Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The weekend

Over this past weekend we spent time at my parents beach cottage in Nags Head.
We were there with my mama and daddy and my cousin.
Several of my other cousins were at the trailer park a little North of Mama and Daddy's cottage, so
we went to the trailer park to visit them...
Y'all know how I do love a trailer park!
When it is full of cousins, and gravelly road with slow moving cars (hello, everone's children
are playing) and bicycles...oh! and beer--well, even more fun! :)
Here is a picture that my cousin Lib took:
hats!

So the cute yellow and blue thing is my cousin's trailer which she shares with her girlfriend, Grace, and those are the fun hats they have around from all around the world.  My children LOVED being at Lib's trailer!
They drank some lemonaide and ate some peanuts--and spilled a handful more.
They looked at all the teeny tiny trailer accessories {love}!.
They wandered in and out of her open door--I never heard a word about bugs or air conditioning!
Nope--she just let them be!--and they did.
Here is the tune we all enjoyed while we played:
<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H17iR1yHqzg?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H17iR1yHqzg?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
Man!
I wish that embedded video would work.
I actually wish you could hear Lib sing it, and watch my kids' faces...
HA!--All over the page, I say!

Let me try the other embed thingy too...
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H17iR1yHqzg?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The song is called "That Buckin' Song" it is by Robert Earl Keen...to give credit where it's due--and so you
can look for it if Youtube fails me {again}.

I bet the fact that the font size keeps changing itself is really keeping y'all on your toes, no?

Okay--that was our weekend, oh, and sitting on the beach, and shopping...and...
let's see..

Oh! coming home and going on the boat with Andy's family...
We were busy, and last night we all were in bed by 9:00--all except for Andy who was at work!


Thursday, May 24, 2012

And more...

Preschool Graduation

Can you see which one is my V-man?
He is the one in the tie-dyed tee. :)
Grinning.

I cannot even begin to describe him here, to you, but man!
As I put it in an email to B today, it is so fun to see my little boy
growing.
It is {interesting} to see all of the traits of {manly} in their little boy version.
so tender! very tender!
and {MANLY}.
;).

He did a great job last night.
They sang songs, and got a diploma--oh yeah!
and a sweet grandma played, "pomp and circumstance" on the piano.
Be still my heart!
This is the foto of our Ice Cream social..after the main event.
There were 18 children in Victor's church preschool class...
whew...!
That is bigger than a public school classroom, here in our county.

Super Busy day...update--

Let's see...
I survived the day.
We went to the graduation, which was really cute.
I did not get emotional.
Nana got a little misty-eyed, interestingly enough.
I am thinking this is b/c she is the one who did a lot of kiddie hauling
(along with grandma) to get him there for two years.
She is, after all, of the Grandma Eva school of, "don't cry all the time!" {ojala!}.
I think to myself--don't even get misty eyed, lest your flood gates fail you...
Maybe I will join the no-crying crew one day. ;).

The storm that came just before the graduation was ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE.
It was a close cousin to the one I was in when I wrecked Andy's truck about
seven years ago...
Oh yeah...Hail, Thunder, Straight Line winds... TERRIBLE.
So, as we were getting out of our car, under the carport, the car door
blew open HARD and hit the vavn beside of us..
So we are going to be buying a new van door soon...
Do they sell THOSE at Wal-h#ll's?--Now that is the question of the day.
I bet van doors are the cheapest at Wal-hel!'s...
What a minute...am I giving out free ideas here???

I wish I had pictures.
It seems, however, that my camera has revolted,
Perhaps it was in response to the post I did the other day
about the {camera}..that I wanted...
Oh dear Camera!! Please do not fail me now!! You know you will
NOT be replaced with a 200.00 model!!
We do not have 200.00!!
We have to buy a VAN DOOR!!

So, yes. I survived.
Now, Andy is at the ball field with a tired little boy...playing {ball}.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, and drink you some gassy waters! ;)

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

What I am sipping on.. :)

This is what I have been enjoying.
It has no sugar--or sweetener of any kind.
It is just sparkling water, and some fruit flavor!!
Very yummy.
About nine AM when the breakfast is gone--I grab one of these...and
it helps tie me over. :)
They sell these in the boxes with 12 cans.
They are going quickly at my house. :)

Rundown of my day (the half-asleep version)

4:45--Wake up--Eva is hollering something about she can't see?? (It is dark, you know, Eva.)
5:10--Get up
5:15--Make coffee
Get ready, Get everyone else ready, Get them to my mom's.
7:30--meeting at school with a parent.  To meet this early is rare--but if a parent requests it, sure! (at least they are coming.)
8:20-10:00--Day--normal work day--
10:00-11:10--Take Food for Folks--Deliver meals around town.
11:10-1:00--Combination of work and paperwork for work
1:00--Go on a home visit to see a kid.
3:30--End of work day at Work
6:15--Go to V-man's preschool graduation
7:00--The Graduation Starts
8:45--Probably--come home and we all go to bed...

It's gonna be a long one folks...!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

A Wind in the {ears}

So, last night I talked on the phone with my friend Shannon and we laughed so hard!!
I will tell you the reason:
She and I share many inside jokes (like most good friends) and one of them is
my dislike of having wind get in my ears.
She thinks the very idea of "wind in the ears" is HILARIOUS and completely absurd.
Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the {wind in the ear}debate--I know that the wind
can enter the ears, and one becomes sick or very uncomfortable!
Just the idea of the wind in my ears can make me need some ibuprofen.
I mean it can be 85 degrees outside and if the breeze is blowing and I am going
running--You will see me with something over my ears.
If you side with Shannon and do not believe in {wind in the ear} then you
could calm yourself and call it a sweatband.
But, if you ask me, I will tell you all about how the wind blows across my ears, and
then my whole ears and jaw hurt...
So....all of this laughing and laughing on this particular topic has gone
on between Shannon and me for at least four years.
Jump to the present:
The other day I went to visit a mother--who is from Mexico-- who recently
(five days prior) had given birth by C-Section.  She lives in a camper with
her husband and three children. One of the children has {special} needs etc.
That is the reason I was there.
You know I felt like a speck of dirt going in her house when she was four days from having
been sliced in half --all for the sake of a QUESTIONNAIRE!!  But she was
very gracious and obliged me and my {needs}.
While I was there I was very attentive to her needs--as anyone would be--I mean the lady
could barely move, for Pete's sake.
So when I was leaving I was checking on HER well-being.
I asked if she needed anything...etc.
Well, I noticed that she had cotton in her ears!
My thought, "Oh, God! Don't tell me she has an ear infection too!! Oh no, Poor thing!!"
So I asked her--"Oh God!--are your ears okay?  Que pasa con los oidos?"
AND SHE TOLD ME:
Oh, no, no, no...maestra...es que en my country after giving birth we have to be
very covered up all over lest a wind enter us and make us sick!! The wind can get in the ears, y hay que protegerse los oidos!--One has to protect the ears! :)  We cover ourselves for 40 days..
Can't you see, my head scarf and my socks and shoes on in the house, oh, and the cotton in
my ears!
WHEW... I was glad she did not have an ear infection--I mean on top of the C-section
wound, and the kid CLIMBING ALL OVER HER, and the well, the list goes on and on...
BUT I also cracked UP inside!!
Eat your heart out Shannon!! There are {wind in the ears} stories from all over the world
that have arisen completely independently from mine!
There is even a Chinese one--My herb man told me one time..
I will save that one, as I am being begged to go on  a shoe hunt right now. :)

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

New guilty pleasure

About a month ago my cousin turned me on to a new show--well new for me, anyway.
The show is called, "Hart of Dixie"
It is a good one y'all!  For real.  She told me --it is a bit campy, and
well, sappy maybe...but it is so good!
I have seen it twice, but last night--it was THE BEST!
Most of the shows I watch now are reality shows...
Survivor
The Amazing Race, or
they are comedies...
The Big Bang
or How I Met your Mother (which, I hope he never does b/c I love that show!)

So, finding a drama show that I can watch, well, it was a bit surprising.
This one is a good escape.
It comes on the CW, I think--it is one of the in between channels if you have
an antenna..if you have cable--well, you I don't know.
:)

Now, on to something I want:
This camera loads your pictures onto your blog or whatever after you take them.
I know, I know, you can do that with an I --device--whichever you pick, but I still like the {idea} of a camera being a camera...and with all the money we save not having permanent walkie talkies (AKA cell phones) I can still afford a camera all by itself. ;)--SNark! (I am feeling cheeky--sorry).

So, Andy was on his way to work today and they called the house to say that he need not come in b/c he would be on call tonight--sooooo he drove all the way there, and all the way back--also b/c of our lack of {walkie talkies}--I guess that is where snark will get me...!! :)  I guess that gas money is chipping away at our no-cell-phone--savings.

On to our weekend last weekend:
It could not have been better!!
If you are ever feeling down and out and in a rut--
take someone, anyone (who is fun) --and get OUT OF TOWN. :)
We went to visit Andy's sister and we went to a music festival in Beaufort NC
Man!! It was fun!!
We shopped, admired downtown, and listened to her husband's band play--
and they were SUPER!
Then we fed the turtles in their canal....(the one in their neighborhood), we played on the beach and we
went to see the penguins at the aquarium!! --That is a lot, no?
But --it was all a blast.
On Sunday when we got home, I unwrapped all of my mother's day goodies!! :)
Sweet!--that is the only word to describe all that!
During the weekend--I took not a single picture!
On Sunday-NONE!
My ganas to take a foto waxes and wanes--and we are waning right now.

Okay, sweet bloggy readers!
I am off to read about your lives now. ;)

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

{Snake oil}

So, this Dr. Oz kick has me going....
I have been trying to lose weight, and it is very hard!!
I mean I am an eater by nature.
I love food...so that means in the A.M.--first thought?  What do I get to
eat after I run???
I can get very excited about healthy stuff...don't get me wrong..
{ALL} foods are great to me.
So, when one does not lose weight, one begins to look for {help}.
On Dr. Oz yesterday they had some pills...yep...I am not above this for
vanity's sake...they were some plants or something --read: {snake oil??}
Well, we will see, dear friends, b/c I took a trip over to the ole
GNC today and I stocked up on...
well, what Dr. Oz told me to.
{of course}.
One of them is from some African Plant... blah blah blah...it has two different names...
The other is a starchy thing that fills up yo tummy..I'll take it! --give me some
of those!! ;).
I will keep you filled in on my progress...

Oh, and about the ads..the one for the acne vitamins--ughh..
THEY ARE WORKING!!
If you know me, and my close up face, you know that I always have a bit
of zits...yep.  It is true, since my early 20s.
Well, that combination of vitamins works!
It is called Pantothen...and well, you can't argue with results.
That is all I have to say...
And no, the real Susan has not been hijacked...
But when I know something has working, I like to share it. ;)

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Just in case...

I know, I know, two posts in one night..but this has been weighing on my mind...

If you are from N.C.:
When you go to vote:
Be sure to focus on YOUR VALUES!!

Do you value Public Education?--Do you think that having an educated populace is a value of the People..?
Do you?
Then really consider what you vote for!  Really think about who you are voting for !!
The public education system here in N.C. is in {jeopardy} in my opinion. :)
Read: soap box!!
I mean I have never heard such rhetoric from politicians...
Maybe it is b/c all of their sweet blond-headed, big bow wearing grand babies go to the private
schools in Raleigh..
But around here: Public education is WHAT WE HAVE!!
We need to protect it. ;).

Also, the amendment thingy...
I mean really, I go to church all the time, and all I have ever been taught is LOVE THY NEIGHBOR, ,AND  JUDGE NOT! LEST YE BE JUDGED!!
Do we need to have our {morality}dictated to us via Constitutional Amendments.????
If you are against {any given thing}do not do it, ,do not participate in it...
That could be a good rule of thumb.
BUT--when you go to vote..do you want to amend the state constitution to pass value
judgements on others??? really?

Really, I think I am preaching to the choir here, but I also use this as a venting space! ;)

What do you think?? Have you thought about your votes on Tues. May 8th?

Boss lady

Okay,
So I witnessed the funniest thing today after school.
We had all done our quehaceres--chores--after school.
V-man had his well {man} visit, and we retrieved food and children from
hither and yon.
We kissed and hugged Daddy--and off to work!
Then, we were all outside.
Our outside buddies are the neighbors three boys.
I teach with their Aunt, and their mama and daddy are sweet.
The boys are very sweet. and nice and mannerly, and all older than our children..but
they still want to play outside. (great, I say!! Isn't innocence, and fresh air so sweet?)
So, they come over and play in the afternoons.
Play equals...ride bikes, roam in woods, beat on stuff with sticks..you know..
typical childrens' activities.
So, today I sat at the picknik table and watched.
They were all in swimsuits.
Eva is particularly in {love} with wearing her bikini with the butterfly and ruffles.
It is a hand me down from her Nay Nay.
Bueno...
Here is what I saw:
When Eva Lou tired of having the water hose sprayed in her vicinity, she steadily and readily
climbed down from the trampoline via the plastic chair, and TURNED OFF THE WATER.
and
when it was turned back on...Guess who was in {charge}....
EVA!!
What a hoot!
there were four other children playing.
They ranged in age from 10 to 5--she is two!!
She told Matthew, the neighbor's child, "you get back Matthew, or you will
get a spanking!"
I cracked up!
Brazen is the word to describe {her}.
Little Rascals is the word to describe the whole crew!

Love!!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tasty Tuesday

today was my first time...trying these.
The popped up, out of nowhere!
They were tucked into our large bag of snack packs


They are soooo good!! I think they might be a new favorite.
They are DELICIOUS!!
If you have not had these, I challenge you to go out and try them...
by next Tuesday! :)



You can go with this...

Beautiful selection, and VERY PRICEY
Seller  of swimsuits...

Or you can go here:
also great, and VERY REASONABLE

It is interesting to me just how much money stores try to get for a teeny eeny swimsuit!!
It always has been.
I mean a 70.00 top and a 50.00 bottom.

I was buying it, but I am not anymore.  Figleaves was discovered when I was on a quest to find
bra sized swimwear.
I mean, surely all these people buying these big boobs are not stuffing them into a size four top...
{surely not}
Well, b/c that would not work...
So, there has to be bra sized swimwear...
On my quest (this was about three years ago btw) I found figleaves.
It is in the U.K.--but if you sign up for emails, sometimes you can get free shipping!
Also they send me deals...

You do the math...
a 27.00 suit, or a 120.00 suit...
which suits your budget best? ;)

Spot on!

Spot is our family's chihuahua.  He is what we call, "an evil dictator/stuffed animal come to life".  Sometimes, after he has ...