Running on Fumes

It's that time of year. The craziness of the holiday season sets in the day before Thanksgiving. It doesn't stop until school is out for the year.

That's the weird part.

The holidays themselves don't wear me out, it's all the activities in between.

In the last two weeks we've had:
-two birthday parties
-two choir concerts
-three field trips
-an out-of-town trip
-a home tour that I was in charge of
-five board and committee meetings
-two stressful auditions with call backs
-and a partridge in a pear tree

I'm kind of kidding on that last one. Well, sort of. I do have a very 'birdie' spot on my driveway. As in, a huge pile. Just in one spot. Weird. But it's probably not a partridge...and it's a Yaupon Holly tree.

Anyway, moving on.

In the next two weeks we have:

-a voice recital
-a piano recital
-a daughter singing at a Christmas party
-three field trips
-two classroom parties
-50 teacher and staff gifts to make
-four honor choir practices
-a photography session
-a big project due
-a dinner to cater
-an out-of-town trip
-two orthodontic appointments
-a dentist appointment

Not to mention gift buying, wrapping, cooking, and cleaning.

Help me.

I thought this picture was appropriate.
My car holds 26 gallons.

Think I'm running on fumes?

Facebook Funnies

It's that time again. Time to share some of my funny friends with you. I look forward to their status updates every day.

Jonathan-I met him last year when he and his son joined the All-State group that made the trip out of town. He was the only dad and he handled it very well. In the first day he had pushed a car up an icy slope while holding onto the owner who slipped while pushing. He then drove several of us to dinner and then kidnapped us when his GPS went wacky and we off-roaded for a while. Every time he greets me he calls me by my full Facebook name. First, maiden, and last. I can't help but laugh. When I asked his middle name so I could return the favor he told me it was 'Danger'.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think he might be obsessed with Chuck Norris. See what you think.

-Staring at Chuck Norris for extended periods of time without proper eye protection will cause blindness, and possibly foot sized bruises on the face.

-Chuck Norris does not own a stove, oven, or microwave, because revenge is a dish best served cold.

-Little known medical fact: Chuck Norris invented the Cesarean section when he roundhouse-kicked his way out of his mother's womb.

-When an episode of Walker Texas Ranger was aired in France, the French surrendered to Chuck Norris just to be on the safe side.

-Chuck Norris is responsible for China's over-population. He hosted a Karate tournament in Beijing and all women within 1,000 miles became pregnant instantly.

-Chuck Norris invented a language that incorporates karate and roundhouse kicks. So next time Chuck Norris is kicking your butt, don’t be offended or hurt, he may be just trying to tell you he likes your hat.



Karen-I shared her last time. Her dry humor gets me every time!

-Just let people think you're an idiot instead of opening your mouth and proving it.

-Facebook wants me to write on my daughter's wall to "re-connect" with her. How connected does Facebook want us. She acts like me. She looks like me. She's got my DNA. What else does Facebook want from me?

-ya know the expression "looks like he's been beat with an ugly stick"? well, it's been upgraded to "looks like he's been beaten with a 9 iron"

-Don't let this out of the bag....but this weekend Mike and I are gonna crash a big party in Washington DC, have pictures and video taken and then try to say it never happened. OH....and I'm gonna brag about it on my Facebook page.

-washes her mouth out with chocolate every time I say the word exercise.



Mark-I've known Mark since middle school. He was funny then but now, watch out! He cracks me up every time I see him. We serve on a board together and he always has something funny to say at meetings. I sometimes type my own status updates wondering if it's funny enough to get a comment from him.

-Why do girls need a special bra just to do push ups?

-I got EXACTLY what i wanted for my Birthday....i stopped at Coit's and got me 3 orders of crispy bacon! It is all gone but every few minutes i sniff my fingers just to relive the delicious memory.

-My "BirthWEEK" celebration goes from December 1st until December 7th. Feel free to celebrate my birth anytime during "BirthWEEK". I love Mexican food so feel free to lift a nacho or a taco up in the air in my honor.

-I replaced both faucets in the kids' bathroom, and i rebuilt the kitchen sink faucet. With all of the plumbing i did i am suddenly getting the urge to show people my crack.

-Our health is failing us all probably because we don't use suppositories anymore. When we were kids it didn't matter if we had an upset stomach, a fever or a skinned knee, we got a suppository for it. I heard that word last night (bet you are wondering how that came up in conversation) and man it brought back a lot of suppressed memories.

-Nothing good can happen if you fail to replace the empty toilet paper roll.

-"The cool thing about FaceBook is that you can say anything and assign to quote to anyone." - Abraham Lincoln


John-He is lucky enough to be married to the Elizabeth I blogged about last time. I didn't know he had this sense of humor until we became Facebook friends. I've enjoyed every moment since.

-I'm like Costco. I'm big, I'm not fancy and I dare you to not like me.

-I reserve the right to peel my hard boiled eggs at my desk.

-I do whatever the voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

-the golf course is calling my name. A little louder please my wife can't hear you.

-filet with my mignon and a glass of merlot. Oh yeah.



David-We grew up at the same church but he is much older than me:) We also worked at Golden Bell together and I am not ashamed to say that I had a bit of a crush on him. He's also this guy.

-Due to my love of honky tonk country music and men's fashion, I have been officially called "metrorednexual".

-I've cleared it with my wife, but should she die prematurely, I have been cleared to pursue Carrie Underwood as my next wife. Strictly for her speaking skills, of course.

-in Birmingham, Alabama. Home of where I almost got killed by lightening 2 years ago, and home of Sam Bradford's surgically repaired shoulder. Ahhh, the memories!



Julie-we grew up going to school together. She has, and still is, one of the most fun people I have ever been around. She is the person responsible for the name tags in this post.

-what do you give someone who has everything? Hmmmm .... a burglar alarm!

-if today is yesterday's tomorrow what did you promise to do tomorrow yesterday?

-Are you kidding? So, I see hundreds of "Meet Single Guys" ads on FB. But in one of them - the guy is cute, but wait! There's a guy's arm around his shoulder. What!? You're kidding! Who puts these things together?

-Christmas brings the big question of where to pay how much for how many of which kind of what to give to whom.

-Redemption comes in various forms. I love having a teenager that can make ice cream runs to the store!

-he who laughs last is probably the one who intended to tell the story later.


Really, this is the reason I spend too much time on Facebook! Wouldn't you?

Amelia

I have been amazed that this little blog that I started to keep my dad updated on the girls has evolved into what it is now. A place to share pictures, gripes, home improvement projects, crafts, and the weird ramblings that roll around in my head.

And the weird thing?

There are people that read every day. Every day there are those of you stopping by to see what nonsense I've come up with lately. I am in awe.

Because of my little spot in the blogosphere I have friends in my life that I count as some as the best I've ever had, and I've never met them! One is my precious Aussie friend Peggy. Having never met me she donated $500 to my fund raising to help find a cure for leukemia. We have exchanged e-mails and comments since then and I count her as one of my good friends. She will be in the US this summer and is making an Oklahoma stop. I can't wait to hug her and get to know her in person.

Another friend is Kelly. We met through a friends blog and have really gotten to know each other. We have so many things in common that it's funny. Well, except for the food she cooks. Being a deep South girl she is all about sea food. The day she blogged about cooking shark is the day that I thought about throwing up my socks. I still love her though! She is one of the strongest women I know, not based on physical strength, but the strength that she uses daily to live with two children that have a terminal illness. Add that to a recent surgery for her and an accident and recovery for her husband and I don't know how she puts her feet on the floor each morning. This morning I received an e-mail from her asking for prayer for her sweet Amelia. Her recent blood work showed her counts were down. For her condition that is frightening. Please join me in praying for Amelia and Kelly and her family. And stop by her blog and look at her family, thoughts, and recipes. But not the shark one if you're wearing socks!

Love you Kelly! I'm lifting you all up in prayer today.

And Peggy! This summer can't come soon enough! And I'm not just saying that because I'm freezing and don't have any gifts purchased or decoration up:c)

Think she's excited??

I took McKinley to her first orthodontic appointment last Tuesday. She has been begging for braces since 5th grade. Over the last year though, when friends started complaining about the pain from theirs, she has been back peddling. But our dentist is not changing his mind.

That found us at one of the most fun offices I've ever seen. A video room, a game room, fun decorations, and staff that was all dressed in bedlam shirts for the upcoming football game. I was amused at every turn. Until the final price was settled on. $6380. Yikes. For teeth that don't really look that bad! Apparently most of that is for the device that will move her bottom jaw forward. She's been my child for almost 14 years and until I saw her profile picture I didn't realize her jaws were different. Go figure.

Since that appointment she has started getting excited again. This happened at lunch on Friday.

Yes, that would be a countdown to the very hours and 'minuets' until she's in braces.

Apparently the excitement interrupted her good spelling gene.

We'll work on that. Probably when she's sitting at a meal with us not eating. Reagan listened carefully to the list of foods McKinley couldn't have and has already started saying, "You can't eat that. Well, in a few more days."

Glad I don't have to worry about keeping track of that!

I hear the violins...

We live 5 blocks from the girls school. Some people drive over 20 minutes just to get there so I really don't feel like I can complain.

But if you've read this blog long enough, you know I'm going to!

Kennedy has to be there before 7:40 because she has a job walking the preschoolers to their rooms.

Reagan can't be there before 7:45 or she'd have to go sit in the cafeteria.

School starts at 8 for elementary but 8:05 for middle school.

When the weather was still nice all of this prevented us from walking in the mornings.

All that gibberish to say, I have to make two trips each morning. Now, I know you all are thinking, but only 5 blocks.

Cue the violins.

But let me 'splain!

Since our school system doesn't have school buses about 90% of the students are driven to school. And our school is pre-k to seniors all in two buildings in 4 blocks so that's a lot of cars. Over 1500 students that all have to be there between 8 and 8:05.

It is hard work to get them there!

So, I bet no one feels sorry for me, but I got it off my chest and I feel better:c)

Make me realize how easy I have it. Share your school drop off procedure.

I'd love to hear how you all do it!