shirts

okay jennifer, here are some additional shirt ideas. i'm loving them all....

• front: There is an itch in runners. ~Arnold Hano
  back: We like to scratch it. ~Waco Runners
  
• front: Runners just do it.
  back: They run for the finish line even if someone else has reached it first.
  
• A side stich is like a car alarm. It signifies something is wrong, but you ignore it until it goes away.
  
• front: Waco Runners (i don't like the name but i can't think of anything right now.)
  back: Making the pavement feel needed, one mile at a time.
  
• Left. Right. Repeat.
  
• front: Running is a state of mind.
  back: It's called insanity.
  
• front: *Name of running club*
  back: I may be slow, but I'm still ahead of you.
  
• If we played tag, you'd be IT forever. (Love it.)
  
• front: *Name*
  back: Pardon Our Dust.
  
• front: I do today what you won't, so I can do tomorrow what you can't.
  back: Just RUN.
  
• I must confess, I could use some rest I can't run at this pace very long.
  
• Never again until tomorrow - that's what running does to you.

Proof

i was finally able to catch drew with his mouth open wide enough this afternoon to get a picture of his new tooth. yes, it's just barely there on the bottom, but it's taken him months to finally get it in. along with it has come the fussy-sillies. he's wanted me to hold him all day and he will cry one minute and be laughing the next. he's 27 pounds now so i'm officially exhausted by the end of the day. i had to include some other pictures of course....some of him eating his beloved rice puffs and some of him pushing his new book around. yes, pushing. he's decided everywhere he goes he has to put one hand on his book and push it around. it reminded me of the iRumba vacuum cleaner that runs into walls, backs up and goes a different direction all on its own. drew wasn't quite as technologically advanced today so everytime he pushed the book into something and it would go no further, he would put his head down on it and cry. it was kind of pitiful yet i found myself sitting in the floor laughing at him rather than helping him....oh well, he enjoyed himself regardless.





i've also found he has an affection for french fries like his momma....i had never given him one because i'm kind of anal about what he eats. i think because i eat so awful, so much junk all the time, i don't want him to even have a taste of those things. however, i turned around last weekend and mom had given him french fries. so, when he saw that i had some today, he crawled across the floor like a rocket to get to me....poor momma, i thought he was coming to sit in my lap but he just grabbed the fry out of my hand and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. when he wanted more and they were all gone, he had a complete and total meltdown. (no more french fries in his vicinity, that's for sure!)

Hooray!

Drew finally has a tooth! As of Thursday morning, his very first tooth broke through. It seems a little late considering he's a little over 10 months but my mom assures me none of us had teeth until somewhere around this time. I suppose what they say is true, every baby is different.

There are a few other "hoorays!" this weekend....Angie and JB are running their first 5K this morning in Lexington. They're running for a great cause, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation....I wanted Angie to get JB a shirt that said "Running to Save Second Base".

Also, our friend Ashley has had her baby boy almost 8 weeks early. She had an emergency c-section around 1:00 am Friday. Solon Gray is 3 lbs 15 oz and 17 1/4 inches long. Jennifer and I were able to see him in the NICU for a few minutes and he is perfect! Very small and skinny, but perfect and doing well, thank goodness.

I found while being back in the NICU that it may very well be a place I would want to try to hide and stay in! How amazing to see all those teeny-tiny babies working so hard to make a place in this world. I couldn't help but think what a wonderful job those nurses must be blessed with, especially when everything turns out well for mom and baby. It was very shocking and a little heartwrenching to see Solon at almost 4 pounds and think that Drew was almost one of those babies. I spent a week at Central Bap when I was 6 1/2 months pregnant....who knows if Drew would have even been able to survive being 14 weeks early at 2.2 lbs if they hadn't been able to stop my labor. The doctors did not have much hope for him had he been born at that time, telling me he would have underdeveloped organs and senses. What amazes me is that there were babies just like that in the NICU yesterday and they all seemed to be doing so well and were so peaceful. It was definitely an experience I think I needed. Had I been wheeled in there when I was in the hospital to see what could happen to Drew if I didn't take care of myself, I would have probably been much more adament about following the bedrest rules.....

Anyway, away from the reflection and back to the point of this blog--

HOORAY ANGIE AND JB!

HOORAY ASHLEY AND SOLON!

okay, a bit of guilt is coming over me....

too much negativity now that i read the last post. i didn't delete it though because i need to get it out. anyway, here's some sweet to go along with that sour.

veiled references

stayed after today.....veiled references to follow. if you were there, you know just what i'm talking about. if you weren't there but know who was, you'll also know what i'm talking about. if you were neither there nor know about it, but you work at the same establishment, you will probably understand as well. if you can't figure out who/what i'm talking about, forget it, just enjoy the sarcasm.

• Refuse To Have A Battle Of Wits With An Unarmed Person
• Why be difficult, when with a bit of effort, you can be impossible?
• If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me.
• Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand.
• If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

make me late to get my baby so we can all discuss things that won't change while subtly insulting me....nice, i appreciate it. negative nancy is on the war-path tonight, please disregard my unpleasantness.

isn't it funny?

i took drew to the horse park yesterday. my mom and dad were camping for the weekend, something we've done for the last 20 years probably. we always go for the international rocky mountain horse show....always interesting and entertaining. great for people watching.

anyway, i was pretty sure i would end up seeing my old college roommate. her sister rides horses and their family is always there. i hadn't seen my roommate in over 4 years, nor have i talked to her. i had no way of contacting her....everything had been changed--email, phone, address, etc. it was just one of those things i guess.

while we lived in the dorm together, everything went very smoothly. we loved each other. so when it was time for dorm life to come to an end, we moved in together in an apartment. oh, but it didn't take long for me to realize how different that would be. the summer went fairly well but by the time school started, i had a hard time. i still loved her to death, but some things are too much for me. (well, lots of things are too much for me, but who's counting?)

so when i saw her yesterday, she was pretty much the same. especially the half-drunk part. i wasn't surprised, just a little, well, i don't even know the word to describe it. this was one of the major problems in our relationship. i'm no tee-totaller, but come on. i think before yesterday i just still had that feeling of being angry with her and not knowing why. yesterday i realized i just felt kind of sorry. sorry we didn't keep in touch. sorry she didn't get to see me get married. sorry she didn't know i had a child, a house, a job, a life. i guess i miss the relationship we could have had but i faced the fact that it probably never could have gone beyond where it did.

i think maybe what it boils down to is that i'm a hard person to be friends with...i expect a lot from someone. things like honesty, loyalty, respect, responsibility, morals, values, etc. i guess maybe i expect too much out of people. my mom always told me that....i expect people to be exactly how i think they should be when i should really just let them be. i do have a hard time making friends, to this day i have a hard time. i don't trust people, i don't want to put up with a lot of people and i'm not willing to give a lot of myself because i'm afraid of how it will come back to bite me. maybe i just had experiences that weren't the best when it came to girls and friends growing up. most of my friends are boys....i see some of my (few) girlfriends now and sometimes envy the relationship they have with their girlfriends. i'm very self-conscious that i don't have that. i think i'm even more self-conscious because i kind of don't want that either. it probably all boils down to the fact that i'm horribly self-conscious and don't think a lot of myself and how i appear to others, either physically or through personality. with me, having an incredibly intelligent brother has always made me feel well, for lack of a better word, dumb. and having two gorgeous, tiny sisters has always made me feel inferior and gigantic. (hey, it's my world, i can't help how i think.)

i appreciate those few close friends i have even more after this weekend. i don't think they realize how much i rely on them to be able to talk to and vent. don't take it for granted girls, you really do make a difference in my life, whether you realize it or not.

to conclude, i really think seeing a professional would be a good idea for me. this isn't something new --it's already been suggested several times by both my mom and my doctor. maybe someday....when the voices get too loud, ha!

(Oooo, i did it again, using humor and sarcasm to cover up my true feelings....therapy, here i come!)

FRIDAY!

Ooo, ooo, ooo, TGIF!
So, today is Friday and a few good/funny things happened.

1. Our 10 word spelling test took almost 15 minutes before I realized my kids kept asking me to repeat the words because they think the way I pronounce the words is funny. Who knew Friday really comes out FrI-dee when I say it. No wonder half of them failed.
2. One student spelled Thursday "Turdsbay" on her test today. This was read by me and followed by a hysterical bout of the giggles.....you know it's FridEE when you can't stop laughing.
3. I ran today. I ran 3 miles today. I finally felt good again. Thanks Jennifer and Jeanne.
4. :( Tim's mom called and asked if she could take Drew to her house for a few hours tonight so they could see him and give me a break. It's nice to get a break, but I miss him SOOO bad. Again, :( .
5. I got to see the pool tonight. It's almost finished, it just has to have the concrete poured around it. It's already filling up with water. I guess we have to get a sign that says "Drew's Pool".
6. Tomorrow we will go to the Horse Park for the annual International Show. I called my dad tonight and he was wild. I mean I enjoy it but jeez, it's just a flippin' horse. Mom says he's been that way all week.
7. I really wish Josh would come down tomorrow so Drew and I could see him. We didn't see him much last weekend and I'm afraid he's gonna move on me. That really doesn't belong in the good/funny pile, but I don't want to start a new one.
8. Ruby and Waylon didn't run off when I let them out this evening. Well, Ruby did a little but I was able to wrangle her back home. (This is a constant topic of contention in my house....bluh.)
9. Oh, and it's called spellcheck. (Angie, you know what I'm talkin' about and I know you're laughing, don't try to hold back. Have fun Monday morning! Waaahahahaha.)

More later I'm sure. Happy Weekend!

Some new favorites....

Some new favorites....this is for all you teachers. :)

• Where is this class going and why am I in this handbasket?
• What is this 'free time' of which you speak?
• Hard work, sacrifice and focus will never show up on tests.
• When's recess?
• Students reach new heights when teachers raise the bar.
• I would prefer not to. -Bartleby the Scrivener
• I never make mistakes. I thought I did once, but I was mistaken.
• All children have gifts, they just open them at different times.
• No, your OTHER right foot.
• I'm sorry to hear that, now go do your seatwork.
• You might be a teacher if you are in favor of people having a license before having kids.
• "Official Shusher"
• I do my own math stunts.
• If you worked everyday with your kid x 25, you'd need your summers off too.
• As a matter of fact, I am the grammar police.
• I teach, therefore I am poor.
• To save time, let's assume I know everything.
• I'm confused. Wait, maybe I'm not.

And last but not least.......

• No Child Left Behind: Keeping millions of No. 2 Pencil factory workers employed for years to come.

*Surprise Mail*

Most of the time I don't like getting the mail in the evenings because it either contains junk or bills....two things I'm sure we all have more than enough of. Today I went straight in the house and left the mail for Tim to retrieve. When he came in he handed me a small envelope addressed to me. Immediately I recognized my mamaw's handwriting and had a feeling what the envelope would contain. Much to my chagrin, it contained a check and a note.

I don't know if you can see, but the note says,

"Sis, To buy gas to get to work---why? Because I love you. --Mam"

My mamaw is one of the most important people in my life. This note may not seem that odd to some of you but for some reason, my family has never really said "I love you" much. I think it's always been this unspoken creed that we love each other so much if we actually say it, we cry. It's odd because I tell Tim and Drew a million times a day but some of the closest people in my life have a hard time vocalizing that same phrase. Don't get me wrong, I've never really longed to hear it because I guess actions have always spoken much louder than words for us, it's just a little different than most families that are so close.

She's always been an inspiration, role model, caregiver, sounding board, ally, and rescuer for me. I think she is one of the main reasons I didn't turn down the wrong path growing up. Yes, my mom and dad definitely had a hand in that as well, but the thought of disappointing my mamaw makes me sick. She's a fighter and one of the most brave and faithful people I know. She taught be how to forgive, accept and love unconditionally while also teaching me the art of giving the cold shoulder instead of entertaining bad influences. I haven't been getting to see her as often as I would like but we talk on the phone several times a week. I often think that God sent us Drew as an incentive for mamaw to keep pushing on during her horrible chemotherapy. I found out I was pregnant after that first terrifying chemo treatment....from then on I think she had something to look forward to and not give up. I thank God everyday he has given me the opportunity to have such a special relationship with her.

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting. ~Author Unknown

A child needs a grandparent, anybody's grandparent, to grow a little more securely into an unfamiliar world. ~Charles and Ann Morse

What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies. ~Rudolph Giuliani

(Mamaw still keeps me a stash of candy bars in the back of the cabinet!)

Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete. ~Marcy DeMaree

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever. ~Author Unknown

Trial Run #1

I couldn't wait until tonight to make the cupcakes and try out the fondant so I ended up doing it last night after I posted the previous blog. With this trial run I learned a few key things:

1. Don't let this stuff get warm, it's too hard to work with, no matter how much you think it will help.


2. Have very sharp instruments on hand, it's a pain in the butt to cut when it gets warm.


3. Make sure you use a dense, heavy cake mix. My cupcakes were too fluffy and just wanted to squish when I put the fondant on.

Luckily I only made one set of cupcakes and saved the rest of my batter for this weekend. (Either I would have eaten them all or ended up throwing them in the floor and stomping them out of frustration.) I only made one with the fondant covering it. I really think they are just more for looks than taste because the fondant is heavy....it just doesn't go well with the traditional kinds of cake I'm used to.

Luckily for me I didn't put fondant on all of them, that way I could eat one. (Or two!)...(Okay, okay, I had 3. Plus one at 3 am when I got up to get Drew's bottle. It doesn't count if you eat it in the middle of the night.)

Tornado Alley!

Oh my, did I get myself into a mess tonight...As soon as Drew went to bed I decided it was time for me to start tackling my latest obsession: making Drew his 1st birthday cake, custom-style. Now, to most this would probably seem fairly simple however, I don't really enjoy cooking all that much. Actually, I just don't enjoy the cleaning up, the cooking isn't that bad. I can cook, my mamaw made certain of that, I just hate cleaning all the stuff up afterwards....and don't tell me you're supposed to clean as you go because that's a bunch of bull. I clean before, during and after and there's still a big mess.

So, back to my original thought....for the last few days I have been thinking a lot about Drew's upcoming birthday, (well, it's not until November but my OCD requires that I be well prepared), and trying to decide what kind of cake he will have. Since he loves dogs, I have decided to make a dog cake with cupcakes with dog themed shapes that are covered in that really cool, smooth icing professional decorators use. My friend Shannon also has her son's 1st birthday coming up (this Saturday) and she came to show me the cake she ordered for him yesterday. I didn't see it, but it is going to be a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed cake. I looked at the link of the lady's previous cake designs and was a bit overwhelmed. First, there's no way I can afford to purchase one of her custom cakes and second, I am really into doing special things for my first 1st birthday as a mommy.

(Here's a link to some pictures of similar cakes that are covered in fondant:

http://www.pinkcakebox.com/ )

Last night I came home and began researching these cakes and what I needed to do to begin my project. First, I had to find out what that fondant stuff was and where I could get it. Now, I could have taken the easy way out and ordered some, but it costs an arm and a leg and I wanted it now. Waiting 3-4 days for it to be delivered was not an option....again, OCD. So, after some searching, I found out how to make the fondant, yes, as in homemade. After going to Wal-Mart before picking Drew up today, I headed home and began getting my things ready. Now, my house is definitely lived in and is not the neatest with a baby, 2 dogs and a husband throwing things everywhere, but after I began my fondant making, this is what it looked like:

As the process went along, I began taking pictures of my work. Here is the fondant after I got it all kneaded and rolled out...

After separating and putting food coloring in half....

And finally, my kitchen after clean-up...ahhhh.

I have decided I would practice my cake making skills on Hayley and my dad this weekend. My dad is turning 50 next Sunday and Hayley will turn 19 this Sunday. We are having a big cookout and Mom and Dad's and she's having a cake made, etc., etc. I decided since I had an occassion, I would do a trial run. I am going to make cupcakes, ice them, then cover them with the green fondant. After that, I will attempt to make flowers to go on the top. Whether that comes together is a different story. When I get them done, I will post more pictures....maybe. We'll see how they look, then I'll decide if I would be too humiliated to post them!

10 years

Today marks ten years that Tim and I have been together. Even though we were not married on this date, this is always the one we celebrate. To be honest, we have even forgotten what day we were married on a few times because September 6th has always been the "anniversary" we've counted.



Looking back, I think we both realize how much we've been through together and how amazing it is that we've never broken up. Now, this isn't to say there weren't some rough patches, especially during those college years. Not for one minute have I regretted dating just Tim. I've always been the kind of person that isn't willing to waste my time on something I already knew wasn't right. I think my family knew as soon as we started dating that we would end up married....mainly because I wouldn't even date anyone before Tim because I felt like it was a waste of time.



Tim has been my rock for the last ten years. I've given him my secrets, shared my dreams, cried my heart out and laughed myself to tears with him. He puts up with my craziness, he's comforted me when I couldn't take care of myself, and he's known when to leave me alone if I was just having a hard time being nice. My mom and mamaw have always told me I have no idea how good he is to me, that I should always treat him well. Hopefully I do and I know he appreciates me, God knows I couldn't have made it through a lot of dark days without him. Living with someone who suffers from depression is not easy-I've seen my mamaw deal with my papaw's depression for many years and I know the toll it sometimes takes on her. I can't imagine how Tim has felt over the years dealing with my angry outbursts, random crying fits, constant state of irritation and the days when it has been very difficult to even pull myself out of bed. There have been a few days when he's even pulled me up and out because he knew what was best for me all along. He's been a saint in that respect. Now I think he just thanks the Good Lord for medication. :)



From those first days of Story Hour I knew I liked this boy....now I know how wonderful he really is...what a good husband, best friend, companion and best of all, what a great daddy he is. I cannot imagine my life without him and thanks be to God for sending him to me.

This is going to be big trouble, I can feel it already.

Right after Drew was born. I thought Tim was going to pass out again. :)

Drew's first day home.

Teaching Drew how all about throttle.