Cake is Good

That is all.

HGTV

I really like HGTV.  Don't ask me why, I just do.  I like to watch the shows featuring couples buying homes.  Here's what I don't understand.  How can young couples (like 25 years old), buying their first home, afford to pay $250,000 or more for a house?  HOW?  There is no way in Hades (note my avoidance of curse words) that Robert and I could have afforded a house like that when we were first married. Heck, we could barely afford the mobile home we paid $19.500 for!  (Yes, we did live in a mobile home - but we weren't no trailer trash!)

Or maybe all of the people on those shows are the ones we are now bailing out because they can't pay their exorbitant mortgages anymore.  

Thanks a Lot, Liz!

So earlier this week, Liz posted about the incredible donut she had tried at Shipley's.  Buttermilk Cake Glazed.  She raved about this donut, which is only available on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Friday morning, a group of us gathered at Shipley's to try these wonders of the donut world.

Good Golly, was she right!  They were incredible!  Without a doubt, the best donut I have ever tasted in my life (and I've eaten my share of donuts).  They literally melt in your mouth.

So where was I this Saturday morning?  At Shipley's, buying Buttermilk donuts.  All very unselfish, of course - I wanted my family to try them.  Yeah, right.  They'll be lucky if I let them have one each!

I can see this could become a very bad habit.  I am just going to have to stay away from that place.  Of course, Kimberly is coming home next weekend....

Thanks a lot, Liz!!

CSI

We definitely watch too much CSI at our house.  As I've said before, our little cat, Ming, likes to bring lizards in the house.  Sometimes we catch them when they are still alive. Sometimes we don't find them until they are, well, not so alive.  Sometimes we only find parts of them (usually tails).  

Today I asked Scott to come get the lizard tail that was under the desk.  (And he didn't even look askance when I asked him to do it.)  He picked it up (with a tissue) and said, "Whoa."  I said, "What?"  He replied, (and this is how I know we watch too much CSI):

"Rigor has already set in."

I am a Blogger!

I am a blogger!  I find myself judging situations by their blogworthiness (although some may not always agree my situations are blogworthy).  A long trip to the Driver's License Office?  Blog it!  A trip to the vet with 2 Siamese cats?  Blog it!  Or I find myself taking something simple and turning it into something to blog about.  My boys need haircuts?  Blog it!  High school is expensive?  Blog it!  

I am more of a writing blogger though.  Not a talented photo blogger like Lori, who always makes her posts better with pictures.  I don't think that way.......yet.  It will probably come, though.

What about you?  If you blog, do you think to yourself, "this is something I should blog about"?  Or is it just me?

Haircuts

Jeffrey and Scott NEED haircuts.  Desperately.  Jeffrey and Scott WANT haircuts.  Desperately.  But they can't get haircuts until Saturday.  Why, you ask?  Because of Winter Drumline.  Their last competition is Friday night, and they have to be able to do this to their hair:

Their hair has to be long enough that they can gel it up and make it crazy.  (Jeffrey's looks a little tame in that picture - it was actually wilder looking.)  I don't know why the whole Winter Drumline decided that wild hair should be part of their costume, but they did.  So, we are stuck with their long, moppish looking hair until Saturday.

The things we do for ART!!

At Least We Did Something...

Robert had today off and he's also taking tomorrow off. I had this idea that we (meaning the four of us at home) should drive up to Brenham and spend the night. Robert thought it was a good idea too. The problem? My 15 and 18 year old boys didn't think it sounded very exciting. So....we didn't go.

Because I was bummed about that, I made Robert take us out to dinner. And not just any dinner. Oh, no. We went to my favorite restaurant in the whole world:

Taste of Texas

Word can not adequately express how much I love that restaurant!  I love the Texas decor and ambience.  I love the salad bar.  I love the fruit.  I love the breads.  I love the filet mignon (melts like butter).  I love the baked potato.  I love many of the desserts.  Key lime pie.  Ice cream sundae in a sugary type edible bowl.  Snickers pie.  Chocolate cake. Tonight I got the ice cream sundae.  But they are all yummy.  

I truly love that place!!  And it made me feel better.

(I'm sorry, Kimberly.  You were working.)

1 Hour and 50 Minutes

1 hour and 50 minutes.  That's how much time Jeffrey and I spent at the Driver's License office getting his driver's license renewed.  1 long hour and 50 long minutes.

Why are the DPS workers so slow?  Why are the people there for driver's licenses so dumb?  Why, why, why?!?!?!?

St. Patrick's Day!! (Post 3)

A beautiful old Irish blessing:

"May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand."

I wish that for all of you, my friends.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! (Post 2)

Ronald Reagan once quoted the following Irish blessing:

"May those who love us, love us.

And those who don't love us, may God turn their hearts.

And if He doesn't turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles      so we'll know them by their limping."

As he said, some may call it more of a curse than a blessing!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

We Have Tickets!

Can you guess which musical Kimberly and I are going to see?

"Tradition"

"If I were a Rich Man"

"Sunrise, Sunset"

Did you guess "Fiddler on the Roof"?

If you did, you're correct!  In June we are going to see "Fiddler on the Roof" starring Topol!  He's the guy who plays Tevye in the movie.  Topol!!  I'm so excited!!

A Trip to the Vet

So today I took the cats to the vet. Surprisingly, they were both very well behaved while being examined. They pretty much just laid on the table while the vet poked and prodded. So why am I regaling you with this tale? Because of the trip to and from the vet's office. They were both in cat carriers, so they were well contained. But traveling in the car definitely brings out their vocalness!

To fully understand, here is a description:

meow: This is Ming, our little female Siamese cat. Her sound is high pitched and dainty.
MEOW: This is Brynner, our big male Siamese cat. His sound is louder and very Siamese-y sounding. You all know what I mean.
MEOW:  This is me.  Yes, sometimes I join in.

So here is how our 20 minute trip goes:

MEOW.  MEOW.  MEOW.  meow.  MEOW.  meow.  MEOW. MEOW.  meow.  MEOW.  meow.  MEOW.  meow.  MEOW. MEOW.  MEOW. 

Now, do that for 20 minutes (that's how long it takes to get to the vet).  Doesn't it sound fun?

My First Giveaway! (As a condition of winning a homemade gift from Leslie)

My first giveaway!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me!

I saw a similar post on Leslie's blog and I thought, "hey, this could be fun." So I decided to do it! I get a homemade gift from Leslie, and I get the chance to make some gifts for friends.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. It'll be done this year. Hopefully sooner than later.
3. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be sewn, scrapbooky, baked, or it may be something totally random that I come up with on a whim. Who knows? Not you - until you receive your gift!
4. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. Let's get those homemade gifts going! So, the first 5 people to leave a comment telling me they are doing it also, will receive a gift - made with my two hands! (Although you may be taking your chances with that...)

Be sure to post pictures of what you won when you recieve it!

Who Needs to Talk to People?

Today I had to make an appointment for Scott to go see his opthamologist.  Rather than look up his number in the phone book, I looked it up on the internet.  But I didn't have to use it.  I was able to make the appointment on the internet. That's the first time I've done that.  

I'm not sure I would use it every time.  His doctor only works 2 days a week, so I knew I would be taking whatever appointment I could get.  But with doctors that work 5 days a week, there is usually some negotiation about what day and time will work best.  So while it's intriguing, and sometimes nice not to have to talk to anyone, I don't know if I would use it all the time.  

Cha Ching!!

High school = expensive.

Last payment for Jeffrey and Scott to go to Disney World with the band.  Cha ching!!  

Payment for Jeffrey to take 8 (yes, 8) AP exams.  Cha ching!!

I'm okay with these expenses.  This is probably the only way the boys will get to Disney World.  And if Jeffrey does well on all 8 AP exams he will save us money in college.  He has already passed 4 tests, so he would have credit for 12 college classes if he passes these 8.  (Study, Jeffrey, study.)  

It just would have been nice if both rather large payments had not been due the same day!  Cha ching!!  Cha ching!!

Happy 18th Birthday, Jeffrey!!

Jeffrey turned 18 today!  It's hard to believe that it's been 18 years since I gave birth to this 11 pound chunk:

And here he is 18 years later with some of his friends from church:

He's a great kid, and I'm proud to call him my son.

Ugly Bat Boy

I am a cat lover, but this is one UGLY cat!  Warning:  Not for the faint of heart.

I wasn't lying, was I?

Gardening

I was looking through my book of poems by Edgar A. Guest, and I came across a poem that expresses how I feel about gardening:

"I like to see the flowers grow,

To see the pansies in a row;

I think a well-kept garden's fine,

And wish that such a one were mine;

But one can't have a stock of flowers

Unless he digs and digs for hours.

My ground is always bleak and bare;

The roses do not flourish there.

And where I once sowed poppy seeds

Is now a tangled mass of weeds.

I'm fond of flowers, but admit,

For digging I don't care a bit.

I envy those whose yards are gay,

But never work as hard as they."

That is me.  I would love to have a flower filled yard, but I really dislike the whole process of getting the flowers in the ground.  And I'm not really fond of taking care of the flowers once they are in the ground.  So then they die.  

If I were rich, I would have a gardener so I could have a wondrous garden!

NOOOOOOOO! Well, okay.

The "NOOOOOOO!" was my initial reaction upon realizing that Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday, and I have to move my clocks forward one hour.  I hate losing that hour of sleep!  

On the other hand, I do like that it stays light longer every day.  That makes me happy!  

So, I am initially disgruntled, but after the first day, I'm okay with it.

What about you?  How do you feel about Daylight Saving Time?

Unnecessary Law of the Month

From Townhall Magazine:

"It is illegal to snore in Massachusetts unless all the windows and doors to the room you are sleeping in are locked."

That must be for the snorer's protection.  No one would be able to sneak in the room and smother him to shut him up!

Seniors are Expensive!!

I finally ordered Jeffrey's graduation stuff.  Can you say "expensive"!!  

25 Announcements - $24.75

50 Name Cards (they only come in packs of 50) - $21.95

Cap, Gown, and Tassel - $32.95

Packaging and Handling - $10.00

Tax - $7.40

Grand Total - $97.05!!!!!

That's crazy!  We didn't even get very much - just the basics.  We didn't' get special inner envelopes.  We didn't get special graduation tissue inserts.  We didn't get a scrapbook, or key ring, or hoodie.  We didn't get any of the extras.  And I still spent $97.05!  And we haven't even done senior pictures yet.  More major bucks there too!  

Seniors are expensive to have around!

HEY EVERYBODY!! READ THIS PLEASE!! AND COMMENT!!

As you know, my son, Brian, is serving a mission in the Dominican Republic.  As of today he has been out for 18 months!  He only has 6 months left to serve!  

I know Brian reads my blog on his P-Day.  So, even if you don't know Brian, would you please comment and thank him for serving.  I think it would be fun for him.

I will start.  

Brian, I'm so proud of you for serving a mission.  I know what a sacrifice it was for you to leave school and your friends.  But you were excited and willing to serve.  I am amazed by how much you are growing.  You are not the same person who left here 18 months ago.  You have matured so much and learned so much.  Enjoy your last 6 months.  Someone said today that these would be your best 6 months.  You know the language, you understand what you are doing, you know just how important the work is. Make the most of the time you have left.  Keep working as hard as you have been working, and these last 6 months will be wonderful.  You have been a blessing to our family, and I am so proud of you.  Love, Mom