O.K. Now this is funny...

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

O.K., now it's your turn! -Suzie

I LOVE a Parade!

So the weather has improved over the past few days, and it's actually nice. It's been in the 60's for two days now, so after the blisteringly cold day before Thanksgiving and the nasty rainy T-Giving Day, I was ready for my parade. We were planning on meeting the Brockman's over in Reston and were going to watch the parade together. Woke up on Friday and it was a beautiful day - perfect parade weather. So, we scrambled out of the house, and as Tom and I were getting the boys ready to go, I asked Max to run out and see if there were diapers in the diaper bag. After about three minutes we hear this blood curdling scream. max had smashed his hand int eh door, and it was still in there. Tom scrambled down the stairs and out the front door faster than I've seen anyone move, and he opened back up the side door of the van and removed Max's hand. I grabbed my purse and headed outside, knowing that we were either heading to the parade, the doctor, or the ER.

As it turns out, we hit the doctor first, who was a little concerned about the shape of Max's ring finger (kinda crooked looking but probably just tissue swelling). She sent us the the local children's hospital to get x-rays (the regular x-ray place was closed as it was the day after Thanksgiving). No breaks, no fractures, and three hours later we missed the parade. We were all sad, but life goes on and you do miss some parades along the way, so the boys understood (good kiddos we have here!). After we got home and Tom went to work, I settled in to watch UT dismantle the Texas A & M football team. Once again I was sorely disappointed. Texas didn't show up for the game, and lost to a team that they should have easily beat. A & M was out for blood and they brought their A game, and I guess UT just wasn't there for it. So, another disappointment for the day.

But, it was beautiful weather, as it was again today. Tom took the kids and went to the park with the Brockman's, and I headed to M's to grab some lights for the house. So, not such a bad day today, and tomorrow looks like it will be just as nice. FSU lost their football game today, but we were expecting that, so not a big surprise at all. It wasn't the parade that I wanted, but a sunny day hanging out with friends sure does beat all.

It's Almost Thanksgiving Day

Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Not sure what to say about that yet. We'll see how it goes. It should be a great day of football and food, and we're hanging out with some great old friends, so all should be well. But, it's SO FREAKING COLD HERE!!! I thought I was getting used to it, but man, today was a cold one. I'm also getting that chilled to the bone feeling a lot more these days. You know the feeling - where your fingers are so cold that they hurt..then you can't feel them anymore. Eventually you can't really move them unless you have them under the hot water. Or there's the cold where your toes, which are inside socks AND slippers are so cold that they tingle. Man oh man - what did we sign up for? Today was really the first COLD cold day. It's been this chilly before (30's and 40's) but the sun has been out. Apparently that makes all the difference in the world. TOday it was overcast - even Ian was askign where they blue was - why was the sky white? I think a snow sky will blow his little mind. Anyway, it is quite chilly outside - currently it says 37 degrees on a thermometer right against our hosue in the back, so it's pretty close to really freaking cold here. Yes, I know that it will get worse, and yes, I know that I'll get used to it, but I'm allowed to complain right now aren't I? And here I thought I was doign so well - LL Bean jacket, fuzzy scarves, warm gloves, warm hat...guess they aren't doing the trick in the house. Must be missing something here - there's a secret that Northerners haven't yet let me in on. Gotta hunt one down and find out what that little secret it.

..then again there's always Tom's solution - snuggle up with him. Hah!!! Yeah, right...

(No, it hasn't snowed here yet, but there's a pic of the lake in the neighborhood behind us and what it looks like when it does snow. Apprently they play hockey on the lake when it gets cold enough. Ice Hockey - what a strange concept.)

Time with New Friends

Last night I went to Mom's Night out for the fourth time (or so). Of the time's I've attended it was the most relaxing and enjoyable one. PLUS, I smell like a bar-b-que! We had MNO in someone's backyard and she had this great fire pit there. It was cool out but not cold, and the fire warmed us right up. We stayed and visited until 11pm, and we were all enjoying ourselves so much that no one really knew that it had gotten so late. It was the kind of relaxing night out that I really like. You can never spend too much time out with your girlfriends, and certainly as a SAHM that's an important thing to do.

We roasted marshmellows and made S'mores, and there was wine and good conversation. I haven't had S'mores in years, so this was a nice treat (mine were sans chocolate, of course.) Next month we're off to a new restaurant for our Dec MNO, and if last month's restaurant is any indication, it will be yummy. But, there's something about spending time with your friends and then coming home smelling like a home cooked bar-b-que. Maybe it's the Texan in me, but you just can't beat that.

One of those weird things...

So I need to make plane reservations to go to the IRW Convention in Savannah, Ga in March. I've been waiting for the prices to drop and they finally have. Problem is, I am apprehensive about getting these tickets. It's not about the convention, but the tickets themselves. You see, all this goes back to about two years ago and me making plane reservations while drinking a glass of wine. I'll start by saying, in this day and age, it is SOOOO much easier to make reservations online. HOWEVER, never drink while doing so. It is a fast and relatively painless process, but since the wine incident I approach it with some trepidation. (Bet you never knew that I was afraid of online ticket booking...did you?) The story is thus. I was getting tickets for the family to go somewhere fun (probably Florida as we were in Texas at the time). I had to get the tickets in two separate transactions for some reason - like FF miles or something similar. Can't remember off the top of my head, but it doesn't matter. So, I get all the tickets and start in on the second batch (which, if I recall correctly was my ticket only - everyone else's had been purchased). Anyway, I was enjoying my glass of wine throughout this transaction. Having purchased countless numbers of tickets online in the past, this was nothing new. Pick the airline, date, flights, even seats, all in under 10 minutes. Got the credit card info in there and printed out my itineraries. Called Tom and told him they were purchased. he glanced at the tickets and jokingly said that they were on the wrong day. Hah! That's Tom's standard joke - wrong name, wrong date, etc. Well, he wasn't joking this time. I just purchased tickets for me to fly one day after my family flew out - same flight just one day later. Now, after a slight panic I handed the transactions over to Tom so he could call and correct. You see, once they print the tickets out there's a change fee. Even for online ticketing, if you don't catch it immediately, it's too late. We learned all of this from the lovely person who helped us change the tickets to the correct day so I could join my family in flight.

Fast forward to now. I sit here with the flights I want on the screen but have yet to purchase the tickets. I guess it's because I want Tom to look over them before I buy them. This isn't even a trip that he's going on, but I'll have him check it anyway. All the flights I have since that wine-altered flight - you'd think I'd be more confident than this when making the online reservation, but no. Not a chance. I guess that incident scarred me for life. Now the secret is out. Some folks don't like to do karaoke without a friend, I need a friend close by so I can purchase a plane ticket.

Then again at least I don't have to stand in line at the airport with my paper tickets. Did that once recently because of vouchers. Never again. If it isn't an electronic check in where I can check in online ahead of time and then dump my bags and run, then it's not for me. Guess these tickets will just have to wait until tomorrow when Tom's up - he's already asleep and I just can't hit that purchase button.

Update 11/16/06: Yeah, fianlly bought those tickets - with Tom's keen eyes checking the details for me...sigh...

I HATE being sick

So I've been sick on and off for the past week and a half. I have days where I feel fine but have a cough, and the next day I feel as if I can't even drag myself out of bed. Meds don't seem to be helping and sleeping isn't adding much to my recovery, you can only watch so much TV in a day before your brain leaks out your ears, and I can drink only so much tea. So, I'm declaring myself healthy and we'll see if this does the trick. I'm done being sick - finuto, finished, fine, however you want to say it - done. If all else fails (and it seems to have in this case) declare that it's over and hope that it sticks. I'll wake up tomorrow refreshed (well, I'll wake up tomorrow...) and feeling much better than today. AND, it will stick through out the day and into tomorrow night, then again the day after tomorrow. So, I'm just done.

Think it will work?

Bummer football day...

So BOTH FSU and Texas lost today. FSU was slaughtered (and I'm not kidding) by Wake Forest, of all teams. WF beat FSU 30-0. Yes, 30-0. FSU's first shut out at home almost since I was born, and certainly since Bowden has been coaching there. They played like a middle school girls' team from South Dakota (no offense to those middle school girl football players in South Dakota, of course). They were terrible, just terrible.

Texas, on the other hand, at least showed up for the game. However, coming in ranked #4 in the country with aspirations of playing int he title game, as well as being 3 touchdown favorites, you would have thought they made a better showing in their quest for oh, say, a win. They lost to Kansas State, yes, K-State, 45-42. While the score seems close, UT's #1 QB was knocked out after the first series. Texas fell behind, and their #2, who has yet to see playing time this season, had to step up. And step up he did. However, due to his lack of playing time, lack of leadership, and the lack of the rest of the team doing their job, they lost too. It all comes down to points. He who scores the most points wins.

Coach, what do you think your team could have done differently to win the game?
Well, I guess we could have scored more touchdowns.

Coach, why do you think they beat you tonight?
Well, they scored more points than we did.

Simple math here. Bummer for UT and certainly for FSU.

Not sure if I've ever seen the FSU stands so eerily quiet or empty so early in the game. They turned on the team so early and walked away. The FSU fans - who sit through some pretty sad games - walked away. By the end of the third quarter the stands had emptied out. The fans actually game up on their team. While over at the UT game, the fans were pouring into the stands. The commentators were saying that folks were hopping off the couch and driving to the game to check it out - standing room only by the end of the game. A tight one it was, and the fans stuck it out.

Then again UT scored some points - any points - and the fans appreciate that. FSU has the lovely reputation now of being beaten by...Wake Forest...in their own stadium. Like I said...bummer football day.

Sam...Sam...Sam...

So Sam is the only remaining member of the family in diapers (at least until Tom and I are quite old...). So for the past few days he's been taking off his diaper and putting on underwear all by himself. While I applaud this effort, it has doubled the amount of Sam laundry that I have to do, and today it crossed over into bed linens. It seems that Mr. Sam decided, while he was supposed to be napping, that he needed underwear instead of a diaper. Well, you can guess what happened when he fell sound asleep and his bladder relaxed. Anyway, after a short discussion about not wearing underwear to bed until one pees in the potty, we were off and running in our diaper again.

Let me back up a year and say that Sam was the first of the little guys to pee in the potty, so we all had great hopes that he would be the driving force in the potty training area. He looks up to Max, and so we assumed that those two fact would collide and he'd drag Ian kicking and screaming to the toilet one was or another. Well, sadly, that's not the case. Sam has asked over the past YEAR to pee in the potty on various occasions, and we oblige, even encourage him to do so. The, about a month and a half ago, Ian decided that he wanted to use the potty and just took it upon himself to do so. No big deal on his part (this from the kiddo who had NEVER used the potty in his life). Well, lots of stars, very few reminders, and only one accident later, he's good to go. Sam, on the other hand has announced to me several times this past week that he will wear a diaper until he's four, and that he will NOT pee in the potty until he's four. So, we're considering throwing him an early birthday party. Seriously, no party, but I have told him on several occasions that he does need to start peeing in the potty, but for one reason or another he just doesn't get it.

So back to this week. He really wants to wear underwear, but I have NO idea how to make that transition if he's not using the potty. I'm not interested in forcing him, but I think I'll just have to put my foot down. No potty, no underwear. One minor glitch is that he wears Pull Ups to gymnastics. He's supposed to be potty trained but I wasn't going to hold him out of a one hour class just because he wasn't peeing in the potty (tried to tell him that I would but he wasn't buying it). I did tell him that he's not allowed to pee int eh Pull Up, and so far he hasn't. But, he's not peeing in the potty, so I'm taking the Pull Up off right after gymnastics class and putting him back in his diaper.

I guess I'll continue being patient. I never thought that I'd be int his spot where Ian was wearing underwear and Sam wasn't. Guess this is the beginning of a long life of surprises on my part - boys...and I've got three of 'em!

A GREAT Halloween!

It was a cold evening (for us Texans at least) but it was perfect Trick or Treat weather. We invited the Brockman's over to have dinner, go trick or treating, and then decorate cookies and cupcakes. It was fun for all, including Baba who came up from Texas to join us. The kids last throught about 10 houses, and then we headed home for the fun. Everyone was on sugar overdose, but I'll add this to the list of extremely successful Halloweens! (Sam is the Blue and Gold Ranger, Max is the Red Ranger, Ian is the Green Ranger, and Sami is the Ladybug!)


Beth and Sami


Power Ranger Mystic Force


Peeking at the Trick or Treaters