Happy Thanksgiving

What a year! So much to be grateful for. We had big losses~ Bubby's mom died from a horrible fast-moving cancer. My brother almost lost his foot to an infection...but he's still got it...minus a toe! We are set to close on our country house in a couple weeks. Parker is doing great in school and still playing basketball. I'm having a good year teaching despite all the added pressure of "No One Fails" and I'm loosing weight in the midst of it all, (Thanks Jack for making me walk)  finally...... oh and Bubby turned 50!!! 

Happy Thanksgiving

Bubby's Big Beautiful Delicious Chocolate on Chocolate Cake

Parker's First Varsity Game~ Warming Up

He didn't play much, so I had to use the warm up shots here. lol

Doing his thing on the bench...

clapping and cheering! 

I'm always thankful for my girl, Molly 

And my boy Jack!! 

Happy 2010 Thanksgiving! 

Checkin In

Been quite busy and out of sorts lately. It was my migraine week- had the headache for 5 days. It's still lingering, but for the most part gone. I worked through it and walked with it and I survived. As of this morning I'm down 30 lbs!! I'm happy. I'm in the mode of loosing. I even passed up the most delicious cake yesterday afternoon. I'll keep doing this as long as it feels right. I don't feel like I'm missing anything which is important.
I hosted Bunco....had fun and even drank wine. I couldn't concentrate though...but it felt good to relax. My friend is in the hospital- very very sick. I'm sooo worried about her when she gets out. I need to balance being selfish about my walks and visiting and helping her. My younger brother is having some issues. I worry about that too...not to mention the stress of work and wondering if our house will actually close!!! And to top it off- I had a horrible tooth ache last weekend which resulted in root-canal- which I got 1/2 last week and will have it finished today. AWK
But... I'm not eating my problems away. Walking has been the biggest de-stresser. Who knew? I sure didn't. I never gave myself enough time to make it a habit. I'm battling my back hurting. It's sore. Walking helps. I think when I get headaches I just want to crawl in bed and lay and that make my back hurt.....so no sleeping- got to fix that now!
I did buy pants two sizes smaller. I feel happy that I'm making progress. Baby steps. :) Here's to the next 30!!!

Scary Stuff

Link up and show us something you've created for Halloween, anything qualifies...costumes, recipes, crafts, party invites, treats, decorations etc..  This post is inspired by Mama Kats

 This Halloween like all others I didn't make anything. So I thought I would share pictures of stuff I see on my walks with Jack....  Oh, I'm m-a-k-i-n-g a photo gallery. So I did make something! Here ya go: 

This one little cul-de-sac always goes all out...by day it looks like this....

By night it looks like this...

In fact, every one on that street put's out pumpkins w/ lights.... 

Lots of spooky thinks we see

Ancient burial ground? 

Beware of bats and ghosts

Happy Halloween..not spooky!

This really freaked out Jack. He wasn't keen on the new additions to the yard. 

 Nice and scary!!

Darn wind

Just in case you get lost.

Not a fan of rats. LOL 

Gremlin guarding the fire hydrant...always necessary at Halloween!! 

Same house with the owner who has too much time on his hands. LOL 

Love the spooky goblins that have come out. 

A coffin awaits you!

Just get me home...this is all too scary. You humans are weird. :)

Acorn Overload

I have no idea what game Miss Mother Nature is playing on us, but I don't like it. 

It's the damn acorns. 

They keep coming and coming. 

We sweep them up every two days and they just  come back. 

I mean, really. How many of these things does one tree need to produce? 

Why? Why this year and not last? 

We are having some very unwelcome nighttime visitors as a result. 

The patio chair has what looks like cat hair? Really? We don't have cats.

We have two dogs that don't like cats. 

Or was it a cat? Looked like cat hair. 

Do rats shed? Gosh I hope not. 

Do squirrels come out at night? 

Whatever it is I wish I would go away.

All I hear when it's quiet is: Plunk....rooooolllllll  or DINK...dink..... or capowwww......

And Jack...Jack likes to bring them in and then drop them and walk away.

ARGGRHHHH 

Acorns suck. 

Whining

I guess whining helps. Scale is back down today LOL

Ding Dang Weight

I dunno what is going on with my body.
 How can I gain and loose three pounds of water over night repeatedly? I need to stay off the scale. Next week I guess I'll weigh in once and then be done. One day this week it swooped down low..then was back up. I'm going to have to be more meticulous with points?
I'm writing everything down. Not snacking.
I could eat more fresh fruits. Maybe incorporate something a bit more aerobic. sigh.
Weight loss is hard. :)

Weekend ReCap

Why do weekends go by so fast?

This weekend I~ 

1. Performed with our school's dance team at the halftime football game. It was really fun.

2. Drove with my son's school basketball team to two businesses to take pictures for the program book. 

3. Had fun taking their pictures. :) 

4. Got groceries. Did Laundry. Cleaned the house. 

5. Read all my magazines.

6. Caught up on TV shows.

7. Took three naps! 

8. Walked a total of 7.5 miles.

9. Shopped for baby gifts and a purse. Only got the baby gifts. 

10. Entered a butt load of grades into the computer for school. 

That's what I call a relaxing weekend. :) Happy Monday. 

They have a hard time being silly in front of parents. LOL 

The View of My World

Inspired by Mama Kat's Writing Workshop !!!!

The View out My Front Door

Just Kidding. I wish. LOL 

Looking Out 

Looking In 

Looking Further Out 

Looking Down My Street

My Backyard Sanctuary 

My Kid's Legs. 

Teeny Tiny Weekend

Wow, the weekend flew by. I think it was the gorgeous weather, not working, relaxing, that made it fast.

Here is a capsule update:
1. Weight is coming off slow. I'm down 22 lbs. Down a pant size.
2. Still walking my 3 miles a night. I bike when I can. I want to increase that, because Sunday I rode 7 miles and my tailbone is sore again. lol
3. Dillards and Macys  have crappy clothes right now. Just saying.
4. Ordered more shoes online. Husband is not thrilled. I'm on a quest for my heal not to hurt. He has to understand I'm on my feet all day. With about two 45 blocks of time when I eat and plan. I need comfort.
5. We might have a contract on the house!!! More to come.
6. Supposed to be a shooting at my son's school today. Let me tell you rumors fly like crazy. It all stems from two teen suicides the last couple weeks at a different school. Parker informs me he will be fine. LOL I've experienced some interesting parent panic episodes in my teaching years, so I feel comfortable saying this is silly.
7. I have three more weeks with the Academy Kids before we get new ones. I'm ready. They have overstayed their welcome. I'll have to explain them in a post. But they are like wild animals at this point!
8. I won at Bunco Friday night. :)
9. I found pants (smaller size) at Target. I'm hoping they only fit for a month and then are too small. hehe
10. I got asked to be a Dance Team girl's partner on Friday at the half-time show. What have I gotten myself into?

And Then I Panicked

Inspired my MamaKats :)  

My child. He turned 16 this summer and got his license and I think he's a pretty good driver. Last summer however, was a different story.

Once he got his permit, he was roaring to drive on the open roads- out of the neighborhood. My husband, when asked to take him,  flat out said, No thanks. So it was just me and him.

I thought it best to start with teaching him how to fill up gas, so I suggested we go to the near by gas station to practice pulling up to the pumps. All went well on the drive over there. But I did notice a few things...his hands were in "death grip" mode. His back was WET. He was nervous. Sweat trickled ever so slowly from his head.  He was excited. It was the first time on the road (without the benefit of the driving school teacher with his own set of brakes) in the BIG Ford F150 4X4- his soon to be truck. We pull up to the pump. However, Parker, pulls right into the middle of the two sides of the pump-right smack dab in the middle of the lane. I'm laughing at him..making fun of him...teasing him. ( I have to do it whenever I can, ok). So I say...ok...just back up and we'll try it again.
Well, he does. But he got mixed up and floored it- while in reverse.

And then I panicked.

But he stopped. And I didn't know whether to laugh or yell. I laughed...he claims he got confused. I calm him down...now gently pull forward to the pump and we'll get this done. Well, he does. But he got mixed up again and floored it.

And then I panicked.

But he stopped. This time I yelled. He claims he was nervous. People were watching him. (They weren't) Ok I laughed too. He was sweating steadily by now. I have never let him forget that, nor do I plan to forget it. It's good fodder for teasing.

Later we decided to go back out and try going through a drive through for some fast food. He changed shirts. Showered. He gets in the car to wait for me. As I'm coming out, he is coming towards me..extreemly frustrated. What's wrong? ...Mom...the car is dead...it's not working. It just rolls when I put it in gear. Sure enough, everytime I put it in gear to back up we would we roll forward. I try and try and sure enough it was broken. Shit. Shoot, what had we done? The truck is already not working. What would my husband say????

And then I panicked.

But it wasn't broken. He hadn't started the car. Air was on. Radio was on. Motor was off. Sigh.

Later that week when we drove again his confidence soared. We were heading home on a two lane road leading to our house. Now mind you,  I'm not a yeller. I don't raise my voice. I don't usually get excited. Up ahead however,  is an 18 -wheeler and I tell Parker...slow down because for some strange reason, he's stopping. There was no place for the big truck to turn, so it was weird. Nevertheless it was stopping. But Parker wasn't. I wait to say something. I wait. Come on Parker..... I wait a bit more. Can't wait....

And then I panicked.

And screamed, .
STOP. YOU ARE GOING TO HIT ITTTTTTTTTT. What are you thinking????
 He stopped. Just barely. Not funny. He was insensed. Why did you yell at me? I stopped. Why would a truck just stop? That is so dumb. Stupid truck. His sweat flowed now, and it was too late, I lost my trust in his driving sense. While it was a good lesson in unpredictability, defensive driving, it was too close for comfort.

He earned my trust back after a while. And, we've had some good times in that truck mostly concerning parking. It seems to be a source of pride to be able to park a large truck between two small cars. Of course that graduated into backing it in without hitting anything.  I even let him drive me up the busy I 35 and into Dallas. He did fine. Now my panic comes when he's supposed to be coming home and I hear sirens. That kind of panic. Just a wee bit of mom- panic.  Mostly though, I just laugh and trust him. I hope I taught him well.