Record Breaker

On Monday, we had record breaking high temperatures here in San Antonio. We hit 92(!!!) degrees here, breaking the record of 91 degrees set back in 1917. While I'm sure some of you who are sick and tired of snow up north may be feeling envious, let me just say that temperatures this hot in February just plain STINK! We haven't had any rain in quite a while, the grass is dry, ugly and brown, and all I can think is, if it's this hot NOW, what's it going to be like this summer?!?!?!?!!? I'm not looking forward to it AT ALL.

Okay, back to work now.

Eye Candy Tuesday

It occurred to me that I hadn't posted any pictures of my visit to Kentucky on Thanksgiving week. I apologize for the oversight. I actually didn't take too many pictures when I was "back home" simply because I was enjoying too much talking and visiting that I didn't want to take out the time to get the camera and take pictures. But, what few I have, I'll post here now.

Here we have my "adopted Momma" pretending to pick her nose, while my "adopted b-i-l" has no clue what she's doing. This was taken during the pickin' I went to with my adopted family. Looks like Tooz here is doin' some "pickin'" of her own! I had so much fun that day!!!!

This is my pretty and sweet "adopted sister". It was sooooooo goooood to see her!

This is Jamie sitting with his Great Uncle Alvin and Great Aunt Janet (my mom's brother and sister in law). They are the only relatives on my mom's side of the family with whom we stay in semi-regular contact.

And in celebration of soccer season being back in full swing, here we have an action shot of Jamie in a 3v3 soccer tournament a couple of weekends back. His team tied for third place in the tournament. Not too shabby, considering they played some teams older than them! Way to go, Jamie!

A Big Brother for Jamie, and Other News...

Various and sundry news about my favorite boy...

- Hooray! After two years on the waiting list, Jamie and I have an appointment to meet his potential big brother (from Big Brothers Big Sisters) tonight. Huzzah! Everybody pray that they hit it off and that his BB is a positive influence and helps Jamie's self-esteem.

- Just the other day, Jamie looked at me and said, "Am I ever going to have a Dad? Please don't tell me what you think I want to hear. I'd like the truth, please." OUCH! Not only was that some grown up words and tone, but it hurt to have to say "Honestly baby, I don't know. But I'm doing what I can right now, which - honestly - isn't much. Between work, school and keeping up the house, it's about all I can do to make sure my socks match every day, much less dating." He took it rather well, and thanked me for telling him the truth instead of sugarcoating things. When did my little boy get to be such a young man?

- It's amazing what a little motivation will do. Once I told Jamie that he could have a Nintendo DS Lite only if he started getting B's or above in reading, and had all A's and B's on his next report card, he has brought home fantastic grades. So now I've begun bidding on a Nintendo DS lite on eBay. The little stinker just needed the proper motivation to do better. Granted though, he won't actually get the DS until I get the report card with all A's and B's on it.

- Last but not least, my sincere apologies to all the people to whom I used to be able to speak to on a half-way regular basis over the telephone. Between work and school, my butt is being spanked (figuratively, of course) and it seems to be all I can do - as I previously mentioned - to leave the house each day with matching socks on. I promise to do lots of calling the week of spring break. Would you believe that not only is my school's spring break and Jamie's spring break the same, but I also have a holiday from work that Friday for Good Friday. Thank you! That will be a Jamie and mommy day, with no homework, no chores, just fun!

Love you all, now I gotta go!

Oh.....My.......

I have a secret to share - I enjoy reading stupid, trashy Yahoo! celebrity news site "OMG!". I don't know why I like it. I guess it's kind of like watching a car accident. It's horrible to stare, you don't want to keep staring.... but you just. can't. look. away. Anyway, they announced today that there is a new indie vampire flick in production. S'okay. Vampires are hot right now. It's the title and the premise that have me cracking up. It's entitled "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead." Yes, you read that right. The basic premise is that "Hamlet" is being produced off-Broadway by a Romanian dude who just so happens to be a vampire. Yeah, and his secret goal is to turn everybody in the cast into vampires, who will then attack the audience and turn all of THEM into vampires, who will then... you get the picture. I don't know why I'm cracking up so much over this, but I am. Go fig'!

Post-Undergrad Contemplation

So, I get my undergrad degree at the end of the year (if all goes well, which it should). Now I'm pondering what to do after I graduate. At this point, I'm looking into graduate schools - University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Kentucky, and several others offer not only a Master's in Sociology (which is my goal), but also a Ph.D. of Sociology (which is my ultimate goal). One of the schools that offers this is.... Yale. I know it's really hard to get in, and I know it's really expensive... but I'm thinking about applying, anyway. As one of the other soccer moms I talk to said, "Yeah, it's hard to get in, and only maybe 5% of applicants make it, but you can't be in that 5% if you don't try." I won't be ready to start on my graduate plans until after October 2009 anyway, so I have time to contemplate it. I'll see how my grades are. Being a Yalie would be pretty cool, though, don't you think?

New Recipe and Another Food-Related Post on R.O.U.S.

Just a quick note to say, "Yes, I'm still crazy-busy." However, I did find the time to post a new recipe on R.O.U.S. over the weekend, and a food-related post today. At work, so I have to run now.

Just a Quick Note...

...to say "Yes, I'm alive." And to also tell you that I'm buried in homework, have exams this week, buried in tasks at work and at home (as usual). So don't be surprised if it's a while before you hear from me on here again. But don't worry, I'll still keep track of all the other blogs. I just don't think you want a whole bunch of posts of me whining about how stinkin' busy I am right now.

Big hugs and sugars to you all!

Happy Valentine's Day!

... Or, as I like to say, "Happy Corporate-Generated Holiday Designed to Sucker You Into Supporting the Greeting Card, Flowers and Candy Industries!"

Feeling Introspective

So, having read Suze's blog and COMPLETELY understanding her feelings, I can also concurr and state I myself have been feeling rather introspective lately, but in a different vein. In fact, I had a verbal tussle with my roommate over the weekend, and she hurled a particularly pointed verbal dagger at me that was way. too. true. And it hurt, not because she said it, but because it was true.

Basically, Rachel pointed out to me that the reason why I'm lonely and haven't been in a relationship in too long to count is because I've built such a thick wall around myself that no one can get in. No one. Even if I want them to, that wall is so thick that nobody has a chance to get to know me, and I don't give them a chance to know what kind of person I am, because I'm too chicken shit to tear down the wall and let anybody see me - you know, the real me. Not the sarcastic, scary-brained geek freak persona I put on to rebuff people.

Can we say "Ouch!"?

Yeah. Major ouch. But what hurts the most is that it's true. And what sucks the most is that the wall has been there so long, I don't even realize it's there half the time, much less remember how to take it back down again. I think I erected this wall somewhere around 1986, just after my sister died.

So, anyone with demolition experience out there want to suggest how I can tear this sucker down? Because I'm really tired of the wall, and I'm really tired of having the real me tucked away behind this bitchy persona I don't even really like all that much.

I Agree, Little Puppy