running around on the field needs work. Hopefully, the camps will help in myriad ways.

In my school news, I took a final last night for sociology and got an A. That means my final grade for the semester in this class is also an A. I'm fairly certain I have an A in my criminal law class, as well. So far, I have an A in Earth Science, but I won't know my final grade until I take the final exam next week. I have a D in math right now (ugh!), only because my teacher dropped my abysmally low exam 2 grade (25/100!). I have to bust my butt trying to get at least an 80 on the final exam (please, Lord, help me figure this math out!) in order to get a final grade of C. If I do manage to squeak out a C, I'll be allowed to take the math class I need for my major. Have I mentioned lately how much I hate math?

As for Jamie's school, he's only got about 3 weeks left. Right now, he has A's and B's in everything except social studies. He has a D in that one. I told him I except (read: demand) that it be much higher when report cards come out! Other than that, things are going really well for him. He's not getting in trouble very often, is polite and attentive in class, and is slowly starting to learn to control his emotions when he gets upset with his peers at school. I'm very proud of my boy!

Now that the end of my collegiate career is within sight, I'm wondering how I can put a BGS degree to good use. I know I want to go to grad school, but when? Where? Where do I want to go from here? Where am I wanted/needed? Where does God want me to go and what does He want me to do? Where is best for Jamie to be? These are questions for which I do not have the answers.

At work, things are going okay. This is the last week for R.T. to be here, supposedly. I got tickled yesterday because we had a "going away" luncheon for him. He had the nerve to send out an email request to everyone telling us what he wanted as a going away present! Can you image the gall? Then at lunch, he said he almost bought us all presents to show how much he appreciated us, then decided he wasn't going to. My main boss piped up and said "That's okay, the fact that you're leaving is present enough!" I about choked on my lunch I was laughing so hard!

Guess I better get back to work now. I'm going to try to leave the office early today so I can go on an office supply run. It's been so long since I've had time to go that we're dreadfully low on many things!

Eye Candy!

It's been a bit since I posted any eye candy on here, so - for your viewing pleasure:

Jamie's getting tired of me putting cameras in his face...

Here he's riding the "West Coast Choppers" bike Papaw got for him to ride when we're down there.

And here's a field a bluebonnets I spied on the way to Papaw's house one weekend.

The Tooth Fairy is Going Bankrupt

Jamie lost another tooth yesterday - and it wasn't the one I knew was loose. THAT one still hasn't fallen out yet, but I'm sure it will soon. So, that will make three teeth lost in less than two weeks. At $1.00 a tooth (inflation, you know), when you factor in the fact that his pre-molars are popping out like crazy, it's getting expensive. Also, when you consider that once all the baby teeth are gone I have to take him to the orthodontist for braces...well, you can see why I'm not really looking forward to all his baby teeth coming out!

In a related note, Jamie had a dentist appointment on Tuesday. No cavities (yay!) and everything looks good, except for the fact that his x-rays show most of his adult teeth will probably come in crooked (a fact confirmed by the orthodontist five months ago). Jamie's dentist said she was surprised his pre-molars are already falling out - he's about two years ahead of schedule on that. (Yes, his dentist is a "she". Make something of it, Mr. Anonymous, and see what you get!) I told her it isn't surprising at all when you consider he was born with a tooth already growing in!

As for an update on school, I have one last assignment due tomorrow, which I plan on wrapping up tonight, then I get to study for my final exams. My first final exam is on Tuesday, May 1 for sociology, then Saturday, May 5 for math (ugh!), and my last final exam is on Monday, May 7 for geology. My government class is based entirely on assignments; there is no final exam for that class. Then, hallelujah!, I get a blissful month (almost) off before summer session starts. Hooray!

Dragons - 3; Black Vipers - 1

Fair warning to all who tread here: Lots and lots of bragging about my kid about to commence!

Jamie's team won its soccer game today! Woo hooo! Jamie played goalie the whole game, and only let one slip by him. He rocked! Also, we had some major hustling going on with the strikers. It was kind of funny, though, because the game was at 8 a.m., and it was soooo obvious at the beginning of the game that many of the players from both teams just were not awake yet. However, they finally woke up and it was an exciting game. This is the first year we've had a team that won more than one game in a season. Yes, I know winning isn't that important. However, the kids get discouraged when they lose or tie every single game over and over again all year. So, I'm really happy for them. They have another game tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully they'll do well again. I just hope they don't get too cocky.

Another exciting piece of news. Last week's game, Jamie blocked, to quote his coach "a gazillion goals". So, at last night's practice she announced that Jamie had won player of the game for last week's game. He got a cool medal and everything. He's really stoked about it!

Okay, enough about winning games and blocking goals. You want to know my proudest moment today? Just before the ref blew the whistle for the half, one boy from the other team had tripped and fallen as he tried to make the goal against Jamie. Jamie blocked the goal, then the ref blew the whistle. Everybody started to leave the field, except the one boy that missed from the other team stayed laying on the grass. He may have been crying, I couldn't tell. Jamie stopped, turned around and noticed that the boy was still laying in the grass. When all the other players from both teams just walked around (and in some cases just stepped over) the other player, Jamie went back to him, knelt down, helped the other player up then shook his hand. It was only after Jamie made sure the other player was okay that Jamie joined his team to get his half-time snack. That was one of the proudest moments I've had of my boy.