25 Things You Had No Desire to Know

Carmen from Mom to the Screaming Masses

had this and I thought I would do it too as I'm home from work about 8 hours early and will do about anything at the moment rather then the necessary housecleaning I ought to be doing.

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you. My coworker Solange.

2. Where was your first kiss? I think Skateland....most likely Skateland, at one of those all night skates.

3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else’s property? Nope I'm too afraid of getting in trouble to have even considered doing that

4. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex? Yes but only in play.

5. Have you ever sung in front of a large number of people? Only in elementary school during Christmas programs in a group with other kids singing as well. I get stage fright too bad to do any solo.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about your preferred sex? The entire package...then their smile...ooo and arms, I love well defined biceps.

7. What really turns you off? rudeness, lack of empathy, lack of courtesy

8. What do you order at Starbucks? Well I don't go to Starbucks often...paying 5.00 for a cup of coffee throws me off. When I do go it's usually a Frappucino. I went last week with a friend and had a Caramel Brulee Latte that was mmm so good.

9. What is your biggest mistake? No real big mistakes come to mind...lots of smaller ones I wish I would of done differently.

10. Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose? Nope only accidentally.

11. Say something totally random about yourself. I can still do a backbend :)

12. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity? Nope.

13. Do you still watch kiddie movies or TV shows? Only if the kiddies force me too. It's terrifying when they get out the duct tape and bungee cords (yes bungee cords so if I try to escape I'm slammed back where I was...I've bore demon spawn I swear). I try to run and hide but being so unfairly outnumbered they always find me (they may be demon spawn but they are very clever demon spawn).

14. Did you have braces? nope

15. Are you comfortable with your height? Now, yes. When I was a teenager I wanted to be shorter.

16. What is the most romantic thing someone of the preferred sex has done for you? Made dinner, cleaned house, let me go and take a nap when i'm tired or not feeling well( and I tell him to wake me up in 30 minutes and he lets me sleep for two hours), being my rock. My hubby tries with little things and it's the little things that count.

17. When do you know it’s love? When you can screw up royally, and there is still hugs and kisses and forgiveness. (Not my answer, but I like Headless Mom's!)<---I have to agree with this one

18. Do you speak any other languages? took 3 years of Spanish in High school. I can ask you what your name is, say hi/bye, count to thirty (after that it gets a bit rusty), and say the names of a very few objects. Other then that it's American English all the way.

19. Have you ever been to tanning salon? Nope and never plan on going. I've seen women who go and they seem to age so fast. I'd rather keep my face as wrinkle free as I can as long as possible. I have no want to have skin like leather.

20. Have you ever ridden in a limo? Yes, my uncle treated me to a limo ride one year.

21. What’s something that really annoys you? People who don't pick up after themselves

22. What’s something you really like? Reading

23. Can you dance? Nope but I pretend I can when no one is home, lol.

24. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room?Nope

25. Tag 5 people! Everyone who wants it!

Happy 13th birthday

It's sadly amazing how quickly they go from this:

To this:

I hope you have a great day son. I hope you don't change as you go head on into the teenage years. Please keep your imagine and creativity, your generosity. Most of all your ability to shrug off problems and hardship as the early teen years aren't always the easiest.

What a Week It's Been

Monday, Well Monday was mundane. Nothing happened on Monday(except my good friend and best neighbor's daughter had her birthday...she's now in the double digits and preteening all the way). Tuesday was my birthday...yeah....I really don't want to be a year older anymore. I don't need the reminders that I'm aging. I don't really want to celebrate another birthday until I'm like 80 then it turns into "WOW! you've lived HOW LONG?" not the "Another step closer to being over the hill, huh". Okay so the peak of that so-called hill is still aways away beings that I just turned 31. I'm still a baby compared to most of the residents I care for at work and I don't have any grey hair(knocking on wood, crossing my fingers, spinning clockwise and throwing salt over my shoulder so that I didn't just curse myself) and just a few small wrinkles that probably I only notice. Wednesday wasn't bad...only thing happened Wednesday was that I was told what time to come in for my youngest sons surgery today.

Today(Thursday) is Hubby's birthday. Love ya hunny. It was also the day for my youngest son's surgery. He has/had chronic mastoiditis and had to have part of the mastoid bone taken out and the infection drained(mastoidectomy) and he had to have tympanoplasty (his eardrum repaired). He was really groggy after the surgery and the anesthesia has made him nauseous and he's been having trouble keeping food and drink down. I think it's starting to wear off though 'cause he ate some chicken nuggets and has kept them down for a hour and a half now. He has a lovely dressing and bandage motif going on. At least his head will be warm tonight. He hates it because it presses against his ear and stitches and hurts a little bit. His painkillers fixes that though so he'll be good through the night. Tomorrow sometime we can remove the dressing and just put a large bandaid over the stitches and incision area for a week. He can't get his ear wet for a month. This is a boy who loves, loves his baths so that may be a bit tricky. I'm thinking on getting him a shower cap, lol. Not sure he'll wear it though. Sometime in the next few months to a year his hearing should be restored as his ear heals. I'm just glad we found the problem and resolved it before it got worse.

Tomorrow I plan on playing WoW, cleaning house, and working out. Saturday depends on if Hubby works or not and Sunday is my oldest son's 13th birthday. I am sooo not ready to be the mother of a teenager...especially not one that I can practically look square into the eye with out bending my head. I'm afraid next year he may surpass me in height...shudder.

Menu Plan Monday

Here is this weeks menu plan:

Breakfasts:
Monday: Biscuits and Bacon
Tuesday: Overnight French Toast
Wednesday: Oatmeal
Thursday: Hard Boiled Eggs, Bacon
Friday: Pancakes
Saturday/Sunday: Cereal


Lunches: kids will eat at school and I grab a sandwich, soup or ramen noodles and Hubby grabs whatever catches his eye.

Dinner:
Monday: Burgers, Fries, was salad but now it's corn
Tuesday: Was Chili but I forgot beans, so now it's Chicken and rice and spinach
Wednesday: Steak, Fried potatoes, Peas
Thursday: Tacos
Friday: Chicken "Hot Legs" (sorta like hotwings but more meat, lol) Scalloped potatoes, green beans
Saturday: Spaghetti, breadsticks, salad
Sunday: My Oldest son's birthday so it'll be whatever he wants.


Next week is Thanksgiving so I've got to plan around that and I'll work on that menu probably Friday or Saturday. The kids and I liked having a menu printed out and on the fridge. They like knowing what they are going to have for breakfast and dinner and I like that I'm not standing in the kitchen at 5pm wondering what in the world I'm going to fix.

To see more Menu's go HERE.

Menu Plan Monday

The cost of my youngest son's surgery and my upcoming decrease in work hours because of classes has me thinking of ways to cut our budget. So I'm going to jump on the Menu Plan Monday wagon. I know that menu planning helps your budget because 1: your less likely to splurge on eating out if you already know what your going to fix for dinner, and 2: you make out your grocery list according to your menu and less likely to buy impulse buys.

So I made out a menu for two weeks but I'm only going to post this weeks up here right now.
Menu Plan for 11/9-11/14

Dinners

Monday: Fried Chicken,Mashed potatoes w/gravy,Green Beans
Tuesday: Pork Roast w/ potatoes, carrots, onion, celery
Wednesday: Beans w/ leftover meat from pork roast, cornbread
Thursday: Spaghetti, salad, breadsticks
Friday: Steak, Baked Potatoes, Green Beans
Saturday: Pizza, Salad, breadsticks

Lunches:

The kiddies all eat lunch at school Monday-Friday. Saturdays and Sundays are sandwiches or whatever is available. I'll eat either soup, ramen noodles or a sandwich and Hubby eats whatever he can throw in his cooler.

Breakfasts:

Monday: Pancakes

Tuesday: Oatmeal

Wednesday: Overnight French Toast

Thursday: Bacon and Eggs

Friday: Bread Pudding

Saturday and Sunday: Cereal

November kinda sucks already

It's only the first week of the month and it kinda sucks. I had a tooth pulled Monday, my mouth is still a little tender. My youngest son's ear has been draining so I kept him home Tuesday and Wednesday morning, bright and early, we went to the ENT doctor. Turns out he has chronic mastoiditis, an infection in the mastoid bone behind the ear. The doctor is going to have to go in and remove a portion of the bone and drain the infection. Then he is going to repair a hole my son has in his eardrum.
The doctor said it was a simple operation that he has done nearly 5,000 times. My son will be under general anesthesia and the surgery will take about a hour. The second floor of their office building is the surgery floor so it's all done in office. My son still needs a ct scan but I couldn't afford it and the office visit yesterday so I guess I need to see how much that will be and schedule it soon. The office visit alone was 200+ dollars. I'm glad we have insurance however crappy it may be 'cause this surgery would cost over 8,000 out-of-pocket if we didn't...as it is it's gonna cost around 800. Well off to work and worry, lol. Hope everyone has a great day.

I hope everyone had a good night last night. I don't have any Halloween pics to post because we didn't dress up. Well, I did dress up some for work but as a family we didn't dress up. Money was too tight this year for costumes for everyone so we just stayed in ate a ton of candy, watched semi-scary movies (kids are still to young for really scary ones) and bobbed for apples (that was fun to watch and had my camera battery been charged I would of had pictures), ate more candy, ate dinner at about 8:30pm (at least those of us who didn't have a belly too full of candy ate) and all in all enjoyed a good family night in. None of the kids fought or bickered or argued we just kicked back and relaxed. Hubby unscrewed the porch light because he was worried about trick-or-treaters. I don't think they do that on our street as it's dark and no sidewalks. Anyway we have a long driveway and I don't think anyone would want to traipse up it to darken our doorway.

Pictures in Sepia

Tammy from Photography for Fun made a challenge to change photos from sepia that you had not thought of changing. So here's some I did. Click the pics to see them larger.

okay so this isn't very original...old car in sepia. It's still nice though.

I like the way these icicles from last winter look in sepia.

I think this is my favorite.

Memphis skyline in sepia.

Here are the originals.

It Feels Right

BCHS, the college I wanted to attend to begin with, finally accepted my transcripts. YEAH!! So in about 2 hrs I'll be sitting there taking the HOBET test (Hubby has been calling it my Bilbo test, lol...I told him I let him know if I find a ring, my precciousssss). I had to get updated Letters of Recommendation and update my app. The administrator at the nursing home I work wrote me a glowing recommendation that made me feel so appreciated. Which is big 'cause most of the time at this place you feel like just another disposable peon. Thank you's and Your great's come from the residents and coworkers a lot. The uppers (DON, Administrator, etc.) not so much.

Anyway, so for the last couple of nights I've been brushing up on my math skills making sure I have my formula's and stuff right in my head. I've had enough math I know I know everything, but a lot of the earlier stuff I learned I've forgotten and had to refresh myself. That and ratio's and fractions scare me so I want to make sure I have those down. I just have to tell myself not to get nervous 'cause I should know everything on this test. Somewhere in my little noggin is all the information I need to make a great score.

I'm just so happy I brought my GPA up high enough for them to consider me. I was on cloud 9 when I called the school on Monday to check on my app and got told that. I wasn't going to call due to fear of another rejection. I sucked it up and called and now wonder why I didn't do it sooner.

Well, gonna go and do some last minute studying before I leave. Wish me luck everyone, I'm sure all reading this know how badly I want this.

Wordless Wednesday

My favorite view after a trip to visit family in Mo.

For more Wordless Wednesdays go HERE

It's been awhile...

Not been posting much here because everything has been fairly quiet and I haven't had much to blog about. So I thought today I would post some pics I took over Labor Day weekend.

Well these are kinda in reverse but that's OK. This, of course, is the Memphis skyline. I'm so eager to see this when we are coming back from Missouri because it means we're home (or nearly so).

The view from one of the hills driving home on Highway 63 through Arkansas.

Footbridge in Water Wheel, Arkansas

Old mill in Water Wheel, Arkansas.

To see these pics bigger just click on them. I took more but I'll save those for another time. Hope everyone has a great Monday, I'll be spending my day off taking care of a sick kid. My oldest started running a fever yesterday. Doesn't surprise me as the middle and high schools here have been hit pretty hard by the flu. Not the swine flu, it seems most of the kids just have the good old fashioned flu.

Memory Lane Monday

This is a pic of my big brother and I taken in 1981.

Gone fishing

Went fishing, again. I took these pics today of everyone fishing and playing on the banks of the Mississippi River. The river looks so pretty here, I love taking pictures and just sitting there watching the little waves and the boats go by. Click on the pictures to see them bigger.

It was a gorgeous, but hot, day to be outside.

We got a few bites and I nearly landed a fish and Hubby nearly landed one but nearly doesn't count.

This is a pond on the wildlife refuge.

Back-to-School 2009

They're looking at some plane in the sky here

The "Why are you taking a picture" look.

Walking to the end of the drive to wait for bus...obviously.

Wordless Wednesday

A little late but as I was cleaning around my desk I came across this pic of my grandpa and just thought I would share. RIP Grandpa we all miss you.

For more Wordless Wednesday's go HERE

Summer's over

Well not technically, no. The kids' go back to school tomorrow. I'll have one in the seventh grade, one in sixth grade, one in fourth grade and one in second. Tomorrow isn't even a real school day. It's more like a registration day. All the kids show up at school, look at the wall with papers taped all over that has the names of teachers and kids showing who is in whose class. You then walk around trying to find the class and introduce yourself and your child to the teacher. The teacher then hands you a packet of papers that they need you to fill out. They are hoping you'll do so there and say OK with a look of annoyance while you try to explain that you will have to take it home and fill it out as you don't have the time to sit and and fill out 20 papers per child x4. You hug your child tell them to be good and trudge on to the next one. An hour later your finally on your way to work, class or wherever you need to be.

Last year as my first time experiencing this and it's total chaos. Some parents don't bother, or are not able, to go with their child to the first day and so send them in on the bus. More in the Middle School then in Elementary. So you have all these kids running around looking for friends and teachers and such. Most looking completely lost. Then a week later the kids will have their first real day of school.

I'll be trying to rush through this process tomorrow as I have to make the hour drive to class as soon as I get done for my Math for Nurses final. Yeah. Then I get a little bit of break before fall classes start. A break...all it really means is that instead of classes, work, kids and hubby...I just have work, kids, and hubby.

So, How do YOU give yourself a wedgie?

Here's a conversation I overheard between my daughter my oldest son and my daughter's friend.

Friend: "How do you give yourself a wedgie."

Oldest son: "You reach into your pants and pull your underwear out."

Daughter breaks out in laughter

My thoughts are why would you give yourself a wedgie and how did they come upon that subject anyway.

July 21, 2009

It's only Tuesday and I'm tired and ready for a day off. I worked 11p-7a Friday, off Saturday, 7a-3p Sunday and then yesterday a double 7a-11p. Up early today for class, and will be Wednesday and Thursday and then Thursday after class I have to go to work for a meeting and CPR training. Then back at work Thursday at 11p for a night shift. I have Friday off but I'll probably sleep on and off most of that day and work Sat and Sun. It's gonna be a messed up week,lol. I'll have a nice paycheck on the 8th too show for these extra hours. A much needed paycheck since our refrigerator went out over the weekend and now we just have a deep freezer and a cooler.

Kiddies go back to school 2 weeks from today so I need to get all the supplies they need. They all need new clothes and shoes (me too) but that'll wait till I get paid on the 8th...they don't a full day of school till the 10th anyway.

I need to get out and do some yard work sometime this week. My garden is a jungle and Hubby is threatening just to mow it all down but I want to save whatever I have to save and I don't want to lose my asparagus again this year. I forgot it last year and tilled it under. Somewhere I have onions and lettuce and Broccoli Rabe as well.

I want to build a chicken tractor and get a few chickens and I've been thinking about getting the kiddies a dog. The chickens will come way before the dog though. We have a dog but she doesn't wrestle like the boys would like too. She's just way to little for that, given she weighs like two pounds. They like dogs who will get down on the floor and roll around with them. Only thing is the dogs they like tend to be or get hyperactive and I do not have time for them right now. Most my lil dog does is nip at your ankle/feet while your sitting down, if she's not in your lap or sitting right next to you. I wouldn't mind getting a Rottie, Weimereiner or Rhodesian Ridgeback though. The Ridgebacks are neat because they have extra thick pads on the bottom of their feet/paws and so I could take them running/walking/bike riding long distance without worrying about hurting their feet. I saw a show on Animal Channel that showed a couple who ran marathons and their Ridgebacks were their trainers.

Well, guess I'll stop this rambling for now and get ready for class. Have a great day anyone reading this.

Memory Lane Monday

OK since I was only 10 months old in this picture this really isn't my memory. I'm going to try and scan all my old baby photos onto a cd so that I have a copy. Especially some of them are like this one and showing wear and tear. It happens, I guess, when a photo is nearly 30 years old.
So here's to a walk down memory lane to all those who knew me as a baby :)

Stage 2: Done

I want to say complete but I didn't do my desired goal for today. We spent too much time out fishing and then came home ate dinner and played Singstar on the PlayStation. I had just a few minutes to go out and ride down to my friend neighbors house to check on her animals and come home. Had a scary moment though, my back brakes failed on my bike and so while I was going down my driveway(fairly steep hill) I couldn't stop. My back brakes weren't working at all and my front brakes were just barely slowing me down, so I went down hill with on foot dragging the ground and hoping I wouldn't lose control. I think the tires and brake pads were just too wet from all the rain we had today. I may just ride my other bike tomorrow just to be safe, it's kept inside out of the weather. It's just a bigger/heavier bike and takes a bit more energy to get it up the hills on my street.
Anyway here's the screenshot for today:

click on the pic to see it clearer, but it shows I only rode 0.47 miles today. So I'll try for the full mile in the morning.

Stage 1: Complete

I did it, I got up and rode my bike for the first stage of Le Tour de Challenge from Mapmyride.com . It was only .87 miles but hey when you haven't ridden farther then that in like 17 years or so that's a good distance. So tomorrow we'll see if I can get that up to a full mile. You probably cannot see it well in this screenshot but in "virtual time" it would of taken me 1:56:09 to ride the first stage on the real Le Tour de France. In real time it would of taken me a lot longer 'cause there's some monster hills there and my legs felt like rubber when I got done with my little ride this morning. So 1 down, 21 days to go. Did anyone else reading this take this challenge?

Doing the Le Tour Challenge

MapMyRide.com is having a cycling challenge beginning tomorrow July 4th and lasts for 21 days. Same length as the Tour de France. My personal goal is to attempt to ride everyday and extend the distance I ride. My chances of winning the challenge are at the lower side but I think I'll buy myself a nice new saddle for my beater bike (the one that sits outside in the weather all the time) if I ride all 21 days.
If you want to participate in the challenge just click on the link above and sign-up.

I hate being down

I really do, so I need to write something more positive to offset the last post. Being down goes against my the-glass-is-half-full views on most things (unless those things pertain to me personally I guess...ugh gotta quit thinking that way).
Anyway here's some positive things I've noticed the past couple days.
1. I've been seeing more and more people running errands and getting around on bicycles. I love
this and am more encouraged to get my fitness level up so that maybe one day I can commute to work. Anymore it's nothing to go to Wal-mart and see people parking or loading up their bikes. I drive to or home from work and I see people riding around on bikes. The really nice thing is that these are not people you would expect to see on a bike. I saw a guy on his bike pulling out of the Wal-mart gas station. Cigarette in hand a nice horn on his bike wearing tee-shirt, baseball cap and cutoff shorts. A couple of months a go I saw a lady riding her bike on the street looking like she just came out of the office all the way down to the ballerina flat type shoes on her feet. I've seen people riding on the highway near my house. I think this is wonderful and encouraging no matter their own personal reasons for riding. I also love it that more people are riding and gas prices have gone down(some).
2. I live in a beautiful area. I notice this on my hour drive to class. There are corn fields, bean fields and cotton fields galore. All green and healthy looking (as long as you ignore the fact that these fields are probably saturated with pesticide and fertilizers). I see several people selling produce from their gardens on the side of the roads. Towns that mow and take care of the areas near the highway. Lush green trees and flowing creeks/rivers. The people here are great and 90% are willing to help a perfect stranger. I think the other 10% are transplants from other parts of the country 'cause being nice to people seems to be a totally Southern trait. I'm probably on of the 10% but I come from the Ozarks and they will only (maybe) help ya if they know you and you pay them. Ozark natives are more content to stay in their own little part of the country and ignore the fact that there are other people out there. Anyway I digress and that last part defeats my purpose of looking at the positive so lets not dwell on it anymore.
3. I have great kids and hubby
4. I have a great extended family
5. I have great friends

Well that's about it for tonight. Work tomorrow and Saturday and then Sunday off, yeah. I have a ton of homework for this class. Nice thing is, is that it's like elementary level math and so I shouldn't have a problem with the first couple chapters. When we get into doing dosages and flow rates and nursey stuff it might be more difficult but the first part isn't too bad.

Tomorrows Horoscope and Contemplating

Scorpio You don't know whether to laugh or cry, for your world seems intensely crazy now, even if the excitement level is high. Fortunately, you are willing to ride the roller coaster of emotions you are experiencing, for there's no easy way to stop. Keep in mind that this journey is perfectly safe and that you need not distinguish your fantasies from what's actually happening. You will gain the clarity you need in a couple of days.

Man sometimes these horoscopes are so accurate they're scary. I don't know about the roller coaster idea, I feel more like I'm drowning or someone is holding a pillow over my head. I just want everything to line up just right. I'm tired of the roller coaster I want to get off.

College isn't suppose to be easy and this isn't really what's upsetting me about it all. It's my own failures. I made a C in Anatomy & Physiology I. A 'C' is not good enough, I needed a B or A. Now I'm in another course called Math for Nurses and we are told that anything less then an 80 is failing. I'm questioning myself, I keep crying over this crap and I just don't know anymore if it's all worth it.

Thing is every time I think about changing degree plans, career plans and giving up on nursing I get this lump/tightening in my stomach and the waterworks starts and I can't control it. Just the thought of giving up on a dream I've held on so tightly just tears me up inside. This dream and my husband are the only constants in my life. Everything and everyone else changes but these two have stayed the same.

Hubby is very, oh so very supportive. He tells me it's nothing to cry over and just keep trying. I'm just tired of it all and I fear that I'm never going to be good enough to get into a nursing program.

Well, I took the final for A & P 1 yesterday. I hope I did well. I was pretty confident until I got to the last page and I think I screwed that up. I'll find out today what my final grade is for the class. All in all I'm a little disappointed with the entire thing. We didn't do any lab work what so ever. We only went to the room were lab was suppose to be like 3 times. The rest of the times the teacher just lectured for the four hours. The tests for the class were handwritten 10 minutes before class started. Needless to say they were not well thought out and sucked really bad. I'm glad to be done with it and I'm hoping not to have this particular teacher for A & P 2.

In other news, I'm a finalist in a contest. A while back I entered a contest for a 100.00 Home Depot gift certificate to go towards completing or starting a garden/yard project. I found out this week I was chosen, by random, as a finalist. So if anyone reading this would please, pretty please click on this link and vote for me I would greatly appreciate it. I'm in second place at the moment down by 2 votes and have till the 13th of July. Here's the link http://www.thisgardenisillegal.com/2009/06/home-depot-entry-1-a-bog-garden-of-my-own.html

...it just goes on and on my friend...

Of course since I put that as my title I'm going to have that silly song in my head all day. Okay here's the lyrics so that anyone reading this can be annoyed by it as well.

This is the song that never ends.

It just goes on and on my friend.

Some people started singing it not knowing what it was,

and they'll continue singing it forever just because,

This is the song that never ends.

It just goes on and on my friend

(and you just sing it over and over again).

That's pretty much how the whole month of June has felt like to me. I think it's partly due to this A & P class I'm in. The teacher talks and talks and talks...then sleeps...and then talks some more. I would say he lectures, but he doesn't. He reads a bit from the text or PowerPoint's and then goes off on what he calls "rabbit trails" on a subject that usually is not related to the topic or chapter we are suppose to be going over. Today wasn't so bad I guess. He still stayed off topic more then on, but at least he was talking about his hip replacement and rheumatoid arthritis and the chapter we did today was on joints so hey that does go together somewhat.

A few people dropped the class after the first week or two, some only show up on lab days, and a few are talking about taking the course over in the fall because they feel like they haven't learned a thing.

I've learned some but since I've had A & P once before this is more like a refresher. The other A &P didn't transfer is the only reason I'm taking this one. Only two more weeks left and it'll be over. This weekend I've gotta study my arse off and try to pull an 'A' on Mondays test because I blew this last Mondays test. My own fault, I got mixed up and studied the wrong reference plates.

Well on the home front, it's hot. June came in and decided to quickly remind everyone what summer is like in Memphis, hot and sticky. We've had highs in the 90s or near 90 so far this month. Right now it's 93 with a heat index of 106 (I really hope my hubby is remembering to take breaks and drink fluids). Tomorrows high is 97. Up till this week, we've had lots of rain including a couple bad storms of which 4,000+ people in the Memphis area are still out of power a week later. No power and high temps, I really hope people are checking on their neighbors.

My two oldest are still visiting grandparents in Mo. Hubby is gonna do the switch on Sunday and the two youngest get their chance to visit. It's been quiet(er) with out my daughter around. She is usually the instigator for every little argument around here. I wouldn't change her for the world though. She just won't let anyone walk over her, and I hope that stays.

Anyway guess I'm gonna get off here for a bit and start a load of dishes or do something that may be called housework. I need my oldest son's ability to make it look like I'm working real hard without doing a single thing. I haven't quite figured out how he pulls it off so well.

Have a great day and stay cool

Free Seed!!

I came across this giveaway on A Homesteading Neophyte and thought I would share with anyone who is reading this. The Survival Seed Store is giving away seeds. All you have to do is go HERE and leave a comment or click on the pic below.
Good luck.

Wordless Wednesday

Chucalissa Indian Mounds, Memphis TN

For more Wordless Wednesdays go HERE

It's been awhile

I've been kinda busy the whole month of May. The first week or so of the month consisted of finals and finishing a research paper. Then I had work and attempting to get the house in order for mom coming in. The last of which I ended up not doing 'cause it was my two weeks between semesters so I was taking a little of a break.
Next they fired two people at work so I got the call asking if I could pick up some extra days. Well of course I said, like a dummy, thinking of how my first paycheck in June will look. This cut into time for getting the house in order for mom. My dear hubby would pick up here and there but he got a cold (of which I now have, thank you love of my life) and since he was sick he didn't feel like cleaning and said if I started cleaning he would help when he got home from work(hmmm haven't we all heard those words or something similar a million times, lol). Since I'm the last minute queen I started cleaning Wednesday night and Thursday morning and waking up at 4:30am Friday morning so I could clean before work. Mom was to get here sometime Friday. I got a chunk of laundry done the living room clean (including the carpet which looked so nice) the dining room and the kitchen done. Had the kids scrub their bathroom. So I guess it wasn't too, too bad since the only thing Mom had the kids do was fold and put up the mountain of laundry that was piled on the couch.
Then on Saturday we went downtown to the Memphis Farmers Market, then over to
Chucalissa Indian Mounds. Then we split, girls and my nephew went one way and the guys another. Us girls went to Goodwill then drove all the way out to the factory outlet mall to find it's practically closed. Since my sister wanted to buy clothes for her son I decided we would take a look at Burlington Coat Factory. I wished I would of had some money when we went there. I swear I'm going to save money all summer so I can go back-to-school shopping there.
Okay, then Saturday night we had bbq and cake and ice cream for Mom's 50th birthday. On Sunday we went to Lowes so mom could get some jasmine vines and we went over to the new bookstore in town. Then Mom and them left and my two oldest went with them for three weeks.
That pretty much wraps up the month, well I was also busy leveling up my new WoW toons, characters, whatever-you-want-to-call them. I'm up to 40 on my tauren druid now, yeah. I've also got an 11 undead warlock, and a 5? human priest(lol, my bil doesn't like that I made an alliance one...he says alliance sucks). Anyway gotta go and eat some breakfast and study for a test today. Summer semester has started and my A &P instructor has made a test for the second day of classes. Fun, Fun.

Wordless Wednesday(or nearly so)

My Mother's Day present from my hubby and kids. It's called Tuscan Sun

and when I think of roses I think of my daughter. Thorns and all ;)
Here she is at her awards assembly today.

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Well, I did it...

I gave in to the curiosity and joined the World of Warcraft bandwagon. I played on the trial version with my sister Friday afternoon and by Friday evening was downloading the full version. I'm a level 7(i think) Druid Tauren named Jumuga. I haven't had a chance to play since Friday 'cause it took all night Friday night to download the silly game then I had to work Saturday then it took most of Saturday night to download the patches. By the time that was done I was eating dinner and playing Fable 2 on the Xbox with my hubby. On a side note, the fact that you can play two players on Fable 2 is nice, but it really sucks that the only thing the second player can do is be a henchman. I couldn't talk to people, pick stuff up or interact with the game like that. I could kick chickens and do the thingy's you do to get people to like or hate you.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun playing with my sister all the the way in North Carolina when I'm back here in W. Tennessee. I'll probably jump on there this afternoon for a bit when I get home from work. Then I have to jump off and study for my Nutrition final tomorrow. It's funny, I'll be talking to her on the phone and her and her hubby have it all planned out it seems. I'm going to make this character (oh what was it, a...oh crap I want to say shaman or something similar they wanted me to make) and then they are going to give me this stuff, and we're going to do this and that. I don't think I would of liked the game at all if it wasn't for the fact I'm playing with someone I know so I don't have to be afraid to make mistakes. Because that's what kept me away the most is not wanting to deal with people saying(or typing) shit because I do not know what I'm doing. My sis will be patient and I'm a pretty fast learner.

Wow I still have some hair left

I figured I would of done pulled every last strand out over this stupid research paper I'm doing for my English Comp class. It's a 2 month assignment that she decided to give us 2 weeks to do. Okay so it's more like 2 1/2 weeks. Nearly my entire family is about done with this paper as I am. I've neglected my other classes trying to get this dang thing done on time. My entire English class is saying their about to strike. One lady said if she makes a low grade in the class because of this paper she's going to appeal to the Dean. The teacher made the paper and the rough draft and the 10 min presentation due the same week. Forget about the syllabus, that was blown out of the water three weeks into the semester. The rough draft is due Monday, presentations with a PowerPoint 10 min speech and we have to dress up for start Wednesday and the final draft(which has to be in a portfolio with the following: a research prospectus, an annotated bibliography, an outline, copies of the sources and an abstract). Oh and if you have a question on what to do on the paper she directs you to some stupid little link on the assignment paper. So all your answers to all your questions are somewhere on the world wide web. Lovely thing is, is this paper is worth 150 points. That's a big chunk of your grade for the semester. The final is only worth 50 points. I just cannot wait till this semester is over and I hope I can pull a C out of this class just so I do not have to retake it.

It's the week that never ends

It's not been a bad week. Just a real, real slow one I guess. Same 'ol stuff going on except for the kids being on Spring break. It's such a bad week for their spring break for me. I have either class or work every day because my weekend off is coming up.


I got my classes set up for summer and fall. The first half of summer I have A &P I...this class is going to make for some long days. It goes from noon to 4 pm on Mon, Tues, wed. and just noon to two on Thurs. Then the second half of summer I have Math for Nurses. It's only from ten to just about noon but, it's all the way up in dyersburg which means an hour drive for me each way each day. Two hours of driving a day on Tuesdays Wednesdays and Thursdays...what fun. Then this fall, on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays, I have world religions (because we have to have a humanities class for nursing and this was about the only one in a time slot I had opened that looked remotely interesting) at 8am. At 9am College Algebra. 12:20 to 1:45 with a 1:55 to 4:50p lab on Mondays...Microbiology. Then at 6:35p-9:30p Developmental Psychology. I'm looking forward to the psych and micro classes. Algebra I wish I didn't have to take and I'm not sure about the world religion one...it could be interesting. All in all with class and kids and work...oh and hubby can't leave him out right. I'll have a busy next couple semesters. I also have to take the HESI test in the next few months(I'll probably take it next month) for the nursing program. I get through all this and then all I have is A&P II and nursing courses left before I can earn my ASN...so that's awesome.

I'm also taking some courses pertaining to a BSN(Bachelor's in Nursing). Dyersburg has dual degree curriculum with U of M. I grabbed a paper saying what you have to take so I'm using that to decide on my classes. According to this I only have 8 classes left for my associates and maybe 15 for bachelors(after this coming fall semester). So that's 2 maybe 3 semester left for asn and ,if everything goes well, 5 semesters for bsn. That's not bad at all really. Well I gotta go and get ready for class. Sun's suppose to come out and warm us up today so hoping for a great day.

13 years ago today

I married my best friend.

Wordless Wednesday

Down near Arkabutla Lake, MS

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I have cool kids

I really do when most toddlers/little kids where wanting to listen to Barney and itsy biddy spider when in the car mine were rocking out to AC/DC, Godsmack and Rob Zombie. Instead of nothing but cartoons all day, mine would be content watching fishing shows (okay not my favorite but one can only take some much sponge bob and toy story) and cooking shows. As my kids get older I get compliments on their ability to hold a conversation. I figure that's a result of the times where I've had to be a stay-at-home mom and the only people I had to talk to all day were under 5. I wasn't about to baby talk for 8 or more(usually more 'cause hubby did lots of out-of-town jobs in those days and so it just me and them most of the time) hours a day. As a result I have 4 intelligent, witty, smart-ass kids. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.
I don't know what brought this up...well I do. I was driving home from class and Hells Bells came on the radio and it reminded me of when my oldest was four or five. His favorite movie as Little Nicky(which now I don't allow him to watch because he had gotten where he would talk like Adam Sandler did in the movie all the time and it got to be a little disturbing) and he would sing Hells Bells and Rock You Like a Hurricane all the time.
Now my kids love to listen to AC/DC, Metallica, Godsmack, Rob Zombie...the harder the rock the better and on lighter days they like Beastie Boys. My daughter now, she does tend to lean towards the teen pop type of musice...but she just has to be different from the rest of us. It's okay different is good. That's why they make mp3 players and headsets.
I have to remember all this for when my nerves are stretched so tight you could bounce a quarter off of them and I've heard "Moooooommmmmm!! So and so did...!!!" for the umpteenth time and the beer in the fridge is looking like manna from heaven(and I don't really like beer) and I totally deserve an Arbor Mist.
Lets here it for cool kids...mine may not win popularity contests in school but at home they are the greatest kids ever.

Plans for the week

Well this week starts off with a math test first thing this morning. Next I hurry over to the county clerks office to renew my tags so I don't drive illegally later this week. Then back over to the college for English. I'm not sure if we are watching the ending of Othello or just going to start going over "Their Eyes Were Watching God" which I'm still trying to read. The way the author wrote the dialect is making it hard for me to read. If they all spoke proper English or at least something closer to it I could read it no time flat. Having to read sentences like "if Ah kin haul de wood heah and chop it fuh yuh, look lak you oughta be able tuh tote it inside. Mah fust wife never bothered me 'bout choppin' no wood nohow. She'd grab dat ax and sling chips lak uh man. You done been spoilt rotten." I swear it's worse then reading/deciphering Shakespeare. After about ten minutes of reading I have to take a break or I get a headache. Anyway I have to finish that book this week. Also today, when I get home, I have to do a quick tidy because the repairman is coming today sometime to fix the washing machine, yeah. So I have a ton of laundry to as well. I also plan on finishing planting the garden today.
Tomorrow is pretty easy I just have to take and pick up a check at the college and then I plan on getting my hair cut. I'll post pictures...maybe. Wednesday is just classes, Thursday work, Friday just classes. I also have to call the propane company today so that we don't run out. I don't like cold showers. Well it looks like once I get through today the rest of the week will be easy.
Poor kiddies have TCAP testing this week. All but my youngest son...1st graders don't take the test. I hate standardized testing, mostly because my oldest, who is a bright child, always scores less then what he should on the stupid tests. So this puts him in lower classes then what he should be in. I think he has some test anxiety...I know he does. They shouldn't base how well and how much a child is learning on a stupid end-of-the-year standardized test. Bad thing is, is after this week...for the last month of school...they will basically do nothing. The teachers quit teaching and pretty much just become babysitters for the last month. Because they teach to the test and when the test is over they are done. Frustrating. So I will be setting up some extra work at home for the kids. ;)

Rain, Rain....wait Cold, Cold Go Away

...come back another year. I'm so tired of wet, cold, rainy weather. It's the end of March, We should be out enjoying windy, sunny weather, fishing and flying kites. Not inside huddling around the games systems and computer.
I got a call from my student dentist and he had to push back my appointments to get my teeth fixed. It seems instead of getting the periodontal work and filling first I'm getting 2-4 teeth pulled. Cool thing also, it seems some of the student dentists are taking their license exams and my mouth has problems they could fix for their test. So free dental work for me. Only problem is that I may have to miss class that day. I'll work it out though.
Speaking of classes, I've been contemplating applying for the nursing program at the college I'm currently attending along with my application at BCHS. This way I don't have all my eggs in one basket so-to-speak. I'm all counting on getting in at BCHs that I really hadn't thought of what I would do if I wasn't accepted. So I'm going to get things rolling for the nursing program at DSCC as well. That way if one doesn't take me maybe the other will. The program at DSCC is only an Associates degree and that kinda sucks because that's not really what I want. But I picked up a paper at one time that described a program they have with UofM so you can pretty much get an associates and then a bachelor's degree simultaneously. Sounded pretty neat and I think I might see into it.
Well I guess I'll write more later I gotta go and decide which recipe on my menu list for the week I'm gonna fix for dinner tonight. It's a choice between:
Beef & Cabbage Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce, or Hamburger Buddy, or Southwestern Beef & Bean Burger Wraps. All which sound really good and the recipes are fairly healthy. I got them from Eating Well if you want to search for them. I was leaning to Hamburger buddy but the bean and burger wraps sound real good too. Well gotta go I think this is enough rambling for one day.

It's gonna be a long year

So I went down to the dental college in Memphis yesterday to get started on getting my teeth fixed. The student dentist doing the work is a real nice guy and seems pretty confident in his work. I have a whole shopping list of things that will get done though. Let's see theres: 9 extractions, several fillings, 1 root canal along with a crown on that tooth, some periodontal work and a partial that he called a "flipper". I think I'll get that at the same time the front teeth are pulled so that I don't have to go without front teeth. For which I'm grateful because that's just not a look I want to rock. This will probably take most of the next year to do. I'm having a filling and then the periodontal work done first and then probably the three teeth in the front done and all that will be done by July most likely. So with luck I can go to nursing school with a pretty smile. Then they'll do the rest of the work.
I can expect each appointment to last four hours though. I tell you fours hours of someone poking and prodding in your mouth is something else. But for 1/3 of the price of going to a regular dentist office and giving someone experience needed for their career is worth it.
I'm going to put pics of my garden up here soon. Nothings coming up yet but I like having before pics. I'm planning like an English style kitchen garden. So far there are peas, zucchini, acorn squash, sweet dumpling squash, jalapenos, 5 kinds of tomatoes, asparagus, cabbage, red onions, and cucumbers..oh and moonflowers. In my herb garden there's just garlic right now but today or tomorrow I'll plant basil, peppermint and whatever else I have. I still need to plant potatoes, carrots, corn, watermelons (that the kids started) and a pumpkin (again one of the kiddies).
In the flower beds: I have hostas, tulips, and my one surviving rose bush doing well. Oh and a plant that we got from my husband's grandpa that he called a leek but it doesn't look like any leek I've seen or can find on the Internet. It's still kinda pretty. I also have lilies coming up. I can't wait in the next few weeks I outta have stuff growing, greening up and blooming.
Well that's it for now...I gotta get the kiddies rounding up all their stuff and off to school so that I can go to school myself.

Stop Growing Up

I took a picture of my dear daughter this morning and it struck me how grown-up she's looking. To me she's looking older then her 11 years. So I decided that she cannot grow up anymore. Not till I'm ready for it. Yea I know, not likely to happen but it's a nice thought. She brought home a paper from school advertising pom squad sign-ups and she said she would like to do it. So I emailed the lady for more information. Dd has had absolutely no experience in cheer, dance, pom or anything similar but hey if she wants to and it's not too expensive I might just let her. Well and if they accept girls with no experience...some teams don't. The paper says there's no try-outs so I'm taking that as they accept all experience levels. If she gets on the team she'll be performing with them at Riverkings and Redbirds games. Hockey and baseball anyone? If nothing else it will be a good experience for her and she may like it. Here she is posing in her new clothes before getting on the bus this morning. She was proud of the outfit she put together. She even has a brown, corduroy purse that matches the corduroy jacket and pants she's wearing.

Say Hello

Just a quick 2 second post to introduce the world to our new baby. Everyone say hello to Karley Jo. She's a cute little poochi(toy poodle/chihuahua mix). Yes she's a designer breed some may call her a mutt...but really nearly all breeds started out as mutts at one point. All I care is she's mine and she's a sweetie...even if she has whined all night long for the past two nights not letting momma get any sleep.