Matthew with the Moon, Venus, Jupiter on December 1


Originally uploaded by donnyatx

This was the neatest thing to be able to view. Apparently it won't happen for another 44 years.

It was COLD outside and I had a heck of a time getting this photo, my camera absolutely did not want to focus on anything. But we got one at least! I had Matthew stand up on our vehicle for this. In hindsight it would have been kinda neat taking it from the ground at an angle.

Anyway....

Here's a little bit about it:

Monday, December 1, 2008.

Reference

Have you noticed the two bright objects low in the west after sunset?

They’re Venus and Jupiter, and you’ll find them in a beautiful arrangement with the waxing crescent moon in the evening twilight sky. They’re the brightest lights up after the sun goes down. But remember that all three of these worlds – the moon, Venus and Jupiter – shine by reflecting the sun’s light. Here they are in their order of brightness – the waxing crescent moon- the queen planet Venus – and the king planet Jupiter.

If you live at mid- and far-northern latitudes – like in North America or Europe – the moon, Venus and Jupiter appear low in your southwestern sky in early evening. If you live south of the equator – maybe Australia – this threesome appears almost due west after sunset.

If you live in Europe, you might not see Venus for a portion of the evening, even as you’re looking at the moon and Jupiter. As seen from much of Europe this evening, the moon will occult – or pass in front of – Venus, blocking the planet from view for an hour or more.

So no matter where you live, watch for the moon, Venus and Jupiter after sunset. They set about 3 hours after the sun. If you have binoculars, turn them on these objects to see the soft glow of earthshine on the dark part of the moon!

As seen from much of Europe this evening, the crescent moon will occult – cover over – the planet Venus for a portion of the evening. At Leipzig, Germany, for instance, the moon will occult Venus from 16:07:34 to 17:25:27 Universal Time (5:07:34 p.m. to 6:25:27 p.m. Central European Time). The occultation times for your sky are listed on this International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) page.

Hurricane Ike

Friday I started thinking I should take this Ike thing seriously. I'd already had all the storm supplies we needed so that really didn't make me worry. I had Michael pick up some extra bottled water and bread from the store on his way home.

He saw the lines at the gas station and decided against getting gas. I should mention we were on E already. We only gas up about twice a month and apparently he didn't think it was a big deal... . I didn't know this yet though!

Anyway.... I tuned into the local news stations around 1 Friday and continued watching until early in the morning on Saturday. Around 3:30 am I dozed off. Up to that point all Huntsville had seen was some strong winds and a tiny amount of off and on drizzle. I was really concerned about our trees in the yard. We'd just had one fall on the house 3 weeks ago and I was positive we'd have one fall again, and was hoping against hope we wouldn't have one fall while we slept.

I had put the dogs and kids in our bedroom that night and when I fell asleep I could hear branches and howling wind. I should mention it wasn't a very sound sleep.

I woke up to the sound of nothing. No lights, no A/C. It was still very windy and at this point it was raining a bit more. Most of the trees had dropped their biggest branches overnight and boy were they loud. We had one land on our bedroom that was the size of a small tree, about 10 inches in diameter and 6 feet long. Several smaller ones were scattered in our yard. We had 2 huge ones in the backyard.

Unfortunately I overlooked finding our corded phone. For that entire day I couldn't call or talk to anyone. Since my sister Clara lives in Dayton and my parents are in Crosby I was worried about them. Our cell phone reception was sketchy at best, and mine flat out refused to let me put a call through.

That first day the kids were going crazy, and so were we. The storm finally settled down around 8 pm here. Luckily we had turned our thermostat down to 60 the previous day so the house was still fairly cool.

During the middle of the day, while the eye was still over us, I drove around and took pictures of the damage. There were huge trees down everywhere! I was in awe of how much damage this storm did.

Before the storm hit I figured it would be like Rita. We'd get some rain, winds, probably lose our lights for a day. That's about it. Boy was I wrong.

Sunday rolled around and I assumed we'd get our lights back on sometime that day, usually they are quick with that stuff here.

Little did I know how much of a toll it took. Since there was no access to tv I had no idea. The entire city was out of lights, there were no stores or gas stations open anywhere. We even had a curfew. Crazy!

Sunday was a hum drum day. We cleaned up the yard, took a walk around the area. I had a little "chat" with Michael about the gas issue (well he asked me why I was stewing :P). I was anxious to look around town some more and get out of the hot house, it was getting to me! lol

We did surprisingly well though, with all of us holed up in the house w/o electric you would think for sure we'd want to kill each other.

Poor Michael, he had the worst of the clean up. He was using the bowsaw to cut up all those branches. He spread it out over 2 days though.

The kids did really well. After the first day of whining about not having the computers to play on, etc they got into the swing of things. They played together and with the dogs and generally had a good time. I even convinced Moira that reading is fun, which is a modern day miracle in itself. Seriously! She read 4 books to me that evening.

The rest of the week was much of the same, more cleaning up. A couple of friends came by to visit. We chatted with the neighbors as we cleaned up our yards. We listened to the not so gentle hum of generators all around us. I can't get that sound out of my head! :-P

Slowly the power started showing up to various parts of town. The gas stations that got their lights first definitely made the most of it $ wise. The price got up to about 4 a gallon here. Crazy. Walmart opened back up on Tuesday and it was like the clouds parted and the heavens rejoiced! Ok, maybe that's overkill. But it was a good sign that things were coming back around to normal again (whatever normal is).

The police here have been great about keeping order. The curfew helped. When the gas stations slowly opened they would head to the ones that were getting lights and cut off all the entrances except one. That way a nice organized line would form. It would have been a horrible mess otherwise. Since all the town signals were off they were at the trouble spots directing traffic.

They shipped Entergy people in from various states and had them working on the city's electric, which was a massive undertaking from what I understand.

I read the papers every day to get my information so I wouldn't go crazy- gotta have my daily news fix.

The last time I'd had the TV on one story really stuck in my mind. A couple had stayed in their house on Crystal Beach. They had called the 911 service to be rescued but it was too late and they had cut off rescues for the night for the safety of the rescuers. Well, the couple were on their 2nd floor of a stilt house there. The water was up to their chest. That was all we knew and it was 2 am at that point....

I read the news today and after I worried about them for days it turned out they were saved. They cut a hole in their attic floor and climbed in. The house swayed around and fell down but they lived. Amazing.

Michael's aunt in Cleveland had 2 trees fall on her house. It's not looking good for them at the moment, they are alive thankfully but the house is in bad shape. One destroyed a nice screened patio they had just added a few years ago, and another fell through their utility room and damaged their kitchen as well. That's the worst I have heard from family so far. My parents and Clara got through to us on Sunday to see how we were.

Michael went back to work on Tuesday and they were running off a huge generator system there. He was able to charge our phones back up and work in A/C. The kids are out of school until Monday. They are using the schools and a couple of churches here as evacuation sites and they are packed. Michael's work got their electricity yesterday. Ours came back on this morning (woot!).

Our friends almost had a tree through their house but another tree caught it and saved them from certain damage. Another friend had a HUGE tree fall in front of her house, from what I can tell it didn't damage the house though. I posted pictures of those.

We had FEMA in town handing out MRE's, ice, and bottled water. A church here was doing the same. Having a hot meal was nice. Note to self: Next home will have a gas stove!

While we didn't get nearly as much damage here as some places did I am thankful everyone is safe and sound. I feel horribly for those that live in and around the Galveston area. We love Crystal Beach and have stayed there a few times on vacation, in the very beach homes that are now destroyed. It makes me sad. I hope that eventually they will be restored and we can once again go visit it.

A couple of things I learned:

Cell phones suck in bad storms. Keep a land line! Make sure you have an old fashioned corded phone somewhere you can find it. Lanterns are a good source of light.

Light Wedges are the best book lights ever. Be sure you have plenty of C and D batteries on hand, because not having a radio is no fun.

Keep some cash on your person and make sure some of it is in quarters (fishing around in seat cushions and drawers for quarters to buy newspapers isn't very fun).

Get a generator and keep some gas on hand, a refrigerator and freezer full of wasted, drippy, soggy food is a sad sight. Having no cold food for days is NOT fun.

My saddest time with this was watching all my food go to waste. Saddddd! Eating lots of dry carbs isn't fun either, lol. The good news is it gave me a reason to give the fridge a good deep cleaning. What else is there to do when you have no lights? Water was abundant and safe thankfully.

My story really isn't comparable to those that lost everything though, so I will end with that. Those are the real horrific stories. We had it good here compared to what some have suffered through.

Let's hope they find no more lost lives due to the storm and that anyone I haven't heard from yet is OK.

I posted more of the photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnamanning

Hugs to all

Donna

What's been going on with us lately :-)

Nothing huge going on here. The puppy (aka horse/moose) is growing FAST. She just recently learned what the bells on the door were for (after 3+ months of begging her to use them) and is now fully house trained. THANK GOD lol.

Abby at the dog park

On a more serious note I freaked out a few days ago when I found a HUGE lump over my right rib cage. It's like someone stuck part of a grapefruit under my skin. I was just taking a shower and went hmmm that's not right . After freaking out for the weekend (cause the dr office was closed) I called first thing Monday and got in to see him. He felt it and goes "hmm I am 80 percent sure that's a lipoma".

Ok...... so I stared at him waiting for him to explain what the heck that is. He goes "do you know what that is?" Sure, I know what that is, of course I can name off all sorts of things. NO I DON'T!! Tell me please . Luckily my DR is pretty awesome, we made jokes about me being abducted by aliens the entire time.

Well a lipoma is a non cancerous tumor that just shows up basically. It's the most common benign tumor in humans and animals. So, hey lucky me. But that 20 percent was bugging me. He referred me to a surgeon that I saw yesterday. The surgeon told me to not worry that he's pretty sure it's a lipoma and I will be ok. I am going to have a cat scan sometime before the weekend hopefully.

I can't tell you what it feels like to be worrying that your life is flashing by while waiting for answers to stuff like this. For the last week it's been a roller coaster of emotions. I worried about the dog, the kids, Michael, the house. I thought about how I was gonna have to hire a maid for Michael if I was going to kick the bucket. How the dog would probably have to be given away because as much as they love the doggie, I am the one that does most of her care. How Moira's hair would be a wreck every day while she's young. And so many other things. It's truly amazing what you think about. I am not so worried now, the biggest thing is thinking about how big this incision is gonna be o.O.

moira's art contest_3

Moira was in a big art contest here locally. That girl is GOOD. She just won 2nd place on her penguin. I'll be posting some photos of it on flickr soon.

Matthew just finished his piano recital for the semester too. I swear he is a genius.... He did amazing in comparison to some of those kids that have been in piano for the full year (he got in late this year). He has an enthusiasm for it, really loves it.

matthew's piano recital_3

Moira is dancing and will have her recital soon. She's gonna be so cute :D. They are doing the Wizard of Oz this year. She's been telling me she wants out of dance for the last couple of months and that bummed me out because she is GOOD at ballet- she is really really good. She is just inherently lazy (she gets that naturally I am sad to say). She's got the talent just not the drive. I guess I have to keep her motivated.

Yesterday she came home and told me she decided to stay in dance. I was very pleased :). I never wanted to be one of those moms that forces her kids to do things they don't really want to do. I'd like them to do it because they truly love to do it. They have a passion for it. I can 100 percent say Matthew has that passion for piano (and math- wow at that kid with the math).

Moira has a clear passion for art (particularly drawing and painting) and she excels at that. So if dancing is not for her in the future I guess we will focus on that with her.

I really did luck out in the kid department. I know we all think our kids are special, but I really feel very lucky to have those two. Now I am all mushy and teary again. Sigh! I'll just blame the estrogen (as usual :P).

I wasn't expecting this to turn out so long >.>. hee hee I guess that's what happens when I don't post for a few months!

This blogging site kinda got forgotten by me (oops) but I have been posting lots of photos on my flickr site.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnamanning I usually write a bit there under certain photos, so to a degree it is a blog I guess. Photo blog maybe? hee hee Hope everyone's having a great time, give me some updates on yourselves from time to time!!

Hugs,
Donna

Our adventures with Attic Squirrel

Squirrel

So for the last month or two we've had a couple of squirrels running amok in our attic.

Michael had this wonderful idea to take off our back gutters (they were old, and needing to be removed/replaced). When he did that we found that one of the fascia boards had a hole in it, big enough for a little squirrel to get through.

Of course at the time we didn't expect a squirrel to go into our attic and he was planning on repairing the hole the next day.

At some point between point A and point B this squirrel decided to make it's way in, and brought a friend along. And over the last month or so we've tried everything we could to get them out. I couldn't bring myself to kill them, so poison was right out.

It's been particularly horrible for us because they parked themselves right over our bedroom, and in fact right over our heads... lol. So every night we hear them pouncing, running, scratching, gnawing, etc. This could go on for hours. Sleep has been kind of elusive the past few weeks. You'd be amazed at just how noisy two squirrels can be!

Anyway we finally remembered live traps! The first one we tried was too big, and I saw the squirrels happily eating all the corn and whatnot out of it when I'd take Abby out to go potty. They'd look down at me and it almost seemed like they were smirking at me, little devils. So I called Michael and told him that was a no go.

On to a smaller trap! Success!!! We got the one pictured today. It's a sweet little thing, albeit very anxious and unhappy. Michael took it down the road a few miles. We are going to have to wait out the second one now. Hopefully we catch it tommorrow. It was on top of the cage today, while it's friend tried in vane to get out. When it saw me it bolted off into our neighbors yard.

Here's a video of the scared little squirrel:

Squirrel

Morale of the story: if you find yourself with a hole in your fascia board- board it up asap! lol

Meet Abby!

Abby

Well we came home on Monday with a sweet little fluffy baby :D.

We got to the breeder's house in the early afternoon and they were all outside in the backyard. The mommy had 9 puppies!!! There were still 8 there.

The parents were both very sweet dogs. The daddy was a bit excited to see us, and the poor momma was wore out and getting irritated with her pups- she's trying to ween them.

All the pups were really cute! Abby came up to me a couple of times and the second time I picked her up and she was just like a little baby, not fidgety or scared. We decided she was perfect for us :-).

She is so soft and cuddly! Her personality is great, she's very mellow and lovable. Click here for more photos Abby's photos

The first couple of nights were rough and validated every reason I had been putting off getting a puppy. She cried and yelped when I tried to crate her ( Crate Training is the method vets recommend) so I wound up putting her in our bathroom for over nights. She howled so much we were on half sleep for those two nights >.<

I've continued to work on getting her used to the crate, but we still just put her in the bathroom and close the door for the nights.

Now that she is getting more comfortable I can walk around without her following me every second. She also doesn't wake up the second I move, which is a huge relief. She wouldn't sleep on day 1-2 unless she was on me in some way. Then she'd wake up anytime I moved. That sucked, lol.

She's picking up things very quickly. One of the things they say about poodles is that they are very intelligent. I am finding this to be true. For example, she knows what "Go Potty" means. She will squat anytime I say it.... the other day I had taken a shower and put her in our other bathroom for safe keeping.

Once I was done I went to go get her and had to run back to my room for a sec. So she followed me. I looked down at her cute little face and said "Abby, do you wanna go potty?" Oh indeed she did. She came right to my feet, squatted and proceeded to pee right there. >.<>

She's also getting into a little bit more, and yesterday she chewed up one of my USB cords on the front of my computer (totally my fault). I've got a USB hub on order so I can move those to the back of the computer now lol. I've been watching her constantly and learned the hard way you can't turn your back on them for a second >.<. I have to keep the shoes away from her, she really loves Michael's shoes! lol

Here's a video I took on my camera earlier- it's nothing exciting but she's running around :P She refused to chase the toy, cause the neighbors dog started barking and she lost interest.

Abby 9 weeks

It's been a learning experience to be sure! I am so happy we decided to take the plunge. We couldn't have picked a more perfect new baby :-). The kids love her and she just wags her little stubby tail so fast when they get home, it's really sweet.

Well that's my puppy story! Hope everyone's having a great week :-)

~Donna

Soooo funny!

I read this today... Soooo funny!! (PS Incoming puppy post soon!)

-----

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a
particularly icy winter.

They planned to stay at the same hotel where
They spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.
Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their
travel schedules.

So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with
his
wife flying down the following day.
The husband checked into the hotel.

There was a computer in his room,
So he decided to send an email to his wife.

However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and
without realizing his error, sent the email.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston , a widow had just returned home from
her
husband's funeral.

He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart
attack.
The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives
and
friends.

After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.

The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the
Floor, and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I've Arrived
Date: October 16, 2005
I know you're surprised to hear from me.

They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your
loved ones.

I've just arrived and have been checked in.

I've seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow.
Looking forward to seeing you then!!!!
Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. Sure is freaking hot down here!!!!

Bringing home baby!

6 weeks 1

Tomorrow we are going to look at this litter of puppies at the breeders house. They are standard poodles. We've been considering a standard poodle for well over a year now and just haven't wanted to put in the effort of training and raising a puppy- sooo much work.

We decided on a poodle because of the allergy factor- Matthew and I both suffer from allergies so most dogs are just out for us- we'd be miserable. They are intelligent and good with kids so it's a good match up for our family.

The kids are finally at a good age and I think we have the time and energy to put into raising one now. I am so excited! I can't wait :-).

This picture is from when they were 6 weeks, they are 8.5 weeks old now. It is from the breeders website.

The kids will be coming to help us pick out our newest baby. I'll post a picture of the one we decide on later :D.

~Donna

A snowman

Moira's snow (wo)man

Moira brought home some of her work from before the Christmas break.

I find this snowman very funny. Notice the bow on the hat.... the tube type shirt... the belly button.... the boobs..... Yes it's a snowman! lol

I asked her what the "No" was for and she said "I dunno, I just wanted to".

If you will, look down at the bottom where she got first place for this snowman. I am still laughing. I wish I could have seen the faces on the people judging these snowmen :P I don't think I have ever seen a snowman with boobs and a belly button before, ever.

Happiness :-)

One of my Favorite photos from our trip to England

What makes you truly happy?

That deep happiness, peaceful happy that we can obtain?

What do you get pure pleasure from? This was discussed on a forum i visit today and again tonight I saw 20/20 about happiness so I started thinking about a few things that truly put me into a state of happiness.

It really doesn't take much to make me smile, or laugh. We all want to be happy. For some it takes more than others. I laugh a lot. I am not always happy, but on a whole I am a happy person. I have many things to be thankful for. The basic happiness that we all strive for I have been lucky enough to achieve.

I posted a list of things that make me happy today on the forum I visit, so I will share it with you guys too :).

Being with my husband on a one on one basis- talking, cuddling, etc. I am usually at my happiest during those times. He truly makes me happy.

I can also be really happy taking photos of nature, or when I get inspired to really do a great scrapbooking layout. That brings me pleasure in an almost meditative way.

Cuddling with my kids brings me to a very happy place. I also enjoy a really good philosophical conversation with open minded people. Those can be fun :).

I don't do it often at all, but going out on a boat to fish- I love that. Hubby doesn't so it's not something I do much. It's so peaceful though. :)

When I am alone and the house is very quiet, I turn on some good music and get into the mood to clean up. I love the feeling of a clean house and the peaceful feeling I get from going through the motions while the music is flowing. I love good alone time.

Thinking about my grandparents. They are no longer with us but I giggle whenever I think about them interacting with one another. This one is a double edged sword, because the happiness can sometimes turn to sadness. But I still get filled with a very happy feeling thinking about them teasing and bickering with each other.



Watching my kids play and laugh, not knowing I am watching them. That's a really great feeling.

Just a few thoughts for the day! Please post yours if you wish :) I loved the topic today, it really got me to thinking- and smiling.

Keep your focus on all the wonderful things in your lives!

Donna

A bit of this and that

Bento

A few months ago Michael came home all excited about these things called Bento Boxes and Onigiri I gave him my standard "Oh boy" and a shrug.

He went into the kitchen and started making some Onigiri. It was white rice and tuna mixed with soy sauce. You mix the tuna and soy, then you let the rice cool just a tad so it won't burn you. Roll the rice into a ball and poke a hole in the middle with your finger. Then stick a bit of the tuna into it and seal it up and chill it for a little bit. I like them chilled after that, but they are yummy either way!

Anyway, the neat thing about them is they are very portable. They make a great lunch. You can fill them with anything too- it doesn't have to be tuna. I think I may start sending them to school with the kids for lunch, the stuff they serve at the schools here is pretty horrid. You can do all sorts of things with the Bento boxes, and its very finger friendly foods- great for kids! Here's a bunch of cute ideas Bento Box ideas .

Their last day of school break was today. The weather was nice (so warm!) earlier so I told them to get outside and play for awhile. I told them they needed to run off some of that energy. Matthew quickly shot back at me "Mommy you know what? I get MORE energy going outside. I get INVIGORATED!" The kid is always debating things with me, and I knew that conversation could go on for awhile. He was right, they always get so wired up out there. On the flip side they tend to crash earlier! I wonder where that personality will land him someday. I am sure it will work out in his favor as an adult, so I will appreciate him for who he is. Future litigator perhaps? lol

Moira's drawing

Moira spent the last two days drawing and scrapbooking.She made a cute picture last night for me. The purple thing is a shark. Apparently the mermaid is lost and the girl on the ship is telling her "I love you". hee hee

Matthew usually dislikes drawing and refuses to use crayons. If you offer him markers sometimes he will draw something. In my quest to keep them entertained I asked him to draw.

The blue swirly thing is a "whirlpool" and they are getting pulled into it. The guys with swords are all pirates, and theres some kind of fight going on. Oh the differences between boys and girls. His made me giggle lol I am sure it could be disturbing to someone, but Michael assures me that he is 100 percent grade A boy. :-P

Matthew's drawing

My youngest sister Crystle found out she is having a baby girl today. She is going to name her Jenna Rose. It's a beautiful name I think :D. I can't wait to meet her!

Jenna Rose jan08

Matthew in Tree

The last photo is my monkey aka Matthew in our backyard tree, just like his daddy!

I guess that's all for today :) Hope everyone's having a great week.

Go Hillary!!

Hillary

I am so excited!

Hillary won New Hampshire's Democratic primary! Hillary wins!

Here's a recent clip of her answering questions, I love this woman.

Hillary video

Just a quote I love

I will make a post about the past couple of days later tonight or in the morning. I've been working on half a tank the last couple of days, lol. What I love about the word "Art" is what it encompasses. Any type of creativity is an art, we all have some type of art within our minds reach.

In the meantime, I leave you with this :-)

"When you look back on a lifetime and think of what has been given to the world by your presence, your fugitive presence, inevitably you think of your art, whatever it may be, as the gift you have made to the world in acknowledgment of the gift you have been given, which is the life itself . . . That work is not an expression of the desire for praise or recognition, or prizes, but the
deepest manifestation of your gratitude for the gift of life."
~Stanley Kunitz

'Mommy, China is taking over'

So, remember all the lead stories on the news around Christmas time?

Moira

Well, Moira asked about them constantly. She wanted to know how to spell China so she could read her toys and see if they were made there. Not surprisingly 98 percent of her toys are from China. She's become so paranoid over it now. I didn't help I guess, I told her in detail what lead can do to you.Now she's got it in her mind her toys are going to kill her and that China wants us all gone. Sigh! I can only hope that she will slowly forget about it and we can get on with the toy loving again. She told me today that everyone loves China toys because they are cheap! (which is so not true, some of that stuff is expensive >.<) All her Bratz dolls came from China, Matt's cars/remote cars, etc. Pretty much everything you pick up. We did throw out some of the lipstick that came with her make up kits because of this article Lead in Lipstick . I am not too keen on her putting it on her lips. :P

There's a point when you can go overboard with it all. I lived in a pretty old house, I am sure I inhaled or ate paint inadvertently growing up. Not many of us will get thru our lifetimes without some kind of exposure to it. We live in a 1960's house currently and I am sure there's some lead paint running around in it. You just have to say enough already and live your life. Be careful, sure. But don't obsess over it. Life's too short!

I was making dinner tonight and overheard a snippet of a conversation Matthew was having with Moira. It was along the lines of cooking versus eating out... and which was cheaper. Seems like a pretty deep conversation for two seven year olds to be having o.O. I had to crack a smile on that one. After a bit of debating they both decided it was cheaper to eat in.

I guess it really depends on what you are buying. I can spend alot if its all fresh vegetables and meats. You could eat fast food for about the same amount or even less depending on what you are getting. Of course, there's no replacement for eating meals done at home. I say this and I made hot dogs, chili, and french fries for dinner- yes I know the king of meals lol I think we came out ahead tonight!

Matt in the Backyard

Christmas stories

These kids are cute!!

I am glad that Christmas is finally over for this year. I will miss the kids excitement every day asking how many days left. They each made at least 3 lists for Santa, just to be sure he didn't forget them. (Their lists were different every time too, lol.)

Moira and Matthew

Matthew specifically told us not to tell Santa he wanted a bike. The reason: He wanted a specific bike that only "Walmart" had. So of course Santa wouldn't have that. hee hee

We made sure "Santa" brought the bike he wanted, just to prove Santa really does know all! He couldn't figure out how Santa got the bike from Walmart for him since the elves make everything.

Moira loves all her presents, but the biggie for her was a few erasers she got in her stocking. She carries them everywhere! A stack of 3 erasers goes in her pocket anytime we leave the house. She decided she wants a "collection".

We were in the store the other day and she saw some Valentine's erasers. She asked if she could have them, I told her no. She got mad and said "Don't you understand I have a collection? Have you ever collected anything mommy???" I had to be careful not to giggle. It was one of those crack up moments, so funny. I snuck them in the cart when she wasn't watching, so she will get a suprise on Valentine's day :P

So it's a New Year!

I am so sure that 2008 will be marked as one of the best years we've had yet. I don't know if it's because I'll will it to be, or because it's destined to be- either way I am looking forward to this year!

There's so many things I would like to do this year. The big one for us will be Disney World at the end of the year. We plan to go on the kid's Christmas break for 2008. I am really excited! I have never been, and the kids are at the perfect age to really appreciate it and be self sufficient in most ways. It should be a wonderful experience :D.

I also am on a decluttering kick at the moment. I've taken out so much from the house lately, it's truly invigorating. The house feels so much more open and clean. I still have a bit more to go though! I want to finish all that so that I can paint our den and halls.

We started our Year off with our friends, Rhadena and Daniel and Julie and Alfred. All of our kids were running all over the house, wild and happy. We were all munching on the odds and ends we brought and made.

We had a great Christmas. We wound up driving all over the country with Michael's mom, visiting his family and mine. Overall it wasn't all that bad, we were on the road more than we were at anyone's house though. Next year I'd like to have everyone here, so we can actually visit and talk to people.

Recently my hubby came home with a tortilla on his head, held by paper clips. I looked at him and asked him what the heck he was doing. He had this story:

'"Ever have one of those weird days when people just won't leave you alone?

Me too.

Like today for example, people have just been odd and bothersome. Here's a sample conversation from my workday

Linda: Hey, Michael... will you help me? My stupid computer is getting pop-ups again and.... Is that a tortilla on your head? (laughter)

Michael: Do you want my help or are you going to make fun of my cultural heritage?

Janice: (rolls eyes, looks at linda) Oh god here he goes again, don't ask!

Linda: It is a tortilla! What the.... are those paper clips holding it on? It looks like a yarmulke! Are you pretending to be jewish?

Michael: It's a tortamulke. (pronounced TORT-AH-MUH-KA)

Linda: A what?

Michael: A tortamulke, its one way I honor my Mexican Jewish heritage.

Linda: When did you become Jewish? or Mexican for that matter!

Michael: We prefer to be called 'jewtinos'.

Scott: Ya they're like Mexicans with money.

From that point on its been an endless stream of people coming by my cubicle to point or laugh at the jewtino. And some people doubt that racism exists in the workplace....

Anyway... from here on out I'm holding up my head. I refuse to be ashamed of my heritage!"'


This is my first entry into a blog. I've had it for several months and done nothing with it until today. Part of my New Year's resolution is to work on this and attempt to keep it current. Finding things to type about is my biggest issue :P.

I'll leave this now, with a note about my recent music love!

I've been listening to Dan Wilson's "Free Life" CD non stop lately, I am in love with this man's voice and lyrics. If you are into mellow music he's worth a listen.