Back to the Grind

So tomorrow I will go back to work after a week off.

I'm thankful to have a job.

I know there are some people who will wake up tomorrow unemployed.

And not because they WANT to be unemployed.

Each day I need to remember that...

"This is the Day that the Lord has Made,

I will Rejoice and be Glad in it."

Lord,

Help me to be Rejoiceful.

Amen.

pop rock experiment

Dillon thinks it was salt. Not what he expected. Obviously. lol

Rugby guys walk in Meet the Tiger, 2009

I tried to get Dillon walking with the Stony Point Rugby Team at Meet the Tigers. Don't they all look so TOUGH?!

unwanted neighbors

When we got home from Kansas we learned that there was 3 days of rain! Yay!
However the rain invited some unwanted guests. Into our front yard.
We discovered these 3 HUGE ant mounds in the front yard.
These ants bite.
Not nice.

My shoe is to give you a perspective of how large these ant piles are.

Don't worry, I ran away after taking the picture.

Meet the Tiger, 2009

Stony Point does this amazing gathering each fall called Meet the Tiger.

Each club & organization has a booth to sell merchandise and

let people know about their club.

Here we are for the Choir Booster Club.

We sold big foam Tiger Paws, Tattoos, Yard signs, and Wrist bands. Every club gets to walk around the track as part of a parade.

Here is a group of kids from the Choir.

These yard signs were a good seller for us.

Especially now that the football team is undefeated... hopefully a

repeat of last year's trek to State Playoffs!

Dillon's truck has been painted black.

It turned out really, really nice.
Now Dillon just needs a drivers license. He's working on it. Should have it in November.
I think he's counting down the days.

While in Kansas...

Here is a funny view from the 13th floor conference room!

I wouldn't want his job...

There were a few things about Kansas that gave us

happy memories of the midwest;

the cool mornings - the soft, green grass -

and even the QT.

Good times.

This was the scene a few times as I entered the
hotel room. I guess they all like the same videos.

When I asked if I could see too, I got the big eye-rolling reply,
"You probably wouldn't think it was funny."
Hmpf. Okay then.

Baby dances to Beyonce'

This video makes me laugh! Here's a good laugh for you...

Pet Peeves

I have this 'thing' about people not putting stuff away when they're done using them...

Really? Who leaves their glass of tea in the bathroom? Ick. The phone charger is seriously 3 steps away from this end table.

Can you see the phone here? Do you see the charger RIGHT behind it? Plugged into the wall?

Like someone couldn't just put-it-back???

The beef in Texas is NASTY.

This is a pan of meatloaf that baked for 1-1/2 hours. It looks really good, but it was SO gross that we had to make grilled cheese sandwiches.

We even had company that night. Ugh.

bring on the elephants!

According to Madison "A circus isn't complete without the elephants". I have to disagree. I'm all about the cotton candy. Yum. Forget the elephants!

Fun at the CIRCUS!!

Who can pass up the CIRCUS when it comes to town?!?!

Random promotional tickets were in the mail at work -

so my 2 co-workers (Maria & Sandy) and I decided we would go! I brought Madison & we had a great time!
Here is Madison & I with Sandy's grandson, Andrew.

We weren't quite sure what to expect since the tickets were only
$8 each... but we got to see plenty of elephants, ponies & acrobats.
Stay tuned for some video clips!
(madison loves the elephants - I'm having to decide which of the 6 video
clips to post... geesh!)

Blue Crew

These are the crazy kids in the Stony Point High School football student section. They call themselves the 'BLUE CREW'.

I made a point to Dillon in the top right corner (wearing the hard hat). Totally obnoxious, ay?
When we go to the games Dillon doesn't have to worry at all about us embarrassing him...
we avoid him.
(btw: the 10 fingers in the air represents students from the class of '10... 2010
-or- the kids are showing you the traditional 'Tiger Claw' symbol, ring finger & thumb touching.)

Jared's day in the Emergency Room

Jared's clinical rotation day was spent working a shift in the Emergency Room at the hospital (he thought he would be on an ambulance... but that's next time). Here he is coming home from his shift.

Doesn't he look sweet? Wouldn't you be happy to have a nice

Emergency Medical Technician like Jared help you if you were hurt?

Stay tuned for his ride on the ambulance.

I guess he'll start doing rotations at several hospitals &

ride on a few different Ambulance Services in the area.

GLORIOUS RAIN!!

You'd think we'd never seen rain! It was such a welcome sight on Friday that my co-workers simply stood at the doors to our building & just stared & smiled at the rain. Glorious!!


The rain didn't stop us from barbequeing chicken yesterday to celebrate the Hawkeyes & the Longhorns win their football games!

Jared's got a big day tomorrow

Jared will work with the County's Emergency Service District tomorrow. He's scheduled for a 12-hour shift on the Ambulance.
I think he'll see some action since it's been raining & the roads are slippery. Yikes.

In remembrance

8 years ago today. Seems like the reality has settled in but today on my way to work the radio station played a moment of silence at the exact time the terrorist airplane struck the first tower in New York.My throat constricted & I remembered what I was feeling

on this morning in 2001.

So sad. So worried for those people stuck in the towers.

Now that my son is training to become a Fire Fighter

the loss seems so much greater.

That could be Jared some day.

I cried & cried all the way to work.
Sad.

Happy 21st Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to Scott & Shelly!!

Do you like this new background? I LOVE IT!!

Quote of the Week by Madison & her Dad

MADISON:
So we're at the Stony Point football game last Thursday night. It was the end of the 3rd quarter. The play-clock stops & the players all start to switch sides of the field.

Madison looks at me with a curious expression & says "The game's not over. What's everyone doing?"

I say "It's the 3rd quarter. We have to switch sides"

She looks acoss the field at the other stands and all their fans & then looks all around her at the Stony Point fans & says "We ALL have to go sit over there?! That's gonna take a long time!"

SCOTT:
In preparation for the neighborhood get-together for the UT Football game on Saturday Scott called me at work & says "Should I pick anything up at the store for tomorrow?"

I say "Get a box of brownies" (implying a brownie-mix)

Scott says "You can buy a BOX that has brownies in it?"

Off to a good start!

Stony Point Tigers over Connelly 42-3

UT Longhorns over ULM 59-20

Iowa Hawkeyes over UNI 17-16

Longhorn cUTie

Our neighborhood friends had a get-together to celebrate the UT Longhorns first football game. We watched the game (which was pay-per-view... crazy?!) and ate supper together. I couldn't resist getting this picture of our littlest neighbor.

Her shirt says "You can't spell cUTie without UT'. Awww.... too cute.

Takes me back to Grandma's kitchen

This meat grinder belonged to my Grandma. She used it to make sandwich spreads like Chicken Salad or Ham salad. I remember watching her grind the ingredients into a summer delicacy.

So last weekend I bought a 1/2 pound of bologna from the deli & decided to make my own Sandwich Spread. I ground the meat, 3 boiled eggs, many sweet pickles & some crackers. I added a little bit of onion, lots of mayo & mustard and a little bit of sugar. WHAA LAA.

This grinder is made of iron & VERY heavy. Scott looked through the box & noticed the instructions were printed in 1972. I said, "Yeah, that's about right." I think he doubted something so archaic could make something so yummy. We ate sandwiches all week!

waiting for rain...

We sat on the porch the other night because it looked like it MIGHT rain. We were getting lots of lightning so I set up the camera -- but only got these fuzzy pictures. Finally the last picture has some rain.

The history books have been re-written for Austin this summer. 2009 is now the hottest summer on record for Austin. Wow. And to think we were here for it. Yuck.

Anyways, the weather forecasters are prediciting an El Nino this winter with above average rainfall.

Great. This summer I didn't want to go outside because it's so freakin' hot and now I won't want to go outside this winter because it's raining. *sigh* Whatever.

Paint Project

The inside of our whole house is one color. Wheat. Or Cream. Or something like that. The walls & ceilings are the same throughout. So we decided we needed a change. See the color swatches Madison & Scott chose on the left side of the fireplace & the 2 I chose on the right side.

Below are all 5 colors we lived with for a week trying to decide what we liked.

Finally on Friday night we decided to get busy & start painting.

We went with 'Cardboard' which is the darkest brown color swatch from above.

Madison did a lovely job trimming & creating ancient art impressions.

This was certainly a team effort to get the whole room taped, trimmed & painted.

But by 11:30 on Friday night we were done!

Here are a few panoramic views of the living room.

We created a dividing line between the living room & dining room.

We really like the way it turned out! Unbelievable how a can of paint can change the look & feel of a room!