Thursday, July 17, 2008

Bargain alert for little boy mommies!

Target has little boys' shoes on really good clearance. There are a couple of tennis shoe styles and some other leather-type ones... I just got T two pairs of the same style (diff sizes)... just basic white and blue tennis shoes with Velcro -- for $3.74 each! Regular $14.99 Can't beat that!

Thursday Thoughts

I just did something I shouldn't. I counted my remaining days of freedom. Only 25. Including weekends. And in that 25 days, I am planning to:

do the family reunion thing
visit Dana in Houston
hunt down 2 dressers to paint and overhaul my bedroom
organize pictures and scrapbooking supplies
finish Tater's baby book
finish reading the Alex Cross series
make my back porch usable
find a swing set for Tater

...and I'm sure I can come up with a few more things I want to get done "while I have time." Can I get it all done? Of course not. A few notes regarding my list...

Randy bought a new desk (at an auction - for $20... he hearts bargains too) to put in Sam's room that's primary purpose (for me anyway) is to give me a place to scrapbook. It's really the credenza that goes behind a desk, so it's nice and long - perfect for spreading out. In the process of moving stuff into the desk, I discovered a sad truth about myself. I am not a scrapbooker. I am a collector of scrapbooking supplies. I have very few actual pages made - and Tater's poor baby book is maybe 1/4 finished. I haven't done any pages since 2 summers ago. But I sure do have a lot of stuff! I guess dropping stickers and papers in a basket doesn't take nearly as much time and effort as the actual scrapbooking. But that will change, as none of my budget envelopes say "Scrapbooking" on them, and now I have a place to spread out where I can leave stuff and not worry about getting dinner all over it. As God (and you guys) as my witness, I WILL have the baby book done by September.

James Patterson is my favorite man on the planet. And my least favorite. Because I can't stop reading his books. Just this summerI've read all but 2 of the Women's Murder Club books and at least 10 of the Alex Cross series. Maybe that's why I haven't gotten anything else done. I'm a junkie. This may be the one thing I cross off my list.

I am in search of a swing set/play thingy for Tater. I would really like to be able to find a good used set from somewhere, but I bet the chances of finding one are slim. I was thinking of maybe putting a "want to buy" ad in the Thrifty... would that be a dumb idea? Anybody know anybody whose kids have grown out of theirs that might be willing to sell it? Crys, I adore the one y'all got Jacob, and I think I found it online. It may be my Plan B if I can't find one used...

I have found a new purse I want. It is the giraffe print that is so big right now, and even though I usually don't feel cool enough for the trendy stuff, I love this one. It will be mine. AND it's at Sam Moon, which is 1) cheap, and 2) a few miles up the road from my sister's house. :) Happy day.

Ok, back to Detective Cross...

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Nothing Important...

...just a few bored ramblings.

This week I am filling in for my step-dad's office manager while she's on vacation. I'm doing little more than answering the phone, so I've had lots of free time to play on the internet, read blogs (why don't you people update every hour to give me something to read?). and read books. I've got 3 going at once now - a TD Jakes book about men's emotions, a Lee Strobel book about marriage, and a James Pattterson novel. I've given up on the Ruth book; the forward was the high point. Got boring and a little frustrating. The author's views of women and their place was a little too 19th century for me, which surprised me - the opposite of what I expected.

So I'm a little bored now. And I'm having a big-time chocolate craving.

I'm seriously bummed about our principal leaving us. He's the only principal I've ever worked for, but I know how good I've had it. He's always supported me on everything, gives us whatever we need... he's an incredible boss and friend. I've heard plenty of other horror stories about principals who don't back you up, don't care, aren't involved... I'm worried about who will take his place. Plus I'll miss him terribly. AND I can't go up there to talk to him this week and who knows if he'll even be at our campus next week... Pooh.

This weekend is our family reunion - Christmas style. Chrsitmas on Mom's side of the family was always a very big deal - everybody came home then. But now families are growing and spreading out across the country. So we decided that since it's easier to get everybody together in the summer, we'd just move Christmas to July. We have a tree, gifts, and turkey and dressing Christmas dinner. We did it for the first time last year, and it was a blast. I'm looking forward to it - I'll get to see my cousin's 9 month-old who I haven't even met yet. And the best past is that it's here in SA, so I can sleep in my own bed at night. Sweet.

The days of summer are dwindling... I have less than 4 weeks until I start back. And I'm still not 100% positive what I'm teaching. I'm really hoping bossman will finalize staffing before he leaves. If he even can. Ugh, I'm dreading a week and a half of staff development with anyone other than him. He manages to make it not boring or useless.

Ok, back to a book or two.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Thoughts

I just read a very thoughtful, insightful post on an old friend's blog - one that really bares her soul... and I wonder why I can't bring myself to write like that. To just write and not worry about if I sound stupid, or if I'm going to inadvertently hurt someones feelings or offend or tell too much.

I actually have a couple of drafts of "real" thoughts posts that I do want to finish writing and set free to the world wide web. But I haven't. Because I'm worried that someone might take my words the wrong way, and the last thing I'd ever want is to hurt feelings. And even though I'd like to consider myself to be an open book, having no problem talking about myself - even regarding my struggles and vulnerability, I realize I am not. And then there's my ultra-private husband...

But even so, I think I'm ready to be more open. I'm reading a book about Ruth and Naomi, and in the forward it talks about how women essentially live in two worlds - one public and one private. Things that we often know to be true in our private worlds are not always so accepted and acceptable in public society. But I know that my private world is not so different from the private worlds of many other women. And one of the things I'm tired of is having my private world so private. I need to learn to communicate my joys and even my heartaches without fear.

More on this later, but I feel God is calling me in a direction that would require embracing and expressing my vulnerabilities... so I guess I better practice. And what better place than the blogosphere. To quote a sweet friend-of-a-friend that I hope to meet soon, I may sometimes be "splattered. So bring a raincoat. You've been duly warned."

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Tater Funnies

Tater fell on the playground at school Thursday and got a skinned knee. Being the drama king he is, he's been milking it ever since... yesterday he told me he needed an ice cream pack for his owie.

He found a calculator, and I was showing him how to make numbers come on the screen. He punched a few numbers and matter-of-factly said, "I talkin' on my email."


He has 2 new favorite songs. Here's how they go:

"Jesus loves me, I know!" (repeat this line over and over)

"Row, row your boat go down across the street!"

Friday, July 11, 2008

OK, be honest...

Do you like this layout? Is it hard to read? I really liked it at first, but now the blue on blue is starting to wear me out...

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Even sillier...

Tater has a new game. I'm not sure of its origin or its logic, but it goes a little like this:

Tater: " I want a snack."
Mama: "Ok, what do you want for snack?"
"Um, I want a... um... bubby."
"You want a bubby? What's a bubby?"
"I want a moomah."
(Mama catches on)" We don't have any moomahs"
"I want a pppbbbttt (blows raspberry at me)."
"You want a pppbbbttt?"
"Yeah, I want a pppbbbttt."
"OK, you can have a pppbbbttt when you get up from your nap."
"OK."

And off he goes to play. Weird kid. :)